Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

[umop-ap!sdn†]

(G017, Jaquilyn Locke, Start.)

This bed was not hers. Jaquilyn Locke, G017 felt that same feeling you get when you wake up at a friend's house and don't remember why you're not at home. She groggily rubbed her eyes, grunting in frustration. She felt nauseated, had she been drinking? Had she blacked out?

As she rolled over she knocked her duffel bag off the bed, onto the floor. She sat up quickly and turned to look at who she'd knocked out of bed. It was a solid black bag.

The nightmares she'd had came to memory. She held her breath and surveyed the room, not knowing what to do next, but desperately looking for a sign she was wrong.

...

She didn't have the nerve to open the bag up yet. That would be accepting the scenario as true and submitting to the rules of her new environment. Those rules were simple enough, but awful. She stumbled up over to the bathroom connected to this room. Was this her room? It didn't matter.

She was in the middle of a fight to the death and she had to go to the bathroom. What a way to fucking die. She tip toed to the door of "her" room and quietly shut it. The slight click of the door as she released the handle made her flinch. She quickly recovered, turned the lock, and set up the chain latch. She'd always wished her room at home had one.

She returned to the bathroom and locked that door too. She might be able to hide out in here for a while. There was a window she could escape through if somebody was trying to get in. She probably had food in her bag. She hadn't seen anybody yet. So long as nobody touched the door, she was safe. She tried the bathroom doorknob to make sure it was locked, but it was one of those "press locks" that opens when you turn from the inside. She would have to find out later, if it ever came to that. She turned away from the door and looked in the mirror, a hard habit to break. There was her collar.

She was a dog in their game. A yelping, whimpering, dog.

...

She was safe here, nobody had come around yet. She could wait here until that safety was compromised.

Unless nobody kills.

If she was here she wasn't a part of the action.

Her face cringed at she mentally punched herself for having referred to classmate-on-classmate murder as "action."

There were bad kids at the school. There could be a death every twenty four hours. Travis might crack, Aileen was nuts, and the quiet girl she met at the mall who she didn't even recognize seemed ominous. And Fucking Alba, if he didn't nut up and kill somebody, half the school would come after him. She looked around the room for a clock. She would stay here for twenty four hours. Then she would venture out and... find out where the fuck she was. She peeked out her window to find the sun. It was on the other side of the building, but she looked to the buildings shadow and mentally marked where it was.

She moved back to the bed and quietly sat herself down. She picked her feet up off the ground so the imaginary student under her bed couldn't slash her ankles. She stared at the door, wondering if she could handle twenty four hours of this stress alone. Twenty four hours. Twenty four hours. She looked to her bag. Twenty four hours...

[Riki]

[Joachim Lovelace: Start]

It had been a while since Joachim woke up in that room. In fact, it must have been at least a hour already. He checked his things and belongings fairly early and got over his initial grogginess. However, Joachim did not feel like he wanted to move away. It was not the time to go outside, where former class mates may have already turned into killers.

Now, it was time to stare at the wall. Plus, the bed was more comfortable.

To say that the kidnapping was a surprise was an understatement. Everyone, Joachim included, thought that the terrorists lost. That no child would have to suffer again in their sick game. That was not the case. Of course it wasn't. No way that these messed up guys would give up so easily. Fanatics don't do that. Once again, they could prove what everyone already knew. That the most normal of people can be turned into a murderer.

Joachim spent a few minutes more on the bed, before realizing that he still had worldly needs to attend. Namely, a place to relieve himself. Unfortunately, the bathroom that was connected to his room was a bit... destroyed, so to say, so Joachim got up and opened the door of his room. There surely had to be a usable bathroom here. Somewhere. He headed to the next door he saw, and tried to open it. It didn't. To be precise, it did open a bit, but a chain blocked it. Joachim sighed and continued looking in the corridor.

[umop-ap!sdn†]

The knob turned, the door opened, and stopped abruptly. Praise the chain. Jaquilyn had nearly jumped off the bed in panic. She spent a moment trying to collect herself as the footsteps moved away.

