But I Might Die Tonight

[ZombiexCreame†]

Another male voice split through the quiet air like a blade. Josie Vernon looked around, but she didn't see this David Memac fellow, although his name sounded familiar to her. She'd seen him around school a few times, but it wasn't enough to judge whether he was dangerous or not. Judging by the tone of his voice, merely yelling out his name and asking if everyone was okay, she decided that this David fellow was probably okay. And if she was allowing this Max kid to grace her presence, she might as well allow one more. What could it hurt? It wasn't like she had a lot to lose at this point. Besides, Josie's little team of herself and Sierra wasn't likely to succeed very far. Neither Sierra or herself were armed (unless you count pepper spray as a deadly weapon... unless an attacker is allergic to pepper), so having three people in her little group might up the chances of her survival; especially if both Kimberly and Max had guns. Maybe even that David had a gun.

Josie waited but Kimberly never appeared. Was she still back there? Had she booked it down the mountain, her mind fresh with the resolve to never run into Josie and her lot again? Oh, most likely the latter. That strange girl, nameless in Josie's mind, was gone, and she honestly wasn't sure if it was something worth worrying over. Was she a killer? Was she coming back? Was she off to go kill others or, wore, bring back friends to kill Josie and Sierra? Force the two best friends apart permanently?

She decided it wasn't worth worrying about. If that girl had her own plan, well so be it. Josie didn't want to team up with her anyway. Kimberly had a prerogative, and Josie had... nothing. Nothing except a birthday card and Sierra; neither of which would ultimately save her life. Regardless, if that girl really was coming back with some murderous groupies, all was well. Josie didn't planning on staying in the mountains for very long anyway.

"Okay, now you got to be kidding me..."

Josie furrowed her eyebrows and scowled at Max. "No, I'm not kidding. I don't want some strange guy hanging around and freaking her out. But.." She looked over at Sierra, who had just shook her head no in response to Josie's question. So maybe Max wasn't so terrible after all. She was about to apologize to him, but then he shouted for that David kid to come over.

Josie stared at Max for a hard moment before roughly shoving him again. Okay, so just moments prior she had decided that David sounded pretty recent, and she was alright with having him in their little group, but it was just the fact that Max invited him over. Max. And that grated Josie's nerves. "What are you doing, you idiot?! I don't know anything about David.. You could be inviting over a psycho!" she weakly argued, folding her arms in front of her. She instinctively took a step over to Sierra and stood in front of the sitting girl.

David came into view, but he didn't approach them. He was still pretty far off, the shadows obscuring his physical features. Josie squinted, but she made no moves to approach him and introduce herself with a friendly handshake. It looked like he expected them to go to him, but Josie wasn't that easily duped. She wasn't about to be killed by some boy that Max invited over!

Josie nodded her head in David's direction and hissed out, "You go over there and see if he's... alright. I'll stay with Sierra," she said coldly, sitting down next to her best friend. Sierra was still in a state of mourning, and Josie felt so useless to her friend's situation. She couldn't help her. She couldn't offer comforting words. All she could do was snap at the one (nice) boy that had managed to come her way. Sierra could barely muster the strength to go on in this maddening game, and Josie... couldn't lend her that strength. She was a pretty fail friend, but she decided that there wasn't much she could do. Placing a hand on Sierra's shoulder, Josie whispered, "It'll be ok. We'll get through this."

What would a good friend do?

A good friend would stand up, pump her fist in the air and declare war on that Julian Avery kid, or whoever the fuck he was. A good friend would not eat or sleep until the offending cause of Sierra's pain was dead and rotting. Josie considered herself a bad friend because she didn't have the strength to kill Julian Avery or even think about killing him. She didn't even have anything to kill with, just.. it was dumb. How could she be so dumb?

