What A Rush

[ChainmailleAddict†]

"That....sounds alright. We shouldn't get too comfortable, however, because...."

From a distance, Joseph heard a sort of....running.

"...someone, or something..."

The footsteps grew louder and closer. They would've surely gone unheard, had it not been for the eerie silence surrounding the entire town.

"...could...cause us... to have to... leave quickly."

His words had slowed down by the end. A few seconds after finishing his sentence, a boy approached the convenience store door.

"Hello?"

Well, speak of the devil.

Joseph's heart nearly skipped a beat when he saw the boy's gun being raised, freezing for a split second. "A gun?!", he thought to himself. This had rendered his previous rationalization of the weapons being all jokes worthless. As quickly as he had raised it, however, he brought his gun back down. Joseph's heart rate lowered with it. "Thank god, he didn't intend to use it." .
Upon closer inspection, the gun appeared to be the only dangerous aspect about him. The boy himself was rather thin with pale skin, of average height but with a deceptive tallness to him.

"Sorry, guys, just kind of panicking 'cause...well, whatever. You guys uh, doing alright?"

Joseph took a moment to respond.

"As..alright as you can be in this situation." When he said this, he had meant it in more than one way. Both in response to seeing an armed stranger, and in reaction to Survival of the Fittest's entire concept. "Why...were you running?"


"I swear that I had seen him somewhere before," thought Joseph.

[MK Kilmarnock]

"Yeah, uh, do me a favor and DON'T point that thing at me again!"

Jessica's entire body tensed up when some fuckhead waltzed in with a gun and the first moments, had pointed it. For a moment, her blood ran cold and her heart skipped a bit. It was the scare of her life on two levels.

Once the shock of the matter had settled down, Jessica focused less on the gun and more on the person holding it. Good ol' Theo Fletcher, from high school. Everybody was from high school, obviously, but it was starting to get more and more surreal the more Jessica saw these kids from high school in a decidedly non-scholastic setting.

Hey, funny that I should meet you here in this random hellhole. How are you? Oh, wondering if you should murder everybody? Me too!

"Look, uh... sorry for snapping," Jessica sighed after collecting her breath. "Nice to see you're alive, Theo. Welcome to our little camp out we've got going." Jessica's smile returned to her face and she gestured around. "Lots of space and food and whatever, though we've got a little less of that the more people show up. Just... just a joke, really, but it IS getting a little cramped. Still, make yourself at home."

She hopped off the counter, boomerang in hand, and began walking towards the back of the store. With three other people in the cramped building with her, she needed her time to think. The soda cooler, busted with shattered glass scattered around from when she threw the boomerang at it, was just inches in front of her. She looked around for something to cover her hand with so she could clean up the mess and hopefully not get cut. Last thing she needed to do was begin bleeding when everybody around here was fucked up enough.

She settled for some wadded-up napkins taken from a nearby dispenser. They were brown and rough, but offered precious insulation against broken glass. As Jessica began idly sweeping out pieces, she set about to the real reason she had spaced away from everybody - thinking.

Theo had scared her on two levels, and they were levels you could expect with your classic horror movie. On the first one was something of a jump-scare. Maybe a genuine one, maybe one of those false ones where the cat hops out of the trash can or the attic or some stupid contrived shit like that. However, Theo had broken through to something very real. When Jessica saw that gun, it was a reminder of something she knew but was trying to ignore.

People out there are more armed than she was, and it was possible some of them wouldn't lower their guns after pointing it. Not before firing it at her. People were going to shoot to kill, and she had to do something. She needed to get on their level.

And if that meant...

Jessica let herself interrupt the thought for now. Too much thinking was starting to become bad for her. She set about focusing on not cutting up her hand, instead.

[Arscapi†]

Logan blinked and shook his head trying to figure out what just happened. The boy who'd entered panicked and so pulled a weapon and then...took it back. It seemed to Logan that randomly pulling guns on people was an excellent way to get yourself attacked. Not that he could do much attacking with a tent. Although if it came with stakes, he might have ended up with a weapon after all.

