Karmic Backlash

[Lord_Shadow]

(G13 - Jennifer Steinman: Start! B11 - Timothy Walker: Start!)

Jennifer awoke to the sound of scraping metal. She bolted straight up, and surveyed her surroundings. The room she was in was unfamiliar. It was broken down and musty. Plants stuck their way through the floor and walls, covering one of the walls a fair amount. She had been asleep on the floor, and her location confirmed her dread. She hadn't dreamt of the capture, the terrorists.

"Oh God..."

The scraping metal stopped. She heard a chuckle from beyond the wall. "Awake huh? Finally. Karma babe, I told you we had it coming. Whoo boy did we ever.

She knew that voice, the annoying smugness that accompanied every word. But annoying as he was, he was a welcome presence in this situation. "Tim, is that you? Oh thank God I'm not alone. Listen, we need to work together to get out of here and..." Her voice trailed off. She had no idea what to do.

"All ears here Jen. Kinda locked in though, not sure how much help I can be. I watched you sleep through the hole in the wall. You looked peaceful for someone being punished by Lady Luck. You got guts kiddo, giving her the not-give-a-damn response."

She cupped her hand over her mouth before she started hyperventilating. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. Not to her, not to Jennifer Steinman

[Courtography]

(Nick Simmons START)

Ugh...what the fuck man...

The ground felt hard and absolutely nothing like a bus seat. Crap, where the Hell was he? He should probably open his eyes about now, but he didn't really want to. After all, so what if he had fallen asleep on the ground? The trip must ha-

The trip.

They hadn't gone on the fucking trip. His eyes opened accompanied by a cry of "fuck!" for punctuation. Now he could remember it better. The fat guy telling them they were going to kill each other. Yeah, right, except for...he had said that if none of them died then he'd, Nick's hand brushed the metal collar. Yeah, that.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to go to the amusement park, eat a bunch of ice cream or cotton candy or whatever shit they had there, and then go on a coaster and almost throw up. That was the plan and it wasn't going right.

His stomach let out a slight rumble. Nice, way to think about junk food. He looked at the bag at his feet. B06, Nick Simmons. Huh. He opened it up, finding a water bottle right on top. Ehh, he wasn't feeling thirsty yet, but wait, crackers. He took one out and ate it with a satisfying crunch. Now hold on, the fat dude had mentioned a weapon.

He searched. A flashlight, first aid kit, a couple more water bottles, and then there it was. It. A bandanna. And it was fucking pink. No. No! Was this really what they had given him? He kicked the metal fence next to him, noticing the vegetation hanging over it. Where was he? He turned around, noticing the ruined building.

Well huh.

[Lord_Shadow]

"You've been quiet a while now. You ain't passed out are you? Really, that would be most inconvenient now. Danya and his ilk wants us to play a game of life and death and my being trapped and your being unconscious would not help our chances of survival." Tim started filibustering. The scraping started again. "I mean, honestly who the hell chucks a guy through a hole in the roof onto a pile of matresses? Or gives him ice skates to boot. This is some mess up shit. Messed up rightly. If it weren't for the fact that I look and feel smooth as hell right now I think I'd have just lost it. You know what I mean?"

Jennifer did not reply. She had indeed passed out, from stress.

"You know I was joking about watching you sleep right? I mean, I could hear your breathing so I knew someone was there, but I can't see shit here. I was just joking. Jen... Jennifer. Come on say something. Don't be mad at your fake boyfriend now of all times." He waited for a few minutes. "Okay, plan B. HELP! SOMEONE GET ME OUT OF THIS PREDICAMENT! GAMBLER IN DISTRESS HERE! HELP!" He kicked at the locked door, obviously blocked from the other side.

[Lord_Shadow]

Though she really needed the rest to clear her mind, the nonstop noise from the door-kicking in the room over did not let Jennifer stay out for long. With a groan she rose to her feet, pack by her side.

