Something Better

[Primrosette]

"It sure is a nice-ass view up here, huh?"

((Emmett Bunnell continued from Meddling Heart))

Emmett commented as they had made their way to the top of the waterfall and he kept glancing back at Emil to make sure that no one was trying to sneak up on them. Well, the tracker was a lot of help of keeping them safe and they also knew what green freak of nature's number was. They had a bit of an advantage on that part if Lorenzo would come after them again. Fuck, they had to be more prepared, aren't they? Which meant they had to get a gun or two. Guns were something that he had never touched before and it looked like they would have to resort to stealing from someone. As much as Emmett would feel like a shithead for doing that. ...Or they could convince someone with a gun to work with them as a team. Shit, yeah, that could freaking work!

Emmett was panting a little as he was now at the top and he looked over the edge of the overlook, making himself feel a bit queasy. He took a few steps backwards and he collapsed down into a sitting position on the ground. His left shoulder was hurting like a bitch, but he was trying not to let it show in front of Emil. Didn't want to look weak-willed. He hoped that Lorenzo was hurting as well. That bastard deserved it and Emmett gritted his teeth at the possibility of running into him again.

Then the most random thing popped into his head and it made him smile. It was a sad smile but it had been a nice memory. With a guy that he had made a strange friendship with on the trip. How did it ever turn out to be a guy that he had been hating on before then? Shit happens.

"Hey, Emil." Emmett said as he turned his head to look at Emil and his smile turned into a soft, chuckling smile. "Here's some funny shit that I think you would be surprised to hear. Declyn and I bonded over chicken nuggets on the trip and we somehow became friends. How fucking funny is that?"

[ItzToxie]

((The Third Emil of House Van Zandt continued from Meddling Heart))

“Can’t lie there, this island would be a nice spot for a vacation.”

Emil moved closer to the overlook, staring at the waterfall. It reminded him of the watering holes at Fall Creek Falls. Shit that was a great place to go camping. He remembered all those old trips back in middle school. Him and some buddies, just sitting in the bed of his pop’s navy blue Ram 2500. The gas station snacks on the way up there, the stop at the Fried Boot on the way back. He remembered the first time he tried the Napalm Wing challenge. Probably one of the only times his parents recorded him while he was crying. He enjoyed the wings but shit, fucking Ghost Pepper sauce brings tears out of grown men, let alone a kid. Whatever, he conquered that bitch three years later, three attempts later. Shit was a rite of passage for the Van Zants. Well that, and boot camp.

While he was on the verge of homesickness from nostalgia, Emmett told him something. Him and Declyn made up. To be honest, it wasn’t that surprising to him.

“It’s funny how that works out. Weird too. You can have someone who’s your worst enemy, but you get to know them and you find out you had more in common with them then some of your closest friends.”

[Primrosette]

Emmett let out a snort and a smirk was forming on his face. It was really fucking funny how everything had turned out between him and Declyn.

"Declyn was never my enemy to begin with and I treated him like one. He and Adonis are just friends and I had been distrusting the both of them like a shitty, jealous asshole. I was the one who broke Adonis' heart on his special night with Regina because I selfishly thought that I was doing the right thing and I did it by text. Fucking text. What the fuck was wrong with me on that night? Was I fucking crazy or what?" Emmett said with a shake of his head and a sad sigh. "Anyway, about Declyn.... He was walking out of a McD with a box of chicken nuggets and then I watched as he basically tripped over the pavement and all the nuggets went fucking flying. I laughed at what happened and then Declyn started to cry and I was like 'Oh shit'. Because I don't fucking know how to deal with people crying and shit. Then I went over to him, said that I would get him new ones. So I did and we started to talk about everything that had happened. Mostly about Adonis and my shitty feelings. I felt so bad for misunderstanding things between Adonis and Declyn and I told Declyn that I was.... sorry. I was really fucking sorry for being a shitty human being to him and Declyn just.... He just accepted me for me and I felt something in my heart for that guy. That klutzily, friendly guy who tried to make me feel better about talking to him about my issues."

