"We should try to find somewhere safer first; this place looks like it's about to collapse. Then try to find other people, then work on a way out of here. We've only got a day before these collars pop. Less than that, now."
Aaron did not notice Kitty's small stumble, not did he particularly pay any attention to what she had said. He found himself caught up in watching Sebastien shifting through the contents of the first aid kit; Aaron could recognise some of the stuff but Sebastien handled each item in turn like he was familiar with it. As the other boy was applying a bandaid to his bloody palm, Aaro spoke up.
"You know how to use that stuff?"
Rebuild
Open
Sebastien was honestly a little surprised at Aaron's forward thinking. It wasn't much - barely anything, actually - but it was something. Sebastien's hand strayed to the collar around his neck as Aaron reminded him of the time limit they were under.
"Oh- the first aid stuff? Yeah, I have some training." He tried not to think about the clock ticking down. What time was it, anyway? Still before noon, surely. When had their twenty-four hours started?
Who among their classmates was already planning to take matters into their own hands when faced with such a limit?
Oh, you know, it's easy. Just list off everyone you know who fits the profile of a psychopath. Then you have a list of psychopaths and still no solution. Good job.
Sebastien exhaled. A glance towards Kitty noted that she was rubbing her temples. He wasn't feeling so fresh himself, of course, so he could sympathize. The knockout gas had done a number on him even without more pressing health concerns.
"Sticking together is good, and so is finding other people. The more we can group together, the easier it will be to organize."
And that's better, isn't it? Better to die than to kill, or to be killed. Frustrate them, at the very least. Make them see that it won't be so easy a second time around.
Yeah. That was better than nothing.
"Oh- the first aid stuff? Yeah, I have some training." He tried not to think about the clock ticking down. What time was it, anyway? Still before noon, surely. When had their twenty-four hours started?
Who among their classmates was already planning to take matters into their own hands when faced with such a limit?
Oh, you know, it's easy. Just list off everyone you know who fits the profile of a psychopath. Then you have a list of psychopaths and still no solution. Good job.
Sebastien exhaled. A glance towards Kitty noted that she was rubbing her temples. He wasn't feeling so fresh himself, of course, so he could sympathize. The knockout gas had done a number on him even without more pressing health concerns.
"Sticking together is good, and so is finding other people. The more we can group together, the easier it will be to organize."
And that's better, isn't it? Better to die than to kill, or to be killed. Frustrate them, at the very least. Make them see that it won't be so easy a second time around.
Yeah. That was better than nothing.
-
MethodicalSlacker
- Posts: 250
- Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2018 6:26 pm
- Location: Hanging Onto A Buoy For Dear Life
- Team Affiliation: Jewel's Leviathans
- Contact:
Kitty looked from Seb to Aaron and back again. The two of them were working out a plan faster than she could figure out how to stand up straight again. As the two of them talked, she struggled to concentrate on what they might possibly be suggesting. A big group, somewhere else, to get out of here. Kitty wasn't altogether sure that was the best course of action right now - one killer with a big gun could just swoop in and murder all of them - but she really wasn't feeling up to positing another solution. She meekly nodded along with what they were saying as things started to refocus in her head.
"Where are we going, then?" she asked, "We all have maps, we could check those."
Kitty had checked her own map earlier, in fact, to find where she was and where different points of interest would be. The lighthouse sounded like a good idea, given the high vantage point and distinct shape. There were several buildings closer, more nearby, that they could investigate, or even the cabin up in the woods far away from everyone, they could hide out there.
Anywhere but the tunnels.
Her mind was made up on that point, at least.
"Where are we going, then?" she asked, "We all have maps, we could check those."
Kitty had checked her own map earlier, in fact, to find where she was and where different points of interest would be. The lighthouse sounded like a good idea, given the high vantage point and distinct shape. There were several buildings closer, more nearby, that they could investigate, or even the cabin up in the woods far away from everyone, they could hide out there.
Anywhere but the tunnels.
Her mind was made up on that point, at least.
