They say the hangover after you get drugged and kidnapped by terrorists is the worst

[Pippi]

Mia laughed, and shrugged off Candice's rather redundant statement. It was nice to hear that again, her own laugh. Surprising, too. Her emotions had started to settle now. They hadn't fully come to rest yet, they were still liable to be picked up and flung about like dry leaves in the wind, but at least she wasn't so emotionally fragile that she'd go from yelling to crying to maniacally laughing in the space of a second.

But she'd half expected to never laugh, or even smile again. She wouldn't be able to blame anyone else in the slightest if that was how they ended up. Maybe it was just because this whole thing had just started, and there was nothing that had directly removed the smile from her face. There would inevitably come a time when the laughter would die out, and tears and despair would take their place.

But this was promising. This suggested that, once that was said and done, she could find it in herself to smile again.

"Don't worry," Mia said, heading towards the door. "I've never really been big on plans myself. I just like going along with the flow and seeing where it takes me. I've done pretty well by it so far."

Mia gave Candice her most comforting smile as she started to head out.

"It'll be all right."

Expect the worst, hell, know that the worst was coming sooner or later. But hope for the best. Maybe everything would end up all right.

((Mia Rose continued in Go to a school trip they said, it will be fun they said))

[Muninn†]

Candice didn't know if Mia was able to genuinely keep herself in high spirits, or if she was just faking it.  Who knows, maybe she was just putting on an act because she thought Candice was on the verge of falling apart.  Something like Candice's ridiculously pathetic fake smile, but more convincing.

Much more convincing.  It didn't seem like a superficial, fake smile such as Candice's.  It was as though Mia thought that there was actually something to be optimistic about... some kind of silver lining that Candice just couldn't find, even though she knew that they couldn't let themselves be frozen with despair.

Something to look forward to aside from a 1% survival rate, weighted in favor of the cruel and the ruthless.

Something to trust in on this island where yesterday's classmate was tomorrow's enemy.

Far from going "pretty well" so far, hadn't they been on a string of near-death experiences from the time they woke up this morning?  They'd been on the verge of killing each other before they'd had a chance to say hello.  They'd failed to notice somebody sneaking up on them, and only luck meant that it wasn't somebody hostile.  They'd made a poor impression on that same person, ruining any chance of convincing them to work together.

All right?  Just where were you looking to see something like that?

Well, Mia was armed, at least.  It might have nearly gotten Candice killed earlier, but they weren't in danger of being bumped off by the first nutjob with a pockeknife that they were to run into.  That was a plus, of sorts.

A group of only two people was small, but it was still safer than being alone.  There was the emotional component, too... regardless of whether Mia's attitude was fake or genuine, it was comforting nonetheless.

Hell, if you set aside Mia's earlier outbursts, she seemed much more stable now.  Maybe a change of scenery and a chance to talk things out was really all that they needed.


Desperately clinging to those few positive facts, Candice followed Mia down the hall.

At the very least, I guess this could be a lot worse.


((Candice Banks continued in "Go to a school trip they said, it will be fun they said..."))