She was miserable. She was alone, she had less than a percent chance of survival, and she new everything was dangerous. She didn't know what was outside the door. She didn't know who was outside with what. It could be Professor Plum in the Hallway with the FUCKING CHAINSAW.

Sitting on a bed waiting out a fight was not the Jaq Locke way of living. Jumping every time something almost went wrong was pathetic. She didn't like waiting. She didn't like being scared. She didn't like considering herself dead.

Sure, she was on Survival of the Fittest, but she was still herself, and she wasn't dead yet.

She took a deep breath, and stood herself up. She walked to the door, pulled the lock open, turned the knob and threw the door open. She stuck her head out the door and turned it in the direction the footsteps had gone.

"HEY! THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?!"

[Riki]

"...a toilet would be nice."

Joachim was startled. Sure, there were other people around, but Joachim did not anticipate someone shouting at him like this. Now that he thought of it, it actually was a rather uncomfortable situation. The island was a bad place to have people being angry at you. Now, that someone else was present, Joachim realized that he did not think much about his fellow students. He briefly wondered how his friends were, but there was no time for that, so he turned around to the person yelling at him.

Jaquilyn Locke. Joachim did know her. There were some nasty rumours about her, regarding her sexual activity, but Joachim did not believe that. Then again, he did not care. Jaquilyn was a person who was someone who hang out with all the jocks. Either way, it did not matter. After all, she stood there before him, knew how to fight and was angry. Not a good combination. Thus he raised his hands in order to signale non-hostility.

"And... I can promise you that I have no aggressions towards you. Or anyone else."

[umop-ap!sdn†]

She turned and looked down the hallway in the other direction. It was clear. Joachim was nothing to be afraid of. She could lend him her bathroom. Hell, if he had a good weapon, he could hang around all he wanted. She turned back to him.

"Okay. Sorry for flipping." She gave the slightest laugh. "Shit's a little crazy right now. I have a bathroom in here, come in."

She went back to the bed and started unzipping her own bag. Digging through to find whatever treat the terrorists had given her. She didn't feel anything particularly hard or sharp. She grabbed the bag and dumped it all out. Food, water, first aid... candy. A fucking huge bag of Skittles.

She called to Joachim, "Oh fucking great, I got some candy in here too." She needed a friend with a weapon now more than ever. He wasn't the hulking tank of an ally she'd hoped for, but if he had a gun he was exponentially better.

[Riki]

Joachim sighed in relief. Jaquilyn was calm, which was very reassuring. He shrugged when she apologized and went with her in her room and went straight to the bathroom. He could hear how she was inspecting her bag content. Which included candies. Joachim did not have any candy, so he assumed that this was supposed to be her weapon.

He pondered wether he should tell her of his ballistic knife. One on hand, she did seem trustworthy, one the other hand, she could deceive him and take his weapon. One the third hand however: She did not directly ask.

"Welp, at least you have some extra food."

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Jaquilyn continued searching her bag, hoping the skittles were just an added bonus for being pretty or something. No such luck. She would have given her a better weapon, she liked her attitude. She held her middle finger in the air and waived it around. There had to be a camera somewhere in the room. Why send a bunch of teenagers to kill each other on an island if you aren't going to watch the action?

She found a piece of paper. 56 oz. Bag of Skittles. How fucking generous.

"Yeah it looks like this is what I got in stead of a weapon." This game was bullshit. For several reasons, but this wasn't helping. She noticed her own duffel bag was still present. She didn't have anything particularly useful in it, but it was nice she at least hadn't been robbed of everything.

She went back to the game bag. laying all the contents out on the bed in front of her. Bread, crackers, energy bars, water, map, compass, first aid kid, "Guide to Survival", and flashlight. She thumbed through the guide before realizing it was just instructions on how to kill people. It was tossed out the shattered window.

She organized everything in the bag into categories. Foodstuffs, travel, first aid. It didn't take long, but the productivity made her feel somewhat in control.

"How bout you, Jo? They give you anything good?"

[Riki]

"Somewhat useful. Let me get it."

Joachim exited the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He figured that it there would be no harm done by getting the knife. Actually, it should be a good idea to carry it with him. After a minute and a half, he returned with his duffle bag. He put it on the bed, next to Jaquilyn's things, and opened it.

