I'll Need A Saviour

[Little Boy†]

Jay's eyes flickered over to John as Daniel began to empty the pack. The boy's warning caused Jay to lift his hand away from the Pistol, laying it back down on the ground. He swallowed, looking back up at Daniel.

What the shit am I doing? I wouldn't be able to kill him even if I tried...

As the boy continued to empty his pack, Jay felt his unease grow slightly dimmer.

Maybe... maybe he doesn't have anything? Maybe one of the weapons was actually nothing, or- something like that?

The girl, sexy ass, Maria, whatever, she was talking again.

"Uhm...I think I know how to get back to where my clothes are. Jay? Would you mind coming with me, just in case?"

Jay looked back to where he had emerged from the tree, then back to her. He rose to his feet, snatching up his pistol and holding it non-nonchalantly at his side.

"Er.. yeah, I don't see why not."

He looked back towards Daniel and John. By the looks of things, Jackie Chan was finally understanding the fact that everyone was a little uneasy with his kickflipping ways. Jay felt a momentary twinge of remorse at sending the boy packing.

Well, he's a crazy little fuck and it was for the best... Still, hope he doesn't die. At least not for awhile... Like, before me sometime. That would be ideal.

Daniel stood and began to exit the clearing, momentarily stopping next to him, whispering in his ear.

"Protect her."

Jay's gaze flickered over towards Maria. She was scared, she wasn't thinking rationally, and she was cute.

Damn straight I'll protect her. With my DIC-yeah no.

"Got it." He whispered back as the other boy exited the clearing. Jay looked around towards the others. By the looks of things, they had no idea what had just occurred. He gestured towards the dropped bags and looked towards Fatty John.

"Eh, alright. Johnny, can you watch our stuff then?" He said.

Oh shit, I still didn't load the gun... Oh well fuck it, what are the odds we'll meet anyone walking a few feet? Fuckin' low I bet.

He turned back towards Maria and the pair began to walk through the woods together.

Alright... alright, everything is calm now, everything is more or less goin' alright. Daniel left, that's problem 1 solved. Which is kinda y'know, retarded to even call a problem in comparison to the fact I'm trapped on an' Island and will have to kill my friends... oh mannn, I miss Alex. I wish that smug fuck didn't come on the trip... What the fuck am I gonna' do? Rip this Danya guys balls off? I can't do this, fuckin' hell, I'm not some computer genius person or anything like that. Am I going to have to kill people? I don't think I can kill people. They wouldn't kill me...

We left Fatty John with the shotgun and our things.

Jay stumbled and spun around, eyes wide. He glanced back towards the clearing, but was unable to see or hear anything.

Jay you stupid fuck. You left him with a shotgun. A shotgun and AMMO. Oh holy mother of fuck, you left him with YOUR ammo too, and all your shit! What if he loads it? What if he's just waiting for you to get back so he can blow your brains out, then fuckin' eat all your crackers n' shit!? No, no, this is Fatty John, you weren't ever the nicest to him, but you weren't ever mean! Why would he even think about killing you?! He wouldn't. But you're thinking about it. Which means he must have thought about it too...

"Lets' uh... lets' hurry back." Jay stammered. He turned back towards Maria, casting glances back behind them every so often.

Jay you stupid fuck...

Suddenly, a distant voice reached Jay's ears. It sounded.. familiar? Jay gestured towards Maria to walk slowly. His heart thumped in his chest.

Who was that? Where have I heard that before..? Fuck, fuck... this is bad...

Jay raised his pistol in front of him and stepped into the clearing. Maria's clothes lay in the dirt nearby, he gave them a passing glance. They looked different from how he remembered them... had they been moved? His heart beat faster, he reached up and adjusted his hat as he took another step into the clearing.

It may not be loaded, but they don't know that..

Glancing around, Jay was perplexed to find no one. He lowered the pistol, relaxing but still confused.

Is this a trap...?

"Anyone here...?" He whispered.

[Whirlpool531†]

(Removed by poster to keep posting order intact.)

[Namira]

((Whirlpool, please remember to observe posting order unless somebody is significantly (a week plus) holding up the thread. Current order is Little-Ace-Holly-Goose-You, try to stick to it in the future))

[Acelister†]

John was kind of jealous that he wasn't asked to go with Maria. She might decide that the world has seen it all, why not just undress in front of Jay?

"Eh, alright. Johnny, can you watch our stuff then?"

"Sure." John nodded, though the 'Johnny' nickname was starting to grind on him...