Besides, Julian Avery didn't need death. He needed.. well.. a thank-you. Omar probably went psycho, and he probably harbored a few delusions about Sierra being a goddess, and he'd sacrifice anyone who got in her way. And then when everyone was dead, he'd sacrifice Sierra and them himself, and it would be the most fucked up version of Survival of the Fittest... In a perfect world, at least. Any way Josie looked at it, Omar probably would have caused more harm to Sierra than not. And he was probably better of dead, and Julian Avery was better off alive. Unless he was out to kill everyone Sierra ever loved, but that was a pretty stupid mission. Sierra didn't have any deep emotional ties to Julian, or not that Josie was aware of.

So yes. She was a bad friend. Not that there was anything she could do to change.

[Yossarian†]

Ugh... She doesn't know when to stop, does she?

Indeed, the girl went on, and on, for no good reason at all. Maybe if he would really freak out Sierra or anything, that would be justified, but as it stood right there, that girl was just a royal pain in the ass hidden in a 'mama-bear protecting her children' suit, even though the cubs were safe.

Although Max was irritated to the point, he almost considered just showing her a middle finger, putting on his headphones and walking away, he didn't retort. He had advantage over both of the girl, so he could say whatever the hell he wanted, and if they don't like it, they would be given the 'bullet or GTFO' choice. But no. Max was way too much of a friendly guy to do that. So he just stood there, and listened, what the girl had to say. When a situation arose though, Max quickly changed the topic, so she would stop bashing him even for a few seconds. In this case, the topic was David. Obviously, the girl again called him an idiot for simply inviting the guy. Using every last bit of his strength, Maxwell smiled to her and responded. "Relax. He sounds like he's really not confident about anything. And THAT sounds like anything but an island psycho..."

After a bit of a pause, the girl spoke again, and probably for the first time, she didn't insult Max. "You go over there and see if he's... alright. I'll stay with Sierra,"

"Gladly..." Max grumbled under his nose, before going to David. As he approached the newcomer, a smile came back to his face. The guy looked like a nice chap, and on the top of that, he had one of the most awesome t-shirts Max has ever seen.

"Hey there" he said with a friendly voice. "Nice shirt."

At this point, Maxwell only begged, the guy was as friendly as he looks like, not like a CERTAIN other person around.

[lovebirdjo†]

Sierra could have remained frozen in her crouched spot until her bitter end, but Josie's arrival had calmed her down significantly. She still wasn't sure that she could speak, and her throat was sore enough that she grimaced. Her vocal cords felt like they were spent for the day. Looking at Josie, the petite girl placed her hands on the ground to steady herself and pushed herself up until she was standing. As numb as she felt on the inside, her body ached from the combination of moving too much for her lack of strength and staying in one strained position for too long. Stretching out her legs and arms, the blond managed to shake some of the dull ache away. Despite how much it hurt to, Sierra felt it was time to try and talk. It came out as more of a high pitched croak than a human voice.

"J-Joze, I think we thould thart moving again," she whispered, "I don't want to thay here anymore." Really all she wanted was to find Omar, or what was left of him. If they stayed in one place for too long, they were doomed already. Why couldn't they have been abducted by aliens instead of being taken here to decimate one another? It really would make much more sense. If only someone could help them. Even though Sierra knew that there was no hope of help, she couldn't help but wonder what her chances would be if she made an SOS signal. She could start a fire or go to the beach and write a message in the sand.

How long before a plane or helicopter came and saw it though? That was a pathetic excuse for a plan. The blonde knew that her only choice was to keep moving until she could move no longer. She and Josie would be able to survive for much longer if they kept to the shadows and made no commotion. So that's what Sierra had every intention of doing.

"Where thould we go, though?" It was a valid question. What place was safe anymore? There was none.

[ET.Requiem†]

((Kevin Harding continued from Keep Yourself Alive))

After another wretched day of walking and hiding, Kevin had finally come to realize that he was out of food. All he had was a bottle of water left. His stomach growled rather loudly as he staggered up the dark mountain. It was unfortunate, but he had finally hit the point where he would start scavenging.

"I've become a corpse looting asshole, haven't I?" Kevin could only mutter to himself. This was no good at all.

Dying was a terrifying prospect. Blown up by this goddamned collar, shot by a marauding jackass, starving to death.... Any one of those things could end him. Hell, he was lucky that he made it this far already. The whole point of the game was to survive, and he was just barely hanging on.

