The Visionary

[D/N]

B023: JESSE JENNINGS - START

Jesse Jennings had always sported a smile that could last for days.

He swished, bared his teeth in front of the antique mirror, and took a swig of water to rinse. He had to admit it; this bathroom was class. Jesse was brushing his teeth. Force of habit. He hadn't had a cavity in his life, and he'd be damned if he was going to get one now.  Jesse wasn't concerned about wasting his water supply on stuff other people might call frivolous. Why should he be? There were several bottles littering the floor in the storage closet by the bar, not to mention the ones in the cooler. The non-functional cooler, sure, but this was no time to be looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Anyway, Jesse spat the last of the rinse water into the sink, looked back up into the mirror, and gave it that smile.

"Here at Global Visionaries, it is our goal to empower youths from diverse socio-economic, racial, and geographic backgrounds to become active leaders and social citizens who promote justice."

Something like that, at least.

For the first 15 minutes after waking nestled in a plush chair in the theater room, Jesse had sat there, coming to grips with the situation. Jesse was what you might call a renaissance man, he made damn sure to keep up with the world, and so of course he knew about Survival of the Fittest. But shit, the last one had been, what, four years ago? That was real renaissance time, there. He was pretty sure it was four years ago, because he remembered his parents forbidding Luke to go on his senior trip (hell, more than half his classmates weren't allowed either), no matter how much security the school hired, and then Luke getting pissed off because as it turned out there wasn't any class abduction that year at all. And he remembered that the man they called Danya was supposed to be dead, and that there had been a lot of talk about whether or not Bridges was going to try to take credit for stopping the act, but no one really believed that SOTF was dead until next year after McAllister had stormed into the White House.

Fuck. Jesse sure hoped this wouldn't kill off McAllister's reelection chances come November. Well, that'd just give him more incentive to get off his ass and do something.

That also gave Jesse the corresponding incentive to get off his ass, no matter how soft and comfortable his seat might be. And you'd better believe him, it was pretty damn comfortable.

See, you had to be an optimist. Not that Jesse had any intention of just blindly waiting to be rescued, because even in a best-case scenario that'd take a few days at least, but all that panicking and screaming that a lot of the other kids were no doubt up to right now? That shit was not for him. Jesse had read something, or maybe seen it on TV, that said only 15% of people in emergency or disaster situations could actually keep themselves together and take action; the rest of them either turned into shrieking wrecks or just shut down and didn't react at all. One guess as to which of those groups Jesse Jennings counted himself a member of.

Sure, he could have panicked. He could have just scrunched into that chair in the theater and waited until whatever happened. This was some bad shit after all; this was one hell of a punch to the gut and he had every reason to do those things. But once you started finding those silver linings, you could then start spinning that straw into gold. Silver and gold, Aurora. Gold like that classy bathroom where he could brush his teeth, and that bar downstairs, and the fact that after twenty minutes of poking his head in each room, Jesse realized that he'd been given this awesome clubhouse all to himself. He was the king of this castle, ya dirty rascals.

And fuck those assholes who thought he was lucky. If he was just lucky, you think he'dve gotten that action figure for a weapon? Jesse had earned his luck in life. Those teeth didn't brush themselves, you know.

"Because we recognize that youth need to work together to prepare for the challenges of the future, we at GV encourage youth to seek alternative and innovative approaches to the unique problems facing their generation."

And that was why Jesse was going to Guatemala next year, after the election and his work with Fuse was over. Stating it out loud just made the words seem more concrete. Not that he'd memorized the entire pamphlet or anything. But the sales pitch his mother had given him one last time before the trip had convinced him that yeah, that shit was for him after all.

"Global Visionaries."

He repeated it once more as he trotted down the stairs to the main floor, where his two bags sat atop the bar, then stepped behind the counter and proceeded to the cooler. Now, Jesse was what you might call a connoisseur of fine ales. He didn't go for any of that Lite Beer shit. He grabbed a Miller Genuine Draft, popped it, took a swallow, and gagged at the taste before flinging the bottle aside, where it shattered in the corner next to a couple empties. OK, that had been godawful. Must've gone bad or something; he didn't know that beer could do that. He grabbed a soda instead, and on the way back to his bags, selected a small bottle of whiskey with some indecipherable foreign logo.