By the time Logan thought to comment on the boy's behavior, Logan couldn't remember his name at all, Jessica and Joseph seemed have it all worked out. Apparently the boy was to join their little group. Jessica had a point though, at some point they were going to have to stop welcoming people into their store. There just wouldn't be enough supplies. What were they going to do when faced with that choice? The way he saw it they could either leave and find a new place or defend it.

When things had calmed down a bit further, and maybe after he'd learned the new guy's name he'd bring it up again. Get the other's take on things.

"Right come on in, make yourself at home," he said moving away from the gun and towards Jessica. Following her example he started picking up glass shards.

[Espi]

"Oh, uh, okay then."

Theo lifted the gun, flicked on the safety, and shoved it in his pocket. He walked forward, trying to keep an eye on the three other students. Jessica was picking up broken glass laying scattered around a soda machine or something. He wondered briefly what had caused that, but decided to not think of it. Since nobody here had pulled a gun on him when he'd come in, he wanted to assume none of them had one. Still, better safe than sorry.

The counter looked like it could provide cover.

Logan joined Jessica in helping pick up the glass shards. Theo wasn't sure if they wanted help or not, so he sort of stood off to the side and watched, not really sure what to do.

Joe or whatever had asked a question. Why was he running? Theo wasn't sure how to respond. What could he say? Heh, it's a long story. I shot a boy, almost shot another boy and now I keep running from place to place to avoid dying because I'm rapidly becoming a paranoid wreck. That wasn't exactly a good thing to say to the people who outnumbered him.

God, he needed to calm down.

Theo shook his head, and tried to think of an appropriate lie that wouldn't throw someone under the bus. He walked past Joe and paced the isles, checking what exactly was there. Some old fridges containing liquids which probably used to be milk, canned stuff and some packaged candy and whatnot. Seemed alright.

"Oh, uh, why was I running?" He said back to the other boy after returning from his check. "Uh, someone threatened me. They had, like, a machine gun or something, and they chased me. It was a guy, but I didn't remember his name. I lost them in the town, and I don't know where they went." There. That should do, especially since he didn't give names, so no accusations could be made and nobody would be able to contradict his story.

Theo didn't really feel bad; telling the truth would just get him in trouble, and he needed to keep alive for as long as possible. That was priority #1. Now he needed to try and fit in with these 3 so they didn't boot him out of the safe zone at first opportunity.

"Uh, so how's it going? Sorry for scaring you, but I'm a bit on edge from the whole, 'Danger Zone Murderland' thing, plus someone trying to kill me and all."

[ChainmailleAddict†]

[Joseph was shocked. Some of us were given machine guns? This was madness, Joseph thought to himself.

"Oh my....that's...quite a story. You mean to tell me that some of us received machine guns? Lovely. Just..... lovely to know of my luck. I'm...not going to question the authenticity of the story you've just told me. Doing so would be pointless, and you wouldn't admit to it, anyway."

Joseph quickly regretted the last sentence that he said. He hastily replied "Err, not that I don't trust you, or anything."

He quickly pondered about how effective his chainmaille would've been, had it been with him on the island. It would protect against knives and sharp objects, I suppose. But, let's see here. Sentimental attachment for one. I'd feel obliged to carry it around with me at all times, and it sure isn't light. If I were to get shot, the rings would be embedded in the wound, and that wouldn't be fun. My pliers, on the other hand, could be very useful. Enough with that, I wonder if Jessica could use some help with that glass.

He beckoned to Jessica. "Do...you need any help with that? It... looks as though you're almost finished."

[MK Kilmarnock]

So much for being alone with her thoughts. It took a frighteningly short amount of time for Jessica to come up with the conclusion she sought, and the rest of her time was spent overhearing conversations elsewhere in the store. Guns, more guns, machine guns... people were already being aggressive. Fantastic.

Threat against life was very, very real.

"Oh, no, Logan and I pretty much have it taken care of..." Jessica answered, taken out of her own thoughts somewhat suddenly when addressed. She avoided looking at Joseph directly (or anybody else, for that matter) when she returned to her position on the counter, opening a bag of Cheetos. The boomerang stayed tucked close to her, at her hip.