"Alright, no sense wasting time crying to fate. You're here Steinman, make the best of it. What did they give you?" Jen opened her bag to find a revolver along with some supplies. "Holy shit this is real." The gun confirmed these guys were serious about everyone fighting each other to the death. She shook herself off the thoughts rushing in her head. She had to focus. "Tim, stop that kicking. I'll find a way to get you out. First, I need to find other people, I'll be back alright."

He kicked twice more, as if she understood what that meant. Jen slung her pack on her back, and held the gun in her hand. "Metal. I hate the feel of metal on me." She started on her way around the mansion. The place was a maze of rooms and corridors. She figured they were at least on the second floor, as they had stairs leading below them, and she was pretty sure there were stairs leading above as well.

She checked rooms as she passed. They were empty, devoid of anything resmbling a presence at all. Everything of value must have been taken, leaving only the air, dirt, and dust. Jennifer could only imagine that someone lived here once. It was creepy, how silent it all was. For a moment, she regretted telling Tim to knock it off. She heard scraping metal again, but closer.

This was too spooky, she bolted into a sprint and took off as far away from the noise as possible. She stopped when she couldn't hear it anymore. She opened the door next to her, and was greeted with daylight. It was a balcony of some sort., overlooking the grounds. There was a gate and fencing and everything. The place must have been huge and teeming with people.

She thought she saw someone by the gate. "Should I take a chance, me? Dunno me, maybe you should, maybe you shouldn't. Gee, how helpful." She sighed. Take a chance it was. She stepped out onto the balcony, lay the gun and her pack down, and cupped her hands. "Hey you! Come here, I need your help!"

[Courtography]

Well seriously, what the fuck was he supposed to do? He had a pink bandanna, and well, that wasn't helpful at all. Maybe he'd look at this ruined place. It looked like shit, sure, but well, those trees didn't look fun either.

That's when he heard the voice out of freaking nowhere. He spun around, almost tripping over his feet. What the fuck? He didn't even know anyone else had been around. Then he spotted her, on the balcony.

He wandered over. "Uh yeah, hey, crazy shit, right?"

[Carrion Queen]

((Start Liz Polanski))


Liz lay flat on her back, staring up at the stained ceiling. She'd woken up some time ago to discover she was in some sort of rotting kitchen. By her fingers a few green sprouts of grass lay just beyond her reach. The jungle was trying to take this place back. If not for the advancing forest and the fact that the kitchen was clearly once large and grand, she almost thought herself back home in her own dirty, graying kitchen.

Liz bit her lip and blinked, wondering if the slight expansion of the the roof stain was real or not. Of all things to question the validity of, she chose whether the ceiling was stained or a little more stained. It made her smile a little. The matte black lipstick spread and the cracks from the creases in her lips were splayed wide.

It was too confusing. Suddenly they were told to kill each other. The reasons someone would do such a thing to them were beyond her. She hated when she couldn't reason something out or see the motives. It was this road block that caused her to be laying immobile on the dirt covered tile floor.

She was so close to making it. She'd gotten accepted to college. She was going to make it out. She was going to be okay. For once, she'd be happy. Maybe there would be friends there too.

So close.

From somewhere off she heard noise. Liz slowly rolled onto her side so as to face it. It continued. Slowly she rocked forward and got to her feet.

Wait. Going to the people? You really think that's a good idea?

She stopped mid-step. Slowly she took one step back into the kitchen. Liz hid half her body behind the doorway to the kitchen and peered past it cautiously.

[Lord_Shadow]

"You still there Jen? No? Good." Tim adjusted his hat and glasses. He grabbed one of the ice skates. It was time to make his first play. He looked directly at the camera in his room. "Hey, assholes who stuck me in here. First off, fuck you for dropping me through a ceiling into a locked room. Not cool. Second, I've decided I'm only half-playing your game. I won't leave here without a kill right, so I've decided to play along. Only I'm not a homicidal maniac see? So I'm only gonna kill the stupid fucks who've given up on morality and killed innocents. Them, and people who seem like they'll turn out that way. Everyone wins see. Except you Danya, you'll lose. Trust me, karmic backlash. Maybe not today, maybe not for years, but it'll happen. Too bad for me that no matter what I won't get to see your comeuppance. But just letting you know man, Lady Luck don't like it when you screw innocents over." He adjusted his hat. Talk time was over, now was escape time. He gripped the skate, and began smacking the door with the blade end. It had to give eventually, right?