The gloomy thought reminded him of the close call he had, back when he was snuck up on by Mirabelle. He would've been demolished if he had actually fought with her. How lucky he was that the brawl never came to pass. Not everybody on this island was insane or getting close to that point.

He started using the shovel as a cane, burying the metal head into the loose rocks over and over again as he climbed. There was no hope. He should've just stopped and started digging his own grave. But he refused to quit. Kevin wouldn't accept anything other than a resounding victory over this trial. No matter what, he had to live.

Was he more deserving than the others? Absolutely not. Most of his reasons were selfish ones. That alone would disqualify him if survivors were judged on a moral basis. In the end, he couldn't come up with a good argument. He didn't even want to justify it.

It was the same reason why he couldn't kill. He knew that the others had the same thirst for life he did. Snuffing that out would only serve to show him the fear of death. Kevin didn't know how to shut that part off, and was crippled by it.

"So what can I do?"

[Grim Wolf]

For a little while, David was left standing where he was, staring at the dim shapes in the distance. The longer he stood there, the more nervous he felt; these people could hurt him, these people could kill him, he didn't need them, he could get away on his own before they-

One of the shapes detached themselves from the mass. David felt his throat tighten and he tensed, his eyes darting here and there like a frightened squirrel. The terrain here looked treacherous and the last time he'd tried to run where he wasn't supposed to he'd messed up his ankle something fierce. Still, it was better than being shot like Cody or hacked apart, have his insides strewn all along this mountain and...

"Hey there!" came the friendly voice which had identified itself as Max earlier. "Nice shirt!"

David glanced down to his ridiculous T-shirt and then, weakly, smiled. "Nice," he muttered. "Yeah." He scratched the back of his head. "Really dumb. All things..." He grimaced and scuffed at the ground with his foot. "Dumb," he repeated wearily.

He ran a hand over his face. "This is...this is probably a really stupid question," he said. "But I've been running since...since we got here, and I've seen some..."

His face had gotten very pale, and he felt the saliva in his mouth intensifying as bile rose in his throat. He didn't want to remember what he'd seen.

"You're not gonna kill me, are you?" he asked.

[ZombiexCreame†]

Max was telling Josie to relax. He was telling her that David sounded like anything but an island psycho, but what did he know? Did he have experience or something? Was he a Survival of the Fittest fanatic? One of those crazy kids that wore SOTF t-shirts to school and watched the different seasons of episodes on Megavideo in secret? "Okay, go over there and talk to him. If he shoves a weapon in your eyeball, don't say that I didn't warn ya. Island psychos... Ha!" She laughed bitterly and watched Max as he turned away and went over to David.

What an idiot. What an absolute and complete idiot, going over to that strange boy... But really, why was it idiotic? It wasn't really, Josie was just feeling particularly defiant. David was probably okay, Max was probably okay, everything was just damn peachy! It was just the light twinge of paranoia ebbing at the edge of her mind, nibbling on wires of sanity and logic and reason. She just wasn't sure.. Part of her wasn't really sure if anyone was out there killing at all. How did she know? She hadn't seen any bodies except for that drowned girl, and, to be completely honest, Josie could barely remember her name anymore. Was it Janet? Or was it Ema? Ema was the other girl, right?

Ugh, it was useless to think about.

But the point was, the only corpse Josie had the pleasure of seeing had been an accidental drowning. She hadn't seen the real serious stuff that she'd pictured, nothing that would cause her to shield her eyes and wimper under her breath. Was her paranoia justified or could she do well with letting her guard down a bit?

Realizing that maybe it would be okay to relax for a second, Josie let her shoulders slump as guilt sunk into her pores. Poor Max, she had been such a self-righteous bitch. She wanted to apologize, but he was gone, off to talk to David.

Josie was tempted to follow him, but her pride wouldn't allow that. Plus, she didn't want to leave Sierra's side. If she left Sierra, even for a minute, who knows what other crazies could arrive? Last time she left Sierra, that Max moron showed up, and she didn't need anymore Max's. Josie laughed at that thought. Who was she kidding, Max wasn't so terrible - she didn't even really know the guy. She was bitter, so so bitter.