This wasn't good. She used to be the most well-armed person in the room, giving her very little reason to flip out. Now, though? Now Theo had brought a gun into the mix, and it was very possible he could shoot all three of them if he really wanted to before any of them could do much. After all, what weapons did they have? A book? A tent? It'd take a nice shot with the boomerang to even incapacitate him, and it was still a fucking boomerang. Jessica realized that throwing it was really a last resort given she wasn't trained to use it (weren't the things supposed to return or something? It did a shitty job returning when she chucked it at the cooler), and that it was better served as a club.

So it was a club versus a gun. Fantastic odds.

"So yeah, this is what we're doing. Just... um, hangin' out."

Stay calm. Stay calm.

[Arscapi†]

Logan kept his attention on cleaning up the glass. He was starting to have doubts about Theo and was trying to figure out a way to get rid of him. A way that didn't involve Logan getting shot in the process. First, he busted in here waving a gun at people and then something about the way he told the story didn't ring true to Logan.

He moved closer to Jessica and, being sure to keep his voice low, he said, "I don't really trust Theo. I don't know why but he's making me really uncomfortable. I think we need to keep a close eye on him."

Logan straightened and began arranging the remains of the soda machine. If they were going to be staying here for a while, he was going to put his own mark on the place.

[Espi]

Theo nodded, smiled nervously, and backed up from the others. "Uh, sorry, I just need a minute to think. I'll be right back." He walked away down an isle, and found the bathroom. He briefly, almost jokingly, considered going into the girl's bathroom, but decided it'd be stupid. A child's idea, something a little kid would find amusing.

"Holy fuck." He said as he stood inside the surprisingly clean bathroom. It wasn't especially bad, considering how old and uncared for it probably was. But Theo didn't notice that; he was too busy having a crisis.

"Oh Jesus." He'd killed a boy. Theo didn't even know whether it was true or false; he accepted it as fact at this point. So now he was stuck with a crisis; killing someone on the first day? Nobody would let that go. He'd killed someone, which screwed him in so many ways. For one thing, he'd fucking murdered an innocent man. The guilt weighed on him and nearly made him sick.

But more importantly, it meant he was screwed. No rescuer would save him, no allies would come to him, and Hansel's friends, if he had any on the island, would probably hunt him down and avenge his victim.

So where did that leave Theo? What could he do to escape his fate? Because he didn't want to die. He had so much to offer than to die on SOTF. That wasn't fair. He didn't deserve it.

Theo shook his head, gazed at the floor, and pushed open the door to return to the others. "Hey, sorry, I needed to clear my head after H-what happened. Yeah," Theo tried to smile, and gave a somewhat realistic one. "so, what's the plan? Camp out here?"

[ChainmailleAddict†]

"That..would be a good idea, yes." Joseph responded. "though, just waiting around for whoever isn't too bright..."

Joseph paused for a few seconds, trailing off at the end of his sentence. "I...wouldn't suggest leaving, but.. searching the surrounding area couldn't, hurt, right?"
He had choked up. "Come on, Joseph, now you're just stating the obvious.". He didn't know what to say. The boy's appearance had put Joseph on edge since he came into the store, what with the gun and all. He didn't seem like the type to murder, but how could you really tell? Even though he most likely wasn't, it was probably a good idea not to piss off the guy with the gun.
Joseph didn't want to leave. Though, he wondered if he could make an excuse for himself. Not to leave, but to see outside the store. And, possibly, see if there was anything that could help him.

[MK Kilmarnock]

"We do what we can," Jessica said with a sigh. What a corny phrase that was, 'do what you can'. Some of her geekier friends would probably call that a 'tautology', that thing that meant a statement made itself automatically true. If they're doing something, then that's pretty much what they could do, nothing more.

Nothing was better for the brain than overthinking a life-or-death situation into pointless semantics. Jessica decided to simplify things and pop another cheeto in her mouth. Cheetos were good for calming down; no wonder potheads chowed them down so much. Or was that D&D players? Maybe both?

