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[Sunnybunny]

"I'm sure it was all very sad and emotional, but the important lesson here is to never trust anyone."

"Please refer to what I have said about trust previously.”

“And finally, in yet another example of why you shouldn't trust anyone-

That man was really a one-trick jackass.

((Sakurako continued from The Special Special Special!))

Everything else about the announcements was noted, but very purposefully ignored for reasons.

Aditi and Adele's corpses greeted them. Charelle's... It was grotesque, digging through those ashes, searching for her. The plan had gone off perfectly, in the sense that they'd successfully set a house on fire with as little used from their med kits as possible.

It had failed utterly, in the sense that there was nothing to come after it, no indication that anyone who could help them saw it or cared, and nothing to celebrate. It should have been her. It wouldn't have been a surprise when she was put to death. Those two could have done so much more, she knew it. But she'd been so selfish, with her broken leg and her boyfriend and the part of her that wanted to live more than anything.

Blood had to be on her hands, right?

While the boys looked for any useful thing that had been left behind, she tried to be useful in her own way. Had a bar of those nothing-ass food rations, several gulps of water, fixed up her splint and looked over her bruises. A daypack sat closeish to the rest, loaded with already opened bottles filled with muddy water, topped with clothing items. Unzipped just so.

Loaded with the same bear trap that waylaid her.

Great pains had been taken to make sure that neither Zach, Sean, or Thomas tried to grab it for any reason.

Adele's cart was still at the scene of the crime, and she'd fashioned a seat of it. Her ears were stuffed with bits of bandage wrap, just in case. Naomi Watanabe sat in her lap, safety on. Just in case. Her eyes scanned back and forth, occasionally being hindered by her glasses slipping this way and that.

All this, and smiles kept coming to Sakurako's face thinking about the whole jokey(?) proposal business. Sean had flushed a little, asked Zach to preside and... God, what was wrong with her? She was the last of them, but their hypothetical reactions played in her head as if she were haunted.

"But be careful, okay? Gotta be smart out here."

If only. She chortled despite herself, honking her nose like the clown she was.

[Catche Jagger]

As Thomas absentmindedly sifted through Aditi and Charelle’s bags he remained deep in thought.

((Thomas Buckley continued from The Special Special Special!))

Luckily for him, his mind wasn’t focused on any matter of particular practicality or seriousness. Had that been the case, he would’ve been fixated on the fact that more people were dying every day and that, now that the fire had seemingly failed, they’d certainly all be stuck here until only one was left or everyone died.

Instead, some part of his brain had determined that there was greater worth in perseverating on Sakurako’s random comment the earlier day.

Thomas had asked her afterward what she had meant some time afterward, and she had mostly brushed off the comment as nothing serious. But that, combined with the redness in Sean’s face following the comment had put the pieces together for him.

Did Sean have a crush on him that Sakurako had picked up on? Had he totally missed that from the beginning, or had it been a thing that developed over time?

Well, considering who you are, not picking up on the signs is to be expected. Besides, this is all high school drama stuff. Not worth thinking too hard about.

But what else was he supposed to think of? The inevitability of the imminent death awaiting him, his girlfriend, and his friend? The fact that he had, on some level, probably knowingly left Charelle and Aditi to their deaths, even though only one of them really would have needed to make the sacrifice? How the smell of what he assumed to be Charelle’s corpse had made him gag as they returned to the village? How Zach is here and could still easily fuck everything up once trouble comes?

At least those things are real. Are you even going to do the courtesy of asking Sean about this silly crap? The answer is no, right?

Thomas winced a bit.

Still, was there something wrong with keeping his mind occupied, so long as he kept up his work of consolidating the resources?

Maybe you should be focused on how to help Sakurako. Even if her general demeanor is back, she’s clearly not doing well with this. Her friends are dead.

Yes, later. He’d do that later. Next, even.

For sure.

He continued pulling whatever foodstuffs and water he could from the bags, organizing and laying them out carefully.

[Ohm]

((Sean Leibowitz continued from The Special Special Special))

It felt wrong. All wrong. That was all Sean could think as he stood unsure over the bodies of Aditi and Charelle. They had given their lives for the sake of escape, for the sake of someone out there seeing this god forsaken place and could rescue them all.