Emmett paused for a few moments to breathe and he hoped that Emil didn't mind him rambling on.

Emmett shifted his sitting position a little and then he cleared his throat a little. "Declyn also opened up to me about Cecil. God, Declyn's feelings for that guy were so obvious. Declyn was basically was swooning over his words about Cecil, I even asked the love question and the look on Declyn's face said it all. That smile. That nervous smile...."

Emmett grinned up at Emil casually.

"Declyn is definitely head over heels in love with Cecil, Emil. Seriously. Holy shit...."

[ItzToxie]

“...And you found all that out... over chicken nuggets.” Emil chuckled. “Not bad, not bad.” If Emil ever found Cecil or Declyn he could help them reunite too.

Yeah, he heard about the texting breakup. In Emil’s opinion that shit is pretty fucked, but he wasn’t gonna say anything on it. Well... “Shit, we should probably find Adonis then.” In a situation like this, Emil felt like Emmett and Adonis would appreciate being back together.

Emil’s eyes trailed back to the waterfall. “Wonder how deep it is down there. Bet I could go cliff jumping?” Truth be told, Emil kind of wanted a swim, he wanted to get rid of all this sand coating him, shit was chafy and annoying.

[Emprexx Plush]

((Nona Hart Continued From dear army guys come quik there are terrorists - roxie))

Panting breaths could be heard some time before she actually arrived. So high. Too high. Illegal, or if it wasn't it should be, they needed to turn the bus right back around to DC so she could talk to a senator. Nona giggled to herself. It was a nonsense thought but this was a nonsense place at a nonsense time full of nonsense people. She'd sure showed them though. There was still a bit of a high from standing up for herself like that. Not that she'd actually said anything confrontational, but she'd walked away well before they could upset her again, and that was a kind of victory wasn't it? Score one for Nona. If she kept this up she could turn the whole thing around. Eventually a teacher would catch on and put a stop to the whole thing, and if she didn't crack first...well, everyone would probably ignore her like always. Maybe someone would notice and be proud of her though, and if she didn't she could be proud of herself. That's right. Proud of herself. She was doing well despite all the extra effort. Not a disappointment. Not a fake. Not in danger. Her arm didn't itch, there was no steel laying heavy in the bottom of her bag, droplets of red and white hitting the floor cracking thunder smoke screaming itching burning slicing bleeding-

Whoops. Lost track. Where were her hands? Her hands needed to stay at her side or be filled with one of her bags. It was safer that way. Of course she was safe. Just needed to focus on where she was going. She'd wanted to go to the waterfall but
her reasoning kept ducking away every time she tried to pull it into view. She went anyway and decided to scale the rocky outcropping to the top. Maybe she could see the bus from there. It was too big to hide for long. Once she had a good idea where it was she would head that way and find Coach Oppenheimer, she was sure some of the athletes were involved in all this. The idea of confronting authority with her suspicions made her knees go weak, but they'd really gone too far this time. If everyone was too afraid to speak up they'd get away with it. It had to be different this time. Nona had to be different. If she didn't change, she could never go home.

What a strange thought. Where had it come from?

There were voices the rest of the way at the top. Nona shook herself and tried to start up again, but she was on the ground. Oh. Inconvenient. She wasn't sure when that had happened. Her body ached all over, but the worst of it was the burning that started in her chest and spread up through her throat. The last time she'd had something to drink was...sometime before she woke up, long before, it was too fuzzy. Her mouth opened to cry out for help and shut immediately. They'd like that, wouldn't they? Her squirming, barely able to breathe between cracked rasps, that would be almost as good as buying into the charade. Nona wouldn't be helpless for them. Trembling fingers slid her bag open to fumble for water. When the bottle came to her face she spilled nearly half as much as she drank across her face and down her sweatshirt. It felt kind of nice, actually.

Her body still protested at the thought of moving. Strain blurred her vision but she thought she could make out some shapes of people ahead from where she'd stopped. "Hello! Is anyone up here?"

