Step Two: ?

[CondorTalon]

The two voices responded, and there was no immediate burst of gunfire. That was a good sign.

They were willing to talk. Shawn slowly stepped out from behind the trees after they had both stopped talking, and headed towards them.

"Shawn Bowe-Crooke," he said. "I haven't been playing either, but..."

He hesitated, and the words almost died in his throat.

"Well, let's just say I was with someone else, and I left them because they were."

He could see both of them clearly now, Kyle and Carlyle. As he'd said, Carlyle had a gun. Also like he said, it was pointing at the ground.

"Okay. Well... Do you mind if I stay with you for a while. I kind of left my... ex-ally without her notice. I dunno what's going to happen if she finds me again."

[Lord_Shadow]

The newcomer introduced himself as Shawn Bowe-Cooke. And he assured them he wasn't playing. Kyle inwardly seethed at the mention of that word. As though their lives were reduced to being a part of some game. The Program put that mentality in otherwise sane people. Kyle half-hoped that this encounter would force him out of his feelings right now. But they had only made them worse.

Shawn seemed uneasy about having left his 'ally' behind. Given that this person was a killer, things would not turn out good if they ran into her. It juast made him furious to think that the only people left aside from the good people he knew were killers. He grit his teeth again. "It's no trouble if you stick with us. But if your former partner shows up I think we'll be in a bad spot if we're unprepared."

He shook his head. "I'm not sure how much you heard but I'm not sure how much longer we can keep up this survival streak." He sighed deeply. "But even if I don't we'll make it much farther, I'll try. So is there anything we need to know about your friend? Any tips for staying a step ahead?"

He had to try to power through this storm of emotion. It was so difficult, and he was being tossed to and fro by it. Even if he wanted to give up and give into the despair, for his friends, he had to try to hold out.

[Pippi]

Shawn Bowe-Crooke. Pretty cool guy, from what Carlyle could remember of their interactions back at school. Not that that meant anything anymore. Plenty of decent people had been killed already. Just as many had decided to try their hand at killing. Point was, Carlyle couldn’t trust a guy based solely on how they’d acted back in school, back in normality. No matter who you were, this program changed you.

Shawn, however, assured the two that he wasn’t playing. Just a few days earlier, Carlyle might not have believed his words. However, he couldn’t remember hearing Shawn’s name on the announcements at all, so it was likely the guy was telling the truth. He also mentioned that his previous ally had decided to follow the General’s words, and Carlyle suddenly felt a surge of pity for Shawn. He couldn’t imagine walking around with somebody from possibly day one, putting all your trust in them, and then suddenly finding they went against everything you believed in.

Kyle spoke for Carlyle when he said Shawn could stay with them. The rest of his words, however, concerned Carlyle. No matter how much his friend pushed forwards, acted like the leader, there was something about him that told Carlyle he was breaking down inside. Something that would soon stop him from carrying on entirely.

That was why they needed to get out of this nightmare as soon as possible. They’d have to give everything they had in order to survive, but they would survive. Himself, Kyle, Louisa and now Shawn. Carlyle would make sure of it. Carlyle nodded at Kyle’s questions, before chiming in with one of his own.

“Yeah, bro, we’ll probably need a name to attach to this would-be ally. Jus’ so we know who to avoid for definite. Also, uh... you seen Louisa anywhere? Louisa Bloom? We’re kinda looking out for her.”

[CondorTalon]

"Alright," he said, addressing their questions. "But, there's a lot I need to say. A lot I need to get off my chest and shit."

He racked his brain to remember as many details about Robin as he could. Every detail was important. A missed detail could get them killed.

"Okay... I don't know who she is anymore. I didn't know her much in school, but her personality is way too different from what I could remember. For now, though, let's just call her Robin Pounds."

He spoke as if the person he'd left wasn't, in fact, Robin. And it was true, in a way. He didn't know what had gone wrong, but he could no longer say that the girl was... even human, anymore.

"She's crazy." And that's all he said, before taking a long pause and a few breaths. He meant it literally.

"I'm sure you've been keeping track of the announcements, you'll know she's killed two people. I suspect she'll be on the next announcement, too, because she went and did it again."

