I'm only satisfied by the finer things in life like Rodarte and Margiela and making boys cry

[BlizzardeyeWonder]

Meilin shook her head when she was asked what that part of the Bible said- she learnt, soon enough. Worrying about tomorrow... yeah, it did seem like a distant, pointless dream, didn't it?

The most important part about tomorrow was getting there, she felt.

Ace talked about music, a rap line for everything. She'd wanted to get more into hip-hop, and she probably should have. Yet, past regrets also started to feel distant. All she could focus on was today- today was vivid enough.

***

It felt like a long night. While she was on shift the shadows seemed to move and contort themselves more than when she wasn't. Even as the morning sun rose, she kept her hand on the handle of the haladie. She wondered what someone was supposed to... well, do with this thing in a fight. It was a double-edged knife, yeah? So you just kinda stab with one end? Or do you just... ram it into someone and hope you cut them?

Funny how quickly she got used to the idea of having to use it, even though she hadn't gotten into a proper fight at that point.

Meilin probably got too used to that idea.

But that was a good thing now, right? Because they needed to defend each other, and that meant she would have to fight. Obviously Ace had the gun and was better suited to fighting people in general, but at some point she would need to step up, wouldn't she?

The announcements echoed.

Ramsey, strangled by Angie. She wondered who would come after their group for it, how they'd explain. But she figured most people had found out by now the announcements could be misleading.

Of course, the people whose names she heard more than others- Quinn, Blaise, Erika- it was obvious those weren't just misunderstandings. Maybe it was the first time, but the second and third and fourth?

And the last name was Andy. That... sounded nasty. He didn't deserve that.

A plan was laid out- simple, reasonable. It was running away, essentially.

Something about that didn't quite sit right with Meilin, they were at war weren't they? And she doubted Ace would just run when they saw, say, Tirzah. But it was reasonable. And they had to conserve their energy, didn't they?

So she nodded, and stood up, taking a look around to see where they could go-

She froze, her eyes resting on a figure in the trees.

"Who's there?!" she called out, more to alert the others than anything.

[Melusine]

The act of mentally blocking out the announcement was a simple one. She simply had to think about something else and hum a song. Angie and Ace had traded weapons. She had the grenades and he had her gun. She was okay with that, she didn't want it anyways. If anything, she felt comforted that someone had the control over the gun. It made the whole guilt thing easier on her. She ignored when her name came up on the announcement. When the buzzing stopped, Angie turned toward Ace.

"It's an okay plan," Angie shrugged, "I just want to add that we should decide on a place to meet up if we split up."

She didn't really listened to the announcements. It needed to be somewhere quiet. Well, quieter than here. There was a lot of rustling, a lot of forest-y noises that made Angie anxious.

"It's just like-"

Mei's voice sounded scared and panicked. Angie lifted her from Ace. She was speaking to the trees. There was a figure. It was there. Standing. Half-hidden by foliage, half-covered in shadows; totally fucking scary.

"Guys. We need to leave." She kept her eyes on the figure. "Now."

[Namira]

Familiar.

Quinn had seen him before. Ivy wasn't with Ace any more. Had he killed her? She hoped that he hadn't. Quinn couldn't have them all to herself, but that was one that she was holding out for. Bubblegum girl, all sweetness and popularity until someone like Quinn was in her sights.

Quinn very much wanted to see her pop.

But that wasn't Ivy. That was three other people. Grieving. Quinn watched them.

She did have a gun now, but just opening fire brought to mind all the same frustrations that the rifle had carried. She'd managed to keep the pistol at least a little interesting, she didn't want to ruin it for herself so soon after obtaining it. She wasn't much more likely to score a hit and then she'd be right back where she was a few days ago, risking getting charged down by a pissed off football player. From her observations, it looked as though they were armed, too, Quinn didn't feel like getting into a gunfight when she had no confidence in the gun. Frustrating to just leave them, but smart--

Ah, she'd been seen.

She slid back into the foliage.

[Buko]

Familiar.

Green eyes sought out pale blue and a shiver went down Ace’s spine as his heart quivered and stuttered.

