Bat Country

[Macha*]

((David Burn, continued from Falling to Pieces.))

David Burn was a fast walker. He always had been, really. This wasn't a problem, as much as it was that Jennifer was a slow follower. In and of itself, this wasn't a bad thin, it was just that Dave was also impatient. Frankly, nothing bored him as much as waiting for Jennifer to catch up, or having to slow down to walk at her speed.

Just wasn't him, y'know?

They hadn't really talked much on their way to wherever they were headed anyway, so Dave figured she wouldn't mind if he said he was going to scout ahead, or something like that. He didn't head that far off, just far enough so that he could walk at his own speed, and watch out for any asshat ready to jump them. Dave's mind drifted for a second. What even was an asshat anyway? Why would you even need one? Whatever, Dave was getting side-tracked. Needed to at least attempt to stay somewhat focused on not-dying.

Anyway, the thing was, with their current track record, the fact that he and Jennifer were going to run into someone eventually was pretty much a certainty at this point. Dave honestly hoped they would, in fact. Hopefully the skanky cheerleader and Megan. Dave hoped they were okay. He’d be seriously pissed if they went and got themselves killed the second they split up. So cliché.

Oh, and there was the fact that, y’know, he actually found himself hoping they didn’t die and stuff, but yeah.

The two of them approached a large building. Right, seemed as good a place to stop as any. Dave called back to Jen, told her that they were stopping there. It was probably a good place to rest. Probably. If not, well, fuck it, they'd rest there anyway.

Dave threw his bag to the floor, slumped down against the wall of the building, and waited for Jennifer to catch up.

[Lord_Shadow]

((Jennifer Steinman continued from Falling to Pieces))

Jennifer Steinman was angry, at herself, at Megan and Wendy, and at David. More than that, she was angry at the people who put them all here, angry at the other students for going along with this whole insane thing, hell she was even angry at the person who died for... dying... she guessed.

But the focus of her anger at the moment was with two people, herself and David Byrne. "Ugh. No. That is just... no. Don't even think of him having anything to do with yourself, girl."

Her pace was slower than Dave's, mostly because while he was focused on staying alive and getting to someplace safe, she thought, she was busying her mind reflecting on everything that had happened thus far.

The stupid useless b—, no she shouldn't call her that... you know what? Yes, yes she should. The stupid useless bitch that was Megan Jacobson had ditched her the moment a friend of her's had shown up and left just as quickly. That girl was a bitch too. Wendy Fischer. Ha! Stupid cheerleader girl being all pretty and shit. None of that mattered anymore.

Jennifer furrowed her brow. Everyone was just so... so stupid. So ridiculously stupid. The two girls had left her, she didn't care. They could burn in hell for all the headache they had caused her, well Megan anyway. Dave had stayed, though Jen had a suspicion it had little to do with herself and more with his ego. Moron wanted to be a bad-ass, fine. Didn't matter to her as long as he stuck around.

And herself. God, where to begin? Of all the idiotic things to do, she just had to do... that. She wasn't even going to dignify it by thinking about it. "But I'm doing that right now. Dammit." Moment of weakness, a thought that came not because she was that kind of person. Hell no she wasn't. Not even close. No, that thought came at the realization that her little 'hedge of protection' had dwindled to nothing in the blink of an eye.

And she was NOT comfortable with that. She was always at home in a crowd. By herself, not so much. And in a place where everyone was out to get everyone else, being alone was a death sentence.

No way was she staying alone. She'd do anything to find a large group of stable people and make it to the end. Well almost anything. She certainly wouldn't... She shook her head. Why the hell was she even thinking about that kind of stuff?

Dave had said that they were stopping near this building. She didn't know and didn't care which building it was. But she was a little pissed off that he was telling her what to do. She told people what to do, not the other way around. But whatever, as long as she kept him safe she'd do as told. "That sounds a lot worse than how I meant it to sound. Fuck."

She caught up and slumped against the wall as well. "So... did you get your will in order?"

What a terrible joke. She was terrible. Horrible person. Horrible situation. Fuck it all. This place was a nightmare.

[Macha*]

Jennifer finally showed up, trundling along without a care in the world. Dave sighed and dug his hands into the pockets of his jacket. Had it really been the right choice to have gone with her instead of following Wendy and Megan?

Dave honestly didn't think he was going to find out now, though he was willing to place money on the grim fact that the next time any of them met, one of them was probably going to be a cadaver. Dave briefly trailed off on a tangent, thinking about how he was honestly hoping he wouldn't be the first to go, not because he was scared of dying, but because he was afraid of what Jennifer might have done to his corpse if she was left alone, given her current track record.

But that was a story for another day. In the here and now, Jennifer had finally arrived, Dave was busy drifting off, they hadn’t met a psycho yet, and for now all was good with the world.

"Well, then..." Dave crossed his legs, moved his head further up the wall, keeping his hands in his pockets. Having his eyes on level with Jen’s chest was proving something of a distraction. "Are you going to sit down, or what?"

She did, slumping down next to him. Something of an awkward silence followed- you could probably have cut the awkwardness with a knife, if you were so inclined. Jen asked whether he'd made a will or not. Gallows humour. Best kind there was, in Dave’s opinion. She could work a bit on the delivery, though. That one sort of fell flat.

"Yeah, planned ahead and got mine done last Thursday." Dave shook his head, "You get your funeral clothes set out, Jen?"

He smirked. That one was shitty; even he had to admit that. Whatever, though.

“Seriously, though,” He turned his head to Jen, taking his hands out of his pockets in case he needed to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder or anything like that. “You okay in there? You seem kind of off, is all.”