"The first time... it was easy to write it off as an accident. We were on unstable footing, and Emily Barnes... she came around the corner, and Robin pushed her off the edge. It was... shocking, yeah, but I didn't think she would have done it on purpose, and I justified it as such. The second one... she'd told me it was self-defense... to be honest, I was starting to suspect she was losing it at that point. I wanted to be wrong. I didn't want to think... that I'd allowed something like this to happen. I didn't leave her."

He laughed, a dry, hollow laugh with no humour behind it.

"Bailey Williams. I don't know what had brought her to our location. I wasn't there for the actual fight. I just heard the gunshot."

It was at this point, he realized, that tears were starting to form at the corners of his eyes.

"I saw the body, and the message... Bailey had left a message. It was a warning, and something... I had to get out. I couldn't go back. I'd left my bag with Robin, so I... I just took Bailey's."

He shrugged his left shoulder and brought the swung the bag in front of him.

"It's got everything except a weapon. Robin probably took it. It was probably a gun."

He didn't bring up the fact that she was sick. The last thing he wanted was for them to underestimate her.

"...That's it. That's all I've got."

He cleared his throat, changing the topic of conversation.

"And... sorry, I haven't seen Louisa," he said, looking at Carlyle.

[Lord_Shadow]

Kyle listened intently to the information presented. Apparently, Robin was no longer herself. Something inside of her had changed due to her actions. Kyle was glad that no such change had come over Carlyle. He was still the kind and good person he was before his accident with Gwen.

But even if his small circle of friends were still the same people as before, what chance did they have to survive? Kyle shook his head. Stop thinking like that. Don't give in. Just try to hold on a little longer. For your friend's sake. He knelt down again over the map.

"There isn't much safety left in the valley. Nearly everywhere we could go will either run us across a killer or end up being a dangerzone. It's more than likely that only a few spots in this place won't be dangerzones come next announcement." He frowned, the feeling of defeat was washing over him again. "The only sound option I see is the town, but doubtless others will think that too."

He rose and shook his head. It was hopeless after all. But somehow his friend still found the strength to carry on. Kyle had to find that same strength. He could focus his attention on Shawn. Keep him safe, make it a project and goal to keep their new companion alive. Maybe he could distract himself with that.

"Then again, maybe the most dangerous options might be the safest right now. The killers would mostly go for ease of effort, I think. If we head to a place where it is difficult to ger to, we might avoid all but the most determined of Program participants." He tried to sound collected and confident. But the words came out weak and unsure.

The false patriots were winning, and the real patriots were dwindling ever quicker. What could the do now?

What could they do?

[Pippi]

Carlyle folded his arms as he listened intently to Shawn’s tale. He was basically going to tell them both everything that had happened to him since he’d first woken up. No doubt it was going to be a difficult ordeal, whatever had happened to Shawn. But at the same time, Carlyle felt as though it would be for the best. They’d know just who to avoid, and more important, it would be better for Shawn, hopefully. At various moments, Carlyle wished he had somebody new yet familiar to talk to, just to let everything out.

The girl Shawn had been travelling with was one Robin Pounds. Carlyle knew her. Pretty friendly, popular, murderer of two of her classmates. Carlyle had had no idea Shawn had been travelling with her. His name hadn’t appeared on the announcements, so Carlyle assumed something had been going on between them. Maybe Robin had tricked Shawn into thinking the kills were accidents, or something.

Shawn called the girl crazy. Carlyle wasn’t so sure. Desperate, maybe. Angry, driven, fuelled by a desire to live and get home to her family, probably. God knows, Carlyle had felt the same way upon seeing Damien. But crazy? Carlyle didn’t think so. He would have to listen to Shawn’s account of the tale. Carlyle looked off to the side for a moment, before Shawn’s words brought his attention back to the boy. Robin had killed again, apparently.

Carlyle listened as Shawn began to list off Robin’s kills. Emily Barnes, the second girl who Carlyle vaguely remembered as Zora Spencer, and finally, Robin’s latest victim. Bailey Williams, another person Carlyle knew. Not well, but that didn’t matter. Carlyle noticed the tears forming in Shawn’s eyes, and looked away again, lest they cause him to follow suit.

Carlyle completely understood Shawn’s reasoning for leaving Robin. The girl wasn’t crazy. She was, however, a murderer. One kill could be an accident, two could be justified. Three? There was something going on for sure. Something had changed inside Robin, for worse. To add insult to injury, Shawn hadn’t caught sight of Louisa. It didn’t really feel like it mattered any more, not right now anyway.