When the two left, he went around the tree to get his bags, bringing them to the clearing. He needed to load the gun in case Daniel snapped and came back unexpectedly... He knelt down and unzipped the daypack, taking out the shotgun shells. He also took out the manual and flipped through it to find the instructions on how to load it.

He had just opened the ammo slot when he heard someone behind him.

"Eh. Hey guys. It's Sunil. I heard talking and I....well, I had nothing better to do so I thought I might come over here. See what's up...is everything alright?"

He spun around, falling over in the process. The shotgun went aiming into the air still unloaded and the shells scattered about in his bag and on the ground.

When he righted himself he saw another guy in a blue shirt. He tried to get into a defensive position but it was difficult without also looking threatening.

"Uhm..." he started, slowly rising, the shotgun gripped firmly in his right hand but pointing at the ground. "Yeah? There's a couple of others who aren't playing... They went to get her bags."

He blinked at the realisation. Jay and Maria could have gone to get her bazooka to come and cream him! What is it they say on that 'House' show his parents watch? Everybody lies... Especially about their weapons when trying to murder their classmates...

He glanced over his shoulder in the direction the two went, then back at Sunil.

"I'm... I'm John." he says, glancing back again. "The other two are Jay and Maria."

[Hollyquin†]

So Daniel was leaving after all. That was good in Maria's mind, but it was bad for one reason- there was now absolutely no reason for her to be wandering off alone with Jay. Before she'd figured that if she invited both Jay and John Daniel would have followed after, but if Daniel was gone...but they were already practically out of the clearing now. Maria pouted.

Don't they say, like, boys take advantage of girls when they're alone? I mean, Jay seems nice and all, but...he's got a gun...

She chastised herself for having not thought of this earlier. John had a gun too, but at least she knew that that one wasn't loaded. Jay's could very well be loaded. He could have been plotting this whole time...and now he's thinking, this is perfect! I've got her alone and defenseless! Oh god, I've made an awful mistake. I should've taken John, his gun's not loaded-

But he could be loading it right now.

That thought came miraculously floating into her head at practically the same time Jay had the same realization, though she kept a bit more composure when she turned to look back at the clearing.

"Lets' uh... lets' hurry back."

No kidding.

Maria kept following him. What else was she supposed to do at this point? Run away screaming? What would that accomplish? The voice she heard- unsettlingly close by- only renewed her determination to stay with Jay. There was someone else in these woods. Who might have a gun. And might shoot her. Jay and John had guns and might shoot her, but they hadn't yet, which was a plus.

So what are we going to do after this...? If we stay here more crazy people might find us. If we go out there...we might find more crazy people. Is there any way to win? ...Stupid question. Really stupid. I...just want to get out of this forest. At least if a crazy guy with a gun shows up I'll be able to see him. That would be helpful. I guess. Ugh, I don't even know anymore. This sucks. This sucks really bad. I hate this. Where's Leon when you need him? That jerk should be here, protecting me.

Leon...I'm never gonna see him again, am I?

No one would have nominated Maria an award for good timing as she chose this moment- a bit late, all things considered- to get legitimately emotional.

Leon...oh, Leon...I miss you, I miss you, I miss you. Mommy...Daddy...Carmen, Gabe, Jade...heck, even Lalo...I'm a bad daughter. I'm a bad sister. I'm going to kill people. Will you all forgive me? Will God forgive me? Thou shalt not kill and all that but what am I supposed to do?! Not killing anyone is suicide and that is against God too, right? Crud...I don't know...this is so hard. I hate this, I hate this, I hate this...

Maria was snapped out of her inner monologue by the sudden appearance of her clothes, lying on the ground, her duffel bag nearby. She frowned- My clothes were dirty, but not that dirty. ...Did someone touch them? ...Did they move?! Oh crud, oh no-

She jumped and looked around, wielding...well, wielding absolutely nothing, but ready to fight off any newcomers regardless. Presumably by smacking them a couple of times. At any rate, she was somewhat surprised that no one was there, pointing a gun at her face. "Anyone here...?" she heard from the side of her, and she panicked for a moment before realizing it was Jay. He must be thinking the same thing. ...Wait, why does he know someone's here? He doesn't know my clothes moved...

But Maria wasn't gonna think too hard about that. Instead she moved behind Jay- let the boy with the gun do the threatening- and hoped whoever they found was playing the not-shooting-people-in-the-face game.