---

Jennifer nodded at the boy's words. "Wouldn't you know it? Listen I'd love to talk about it, but I need your help. My... boyfriend is trapped in a locked and probably blocked room and I need someone to help me get him out. If you're in, I'll meet you at the entrance hall. She turned around and started walking off, when she realized something. She turned back around. "Jennifer Steinman by the way, and I'll get your name when I see you again, k?"

She reentered the hallway grabbing her bag and gun. The problem was she had no idea if the first floor was even accessible anymore. She hadn't checked the condition of the stairwell. For all she knew, it could have rotted away like some of the rooms she saw. Jen hadn't thought about that.

She passed by a few rooms quickly but stopped when she heard a faint noise. A step? Maybe she just imagined it. She must have, there was no one else here. She shook her head and walked on. There were important things to do. She could play paranoia later. "And by later I mean when I'm dead and buried because I got ambushed by a psycho. Dammit me, why am I forcing myself to check this out?" She sighed.

She began checking each room one by one. She had only checked a few rooms before. Now was time to check them all. She looked in each one, bag slung on her back, gun in hand. A few doors didn't move easily so she kicked them in. "Making a lot of noise me. For safety me." She didn't quite care she that aloud.

[Courtography]

So he had been drafted into helping a chick get her boyfriend out of a locked room? So what if Jennifer wanted his help? Sure it would be the nice thing to do, but seriously, why was he in a locked room? Nick would think that locking someone in a room would take more work, especially after having told them to kill their classmates.

Maybe, Jennifer was lying. That was possible wasn't it? Lure him into a trap that way. But he didn't have other leads, besides, maybe if that happened he could turn the tables on her. He was bigger than she was after all. Not that he wanted to, but helping her boyfriend would be a nice thing to do, and since he could defend himself if he needed to, well, that made it a decent choice.

He made his way inside the mansion. Noticing the vegetation trying to take over everything. Also, crap, Jennifer hadn't actually told him where the room was. Wait, she wanted him in the entrance hall. Fine, that's where he'd be. Even if it did stink with the damp, and looked like a depressing and dreary place in general.

But fine, he was here, and he had his bag, and there was a girl who may or may not have been trying to kill him. So maybe not fine. Shit.

[Carrion Queen]

Someone was yelling from far off. Liz jumped. Her skin tingled and she took a deep, gulping breath. Her heart was pounding. She opened her mouth slightly and the sound of her distinctly feminine breathing filled the silence.

The noises of the rotting house became more acute along with he footsteps of someone else. Liz took two careful steps backwards away from the door.

She had to find something that would help. The second she went out into the hallway there could be someone with a knife or a gun ready to make her insides her outsides.


What do I do, what do I do, what do I do,


Liz opened one of the kitchen drawers as quietly as she could manage. There was nothing in there but a dead rat. She scrunched her nose up and closed it just as carefully. Did she believe her classmates would kill each other if forced to? Absolutely. She didn't have even an ounce of faith in those people. She didn't trust anyone but herself.

There was a banged up metal trashcan in the corner of the room. Liz picked up the lid. Good enough for a shield she supposed. Another noise made her jerk her head upward towards the ceiling. She waiting a few seconds, eyes drawn upward and hair hanging away from her face for once. She decided it would be best to get moving to somewhere more spacious.

Liz picked up her bag and walked out of the kitchen with her trash can lid.

[Lord_Shadow]

Jen kept kicking in every room she came to. One door came off its hinges. So much for stealth she thought. She then realized that the guy she conscripted into helping would probably leave if she didn't hurry. She came out of the room she was in, turned to head back to the entrance hall, and stopped in her tracks. There, at the other end of the hall was someone with a trash lid.

"Don't move!" Jen yelled out instinctively. She held on to the gun tightly. She started breathing heavily. What if that person rushed her, or ran away? Should she shoot? Could she shoot? "I... I'm armed, and ready. You try anything and I will shoot. Just stand right there, I'll come to you."