Meilin screamed, Angie warned and Ace analyzed—and recognized the figure in the shadows. The same creature that had been staring at him and Ivy and Connor two days ago, sizing him up, daring him to do something. He didn't recognize them by name or by form but instead by spirit and energy--his blood ran cold and his face went hot.

The BR-18 was raised, clunky in his hands, a boy pretending to be a man, a son pretending to be a soldier. War. War. War. War. Fight. Fight. Fight. Fight. Murder. Murder. Kill. Kill. Mantra’s and meditation, platitudes and cliches, fake it till you make it.

Clear eyes, full hearts...

And a finger on the trigger.

His mind and his heart were running sprints against one another.

Do it! Do it! Do it! Nuff talkin’—bout that action, bout that action.

None of the platitudes worked—the mantra’s all fell flat and if this was a moment, his moment--the only thing he felt was the moment pass.

"Hey, yo! Peek-a-boo, I see you!", he screamed out, his palms sweating, "Step out or get to steppin'!"

He looked towards the brush having already lost the figure in it, he whispered hoarsely to Mei and Angie…

“Get ready to drop the bomb and bolt if we got to…,” he said with a nervousness, “I ain’t wastin’ bullets less I got a clear shot.”

Yeah, sure.

[BlizzardeyeWonder]

Familiar...

Being able to put names to faces was a useful skill for someone like Meilin, who was the sort to cast a wide net socially. Back in the sane world, she would have felt pity for the girl- it was hard to say she hadn't been wronged. She would have wanted to talk to her, but she seemed the sort to not appreciate that sort of reach-out that Meilin did.

But this was not a sane world.

Memories of the voice on the announcements flooded back. At some point, she lost count of the names- remembering that fact horrified her on a few levels. But the most important part was now the face attached to that name came back to her.

"Fuck. FUCK, IT'S QUINN!"

[Buko]

Quinn?

Who the fuck was Qui--OHHHHHHH!

Quiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin.

Wait, fuck! Quinn?!

Yeah---Quinn.

He froze, hand on the gun, pointing forward towards the shadows where he had lost her Quinliness. He waved around the BR-18 with a certain franticness. He didn't know what to do and his mind struggled to make sense of the scenario.

Quinn—that name had been said so much the last five days that it felt like the chorus to a song. How many murders in one week? Six? Seven? Ace had said it yesterday: any murdering prick could get it.

Well here she was. The biggest prick on the island, murdering or otherwise.

Put your money where your mouth is Ace.

What now?

Fight or flight? Shoot or scoot?

What now, huh? Just spray and pray, just close your eyes and pull the trig—

Nah, fuck that and fuck this.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

Quinn had a gun, right? That’s what the announcement had said, that’s how she had done in Richard or Bert—fuck! The announcement had just happened! How could he be fucking up on details already? Now? When he needed them the most?

Shit! Fuck! Shit-fuck, fuck-shit! Fuck! Fuck!

She had a gun, she could be shooting from the woods like a goddamn guerilla—that’s what Ace should be doing! But he couldn’t. He wanted to—but he couldn’t. Shit! Shit! Shit!

“Let’s get the fuck outta here Ange—drop and scatter!”

Better than nothing.

[Melusine]

Angie knew what was coming next but she didn’t expect it from Quinn.

She thought it would be Erika. Quinn was, for a fact, a nobody. She never stood out. She did one thing spectacularly embarrassing then was MIA until now. A nobody trying to become something by killing others. It was interesting, from an observers perspective, but facing it wasn’t quite the same.

Angie knew her role but she didn’t she knew the execution. Her hands fumbled, they twisted and rugged and pulled on the grenade. Her fingers were scratched until she managed to cling on the pin. She looked to the left to see Ace then looked at Meilin to her right. She forgot if they had decided on a place to go after. She knew for a fact that this would go wrong. It was the type of guy feeling you wish you could ignore but it seeped through your guts and into your brain until it permeated all your thoughts.

“Holy fucking shit.”