The bar itself was nice. Looked like mahogany, or something that cost money at least. Jesse cleared more of the dust away, rustled briefly through his assigned bag, and laid the map flat out on the surface. He'd already gone through his personal bag, being more than a little pissed off at the terrorists for not only ganking his iPad, his phone, his Fitbit and other stuff, but for just disrupting the whole order of things. Jesse was a fantastic packer; that was another thing his dad had sort of driven into him over the years. But damned if he didn't always forget to pack at least a few items. That was one of the faults he'd gotten from his mom. Jesse wasn't immodest, he knew he had faults. And being occasionally scatterbrained when it came to packing was one of those things. He'd forgotten to bring anything to write with, for example.

But hey, that was no problem. He was at a golf course after all, and a quick search of the area rewarded him with a couple of those plastic golf pencils you write your score down on. Take that straw and spin it into gold.

"Right, so I'm here--" Jesse sipped his soda, drawing an X over the clubhouse, then tapping the pencil against the surrounding the area a couple times.

"--damn. That's perfect."

Oh yeah. He'd have to get going shortly, but Jesse decided to wait half an hour or so before taking off. Just in case anyone was nearby. In the meantime, he'd get to repacking his bag correctly, taking advantage of the space the terrorists had opened up to fit a couple extra water bottles, some chips and stuff from the snack display, and that bottle of whiskey. He planned to be back here soon enough of course, but there was never any harm in grabbing some extra supplies for the road.

[Maraoone]

(Carmina Maliksi continues from Wish I Could Breathe)

She tried going off to the shipping yard again, but encountered a few problems. First, she lost her compass. She could not believe how careless she was. She only realized it when she was halfway to... wherever she was at the moment. Second, she couldn't figure out any of the signs on the roads. They just led her left, right, up, and down.

So she decided to simply go forward. She figured that she'd find something or someone along the way. Maybe a potential ally, maybe Lauren, maybe Yukiko or some other friends from the Anime Club. If she was lucky, maybe she could find some mansion and just stay there for the day.

While walking by herself, she ended up thinking a lot about her situation. She finally realized that her flamethrower didn't work after testing it, which in hindsight was a really dumb move. She decided she'd carry it anyways. It did look intimidating, to be honest.

She also thought about how she would spend what would probably be her last days. She had come to terms with the fact that she would most likely die. She still hadn't cried yet. Crying would probably cause her to break. Her friends from the Anime Club were probably looking for her, just as she was looking for them. She needed to find them before... someone else did. Also, she wanted to make a plan. She refused to play the game. If she played the game, it would mean so many things. She'd outlive all her classmates. She'd probably have to kill. Take someone's life. That went against everything she stood for. She doubted she could even hurt someone. Maybe in self-defense, but to hurt someone just to 'win'? That wasn't an option. So she made up her mind and decided that she'd try to escape or die trying. She refused to play their game.

Now, she simply needed a plan. While walking, she kept on checking her map. She was divided on whether she should go to town or not. There was a higher chance of finding her friends there, but there was also a higher chance of some players being there. She didn't want to start risking her life this early. So she just kept going forward.

Eventually, she came upon this golf course. She saw three people on the greens there, one of which was holding a gun, so she steered clear of that situation. She then saw this clubhouse which was glorious. It looked like those mansions you'd see in the telenovelas her mom liked watching. She decided it would be best to stay here for a little while. Who knows? Maybe she'd find some supplies there.

She entered the front door and aimed to be as quiet as possible. She decided to search the first floor. There were a lot of cool features in the house, like a spa, a tennis court, and so on. She could get used to this. Make it her headquarters for a while, at least until it became a danger zone.