But that wasn't going to happen, was it? They were still stuck there, only now with added eyes to them and less hopeful people around.

They deserved better than to have their items taken away. But Sean didn't put a voice to those thoughts, nor make much noise overall. His eyes were stuck to the bodies in front of him. Just breathing alone was hard, add what was left of this place and Sean thought for a second that he was going to hurl.

Out of the two Charelle got the rougher end of the deal, charred as she was. Aditi just had her neck blown open.

It was a morbid thought, but it was stuck in his mind. Even though he had tried not to change because of this place, change happened anyway.

Was he broken now? Would people look at him like he had come from the circus if he passed them on the street? More and more he wondered if it was worth it anymore.

The plan had gone to hell and Sean didn't know what they were going to do now. Make another try? Sacrifice more people for the sake of making things right? Or just wait it out and hope for the best? Because they had already been shown what happened when you had hope.

Well, in some places. They were still here. Sakurako, Thomas and Zach. A makeshift group of the people he cared the most about. With them there was still some chance they could make it. Besides, Zach had shown him that he could still reach people, maybe he could make them reconsider and stop following the program. He couldn't give up on that.

Sean turned to his friends and gave them a small smile. It was forced considering what was around him, but for their sakes he felt it was necessary.

"You guys doing alright?"

[Ryuki]

What a fucking mess.

(Zachary Beck, continued from The Special Special Special)

Nothing but ash filled the area. It was like the aftermath of a campground bonfire gone wrong. On top of that, the burnt body of Charelle was hard to look at. The corpses of stabbed and shot up classmates were disturbing on their own, but charred remains of humans were a new level of fucked up. As for Aditi, her neck was blown open. One could only hope her death was instant.

Considering the rule against starting fires, these two probably should have known better. It might have been Zach’s pessimism towards a possible rescue fueling his thoughts, but setting a fire like this was a fucking stupid idea. Of course, he kept this thought to himself, as to not upset Sakurako any further.

On the announcements that morning, the girl Zach had met in the village, the one Michael had shot, Catherine, had died. Also, Adonis, who he had protecting from Brandon, was dead, but not Myles. Zach remembered getting him good with his spider prank, a prank Charelle had participated in as well. Speaking of Myles, he killed that guy Declyn. Last things of note were that Blaise had killed twice, and Erika Stieglitz claimed another victim. How many victims was that for Erika, a dozen? They need to watch out for her.

Zach looked at Sean, who was giving him a small smile and was asking if everyone was doing alright.

“Fine, just fine,” Zach said dryly. It might’ve been the stench of ash in the air but Zach’s throat felt parched. He repacked into his bag an rummaged for any water bottles he could find.

[Sunnybunny]

"I feel... okay?"

It was a whopper of a lie, but the truth was so draining it had become oddly banal. Everyone here probably had a good guess of how life was treating her, and it was still so much better than others had it. What a fucking drag.

Was this as annoying to watch as it was to live through?

Her current look suited a night out than an extended death match. Add wearing Cheridene's clothes to the list of her sins, the floral print skirt and black off-the-shoulder top were the closest she could get to looking like she cared about her old passion for fashion.

It was a cute outfit. Normal as could be.

Ready for a Chattanooga night.

Her fingers itched to take apart the gun in her hands, to rebuild it anew, and that was unsettling.

"Wish they had a buffet here though."

Thinking about whoppers made her think about flame-grilled burgers... which suddenly made her think of Charelle and laughing would be the absolute worst right now but she looked fit to burst with it.

[Catche Jagger]

“I’m keeping busy.” Thomas gave Sean a polite nod and a smile.

No one could be said to truly be doing well at this point, and any measurement on a scale of good to bad was going to have to be viewed on a heavy curve of relativity. By island standards, though, maybe things weren’t so bad.

Having taken what he could, Thomas rose to his feet and turned to join Sakurako and check up on her, but in an instant, just out of the corner of his eye, he saw something shuffle to the top of Zach’s bag.

It was the sort of thing that he wouldn’t have noticed had his eyes not crossed the boy in that exact moment, and even then, he wasn’t immediately sure his mind was processing the information properly.

Thomas did a double take and it was still there, though more obscured by the clutter in Zach’s bag.

Zach had another weapon stashed away. Looked like some sort of machete or something.