She pulled the pin, and suddenly, bright red smoke surrounded Angie. It burned her lungs. It wasn’t enjoyable but it was a nice distraction from the girl who was making her way out of the foliage. She threw the smoke bomb in the vague direction of Quinn.

She coughed a second then a third time. Angie choked on more air as something lifted her up the ground.

[BlizzardeyeWonder]

The plan was to run. Throw the smoke bomb at Quinn and run.

Meilin didn't run.

For someone- something- like Quinn, the smoke would only stop them temporarily. A momentary distraction- then what? Would she shoot? Run after them? And if not them, who was next?

Quinn would only be stopped for a moment.

But if Meilin was fast enough, one moment would be all they needed.

She pointed one blade of the haladie towards the silhouette where Quinn was and charged.

[Buko]

The smoke billowed out much more than he expected--but he had read that, right? In his instruction manual? They were they type of smoke bombs used by the po-po and shit, riot gear--the real shit.

And it was real, the world obscured by the bright red plumes.

Throw the bomb and scatter.

Run!

Run!

Run!

Angie threw the bomb.

Ace heard the thundering of footsteps--was that Angie or Mei? Either way they were running. Either way they were protected, covered by the smoke. What now? What if Quinn gave chase? What if she opened fire into the smoke? He should've pulled the trigger! Shoot into the brush or the sky or something! What an idiot! But hindsight was 20/20 even if it's range was 20 seconds ago.

What could he do?

Stick to the plan.

Just run and keep running.

No one runs faster than you can. No one runs faster than you. Nobody runs faster than you can. No one runs faster than you. Nobody runs faster than you can. No one runs faster than you. Nobody runs faster than you can. Nobody runs faster than you.

He grabbed the nearest body next to him, his bag slamming against his side and gun in one hand and girl in the other.

He took a deep breath.

And he darted off into the wilderness and he ran until his chest hurt.
[Ace Beats Continued In: 4.4 ]

[Melusine]

Angie was half-standing, half-crouching when Ace had picked up her.

The impact was surprisingly soft. It was the type of thing you didn't expect from someone who got a scholarship because of his skill at hitting people. Or was he a quarterback? Angie wasn't a sport lady, but she knew he did football and that was about it and he was good at it. Anyways, she quickly realized that she wasn't meant to be picked up, or at least his soft gesture of dragging her as nicely as possible was aimed at someone else.

Meilin was the target, she assumed, but she was nowhere to be seen because of the smoke. Angie's eyes were tearing up and her throat felt even rawer than yesterday. If she could speak, she would probably say something about Meilin or maybe just ask Ace to go back. Even if Angie wanted to talk, she was just croaking like a chainsmoking frog.

But instead, she could be dragged away, coughing.

((Angie has left the thread.))

[Namira]

They were afraid.

They were afraid and it was electric.

Quinn hadn't even had to do anything, really. A lot of what she'd done had been strung between idle curiosity and because she felt like it. Because she could. Make scarecrows? Sure. She'd always wondered. Wood carved. How about flesh and bone?

But this? Just the matter of them realising who she was being enough to send them into a blind panic?

God. Yes.

They knew her. They knew who and what she was. She'd daydreamed of seeing classmates scurry and scramble before she cornered them against a wall and filleted them. It'd always just been a fantasy, the tiniest salve to the frustration of having to deal with people, people and their pointless words, their pointless opinions.

Quinn had never imagined that it would come true, and more, that the truth would be so much better than she could conjure up in her mind. She didn't even care that she'd lose the chance to kill them; seeing them flee like that was worth the price of admission all on its own.

Her good cheer lasted about until the smoke started spewing from the grenade, stinging her eyes. She growled her displeasure and took a step back, shielding her face with a sleeve. Through squinted eyes, however, she saw a dark figure bearing down on her. Not a large one. One of the girls?

It was almost cute that it thought it mattered.

Quinn feinted, dropping the shoulder, then, in a move that could have graced any court, spun around her opposite foot. The attempted attack swiped air. Quinn's elbow did not, crashing into a jaw. They stumbled and her hand snapped out, catching a wrist. In the smoke she could just about make out the glistening shine of a blade. Her eyes lit up.