She walked around for a while, slowly getting more casual. It didn't really seem like anyone was here, which was perfect for her. She could sleep in a king bed all by herself. She'd spend her last few days in luxury.

There was only one room left in the first floor which she hadn't checked yet: the bar. She was sure that there was no one else in the house, so she didn't notice the boy stocking up on chips and whiskey until she was only 2 meters away from here. Sure that he must have noticed him by now, she sheepishly said, "Uh... hi."

[D/N]

Jesse hadn't heard the girl enter the clubhouse; he'd been preoccupied with making sure he was ready to head out. But the noises of someone moving around and checking out rooms hadn't really been subtle, and he'd decided to wait until that someone came into the bar and lounge area to greet them.

He did suck his breath in a bit when the girl entered the bar with some ridiculous thing -- seriously, was that a flamethrower? -- strapped to her back, but that anxiety only lasted a second until it became clear from the way she moved that no, the tiny girl with a pink T-shirt was not about to start burning down things in a psycho rage. Holy fuckballs, what a shock that was. And by the time she'd made it halfway through the room before noticing he was there, Jesse had long since jettisoned any lingering doubts and instead greeted her with an open smile, his body half-turned away from his bag. Nothing flashy or cheesy, just standard fare.  

"Hey," he said. "Welcome to the heart of the island."

He pivoted a bit to face her. His arms had already been raised a bit since he'd been fiddling with his bag, so he kept them just long enough to show her his empty palms, then dropped them. Friendly, open, and sure, a bit defensive, but not looking like a pussy or anything. Jesse also let the silence stretch out for another second or two while he silently sized her up and assumed she did the same. Silence was good. It was comfortable.

As for the girl herself, Jesse wasn't picking up much. Carmina. He'd seen her at school; probably they'd had a class or two together. Other than that, what did you expect? Jesse was tall (hey, the hair added five inches), dark, thin, and handsome; Carmina was short, dark, kinda chubby, and well... she wasn't ugly at all, but still. One out of four wasn't much to work with.

"We're good, right? Uh, Carmina?"

[Maraoone]

Carmina was relieved to see that the kid in front of him was more welcoming than that last girl she met. What was his name again? The afro seemed really familiar to her. Joseph? Johnathan? Something with a J. Oh right, Jesse! He seemed fine to him. Slightly overambitious, yes, but nothing else about him bothered her.

It was clear by the way his hands were raised that he most likely didn't have a weapon with him. She said, "Hey, thanks! Yeah, we're good, we're good. Sorry if I scared you a bit there. Need to be safe, yaknow?" She was still holding her flamethrower as she said. She was not going to reveal the fact that her flamethrower was effectively useless. Yes, he seemed safe, but you never knew. She giggled slightly, then resumed speaking. "So... what supplies do they have here by the way? Is it only alcohol?" She slightly frowned as she said this. She wasn't a drinker, and being on a murder island was not going to change that.

[D/N]

"Don't worry about it, I wasn't scared," Jesse said, then gave it a beat.

"OK, that was a lie."

And bingo, ice broken.

"But hey, this is some scary stuff. My weapon's garbage, in case you're wondering. I got an action figure."

Carmina Maliksi. She was still pretty much a blank slate to Jesse; but, he was realizing, that just might be a good thing. Someone who ran it a totally different circle than he did, with her own slate of friends (loser friends, sure, but Jesse could forgive that), and yet here she was, proving his point.

He'd get to formalizing that point's precise location on the map soon enough, of course. The global vision was always hazy at first. There just needed to be a convalescence (Jesse was what you might call a scholar of the English language) of that vision into something formative. And he was getting there, oh fuck yes he was.

She'd also asked about the supplies on hand. See, Carmina was no dummy.

"Ha, yeah." He hefted the bottle of whiskey with one hand and dropped it back into his bag. "Just something for the road. There's a bunch of water bottles and some soda, I grabbed a couple so you can help yourself. Other than that there's just some candy, chips... I think there were a couple bags of nuts, taking some of them'd probably be smart."

He indicated the various sundries, then took a step to the bar and motioned her to follow him to the map.