Sierra stood up and stretched, but Josie merely gawked up at her, her hands wrapped around her knees. "Going somewhere?" she thought to herself, but Sierra spoke before Josie could open her lips. She wanted to get moving, and Josie agreed with her. They had been in the mountains for quite awhile, for such an uncomfortable while, and it would probably be best to leave and go somewhere else. "I don't want to stay either," Josie admitted, her eyes glancing back to where Max and David were standing.

"Where thould we go, though?"

And the red-haired girl shook her head, running a hand through her unwashed locks. She could only imagine that she looked like hell. Her carefully applied makeup was probably streaming down her face in greasy globs, her porcelain skin was pecked with acne marks, her hair chunky and unappealing... She wanted a bath, a mirror, some makeup, but Josie had none of that. Well, she did have makeup, but she didn't give two shits about it here on this island. Who the fuck cared about what you looked like in such a twisted game? And if you did care what you looked like, no one else would.

Still, going someplace with a mirror would be nice. She could tidy up a bit, go someplace where she didn't have to rough it. A building... "Maybe we should check out some of the buildings that the map has on it.. There's like, a lighthouse, a hall of mirrors, uhm.. a parish or something? We could go to one of those," she added weakly, but she could already see the cons. It was different being out in the open: If someone spotted you in the outdoors, you could run. You could hide or take cover or something. But indoors? There was nothing except locked doors and windows, no where to go, trapped. It sounded like a bad idea, and Josie realized this the second she said it. "I dunno, maybe not. I think everywhere's gunna suck," she said with a shrug.

Josie looked over at where Max and David were standing. They were still talking, but there wasn't any fighting going on, so everything was hunky dory. Josie and Sierra could ditch those bozos without them even realizing it, and this was perhaps the better outcome out of many. Max and David would probably fare better without the two females, but Josie still didn't feel quite so good about ditching Max and leaving the two guys behind. It was probably because Josie was bound to run into many other guys or gals, and those guys or gals could prove to be gun-toting assholes with an ego that decided to present itself the moment that a gun came into its possession.

But Max wasn't a killer, and presumably, neither was this David dude. Josie wanted to group with someone eventually, but leaving behind good prospects seemed like a bit of a waste. What if she never met a civil human again? What if everyone from here on out were sociopathic cannibal? Josie didn't exactly believe that to be the case, but it still felt wrong to just leave those two guys behind. She was defenseless after all, and she didn't have trouble admitting it.

"Alright, we'll leave, but let's tell that Max guy first. Maybe we could get him to.. travel with us. You know, travel in numbers. It's probably safer," she added, sounding almost self-conscious. She definitely was self-conscious, but only because her words sounded so uncharacteristically Josie. Josie never talked about hanging out in packs or traveling in numbers or anything. Josie was so solitary and single, and that's why she only had one friend. Because one friend was all that she needed. She didn't need three or five or ten or two-hundred. Just one was fine, and she was fine with that.

But Survival of the Fittest was not her typical social situation, so she reserved the right to nose out of the box a bit. "I'll go get him, and we'll see about getting out of here."

Straightening herself up, Josie left Sierra's side and walked the short distance over to Max and David. She tapped Max's shoulder and nodded politely at David. "Uh, hi. Listen, Sierra and I were going to leave. We've just been in these mountains for awhile, and, I, uh.." Tripping over her words again, no way to elegantly say that she didn't want to leave Max behind because Max could be useful and Josie was anything but useful. Finally, she managed to blurt out, "Travel together? I mean, you, us, and.. Uh." She looked at David. "We could be a .. group, I guess.." Her cheeks were glowing now. This felt so stupid!

She was tempted to turn around and run, but it was too late now.

[Yossarian†]

Ah, that felt nice and refreshing. Of course, David was scared as hell, but at least he didn't act like a dick. Really nice change of scenery after that red haired girl. He mumbled something about his shirt being stupid, and then asked if Max wasn't going to kill him. Instead of a reassuring smile or anything, Max faded out for a bit to his own realm.

