The Continuing Story of Bungalow Reg

[nope†]

Danni winced a bit at the phrase "hack and shoot". It was something she was determined to push out of her mind until when (if!) the time came. She glanced around the tired, mud-streaked crew she'd gotten herself into, and sighed. She then looked back up at Reg.

"Well, I'm in. I'll go with whatever your plan is."

She wondered if she should finish that thought. It was melodramatic, stupid, and above all a lie. But given the situation, what could it really hurt?

"I trust you."

[Mitsuko2†]

Olivia sighed and looked around the motley crew she'd involved herself in somehow. It was almost as if she'd been thrown into the slums. But that didn't exactly matter. She simply had to keep herself alive until the end. An actress always plays her part best when under pressure. She'd deal with whomever was left when the time came, but for now, she had to have faith that she could at least SOMEWHAT trust these people.

"Fine.... I'm in as well. Don't disappoint. I'm counting on you." She said while looking at both boys. She'd only need to play the role the right way. She was a star after all. How hard could it be? She smirked.

[Ares]

At each boom that echoed over the PA system, Reg winced. Turns out that destroying cameras might not be such a good idea afterall.

"Well, guys, now what? If Danya's going to kill people every time a camera is destroyed, what the bloody hell are we going to do? Anyone have any idea whatsoever? I mean, there has got to be another way, because I for one am not willing to risk anyone's life over a camera."

Deep inside of him, Reg was feeling a boiling sense of frustration. Every single time he was starting to get somewhere with an escape plan, it was snatched away from him.

[nope†]

Danni barely heard Reg. Her mind was on Anna's body, back at the marsh. She had come across it only hours ago. Anna hadn't simply been dead, she'd been mutilated to a point where Danni had only recognized her by her clothes and awkward figure. Danni could feel the vomit rising up in her throat as she recalled the scene. Could Lenny really have done that? She couldn't imagine that boy being capable of such violence, but the sickeningly cheery voice of that Danya bastard coming from the P.A. had confirmed it.

Danni hadn't even realized she'd been slowly backing up, putting distance between herself and Lenny, until she felt her hand brush against the bark of a tree trunk behind her. Her eyes were wide with shock an fear, transfixed on him. Her mouth was slightly open as if to say something, but nothing came out. What the hell could she say anyway? Hey buddy, mind telling me why you killed my friend? Why you left her in the water with her head split open and her entrails hanging out? How about the fingers, was that really necessary or was it just an artistic touch?

Here was someone who she just moments ago was ready to put her life in his hands, and he had brutally murdered her friend.

She felt dizzy. She was sure she was going to vomit. She leaned back on the tree, feeling the weight of the sword push up against her shoulder. She no longer felt any comfort from it as she had before. She didn't think anything could save her from that level of brutality. She imagined a bloodied Lenny standing above Anna's corpse, with her fingers in his hands and a twisted grin on his face-

She finally managed to croak out a few words.

"Oh... fuck. Oh, fuck."

[Mitsuko2†]

Olivia heard the announcement blare to life. It rocked her to the core, just as all the others had. This one though. At the end. It was disgusting. Trinity.... And Jazz.... And Wednesday.... And Melissa.... All dead because of Neil Sinclair's stupid idea. The stupid idea that they were currently starting.

Hell to the no.

Olivia was NOT getting her head blown off because of these idiotic buffoons. She would NOT have it. No way. She was getting the hell out of there. NOW. She had much better things to do than get herself killed because of some idiotic plot planned by incompetent peasents.

"I don't care WHAT you fools do. I'm getting the hell out of here. ALONE." She said before turning and running away from the group, through the trees.

((Continued in Blood, Sweat, and Tears))

[Theseus†]

Dawn finally broke.

All around them, the voice of Danya spoke. It had been a while since Lenny had heard his voice. He wasn't sure if he enjoyed having him back, or if he missed that other guy who stammered a lot. Lenny listened as the deaths and killers were listed off. He smiled when he heard his name.

Anna Vaan. Dead.

Keiji Tanaka. Dead.

Elizabeth looked around at the group. Olivia did some yelling and ran off. It was just them, Reg, and Danni now.

Lenny watched as Danni slowly backed away from him. He knew she must have been surprised about the news. On top of that, he had won the best kill award? Though it seemed two other students had won it as well.

Lenny took a step forward to the girl and looked at her. Elizabeth took a step back, afraid of what Lenny was going to do.

