Transitive Bodies

[The Bearded One*]

The boy's shotgun began to lower, pointing toward the ground, but then the boy made a sharp intake of breath and aimed the shotgun directly at him like a rifle. Bobby winced, closing his eyes, yet keeping his hands raised. Fuck, this is the end, he thought as he waited for the impact.

...

I'm still alive. Why didn't he shoot me? "Bobby, right? Jaszmine's boyfriend?" Bobby opened his eyes again, gritting his teeth while staring down the barrel of the boy's shotgun. I don't think there's any good to be had by lying to him now.

"Yes. That's me." The girl took a step forward and raised her pistol to point at Bobby as well. Shit!

"Where are your friends? Are you alone?" The boy wanted to make sure he wasn't being ambushed. That's completely reasonable, even.

"Sterling ran off during the firefight at the hotel. There's--"

"Where's Simon?"

Well isn't that a kick in the balls. Bobby slowly lowered his hands down to his sides as he spoke. "S-- We were hiding in the kitchen, me and Simon. There was a lot of gunfire all around the hotel. We were about to make a break for it out the emergency exit when...." He felt his throat tightening again. He cleared his throat and continued, his voice a little less clear and steady. "I'm s-- Someone fired a shotgun through the kitchen door and caught Simon in the chest. He-- I don't even know who shot him." He tried to meet the other boy's eyes. "Shit, man, Simon deserved better than that. He--"

In his mind's eye, he could see Simon lying on the floor of the kitchen. He was bleeding, crying, reaching out to Bobby to save him. Bobby had fled. He had to stop speaking because the few crackers he had recently swallowed were threatening to come right back up. Bobby bit down on his own tongue to control his stomach, but he could taste the bile creeping into his mouth.

[Cake]

The way the boy's expression and voice changed told Shawn everything he needed to know. Just like Ben, Simon did not survive the chaos at the hotel.

Shawn looked down in grief as the Detroit kid continued his story. He lifted his head when he heard Bobby's voice break a little, having experienced it all first hand himself and Shawn knew that everything the boy said, all the emotion his voice was giving off, was legitimate.

"I'm sorry." Shawn said to him.

The words summed up so many different things Shawn wanted to tell the boy.

"My name is Shawn Morrison." He said as he allowed himself to lower the shotgun, just as he noticed Mae had been standing by him the entire time. "And this is Mae. We're from Silver Dragon Academy."

"I'm going to be completely honest with you, Bobby. I still don't trust anyone from the Detroit School. So far no one from your school, except Alicia White - my team mate - has been friendly and now she's dead. "

Shawn trailed off, motioning for Mae to lower her gun and for Bobby to relax as he continued his story.

"A girl calling herself Karen Ruiz, attacked me and two others, shooting and killing one of my friends in front of me. I managed to smash a paddle on her a couple of times to let my classmate, Alexis, get away, but Karen still tried to chase me down. I'm only alive now, because another friend saved my life. He's gone now. I don't even know what Odile Jones looks like, but she killed my friends too. Do you know her?" Shawn stopped, when he remembered that Bobby had asked for food earlier.

"Oh right, sorry dude. I can give you some food. I even have a frying pan if you've found anything to cook on it, over your fire. I'm vegan so you can have whatever I can't eat, but we've gotta be moving on soon. We're trying to get to the Ski Resort by morning. You can come with, if you'd like."

[peregrineink*]

Mae lowered her gun at Shawn's signal, keeping a tight grip on it nonetheless. Who knew what this Bobby kid had up his sleeve? She listened quietly while Shawn spoke, he was so rational, so together.

She was so proud of him.

At the mention of the ski resort Mae thought of her options now, she was certainly not dressed for anything particularly snowy, but she luckily had packed her jeans in her pack. Did that mean another changing session was in store for Mae St. Clair? It seemed as though she was always standing over dead bodies or changing her clothes, sleeping or yelling at someone to stop hitting someone else.

Her heart sank at the thought of Simon being dead. He had seemed like such a sweet boy, such a quiet boy, had she driven him away simply because of Team Gold? She remembered him saying something along the lines of wanting to find his own team members, and look where that had gotten him. Now he was dead, and she was fairly certain he had never found them.

Mae stepped a little closer to Shawn, taking comfort in his strength. She knew that none of this was easy for him, and she wanted to be there as much as possible, if she could. It was the least she could do.

She frowned a little when Shawn invited Bobby along, what good was that? What use could the boyfriend of the girl that he killed be? She was wary of this and didn't know if she liked it at all. He was on a different team, he could kill them at any time and had every right to kill both of them. She trust Shawn completely, but she did not trust this Bobby, not at all.

One wrong move, and Mae was not afraid to take action.