Would he kill him? After all he almost did kill Peter because of a simple misunderstanding and his own paranoid state of mind at that time. It was stupid, Max was tired at that time... But what was the chance, it wouldn't happen again?

Max shook his head a bit, quickly throwing away the grim thoughts. Thinking like that won't help him at all.

"No, not dumb..." He replied to David about his shirt. "It's funny. And I think we all need things like that to keep ourselves sane. And no..."

Max looked at the pistol in his hand. As long, as his grip was firm on it, all of his words about not being dangerous could be thrown in a bin immediately. And so, he just hid the pistol in his back pocket, not bothering about the stuck safety switch, and prayed it won't accidentally shoot him in the butt at some point.

"I'm not going to kill you. If I wanted to, we wouldn't be speaking right now."

Before David could come up with nay answer, the bratty girl tapped Max's shoulder and told him she was going to leave with Sierra. But not alone. She asked them to form a group. Now that took Max by the surprise. Honestly, he expected something like 'Hurry up, we don't have all day!" or something like that, but instead, the girl finally sounded... Polite?

After a while, when Max processed everything that was said and stopped thinking so much, he finally replied.

"Yeah, sure... Staying here is not smart probably... We can team up, and go... Somewhere... Else..."

And the he realized something. The very thing that brought him up here. With all the stuff about Sierra and the girl who insulted him since he shown up, he completely forgot about about the person he hoped to find here.

"Oh, right, almost forgot... Did, by a chance, any one of you managed to encounter Maria Graham? You know, kinda short girl, black hair with blue stripes, impossible to miss... She's my friend, and I need to find her. I'm... I'm Worried..."

[ET.Requiem†]

After two or three minutes slogging up the lonely mountain, Kevin heard voices in the dark. He was about to start freaking out when he realized that he hadn't spontaneously snapped. There really were people somewhere up here. What would he do now? He didn't have the heart to keep on going at it alone, not when he was ineffective without others to work with.

"What if they're going to try and kill me?" He considered it briefly, but he was too exhausted to resist the urge to go ahead anyways.

With a weary sigh, he headed towards the voices. His shovel dragged across the rocks with a loud scraping sound, which would instantly allow others to locate him.

If they want my life, they're going to have to bleed for it. If they want to team up.... I'm all ears. That's how I'll decide it.

It wasn't long before he came across the three. The last shambles of whatever plan he held fell apart when he saw the gun in... whatshisname's hand.

"Aw, fuck."

[ZombiexCreame†]

((I'm just going to post since Josie is going to go inactive soon..))

Josie felt relieved when Max agreed to team up with her. He didn't make much fuss about it, and she sort of expected him to make fun of her or tease her for her stuttering, embarrassed request. See, that wasn't so hard! It wasn't hard to make friends and ask people to team up, and for Josie, it really felt like something of a triumph. Maybe everything would be just great for once. A nice guy with a gun, plenty of protection, she hadn't been attacked and no corpses were in sight...

Yes, definitely time to let one's guard down a bit.

Josie managed a small smile and nodded her head. "Okay. Got any plans of where to go next?" she asked, but his focus was elsewhere. He was staring at something faraway, obviously trying to recall a memory or a thought or..

Maria Graham. The name was familiar, and Josie nodded slightly when Max uttered the name. "I know who you're talking about," she responded, brushing a stray hair from in front of her eyes. "We're not super close, but we've been to a few shows together," she commented, remembering some of the rock concerts she'd attended with a few others from school. It was the only time she could ever remember bonding with her classmates. Local band revenues, and Josie would have to say that she was a fan of Maria's music.

Unfortunately, she hadn't ran into Maria at all on the island, and she could only recall that the girl's name had been mentioned during one of the daily announcements. She had killed someone, just like Omar... Shaking her head sadly, Josie said, "No, sorry.. I haven't seen her."

