Destroying Soda: The Most Heinous Of Crimes

[Lord_Shadow]

Kyle did notice that Carlyle was nowhere to be seen. He must have fallen farther behind than he thought. Then again, he always seemed to just in time to respond to any situation going on. So if Dylan tried anything, they should be fine. Hoepfully. Not that Kyle expected Dylan to do anything.

Of course he didn't think like that. He wasn't a racist like some other kids. He just knew the minorities were generally not as trustworthy as other people. Especially in the Program. Just because the people he met, aside from Gwen, didn't start anything didn't mean everyone would. But Dylan didn't give the same vibe as Louisa, Carlyle, Josie, and even Amanda did.

Dylan didn't seem at all remorseful of the murder she committed. Even if the victim had it coming, you would think that someone would show some regret for killing someone else. But here was a confirmed killer trying to act as though they had done no wrong. It struck Kyle as insulting that. She would do that. They knew what she had done, so why not own up to it?

Carlyle certainly had. But in his case it was an accident. Where was he anyway? Kyle shifted around and looked for him. He had to come soon.

"Yeah. I agree with Louisa on this one. Let's just hope this day passes without incident."

[ViolentMedic]

Dylan nodded as the others sat down. There was no reason not to be fine with this. They were all being pleasant, or at least as pleasant as anyone could be in a game of death. Plus, Louisa was too much of a bleeding heart to do anything nasty, and the other two... well, Dylan knew less about them, but they didn't have guns.

Then Louisa mentioned Carlyle. They were traveling with Gwen's murderer. Dylan visibly tensed up when she heard that. Didn't exactly know what to feel. She kind of wanted to thank Carlyle for getting rid of Gwen, and if he was traveling with a group like this he couldn't be all that psychotic.

On the other hand, he'd shot someone, and Dylan would be a fucking idiot not to be wary. Especially since he'd gunned down a minority, and that just didn't bode well for her.

Dylan tried to cover up any signs of unease and pretended like she hadn't registered that Carlyle was a killer. She placed the box of wheaties between her and them before reaching for her bag.

“The wheaties are still up for grabs, if you're interested,” she said cheerily. At the same time, she unzipped the bag and pulled out a bottle of water. She could see her gun glinting back at her. She didn't zip it shut again, just adjusting the bag so that the opening was pointing towards her. Just to make sure they couldn't see it. And so that she could grab it fast, should Carlyle prove to be less than peaceful.

"Wheaties, breakfast of champions," she added in a slightly sing-song voice as she unscrewed the lid of the water bottle. "So it's gotta be good for this situation, yeah?"

[Pippi]

((Carlyle Shotton continued from Ready to Go (Get Me Out of My Mind)))

How the hell did you even do that? No, seriously, how did you manage to lose track of three whole people in such a short space of time? Even though the forest was so densely packed together it was hard to see anything, it didn’t excuse the fact that Carlyle had lost the three people he’d been sticking tightly to for the better part of a day or so. He guessed he’d managed to get distracted by something, and lost sight of Louisa, Kyle and Amanda. He guessed that meant they hadn’t realised he’d gone missing.

Carlyle had tried to use some sort of logic to find out where the group might have gone to. He had knelt down to study the ground and see whether that would give him any clues. Aside from some slight displacement of pine needles, there wasn’t much to tell him where they’d headed off to. No footsteps or cracked twigs; nothing really.

Carlyle had bitten his lip, considered taking some more time to think this through, then discarded that thought and bolted. He was trying not to show it, but Carlyle was, put simply, terrified at being left on his own. Everyone left in the valley heard the announcements. He had been lucky enough to stick with a group that had let him give his own side of the story. Other people probably wouldn’t take that chance. Shoot first and ask questions never seemed to be the modus operandi around here. And whilst Carlyle didn’t want to shoot at anyone again, if it came down to it, and the only chance of survival was to take the shot... he’d have to do what he had to do.