"Anyway, it's good to see someone. I woke up in here, I was just marking some spots down and trying to figure out some stuff bout the island. See--" at this Jesse pointed to the clubhouse's location-- "we're pretty much smack dab in the middle right here. You mind if I ask where you came from to get here, Carmina?"

[Maraoone]

Carmina smiled slightly as he admitted that she scared him. To be honest, it was slightly relieving to hear that because in her mind, if he wasn't scared, he was prepared for this island. He had what it took to survive many other killers and maybe become a killer himself. Her paranoia  caused her to ignore the fact that these were very huge leaps of logic.

Anyways, she was slightly relaxed now. She was mostly sure now that Jesse was safe. When she found out that there was more water, and even candy and chips, he smile turned even brighter.  She was just about to choose between stale Doritos or Lays when he asked her another question. Her eyes slightly widened in surprise when he pointed out their location on the map. It didn't seem like she'd walked that long a distance. Then again, time tended to fly by fast whenever she was deep in thought. Also, she had some pretty good stamina. She replied, "Um, I came from the Eastern Inlet, I think. Then, I walked through this aviary, walked past the golf course, oh by the way, I saw this kid with a gun, not sure if he's still threat you should probably be careful. Where was I? Oh yeah, I walked past the golf course and arrived here. Why do you ask?"

[Lexi†]

B080: Christopher Harlin Start

It had been the first time Chris had ever been on a plane. Sure, a lot of people spend their whole lives without setting foot on a plane but for Chris, it was an occasion. Hell, the furthest he had ever been before was Idaho on a summer road trip with his parents back when he was twelve. Now, while he was not an experienced traveller, Chris was pretty sure that most plane rides had a boring in-flight movie, bad food and bags of expensive snacks. Most people didn't expect to fall asleep, only to wake up to see your teachers being killed, a snuff film and then told you were most likely going to die in less than a week. Chris would have much preferred to sit through whatever Disney film of the month that they had on the flight than this option.

He had no idea how long he had been walking, still in shock and unsure of what he was doing. Waking up in a clearing surrounded by trees, Chris had woke up and lost whatever was left of his lunch, eventually dry heaving till his eyes were filled with tears. He had thought he would have been furious, but instead all he felt was dread, a heavy feeling matched by the cold metal around his neck. Chris had little urge to fiddle around with something that could blow his head off, so he left it untouched. He had no idea where he was and the map was little help. Normally, thinking wasn't a problem; Chris acted first and let his thoughts come after. While this had gotten him into trouble before, Chris never thought it would be something that would affect his life to this degree.

Every single kid he had talked smack about and laughed at, every person he had goaded on the pitch, even the ones he had just ignored, they could have a machine gun or a machete and a hunger for blood. And what did Christopher have? Ice skates. To rub it in, they weren't even in his size. Not that Chris thought he would find an ice rink around, even if he could skate. He had been once, fell flat on his ass and decided to do it never again. He had half a mind to throw them away, but he decided to keep onto them, tying the strings to the bag he had strapped over his shoulder. Not that he had much in his bag that was his, his Ipod, phone, and other electronics had been taken out. Seeing as Chris only checked the time on his phone, he had no idea how long he had been walking, only that he was heading vaguely north east thanks to the compass.

All that had been left was one of his hooded jackets, a pack of mints, his toothbrush and his passport and wallet in the marked bag. Sure, he had a first aid kit but what good was that when he no idea how to patch himself up, let alone anyone else. He left it in his bag, trying instead to remember what he could about SOTF. His parents hadn't let him watch the news when it had been on and so Chris had not seen it while it had been on the first time around. He had thought it had ended, that the terrorists had been finished off. Hell, there had been survivors from the last one, more than just the one girl. There had been a rescue attempt, maybe there could be one this time. The alternative, it didn't bare thinking about. Not yet. Chris needed to find someone, find anyone. Safety was in numbers, which was a universal truth. Animals stayed in herds, fish in schools and birds in flocks. If anything, maybe he could find someone who had a plan, an idea on what to do.