- 
- "Yeah, I think I saw a map earlier." Aaron's voice trailed off as he lowered his duffel bag to the sooty ground and squatted down to reach inside. His quick search through his packs contents earlier hadn't given him much chance to look at anything in detail other than the gun, the weight of which he could still just barely feel in his pocket. This time wasn't any any more thorough as he quickly moved aside unwanted items until he found the laminated sheet of paper with a scale representation of the island on it.
"Finding ourselves might be a problem. I don't know what this building used to be."
He cast his eyes over the map, scanning every visible landmark until he found something that looked like it could be this building. It was probably useless though, this place was gutted and there was nothing left to identify what it once was. Maybe they would have to just walk around until they found a place that was intact or at least recogniseable.
Or it could literally be called 'Scorched ruins'. Guess this thing is up to date at least.
"Never mind, found it. There's... a mess hall north of here, or a shower block west. What was this place? There's pretty much nothing to the far north but wilderness though, all of the buildings are in the south."
"Finding ourselves might be a problem. I don't know what this building used to be."
He cast his eyes over the map, scanning every visible landmark until he found something that looked like it could be this building. It was probably useless though, this place was gutted and there was nothing left to identify what it once was. Maybe they would have to just walk around until they found a place that was intact or at least recogniseable.
Or it could literally be called 'Scorched ruins'. Guess this thing is up to date at least.
"Never mind, found it. There's... a mess hall north of here, or a shower block west. What was this place? There's pretty much nothing to the far north but wilderness though, all of the buildings are in the south."
Sebastien put his first-aid kit away and followed suit, withdrawing his map. They were on an island, apparently, a blocky chunk of land in the middle of god knew where. Quarry, tunnels...
"Digging, construction... who knows." He wasn't particularly interested in the history of the place. The most useful thing he could immediately spy was the lighthouse, but he supposed that there could be other things that had been left unmarked. If there was anything along the lines of, say, a radio tower, he doubted that their kidnappers would have bothered to neatly point it out for them.
"Well... if you were wandering around and looking for other people, where would you gather? The mess hall could be a good bet, I guess."
"Digging, construction... who knows." He wasn't particularly interested in the history of the place. The most useful thing he could immediately spy was the lighthouse, but he supposed that there could be other things that had been left unmarked. If there was anything along the lines of, say, a radio tower, he doubted that their kidnappers would have bothered to neatly point it out for them.
"Well... if you were wandering around and looking for other people, where would you gather? The mess hall could be a good bet, I guess."
-
MethodicalSlacker
- Posts: 250
- Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2018 6:26 pm
- Location: Hanging Onto A Buoy For Dear Life
- Team Affiliation: Jewel's Leviathans
- Contact:
The mess hall wasn't in a tunnel! Kitty could get behind that idea, and nodded along when Seb suggested it. Thinking practically, such a big place could be a great place to round up a bunch of people, like a silo or something. Banging out a plan fast like this felt good, like they were doing something.
Yet Kitty still felt like she was being taken along for a ride. Rounding everyone up like that did make them easier to kill, after all. Didn't they say something on the bus about "danger zones" or whatever? What if they plopped one down in the middle of the mess hall, what then? And say some kid got sick, and started coughing, and then other people got sick, and they had some kind of epidemic on their hands? So many bodies cramped in such a tight space, in what was probably a dark, dark room, a room with no light but the flashlights, burning until they ran out of energy, and what then? She could already feel the sweaty confines closing in on her, elbows rubbing up against rib-cages, making it hard to breathe, all packed like sardines in a crushed tin b-
"W-why not somewhere a little less..." Kitty blurted out, unable to stop herself, "...a little less closed in..."
...Great time to get noided, asshole.
