A Moment's Hesitation/The Pedestrian

[Rimfire†]

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

Up until now, Abel had, admittedly, been quite detached from it all. Heading out on his own, ducking around any potential encounters with other students, listening with something of a bored indifference to the horrors that unfolded out of his sight. He'd been eating sparsely, for once in his life, stretching out his rations to last for as long as possible; the first loaf of bread had a few chunks left, which would make for another meal or two accompanied by the wise (if not a little grotesque) strategy of eating small amounts of grass to fill in the hunger gaps.

All in all, the experience hadn't become a true nightmare yet... Abel didn't count himself lucky, but he should have. Classmates were dying every day, in what seemed like exponential amounts... but he hadn't come across any of the remains of his peers, miraculously. He was fortunate to be alive, but it hadn't yet occurred to him and the slaughtering of the other kids was something that hadn't yet intruded upon him, like the news report of a massacre in a far-off country. Sure, it was sad, but it just... just didn't apply to him. Not yet.

And then the 5th Announcement came. Just what the hell was that? Abel scowled to himself, trudging on through the tall grass. He glanced across the groundline, seeing the dark, foreboding break in the terrain that the ravine was. Then, shaking his head, he returned to his thoughts. Had everyone in Danya's tight little control center lost their minds? Were they playing dominoes with the collar detonation switches or something? Those five, maybe six-odd live-broadcasted explosions were twofold disturbing to Abel. Hearing someone die was something he hadn't had the misfortune of experiencing until then... and he knew one or two of the deceased. He at least remembered who Wednesday and Jazzilyn were... putting a face to their screams was a wakeup call indeed. Even above that, the killings had been random... an effect caused by what sounded like the retarded actions of a few dumbasses with some mission they imagined themselves to be on.

S.A.D.D... and some asshole by the name of Sinclair... those fuckers deserved to have died, not the others who had.

He stopped, the sound of grass crunching underfoot disappearing as he stood at the ravine, no more than three meters from the edge. Slightly to his left, the rickety form of a suspension bridge spanned the gash in the ground. No, rickety was an understatement. It looked more like a deathtrap masquerading as a bridge. Designed by a deranged engineer.

"No way in Hell am Ah crossin' that yet..." Abel murmured to himself, reaching up to adjust his Stetson hat. As his arm raised, the Texan boy looked to it indifferently, before his eyes fell to the L-shaped stick bound to his palm and wrist with strapping from the First Aid box. The stick had the word 'Tonfa' inscribed on one side, but Abel was content to just call it a police baton and be through with it. Still, he'd watched one or two kung fu movies, and had seen the way they'd use the weapons for defense; held by the protruding handle, with the larger portion of the weapon pointing to one's elbow. The thing seemed to be made of a tough plastic, which was fine as long as it could stave off a hatchet blow or two. The tonfa's twin rested in Abel's belt, ready to be used if needed.

Adjusting his rucksack's position on his shoulders, Abel glanced back to the bridge another time, before sighing and letting his usual foolish grin spread across his lips. What was life, if one had to take it seriously? "An' what am Ah supposed to do now...?"

[Ares]

((Evan continued from Blood, Sweat and Tears))

It had been an interesting last day or so for Evan. Everyone had run out of the Storehouse so fast. Gabe had taken off, with Steve hot on his tail, followed by Viki. Evan had tried to stick with Viki, but she was frantic and he just couldn't stay with her. Evan had been wandering around the jungle not quite sure where to go.

The announcements were bitter sweet for Evan. Steve had killed Serenity. The little shoulder devil in Evan's head did a celebration dance. Yes it was true that Evan liked Steve, but it was established in Evan's head that he was jealous. Gabe always running to Steve with his problems, always choosing Steve over him. Surely now Gabe would hear that announcement and see Steve isn't the hero that everyone makes him out to be.

Evan continued slowly across the bridge. He knew he should try his best to find Viki or Gabe again, but where to look first?

Evan looked up to see a boy at the other end of the bridge.

"Hey...you there! You playing?" EVan said, ready to turn around at the slighest indication of danger. His Tickle Me Elmo doll wouldn't exactly be the best thing to defend himself with after all.

[Rimfire†]

Fingers still on the rim of his Stetson, Abel froze as the unfamiliar voice rang across the ravine, muscles tensing as the idea of simply running away flashed through his mind. Sure, he wasn't really into this whole thing, but he still wasn't very keen on dying a laughable death after making his first trip into a potential crossing-area for students. Two-hundred students made for some frightening odds of encounter, which had solidly kept Abel on the outskirts until now.