So Carlyle ran, pushing through low hanging branches and trying to run in one direction, following the same path that Louisa and the rest had taken. Light had started to break through the trees, and Carlyle hoped that the group had done the sensible thing and gone towards this clearing ahead as he slowed to a jog, then a full standstill as he cleared the last line of trees.

Carlyle turned to his left, and to his immense relief, saw Louisa, Kyle and Amanda all sitting a few feet away, and unharmed by the looks of it. They were talking to someone, but the important thing right now was to let them know he was okay.

“Yo, Louisa! Kyle! ‘Manda! I’m still here, jus’ got kinda... held up...” Carlyle called out to the group as he walked towards them. It was then that he noticed who the girl was that they were talking to. Dylan Walker was someone even Carlyle hadn’t talked to much at school, but that didn’t matter anymore. What did matter was the fact that Dylan had killed somebody.

Or did it? Did it matter, actually? Dylan had killed someone. So had Carlyle. He couldn’t go around flinging accusations without seeming like a massive hypocrite. He had no idea what had caused the circumstances of the murder; it could have been an accident, or a misunderstanding, or something.

Still, the person she had killed had been Brigid. Carlyle’s mind flashed to that day shortly before the abduction, with her and Chris. He would still give Dylan the benefit of the doubt, but that one memory was gonna influence everything he said and did.

“ T’Sup, Dylan?” Carlyle said. His words were friendly, but there was an edge to his tone that was unmistakable. “You holding out okay?”

[Laurels]

Louisa grinned as she saw Amanda and Kyle relax as well. They really didn't need anything bad to happen to them for a while, so she was fine with sitting on a stump eating water and bread. Dylan was even feeling a bit relaxed around them.

Just then, Louisa heard a shouting from the distance. Fortunately, it wasn't Clara returning to kill them, but it was Carlyle. Louisa gave a big smile.

Awesome. Crisis averted.

"Hey Carlyle," Louisa said, standing up. "I'm glad you made your way back to us."

Alright. We can do this. We can get a large enough group, and then we can really take control of the game away from the folks in charge.

[Bikriki*]

Amanda stared at the sky, thinking about this situation. It was strange to sit around here, but it certainly was relaxing. There were murderers out there, and a minority here, but said one didn't seem dangorous, which was something good. Still, Amanda felt there was something wrong. Could it be that Dylan did something the others knew about, but Amanda didn't? Maybe that's why they reacted so odd when Amanda asked Dylan where she got the bag.

Dylan then offered the Wheaties. It was kind of weird how Dylan managed to say it so cheery, but food is food. Also, Amanda could use all the free food she could find, so she lunged forward and grabbed herself a handfull of Wheaties. As she was eating them, one by one, she again stared at the sky.

Her survival chances were minimal. That was for sure, and Amanda knew that. There was this little voice in her head, saying that everything would turn out fine, but Amanda knew that wasn't true. She nearly shed a tear when she thought of her imminent death. She didn't know how it would look like, who would kill her, why it would happen, and that made it even more terrifiying. Knowing that death came soon, but not knowing how it would look like. Amanda wished she wouldn't have thought about this.

A voice was heard. Carlyle's voice. Amanda turned her head to see where it came from, and there he was, walking towards them. She smiled, Carlyle's presence made her feel safer.

"Hey! Good to have you back."

Would things turn out better now? Probably not, but what now counts was the moment. Maybe.

[Lord_Shadow]

Kyle couldn't help chuckling at Dylan's sarcastic advertisement for the box of cereal. Things were getting lighter again. Not a moment or so after that joke, who else but Carlyle showed up. Kyle was glad to see him. In this place, anyone you could consider a friend was a welcome sign no matter what. Lucky that everyone so far was being cool about all this.

"Yo Carlyle! Glad to see you finally caught up. Those trees sure were interesting huh?"

He smiled and sat down. They could do this. So long as everyone kept their spirits up.