Then she wrenched back the wrist and plunged the weapon into the girl's stomach. Ripped clear. Forced her to stab herself again. Again.

"Game over," she sing-songed over the wet shunk of metal on meat.

[BlizzardeyeWonder]

The smoke, she didn't expect it to be so... red, stinging, like nettle.

There she was, so clearly in sight- taking a step back. A momentary distraction. This had to be it. Meilin had to finish this right now. The haladie swiped towards the figure, and-

Meilin's head spun, she could see that even with the smoke getting in her eyes and throat and what was holding her wrist and twisting it back so that-

It felt like a punch to the gut except there was something else added to it. A split second was too soon to describe it. Her breath shook, the realization dawning.

No. No. NO.

Her wrist was pulled back again, and for just a moment, a scream pierced the smoke, only to be cut short by another stab. She tried again, only to be cut even shorter. There was no breath left to be spared, even before Quinn forced her hand again.

She felt herself falling away. In a blind fury, she made one last attempt to push the haladie forward, but of course it didn't reach Quinn. The blade did, however, fall away with her. She kept her grasp on it, whatever she could muster.

Dragged herself at first, before lifting herself, just barely, to a crawl. The haladie stayed by her. Whatever happened, she had to make sure Quinn didn't have it. Far enough along, she gasped for air as the smoke gave way to clearer forests ahead.

"Ace..."

Too weak.

"Ace!"

Footsteps... behind her.

[Namira]

The girl dropped, descending into the smoke. Quinn frowned, wiping blood off onto her checked shirt. Her prey wasn't going to walk away from that many stabbings, but losing track of her would be inconvenient and spoil the mood. The fear had got her buzzing. Finally getting to use an actual blade sent Quinn's heart to racing. She hadn't even especially intended to kill anyone, but when they delivered themselves gift-wrapped into her arms, how could she say no?

Quinn lowered herself until she caught sight of movement. Crawling away, struggling desperately for inches more of life. Out of the smoke, which suited Quinn just fine, since she'd be able to see properly. What a let down it would be to spill blood then simply find the corpse. No fading breaths, no dimming light in the eyes, no dying gasp.

The dying girl was calling out. Ace. Would he return? Quinn doubted it. He'd fled and left her to die. Tragic.

Quinn followed her. Actually, she walked alongside her, just a couple of feet to her right, just slightly too far away for the girl to reach.

She stuck her hands in her pockets and strolled.

[Buko]

[ Ace Continued From: 4.4]
You said you were tired of it—fuck this and fuck that…

Well if not now…when…?

If not this monster …which…?

If not her…who..?

BRRAT-BRRAT-BRRAT!

"Get the fuck away from her!"

[BlizzardeyeWonder]

Footsteps beside her. Meilin was on the ground again, but she could lift her head up, supporting herself on one arm. That's what she did, lifted her head up.

As long a breath as she could manage. It... would be one of her last. At that moment, she understood.

Looking to the side revealed Quinn casually walking alongside her. She gripped the haladie and moved the hand that had it away from it, near instinctively. But what use was it? Quinn was going to go and pick up the weapon when it was done waiting for Meilin to drop dead, and then what was going to stop her?

Gunfire.

Ace was there. He was back- but part of her wished he wasn't. Now he had to see her die.

But if she was going to die, it wouldn't be for nothing. There was fire in her eyes- she couldn't stare into Ace's own and let him feel it in silence. But maybe, with the last bit of breath she had, she could breathe fire.

They had to remember what they wanted to do- Ace had to remember the reason he declared war.

"MAKE IT!"

Her head fell back to the ground, knocking whatever air she had left away. Not like she was going to need it.

Nothing but silence, and darkness.

Meilin could try to hold onto something, anything, as every thought slipped by. Stars in the sky. Fingers in her hair. Laughter. The cool rain on her face.

One thing stuck longer than anything else- they better make it.

But soon, that too was ripped away.

Now everything was truly silent.

G021 - DEAD

[Meilin Zhou didn't make it. 101 students remain.]