[Primrosette]

"The chicken nuggets were hella good." Emmett said with a light-hearted laugh and he wondered if it was normal for him to be so much more relaxed with Emil in their shitty situation. Possibly not. But after the shit with Lorenzo, they both deserved a break from almost dying. "Who knew that just eating together would make things better between me and Declyn. …It's not just Adonis that I need to find, Emil. Shit, Declyn, Cecil... More people who don't deserve this need to be together. Right?"

What about you, Emil? Aren't you going to look for anyone for yourself? Or are you trying to make everyone else happy? Shit... You fucking are.

Emmett glanced towards the waterfall and he felt a shiver go up his spine. He didn't think he could trust it. What if Emil smashed his head on a rock at the bottom? He couldn't let Emil do it and yeah, the sand was a bit of a bottom on the both of them. Emil looked like he had more on him than Emmett did.

"Emil, I don't think-"

He then heard a voice behind them and Emmett whipped his head around, feeling himself tense up slightly.

It had been a girl's voice. So he was relieved that they were not seeing Lorenzo again. But he didn't think that they should be trusting someone just yet.

"....Who the fuck wants to know?"

[ItzToxie]

“Ayy, ay chill, we don’t know who it is yet.” Well Emmett had already pointed out that there were in fact people up here, so there was no point in saying no. “Yeah, you okay?” He yelled down the path.

He didn’t really recognize the voice just yet, so he wasn’t quite sure who it was. “You need help or anything? We’re cool, we won’t hurt you!”

Emil squinted at the figure in the distance. “Who are you, anyways?”

[Emprexx Plush]

Nona's eyes narrowed. Are you okay? Do you need help? Wasn't she just thinking about all of that? Wow. She was really getting good at this. These two were in on the scheme, she was sure of it now, but she still wasn't sure who they were from their voices. If she thought about it though, they were playing a kind of obvious head game. Bad cop was yelling at her to put her off, try to put the fear in her that all their props had failed to instill. Good cop on the other hand was trying to convince her to relax afterwards, that way she didn't spook and run off. Put her back on the rails and see where the game went. How'd they know where she was going? Wait, wait, it wasn't about her, she had to remember that, there were plenty of others they could be coming after. It could be like one of those haunted houses Mom tried to get her to go to every year. Everyone had their stations and whatever victims came by had to deal with them. What about the talking? Were they always making conversation in case someone came by?

No. That would be crazy. Nona needed to keep her thoughts grounded.

Speaking of, when did she get so high again? Oh, right, she climbed. Was she doing something else? One of her bags felt heavier than it had before. That was weird. Well, she didn't want to go up anymore anyway without figuring out who was waiting to torment her. Just be cool. Cooool and casual. "It's uh, Nona! Nona Hart! I'm fine, you know, hiking, hanging out and um, stuff."

They'd never suspect she was on to them.

[Primrosette]

Well, shit.

Emmett probably had been a bit too harsh. But he was currently in the state of only trusting Emil for now. He couldn't believe how nice Emil was being right now. Actually, he could believe it. Because Emil was Emil. He was a bit pissed off that someone was interrupting his alone time with Emil. But it would have happened sooner or later anyway. The girl was saying that her name was Nona and Emmett was trying to remember if he knew a Nona. Fuck, he was drawing a blank, so he had no idea what this girl was like and now he had to interact with someone who could be either innocent or a danger to them.

Emmett got up to his feet in a slow, deliberate manner and he moved closer to Emil's side, trying to see the girl who was a bit farther away from them. "Hey, Nona. Sorry for being a bit uh.... harsh there. We were having a shitty time before we came up here." He said as honestly as he could and he glanced at Emil beside him, wondering what he wanted to do next. "....I guess you want to know my name. Fuck.... It's Emmett Bunnell. You can come up here if you want to. The view is great and all that shit."

