"Putting it lightly."
Kelly did try to sound sympathetic. She thought she succeeded anyways. Her throat was a bit dry, and she was pretty confident she could forgive herself with the excuse that her immune system would've been busy, what with the gaping wounds and the third degree burns and all? Just throwing that out there. All things considered she did a great job with the solemnity, the gravity the situation deserved.
The situation itself, rather, not Zach, not Paloma. They'd never amounted to much in school and Kelly was sure that had very aptly carried over.
"He's not bad, no. But I'm not sure anyone else agrees with us there."
Kelly shrugged.
"Reputations die fast. Especially here." She sighed contemplatively, wondering why it was that this was the company she'd been reduced to. She'd done better than them, hadn't she? She'd had a reason to kill. To fight, and to break the chains of her oppression. However many centuries of rusty steel had chained women to subordination, to their ideas and their opinions lacking economic value.
"It's right to cry," she nodded at him. At Paloma too, sure, if the message wouldn't bounce off her stony face and stonier skull. "But we have to think about what comes next. If there's anything left, for people like us. Y'know it, right? They're going to judge us on the news and all. Call us what's wrong with society, then forget about us, as if we didn't suffer too."
my face above the water, my feet can't touch the ground
Open!- tagging Ryuki (day 9), post announcements
As soon as the masked girl mentioned how the news would judge them, Zach’s mind went back to his parents. The disappointment on their faces from that dream were burned into his mind. Zombie Brandon’s words cropped up again.
You can’t run from what you did.
Zach’s worst fears after somehow surviving this death game included resentment from his parents. They would probably be accused of bad parenting and raising a monster of a son. They didn’t deserve that.
There was also the matter of his followers online turning on him, and calling him a murderer. His reputation after years of content with his pranks and vlogs were as good as squandered.
He’d have no friends, nor any family to turn to.
“God,” Zach mumbled, “What’ll everyone back home think?”
You can’t run from what you did.
Zach’s worst fears after somehow surviving this death game included resentment from his parents. They would probably be accused of bad parenting and raising a monster of a son. They didn’t deserve that.
There was also the matter of his followers online turning on him, and calling him a murderer. His reputation after years of content with his pranks and vlogs were as good as squandered.
He’d have no friends, nor any family to turn to.
“God,” Zach mumbled, “What’ll everyone back home think?”
B018: Ned Jackson- 
G039: Yuki Hayashibara- 
B034: Zachary Beck- 
"Nothing."
Paloma shrugged.
"Nobody cares or cared. It won't change because we're murdering each other."
She shook her head. As she arranged her hat, she couldn't help but notice that she was bleeding again. It was probably the strenuous movement of crawling around the rock that made her hurt. Pain was something that Paloma just stopped caring about. It was always there, but at the same time, she knew it was temporary.
She knew that it would all go away one day as she's sitting on a lawn chair with a homemade piña colada in hand with a smoke in the other.
Right?
"If anybody cared, they would have stopped this a long time ago," Paloma snarled, "but they don't, so we die."
Paloma shrugged.
"Nobody cares or cared. It won't change because we're murdering each other."
She shook her head. As she arranged her hat, she couldn't help but notice that she was bleeding again. It was probably the strenuous movement of crawling around the rock that made her hurt. Pain was something that Paloma just stopped caring about. It was always there, but at the same time, she knew it was temporary.
She knew that it would all go away one day as she's sitting on a lawn chair with a homemade piña colada in hand with a smoke in the other.
Right?
"If anybody cared, they would have stopped this a long time ago," Paloma snarled, "but they don't, so we die."
Paloma was rearranging the chairs on her Titanic of a head. An itch settled in the crook of Kelly's finger, and she only realized a second later that she was also picking at her mask. As if the arrangement of it mattered any.
"Oh... jeez. Yeah. You're so right." In a way she was right. People did care about them, but as commodities. People only intimately connected to their food as heavily as it sat in their belly, sometimes bubbling out a bit in the form of a burp. Kelly, Zach, Paloma, they were all just prop pieces in a way. Well. Some of them were.
At some point Kelly would finish what she'd started. Or maybe she was still working on that start.
"Does what they think matter anymore?" Kelly glared dangerously at both boy and girl silhouette vaguely poking out of the ambiance around her, the furious frown with all its teeth apparent even when a mask covered her mouth. "It's their fault that it had to be like this. They owe whoever comes back an apology."
Kelly could hear it already.
"Oh... jeez. Yeah. You're so right." In a way she was right. People did care about them, but as commodities. People only intimately connected to their food as heavily as it sat in their belly, sometimes bubbling out a bit in the form of a burp. Kelly, Zach, Paloma, they were all just prop pieces in a way. Well. Some of them were.
At some point Kelly would finish what she'd started. Or maybe she was still working on that start.
"Does what they think matter anymore?" Kelly glared dangerously at both boy and girl silhouette vaguely poking out of the ambiance around her, the furious frown with all its teeth apparent even when a mask covered her mouth. "It's their fault that it had to be like this. They owe whoever comes back an apology."
Kelly could hear it already.
V8 Vibes:
V7 Vibes:
“So I guess, we got nothing to lose,” Zach said.
What Zach was getting at from the girls were saying, is that even if they become a hot topic for a hot minute, things wouldn’t change fundamentally. The youth were expendable to the media and the government. Once the controversy died down, the general public would go back to being blissfully ignorant. Everyone would forget in about a month and move onto the next scandal, without discussing what could be done to prevent another kidnapping and death game from occurring.
“Well, what happens on death island, stays on death island then,” Zach muttered.
