Waking up in a strange place isn't so unusual for some...

[shotgunkid†]

"Alright, I'm just going to open the door so we can see each other properly, ok? No potshots now, or I'll return fire."

Wade tensed, peeking cautiously over the desk. The seconds that followed that phrase seemed to stretch relentlessly. He tried to frantically analyze what the other boy's mental and physical state might be like and what path of action they'd take. The very real shadow of death lingered frightfully around all that. The boy was probably not hostile, but if he was- The desk would be good cover against any melee weapon, but a gun- He couldn't overpower someone with a gun-

There the other boy was, lingering cautiously in the doorway. Big. Long hair and heavy clothes making him look like he walked right out of Wade's half-asleep character imaginings. Stoic expression. Rippling muscles, and revolver at the ready. Oh God no. No. He was aiming it dead at Wade with a thumb already over the hammer. A sign- if it was a single-action he'd have a moment to react-

"Let's start with names, shall we? Will. Will McKinley."

So he wasn't immediately hostile, but if Wade said his own name in reply he might just be making some kind of final courtesy. There was no time. He had to make a response-

"I'm Wade Cartwright. And you can put down the gun. I've only got this syringe, see. Y-you're free to check my bag," he said, making a furtive gesture toward it as he stood and retreated from the desk hands-up.

[Dannyrulx†]

"Woah, woah woah woah..." Will pulled the hammer back on the gun and indicated for the kid to stop what he was doing. "Ground rules. No sudden movements, no doing anything with that needle, don't... Fucking.... Make me jumpy. Jumpy people have twitchy fingers, yeah?" He indicated with his head for the boy to sit back down, and approached the bag, unzipping it and emptying it out on the floor. There was a glassy clink, and he kneeled down to pick it up, gun trained on the kid at all times.

He picked it up and read the message. Adrenaline. The kid had injectible adrenaline, and looked like the son of a stickman. It would have been amazing had he gotten it, but he hadn't.

"Alright." At this, will lowered the revolver, and breathed out, unaware that he had been holding his breath since he read the bottle. "Alright." He repeated, before at last continuing. "Wade," inwardly, he was thinking who the fuck called a kid Wade, but outwardly he tried to keep his bemused attitude hidden. "Let's... Not do anything rash. Either of us. I'm sure this can all be worked out, as long as you're willing?"

He was pretty sure the kid would be willing. Will was the one with the gun, and the one with both a height and weight advantage. Attacking Will right now would be paramount to suicide, but nonetheless he wanted to get verbal confirmation. Assumptions got you killed, simple as.

[Spinnentier†]

No sounds yet, just muffled talking... no gunshots or screaming, which was a good sign. Maybe Will might still be alive. If he wasn't, then really nothing could be done for her anyway, as whoever could have hypothetically killed him would then be on their hypothetical way to kill her. Yes, truly she was helping herself out of this complete wreck of an emotional state with thoughts like that.

If she was to have any hope of surviving this, she had to be optimistic... something she was sure she'd never done once in her life. Even in the early stages of her relationship with Will, she was pessimistic about her future. But now, that wasn't going to help her. No, the only thing that could help her in this situation was herself, and that meant standing up, and at least trying to get through this.

She slowly rose to her feet, and shakily crept over to the door. She nervously peered out from the doorway to find Will standing there, pointing a gun into the room, talking with whoever was inside. But then he lowered the gun, and disappeared from her sight as he entered the room, lowering the revolver as he did so.

And so the made quite possibly the riskiest decision of her life: she followed him.

She slid across the wall, before taking a careful glance inside the room Will had just entered.

A quivering voice reached his ears.

"Will? Are you okay? What's going on?"

[Dannyrulx†]

((Post order skiipped with permission from shotgunkid))

He heard a voice behind him and whirled around, nearly sticking a revolver in Rea's face. "Jesus, you scsred the crap out of me Rea!" He turned to face her fully, turninghis back on Wade for a second. He breathed in, and whispered in her ear "Go and get out of this little bit. I'll meet you by the door."

He turned back around towards Wade and uncocked his revolver, before sticking it in his pocket. "Wade? Good luck, alright? Hope you don't die too fast." He hoped nobody would die, but he didn't think for a moment they would escape unscathed. Still, a boy could dream, and this wasn't exactly thr worst dream in the world.

[Spinnentier†]

She nearly screamed when he whipped around holding a gun to her face. Thankfully, he quickly dropped it once he realised who he was seconds away from killing. They hadn't even left the building yet, and this was what it was turning them into. Twisting their minds into a state of primal urge to survive, ready to take another's life in an instant.

What had he become? What had she become? What was this sick, twisted game doing to them?

She nodded and quietly made her way to the end of the hallway at Will's order. Rea wanted a moment alone anyway.

She just needed some time to think. Fresh air would help with that. And they probably had get moving anyway. Couldn't stay in this building forever.

As Will passed her and motioned for her to follow him, she wondered about what would happen to that kid they found. But he was powerless back there, and Will was the one holding a gun. But he didn't kill him. No one died, despite the fact that leaving him alive was just a liability, another student that had to die for him to live... and yet Will left him alive.

Maybe there was hope for them, a chance for them to remain human through all this, despite the incredible challenge that may be.

There was always a chance.

Something for her to ponder as she made her way to... wherever they were headed.

((Rea Adams, continued in AAAAAAGGHH))

[Dannyrulx†]

((Will McKinley continued in AAAAAAAAAGGHH!))

[shotgunkid†]

Wade felt panic, then anger, then confusion, then.. nothing again. He wasn't going to be robbed or killed after all. When the other boy waltzed in and essentially seized the bag from him at gunpoint, violence became a visceral, real possibility to his mind. Will could easily have run off with the damned thing or shot him and there wasn't much Wade could have done; the other boy utterly outmatched him in every respect but perhaps mental acuity, and how much did that count for?

He'd probably never know Will's real intentions, one way or the other. The girl had come and, well, distracted him, maybe. But as soon as she arrived, it felt like he'd changed tack. He just gave Wade a few kind words before running off with her down the hall, leaving the bag on the floor. It occurred to him: should he leave or not?

Really attempting to take stock of the surroundings was impossible much beyond the almost suffocatingly cramped office itself. The door could be shot through easily if he made any meaningful noise, and the terrorists would almost certainly declare this entire manor a death zone if anyone lingered too long.

The rest of the island wasn't much better. After all, it was crawling with other students. They had an even chance of being just as bad or even worse as Will had acted toward Wade as they had of being friendly, unless perchance he met Hannah or some of the others, and even then Danya's words and the video still clung in his mind, cast a sickly shadow on his friends. As loath as he was to even acknowledge it was there.

But he wanted to leave, Wade realized. He didn't want to spend the next day or so, at least, just cooped up inside a messy room and waiting to be killed or forced out like a pest from the building. Uneasily, he took steps and picked up the bag. It was surprisingly light; he'd believed it would be painfully heavy maybe thanks to what was inside it, but he could handle and maneuver it with relative ease. Not much worse than his schoolbag.

Wade was at the doorway when he started to really analyze the surroundings again. The two had gone left. He didn't want to confront them again, so he turned right. It was a long hallway with an open metal gate transitioning to another room at the end.

Listening carefully to the sounds, Wade moved down the right side and down the right side until he reached the gate, and tread lightly into the adjoining room.

He tried his best to ignore everything else and just concentrate.

((Wade Cartwright continued elsewhere))