Eventually he had found his way onto a patch of tall grass, the trees cleared and a building in the distance. Buildings meant supplies, electronics and civilisation. Chris knew better than to hope for a phone or a computer, but maybe there was something there. At the very least, there could be people. He doubted that people would be killing already. After all, who the hell would just decide to turn on their classmates so fast? Although the death free day gave him an idea that hands wouldn't stay clean for too long, Chris doubted he could kill someone. He had wished it on some people before but never to actually carry out the threat himself.  The closer he got though, the more impressive the building looked. It was like something you saw at the movies, big and expensive looking, although slightly dilapidated.

Walking through the clearing, wading through the grass, he eventually made it to the building, passing an overturned and slightly rusting golf cart. At least he knew where he was on the map now. It looked big, far larger than Chris's small home.  A faded sign identified the door as a member's only entrance and although Chris wasn't sure what club he would need to belong to enter, he wasn't going to wait outside any longer and slipped through the open door. After pushing the door closed behind him with an audible click, Chris walked down around the building, taking a few turns down several corridors, glancing in several rooms, seeing everything from a hall stretching over a large tennis court to what looked like a steam room. Eventually, half way down the corridor, Chris heard faint voices from down the hall, where there seemed to be a large comfy looking lounge. Walking down towards the sound, he called out to announce his arrival. Last thing he needed was someone getting spooked and trying to attack him. He hoped that whoever was in there wasn't carrying a shotgun aimed at the entrance. Walking to the entrance, he held his hands out to show they were empty to whoever was inside.

"Hello?... Whoever is in there, I am unarmed, so don't shoot me! I don't want any trouble!"

[D/N]

"Thanks," Jesse said, making a few corresponding marks on the map. "Might be nothing. I'm just trying to get like a sense of scale."

He took another moment or two deliberating, letting Carmina load up on any stuff she wanted to. But that good silence was going to start turning into an ugly awkward silence real quick unless Jesse got to making some actual point rather than a bunch of meaningless platitudes.

Luckily, his inspiration was striking right on schedule.

"You know..." he said, "if you got here from the inlet in a couple hours, then assuming the distances and stuff on this map are right, you should be able to get to most places on it within, I dunno, 4-5 hours tops. And if you started from a central location, like say--" tap tap tap with the pencil, "you'd be able to get almost anywhere and back probably within a day. I don't know about you, but I'd personally rather pick one place as like a home base and try to get back to it when I go out rather than just wander all over the island like some blind guy.

"Now what if... what if someone, even a couple people, started from this central location, went out--" at this Jesse scratched out three or four lines on the map stretching away from the clubhouse, "and tried to get even more people in on this--" another three or four lines emanating from one of the original ones, "and let them know that we were setting things up at this central location? Letting everyone who might be playing, or the assholes running this, know that we're not gonna take any of their shit?"

He looked up, half-realizing that he was talking to himself as much as he was Carmina, and not giving a good goddamn about it.

"We could get half the damn island in on this."

Jesse Jennings had a dream. Jesse was not what you might call a global visionary. Jesse was what you would call a fucking global revolutionary.

And when someone called out from the hallway a moment later, it was time to put that theory to the test.

"So what do you think, you up for it?" he asked Carmina, then called out.

"We're good man, nobody's shooting in here as long as you aren't!"

[Maraoone]

Carmina liked where this was going so far. It seemed like Jesse had the same plans that she did. Well, it didn't really sound like escape plans, but anything that didn't involve killing sounded good to her.

She slightly tensed up when she heard someone else in the mansion, but the voice didn't exactly sound threatening. When she looked at the face of the newcomer, she couldn't help but frown.

Christopher Harlin was too much like Brandon. They shared the same build, same sports, and same horrible personality. All you'd need to do is make him slightly taller, make the hair more flat, and you'd basically have his twin.