Zach got up and walked past Paloma, stopping just at the mouth of the cave. Zach felt like he’d found some clarity. Like he wasn’t afraid. Whether he lived or died, killed or be killed, he felt a sense of liberation. He already decided to take the game more seriously, and now his fortitude was solidified. Perhaps Zombie Brandon’s words only applied to the island.
“Well, guess I’ll be going,” Zach said after taking a deep breath, “Thanks for the talk. What will you guys do?”
What Zach was getting at from the girls were saying, is that even if they become a hot topic for a hot minute, things wouldn’t change fundamentally. The youth were expendable to the media and the government. Once the controversy died down, the general public would go back to being blissfully ignorant. Everyone would forget in about a month and move onto the next scandal, without discussing what could be done to prevent another kidnapping and death game from occurring.
“Well, what happens on death island, stays on death island then,” Zach muttered.
Zach got up and walked past Paloma, stopping just at the mouth of the cave. Zach felt like he’d found some clarity. Like he wasn’t afraid. Whether he lived or died, killed or be killed, he felt a sense of liberation. He already decided to take the game more seriously, and now his fortitude was solidified. Perhaps Zombie Brandon’s words only applied to the island.
“Well, guess I’ll be going,” Zach said after taking a deep breath, “Thanks for the talk. What will you guys do?”
"Leave."
Paloma crossed her arms over her chest, clicking on the button of her flashlight. The light showed her water bottle again, still dirty and brown. She wasn't sure how to do this, and it's not like it came with instructions. She sighed as she walked forward to pick her gear up.
She turned toward Zach and Kelly.
There was this unsaid promise that if she saw them again, she might have to kill them. They weren't a lot of people left, and maybe, just maybe, they would be the last people she would need to kill. She sighed again.
"Oki," she said with a small wave, "bye."
((Paloma darted out of the cave and into the forest.))
Paloma crossed her arms over her chest, clicking on the button of her flashlight. The light showed her water bottle again, still dirty and brown. She wasn't sure how to do this, and it's not like it came with instructions. She sighed as she walked forward to pick her gear up.
She turned toward Zach and Kelly.
There was this unsaid promise that if she saw them again, she might have to kill them. They weren't a lot of people left, and maybe, just maybe, they would be the last people she would need to kill. She sighed again.
"Oki," she said with a small wave, "bye."
((Paloma darted out of the cave and into the forest.))
Kelly didn't bother to say goodbye. There'd be time for a rehash of this conversation in the future, over guns and empty coffee cups... water bottles, anyways. Less romantic imagery, but ultimately more appropriate.
Zach looked a bit better. Good for him. Irritating it had taken this long to convince him of something so blatantly obvious.
"I..." She was tired of explaining herself to people who didn't understand. It felt nice to have an audience that wasn't commodifying her struggles into cheap moralism, for once. She actually almost wondered what was going on behind that dead stare of his. He actually had nice eyes, really vibrant and fetching. She'd never noticed before and she'd probably never notice again.
"I'm going to do what I have to do. What happens here stays here. It's a good line."
Her smile moved her mask less noticeably than her anger had. She wasn't even sure it had actually happened, even as an errant synapse of her pulpy brain.
"I'll wish you good luck. It's not easy, trust me." A nod, assuredly slow, more for herself than for him. "... But you don't have anyone else."
She waited for him to leave, like he'd promised. A shadow larger than all the others, trying to swallow them up with the visual illusion of importance.
((Kelly Nguyen continued in then you dive in it))
Zach looked a bit better. Good for him. Irritating it had taken this long to convince him of something so blatantly obvious.
"I..." She was tired of explaining herself to people who didn't understand. It felt nice to have an audience that wasn't commodifying her struggles into cheap moralism, for once. She actually almost wondered what was going on behind that dead stare of his. He actually had nice eyes, really vibrant and fetching. She'd never noticed before and she'd probably never notice again.
"I'm going to do what I have to do. What happens here stays here. It's a good line."
Her smile moved her mask less noticeably than her anger had. She wasn't even sure it had actually happened, even as an errant synapse of her pulpy brain.
"I'll wish you good luck. It's not easy, trust me." A nod, assuredly slow, more for herself than for him. "... But you don't have anyone else."
She waited for him to leave, like he'd promised. A shadow larger than all the others, trying to swallow them up with the visual illusion of importance.
((Kelly Nguyen continued in then you dive in it))
V8 Vibes:
V7 Vibes:
"See ya," Zach said as he waved Paloma goodbye.
Rejuvinated, he took another deep breath and exhaled, trying to get into a calm mindset. All that was left for Zach was to survive. For how much longer? Ideally, until everyone else but him was dead. In reality, who knows? Zach turned back towards the masked girl.
"Yeah, good luck to you too," Zach said back to her.
As he walked away from the cage, he looked down once more at the billhook. He could feel a sense of newfound determination rising within himself.
You fucking ready to do this for real?
"Right, let's do this," Zach said to himself, walking onward toward whatever lied ahead.
(Zachary Beck, continued elsewhere...)
Rejuvinated, he took another deep breath and exhaled, trying to get into a calm mindset. All that was left for Zach was to survive. For how much longer? Ideally, until everyone else but him was dead. In reality, who knows? Zach turned back towards the masked girl.
"Yeah, good luck to you too," Zach said back to her.
As he walked away from the cage, he looked down once more at the billhook. He could feel a sense of newfound determination rising within himself.
You fucking ready to do this for real?
"Right, let's do this," Zach said to himself, walking onward toward whatever lied ahead.
(Zachary Beck, continued elsewhere...)