[General Goose]

The sole person at the site, upon hearing Sunil's voice, turned around to see who he was, falling over in the process. Stifling a chuckle, Sunil saw the first student he saw on the island was a rather chubby boy who was busy with a shotgun.

Oh great. I got absolutely bugger all and the first person I see has a shotgun. Life is absolutely great.

John, that was his name. Sunil had seen him around a few times before, and if he remembered correctly, John was a fellow artist. He had a really mundane surname too, Smith or Johnson or something. Judging by the fact John had not yet killed Sunil and was replying to him in a rather calm, helpful way meant he had no (current) intentions of blasting the wannabe businessman's face off. And apparently there were two others who Sunil had just missed. They weren't playing too. That's good. Being surrounded by a group of people who were going along with Danya's little game didn't seem like a very clever tactic.

"So, they're getting her bags, you say? Cool", Sunil replied, leaning against the nearest tree, staring awkwardly at what looked like a piece of moss on a branch nearby. Jay and Maria, the other two were named. Well, they were at least a couple of Marias at Bayview, but the only Jay he'd heard of was a guy called Jay Holland. "Yeah...quite a bad situation we're in. So, I hate to be Captain Obvious, but guessing you got rolled a shotgun?" he added, taking his bags off of his back and dumping them on the ground.

[Whirlpool531†]

Jojo began feeling quite embarassed about his entire reaction to seeing the girl's clothes on the ground and softly pounded the back of his head against the tree he was hiding next to.

Great job Jojo, you just made an idiot out of yourself and everyone who watches Survival of the Fittest saw it. You can't afford to panic. Your friends might not kill you, but that still leaves out everyone else in your graduating class. After all, the less familiar they are with you, the easier for them to get rid of you.

As he contemplated his situation, Jojo heard footsteps coming near and stopped his head and allowed it to rest on the tree.

Its alright, someone likely just heard you yell like a fool and came to investigate. If one of them is someone you know, go out. Otherwise just keep hiding and let them pass.

As they came into view, Jojo quickly gave an internal sigh of relief at the sight of Jay. He didn't know the girl that was with Jay but Jojo realized she likely was the owner of the bag and she just changed clothes. He was about to go out and greet them when he saw the gun in Jay's hands.

"Anyone here...?" he heard Jay whisper.

Woah, easy does it Jojo, don't want to spook the first friend you find only to get shot by them. Just gotta tell him not to shoot and announce who you are and everything will be fine.

"Whatever you do Jay, don't shoot its Jojo!" he replied as he slowly revealed himself to Jay and Maria.

[Little Boy†]

Jay slowly lowered the gun, letting out a long sigh of relief as he looked at the boy. Jojo. He knew Jojo, and from the looks of things, the boy didn't look that dangerous or armed. At least not yet. Jay had a sneaking suspicion that the bizarre clothes he was wearing, (Camouflage, convenient considering where they were) were not his own.

Does everyone have camo then? Fuckshit, that's just great. What a great idea, wearing a bright blue hoodie on this camping trip. Because y'know, fuckin' blue meshes with the foliage OH SO WELL.

HOOOLEEESHIT. Jojo.

Jay studied the boy for a second before looking back towards Maria. She had followed him into the clearing, and thus far had been more or less on the same page as him on the way over.

"Hey, don't worry, this is one of my buddies." Jay said to the skittish girl. It was pretty much true, Jojo was a common guest at Jay and Alex's house parties, and the boy was easy enough to get along with. A bit of a nerd with some eccentric interests, but Jay didn't hold it against him. It was hard to considering he was so nice all the time, or at least when Jay was about.

I hope Maria doesn't freak out like with Johnny... Fuckin' crap, I don't need her freakin' out whatsoever. The hysterical girl never makes it to the end of horror movies.

Neither does the Stoner. Awh Fuck...

He shook his head to clear his mind. His throat still felt awfully dry for some odd reason.

Today I woke up in a death game, waving pistols at my classmates. If I don't kill them, I die. Also, throat hurts. FML.

"Don't worry man, I'm not, well, I'm not doing whatever that guy told us to do. I'm not gonna' hurt you."

Christ, at least not yet....

He gestured over towards Maria, fidgeting. He suddenly felt very exposed in the woods, he glanced over his shoulder the way he had came, half expecting to see John barreling through the forest stark naked, his dick swinging around, coved from head to toe in blood and waving a shotgun in his face. He shuddered before looking back towards his friend and continuing.

