Tragedy + Time

[Deamon]

((Gray Emerson continued from Gethsemane))

Every step was pain. It had been slow going for Gray especially since he could barely put weight on his knee. If he did he just got an extreme shooting pain to remind him that his left leg didn't have a knee anymore.  It would just make everything that much harder and be another thing he had to worry about, on top of everything else he had to deal with. Funnily enough Gray's first thought as he realised how bad his injury actually was, was that he may never be able to skate again. That was something that hit him hard. It was his future; had been his future. It was something he knew would be there and be the same if he got back home.

That wasn't true anymore. Hansel had seen to it. For what may have been the first time in his life Gray actually felt anger towards another human being. It was a strange feeling. He wasn't sure how to deal with it. He settled for swearing under his breath. It helped a little bit.

They'd wandered onto the grounds of what Gray guessed was a school if the buses and athletic field were anything to go by. Gray could vividly remember the last time he had been on an athletic field. It was weird thinking about it since half of the people who had been involved in that argument were dead. Steven and Cassandra had both been murdered by Katarina and he hadn't seen Andi since they'd gotten separated. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't worried about her. She hadn't shown up in any of the announcements so that was a good sign at least. It meant she wasn't dead.

Gray hopped across the field and set himself down on one of the many benches that littered the area. He set himself and his bag down so that he could get a rest, placing the FAMAS down on the table top. His pistol was tucked down his jeans again and Sean's gun was in his bag. He'd refused to give it back. Not after how Sean had acted in the house, it made it clear that it was still too risky.

As Gray scanned the area looking for any other members of their class that could have been hiding he spotted a sign that said there was an Easter egg hunt. Gray had a morbid though of kids running around the island trying to find the most bodies. It was so silly it made him smile.

"We can rest up here Sean. Think we're a safe from anyone dangerous."

[Arscapi†]

((Kathryn Nguyen continued from Blade Runners))

Kathryn felt like all she'd done since she got to this island was wander from place to place. At first she'd been hoping to find friends, but that hadn't worked out at all the way she planned. Now she was alone and wandering again. Her spaces to wander were getting limited however, as the days went on the more areas stayed danger zones.  Maybe she shouldn't have left the mall. Maybe she should have just barricaded herself inside and let the others come after her. She'd noticed that someone had already tried that, and since they were no longer there maybe that wasn't the best choice. Or maybe it was just too big a space. Maybe she should find a room, to hole up in.

Of course that meant she wasn't playing the game and ran the risk of her captors blowing her collar anyway. She doubted that would happen, what with the frequency of Hansel's name was being called. In a way she was grateful to Hansel. By killing all those students he had ensured that the rest of them survived a little longer. As she walked she latched on to that idea. Hansel had killed like ten people by now. It was a pretty sure bet that he'd be killing someone today.

Maybe her plan should be to not piss anyone off and stay off Hansel's radar. That plan seemed doable. She could adapt to it. Maybe not kill anyone else.

Maybe, maybe, maybe. That's all her world seemed to have become. One word. Maybe. Of course it could also bring hope. Maybe she could actually get off this island. Maybe she could survive this thing. Maybe.

Kathryn let out a loud sigh as she crossed, what was she crossing? She'd been so lost in thought that she hadn't been paying attention. "Stupid," she chastised herself. It was going to be hard to avoid Hansel when she wasn't aware of her own surroundings. She stopped and looked around. Kathryn let out a small laugh. She was back at school. The athletic fields cheered her slightly, she'd always felt at home on the fields.

There was a boy sitting with his back to her, and she had to search her brain to place who it was. "Gray," she said her voice soft to not startle him. "Mind if I rest with you a minute?"

[MK Kilmarnock]

((Sean Mulcahy, continued from Gethsemane))

Sean stepped out from the entrance way to the school, having run ahead of Gray's painfully slow pace to try and scout stuff out. If he was going to be in a group that had 'scouts' in the name, he figured he'd at least try and live up to it. Gray's fubar knee was keeping them crawling along at a pace that, if anybody with intent to hurt the two of them caught sight, they'd be pretty messed up and unable to flee.