Things would get better. To think otherwise was to sabotage them anyway.

[ViolentMedic]

Dylan didn't mind this. Quiet and relaxed. But it put her in a confusing state of mind. Why were these guys so relaxed, when almost everyone else she'd come across had been, if not full-out attacking or planning murder, at least wary of strangers. Granted, Ash had been fairly chipper, but Dylan doubted that would have held up now that her boyfriend had bit the dust.

Of course, they did have guns, which was close to the ultimate protection. Not quite there (it hadn't done shit for Erin, or Dylan wouldn't have a gun right now) but close. And Carlyle had shot Gwen, so he had a gun. So did Louisa. So once Carlyle turned up, that was two guns against one. Worrying.

Speak of the devil, there was Carlyle. Carlyle “The Hippy” Shotton, but most hippies didn't shoot people. Dylan looked him up and down suspiciously, looking for any signs that he was about to attack. Friendly words, alright, but the way he'd tailed off and that edge when he greeted Dylan... yeah, he was just as wary of her as she was of him.

Dylan grinned at him, though there wasn't any humor in it. “Holding out as well as anyone else, Beatnik.” She picked up the box of wheaties once more and wordlessly offered him some.

Two guns. How would she deal with two guns being pointed at her? Because sooner or later, it would probably happen, even if it didn't happen while she was around these guys

[Pippi]

The three other members of the group all welcomed Carlyle warmly, and he smiled appreciatively at each of them. They could easily have been annoyed that he’d held them up for so long, or worse, simply decided that he wasn’t worth the hassle and gone somewhere else. But nope; they’d stuck around for him, and sounded relieved that he was here. Really, it was the best bit of news he’d heard for a while.

Dylan hadn’t heard his side of the story with Gwen, though, and seemed just as wary of Carlyle as he was with her. Sure, she grinned, and called him a Beatnik like she and several others had done at school, but her words had none of her usual tone, and the way she’d eyed him up when he’d arrived... yeah, the two weren’t gonna be friends any time soon, that was certain.

Dylan offered Carlyle a box of Wheaties she was holding for whatever reason. Carlyle hesitated for a moment. The other three seemed okay with staying around Dylan; was she really gonna be part of their alliance? Carlyle had decided to give her the grudging benefit of the doubt, true, but teaming up with her? Was he gonna go that far?

On the other hand, there was strength in numbers, and strength mattered so, so much in The Program. If anything happened between the two, he hoped that Louisa or Kyle or Amanda would have the sense to put a stop to it by any means possible. Just so long as it meant the safety of all involved.

Carlyle reached out and took a handful of wheaties, as wordless as Dylan had been. Not wanting to repeat what had happened upon first arriving on the slopes, he finished his mouthful before speaking a question that had been on his mind for a while.

“So what now? We gonna carry on looking round these woods for Josie and that lot? Or d’you think we should start lookin’ someplace else?”

[Laurels]

Louisa took another sip from her water bottle before putting it back in her bag. She was getting low on water, and until they found a freshwater source, she'd have to conserve. Still, the five of them were doing fine. Carlyle and Dylan didn't look like they were going to feud either. Louisa smiled.

Carlyle then asked if they should get back to their search.

"Yeah, that might be a good idea. It's getting dark, so we might have to-"

Just then, Louisa heard the loud screeching sound of the intercom system.

Oh great, this is just what we need now.

The general guy came on, beginning his speech with how annoyed he was with the students getting themselves killed. While Louisa normally would be happy about the people in charge getting furious by their actions, this didn't seem like the kind that would be good to hear about. Addams was furious about how they were dying.

Garritt Baker was dead, killed by Chris Brooks. Louisa didn't really know either, but she knew Garritt was the kind of racist jerk she avoided in school. Then came the part Addams was furious about. Like Dan Orvall yesterday, several more kids died in the Danger Zones. Nancy Morris was the first to walk into the Danger Zones this morning.