What the fuck am I doing? I guess I'm trying to make her go and fuck off. I kinda want it to be just me and Emil again.

[Shiola]

((Erika Stieglitz continued from Rise Great Undead Lord Dread))

Run.

The monosyllabic thought carried Erika further and further through the woods, not pausing to stop. Not even for a moment. Her run turned into a walk, which eventually turned to a stumble. Her legs were aching, and she could feel what seemed to be the beginning of blisters on her feet. Erika had never been fond of hot weather. As a kid, she spent much of her time in the shade. Pale skin and freckles didn't exactly encourage her to stay out too long in the sun. Despite the ever-present canopy of the woods, it was hot enough here that she was sweating through her t-shirt.

As she continued to press onward, she began to hear rushing water.

I should look at the map.

No. That meant stopping. She couldn't stop to think. Not here, not after what she'd done. Still, she couldn't help but feel a sense of unease as it became more and more clear she didn't have a clear idea where she was going.

At some point it won't just be the mosquitoes. Scavengers will tear away what they can. Maybe they'll fight over it. The ants and worms are going to find a way in, and they'll take what they need. The bacteria and fungi will liquify the rest.

Losing focus, she tripped over a fallen log. Her hands flying out in front of her, they landed in dirt. It all used to be so comforting. The only thing that was comforting when the intrusive thoughts came calling. Life continued all around, no matter what happened to her. If she died out in a place that was green and awash with the sounds of life, it wouldn't be long before life reclaimed her. It seemed so peaceful and poetic when she was just having a bad day and knew she could go home. When all it took was a couple hours under a tree with a joint.

If I make it home I'll never get better. It'll be like this all the time. The only difference is now, I have to face it.

Her hands gave out from under her, and she momentarily fell to the ground before forcing herself to stand back up. It was all so exhausting. A mechanical whirring sound momentarily joined the chorus of nature surrounding her, and she caught a glimpse of a camera mounted to one of the trees. Danya had been clear they weren't to tamper with them, or they would die.

I'd die sooner.

"No, fuck off. I'm not going to die here. Eventually, yes. I knew that. I've always known that. This isn't new information, and it doesn't change anything. What matters is it can't be here. Right?"

That felt a little better. She hadn't been in the mood to say any of those things before. It must've helped, the running. Sating her parasympathetic nervous system or something. Erika began to walk towards the river with more confidence, continuing to talk herself down.

"I've already done something I didn't think I could. It was the right thing, I know it was right, even if it hurt to ask Katie to do that. That's one. I've got to do at least one more to live."

Do I, though? Do I want that?

At the river's edge, she began to wash the dirt off her hands and face. It came off easily, and the cool water felt nice on her skin. It felt like some of her fear went with it, down the river and over the waterfall, over to-

Others. She stood up slowly, taking note of what was being said. Hanging onto every word.

Promises of not hurting people. Emmett's there. Harmless, bit of a struggle muffin. Nona too. Emil's the wildcard. There's a waterfall.

"...having a shitty time before we came up here."

Erika shook her head, and began to walk over to the group. Two out of three would have to do.

Fuck it.

It was folly to try and find safety in numbers in the long term, but some company on the first day would help keep her head on straight. She waved, her hand still dripping with water from the river.

"Sup Emmett? I have to ask - I really wanna hear what could possibly be shittier than this."

[ItzToxie]

“Well it could always be worse than this... I mean, yeah it could be better too, but it could be way worse.” There were two people joining in now. Nona was one, Steiglitz the other. They seemed aight. Emil knew that maybe something could be up, but to his knowledge, neither of them were trying to kill them like mean green did.

“We’re just chilling right now and uh...” Emil rubbed his face, everything on the right side from under his cheek to the bottom of his chin was tender and sore, probably bruising by now. Fucking boot.

“Not killing.” He was about to say killing out of habit, but this wasn’t the best circumstance for his usual rabbit boi lingo. “Kinda sucks that I gotta emphasize that, but with the way people are, it is what it is. Shit happens.”

