Egx Kills Everything

[Deamon]

((Arizona Butler continued from Phantasm

The journey hadn't been too difficult physically. Mentally, it had presented a challenge. It all came from doubt and paranoia. Her main fear was that Jonah and Darlene wouldn't be at the gardens to meet her. That they'd lose each other again, or worse. It put a timer on her getting to her prize and retrieving it. That fear motivated her to move quickly.

Not that moving quickly was difficult for her. She was naturally fast. She had been the fastest girl on the team. It was one of the few places she had Sam beat. She had always been a freak athlete. Able to run fast, jump high and be strong when she needed to be. It meant she made the trip to the menagerie in good time. The only thing slowing her down being her existing injuries and the poor quality of her island diet. It was hard to stay in good physical condition with the food they had been given combined with the stresses.

The journey had also been mentally taxing because she had to worry about being attacked. As she had moved she'd heard and seen signs of others but hadn't come face to face with anyone. She was fine with that. She didn't need any delays and as selfish as it sounded she didn't want a tagalong. A group of three was already enough. That concern faded away once she got near the menagerie. It was safely inside a danger zone so no one could follow her. There was no guarantee there wouldn't be someone waiting just outside of the boundary for her. But inside the building, it would just be her.

As the door was pushed open the smell of death came pouring out. Arizona scrunched up her face and noise but didn't gag. Instead, she pushed the door open further and stepped inside.

Arizona had long stopped devoting too much thought to what had happened on the island. But the menagerie was still strange. It didn't seem to fit with the rest of what she had seen. It seemed to be designed like a walkthrough exhibit at a zoo. There were exotic trees, other smaller plants and a path cutting through it all. At least it would have, had things not become overgrown due to the absence of anyone to tend to it. As Arizona walked the path she saw a shoe poking out from behind some of the flora.

Stepping closer and pushing some ferns out of her way, she saw the body. She didn't recognize who it was. Decomposition had taken many distinguishing features away. But despite that, she could see the sign of gunshot wounds on the chest of the corpse. Somehow stuck on a death island, she got to practice her dream job. Dark humor aside, Arizona moved closer. Crouching beside the body, she inspected it. It was hard to tell when exactly they had been killed. Maybe four to five days ago? The state of the decomposition led her to believe they'd died earlier in the game. But the weather and general humidity would have sped the whole process up.

With a sigh, Arizona stood and moved on. She couldn't help a days-old corpse. As she continued down the path she found what must have been the prize resting on a tree stump. Sitting on top of the stump was a Tupperware box that contained the chicken and waffles and a pitcher of grape Flavor Aide. Next to them though, leaning on the stump was a gun that looked like it was from the future. Arizona didn't know another way to describe it. It was all smooth edges in black and chrome. It looked straight out of Aliens.

She gently ran her hands over it as she picked it up. It had a strap so she could hang it from her should when moving. It turned out there was also a manual sitting on the tree stump. Putting the gun down she picked it up and read the name and description of what she'd been rewarded with.

Pancor Jackhammer, 12-gauge automatic shotgun.

That changed things.

Arizona sat and read the entire manual front to back. Then slid it into her pack. She didn't know how to feel. Her belief was that killing Quinn was the right thing to do. Someone had to stop her. She'd admit to having a personal stake in the situation. It'd be ridiculous to pretend otherwise. Quinn was her teammate and so was Rhonda. Both had also been her friends to differing degrees. But she wasn't sure how to feel about being rewarded for killing. Let alone being rewarded with something that seemed so powerful and dangerous.

Standing Arizona took the Pancor in her hands. The strap was slung over her should and the stock pressed against her shoulder as she aimed at a sapling.

Gently she pulled the trigger.

Two loud booms, two impacts against her shoulder and the sapling vanished. Mud and dirt kicked up from where it used to be.

"Motherfucker." Arizona breathed as she let the gun fall. Her free hand rubbing the point where it had slammed into her shoulder.

They had given her all the ammo she needed as well. It was obvious what they wanted from her.

The boxes of ammo joined the rest of her winnings in her bag. She had to get back to Jonah.

She slung her bag onto her back and let the Pancor hang off her shoulder.

As she passed the body again she stopped. Eyes stuck on what remained of her former classmate. She couldn't help her. But, with Jonah's help, and the Pancor, maybe she could help others.

After all, they'd killed the apex predator.

That made them the biggest and baddest.

It was all in the game.

((Arizona continued elsewhere...))