Yet Kitty still felt like she was being taken along for a ride. Rounding everyone up like that did make them easier to kill, after all. Didn't they say something on the bus about "danger zones" or whatever? What if they plopped one down in the middle of the mess hall, what then? And say some kid got sick, and started coughing, and then other people got sick, and they had some kind of epidemic on their hands? So many bodies cramped in such a tight space, in what was probably a dark, dark room, a room with no light but the flashlights, burning until they ran out of energy, and what then? She could already feel the sweaty confines closing in on her, elbows rubbing up against rib-cages, making it hard to breathe, all packed like sardines in a crushed tin b-
"W-why not somewhere a little less..." Kitty blurted out, unable to stop herself, "...a little less closed in..."
...Great time to get noided, asshole.
Aaron nodded along with Sebastien's suggestion to head to the mess hall. Of all the places marked on the map the mess hall had jumped out to him as the best place to go; it sounded a lot more appealing than the showers, isolated cabin or old warehouse for one thing. Something about the mess hall, probably its purpose as a place for people to gather and eat together, made him think of people. He supposed his more religious or superstitious classmates could head to the parish instead, but the mess hall seemed the better option for now.
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."
Kitty's outburst caught him by surprise, the urgency in her voice attracting his full attention. Looking at her now she seemed unsettled, nervous about something. She hadn't been like that a second ago, when she suggested looking at the maps; or had she? Aaron hadn't been playing close enough attention to tell.
"The warehouse might be bigger, I guess. Along as it has a roof and walls I'm not too worried where we go."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."
Kitty's outburst caught him by surprise, the urgency in her voice attracting his full attention. Looking at her now she seemed unsettled, nervous about something. She hadn't been like that a second ago, when she suggested looking at the maps; or had she? Aaron hadn't been playing close enough attention to tell.
"The warehouse might be bigger, I guess. Along as it has a roof and walls I'm not too worried where we go."
Kitty had a point. A small stronghold was appealing in some senses (the video game sense, mainly) but just as the burnt-out building they were standing in was far too exposed for comfort, packing more and more people together in a small area was inviting disaster. One wrong move in a room crowded with panicked, armed teenagers, and you had a riot on your hands.
"Warehouse, sure. There might be something useful there." What, Sebastien couldn't say. The most useful thing they could possibly come across would be a telephone with the US Coast Guard on speed-dial, and that was beyond impossible.
Sebastien stole another glance at Kitty. Was it his imagination, or did her mental state seem to be rapidly deteriorating? Not that he had a good handle on where her mental state had been to begin with, considering that she had previously berated him for not wantonly trying to murder her...
"How are you feeling? You up for a short walk?"
"Warehouse, sure. There might be something useful there." What, Sebastien couldn't say. The most useful thing they could possibly come across would be a telephone with the US Coast Guard on speed-dial, and that was beyond impossible.
Sebastien stole another glance at Kitty. Was it his imagination, or did her mental state seem to be rapidly deteriorating? Not that he had a good handle on where her mental state had been to begin with, considering that she had previously berated him for not wantonly trying to murder her...
"How are you feeling? You up for a short walk?"
-
MethodicalSlacker
- Posts: 250
- Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2018 6:26 pm
- Location: Hanging Onto A Buoy For Dear Life
- Team Affiliation: Jewel's Leviathans
- Contact:
She could breathe easy now. The warehouse was good, probably big enough that a cramped situation wouldn't happen like at the mess hall. She wasn't sure exactly how many people were on this island - they could have grabbed kids from many different schools, for all she knew - but however many there were, she doubted they could fill up an entire warehouse.
Seb's line of questioning caught her off guard, however. She was feeling fine, as far as she could tell. Now that she knew that where they were going was fine, she knew that everything would turn out fine, and that feeling was all that mattered. She breathed easier knowing that the people she was with listened to her suggestions, that she wasn't just being railroaded somewhere with no choice in the matter. She felt fine. All was fine. All was good. She was good.
"Y-yeah!" she exclaimed, standing up straight, "I just didn't want us to go somewhere narrow, or small, that's all. Too much could go wrong there, heh, right?"
Kitty wasn't even sure of the point she was trying to make.