After Shawn had finished speaking, Kyle returned to the map again. He sounded defeated again, and Carlyle wanted to say something to reassure him. His last few attempts at doing so hadn’t turned out exactly positively, though. Besides, Shawn seemed like he needed more reassuring at the moment. Trouble was, Carlyle didn’t have any idea of what to say to either of them. Kyle mentioned something about heading to the most difficult locations to reach. Carlyle thought about this for a moment, before finally speaking up.

“The most difficult places would be the slope ‘n’ the cliff path, yeah? We could try head there, if that’s what you mean.” Carlyle paused, wondering if he should continue, before eventually deciding to just go ahead.

“I still think we should head for the town, but...” Carlyle sighed, and looked back at Shawn and Kyle. “Guess we can’t know anything ‘til we actually go anywhere, huh? Oh, and Shawn?” Carlyle looked directly at Shawn now. “Thanks, bro... I know it musta been hard, sayin’ that, and... yeah, thanks...”

[CondorTalon]

"Yeah..." he said, "Thanks.. thanks for listening."

Shawn shifted his weight from one leg to another as Kyle looked down at the map. They were trying to decide where they should go from here. Shawn looked down as well, taking in the details of the valley.

"Well..." he said, and thought about Kyle's train of thought. "Presumably... the most likely future danger zones will be the outliers of the map, here."

He crouched down and pointed at the four corners of the map, at the mountain track, the stream, the slope and the stone circle in succession.

"If the town seems too dangerous, we still have these other areas around the middle."

His finger swept across the middle of the map.

"Oh, and stay away from here," he finished, pointing at the shack.

"That's where she is."

He stood up again, and looked around the clearing, paying special attention to the direction he came from.

"Sorry guys, if you don't mind. Can... can we get moving soon? I can't be sure if I left a trail for her to follow or what."

[Lord_Shadow]

Kyle inwardly resigned himself to his fate. If he died later, he died. So be it.

"Right." He whipped his glasses off. "Well, I need to stop coming up with excuses. No running from danger anymore. We make for the town. If there's any justice left in the world, then we'll be able to meet with Louisa there and plan our final strategy." He got up and dusted himself off. Kyle gathered his things and got himself in order.

He turned to the others.

"I just hope we aren't the only decent people left."

He steeled himself. Made himself appear strong and determined. But all the possibilities haunted him and weighed on his soul. He would just have to ignore them until it was all over.

"C'mon, we have a Program to shut down."

Kyle Williams would live in this moment for as long as he could.

((Kyle Williams continued in The Hecate Sisters.))

[Pippi]

It was time to leave. Carlyle wasn’t sorry to leave this place. He’d spent far too much time in the forest, and the town would be a welcome change of pace. Plus, it would hopefully have a positive effect on himself and Kyle. Here, in the clearing, they’d almost come to what could have been a confrontation. Kyle had seemed like he was about to give up entirely. The town, on the other hand, had been where both of them started this journey, back when everything had been hopeful and positive and everything was going to be alright.

As Carlyle hefted his bag onto his shoulders, he thought about Kyle’s words. The worst might come to the worst. They might be the only innocent people left; Kyle, Shawn, Louisa and, well, himself, he guessed. He didn’t exactly feel innocent. But maybe that was the point. He’d killed Gwen, and yet Kyle still trusted him. There could be people out there who’d killed and still managed to keep themselves together. There had to be.

They had an extra ally in Shawn now. They would find Louisa soon enough. They’d find anyone else who still hadn’t succumbed totally to the game, and somehow find a way to break out of the Program.

Carlyle might have been kicked down. He was not, however, anywhere near close to giving up.

((Carlyle Shotton in The Hecate Sisters))

[CondorTalon]

It was time to head off, back to town. Back to where Zora had... back to where Shawn was beginning to have doubts. He'd have to stomach the feeling he'd surely get when he saw...

No, it would be fine, maybe they wouldn't come across it. Everything would be fine.

Something occurred to Shawn as they began to walk out of the clearing. What would happen if they ran into Robin? Would he be able to do anything? Would he be able to act against her if he had to?

He would have to. He had to protect these new allies he'd found.

Shawn was dimly aware that he'd thought the something along the same line earlier.

He tried to push down that fact as he followed the two.

((Shawn Bowe-Crooke continued in The Hecate Sisters.))