For what little it was worth, Jessica was able to focus on what Logan had said to her in relative peace. Was Theo untrustworthy, or just a jittery idiot? Definitely something to consider. Her real priority was either getting that gun out of the picture, or putting it in the hands of somebody she could truly trust. Namely, her.

"And I'm sure as hell not going outside, but you guys are free to!"

[Espi]

Theodore Fletcher was very uncomfortable now. They seemed legit, of course; the other two boys and the girls, they weren't too dangerous. But Theo felt nervous holing up now; if he was too close to these people, he couldn't win, because he needed to get the last spot, the victory, and win.

Theo needed to win.

He'd killed a boy, and he was never going to get out of this island; people who murdered, killed people, they never got out. So he had no chance to get freed, so his only option was winning. The more he thought it, crazy as it was, it seemed true. He had no chance of freedom without winning. So his only hope was killing the second-place person. The epiphany, bizarre and terrifying, made him realize that he had to deal with the idea of killing.

But he might be able to do it, if he needed to. Maybe, just maybe, but he'd need to see. For now, he needed to get out, get away, and find a good location to do...whatever he needed to do.

So as he smiled, awkwardly, he stepped towards the door. "Hey, I need to, uh, I need to find someone; my uh, my friend," A shit lie, but people would be inclined to accept it if he was the scary guy with the gun. "Good luck, guys". So he walked casually out, feeling stressed as he realized someone could throw something at him and knock him out or something.

Once he was out in the parking lot, he bolted again, running as quickly and far as possible so he couldn't get caught by the others.

[Theodore Fletcher's story continues in Leave My Body]]

[Arscapi†]

Logan stood dumbfounded as Theo made some lame excuse and left almost as dramatically as he'd come. "Well, I guess that solves that problem. I don't know about you two, but he was definitely giving off some bad vibes," he said. "Good riddance to crazy overly dramatic classmates. I mean really. He burst in here like a gun-wielding maniac and then suddenly is concerned for some friend that he just thought of."

His opinion voiced he concentrated his attention on what Jessica and Joseph were talking about. He really was torn. There could be interesting things in the other stores, but that meant leaving Jessica alone. Of course, of the three of them she had the best weapon...well to be honest the only weapon. But staying with Jessica meant Joseph was out there alone.

"How about I step outside and act as look out while you explore," Logan suggested. "Then I think we should work on making this place ours, if we want to keep it."

[ChainmailleAddict†]

As quickly as the boy-no, Ted-Theodore came in, he had ran out. Joseph was rather relieved at the fact. He turned his attention to Logan.

"That...sounds like a good enough idea. Though, we should never get too comfortable, here." He began speaking about Theodore. " I never really had a stance on gun control, but Theodore provided a pretty...compelling argument." He laughed at his joke, though he wasn't sure if he should've."In...all seriousness, it's better to have him gone. The cons outweigh the pros."

"I suppose that it's settled, then. So....I, could search around the town, looking for things that would be useful, and....you two, I guess, could try to build up defenses around the windows, and, uh, sort out what we DO have."

Joseph thought for a moment. "I...should be back in maybe....an hour or less. Yes, that sounds good. If I come back earlier, I'll tell you the reason."

Upon saying this, Joseph began slowly walking towards the entrance to the store. Well, what if you come back later? Not at all?!

He took a breath.

Don't...worry, Joseph.

[MK Kilmarnock]

Jessica sighed, this time with a bit of a smile. A lot of the pressure seemed to be removed from the situation simply by having Theo (and his gun) leave the premises. At least, she hoped he had left the premises and wasn't just hiding around a wall or something like some boogeyman. Great, now there was another 15 minutes or so of tension set up while Joseph headed outside. Logan seemed set to watch as look-out, while Jessica... what, sat on her ass?

No, that wouldn't do. She had to be more helpful than that. They were going to make this their hideout, and if the boys were checking around outside, then she was going to make sure they had something useful for the inside.