He was cautios when taking the knife out. It would be more than inconvinient to accidently fire it and possibly hit someone. At that moment Joachim thought if he would even intentionally use it. He told himself that he would not use it as anything more than a deterrent, but something in his mind told him that things would turn out violent. Also, they would turn out very bad for him. Joachim gulped and then showed it to Jaquilyn.

"A ballistic knife. More useful than Skittles, that is certain."

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A knife was better than candy. It looked thin and not very sturdy, but it was definitely sharp enough to do some damage. Ah well, she was at least in the weapon owner's good graces.

"Well, if you've got a sweet tooth I'll trade ya. Don't forget, I let you in to use the bathroom." She wrinkled her nose. "Does the flush work?"

She picked up the map from her bed and examined it. This place was a dump, and the rest of the island was probably not much better. Still, living quarters suggested there might be food somewhere, maybe a kitchen or vending machine they could break into. They more they had the better. Jaq didn't plan on getting murdered, but she wouldn't be letting herself starve either.

She turned herself on the bed so she was facing Joachim. "I've got a map here. I'm going to loot this place for anything useful and then go looking for a weapon." She turned the map over to see if anything was on the back, no such luck.

"I'm telling you this 'cause we need to get out of here, and I would really like to be with somebody who's legitimately armed."

She looked up at him hopefully before walking over to him to share her view of the island. "If we cut through the woods and make for the golf course, we'll probably find a club or something." She looked up from the map at him. "How's that all sound?"

[Riki]

Joachim assumed that Jaquilyn was joking when she offered to trade their weapons. He did not bother to laugh though. When she asked whether the flush worked, he shaked his head. Pity the fool who had to go next.

He then watched as she examined the map. He didn't say anything expect a short "mhm" when she explained that she would loot the place for food and weapons. Joachim doubted that she would have luck, but he guessed that it was worth a try. Then she said that she would like to be with someone armed. In other words, she wanted Joachim to stick around.

As he was looking at the map with her, Joachim thought about that potential partnership. Definetely, it would be something both parties could benefit from. Jaquilyn had someone armed with her, and Joachim had someone with a tiny bit extra food. Come to think of it, that was not that much of a gain. Additionally, Joachim felt unsure about walking through the woods - he estimated them to have a diameter of four kilometers - since such terrain could be tricky and somebody might ambush them if Joachim and Jaquilyn didn't pay enough attention.

However, he also knew that taking a walk would make him feel a bit better than just sitting around in that room.

"...sure, let's try our luck."

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Jaq smiled. She had a partner. Her partner had a knife. Given that her only original resource was a bag of skittles, she was on a pretty significant upswing. She smiled at her ally and lowered the map to point to her duffel bag and it's contents on her bed.

"My weapon is skittles, I'm due for some luck. Let's see if it's in this pantry." She folded the map and tucked it into her back pocket, they'd probably need it while navigating through the woods. She grabbed the pantry door and pulled it open, dust and cobwebs greeted her. She coughed and spat on the floor, hitting a space where the tile was broken away. Brushing her hair back, she looked back at the contents.

It was mostly bare. A metallic, dusty can was on the floor in the corner. Seeing only the bar code and supplement facts, it was unidentifiable. She pulled the door back for balance while she lowered herself. Reaching her arm out and avoiding direct contact with the probably filthy floor, she reached. Her fingernail clicked the aluminum and she used her finger grab the can's slight lip. She pulled it towards herself before seeing a bag that had fallen in the front corner of the pantry. A bonus.

Smiling with her can of tuna and bag of stale tortilla chips, she presented her loot to Joachim. Hopefully his knife wound be able to open the can later.

"Alright, that's actually more than I expected. Will this be enough, or do you want to check out another house?"

[Riki]

"Eh... no. I don't think that is necessary."

Truth to be told, Joachim did not think that having the tortilla chips and the tuna can were necessary when they already had a lot of high-energy rations. These two items did not really make a big difference, and Joachim doubted that it would taste pleasant. Or that it was healthy, but there was no point in argueing about that.