She was tempted to just walk out of the room, but you couldn't exactly be picky with who your allies were. Also, maybe the football team had some beef with her, she wasn't sure. She did say some pretty harsh things to Brandon, but she didn't regret any of it. Well, maybe the last one, that was pretty low.

She forced a smile on, decided to put down her weapon as a sign of friendliness,  and said, "Heyyyy. I think I've seen you around before. Your name is Christopher, right?"

Before he replied, she looked at Jesse and decided to answer his question. "Heck yes! Just one question, however. How exactly do you convince an entire group of paranoid, armed high school students to just stop what they're doing and go to this place? Please don't think I'm being sarcastic. I'm asking since I'm not really a good speaker and I only personally know a few kids in the school. Also, in my opinion, we'd probably need some guard outside our 'home base' or something. I don't know, maybe some players might start sneaking up on us, trying to raid us. What do you think?"

[Lexi†]

Looking inside the room, Chris inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Both people he vaguely knew and neither of them gave the image in his head as that dangerous. Jesse was someone that he knew through social circles; although Chris couldn't remember a time he had ever sat down and talked with the guy. The girl on the other hand, Chris knew she had been in the same classes as him from time to time but he had never even bothered to give her the time of day, hell he could barely remember her nae,. The brief flicker of distaste on her face was apparent when she saw him, although Chris was pretty sure she hadn't been the target of one of some of his choice comments. As soon as the frown had appeared, it had vanished and he wasn't even sure that it had ever been there, or just a trick of his potentially paranoid imagination. He guessed maybe Carmen, if that was her name, wasn't that dangerous then. A girl that size probably couldn't do much damage.  No need to start seeing enemies when they probably weren't there.

"Yeah, I am Chris. Its Jesse and Carmen right? You guys are the first people I have seen yet, I was so lost in those woods, I thought they would never end" he replied, slowly walking into the middle of the room. He could see some broken shards of glass in the corner, probably where a bottle had been smashed. It didn't look like there had been a fight in here, so it was probably fine.
Lowering his hands as he walked in, Chris slowly scanned the room. They seemed to be in some kind of bar, which looked like it had been very fancy at one point in time. And while there were empty bottles and the smell of alcohol lingering in the air and holy fuck, did she have a flamethrower?

Even from just having seen them in the movies, Chris froze for a second, mind racing instantly to the times he had seen people set on fire in war movies and how fast they burned up. Thankfully, she set it down and he breathed a small sigh of relief. At least she wasn't going to start anything.  Flashing a nervous smile back, Chris removed the bag from his shoulder and dropped it down into his left hand, the ice skates making a clattering sound as they bounced off each other from the momentum. As Carmina spoke, he listened, obviously a late comer to the conversation, although it was pretty clear what she was talking about.

"Well if they were anything like me, they probably got lost. I spent a few hours at least wondering around in the woods, there could be dozens of people out there, just as confused as I was. I mean, I don't think anyone wants any trouble yet. There is always safety in numbers, you know? Maybe people haven't started to kill yet, maybe no-body will want too and like, who knows if anyone near here is. Maybe they just want to find a safe place to hole up till we know what to do or someone comes along and rescues us. I mean, that happened last time right? A lot of them escaped, didn't they?  I don't know who would try to raid here, I mean, if everyone got the same kind of supplies as I did, there is enough in there to last a few days at least, even if it does look like it will taste awful. " Chris stated, slowly realising that he was rambling and probably not helping matters. He wanted to say that he felt safe, but he had been in the room for less than a minute and even though the flame thrower wasn't being used, didn't mean it wouldn't be soon. Best not to annoy them and make himself useful. Chris had never been one for plans, although right now he wished he had been.

[D/N]

They were on a roll now. Ideas were flowing, and things were jelling like Dr. Scholl's. Goddamn, Jesse's mother was gonna be proud of him.

Because this was called discussion, people. This was a free and open forum of ideas and brainstorming; it was people getting together and figuring out how to solve this thorny problem they'd found themselves thrust into.