Max wanted to find Maria, claiming that he was worried, and for a second, Josie could sympathize with him a bit. If Josie couldn't find Sierra, she would be driven mad with worry and guilt and who knows what else. She decided that, with no other goal in mind, she might as well try to help Max find his friend, even if she was a killer. But if Maria decides to go crazy and murder Max upon sight, Josie would not take the blame, and she would be the first one to run off in the other direction.. with Sierra at her side of course.

"I'll keep an eye out for her. We can look together," she said, managing a small smile.

Suddenly a grating sound reached her ears, and Josie looked around to locate the sound. It was a dragging noise, almost like nails on a chalk board, but not quite.. Someone was nearby, that much was sure. "Someone's nearby.." Josie muttered, slowly lowering herself into a crouch. The noise was getting closer and closer, and she was about to strain her neck with all the movement her head was doing...

"Aw, fuck."

Josie whipped around and realized that the person making the dragging sound was nearby, staring right at him. His eyes were fixed on Max, and in his hand was a shovel. Was that the thing making the noise? Josie could only assume so. She rose up into a stand after realizing several things: Firstly, this boy was aware that Max had a gun, so he wouldn't try anything. Secondly, he only had a lowly shovel, so it wasn't like a shovel-gun fight would prove to be that epic, (although a shovel would beat Josie's weapon by miles), and thirdly, Josie had no idea who this boy was, so who knows if his name had appeared on the announcement?

"Who are you?" she immediately questioned, defensively moving back to stand beside Sierra.

[Grim Wolf]

(Balls, how did I not notice that?)

"I'm not going to kill you," Maxwell Crowe said. "If I wanted to, we wouldn't be speaking right now."

And without really wanting to, David relaxed. Maybe he was just being naive, but he couldn't imagine anyone on the island trying to lure him deeper into a trap; if they'd wanted to take him out, they would have done it. He would have been shot.

Max hadn't shot him. Therefore, Max was okay.

One of the people Max had been standing with came up. It was a girl--Josie, he thought, the one with the ridiculous hair. She wanted to form a group.

"Be careful," David mumbled, rubbing a hand over his shirt. "Last group I was with got...got fucked up pretty bad." He swallowed. "Attacked from the trees. N-not good."

He listened as the conversation continued. He was tired of being alone--he wanted to find Liz Polanski, get this damn collar off, get the hell out of here. Max, however, seemed to have other plans. "Haven't...haven't seen a Maria," David said. Least, not that I can remember.. He was about to suggest they go look for Liz when he heard it.

"Aw fuck."

If they had still been talking, the words would have been too quiet to hear; however, whoever had said them had spoken into a chance lull in their conversation, and so they drifted even into David's ears. With a short yelp, David scampered backwards, looking for cover, looking for anything he could use to-

Wait. Wait. The guy who'd attacked them earlier hadn't exactly been quiet about it. And this guy sounded more scared than anything.

David swallowed. "H-hey!" he called, weakly. "It's...it's okay! These are good people."

[Mimi]

(Jo doesn't have the time to handle Sierra anymore and I'm itching to get back into v4, so I'll be handling Sierra once again. Thanks for taking care of her, Jo<3)

Is survivor's guilt a real thing? Y'know how when there's one of those big plane crashes or pile-ups on the highway and only a few people survive, the survivor's are always talking about how 'they should have died' rather than the other people?

Or is that all a hoax—something society uses to explain suicidal tendencies?

Sierra's chest felt as if it were closing in on itself as Josie ran down the list of potential destinations, houses or buildings that they could hide in and ride out the storm. Their own little Eden-- a place where nobody would hurt them, where nobody would tear them apart. They were supposed to find Eden with Omar, they could've locked the rest of the world outside and be happy, but now what?

It felt wrong.

Part of her wished they had jumped on the first day, if only she knew what she knew now. It didn't matter, anyway. She was a coward. She was a coward now and she was a coward on Day One, she doubted highly that she'd have the courage to jump even with visions of the future.

Omar would want her to live, she knew that much. Wanting it was just the hard part.

"Yeah..." Sierra nodded, her voice still raspy from the extended period of silence. Everywhere would suck, but nothing would suck more than staying rooted in one place. Omar was out there somewhere, or what was left of him. It would hurt to see him the way he was, possible in chunks ground up on the ground, but it'd hurt worse knowing she didn't see him one last time. He probably wanted to see her too. She could put him to rest, yeah?

