MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2012: UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, 9AM
"Good morning, kids."She'd been awake for hours now, waiting for this very moment.
Dayna continued,"It was another decent day from you,"
Oh no, what did that mean?
"but you're not breaking any records. James isn't particularly impressed. But, as always, here's the roll call. First off, Natalia Kowalski got herself caught in a box when the Shipping Yard became a Danger Zone-"
No. NO! There was no way she could have known. How was she supposed to kn-
"Jaquilyn Locke filleted Grace Faraday, before having her little breakdown."
Yes. Yes and that's it! That's al-
"Travis Webster also joined the stabbing club, tearing Matt Masters a new windpipe."
She failed.
"Rose Matheson also got the point of the game, or rather, of a knife wielded by Michael Eastmund."
She failed hard.
"Eastmund himself succumbed to a blow to the head he took from Cody Patton shortly thereafter. Ray Gilbert found himself on the wrong end of Amaranta Montalvo, who demonstrated the many different ways a gun can be used to kill someone. They aren't all quick or pretty, kids."
She covered her ears and screamed at the ceiling. "STOP IT YOU PSYCHO!"
"Resident pirate captain Sean Mulcahy executed the insubordinate crew member Aria Samuels. No mutiny aboard this Bounty, eh, matey? Sunny Lee brought a little doom and gloom to the life of Katy Warren, who she shot dead. Not to be outdone, Hansel Williams put wannabe undertaker Kyle Fitzpatrick in the ground. Alex King..."
She was foolish. She was stupid. Kill one person a day, do what they say, negotiate with terrorists. Had that been her plan? Kill to survive and protect Joachim until rescue came? Hah, like that was ever going to work. That was all a load of shit. The only way to live was to have others die, and if you weren't ready to die, welll... you made sure you didn't. Jaquilyn was crying into her pillow. She sobbed over her stomach's growls to let it know she didn't care. She'd left her food behind so that could run off and tell everybody to cut-it-the-fuck-out-with-the-murder.
"I t-t-tried... right?"
Even if she'd been able to stop it, even if she'd been able to change the game, it probably wouldn't have been enough. She had ordered the murder of two students and killed a third with her own hands. She had made an impact on the game, but as a driving force behind it rather than opposing it. She stared at the floor while Dayna announced the danger zones and the best kill results. Good riddance that the woods were now "officially" cursed. It seemed every time she and Joachim went there, they did something terrible.
"Do your best, kids. I'll talk to some of you again tomorrow."
She wiped her tears and made for the bathroom. She flicked the switch instinctively, but no light came on. Going back to the bedroom, she pulled up the blinds to let in the morning sunlight. She stretched, as though reliving her morning routines would restore some normality. She looked back at the bathroom door, and touched her collar. She couldn't stay here, and she couldn't stay alone.
((Jaquilyn Locke continued in Internecine))