Emil decided it was probably good to check his tracker, just so he could stay on top of things and know when more people come. He didn’t wanna get thrown off guard.

“Yeah, things could be worse though. Like, the sun still shining, birds are chirping n’ shit. We’re still breathing, still alive. Could be worse.” Emil kicked a rock off the edge of the cliff side, hearing it tumble down, followed by a low plop, that was almost drowned out by the stream of the falls.

“So uhhh, hows your days been?”

[Emprexx Plush]

Oh goodness oh no oh geez this was so much worse

How long had Erika been following her? Nona was kind of dense but she didn't think she was that dense. Well. She had zoned out a lot, and she was having trouble coming up with good reasons for the things she'd done, so maybe it was possible she'd been tailed, or maybe Erika had been hiding here waiting for someone to interact with Emmett and Emil. The classic pincer maneuver, now she had nowhere to escape to, whatever the plan was she was totally at their mercy. There wasn't another way off this cliff unless she wanted to jump and um, pass, definitely pass on that idea. She couldn't let them know she was on to them, Emil was asking about her day, roll with it.

"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine?"

The word dragged on much longer than she'd intended and ended in a squeak even she found suspicious, but she couldn't think of anything else to say. Her mind was blank. Improvisation wasn't her forte, not without a thermos and an open Write or Die tab. Gun to her head she could probably come up with a pretty compelling narrative about Emmett and Emil finding love at the top of a waterfall but uh, weird and gross? Not that there was anything wrong with either of them, she just tried not to do that sort of thing with real people, it felt invasive. Besides, nobody would believe it, least of all both of them. Her focus turned to Erika in search of options, she was going to close the trap any minute.

...hang on. That felt weird. Erika was a nice enough girl even if she was dating the most terrifying person in the tri-state area, Nona couldn't imagine she was in on this. Oh no, was she a mark too? That would make so much mores sense. The fear and anxiety was written all over her now that she looked a little closer. If she was playing a part, she was playing it really really well. How terrible. There had to be some kind of moral obligation to clue her in, right? If she did anything that suspicious though, the boys would know, and if they were part of this they might escalate. At the very least they'd probably keep her away from the top of the waterfall, and she needed to get up there to look for the bus. Her eyes rolled back and forth, up to the overlook, down to Erika, overlook, Erika, up, down, escape, assistance-

A sharp pinch made her yelp. Nona looked down to find her right hand snaked up her left sleeve, nails digging into her skin. Her eyes went wide as she recoiled. No one had seen them. Her sleeve hadn't rolled high enough. Probably. Maybe. Who would have looked anyway? No one wanted to know. No one cared. The pain was nothing more than another fantasy concocted to make herself feel important, but why would anyone notice that when they probably weren't even going to notice when she died here?









































Oh. Everyone was still here. The game, or trick, yes the trick they were playing on her. That was happening.

Nothing else.

Why had she come up here again?

[Primrosette]

Emmett stared at Erika. Well, he didn't really know her that much. He knew that she was the girlfriend of that scary-ass dude - Ty? Tyrell? - and he and Lorenzo were buddies. Oh shit, they were. Emmett remembered that those two had shared a room together on the trip. Oh, Ty also yelled at him, didn't he? Well, fuck his life a little more by adding Ty's girlfriend to the mix.

Now Emil was babbling on about stuff and he was asking how the girls were doing. Emmett honestly was not convinced that Nona was fine at all. There seemed to be something going on with her. But he could worry about her later. The one who he really wanted to pay attention to right now was Erika. Would she even believe that they got attacked by a crazy-ass Lorenzo? He was the grumpy bastard who hated a lot of things and people in school. Shit, he barely remembered like half of the other teenager's names because he didn't want to get close to anyone. But then he did want to be close. His trust issues were a bit fucking pain in his ass.

"Shit, Erika. We were almost fucking butchered by Lorenzo before we came here." Emmett said in a serious manner and then he glanced at her with curious eyes. "....You better fucking run if you run into him and don't even think about giving him the benefit of doubt. He will fucking murder you. You better take this in as well, Nona. Just in case, you two go off on your own out there."