That's unfortunate. I guess they really didn't expect this sort of-

Brace yourselves because not long afterwards, Tori Gavlik did pretty much the exact same thing.

"What?!?!" she suddenly blurted out, standing up from her seat.

And guess what? Josephine Luu screwed up and got stuck in one.

Louisa sat back down on the stump faced the ground, placing her hands on her forehead. She could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes as she began to rub her face in her hands.

You've got to be joking. Tori and Josie are dead?!?!?!?? Oh my god, we never had a chance to save them.

Addams continued with the announcement. Louisa barely paid attention to them though. She knew that Zora, Angel, and Gerald were dead as well, but she was still focused on Tori and Josie.

Then came the announcement that seemed out of place compared to the others. Clara was dead, and by accident. Despite this, Louisa didn't feel any comfort at all. The girl who shot her yesterday, who made her so frightened for her life, was dead.

"This is insane," she muttered. "This is so fucking insane."

Just then, Addams mentioned the Danger Zones, beginning with the Clearing. Louisa perked up, her face red and her eyes beginning to swell from tears.

"Shit, that's us. We've got to g-go."

Louisa quickly rubbed her eyes and grabbed her bag. She stood up and looked in the direction of the woods.

"Let's just go," she blurted. "Let's just get out of here."

Louisa took off running into the trees. She prayed the others would be close behind her, because she wasn't looking back. She needed to get away from the clearing, and fast. Her gaze was kept on the trees in front of her.

Tori. Josie. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry we couldn't have saved you guys.

Louisa felt the tears roll down her cheeks as she let out a whimper.

I'll find a way. I'll find a way to truly beat this game. For you guys. For everyone.

((Louisa Bloom continued in Destiny Makes a Fool Out of You and Me))

[Bikriki*]

Everything seemed to be fine, as fine as being in the Program can be. Then the announcements came up. Amanda listened up, she was surprised by them. It felt like the last announcements weren't that long ago.

Chris killed Garritt. Amanda wasn't shocked. She didn't have strong feelings for either one of them, and the fact that someone she knew became a killer, or died wasn't that strange anymore. Nancy died in a danger zone. As did... Tori and Josephine.

That was strange. Amanda felt a little numb. It's not that she cared much for these minorities, but finding them seemes to be a goal that bonded the safe haven that this group is. Louisa began crying, and Amanda wasn't sure how to react. She just stared at the ginger, opening the mouth slightly to say something comforting, but Amanda didn't know what. She heard that more people died. More people killed. She should have made mental notes again, but she was distracted.

The danger zones were announced. The clearing was one of them. Amanda knew she had to leave this place as soon as possible. She might die, but not with her head being pushed away by explosives. At least, that is what she wanted to avoid. Louisa thought so too, as it seemed.

Amanda stood up and hurried to catch up with Louisa. She had a gun after all, that might be useful in surviving now. She briefly looked back at her companions.

"Hurry the hell up!"

With that, the girl with the broken arm was gone into the forest, determined to escape the death by collar explosion.

[Amanda White, continued in Star Spangled Banner]

[Lord_Shadow]

Everything was going fine, there were no major issues. It all seemed like maybe this little group strategy would work out after all. Carlyle brought up what they should do now. Kyle prepped to answer when he heard the screech signaling the announcements. He frowned. Brigadier General Adams sure knew how to make himself hated didn't he.

Kyle wanted to tune them out, but Adam's tone and the matters he was discussing made that an impossibility. Kyle face froze in shock as he heard the names of the dead. Tori, Josephine. They hadn't even gotten a chance to find them. Zora too. She had talked to him at the park that one time. Nothing really memorable, but it had been nice. And now she was gone.

Clara was dead too. On one hand, he felt that maybe Louisa would be more at ease. On the other, he sincerely doubted that would ease her up at all. Everything was going wrong. They were supposed to be gathering people and saving them. Not losing them to this insanity.