A wary look spread over Sierra's face when Josie mentioned bringing Max along. "Okay, if you think that'th what we thhould do." Sierra's eyes lingered on Josie's retreating form, her arms crossed tightly against her chest in a futile effort to fend off the chill left behind by the night breeze. While she didn't want to admit it to herself, Sierra was actually somewhat relieved. She hated that Josie had to take care of her, be the strong one for both of them. Maybe with someone else around, she could relax a little. Past the embittered opinions of herself, Sierra managed to feel a sense of pride watching Josie reach out to people and count on someone. She didn't have to be strong all the time, y'know. Max was nice, too. Tender, almost familiarly so.

And Sierra felt much more comfortable dying knowing Josie would have someone like that.

For the first time in a long while, a small smile spread across Sierra's face as Josie began talking to the two boys. No matter how futile it was to make friends in the situation, they were still people. People with feelings and stories that needed to be told, people who didn't deserve to die. She knew it'd be hard to say goodbye to them when the time came, but maybe it'd be worth it.

Maybe she didn't need to be strong or brave or any of that. Maybe she could just be her? Old 'fraidy pants cry-baby 'Thierra Manning with an Eth' who talked to people just because everyone needs someone to talk to? Strength comes in a lot of different shapes, right? No matter how resigned she was that she'd die, maybe her being her could give someone else the strength to live? She could only hope that someone could have the life that she didn't want, that someone could go home and live for her.

Distantly, a scraping sound bounced through the area, cause the small girls' heart to dip into her stomach. She looked toward Josie, who was facing a figure not too far away. Her shaking hand darted into her jacket pocket and took tight hold of the tube inside. Of course something went wrong.

Something always goes wrong.

[Yossarian†]

((Well, I know this is not a good moment, but since this thread is still in day 4 while the game entered D6, I think we should move. Also, sorry for the delay. Real mess at work.))

It seemed that everything was going to be fine. No one managed to encounter Maria, but at least all of them offered some help with finding her. David calmed down, Sierra was showing signs of live again, the redhead suddenly became polite, and the real genuine, friendly smile appeared on Max's face for the first time since he woke up on the island. It Looked like they were boarding the happy train to the hope station, before yet another person appeared.

Normally that wouldn't be a bad thing, the more the merrier, but there was just something... Unpleasant about the newcomer. Maybe because he looked a little bit mentally unstable to Max for some reason. Maybe because of his awkward reaction to the fact, that Max had a gun. Or maybe because he was holding a shovel in a different way than any gardener or worker Max ever encountered. Or maybe because of all of the above. The redhead asked the very same question Max would ask, if he would be alone, while David started mumbling something about the group being made of good people.

The reason didn't matter, Max didn't exactly like the new guy, and neither did the rest, judging from their reactions. The shovel guy would have no chance if he tried anything funny against 4 people and one of them armed, so there was no real threat, but still, Max decided to handle the situation with his normal, careful approach. Who knows, maybe he was just too harsh for that guy...

The problem was... What really should he say to him? Besides 'ahh Fuck', he didn't really say anything which could start a decent conversation. Max had no idea, what the guy wanted, or what his plan, or whatever. He only knew, at least two people from his group wanted to leave the mountain ASAP, and so did Max, so he decided to put all of the cards on the table immediately.

"Whoa there, buddy. I think it's time to go now, we spent way too much time here already. If you want to tag along, then put that shovel down, and prove us, you are harmless. Otherwise, leave us be. We ain't looking for trouble."

And then, Max took a few steps down the mountain, while still looking at the newcomer, and keeping his hand around the back pocket containing, just to be on the safe side. While doing this, he tried to keep as neutral face as possible, to not make him feel, they're about to attack him.

"Come on guys... Let's go."

((Maxwell Crowe continued in Down the Road, Not Across the Street))

[ET.Requiem†]

(Arrggh. I really need to speed this up, so I apologize if this is too short.)