Seb's line of questioning caught her off guard, however. She was feeling fine, as far as she could tell. Now that she knew that where they were going was fine, she knew that everything would turn out fine, and that feeling was all that mattered. She breathed easier knowing that the people she was with listened to her suggestions, that she wasn't just being railroaded somewhere with no choice in the matter. She felt fine. All was fine. All was good. She was good.
"Y-yeah!" she exclaimed, standing up straight, "I just didn't want us to go somewhere narrow, or small, that's all. Too much could go wrong there, heh, right?"
Kitty wasn't even sure of the point she was trying to make.
"Warehouse it is then."
Aaron tucked the map into his jacket pocket rather than put it back in his bag, reasoning that he would probably need it again soon enough when they inevitably needed to check which way they were going. He zipped the duffle bag back up while Sebastien spoke to Kitty, half paying attention to the two of them as he picked it up by the longer handle and pulled it over his head to hang at his side.
He adjusted the tightness of the strap till he was comfortable that the bag wouldn't bounce around too much while they were walking, then looked up to see if the other two were ready to go, just about catching what Kitty said about narrow spaces as he did so.
"You're not claustrophobic are you?"
Aaron tucked the map into his jacket pocket rather than put it back in his bag, reasoning that he would probably need it again soon enough when they inevitably needed to check which way they were going. He zipped the duffle bag back up while Sebastien spoke to Kitty, half paying attention to the two of them as he picked it up by the longer handle and pulled it over his head to hang at his side.
He adjusted the tightness of the strap till he was comfortable that the bag wouldn't bounce around too much while they were walking, then looked up to see if the other two were ready to go, just about catching what Kitty said about narrow spaces as he did so.
"You're not claustrophobic are you?"
Sebastien wasn't sure he bought Kitty's immediate explanation, but he didn't press the issue or follow up Aaron's question. Even if Kitty was claustrophobic, it should be easy enough to avoid situations like that; anyone who went to the trouble of wedging themselves into a tight space to avoid others probably wasn't going to be open to joining up with a group in the first place, so there was no need to go in after them if the three of them discovered any such people.
He replaced the first-aid kit in the bag and, after a moment's considering, picked up the corkscrew and deposited it back inside as well. It might come in handy, even if it was pretty much useless for intimidation or self-defense. He shouldered the bag and stood, waiting for Kitty to get her things together and confirm that she was ready to go.
He replaced the first-aid kit in the bag and, after a moment's considering, picked up the corkscrew and deposited it back inside as well. It might come in handy, even if it was pretty much useless for intimidation or self-defense. He shouldered the bag and stood, waiting for Kitty to get her things together and confirm that she was ready to go.
-
MethodicalSlacker
- Posts: 250
- Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2018 6:26 pm
- Location: Hanging Onto A Buoy For Dear Life
- Team Affiliation: Jewel's Leviathans
- Contact:
"I was just thinking," Kitty replied, forcing a normal tone of voice, "of the strategic value in a small place, and decided it wasn't worth it, gosh."
The last thing she wanted was for people to think she was weak. Being labelled weak in this situation was worse than death; you were either written off as worthless or taken less seriously. Kitty knew she had to get her act together, and fast, before things moved too far ahead and she was left behind.
She went about picking up her bag and putting it around her shoulder. A tin of crackers fell out of the unzipped pocket, so she zipped the pocket up and picked the crackers up out of the ash. Then, she unzipped the pocket again and threw the tin back in after dusting it on her pants pocket.
"'I'm ready when you guys are!" she said cheerfully, putting on a smile to assuage their fears.
The last thing she wanted was for people to think she was weak. Being labelled weak in this situation was worse than death; you were either written off as worthless or taken less seriously. Kitty knew she had to get her act together, and fast, before things moved too far ahead and she was left behind.
She went about picking up her bag and putting it around her shoulder. A tin of crackers fell out of the unzipped pocket, so she zipped the pocket up and picked the crackers up out of the ash. Then, she unzipped the pocket again and threw the tin back in after dusting it on her pants pocket.