"Seriously Chris, that's it man, you nailed it. I don't really remember how they escaped that last version, though; maybe if we can find someone who knows that stuff we could use that info. But I think-- yeah, if we work quickly and get people like that together it'd be easiest to convince them that we can get out of this. There's gotta be some of us out there that can help figure out how to do whatever they did to get off before."

And who the fuck was anyone to say that they were wrong about that?

"But you've definitely got good points there too, Carmina. People are gonna be scared. And... hey I hate to say it, but yeah, there probably will be some players out there. But I've got faith in most of us. None of us attacked each other, right? And the more people we can get, I think the better protected we are. It makes it less likely that someone who might be playing would try to go up against us."

See, and that was it. Listen, acknowledge, counterpoint. Invite conversation, which is what he was doing. And Jesse and Carmina and Chris were conversing pretty damn well from his point of view, because they were getting somewhere better and better with each turn, even if such conversations had to be condensed for the sake of this story.

Jesse listened some more, then spoke again.

"Yeah, I also think you've got a good point about keeping people at... yeah the base, call it that. Not even so much in case a couple players come by, cause in that case my advice would be to get out of danger quick, but for anyone who comes by and isn't thinking about killing. Tell them that this is a safe place, they can stick around if they want and help out."

"So... you guys tell me what you think of this. You've just gotten here, so we rest up a bit first, then I'd like to try heading out somewhere nearby. Closest places to here look like..." and point to the map, "the Aviary, the Amusement Park, and the School. I think I-- or any of us-- should be able to get there, see if anyone's there, let them know what's going on here, and get back to the clubhouse by nighttime. Now, I could do that if either or both of you wanted to stay back here and hold things down, or we could go two or three of us together, or two of us could try one location each while the other one stays here. But no matter what, who goes out, we make sure to get back here when it's dark, hopefully with a bigger group than we've got now."

[Maraoone]

She looked at Christopher and said, "It's actually Carmina, as Jesse said, but close enough guess."

She still couldn't help but not trust him. It was obvious that he was just as scared as the rest of them were (well, maybe as scared as Carmina since Jesse seemed to be handling the situation so well), but a part of her kept on trying to find reasons to not trust him.

She listened to both the boys. She had to admit that maybe Chris had a point. Most of the kids would be confused and maybe crying their eyes out right now. Maybe this  very fact would be the reason why Jesse's plan would succeed. She became more convinced that the plan would work as he spoke on. Finally, he finished and she decided to voice her opinions.

"I guess you're right, Chris. I kinda doubt anyone's first thought upon waking up would be to figure out how to murder someone without making a noise. But, like Jesse said, there's still going to be players. Look at the last four versions? The kids in those schools were perfectly normal before. I don't think we'll be any different."

She turned to Jesse and said, "Yeah, I'm OK with that. Also, I'll stay back here and be the guard, if you guys want. I mean, we can't leave this place by itself. Also, I could search around the house for more materials. But if you want me to come with you, that's also OK."

This wasn't the real reason for staying back here. She was actually scared of being alone, especially on this island, but she wanted an excuse to stay away from Chris, even for just a couple of hours.

[Lexi†]

He thought that he should have felt a little bad about getting Carmina's name wrong, but frankly, on a day like they had been having, being a few letters off would not matter in the wilder scheme of things. Something like that, he wouldn't have even noticed, and would have continued to call her Caramel or Cinammon or many names that could have been given to kids by parents with odd ideas for names. But here, especially with someone who had an obvious weapon with them, maybe playing nice for now would be an advantage. Especially as it seemed he had been roped into working together with her.

While suddenly being part of a plan to create a group of people did help him feel like there would be safety in numbers, a recurring thought that he believed to be true, it didn't mean that everyone would feel the same. For now, Jesse seemed to have a plan and Chris was always a fan of a man with a plan. Especially if it meant that he wouldn't be left on his own on the island, prey for any psycho with a gun. If Jesse wanted to make a shelter for everyone, it was not that bad an idea. Although he had initially been unsure if Jesse was making that smart a move, the more the kid spoke, the more Chris wanted to believe he had everything figured out.