Kevin looked blankly at the armed man as the latter moved away. He had taken the wrong approach, and now he would have to leave empty handed. With barely concealed frustration, he spat on the ground and walked away in the opposite direction. This was no good at all. This was a total waste of energy, which was something he was short on today.

He looked back briefly. Was this the last time he'd see people who wouldn't try to kill him on sight? If so, he would burn their faces into his memory. Perhaps he would leave them alone if he saw them again.

How was he going to survive now? Kevin was fangless and just plain out of supplies. Foraging... was not out of the question, although he had no experience in that. He cursed under his breath. There was no recourse. It was time to drop any pretense of dignity and just do whatever he had to do to survive.

With a slow and shambling gait, he left the mountain with a stubborn feeling of hate building inside him.

((Kevin Harding continued in Requiem for a Rock Star))

[Grim Wolf]

(Reluctantly concurred)

Max ordered the other guy to put his shovel down. The other guy, instead of answering, spat on the ground and turned to go. He could feel the distance between them, taut as a bowstring and exactly as deadly. His eyes flickered about them; he felt the palpable danger.

Here, just like everywhere else, he could die at any moment. Safety and security were illusions.

David's throat felt tight.

Max was already retreating down the mountain. The other two--Josie and the girl Josie was with (Sierra, David thought?) were sitting around, looking tense as ever. David swallowed, trying to clear some of this awful tightness in his throat, trying to feel anything but fear.

That girl. The one farther back. She was shivering, and by the way her arms were wrapped around her it wasn't wholly from fear.

David, feeling the awful emptiness in his belly, focused on it. Hunger, not fear. Shivering girl, not terrified boy. These people were going to help him, and there was safety here; he didn't want them to think badly of them.

Plus, this girl looked as bad as he felt.

"H-hey," he said weakly, pulling off his old leather jacket. "I, um...I don't know if you want it, but-" He shook his head. "Just-here." He handed her the jacket--didn't try and put it on her, he wasn't looking for anything and he didn't want to invade her space.

"Guess we should...guess we should go," he said weakly.

This wasn't the absence of fear he'd been hoping for. But it was better than being alone.

(David Meramac continued in Down the Road, Not Across the Street)

[ZombiexCreame†]

Josie crooked an eyebrow at David as he stumbled backwards. He really was an odd fellow... Something pretty bad must have scared him. He seemed like one of those traumatized catastrophe victims. She honestly felt sorry for him, and she doubted he meant harm, but... God, he was a little amusing to watch. In one moment, he trying to find cover, and the next, he was calling out to the stranger and assuring them of the small group's sincerity. Josie sighed loudly, but she decided not to say anything. She didn't want to yell at David for calling out to the stranger with the shovel, but that didn't change her suspicions... Sure, shovel-guy could be a great guy, but he could also be dangerous. She just wasn't sure.

Taking a step closer to Sierra, Josie noticed the panicked expression on her friend's face. She leaned in a touch closer and whispered, "It's okay, I doubt that guy will try anything... Max has a gun and stuff," she mentioned, offering a vague smile that quickly flickered away like a candle in a hurricane. Smiling kind of hurt her mouth a little.

Before the small group left the mountain, Max turned and addressed the stranger in a way that Josie would never be able to. He said it all so eloquently! There was no way that the shovel-boy could take that offensively... If it had been Josie addressing the stranger, she probably would have slipped a few expletives and maybe a glare or two. But Max's proclamation was reasonable: Leave the shovel or leave us. Sounds good. Josie surely didn't want trouble or anything. Hell, she didn't even want trouble to be in a 500 foot radius from herself and Sierra!

Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she smiled at Sierra and grabbed her bags too. "I got our stuff. Don't you worry about carrying anything, Sierra. I know you're tired." She slowly patted Sierra's shoulder and then turned around, following after Max with the heavy baggage of Sierra's and her own.

She didn't mind at all.

She was aware that David had lent Sierra his jacket during their walk off the mountain, and she found that rather sweet. She would have to thank him later because anyone nice to Sierra was a friend in her book.

((Josie Vernon continued in Down the Road, Not Across the Street))