So, after all that, after that big fucking show out on the cliffs about how sorry he was, he was still holding out on them, still doing shit that could result in things going the wrong way fast. Even by his own recounting of events, it seemed that giving Zach any kind of weapon was a dangerous proposition at best and the fact that he had failed to mention this one…

No, Sean was supposed to be Official Secretary of All Zach-Related Business, right? Maybe Thomas should leave this to him.

Are you really willing to take that risk?

“Yeah, we’re not doing this.” Thomas grumbled to himself.

He was surprised at just how angry this had made him. Thomas wasn’t just mad at Zach for stashing the weapon, but for not letting him have just one day where he could just let the Zach problem go.

He felt his nails digging into the palms of his hands.

“Hey Zach. Whatcha got in your bag?” He asked, his tone harsh and deliberate as he stepped closer to his newest “ally.”

[Ryuki]

As Zach was kneeled down, going through his bag like a soccer mom going through her purse, he pulled out a water bottle, the bill hook along with it, handle jutting out. The sunlight reflected off the blade. Zach paused for a brief moment, realizing what had happened. Just then, Thomas piped up. Zach turned to see Thomas, walking towards him, fists clenched.

“Dude, chill!”, Zach said, “I honestly forgot this was in here. I wasn’t gonna do anything!”

That was half true. Zach was aware that the billhook was in his bag, but he had no intention of using it for anything. Unless, of course he was being threatened. Regardless, now he had to deal with this interrogation bullshit. He picked up his bag, hands raised.

“Really, I wasn’t!”, he said, trying to sound more convicted.

[Catche Jagger]

And then Zach went and fucking lied on top of it. Thomas was right about him being dangerous to all of them.

“I don’t know what the hell you did or did not plan to do with that thing, but you don’t just ‘forget’ that you have a weapon out here.” Thomas spat, only a few feet from Zach now.

“For a second there I thought that the crap you spouted back at the cliff might be real, but at the same time, you were already hiding shit!”

Now he was probably just riling himself up with all this, but he was quite done pretending to be alright with Zach. Hell, maybe he’d just leave if he got just how pissed Thomas was.

[Ryuki]

“The shit I spouted at the cliff was real!”, Zach shouted back at Thomas. “You think I wanted to be a killer?!”

Zach’s threw his hands down, clenched into fists. His right hand twitched. Zach had half a mind to punch Thomas in his angry fucking face. He glanced for half a second towards the billhook’s handle, still sticking out of the bag. It was like a sheathed sword, just waiting to be pulled out when it was time to fight. Zach fought back the urge to whip out the billhook, trying to refocus on Thomas.

“You better settle the fuck down, or...”, Zach stifled a bit, “...or else, we’re both going to do something we’ll regret!”

[Sunnybunny]

You have got to be fucking kidding me...

"Right now? Really?"

No harm no foul there comes a point where you can't go back Blake Cheridene again and again and again and again and-

"Please chill out? Just a moment?"

[Catche Jagger]

“Are… Are you-?” Thomas actually found himself caught off-guard by Zach’s sudden threat. No wonder this guy had gotten himself into so much trouble already.

Thomas ran his hands through his hair in frustration and found himself letting out a nervous laugh in the moment. Then, Sakurako spoke up and left him feeling guilty about the whole thing already.

But someone has to do it. Sooner rather than later.

“Zach, I’m not trying to shoot you.” Thomas replied trying to keep his tone cool, but it was coming out more dismissive than anything. “And you might believe that, but I don’t know. Maybe you just wanted a pity party and someone telling you it was all okay even though nothing changed?”

He was getting shouty again. Thomas swallowed.

“I want you to go,” His voice was level now, cold, “and I’m just done pretending otherwise. I want you to go before you hurt somebody else and that somebody ends up being me or Sakurako or Sean, because you will do that.”

It was counter to his usual way of going about things, but this was necessary. Zach’s refusal to change and the others’ optimism had pushed him to this.

Attempting to remain firm in the face of his own discomfort, Thomas folded his arms tightly, even as he struggled to truly stare Zach down.

[Ryuki]

“I’m not going anywhere!”, Zach snapped at Thomas.