Lenny walked slowly up the girl, until he was almost pressed against her, and he said in a soft voice, "Danni...why are you backing away?"

Lenny turned to Reg and said, "Sorry but it looks like that little group you saw smashin' cameras just got their just desserts from Danya. So I'm really not into playing an island wide game of Russian roulette."

Lenny turned back to Danni and spoke softly.

"Don't worry. I killed them because they were both going to harm my sister. Stay away from Elizabeth and you'll be just fine."

Lenny Priestly backed up and spoke to those who were left.

"We're off to collect my prize. I hope to run into you guys again. Reg, if you think of a better plan you can count me in on it. Danni...loosen up will ya?" Lenny winked at the girl and he started to walk away.

With that, Lenny and Elizabeth Priestly made their way out of the jungle towards Lenny's prize.

((Lenny and Elizabeth Priestly continued elsewhere))

[nope†]

Danni crumbled once Lenny was out of sight, collapsing in a heap at the base of the tree with a small sob. There was a slight dampness where the legs of her tights met, but a combination of fear and embarrassment and a state of being soaked to the bone as it was caused her to ignore it. For a moment she'd had hope, but now all she was left with was confusion and fear. The urge to toss her guts was stronger still, but she managed to hold it at bay by hugging her legs close and burying her head into it. She could feel herself crying, though it was more of shock than sorrow. How could this happen? What was even happening? Had Anna really been playing, or was that sicko just playing head games with her? Was anyone really playing? She wanted dearly to believe this was all a dream, an elaborate prank, anything but what it was. maybe it was just some reality TV show they'd been thrown into, like that cheesy Fear Factor show and its ilk. The screams booming over the PA could have been made by any actress, no matter how similar to her classmates they had sounded.

But then, much against her will, her mind went back to Anna's corpse as if to answer her questions. Those hadn't been any Hollywood props. That had been real flesh and bone and intestine and brain, decomposing in the murky water. This was a real island she's been so rudely tossed on. That was a real fucking bomb strapped to her neck. This was all too real.

What the fuck was HAPPENING?

Danni stayed with her face in her tights for a few moments more, shaking all over like a terrified dog. Her sobs were muffled by her legs and the overpowering boom of the rain. Finally she mustered the strength to peer up at Reg through her dirty strands of dyed hair. Once again she wanted to say something, but her stupid throat just wouldn't let her. She kept staring up at him pleadingly for what seemed like hours to her, but in reality was not much more than a minute, before dropping her head back down. She crossed her arms over her chest defensively and continued to cry.

This was so pathetic. Everyone else was out there trying their hardest just to survive, and here she was curled in a ball ready to die. This wasn't right. She was tired of being so pathetic. She'd been a bottom feeder too long. If she was going to die here, she wasn't going to take it crying on the ground like a coward. All at once, that part of her was dead. She wished she'd killed it sooner.

She lifted her head to Reg again. He was all that was left. She had a feeling he didn't want her around, that all she was to him was dead weight, but she figured she'd give that White Knight theory one more try. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath before trying her voice again.

"So what now?"

[Namira]

((Bobby continued from: Battle Of Epic Proportions))

BOOM.

Standing bolt upright, Bobby swayed unsteadily for a few moments, carbine clattering to the ground from suddenly nerveless fingers. He slowly raised one hand to his face and wiped it clean with the back of his forearm. Then collapsed to his knees and heaved, coming close to losing what little he had managed to eat so far in SOTF. Bobby took several deep, shuddering breaths, forcing air into his lungs and violently expelling it moments later. The rain may have washed it away by now, but to Bobby, he was still drenched in blood - had been since the very beginning on the game.

It was funny, really, how the events were afflicting him, he had been, after all, stalking the girl with the express intention of snapping her neck from behind.

Bobby looked up, finally, and his eyes alighted on the dead body in front of him. He had been just about to make his move when the announcement came on. Bobby had cursed his luck as Danya's voice started to inform the students of the deaths over the past day. Luckily, it seemed that his target was intent on listening to the PA, so it gave Bobby an opportunity to duck for cover and remain out of sight.

Moments later, Danya started blowing collars. As most others must have felt – since he had apparently decided to make the detonations at random, Bobby found himself, for a few moments, simply terrified, before he shut the feelings down. It was a chance, he had reminded himself, to take out his target whilst she was distracted, he had sprung from behind his hiding place and...