[The Bearded One*]

Bobby was still biting his tongue, trying to tamp down the nausea in his stomach when the boy spoke. He said a quick condolence, then introduced himself and the girl at his side: Shawn and Mae. He lowered the shotgun again and said he didn't trust anyone from Detroit Central any more. Mae lowered her pistol at Shawn's urging as well.

Bobby decided to risk unclenching his teeth to speak in his school's defense. "Considering how many killers there are out there, I don't blame you. I wouldn't trust me either. If you run across Brennan, Alicia's boyfriend, you can trust him though. I don't know how long he'll survive without friends, but he's a good guy."

Then Shawn told him about Karen attacking him and his friends, and about Odile. He seemed to want a response, so Bobby filled in what he could.

"I was there when Karen killed Anthony Rollins that first afternoon. I don't know what happened to her, but she's a stone cold killer now and needs to be put down like a dog. I know Odile well enough to know that she's become a murderer too. I would like to find her because she's got my friends Amber and Cesar hostage. Odile... well, she was kind of crazy even back in Detroit." He shook his head; Detroit seemed so far away, so long ago now.

Shawn offered to give him some food while mentioning that they were planning to head to the Ski Resort next.

"Thanks," he said, "I'll be happy to take any beef jerky you may have off your hands. And I woke up in the Ski Lodge. Sterling and I searched the place pretty thoroughly, but I don't mind going back." He chuckled a little to himself, "I can show you what my assigned weapon was." He stopped grinning as his stomach churned again in an unpleasant way.

[Cake]

It seemed Shawn's friendly gestures had eased him up a bit. Bobby started to relax, talking more casually then before, replying to everything Shawn had said.

First he spoke up in defense of his school. He put in a positive word for the Brennan that Alicia had asked Shawn to find 2 days ago. Apparently Brennan was her boyfriend, which was quite interesting to know, but it also left Shawn with a feeling of pity for the boy. When Alicia died, Shawn had lost a team-mate, but for Brennan, he lost a loved one.

Then, Bobby told him of his own experience with Karen Ruiz and confirmed Odile Jones to be a murderer who had been crazy even back home. Bobby wanted to keep a look out for Brennan and he was also looking for Odile Jones, who had apparently taken his friends: Cesar and Amber; whom Shawn had remembered from the hotel after she had nearly busted his eardrums with her screams, hostage. The problem with trying to keep a look out for these people, was that Shawn would need to know what they looked like and Bobby knew that much. In a way, they had a common goal and it seemed useful to keep him around for a while.

The guy was obviously still hungry, so Shawn opened Zach's bag slightly to find something for him as he continued talking. He could see that whatever had been weighing down Zach's bag was all the way on the bottom. Fortunately, the beef jerky that Shawn had given Zach back at the other lake was at the top. Shawn grabbed for it immediately, but something peculiar, caught his eye, right beside the food item. A metallic looking device of some sort, with dried specks of blood and a center that was large enough to fit around...

A neck.

The golden boy's eyes widened for a second, but he decided to ignore those thoughts of decapitation, as he pulled the left over beef jerky from the bag, quickly zipping it up. Whenever they would find the ski resort and settle inside, would be the time for Shawn to ask Mae about that.

He looked at her, noting the nervous expression on her face when he invited Bobby along. He couldn't blame her at all. Shawn wasn't one hundred percent on whether or not Bobby was trustworthy, but as of now, he seemed to be on their side. Not the gold team, but the side that wanted to keep their friends safe and get out of here, that much he could relate with. Shawn still needed to find Renée Carlson. She had to know a way to escape the island. Had to.

Bobby continued to talk, speaking about being at the ski resort before and chuckling a little at some thought he had. When Shawn was sure he was done, he tossed the beef jerky to the boy with an under hand throw.

"Truce, Bobby. You promise to be reliable, I promise not to shoot you."

Shawn was pretty stunned to hear that line come from his own mouth. It was blunt, but it was hopefully the assurance that Mae needed to relax.

"Hey. I don't mean to be harsh, man. I'm just being careful. You seem like a swell guy, really. Maybe I can learn to trust you eventually, who knows?" He started walking closer to the guy now, testing the waters so to speak. He kept the shotgun steady, but pointed down as he approached Bobby.

"One question though: Brennan and Odile. What do they look like? Also, since you already know where the ski resort is - I think you 'oughta lead the way. Maybe we can get there faster?"

It was also a way to keep Bobby in front, so Shawn could watch him instead of the other way around. Having him behind them, would just feel... uncomfortable.

"Anytime you're ready to get moving, dude. We'll follow you out."

[peregrineink*]

Mae was shocked by Shawn's casual promise not to shoot Bobby if he proved himself trustworthy, it was a far cry form the peaceful outlook he had had at the beginning of all of this. However she sort of liked it. it was strong, it was a little rugged, it was Shawn 2.0 and was definitely what they needed to survive all of this.