"That all depends, friend..." The roughly-dressed, roughly-featured young man tipped his hat back slightly, glancing up and across the bridge. The other boy seemed about as wiry as himself, but admittedly not as well-clothed for such a situation as he was; at least Abel's jacket had some degree of being waterproof. The grin resurfaced, strange and foolish as ever. "...That all depends on what we're playin', see. Ah'm sure as hell not playin' the Program, if that's the question. Not yet, anyhow."

The words felt slightly hollow now that Abel had gotten to say them. The screams of those girls on the last daily announcement were still ringing in the back of his mind. He was only now starting to go through the dread that some others had felt days ago. Playing tough guy was bound to get difficult soon.

He cleared his throat, a hand on his hip. The Tonfa strapped to his forearm and hand became consequently more visible. "What're you playin'? Ah don't see any weapon on ya, so Ah guess yer okay." The Elmo hadn't been spotted yet.

Without thought, Abel took a few steps forward, the toe of his one trainer touching the first panel of the bridge platform. "What is it ya want, anyhow?"

[Neuphim†]

((G73/ Dawn Beckworth's Start))

Before Dawn, with a pencil in hand, was a batch of blue lilies. They were in full bloom and despite the situation, Dawn was beside herself in its beauty. She couldn't resist the urge to draw it. She was smiling all the while doing this, albeit saddening and perplexed.

Dawn was truly confused since she woke up on the third day. She vaguely remembers getting up early in a room with all her classmates, but the whole event very dreamlike and unnatural. When she woke up again, she had no clue as to where she was. Even more, she saw that she had an extra bag on her. The contents of the bag were weird. At the time, she assumed that they were on a weird form of a nature hike. This was strangely enforced by the fact that in the dufflebag was a handgun, which Dawn assumed was for hunting. She also found a piece of paper, which due to how violently nonchalant it sound, thought of it as joke put in by a particularly violent person, most likely a video gamer.

Then the idea of this being a nature hike died the moment she witnessed 5 dead bodies. It took her all day to recuperate from that encounter and at the end, she wasn't sure what to do.

At the very least, that the island was full visual wonders. After a couple of days, she was able to fill a third of her sketchbook with sketches of flora and fauna both. This, at the very least, as kept her sane after seeing all those bodies. It was repression, but she didn't mind the least bit.

For the last six days she had been wandering the island, trying to find anyone who could help her in figuring out what she was doing on this island; anyone at all.

Dawn finished the blue lilies sketch, using her nub to put the final touches. At a glance, she spotted some movement. She saw a boy (Evan) walking past. Dawn put all of her stuff back in her bag.

She walked over to the boy, with a modest smile on her face and her sketchbook in her arm. She reached over, and tapped the boy on the shoulder.

Dawn presented her sketchbook, opening to the front page. She places a pen in the crease of the book. The page was a sketch of a finch, modeled from a photograph Dawn took the year before. However, that wasn't the only thing on here, as there was a message written in neat, cursive writing at the top. The message read the following: Greetings, my name is Dawn Abigail Beckworth. I'm deaf and in turn unable to speak. I don't know what I am doing here or why there are dead students. What's going on? Write here please.

Dawn, only hearing SOTF once in offhand conversation, and she forced it out of her mind instantly, would've never guess destiny would lead her into this crucible.

[Ares]

"Huh!!" Evan jumped at the feeling of someone tapping his shoulder.

"Holy shit you scared me," He said to the girl as he took the sketchbook the girl handed to him, "And now I feel like an asshole." He said after he finished reading that the girl was deaf.

"Hey...um, dude," Evan yelled, while giving the one second signal to Dawn, "Can we like call a brief timeout from our yelling at each other? This girl here is deaf and I need to write down whats going on to help her understand?"

Evan took the pen and wrote back to Dawn.

Hi, I'm Evan Angler. We are in a game run by terrorists called Survival of the Fittest. You win by being the last person alive. It's shown around the world to people from the camera's you see around you. Our class was kidnapped in short. I'm not going to try to kill you though. Him, I'm not sure, I'm trying to find out, so just sit tight for a minute.

Evan hoped she could decipher his chicken-scratch printing as he turned back to the boy at the other end of the bridge.

"Getting back to you. I'm not playing either. I'm looking for my friends, Gabe McCallum and Viki Valentine. Have you seen either one of them?"