[Lord_Shadow]

And Dave responded with his own shitty joke. Honestly, the fact that they could joke like that given what happened in the Program was mortifying. What did it say about them as people? Then again, it was better than the alternative. No one likes a crazy, uncontrollable, blubbering mess. And even that was better than the other alternative. Because even less people liked crazed murdering psychos. As to how you could get less than no one, she couldn't figure out. It was beyond the impossible, so screw trying to figure it out.

And then he surprised her by asking if she was okay. She was stunned. Kindness? From Dave... without a joke attached at the end of that sentiment? That was new. What was she thinking? She didn't know him well enough to know if it was new or not.

She shook her head, then said, "I'm alright." Didn't need him worrying about her. Let him worry about himself. They weren't friends. He wasn't the kind of person she hung out with. She wasn't the kind of person he hung out with either. They were just together because being together in this place was better than being alone. Because being alone meant being a target. And being a target meant death.

"I'm not off. I'm just thinking. Reflecting really." She chuckled. "I wonder how many people back home actually care if I make it? How many of my 'friends' secretly think I deserve to be here. How many morons I was all buddy with for no goddamn reason!" She gritted her teeth. "I was set. I had everything I needed to succeed in life. And then this! Why? What's the reason for this bullshit?"

She opened her bag and took the knife out from inside. "By the way, you got a pipe wrench and I got a knife. Mine's better I think. But in the end it's a worthless piece of shit!" She tossed it away. Not far, after all she might need it later, but enough to make a point.

"Let's not kid ourselves David. We're going to die here. No one ever really 'wins' the Program. It's all a bunch of meaningless, pointless, and gratuitous blood and gore and violence and death. That's what this is for. Just so everyone back home can laugh at those of us forced to go through this."

She tilted to her side, and let herself tip over and fall. The ground was hard, uncomfortable, and scratchy sharp. "My life is over. And I never even got a chance to live it. This is just so unfair."

She didn't expect or want sympathy. If Dave was any kind of smart he'd just let her rant and get it all out of her system. The acceptance had finally come. The acceptance that she was going to die and no one was going to miss her. She closed her eyes and imagined the scene. Her parents would see her death no doubt, they'd cry for maybe a couple months, and then they would forget her. Not like her siblings would do any more either. She opened her eyes again.

"Just a corpse waiting to die. That's all any of us are."

[Macha*]

Dave pretended to look interested, but on the inside, he was bored as shit.

Jen was rambling and raving, saying the kind of stuff that would fit perfectly in some kind of "philosophical" emo's diary. Dave half listened for a few moments before his mind just went "Fuck it." and wandered off. Tried to remember old take-downs he used to know, thought of potential practical applications of a 450 splash in a combat situation- coming to the conclusion that there weren't any, decided that he needed to get kazoos. Why? He wasn't sure. Sounded cool.

Then Dave realised something. Jennifer Steinman? The girl he was sat next to? The girl he said he was going to protect? He didn't like her. Not one bit. Couldn't stand her, in fact.

This wasn't a good sign.

Dave decided- fairly quickly- that the only course of action was to ditch the bitch. She was already starting to slow him down, God only knew what'd happen if they got into a fight. She'd be fine on her own, she had a knife. Dave grabbed his rucksack, stowed the pipe wrench inside and threw it on his back. If she asked why he was grabbing this stuff, he'd say he didn't trust her with looking after them.

"Hang on, I gotta go take a leak." Dave was lying through his teeth, but he hoped this'd be enough to stop Jennifer from following him. "Be right back." He started to walk around the corner of the building. Wondered for a second what her reaction would be. Most likely she'd start crying like a French whore on Bastille Day.

Fuck it, she'd get over it.

Dave stuck his hands in his pockets and started quietly singing to himself as he walked away.

((David Burn, continued in Viva La Raza.))

[Lord_Shadow]

As if any of it mattered anyway. Who the hell gave a damn about anything that went on here? Not like having a pity party would help things anyway. If she was going to die then she was going to die. No sense waiting for it when you can just live for as long as you can.

She started to get up as Dave said he'd be going to take a leak. As if she needed to hear that. Then again, it didn't matter anyway so why let it bother her? "Whatever." She said. She moved on over to pick up her knife. She was going to need it if they came across anyone else.

She sat back against the wall and twisted the knife over and over in her hands. It was strange, how it felt. Knives weren't exactly something people weren't familiar with. Who wouldn't have used a knife at some point in their life? Just because they weren't like this one didn't mean she didn't know how they felt.

But this one was different. Probably because it's explicit purpose was to stab, slash, and kill other students. People she knew. People that knew her. People that were all out to kill each other. "Funny how that works out." She said to no one in particular.

A couple of minutes passed. Where was that boy? How long could something like that take anyway? She thought about calling out to him, but decided against it. No need to sound desperate for attention or protection or whatever the hell it would sound like. Just wait for him to come back.

But he didn't. The minutes passed by, Jen wondering more and more where he had run off to. "Dammit. Bastard probably left because I got all frustrated and emotional at it all. What the hell?!?" She got up. She called his name. Not the brightest idea but hey, whatever works. No use. She finally noticed that his stuff was gone.

"Great." Everyone left. Everyone was terrible. Everyone was just plain selfish here. She sighed in frustration and anger. But things weren't going to get better if she did nothing. She had to do what she had to do to make it. And everything else was secondary to that goal. She got up, grabbed her pack, closed it, and slung it around her back. She kept the knife in her hand. Forget trying to hide it. Everyone was an enemy now. And against enemies she needed a deterrent, defense, and offense rolled into one.

A knife was perfect for that. She shook her head. "So what if I'm alone? I'm better than all you idiots anyway. No way am I going to fall." She took a deep breath, looked around, and went on her way. Those bastards wanted her to play the game? She was going to play the game alright. And she was going to play to win.

((Jennifer Steinman continued in Small Comforts))