Joachim reached for his duffle bag and put his knife back in. However, he then decided that it was a better idea to have the knife ready at all times and took it out again and placed it on the bed. After putting the duffle bag on his back, he picked up the knife and turned to Jaquilyn.

"Ready to go, I suppose."

Walking with Jaquilyn - or with anyone - was still not the most appealing idea for Joachim, but now he agreed to travel with her, thus he was not able to pull out.

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Jaquilyn tossed the food onto her bed and started packing up her duffel bag back up. The food and travel sections were packed back up. She zipped the bag up and snatched the compass off her sheets before moving to the door and holding it open for Joachim.

She'd only ever used a compass once, they weren't complex devises. The needle points north, you use the compass rose of the map to figure out what way you're facing. Should it prove to be any more difficult than that, maybe Joachim would know better. He seemed like the type who might secretly be a Boy Scout. Something about his cautious agreeableness reminded her of how Don was when they were younger.

He was always so clever, what would he want her to do?

"We should work out code words in case we run into somebody, like so we can decide what to do without consulting them, does that make sense?"

She closed the door partway, realizing they may not have been entirely ready to go. She tried to think of how she and her brother would mock their parents in code. Using words to communicate around them had been a big part of growing up.

"Like, if we run into somebody, and one of us feels like we need to run, we say something like 'my back hurts' and find a time to dash."

Don was probably locked in a room watching her online. Her dad would be in the kitchen on the home phone calling all his contacts, who weren't really even high up themselves, demanding more searching. Her mother... She had no idea. The woman had such control of what emotions she displayed Jaq had trouble understanding which displayed emotions were genuine. She could be crying, she could be sobbing. She could even be on the phone with Dayna threatening to kill him in person. She seemed to be emotional only selectively, but the ex-supermodel did usually get what she wanted in the end.

They'd be proud of her for being careful. She had to be, being cautious and prepared was better than being scared. While she wasn't playing the game, she was preparing for what the game would undoubtably bring. She had every reason to stay alive. She held back a forming tear, blinking it away. She was in control of very little, but her emotions and her actions were hers alone.

"I mean, that's just a suggestion. But there are definitely kids at school who might have... Yeah. It's just safe."

She didn't mention Don. She didn't mention what might be at home. She knew Joachim probably had a panicked family he wanted to be safe for too. She didn't want to think about his, and he didn't need to hear about hers. Given the rules of the game, they wouldn't both be going home. For now, they were both just allies with a short term plan to be prepared.

And then it was into the woods.

[Riki]

Joachim passed through the door Jaquilyn was holding open with a quick "Thanks". She was the one holding the compass, and he hoped that she also knew how to use one. Joachim knew how to use one too, but he was not so certain in his knowledge. As Jaquilyn closed the door, she proposed using code words. This was a smart idea. If they came into a dire situation, fast and efficient communication could be the key to survival.

"Well, 'my back hurts' is a bit too long if you want to quickly run away. We need something shorter in that case. Like... a loud, non-contextual 'forrest'."

He hoped that the woods would be not too dense, because in that case, dashing away was not a good option. Then, he wondered what they had to do if they really met someone who was playing, or who was scared, or who was still a somewhat reasonable human. There had to be scenarios for all cases. Additionally, weapons and physical traits of the enountered person needs to be factored in. He now really wished that they did not take his paper, or his pens. It would be far easier to remember them if each had a list of code words.

Well, they could come up with that on the way, and in the forest.

[Joachim Lovelace, continued in This Ain't No Make Believe]

[umop-ap!sdn†]

Alright, "forest" meant run. By that logic, they might as well have been shouting run, but so long as they had surprise on their side, the code word itself didn't matter. This was less stealthy, but easier to remember, and much easier to execute.

"Sounds good to me." If that's what he was comfortable with, that was what they were going with.

She moved through the door frame, looking back to see her own bag from home still sitting near the bed. This place was a good base to rest at, especially with the lockable door. She would mention wanting to come back here after they got to the golf course successfully, and hopefully nobody would take this place over until then.

"Welp, to the golf course we go."

((Jaquilyn Locke continued in This Ain't No Make Believe))