She started walking her way toward the person, now making out that it was a girl. "What's your name? How many of you are there?"

---

Tim kept smacking at the door, and slowly but surely he made progress. Wood started to chip, in time it would splinter, and soon after break.

He grinned the widest grin he ever had made. Things were turning up.

[Courtography]

Nick was just standing there in his own thoughts when Jen went batshit crazy. He turned around to see the girl with her trash can lid.

Yeah okay, whatever, like a girl with a trash can lid could hurt them. Seriously, she couldn't "take out the trash on them" or whatever.

Plus, Jen had a gun. She hadn't shown him the gun before. Well, served him right for randomly helping some chick and her boyfriend or whatever. Having a gun would be something you told someone, right?

"Da'fuck Jen? It's a shitty trash can lid!" Yeah, he shouted, come on, she didn't need to be fucking stupid. Sure, the girl hadn't announced herself, but he didn't know if she had been there for long.

Bitches be crazy...

[Carrion Queen]

Someone screamed at her from down the hall. Liz's head snapped back and saw a girl holding a gun and pointing it firmly at her. The silence buzzed. Her fingers became cold.


What was her name?



"Fuck you!"


Liz instinctively threw the trash lid like a frisbee at the girl and took off running down the hall. Hopefully that was enough to throw her off. She just needed to make it to the door.


((Hey thread people. This was short and not that great but I'm leaving for a few days. I put this up so Shadow could shoot me and then y'all could move on if you wanted. Didn't want to hold you up with my away.))

[Lord_Shadow]

The boy she had conscripted into helping her yelled out about how stupid Jennifer was being. He was right, she was freaking out over nothing. It was just the tension, she was on edge because of this place, this game. She couldn't actually shoot someone, she could never do that. Why would she even think that was possibly something that—

Then the girl threw the lid at her, and instinct took over. Reason was out to lunch, harmless threat or not, there was a threat to be dealt with.

Jennifer took aim, and fired.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

A look of sheer terror crept on her face as the realization of what she had just done hit her. Jennifer was a killer, she was a murderer, and it had been as easy as letting her brain go and have her body do its thing.

---

Shots rang out from somewhere down below. Tim stopped grinning, a look of panic on his face. He was still stuck, and someone with a gun was in the mansion. He had to get out, and quickly. He smashed the skate blade into the door over and over again as hard as he could muster. The door finally gave way, at least where the blade struck. He'd have to work faster, slowness now meant death.

[Courtography]

The next part almost too fast for Nick to comprehend. Goth chick threw the trash can lid, and then he heard the gunshots.

That's when he took off like a drunken cheetah. Unfortunately, he was clumsy as always and slipped on a tree root outside of the entrance.

Shit, Jen is going to fucking kill me, shit!

[Carrion Queen]

Liz's feet and her heart were matched in their frenzied rhythm. She reached out one arm in anticipation of making it to the door down the hall. Almost. Not far now.


"Oof"


Something hit her back. It felt like she'd been punched or something. The force of the blow pushed her forward and she fell on her hands and knees.

Pain started emanating out of the wound now that the force of being hit was waning. It was so much worse than the first feeling. It hurt so much more than the initial feeling of being hit.

She let out a breath that tailed into a whimper. That girl had a gun. She'd been shot.

The pain was building, burning, and reaching out all over her body from the core of the wound. She reached around and swiped her hand over her back and brought it back a vibrant red.

"S-s-"

Her breath caught. There was pain in even the slight movement required to breath. Liz collapsed into a heap, face up just like she'd awoken.

"No...." was her tiny plea.

Tears streamed down the side of her face. The bloody hand was clutched by her side near her broken doll legs.


"I'd made it. I was going to make it," she choked.


Liz had been given a tough lot in life. She'd been cast in mud but she scraped and starved and her work was finally rewarded with the chance to have a good life.

But it was yanked away.

I guess I should have known that would happen. I guess this was a lesson about life.

Liz Polanski: Eliminated