[Rimfire†]

"What girl-" Abel began, but interrupted himself abruptly as his eyes focused on the figure standing quite clearly beside the boy on the other side of the bridge. What the hell? When did she get there? Was she always there...? Abel shook his head once. He needed to be more careful.

If she's deaf, this is gonna get a whole lot harder, Abel watched the two hunching over a book, or a sheet of paper or something. Crossing his arms, he took another step until he was fully standing on the bridge platform. Then again, I'm kinda sick of skulking around on my own.

Abel turned his head back to the boy, as he began explaining his movements. After hearing him out, he looked aside for a moment, recollecting. He knew who McCallum was at least, but as for having seen them... not so much. "Afraid Ah can't help ya there... look, are ya heading to this part of the island?"

He gestured to his own side of the ravine with a backwards jerk of his thumb, before backstepping off the bridge surface. "Come over this side, then, with the girl. Ah'll help ya go look for whoever yer lookin' for..."

He didn't know why he was offering to help really, but then again he didn't particularly realise it. Pausing for a moment, Abel gripped the second tonfa stuffed in his belt, raised it slowly for Evan and the girl to see, and dropped it. His designated 'main' tonfa remained strapped to his arm, but it wasn't in much of a position to bludgeon anything, anyway.

"See? Unarmed. If ya have a destination, Ah can choose us a course," Abel shook a shoulder to indicate the daypack slung across it, wherein is map rested. "Ah spent the last few days lookin' for the routes with the most cover."

Looking over to Dawn, he tried to smile reassuringly... but it came out as stupid-looking as always. The last thing Abel wanted was for someone to think he was participating in the Program.

[Neuphim†]

Dawn read the message with an almost drained feeling. The message seemed so foriegn to her, that people would really do this, that she just didn't know what to do. She breathed out and looked at Evan, who looked dead serious. She sighed, noticing that Abel was looking over with a reassuring smile, though awkard, was legit.

Looking over to her dufflebag, she realized that her gun wouldn't be be much use to her and considered giving it to Evan. Before she did so, she thought logically.

This would be too suspicious, Dawn thought.

Taking out her pen, she wrote out the following: I have a gun in my bag. I want you to take it, as I wouldn't be able to use it that well. Oh and Evan, thank you for telling me.

[Ares]

"You stay put right there while I write the explanation to her." Evan said in a stern voice.

Evan took the sketchbook and pen back and read Dawn's message.

Holy shit, she wants to give a gun? Evan thought to himself.

Picking up the pen Evan wrote back to the girl, 'You're welcome. I guess I'll take the gun. Don't give it to me right now. Slip your hand in and be ready to pull it out just in case.' Evan wrote jerking his head towards Abel to help Dawn understand what he meant. Evan continued his writing, 'Okay. I'm being honest. I'm looking for two of my friends. I want you to come with me though. There are things called dangerzones which if you stay in one too long your collar explodes. They are announced everyday along with who has been killed. If you can't hear them you're at extreme risk. So come with me to find them. Only other thing is whether you want him to come. Hes saying he isn't playing and wants to come with us but I don't know him, I've only ever seen him in the halls.'

Evan put the pen back down on the paper and handed the sketchbook back to Dawn, shaking his right hand from the tiny amount of soreness from the writing.

"I really shouldn't bring her, she's a huge liability, but I can't let her wander or she'll find a dangerzone." Evan whispered to himself.

[Rimfire†]

A lot of other people would be aggravated by this course of events. If one had communicated with another person, offered help despite the dangers of the situation, disarmed oneself to indicate no harm was intended and done all this in loud tones across a significant pedestrian-thoroughfare, it was sort of like playing in traffic. Now, have the other guy being curt, somewhat nonresponsive and pushy purely out of suspicion, and the scenario would become highly irritating.

Not to mention, the meaningful glances at day-packs and the intermittent silence of Evan and Dawn's unusual communication might raise some suspicion...

However, Abel was neither fazed by their conduct nor really aware of it, and although he was a fairly perceptive guy he wasn't looking for body-language and signs of deceit. His thoughts of wariness rested only in showing himself not to be out for blood... and although he may have thought of it at the Program's start, he just wasn't looking for subtle signs of trouble in others. He was just too trusting a person.

The grin remained on Abel's sharp-featured face, the expression more to himself as he stood waiting for them, his facade of toughness washing away in the silence. As they still wrote, Abel finally leaned back on his heels and landed on the soaked grass in a seated position, arms resting on his knees. Maybe a foot or so from him, his one tonfa still lay discarded for the moment.

