Revolution No. 9

[Jilly]

He kept the civil war pistol aimed towards the girls on the dock, and carefully walked along the crates to the other side.

"Come along, Vanessa."

((SB10: Abel Kuntz and assoc. continue in the shop boat))

[backslash]

Abel was nudging her to leave. Virginia was fine with that, honestly. She wanted off these crates, away from the dead boy drifting somewhere underneath them. The two other girls didn't know he was there, but his presence hung heavy over all of them.

She took one step back, then another, keeping the gun pointed vaguely in the direction of Lucia and Olivia but not aimed at them.

It seemed to be enough. It was still several long moments before she felt comfortable turning her back on them and properly following Abel out. She didn't say goodbye. She hadn't really said hello, either, but at least this way-

Well, it did still feel final. Every leave she took, no matter who it was from, would feel that way now. But she was okay with bidding a final farewell to the ghost in the water. So like a ghost herself, she was gone too.

((Virginia Burns continued in Consumer Culture))

[ciphermitarai]

Well, that was fast.

Maybe the confidence from it was getting to Lucia’s head but hey, someone with a gun backed down from her. That was good! Meant they thought she had a chance, even if the nagging voice in her head just told her to get Olivia to shoot and go—startled a bit in her own right that she hadn’t made a movement yet. And... she found herself wishing she did, in spite of herself. Maybe then one or two less competitors would be—

That reminded her. “Hey, uh, Olivia? They’re, ah... gone now. You don’t have to—hey. Don’t waste your bolts. Calm down—“

She should’ve asked her a long time ago why she chose her to come along but in that moment it became clear—at least, Lucia thought so. Olivia wasn’t thinking ahead. She didn’t want to go alone. Olivia was probably more vulnerable than she wanted to let on, Lucia guessed. Made for a good twist, huh? Of course, she could be completely wrong, but she wasn’t about to consider that. She was never wrong when it came to character analysis. Right?

Oh, what the hell. They might as well be characters in a movie anyway. And if that was going to help her understand and stay strong, well, it’s better than what some people were probably doing. And if there was ever a time that a big sister archetype was useful, well...

She cleared her throat. “Olivia? We should probably get moving before someone else with a gun who’s not quite so nice comes along.”

[carduinal-cyn]

Olivia's eyes were trained on the bobbing cargo floats long after Abel and Virginia had taken their leave. She didn't seem to comprehend they were gone yet. Her shaky hand maintained a precarious hold on her crossbow. Her index finger was twitching the most violently of all; it was a miracle she hadn't pulled the trigger and fired the only bolt she had off into the waves.

Why aren't you shooting? she thought. You could put a hole right through that arrogant prick. So why? Why...?

Maybe it was the shotgun she'd seen in Virginia's lap. Maybe all she wanted to do was intimidate those two, nothing more. Or maybe, even after giving herself a pep talk, she still wasn't ready.

She let the crossbow-hand fall to her side. Lucia's voice passed in one ear and out the other until the taller girl cleared her throat, shocking her back to reality.

For all she'd done to convince her classmates in the yacht otherwise, Olivia was already beginning to tire. The game hadn't ended. There were eighty-something other kids here, of course it hadn't yet. It had scarcely begun. What was she doing, convincing herself that she could leave this horrible place? This season wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

"...right," she croaked out. And then it hit her; they'd run right into a dead end, unless they felt like playing a deadly game of parkour like Abel and Virginia. She caught a glimpse of a few unfamiliar ships far to the right... but that meant passing by the yacht again, and Olivia didn't want anything to do with Beau or Anthony or any of them. She'd already ruined a few friendships. If no one else was left, she hoped RJ was safely back at school — maybe he'd cheer for her from the comfort of his living room. It was wishful thinking, of course. It was just as likely that he was somewhere else in this seemingly neverending maze of ships and docks, fighting for his life.

"Where do we even go from here, Lucia?"

[ciphermitarai]

Oh, fuck. Well, that's not my fault, is it?

Sharp breath in. You can't let something as minor as this get to your head--especially not let it get you mad at your one ally. Lucia could swim, sure, but she had a fairly heavy weapon and she wasn't willing to even think about sacrificing it. A little slip would mean that.

"We could, ah... go back through the yacht. I'll fight 'em if they show up, this time, if we need to--" that last bit was added hastily, a flailing grasp at the hindrance known as morality. "It's better than braving, uh, that."

She gestured out to the open-air sprawl of floating crates, bobbing along, not a care in the world. Ten minutes ago Olivia would've offered to cross that, maybe even pulled her along. Yet something about it, even beyond the risk, was starting to get to her--something she didn't quite know or understand was there, but something she felt.

"Bad vibes. Bad fucking vibes," she mumbled to herself, just loud enough for Olivia to hear. "We need cover. Come on." And with that she started to speed-walk back off to the yacht, not confident that Olivia would follow, but willing to risk it. She didn't see anyone, so it would be fine. It would all be fine.

[carduinal-cyn]

Olivia didn't want to follow Lucia. They'd literally just come from the yacht, and she'd stepped on a lot of her classmates' toes before she left. Returning to the scene of the crime was a hallmark of any stupid crook, and she didn't want to be one of those. Her parents were defense attorneys, noble folks who helped protect the falsely accused. What would they say about her behavior?

Her only protest, however, was a simple, quiet "but". Lucia had said nothing that might have stopped her from uttering another word, but the film buff was doing something even worse: starting to walk away. Olivia felt danger closing in now; no one wore solitude well in a life-or-death game, after all. The idea Olivia formulated when she first grabbed Lucia's arm, an invincible duo of close-range cleaver and long-range crossbow, threatened to fade before her very eyes.

Her footsteps echoed across the creaking dock. She wasn't ready to go back, but she knew full well she needed Lucia there to survive. Away she went, like a lacrosse ball sneaking past an unprepared goalie.

(Olivia del Rio continued in Dire, Dire Straits.)

[ciphermitarai]

Toting around a fragile girl wasn’t the best look for survival and Lucia couldn’t help but admit it. She hadn’t expected her to get skittish quite this quickly, but she was willing to hope for a little bit of resistance from Olivia. She... she could do this. At least, Lucia hoped so, because she was already starting to bet on a losing dog and losing the part of the brain that told her no, it’s not good to treat real people like plot devices. But she wasn’t heartless, not near that, and besides—safety came, at least relatively, in numbers. Regardless. Off they disappeared, hoping to find a float that would spell their doom just a bit less.

(Lucia Cuevas Valdez continued in a yet-to-be-determined thread.)