When Betting On High Card Pays Off

[Laurels]

Shoshanna walked with Nadine and the new girl as they carried Jasper's body into the cabin.

"Put him in one of the hammocks," Shoshanna said. "Let's give him some dignity instead of just leaving him on the ground."

She adjusted her grip on the boy's body. Marion was informing the group about what her mentor told her. It was good to know Ben was a gabby mentor. That was a lot of important information. Sure, a lot of it was probably obvious stuff that would have been the first thing Ashley Sanderson would explain on her video about this season's collars, but it was still useful to them.

"Thanks, Mare," Shoshanna said. "And yeah, that gives us a lot to work with."

Once they got the body inside the cabin, Shoshanna would need to change into dry clothes, but more importantly, they'd need to get some facts and details straight. She still didn't know who this new girl was, they still needed supplies, and they needed a plan in case those bagheads came back.

Jasper wouldn't be going home with them now, but Shoshanna was sure she could take his memory back with them.

((Shoshanna Kowalczyk continued elsewhere))

[Aura]

Rhonda lifted Jasper's leg, and even with the help of the others, a six-and-a-half foot tall corpse was not an easy thing to maneuver. Rhonda did her best with her part of the job, and tried not to bang Jasper into a wall or errant piece of furniture en route to his resting place. Best thing they could do is make it look like he was just sleeping, but that might be hard with the wounds and all. Still, better than leaving him to rot on the deck.

"Come on, big fella." She said as she carried him inside.

Her mind drifted back to the plan, or at least what tiny aspects she knew about it. They had to get their collars off, but outside of that... well, she supposed that was what brainstorming was for. The parts of her brain that weren't focused on the task at hand quickly went to work theorizing about their escape. Hopefully it didn't need to be too elaborate. It just needed to work.

(Rhonda Rollins continued elsewhere...)

[Wham Yubeesling]

And now all eyes had become on her. Intentional, but now awkward. It had felt like she had simply said what she said only so that she could gain the attention of the room while there was a corpse on the ground. And she had. Slightly regrettably. She of course had reasons beyond ‘I am some form of narcissist and I can only function in social situations by only ever talking about me and never asking about the other person,’ but… ‘I am very freaked out by how Jasper is now an elephant and am frantically trying to ignore his presence in the room’ was not particularly appropriate either. There was a reason Marion hadn’t stated her reason. She would either get the group to turn on her for her selfish acting or she would get someone like Rhonda or Shoshanna to try and pat her back and tell her things were going to be okay. Neither of those things were wanted by Marion. Not right now.

So, luckily, Marion did not have to explain why she had just said that. She did not, in fact, have to say much of anything. All three had said things that were responses but did not, in turn, require responses. She could just stand there. Watch the distance, as all three brought in what only looked like an object from the deck to the cabin. Hold the door, as everyone went past her. Take one last look around — try to see if there was any blood on the deck, or, at least, any she could see without actively having to look at it.

Turn her back, close the door, and leave the scene exactly as it was before it began.

((Marion Rosales, concluded elsewhere))