Septette For The Dead Princess

[CondorTalon]

((Valerie Fitzroy continued from Won't You Spare Me Over Another Year?))

Valerie sat in the lobby, staring at the wall, motionless.

She had pushed through the doors of the condominium, and as she fell to the floor, she started to cry.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd cried. It had been so long ago; she'd never felt the need to cry for a long time.

She still hadn't found any of them. None of her friends came around. She wanted to find them.

She wanted to go home.

It took a while for the tears to stop. She shakily stood up, wandering around the lobby but never leaving it.

She was tired. There wasn't much energy to do anything anymore.

So she sat. She sat and stared.

[Sh4dE]

((GHIII Gene Steward, Enter))

On the second floor was a couch. And on the couch lay Gene Steward.

He looked relaxed and chilled, almost like he was laying on his couch at home, but he was nervous. He was a bit frustrated. He had no idea what to do.

Trust is water...Trust is water...Now I get it. Everybody needs water, so everybody needs trust. That makes sense. Water no get enemy.

Gene still lay on the couch, listening for noises. The hood of his hoodie, he wore again as it was freezing, was on his head. In the Meanwhile he also put a patch from his first aid kit on the cut. It wasn't a large cut, but he was afraid of infections. Infections are terrible.

Trust is water...So why didn't I stick with Lukas and the girl?...Actually, why should I, they aren't even in my team. I should search my teammates. But I haven't found any. Four people out of...how many are alive now? It's hard to find them.

And Lukas helped me somehow. They freed me. But...I think I've helped them, too. I warned them from the torturer duo. I told them to run away.

The map looked small. The Resort was small, but nobody came. That was a good thing, because he was not armed. Good, he's alone now.

Some minutes earlier he ate his sandwich, alone. It was weird. He was used to eating in silence and alone, but not while being watched by cams. This indeed was weird. He never acted as somebody who ate.

While he ate his sandwich, he listened to the announcement. He realized that the game balance everybody had at the beginning of the game was gone. Now there were people with multiple weapons and people who are dead. 7 killers. 8 deaths.

"Buddy you're a hard man, young man", he mumbled silently. He stopped. It appears Freddie sang something different. Whatever. He didn't knew the lyrics except for the refrain anyway. Overrated song. Fast version was better.

The announcer's voice was unfamiliar. He expected Leo. That wasn't Leo. But he soon remembered that Leo went away. He couldn't remember why, though. Yeah, in the introduction they said it. There's a new announcer. What a shame.

First death was Davis. The footballer. Frank Bramble of this season, probably. Could've survived further, Gene bet.

Then there was Lisa from the drama club. Like Davis, killed by "Jewel". Must be some nickname or something like that. Hopefully Jewel is in his team.

Then, Taylor DeVasher died, killed by...Vahka. The Whittrees are older and stronger. Was that even fair?

Taylor was a pretty cool guy. He had a Youtube channel, Gene subscribed. And he was a cool person in general.

Austin then was killed by Lucia.

Some Marcus killed Eden...not Bishop. Zahn. Not important then.

Isaiah also died, by that girl Alice.

Lucy was killed by that bastard Gabe.

Damion was dead. Killed by some Leah.

Damion had it hard. I thought my parents were tyrants. But his did not allow him to watch SOTF...They didn't. They are dumb parents. How could he be prepared if he wasn't allowed to watch? When I have kids I'll allow them to watch SOTF just because they need to know what to do in case they get here. Oh, well. When I'll have kids they'd watch it either way, as I would have won this.

It was a good thing that he ran to the Condos instead to the Daycare center. Dangerzones. Yeah, the running away made him exhausted. Lying on the couch was a nice idea.

That was all the information he got. Playing with one perspective sucked.

An old acting rule was to not die on stage. Gene wouldn't.

Gene then stood up and left the room with his bag on. He wanted to leave the building. Being here wasn't achieving anything. He needed to find people. Search for Trust, an alliance or a fight. It sure would be better than wasting his last hours of his life.

And so he went into the direction to the stairwell.

[CondorTalon]

Of course sitting here was going to do nothing.

Still, it took her a while to find the energy or the will to stand up from her seat, and when she finally did, she had no idea where to go. She didn't want to leave. It was cold outside, and the trip here would have been for naught. Maybe if she found somewhere upstairs to fortify herself into, she could wait everything out. It was a plan that was borne of stagnation, and she didn't have a better plan right now.

So, she found herself navigating to the stairwell, pushing it open.

And step by step, she climbed until her foot landed at the foot of the second floor.

[Sh4dE]

Steps.

When Gene heard them, he stopped. The sound of steps however still continued. And they came closer.

Since I've been on this resort, I've fought with bigger, superior guys. According to Murphy's law either someone big will appear or somebody armed.

Gene then continued walking to the stairwell, however he walked slowly and soft, so he wouldn't need create too much sound.

If there really is somebody armed or big coming, he'd need to surprise him. Else he'd be just shot and then he'd be dead. It was an opportunity to surprise. And he misused that opportunity earlier. He could even surprise somebody with a gun. He had a chance.

So he suddenly ran to the stairwell, opening its doors to it.

There was a girl. Gene didn't recognized her by her face. But soon he didn't look into her eyes, but focused on her arm, where her purple bandanna was.

He then rushed at her and then his hands pushed her to back her up.

[CondorTalon]

She suddenly saw the door open. She suddenly saw a boy rushing at her. She suddenly found herself falling backwards.

If Valerie had the power of omniscience, if she could she what was going on on other parts of the island, if she could see that Sarah, Anzu, and Caroline had all found each other, she would curse whatever forces above drove her into this very situation. Indeed, she would resent fate for leaving her alone, and being the only one.

Even still, there probably wouldn't have been enough time.

"What-"

And then she landed. Her neck was at the perfect angle against the corner of the stairwell.

In the end, she never found the others, and she was the first to go.

What a stupid short straw to draw.

VW1 - Valerie Fitzroy: DECEASED

[Sh4dE]

The girl fell and after looking at her when he walked to her, she looked pretty dead.

Gene had seen a lot of corpses in his life and this one wasn't special. Except the fact that he created that corpse.

So he walked to the corpse and investigated it. He found nothing useful, except her bag. And in the bag there was food and some other stuff.

He put the food and some other stuff out of her bag and put it in his bag.

So he got back what Aidan and Laura took from him. What goes around comes around.

There was a manual for a gun, but no gun. No other signs of weapons either.

So what else have achieved me this? I can't fight with food.

Gene left the bag over the corpse and took her bandanna and put it in his bag. The bandanna might be useful, but that's it.

At least...Nine more to kill, right?...No I shouldn't think that way. I won't be able to get any kills without a weapon. And aiming to kill will probably get me injured. I have to play smart. I won't do this like Zach.

So Gene went downstairs to leave the building, when he saw a pogo stick.

Gene then picked it up and looked at it.

Now I have a more useful weapon than the slingshot. Nice.

"I'll call this...uhm...Brian E-yes?"

Gene then was ashamed for making that bad pun. He needed a real name. Of a musician like Brian Eno.

"JK. In memoriam at Taylor DeVasher and Schrodinger's Lovers, I'll call it...The Bleached Lover."

The last thing he did was to swing the pogo stick in the air, drawing an imaginary e and Z. Just like he'd have done it when he was in an online game.

eZ

Finding himself better equipped, safer and satisfied, Gene strolled out of the Condomium.

((GHIII Gene Steward, Exit))