Jessica swung around behind the counter and looked at what they had at their disposal. Nobody had checked back here yet. The back wall's case was, much like the rest of the store, extremely dusty. However, it was full of old boxes and cartons of cigarettes and other such goods which likely hadn't gone all that bad if the chips were still good. All of a sudden, Jessica wished she smoked to make use of it. In a way, there was no better time to start than a time in which stress was mounted on you from all sides, wasn't there?

There was a computer in the back room of the store, equally dusted over. The building clearly had no power, but Jessica hit the power button on the computer anyway. Nothing. A cursory look at the case revealed heavy damage to it, as though it had been beaten with a crowbar or something. Yeah, probably should've checked that first. The shelves off to the side had various bottles of who-knows-what; some of it was labeled, various mild cleaners and stuff (she couldn't find any bleach, but who knows what use that would actually be). Some of the labels were scratched off or otherwise rendered illegible. Most importantly, there was a door with an exit sign (unlit, just like everything else). She was a little nervous to push on it just in case Theo really was hiding back there like a massive sketchball stalker, but it was safe to assume they had an emergency exit.

The other door in the back lead back out to what was once the sales floor, which Jessica gladly took to look over the floor. There were plenty of shelves that were cleared out of useful stock or could otherwise be cleared out in a matter of moments. They could then be moved or rearranged. She thought over the weapons they had been dealt. The book of plants that Joseph got would only be useful if they were in a wooded area or near one, and she doubted a convenience store would be placed in such a location. The tent? The tent could be useful...

Jessica set about enacting her plan.

About an hour had passed and no gunshot had rung out. That much was a good sign. Jessica had moved all the wares off of the center shelves and largely stashed them behind the counter, upon which her boomerang had been set. The shelves themselves had then been arranged in a several-layers strong barricade. Even if somebody wanted to bash those glass doors, they would be forced to try and move the shelving and that eliminated any possibility of a stealthy AND quick entrance. If somebody wanted to get to the people inside the store, they'd be loud and take a while. That was all they needed in order to get their act together and fight back or, most likely, take the back door and run like hell. The rear entrance lacked a handle on the outside and seemed to be utterly locked anyway unless the latch on the front was pushed, so the only easy way in the store was to be let in (incidentally, Jessica had to let Joseph in after his little trip).

It was Logan who had the next idea, which was to take an extension cord in the back room and use it to string the tarp that came as part of Logan's tent along the top of the door frame. The general idea was that if somebody tried to bash out the glass and then climb atop the shelf barricade which... hardly seemed comfortable, they could slacken the cord (done by simply unplugging it from a rather conveniently placed outlet) and drop the tarp on the would-be invader, easing their escape. Jessica wasn't entirely sure if it was going to work, but every little bit that made them feel safer was good for morale.

"Heh... nifty little fortress we have here right now, in'nit?"

[Arscapi†]

Logan stepped back from where he'd been arranging their supplies. He'd only meant to stack them neatly out of the way; the drab store had gotten the better of him and he'd found himself arranging them into a pattern. Logan actually felt a little better now that he'd added some design to his new home. If he had something to draw with he could start on a mural for the empty walls in the office, but the bastards had taken all his pencils and sketchbooks.

At Jessica's comment he turned to survey their improvised defenses. He nodded approvingly and smiled, pleased with the results. It wasn't guaranteed to keep them safe, but it'd at least give them a warning. Maybe even enough of a chance to get out through the back of the store. His gaze traveled towards where his tent hung stretched above the door, ready to drop on any unannounced visitors. The stakes for the tent were within arms length. He wasn't sure how much good they'd do as a weapon, but they seemed to be the best he was going to get.

Logan had followed Joseph out earlier and once Joseph had disappeared into one of the neighboring buildings, Logan scouted around the outside of the convenience store. Finding nothing of particular importance he'd gone back into the store to help her clean out and move the shelves.

"Looks pretty good," he said. "You know I was thinking of doing something with those glass pieces we picked up earlier. We should be able to use them for something. A weapon of some kind if nothing else, right?"