"This is uh, Maria. She's cool. Very cool. We just came back for her stuff. There's another guy with us. Fatty John, from my tech class... Anyway uh, he got our stuff. With him I mean. Why don't you come along an' join with us man? Safety in numbers and all that."

Safety in numbers? What the fuck, this is a death game... sooner or later, people are going to get like they were back then in the woods, mexican standoff.. What then Jay? What're you gonna' do when the guns are actually loaded and the Grim Reaper is staring you right in the fuckin' face? Could you kill these people? You couldn't, but they could kill you. What if they're planning it right now? Can you afford to second guess yourself, make these stupid choices of just letting someone join you because they were once your "Buddy"? Roaming around this island is someone you know Jay, someone who swung on the monkey bars with you back in Grade School, or, or someone you chirped during 5th Period Math. They're gonna kill you.

They're gonna kill you.

When it came down to it, a sore throat was the least of his worries.

[Acelister†]

"So, they're getting her bags, you say? Cool."

John blinked and frowned slightly. He JUST said that, yeah...

"Yeah...quite a bad situation we're in. So, I hate to be Captain Obvious, but guessing you got rolled a shotgun?"

"Rolled?" John asked, not getting the term. He looked at the shotgun and then back at Sunil. "Yeah... What did you get?"

He realised he hadn't loaded the weapon still, so knelt down and picked up a shell, slotting it into the hole. It slid in easier than he imagined it would, hardly any scraping or noise as it went into position. He repeated it with another shell as he spoke.

"When they get back, we should go somewhere with walls." he says, partly to himself and partly to Sunil. Somewhere like a bank would be good - though it's doubtful they would even have a vault. What did banks on island's need with that sort of thing? A robbery would last ten minutes from execution to arrest...

[Hollyquin†]

"Whatever you do Jay, don't shoot its Jojo!"

Maria blinked. Jojo? Who the heck was Jojo?

But Jay did seem to know him. "Hey, don't worry, this is one of my buddies." Maria nodded tersely and went to go collect her stuff. This guy wasn't a threat- he didn't seem to have a weapon at all- but for the same reason he wasn't particularly useful. Whatever, she'd come out here to get her stuff, and that's what she was gonna do. Her duffel bag was still there, filled with extra clothes and yes, even some snacks! She giggled, actually giggled in delight at the sight of a bag of Ruffles. If she was gonna die, she was gonna die snacking, oh yes. She pulled the bag out and ripped it open, daintily pulling out a single chip and eating it.

Maria slung the bag over one shoulder- almost falling over at the combined weight of it and the backpack already on her- and made her way over to her fallen school uniform, to see if it was a lost cause. After all, maybe there was a river or something around that she could wash it in. She did have one more spare uniform, but she was planning on being her long enough to need the extra. She shook out the blouse and skirt, getting as much extra dirt out of them as possible before shoving them into a corner in her bag, but try as she might she could not find her panties. They probably got kicked away somewhere...whatever. I can deal.

Maria turned back around to the other two, specifically to Jojo, munching on another chip. Unsurprisingly she was now in a much better mood. She actually managed a smile at Jojo that may have at least a little bit real.

"Alright, I've got my stuff...mostly...hi, Jojo. Um, I'm Maria. Can we get out of here?"

After that whole hearing-things-in-the-woods bit, Maria wanted nothing more than the safety of four walls and a roof. At least she needed some time to relax. Maybe eat the rest of her chips in peace.

Yeah, that's what we call LUXURY in Survival-of-the-Fittest land...

[General Goose]

"Rolled?"

"Oh, yeah, my sister was a fan of the show...." Sunil replied, a frown on his face as he remembered his sister's love for the show, going on roleplaying sites and everything. Sunil hoped his use of the past tense was accurate, but she may well just be sitting in New York watching the show with her friends and some popcorn oblivious to the fact her brother was on it. "And they randomly give us weapons, like a dice roll. I think it's more of a fan term than anything, but I dunno."

"Yeah... What did you get?"

"No. Idea." He sighed, once again shifting through his bag to try and check for anything unusual or strange hidden under something or in a fold of the bag's fabric, the cans and the water bottles tumbling around the bag noisily as he did so. Zilch. Bumpkis. More annoyed at the lack of a proper weapon, than scared for his life, he continued "Yeah, I think sometimes they may just give you nothing. For a laugh. Heh. Reeeaaaal funny." Adding a loud not at the end would help make the point clear, but Sunil hoped his sarcastic tone and the pissed off look on his face would make the message clear enough.