She also noted a sort of pause in his movements as he looked through the bag to give some food to Bobby, she saw a glint of metal and relief rushed through her so intense, her knees almost grew weak.

Zach had saved the collar.

She had mutilated Panya for a reason after all. She tried to give a look to shawn that said that she would explain it all to him later, but how much could she honestly convey through just looks and gestures without alienating the new comer?

So this Odile girl was going to be a problem, Mae frowned a little at this but wasn't worried. She wasn't worried about any of the killers on the island now that Karen had essentially been taken out of the game by Zach's death. She was willing to do whatever it took to survive, and no one was nearly as dangerous as Karen or Zach had been, at least not in her opinion. If she had to take out some crazy girl from Detroit, she would. She had to live, she had to. Zach didn't die for no reason, he couldn't have.

When Shawn asked what Odile and Brennan looked like, Mae found her voice for the first time since joining the little campfire.

"I don't know about Odile, but Brennan stopped by the camp before Ali died, she beat up Zach pretty bad for that. So I managed to get a good look at him before he ran off again."

She didn't want to add that it was because she had thrown herself between Brennan and Zach, hoping that maybe if the boy had hit her by accident it would stop the violence.

"So I know what he looks like. No idea about Odile though."

[The Bearded One*]

When Bobby had finished speaking, Shawn nodded and started searching his pack for some food to share with the boy from Detroit. He paused -- almost froze -- before pulling the beef jerky package out and tossing it to Bobby. He caught the gently thrown food easily. Did Shawn and Mae just share a conspiratorial look? Great, now I suspect them of hiding something from me. They just don't have any reason to trust me yet; be patient, Goldman.

Shawn looked back at him. "Truce, Bobby. You promise to be reliable, I promise not to shoot you." He apologized for the bluntness of that statement, but said again that he did not trust Bobby yet. He walked over to him, holding the shotgun pointed down, but Shawn's finger was still close to the trigger. He asked Bobby to describe what Brennan and Odile looked like, and suggested that Bobby lead the way to the Ski Lodge.

Bobby was a bit surprised to hear the girl speak at last. She said that she had seen Brennan briefly before Alicia died.

Well, good. I only need to describe Odile, then. "Odile is fairly tall for a girl, only half a head shorter than I am, but she's rail-thin. Back in Detroit she dressed very androgynously, but when I saw her here, she was dressed in what I'd guess is her fanservice costume as a sexy stage magician complete with top hat." After a moment, he thought of one more thing that was important to describe about her. "She's got a pistol that she took from a girl she killed. If she feels threatened, I have no doubt that she'll use it."

When Shawn indicated that he was ready for them to move out, and there was no objection from Mae, Bobby pulled out his compass and flashlight, and started heading north-west. After a few steps, he paused, put his copper pipe in one of the backpack's loops, and then continued, using the metal rod as a walking stick.


((Bobby Goldman continued in As Cold as Silence))

[Cake]

Bobby started to describe the girl, Odile, to him. What got Shawn's attention was the fact that he seemed to recall seeing a girl who fit that exact description sometime on the island. A top hat? Magician's outfit? Could it have really been that frightened looking girl back at the hotel? If so she was a darn good actress and was faking the whole time.

His fist clenched when he remembered her face, putting it together with the announcements from a day or so ago. She had killed Holly and John in cold blood and like Karen, was a danger to everyone he knew.

Mae spoke up as well, describing having met with Brennan once before, so she knew what he looked like. He had supposedly beaten Zach up, for killing Alicia.

A few minutes later, Bobby started packing up and leading the way out of the lake and to the Ski Resort.

[[GLD4: Shawn Morrison Continued To: As Cold as Silence.]]

[peregrineink*]

Mae stayed close to Shawn, warily looking at Bobby's back as he loaded up. They were headed to the ski resort now...that meant....cold. Could she do it? Shawn had already told Bobby that they were ready. She thought of the snow, the cold, that horrible artificial snow and the cold and the teeth chattering and...

"Hold on! One moment!"

Blushing furiously, even now, Mae grabbed her pack and looked at the two boys.

"I'll be right back, I just need to get out of these shorts and into some pants if we're going to a ski resort."

She smiled at the two boys and disappeared into the bushes. There was something to be said about this game, Mae had learned to change so quickly now that the shorts were off and the jeans were on with little fanfare. For a moment she considered putting the gold tank top back on, but decided to keep Panya's short sleeved lace shirt on instead.

In less than two minutes she joined the boys again, proudly wearing pants and ready for the ski resort.

"Now I'm ready."


(Mae St. Clair Continued To: As Cold as Silence)