And then the dangerzones, starting with the Clearing. So much for safe haven. He looked at the others, tried to think of something to say. Nothing came to mind. He took his stuff and ran for the trees. He wanted to say something, to let everyone know he wasn't abandoning them.

But no words came. All he could do now was run, and hope he made it out before his collar started beeping.

Why? Why was he so useless? "Someone, please tell me why?" he thought.

((Kyle Williams continued in Star Spangled Banner.))

[ViolentMedic]

The sharing of wheaties was interrupted by the screeching noise of the announcements coming on. Dylan looked upwards as Adams started listing the dead.

Garritt Baker... whatever, he was a dick. Dylan approved the bullying of the other minorities, but Garritt always took it too far, bullying people for other shit that had nothing to do with race. That just wasn't cool. Nancy Morris... right, she'd kicked Dylan after... after Brigid... well, it at least barred Nancy from chasing Dylan due to some weird notion of revenge... and then...

Ah. Tori. Josephine, too.

Dylan heard Louisa . She didn't really know what to say. She didn't give two fucks about either Tori or Josephine. Just wastes of space. But Louisa seemed upset, and while they were no friends by any stretch of the imagination... well, Louisa had been the first on this island to be kind to her. Even if that made no sense.

Dylan just mumbled, “Sorry.”

The rest flew by. Zora Spencer (sad, she'd always seemed nice, as well as sane enough to keep away from minorities), Angel (just another beaner, no loss), Anastasia shooting Gerald (that felt... relevant to her, somehow) and... Clara just fell down and died? Well, one less thing for Dylan to worry about.

Then danger zones. Or more correctly, one giant freaking danger zone. And they were sitting right in the middle of it.

Dylan clambered to her feet and shoved the half-eaten box of wheaties back into her bag. The others were already starting to sprint off.

“Well, this was fun and non-threatening. Later!” she called. And then she headed in a different direction.

She could have followed, but she didn't want to. For one, having two guns around her would be protective in theory, but... they'd probably keep an eye on her, and she would probably get shoved away if she shot at anyone. She also couldn't gun down Maxim while Louisa was watching, at least not without getting a bullet in her back.

Also, most of that group had seemed calm and friendly... and that was dangerous in a different way. If she became friendly with them... well, eventually killing them would be much harder.

So she ran, and quietly hoped that someone else murdered the lot of them before she had to.

((Dylan Walker continued in Almost The Last Of Her Kind.))

[Pippi]

Louisa only had enough time to open her mouth to reply to Carlyle before he heard the now familiar screechy-wailing sound that was unmistakably the announcements system starting up. Carlyle got himself ready to sprint. If Adams decided to make this clearing a danger zone, then he was ready to get going. If worst came to the worst, and he decided to blow any collars in any part of the forest... well, at least he was prepared to do his best to get out of there.

First, though, were the announcements. The time for hoping and praying that no-one you were friends with or had met were on it. And just like before, those silent prayers and wishes were for nought. Chris had killed somebody. Carlyle had never liked Garritt, but just like everyone else here, he deserved better than what had happened to him. And it hit even harder, with the memories of that day on the bridge resurfacing.

Then Tori and Josie’s names were read out, and it just got worse. Carlyle had been cool with Tori, but Louisa had basically been best buds with her. To not even have been able to say goodbye to your best friend... Carlyle couldn’t imagine how Louisa was feeling. Then there was the fact that Josie had only run off from them because he had killed Gwen. In a way, it was his fault that she’d wound up in a danger zone.

Carlyle just wanted the announcements to be over with, and to stop reminding him of that incident back at the slope. Other names came, and went, that Carlyle paid little attention to. Then, the danger zones. And, of course, the clearing was one. As soon as Louisa spoke up, Carlyle nodded at her, and just started running. Away from the clearing, away from the forest. Just something to distract himself from everything around him.

((Carlyle Shotton continued in Star Spangled Banner))