Zach never meant to hurt anyone. Not Sean. Not Thomas. Not Sakurako. Not Brandon. Nor Bree. Shit just happened and people got hurt, or worse, died.

Every word Thomas said to Zach was pissing him off. Zach wasn’t looking for a pity party when he found Sean and the others again. He thought he wanted to go at this alone. But seeing Sean, the closest friend he has on this island, made him realize that’s not what he wanted.

His hand was twitching, inching slightly closer to the billhook’s hilt. Zach’s glare, on the other hand, was on Thomas, who wouldn’t even look Zach in the eye. You can’t just talk shit and look away like a coward.

“You’re just fucking scared, aren’t you?”, Zach in a huff.

[Catche Jagger]

Thomas could not help but gawk a bit at Zach’s last question.

“Am I scar- Zach. Zach, am I scared? Where the fuck are we right now??” Thomas spread his arms wide, indicating the landscape around them.

“Zach, at any given moment we are under threat of- there’s a bomb on my fucking neck! Holy- yes, I am scared because I am not ignorant to the world around me. What the fuck are you talking about ‘am I scared’?”

Thomas’s hands returned to the hair on his head, pulling at it in frustration. Part of him wanted to walk away right there, but he couldn’t stop himself from going on a bit more, even as his sentences became less focused, more feeling than complete thought.

“Zach it’s- I have to be scared of your shit now too. You get involved in two deaths, yeah. But then you act all shady in the infirmary right off the bat and run off when the announcements happen. Then - and it keeps happening - you show up at the cliff and immediately start shit talking Violet for no reason in- it was already really tense there, man.

“Sure, you- you cried and felt bad but you were already hiding things. Zach, I can’t not feel this way. So, I know, I know that you’re going to get one of us here killed and, you know it’s shitty, but I really hope that it’s going to be you. At least then you won’t be hurting anyone else with your bullshit.”

Thomas found himself short of breath and hot in the face after that.

[Ryuki]

“You calling me ignorant!?,” Zach shouted, “Dude! I’m fully aware of the shit around us! How do you think I feel?!”

Thomas sent Zach on a guilt trip recounting how he acted at the infirmary and before the announcements. The more he talked, the more guilt and anger festered inside Zach. Finally, Thomas finished his talk down by stating he “knew” Zach would get one of them killed, and hopefully it’d be Zach himself.

Upon hearing this statement, Zach’s hand moved on it’s own without him thinking. It grabbed the hilt of the billhook. Just as quickly as it did, Zach’s arm swung upward towards Thomas, ready to clock him in the jaw with weapon in hand.

There was impact. However, when Zach realized what he’d done, he did not expect the outcome.

[Ohm]

It figures that after he'd ask something like that and everyone, fuckin' everyone seemed to be on the same page. Zach and Thomas started fighting, apparantly he had something in his bag he had not told Sean about and Thomas was not letting up.

Was he mad about the lying? Fuckin' course he was! He didn't cry those tears for nothing and he believed in Zach. He still does, to an extent. It could have been an earnest mistake, Zach wasn't the brightest of them all.

This was not the time, not the fucking time for this shit. Sean thought they were here to help Aditi and Charelle be laid to rest, respects and all for their sacrifice. Now they were fighting over them, both completely gone from their minds. Squabbling taking it's place.

Sean's voice had left him where he stood, bag slung over his shoulder as he stared at his friends going at it, getting increasingly angrier as the argument went on. He looked over at Sakurako and she seemed to be as out of it as he was, but there wasn't much she could do with that leg of hers in that condition.

It just went on and on, neither were letting up. Hell, Thomas brought up a lot of the past at Zach as to why he didn't trust and while Sean could not fault the logic, they were trying to move past that and bringing it all up was just throwing more gasoline on to the fire.

And that's when he saw it, it was like slow motion in his eyes. A slight movement of the hand towards the hilt and Sean's feet moved before his thought could finish.

He pushed Thomas to the side and out of the way, that's when it catched him.

It hurt. It hurt a lot.

He tumbled backwards and landed on his back. His right hand shot up to his face and felt something, there was a cut.

"Za-zach?" He could not keep control of his own voice, cracking as it let out it's suprise. His eyes threatening to leak again as he stared at his friend. Any notion of control had gone out the window.

Maybe it was never there to begin with.