As he did that, John offhandedly commented that they should go find somewhere with walls. That sounded like a good strategy. "Wait. We have a map." Once again going through his bag, he searched around for the folded-up piece of paper, withdrawing it before opening it up. Sunil had, in his various outdoors expeditions, come to know maps fairly well. Not an expert, but unlike some of his braindead peers he could use one. And this one was crap. Readable, but crap. "Right. Erm...there's a town....a parish, an infarma....enfirm...clinic thing, a ranger station, a mine, a fun fair," he allowed himself to chuckle at the cliche. A fun fair where people die. Not only is this Danya guy a shithead, he's unoriginal and has a crappy sense of humour. Continuing to list the built-up locations, he added "A mansion with a little hut, and a warehouse. Think that's all the places we can find walls. Unless this map is lying."

Sunil wouldn't be surprised if it was.

[Whirlpool531†]

Jojo breathed a sigh of relief at Jay's invitation and Maria's complying with it.

"Well given the circumstances I'd find it difficult to say anything other than...yes to your invitation." he said before looking towards Maria, "I'm Joss Joiner but I prefer Jojo. Sorry about your clothes, I woke up and in a panic tripped over your bag and landed on them." Jojo blushed at his admission of clumsiness.

Well things are looking up, maybe if we found Alex and a few others we can make it out of this ok. Unless Alex is as close to breaking as I was, maybe he already has. Still, I've got to try and do my best to help my friends and myself get out of this.

"Well, now that we've got what you came for, lets get back to...John right? Where to next though? Shouldn't we look for our other friends? I was getting kinda freaked out by this whole situation before you guys got here so I can't imagine how they're feeling. At the same time though, if we ran into someone who doesn't know us or like us too much they could easily decide to..." Jojo couldn't finish the sentence, he was still finding it a bit hard to believe the reality of this situation. "...So yeah, we can figure that out later I guess. I just want you two to know, no matter what, I'll always have your back. I know it might seem stupid to trust myself to others right now, but I can't just let all I do be about me. If something happens, I'll die happy knowing I tried my hardest to keep the people I know safe and didn't let someone control my actions. In case that does happen, Jay you can have first dibs on my stuff."

Having said what he felt was needed, Jojo picked up his daypack and duffel bag then faced his comrades again.

[Little Boy†]

Despite the complete balls-up situation Jay had woken up to, walking beside Jojo through the forest was calming his nerves like he couldn't believe. As the three trudged back through the woods towards John, Jay could feel his heart-rate decrease for the first time it seemed that day.

This is Jojo, he's a friend. You know, you KNOW that Jojo isn't gonna hurt you. Out of all the people here, Jojo ain't gonna hurt ya'. You're in good hands Jay. Jojo wouldn't hurt you. Right?

Jay repeated these thoughts in his head as he navigated around trees. Despite what should have been reassuring thoughts, Jay felt his grip tighten around the gun at the sound of his friends' voice behind him.

That's great. See? That's just what you wanted to hear Jay. He won't hurt you. But does that mean he was thinking about it? Thinking about what'd happen, considering how he COULD possibly blow your brains out? Does thinking one mean the person automatically thinks.. the other... God damn.. No, no he's okay! He's on my team. We're the Triple Alliance, me him an' Maria. Triple Alliance, the good guys.

Oh shit, wait there are four of us, nevermi-FIVEWHATTHEFUCK

Entering the clearing, Jay jolted his hand up, gripping the pistol. Coming out of the bushes, John had been mostly obscured, but now in full view Jay could see that the other boy was in the clearing loading his shotgun. Even more pant-shittingly, another boy stood next to him. Another classmate.

Another player. He aimed down the sights and opened his mouth, trying to think of something, anything clever to say before the pair shot him down.

"GAHWHO THE FUCK, THE, THE WHAT-"

Ohshit,ohshit,ohshit, they've made an alliance, they were gonna' load that up and go after us, ohshitohshit Fatty John you fucking BASTARD, teaming with some Paki Kid, you fuck-

Click.

Jay's eyes widened in fright. He'd pulled the trigger. Jay looked down at the gun, then up towards the boy, back and forth. He dropped the unloaded weapon to the ground and skipped backwards to the opposite side of the clearing, rubbing his hands together in panic. A high pitched laugh escaped his mouth as he tried to speak. A mess of nerves, Jay's gaze went from John and the boy back to the dropped weapon like a pendulum.