"'I'm ready when you guys are!" she said cheerfully, putting on a smile to assuage their fears.
Though he found Kitty's explanation less than convincing, Aaron decided not to force the subject any longer if she wasn't willing to talk about it. If it became an issue later on then they would cross that bridge when they came to it rather than spend more time on it now.
"Ok, if you say so. Let's get going."
Taking the initiative to get them moving, Aaron turned around and began walking back down the hallway that had led him here. He glanced over his shoulder once to make sure the others were following and then took it as a given that they were keeping pace behind him; he had no idea what time it was but he was anxious of their deadline and wanted to get moving as soon as possible.
As he stepped back outside he turned his gaze upwards, shielding his eyes from the unfiltered sunlight in a cloudless sky. He knew it was possible to roughly guess the time of day from the suns position in the sky but all he managed to do was put spots in his vision and little else.
Glancing behind him again, he noticed that the others had still not emerged. In his haste to leave he had apparently left them slightly behind. Letting out a sigh, he fished the map out of his pocket and quickly checked the attached compass to confirm which direction to go. When the others appears, he gestured for them to follow and then set off on a path that took him away from the burnt out husk of a building.
((Aaron Chalmers, continued in Say it with Firecrackers!))
"Ok, if you say so. Let's get going."
Taking the initiative to get them moving, Aaron turned around and began walking back down the hallway that had led him here. He glanced over his shoulder once to make sure the others were following and then took it as a given that they were keeping pace behind him; he had no idea what time it was but he was anxious of their deadline and wanted to get moving as soon as possible.
As he stepped back outside he turned his gaze upwards, shielding his eyes from the unfiltered sunlight in a cloudless sky. He knew it was possible to roughly guess the time of day from the suns position in the sky but all he managed to do was put spots in his vision and little else.
Glancing behind him again, he noticed that the others had still not emerged. In his haste to leave he had apparently left them slightly behind. Letting out a sigh, he fished the map out of his pocket and quickly checked the attached compass to confirm which direction to go. When the others appears, he gestured for them to follow and then set off on a path that took him away from the burnt out husk of a building.
((Aaron Chalmers, continued in Say it with Firecrackers!))
Aaron took off while Kitty was still fiddling around with her bag and supplies, dropping things into the ash and retrieving them and generally seeming... well, pretty much like she had been this whole time. Sebastien wondered if she was usually this ditzy or if it was a side-effect of the gas and general unease about the situation.
He loitered in the doorway for her to finish up, glancing out at Aaron to make sure he hadn't completely left them behind. "Let's go, then." He stepped out after Aaron with Kitty following close behind.
((Sebastien Bellamy continued in Say it with Firecrackers!))
He loitered in the doorway for her to finish up, glancing out at Aaron to make sure he hadn't completely left them behind. "Let's go, then." He stepped out after Aaron with Kitty following close behind.
((Sebastien Bellamy continued in Say it with Firecrackers!))
-
MethodicalSlacker
- Posts: 250
- Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2018 6:26 pm
- Location: Hanging Onto A Buoy For Dear Life
- Team Affiliation: Jewel's Leviathans
- Contact:
Kitty didn't find it particularly rude of Aaron to bail on her while she was fiddling around in the ash, but she didn't feel like it was right for other people to be waiting on her. It felt as if the weakness that she had just outlined in her mind as something to avoid had already run its course, and there was nothing she could do to scrub it away.
"Right, right," she said, a pang of unease stinging in her chest as she looked up and saw Seb waiting for her, perched in the doorframe. This only confirmed her suspicions, in her mind. She shuddered, and started jogging to catch up.
Off they went, then, to fall a little further down.
[Kitty Gittschall continued in Say it with Firecrackers!.]
"Right, right," she said, a pang of unease stinging in her chest as she looked up and saw Seb waiting for her, perched in the doorframe. This only confirmed her suspicions, in her mind. She shuddered, and started jogging to catch up.
Off they went, then, to fall a little further down.
[Kitty Gittschall continued in Say it with Firecrackers!.]