Shit.... I did it. I just hope they fucking believe me....

[Catche Jagger]

((Sapphire Waters continued from A Dream of Many Legs))

It had taken Sapphire a fair bit of walking in order to reach the top of the waterfall at the other end of the lake.

In her travels, she’d been yet properly see another person around, beyond shadows in the distance and rustling in the plants all around her. It was unnerving, not knowing who or what might find her.

She began to consider the possibility of being followed by some insidious predator tracking her, some sort of thing that even the terrorists might not have counted on, or perhaps that was the real reason they were there: to test it. Though not exactly an idea to make one jump for joy, the thought was kind of exhilarating, being around and seeing something that no one else had, in the middle of a game of cat-and-mouse.

And she couldn’t help but feel guilty over the strange fantasy of it. Daydreaming about that kind of stuff when her life was very literally on the line? Was she going crazy? What happened to keeping a clear mind.

Though, maybe morbid fantasy was the only way she could keep her head on straight in a situation like this.

As she approached the overlook, she heard voices speaking to one another and, in a panic, she froze.

These had to be good people, right? Were grouping up and talking and couldn’t actually be following through with what the terrorists had told them.

“Dear Lord, please let me be right…” Sapphire muttered a quiet prayer to herself as she took another few steps forward.

It was then that she recognized one of them: Emmett Bunnell. He was a little bit rough around the edges, but deep down… he was good. He had to be good.

“Hey…” She meant to call out, but the word came out weak, pitiful.

Clearing her throat and gripping a bit tighter on the spear in her hand, she closed her eyes and called out.

“H-Hey! Emmett!”

[Shiola]

They were chilling, not killing. Apparently Nona was fine, though Erika didn't believe that for a moment. She had the kind of thousand-yard stare of someone who is just barely holding onto a few shreds of sanity. The confirmation was in the small, pained noise she made shortly afterwards. Erika tried her best to ignore it, focusing on Emmett. She knew him better than anyone else here, and much as he tended to run hot, she figured he would at the very least be trying his best to not fall victim to the Obvious Thing To Do.

The only option we have, at least that's what the terrorists want us to think.

Of course it was fucking Lorenzo. Of course that piece of shit was taking the low road on day one. Erika fumed as she tried to piece together what Emmett was telling her. What was it - he'd figured after rape, murder was no big deal? That it was all excused because they were in an impossible situation? The coward probably hoped for the pardon they'd certainly receive when he got home, like the rest of the winners had. There were plenty of people who'd probably trust him at first too, like Artem had. Lorenzo was just some dumb man-whore, what was the worst he'd do?

If anyone knew, I'd be hearing his name on the first set of announcements. It'd be one of of the first names they'd know to carve into that stupid wall in D.C.

"I'm glad you're still alive. Lorenzo's a..."

Erika paused. No doubt his current actions would condemn him more than anything. It was going to paint a target on his back regardless. This was already destroying countless lives - she could probably leave one more out of it.

"Lorenzo's a dumpster fire of a human being, I'm not surprised. I'm sorry you had to deal with that, Emmett. If I find a gun I'll light him up for you. That's a big "if" though - look at this shit:"

Reaching into her bag, she pulled out the fake prescription bottle that had her name on it. Take as needed - this "Dr." Danya really was a bastard.

"A suicide pill. Like, what the hell? I wasn't planning on killing anyone, but what the fuck am I supposed to do with this? Go Dr. Mario on someone and hope for the best?"

She rolled her eyes. Everything about this was nightmarishly absurd. As she heard another voice nearby, her shoulders instinctively tensed up. The way her mind was wired, she half-expected to look into the woods and see some kind of toothy monster staring back out at her. Still, with no weapon to ready she could only turn to the voice and hope that it was a friendly face.

Monsters don't hide in the woods, anyways. They seem to prefer hiding in people.