BOOM!

Wednesday Ryan. Eliminated.

Did it make it worse that Wednesday was one of the few people Bobby knew outside of school? Ironically, it was purely because she had, in the past, attended boxing training, which just meant he was a little more familiar with her face than with most people's. It didn't really matter any more though, she was dead – he had seen her head get blown off just metres from him. But for the rain he would still have been doused in Wednesday's blood.

Bobby eased himself up from the ground, taking hold of the carbine again and stowing it in favour of the SIG Sauer that he had emerged from the encounter at the field in possession of. He had relatively little ammunition for it, but at least he could fire it more than once without having to fiddle with the bolt. Still, he was going to have to watch where he was shooting with it – Bobby had only managed to pick up a single additional magazine, he didn't know too much about guns, so his best guess was that he had around twenty bullets to burn. Not an inconsiderable number, but Bobby knew all too well how quickly you could go through clips in a firefight.

Something glinted in the gloom and caught Bobby's eye. It was hard to figure out just what the object was due to the lack of light (it was heavily overcast after all) and the mire which the jungle floor had turned into. He knelt and brushed at the dirt with his fingertips, his eyes widening as the beginnings of a gleaming blade were revealed. Locating a handle of sorts, Bobby pulled, freeing a sword of some description from the sucking mud.

Well well well, what do we have here?

Bobby would be the first to admit he knew absolutely nothing about swords, but he recognised a katana when he saw one. The weight felt good in his off hand, and he thought only moments before sticking the SIG into his belt and reaching around his back to grab the golf club he had picked up back on day 1 and hurl it into the trees. There was a snapping sound, followed by a distinctive WHUMP and a twang. Bobby frowned in confusion, then a crossbow bolt winging past his head, missing his ear by inches before lodging in a tree behind him. He shuddered at that – this jungle was a death trap.

The boxer turned away from Wednesday's body and continued into the jungle, making sure to check for any tripwires or traps carefully. He'd almost paid the price for carelessness twice, he didn't think it would be a good idea to test the concept of 'third time lucky' out. Bobby's ears pricked up as he heard a voice – not far away at all. He stopped, then let out a long, heartfelt sigh, reaching around to pull out the carbine from its place on his pack, then pulling back the bolt and chambering a round.

"I don't suppose I have much of a choice. I'm damned either way,"

Bobby stepped into the edges of a clearing, immediately spotting two drenched figures there. Knowing that he would be spotted in a matter of moments, he fired the carbine, first at the boy standing up – figuring that he was the biggest threat in that he was actually on his feet. Bobby proceeded to work the bolt back again, and without checking to see whether he hit or not, fired off a second round at the girl who was on her knees in front of the guy.

This path I tread... is there an end to it?

Is there a destination or only the journey?

And... and is there... a way to walk from the road?

[Ares]

Reg opened his mouth to speak to Danni, but no sound came out of his mouth. Instead a searing pain in his back erupted. The bullet hit Reg right about 3 inches away from his spine.

Reg screamed in pain and fell to his knees in front of Danni. He reached out to her.

"Why..." Reg garbled out, as his mouth began to fill with blood caused by internal bleeding.

Reg stared at Danni for an answer he would never get. He heard another pop in the distance and then nothing. He felt absolutely nothing. The next bullet entered through the base of where Reg's skull met his neck, and exited out his mouth killing him.

The boy who wanted nothing more than to escape the island peacefully was now the tragic victim of the brutality he'd fought against his whole life.

B64 - Reg Robson - Dead

[nope†]

Danni barely had time to let what had happened register. One moment Reg had been standing and talking to her, then next he was on the ground reaching out to her. Why? Her answer came in the form of a bullet coming diagonally from his face, spraying blood across her own. She could feel herself begin to scream, pushing herself against the tree and away from the bloody mess that had just seconds ago been a boy's head. The next bullet passed centimeters from her forehead, where her head had just been. She felt more fly over her head, then heard a few plug the tree behind her.

She scrambled to her feet and swung around the tree, being sure to keep something between herself and where she thought her attacker was. She began to run, then remembered the weight on her back. The fucking sword. She wouldn't be able to run with that thing weighing her down. She quickly swung the bag around, then set her clumsy fingers to work on the claymore's strap. It took a few seconds, but the sword finally fell to the mud. She started to sprint.

((Danni continued elsewhere))

[Namira]

I-is that it?