"Any time!" The Texan called out as Evan finished writing, in a tone more joking than impatient. Furrowing his brow, he realised that he'd let his tough-guy image drop. Guess I need to be more careful with that...

[Neuphim†]

Dawn looked back at Abel while Evan was writing, trying to learn from his body language if he could be trusted. Considering she has 'heard' from Evan, she is under the presumption that he is at the very least a decent guy. Considering that wasn't the case, she cannot come to any solutions on how to trust him. When she got back Evan's response, she read it and re-read multible times, trying to think of a good solution.

Dawn also realized that the page was nearly covered in Evan's message. It slightly made her disappoited that her drawing was scribbled over so much. Though only slightly. She turned over the page to one of a sunset she drew a day ago. She set pen to paper and wrote the following: Thanks for having me tag along. To answer your question, I don't know. He looks well enough, but that maybe just be a ruse. However, that's one less person to worry about if he tags along. So for now, let's have him. But we should keep an eye on him just in case.

Before handing the message back, humorous thought came across her mind, and quickly scribbled down: PS How in the world have I not walked into a Dangerzone yet? God, must want me alive. That explains why he put me in this thing. XD

Dawn nodded her head and with a smile, passed the sketchbook.

[Pigeon Army†]

((Michael Anders continued from Dork of the Manatee))

Rain.

It was hard rain. Not as hard as it had been, but still hard.

Michael Anders cared a lot about this. He was wet. He was cold. His glasses were fogging up, now that he had put them back on for his trek through the jungle. His hearing was compromised due to the heavy rain pitter-pattering down everywhere. His shoes were wearing through. And - oh, yeah - he was on an island, being hunted or not hunted by people he'd been through school with.

A team's sounding pretty good right about now.

Michael thought he heard voices, and looked up. There was a ravine a few metres away. A bit of a distance along the side of the ravine, there was a guy and a girl under a tree, sheltered from the rain. On the other side, right opposite them, was a guy in a Stetson. None of them looked in the least bit threatening. Michael smiled. People. You know, God, you've got good timing.

Michael walked towards the boy and the girl, his hands clear, the iron wrench obvious as it hung out his back pocket and bounced with his walking.

"Hey, got room for another under that tree?"

[Ares]

((OOC: Sorry it took so long for my reply, bit o'writers block with Evan))

Evan took the sketchbook back, before noticing the boy approaching over Dawn's shoulder.

"If by tree you mean bridge, yeah come on over," Evan said to Micheal, "But do it slowly and kind of circle around. Dawn here is deaf so you don't want to spook her..."

Evan was interrupted by the announcements, where only one thing stuck out for him. Kara's killer was dead.

That means Gabe might snap out of it and come looking for Viki and I!

Evan couldn't help but break into smile with a sense of relief. He'd been legitimately worried about Gabe for a day and a half now.

Now on to his message to Dawn: There is a boy approaching from behind you, I waved him over. I'll call Abel over too. We'll figure out what to do. The announcements just happened. We're still safe here.

He handed the sketchbook back to Dawn, and waved Abel over.

For the first and probably only time on the island, Evan was excited and had a new found energy...over an announcement.

[Mitsuko2†]

((From: What a day, what a day, what a day.))

The rain continued to assault the island with it's depressing haze. A week they'd been stranded here. Told to kill everything in sight. Told that the only way home was to kill the people they grew up with. To be the last one standing, out of hundreds. And impossible task for most to even contemplate. But... viewed in a different light, winning doesn't seems all that difficult. Neither does killing.

Melina Frost had wrapped her burns as best she could in the jungle. Jessa was able to secure the gauze around her burns, and it slightly helped stop the horrible pain her face had felt. Melina knew that she would have to do something about the burns eventually, but as of now, wrapping them seemed enough. Those pricks... at least she was able to finish one of them off. Her face was in so much pain it was hard for her to concentrate. Thank god the adrenaline pumping through her veins was able to keep her going. She was still unable to register the fact that she would never see out of her right eye again. It just wouldn't compute.

Melina cringed and fought through the pain. She had to keep playing the game and be the best. That's what made people love you. If you were the best, they treated you like a queen. That's all she wanted. She wanted to be loved, and this was the perfect chance for her to prove she was here... that she was real, and that she was strong.