I pulled the trigger. I- it wasn't loaded- I still pulled it. Did I do that on purpose? Oh shit, did I, what? Did I know? How do I not know if I know if I- what the fuck!? What the FUCK Jay?! Did they hear that?! Did they know- they must know- play it off, laugh, fuckfuck, what the fuck Jay! You're a fuckin' creeper right now, they're gonna, are they gonna kill you now, what the hell is going on- I actually pulled the trigger?- who the fuck- who the shit is this guy!? Is he gonna kill us? Doesn't he, how the fuck- why did John not freak out like earlier, what- I'm so confused, I actually, I coulda' killed that guy, what's going on??

"You scared the shit out of me!" Jay half screamed, half yelped. "W-who the- what, fuck- who are you!? John, who the hell is this guy?!"

So much for a lowered heart-rate pffhaha!

[Acelister†]

John watched as Sunil went through his bag, probably for the third or fourth time. So his 'sister' watched the previous games? That didn't sound good...

Sunil then got out the map which John hadn't bothered to look at yet.

"Right. Erm...there's a town....a parish, an infarma....enfirm...clinic thing, a ranger station, a mine, a fun fair, A mansion with a little hut, and a warehouse. Think that's all the places we can find walls. Unless this map is lying."

"Probably." John shrugged. "Some maps are probably printed upside down or backwards..."

It made sense that if Danya and whoever worked for him were bastard enough to give some of them guns and some of them nothing at all, why would they cut the entertainment by giving them all accurate information?

"GAHWHO THE FUCK, THE, THE WHAT-"

"Jesus!" John called out, spinning around and, once again, losing his balance. He managed to stop himself from falling over again though.

*CLICK*

John's jaw dropped open at that tiny sound - which seemed to be thousands of decibels loud despite them being outside and it being a tiny gun.

Jay shot him.

The gun didn't go off - and he could have been firing at Sunil - but he pulled the trigger. They agreed to not kill each other!

"You scared the shit out of me! W-who the- what, fuck- who are you!? John, who the hell is this guy?!"

"You fucking shot me!?" John shouted, his voice reaching a frequency he didn't know he could still reach since he hit puberty, lifting the shotgun up into both hands with the ammo-hatch still open. "What the fuck, Jay?!"

His hands were shaking and the barrel of the shotgun wasn't aimed anywhere near straight, but if they were playing...

"We said we're not playing!" he continued. "NOT! FUCKING! PLAYING!"

This was the second time in less than half an hour that he had pointed this weapon at Jay. Despite what happened the last time, he still didn't know to watch his back.

[Hollyquin†]

And this is why I don't talk to boys.

Everything was fine. Everything was fabulous, in fact. Jay seemed to have calmed down significantly after they found Jojo- must be close, or maybe Jojo's just like, particularly harmless- and Maria herself had located a particularly delicious bag of baked Ruffles and was now scarfing them down like nobody's business. They were going to head back, find John, complete the Bodyguard Brigade and then head the hell out of here, out to someplace with walls and a ceiling. But then-

"GAHWHO THE FUCK, THE, THE WHAT-"

Maria scanned the scene in a fraction of a second. John was loading his shotgun. This didn't bother her. First of all, he would have been really, really stupid to NOT be loading his shotgun. And second, he wouldn't shoot her. After all, he was part of the Bodyguard Brigade now! Which meant he was gonna protect Maria, not shoot her. As for the other boy...well, he wasn't holding a gun, right? So there was no problem. He couldn't do anything.

Clearly Jay was not quite so optimistic.

And then-

Click.

Maria blinked, looking at Jay with wide eyes. He'd pulled the trigger? Really? That was...kind of amazing. Though her sense of amazement was dispelled by the fact that the gun wasn't loaded. And I'd been so worried before, too! Neither of them could have done anything to me!

But then Jay was yelling.

And so was John.

Chaos again.

Ugh.

This was what Maria hated. Chaos. Screaming. Yelling. Random behavior. So unlike home- so unlike her perfect family, so unlike the strict rules she lived under, so unlike things that made sense. It was...

Irritating. Unbearably so.

And besides- how was her Bodyguard Brigade going to protect her when they were going to fight all the time like idiots? No, it just wasn't going to work.

Maria was going to find a new Bodyguard Brigade. Maybe some boys with brains in their heads. If those existed.

She slipped away into the trees, quietly munching on her Ruffles, listening to their shouts grow dimmer. She realized after a little while that she was now, officially, helpless.

But whatever. I mean, who'd want to kill me? I'm...me.

[[Maria Santiago continued in One of Three]]