Since Gray had refused to give him his weapon back (and to be quite honest, Sean couldn't blame him), he'd be relatively helpless in actually repelling threats. Against Hansel he'd just gotten lucky; if things had just gone a little bit differently, Sean was fully aware he might have ended up as swiss cheese. If he hadn't done anything, it was just as likely that Gray would have suffered the same thing. Or worse, maybe they both would have kicked it. Like this, though, out in the open? Whoever was out here would more than likely be able to see the two of them before the two of them could see the threat.

So Sean did what he could, at least making sure the next area was safe for Gray and his knee. Maybe when they were sure they had a moment, Sean could bust open the first aid kid and do... something. He had some limited knowledge of first aid, but he wasn't exactly a surgeon. It looked it it'd be taking a surgeon to fix what was wrong with his friend's leg.

As long as he had this though, he had purpose. As long as he had purpose, he didn't feel the urge to pick up a gun and eat it. The fact he had even been considering it before was frightful to him. He was so close to giving up that he had forgotten what his dad, mom, Parker would think of him. What Genie would think of him. Oh man... Genie. He hadn't thought about his close friend in a while, the 'unlucky' girl who wouldn't be going on the trip to Disneyland.

Well, Genie got the last laugh on this one, didn't she? Alex had already...

.. That's right. Alex WAS dead. Kyran... Kyran was dead too, though just the other day he and Gray, they'd been talking about meeting up with him around the town. When the announcement first played, Sean had to bite his thumb as hard as he could to keep it together. As far as being on the island, he wanted to say that Gray was his only close friend left. One of them would have to make it back for everybody.

The worst part was, though, only one of them could.

It was this thought Sean wrestled with when he saw Kathryn's approach. Though uneasy around anybody who wasn't Gray Emerson, he didn't recall hearing Kathryn's name on the announcements. Not as a killer and, obviously, not as somebody who was killed (though he briefly entertained the idea of a ghost. Wouldn't be the weirdest thing that ever happened to him).

He kept a little bit of distance and decided Gray would do all the talking. Also hiding near the entrance way to the school wouldn't hurt much.

[Deamon]

Gray turned his at the sound of the voice to see Kathryn Nguyen standing behind him. She was asking if she could rest with him. Gray thought it was a safe assumption to say she was friendly, since she had been behind him and hadn't taken the opportunity to kill him. Regardless Gray placed a hand on the FAMAS and slowly withdrew it from the table, placing it gently on the floor by his feet. Even though he didn't think Kathryn was going to be violent he still thought it was best if the big machine gun wasn't sitting on the table between the two of them.

"Sure." He said in answer to her question. He wasn't going to turn her away. He didn't actually know that much about Kathryn apart from the fact she was on the softball team. Besides that she was a mystery to him. He didn't even know if he'd even spoken to her at any point before. Gray could think of better ways to meet someone.

"Sean is with me. But he walked off somewhere." That was a bigger issue than Gray was letting on. Sean was one of his only friends left and an unpredictable one at that. Gray was glad he'd kept his gun; there was no telling what he could have done if he'd seen Kathryn walking up. Gray hoped that since he was talking to Kathryn and there was no sign of imminent violence Sean wouldn't be too worried. That was what Gray hoped.

"How long have you been on your own for?"

[Arscapi†]

Kathryn sank to the bench with a sigh of relief and her eyes widened in surprise as Gray continued to talk to her as if they were in a normal situation. Not that she minded, it'd just been a while since she heard a calm voice. She shifted, resting the walking stick and the gun behind her.

"Not long, just today," she answered simply. "And all I've been doing today is wandering. Actually first I ran into Virgil, who's decided that he's going to kill people if they don't agree to let the terrorists blow our collars. Then I took a nap in the mall. Now I'm here."

She looked around for Sean. "How long have you and Sean been together?" She paused thinking about what she said. "Wait, I didn't mean it that way. I meant,  when did you find each other?  No, that's not right either, you know what I'm just going to stop talking now."