She exited the trees with her group following behind. She saw that she was near a bridge. She smirked. Four students were in the area. Three males, one female. Those were pretty good odds. And she didn't see any guns with her good eye. She lifted the shotgun, and pointed it at the closest boy, who was headed towards the bridge. She smiled

"Y'know girls... I'm tired of trying to get them to trust us first... instead, let's just shoot them and be done with it! Besides... I feel the need to take out some frustration..." She grinned wildly and fired the shotgun at the boy. The buckshot ripped from the gun's barrel.

((Just to clarify, she's firing at Michael))

[Rimfire†]

Abel's head tilted towards the newcomer, his narrow eyes fixing on Michael's approaching form. From across the ravine's expanse, he tried to spy out some kind of weapon on him; he seemed barehanded, but pockets were nice places for storing things away. As he reached Dawn and Evan on the other side, though, Abel shrugged and looked up at the sky. The rain was lessening...

Glancing down again, the Texan's eyes met the sight of Evan gesturing for him to come over. Finally. As he stood, rain-darkened jacket fluttering slightly in the wind, the final words of Danya's announcements echoed away. How many left, now? A hundred? More, less? Abel had managed to avoid the issue until now, but his first contact with other students since the Program's advent cast a new light on things. Sooner or later, someone was going to try and kill him... who, though? Classmates? One of his friends? One of the three people he was seemingly going to team up with now?

He stooped, swiping up his one discarded tonfa. Was he going to kill someone with these things? Cave in someone's skull? He almost shuddered as he turned the weapon over in his hand, standing upright again. Something subconsciously stirred in Abel's mind. He was more afraid to kill right now than to die, even if he didn't know it yet.

The grim thoughts were washed away momentarily as Abel turned to the bridge and took a step towards it... but it resurfaced again as clear as day, as his eyes focused beyond Dawn and Michael and Evan. The soft, half-matte glint of a metal barrel. Abel had mostly seen it on exahust-pipes, but there was really only one thing that that could be.

"Behind ya!" The words ripped from Abel's voicebox in a panicked bellow, the last syllable punctuated by the thick, echoing rip of high-calibre gunfire. At the sound of the shot, Abel flinched, half-slipping on the wet ground and landing on his hands and knees at his edge of the bridge. Scrabbling madly in the damp gloom, he hoisted himself back to his feet, trying to see if his possible companions were still alright.

[Ciel†]

(Madison Conner continued from What a day, What a day, What a day)

"Apollo!" Ethan hissed at his Border Collie before letting out a nervous laugh. "Sorry about that. He's... uh... pretty social."

Madison could remember happier times. Much happier times. It made her smile whenever she thought of home, of her friends, of everything that seemed so scarce. She really didn't smile though, her face felt broken and the only emotion she was able to display was nothing close to a smile. It was enough to keep her going. Her hand brushed through her hair, getting rid of all the twigs that were cluttering her locks of hair.

"So, are you from... Northside?" he inquired after a brief pause, "I don't think I've ever seen you around before. But... I don't get out much either."

"Northside..." she spoke aloud, random enough to spread the confusion to the boy as well. "Uhhh... if Northside is a high school, then no. I don't go there. I attend Southridge.... not the best of places, but it's alright. Uhh... do you go there? I mean... you look familiar but all of that could just be my imagination...M-My name's Madison. Madison Conner. I-It's nice to meet you..."

Ethan... where are you? I'm actually glad you aren't here. You don't seem the kind of person who would enjoy even watching this...

Madison stopped, looking down at the ground with a ashamed look on her face. What would he think... if he saw me now...

...

No. Never mind. The second I decide things depending on what others feel, I'll be helpless like all the other girls. First things first: I have to follow Melina for now. If I stay in the background for now, being a follower... then what? I'm not sure. I'm not sure of alot of things...

She arrived at their destination without any other fuss. Melina had explained to Madison that she had ammo for her gun, which surprised Madison quite a bit. However Melina didn't even decide to give Madison any extra. This gun is completely useless if there's no bullets. I'm going to have to play nice for now, gotta get on her good side. How to get on a psychotic woman's good side? Doing what she tells you of course. Madison had no quarrels with shooting at someone, although she hesitated for a moment. She hid behind Melina, getting a better view. Micheal had a gun... A gun?

Those people have guns! They're armed! Melina really is crazy, she really is! Madison shivered, looking at the remaining ammo in her machine gun. Ugghh... There's no turning back. No turning back at all... why me? She pulled out her handy laser dazzler out and pointed it and shined it at both Evan and Dawn who were the only people she had a clear shot at.

"I'd say I'm sorry," Madison exclaimed coldly, "but I'm not."

In reality this was an utter lie.