"I have been thinking of it since I woke up, safety in numbers you know? Like we get a couple of people here with us, we can be much safer than if we just walked around by ourselves. I just spent ages doing that and nearly shitting myself every time I heard a noise. I mean, its not like they will be strangers, between the three of us we will know everyone on the island" Chris stated, thinking about the logistics of going around and picking up people. Although he wasn't sure if he wanted killers. Like, if they had to fight someone off to save their own lives, that was ok, he reasoned, but someone playing? Now that was a huge reason to make sure they were selective with who they picked, but until they found someone, that wasn't so much of a concern.

"Like, I don't know if splitting up is a good idea but Carmina, you could like, barricade this place up if you want to stay. You are the only one with a weapon from the looks of it, so you maybe could protect yourself better here. Besides, I mean, if I saw someone come towards me packing heat like that, I would run the opposite way" Chris mentioned, gesturing at the flame thrower. While Carmina looked like she couldn't win a fight against a wet paper bag, burning her way out would be a pretty good alternative. But still, if she wanted to stay there, he wasn't going to beg her to follow them. Besides, if they wanted to move fast to get somewhere and back, the boys would be able to do it better than she would from the looks of it.

"Well, maybe the two or three of us could try out the School, I think that was the closest and easiest to find. It looked like there was a road there, so it wouldn't be too hard to find.  Besides, lots of buildings, there is bound to be a few kids there. More likely than a birdhouse or Disneyland of the dead".

[D/N]

And all that was fine music to Jesse's ears. Not great yet; not Kanye great or anything, but at least Rihanna or Drake-level fine.

"Right then. If we're good with that, Chris and I'll take off to the school; we'll make sure to get back before it gets too dark. Carmina, hold the fort down here. I mean, obviously unless someone dangerous comes by, but I don't think that's gonna happen. It's too early yet. "

He checked the map one more time.

"Anything happens though, we should have a place to meet. Like a backup, Plus they might make this place a dangerzone sometime, forgot about that. So how about the aviary? It's close, and still pretty much in the central area."

With that, it was time to finish up any last-minute stuff, and head on out.

"Don't worry, we'll be back. Promise. We just have to start building this thing up, getting the word out. Then we'll be golden."

And Jesse Jennings was what you might call a man of his word.

(Jesse Jennings continued in Welcome to Summoner's Rift)

[Maraoone]

A few seconds after Chris and Jesse left the building, Carmina got to business.

She locked the doors on the first and second floors. Then, she got some rope from the tennis court and used it to tie the handles of the French doors together. Afterwards, she got couches and chairs from nearby bedrooms and living rooms to barricade all possible entrances. Finally, she locked the windows on all the floors.

Once she was sure that every possible entrance was either blocked or locked, she got a bottle of beer, emptied its contents down a sink, and then smashed the bottom half against the wall. She let out a small yelp as she heard the glass shatter. She promptly cleaned up the shards and left it on the table. For some reason, there was not a single garbage bin in sight.

She was really divided about this jagged beer bottle she made as her weapon. She didn't feel safe holding it. Intimidating her classmates with a flamethrower was one thing. Actually being able to make your classmates bleed with a beer bottle was another. On the other hand, when she tried leaving the weapon behind, she felt vulnerable. She knew that there was an almost zero chance of anyone sneaking in, but she had a lingering fear that someone would snatch the bottle and start stabbing her with it.

After thinking about it for a minute, she decided to keep the bottle and have it with her at all times.

Now that everything was done, she went in the lounge, set down her weapons, and started munching on one of the energy bars. She gagged at the taste, but forced herself to eat it all. By the time she ate the last bit, she felt like retching and gulped down half a water bottle. She was really starting to regret not bringing Lays or Doritos with her on the trip. She simply brought 2 $100-dollar bills which were now gone. She assumed the terrorists took it and decided to spend it on whatever.

She didn't feel like thinking about her situation anymore. She laid down on the couch and closed her eyes, hoping to fall asleep soon.