Bobby looked down at the weapon in his hands with a sense of horror suffusing him. It was that easy? Just... pull the trigger, bang, gone. It was the first time he'd actually managed to hit anything with his carbine, and now that he had managed it, he'd immediately killed somebody. Whilst he was distracted, the girl took off, but it didn't really mean all that much to him.

"Why..."

He shuddered, as he recalled his victin's last words, turning away from the dead body.

Why indeed Bobby Jacks? That my friend makes four.

Bobby glanced back into the jungle, and once again something caught his eye. He frowned - had his victim dropped a weapon of some description? Obviously he had to have been given something, but the glimmer was a good distance away from the corpse. Curiousity piqued, Bobby walked across the clearing, pointedly avoiding looking at the corpse.

It's still there you know. Averting your gaze doesn't make it disappear.

The boxer reached the object and was surprised to find another sword - rather different from the katana he had so recently aquired. He scooped up the blade from the ground and slung the carbine before drawing the katana. He held one sword in each hand. He weighed up each one for a few moments, then stowed the new blade away. Still holding the katana, he went over to the dead body and took it by the shirt, once again trying to avoid looking at the wounds. Bobby dragged the body into a somewhat more muddy patch of ground, and predictably, it sank in a way. Before long, it would be covered entirely - an impromptu grave. Bobby then plunged the blade of the katana into the ground beside the body. If the body was to remain here, at least his resting place was marked.

Bringing out the carbine again, and in a solemn mood, Bobby headed off.

((Bobby Jacks continued elsewhere))

[RationalParanoia†]

((Start: B103))

Mark had been wandering in the jungle for days now. He wasn't lost, no- he could have easily found his way out, had he wanted to. He was hiding, from the people, and the violence.

At first, he had thought that nobody would do it. How could you kill your own friend? Somebody you'd known and laughed with for years... What kind of person could take a life like that? Only a monster. And Mark had faith that nobody in his class was a monster.

And that faith was let down on the first day, when that bastard Danya came on the announcements. Nine kills? Nine?! Apparently, Mark had been completely wrong... almost everyone in his class was a monster.

The thought horrified him, and made him glad he'd stayed in the jungle. They'd kill him... They'd all kill him. Not in the jungle, though. In the jungle, he could stay safe.

And so, Mark had stayed there for the five days, trying to survive there alone. He and his clothes were a little dirty, but other than that, he was pretty much fine. He had been able to stay away from the violence so far, and he was glad for that.

And then it had happened. He had been sleeping, but the gunshots had woken him up. Normally, things were quite mixed up when he woke up. But this wasn't- he saw everything with perfect clarity.

He saw a boy, dressed in khaki pants and a T-Shirt bearing the slogan 'Save The Environment'. He watched as the bullets hit the boy, killing him (and a sick part of his mind thought that he'd have a hard time saving the environment, if this was the best he could do for himself). There was blood everywhere, and a girl. But Mark paid no attention to the girl.

What he did pay attention to, however, was the body. Just lying on the ground there, bleeding. And, tracing the bullets back to their origin, Mark saw a tall, muscular black teenager. Mark didn't recognize him for a moment... but, thinking hard, the name came to him. Bobby Jacks. Social outcast, boxer extraordinaire, and apparently, heartless killer.

Mark's head hurt. He wasn't safe. Sure, Bobby might not have seen him, but he easily could have. Instead of that boy, Mark could be the one on the ground, bleeding out. And Mark had no way to defend himself, save from his Aikido... the weapon he had been given was useless.

But then, the solution came to Mark. He'd find people, people he could trust. A group that would be able to protect each other. Of course- It was a great idea. He'd just find them, and then-

Bobby was dragging the body away. Behind the body, a trail of blood was starting, turning the ground from green and brown to a dark red. And it was that, that trail of blood, that finally triggered it. It finally made everything that Mark had seen hit him.

He doubled over, and vomited, the food he had eaten spilling out all over the leaves. Worried, his first thought was to look over to Bobby, to see if he had heard him. From the fact that he hadn't even looked Mark's way, Mark guessed Bobby hadn't.

But Mark couldn't risk this. He picked up his pack, put it on his back, and ran out of the jungle. He'd find people who could help him... at least, he hoped he would. He didn't even want to think about what would happen if he ran into a killer like Bobby Jacks.

((Mark Tavarian continued elsewhere))