[MK Kilmarnock]

While apprehension and lingering anxiety were the dominant emotions behind all of Sean's decisions as thoughts for as long as he was on the island, confusion was added to the mix at Kathryn's embarrassment. He hadn't seen exactly what was so silly about what she just said, so he decided to chalk it up to sleep deprivation and just roll with it.

He slumped against the wall of the entrance and made sure to watch around the corner to make sure Kathryn didn't try anything funny. He was mostly sure she wouldn't, not with her never being mentioned by that voice in a tin can, that loudspeaker gleefully announcing when somebody died. He peered down at his own shirt, still speckled with Aria's blood.

Better late than never, he supposed.

Giving another quick glance around to make sure there wasn't anybody nearby besides Gray and Kathryn, at least that he could see, Sean quietly unzipped the bag that had been set down next to him. His shirt was removed first and gently tossed to the ground. His shorts were next, removing them over his shoes. The shorts were placed tenderly on his bag and replaced with another pair, this one a light blue set that he had intended to wear on Splash Mountain. He then pulled out a white shirt... thought twice about it, then pulled out a dull green one to put on.

Once the shirt was over his head, he instinctively reached for a replacement bandanna, a dark blue number that would've been good at hiding dirt. Fingers hesitated to grab at the cloth but for a second, then he drew it out of the bag as well. He didn't have to wear it on his head, he reasoned to himself. It could still be useful, as a handkerchief or a tourniquet if things got really bad. It didn't have to mean... what it used to mean.

He stuck the bandanna in his back pocket, letting it hang out a little. His old shirt and bandanna were left on the ground as he slowly zipped the bag back up. They were ruined, stained in something he didn't want to wear ever again. As he sat and continued to listen, he found the conversation informative to listen to. Avoid Virgil. Good to know. Come to think of it, the list of people to avoid was growing larger and larger. Any more, and Sean was just about ready to play it safe and sequester himself alone somewhere.

[Deamon]

Virgil was going to kill people who didn't agree to go along with his plan? Gray knew he would have to kill a lot of people then. A mass suicide or the chance to get home alive. Gray had a feeling he knew what most people would pick. Gray doubted the plan would work. But he made a mental note to try to steer clear of Virgil anyway. If he was committed enough to follow through with his plan it made him dangerous. It wasn't like any of them had anything to lose anymore.

Gray raised an eyebrow at Kathryn and grinned as she backpedalled. He rubbed his neck as he thought of the best way to phrase his response.

"A few days ago. Sean was in a bad place. I'm hoping I can bring him back from it."

How had he been doing with that anyway? If he honestly asked himself? And if he ended up falling off the path who would try to bring him back?

"I think I'm managing."

[Arscapi†]

When Gray smiled at her, Kathryn realized she hadn't messed up that badly. Her mouth had been getting her in trouble a lot lately. Kathryn smiled back when Gray said he was managing. Managing seemed like the best anyone could do at this point. When he continued, she realized that she still hadn't seen Sean. Kathryn glanced around starting to get a little nervous. Where was Sean? And what was he thinking?

Gray had said that Sean was in a bad place. What did that mean? They were all in a bad place. Having to listen to their classmates names being called either as killers or victims. It wasn't exactly a good situation for everyone. "What kind of bad place," she asked hesitantly. "And where did you say he went again?"

[MK Kilmarnock]

Where did he go? Sean was initially worried that the slight shuffling sounds of him changing his clothes would have given him away, but was offered some comfort through Kathryn's words that, apparently, he was stealthy enough. In an actual life-or-hamburger-time situation, that could have just saved his butt.

Sean took a breath, and with it resolved to take a chance. He knew that he himself was not... the steadiest thing around these days and it hurt to hear Gray agree with the sentiment, but he felt strong and stable enough to step around the corner and reveal himself. Kathryn probably wasn't going to attack them anymore. Probably. If she did, it was completely up to Gray to defend them both. He's the one that decided to keep all the weapons.

As soon as he stepped around the corner, Sean leaned his shoulder into the wall and watched Kathryn from over Gray. "I'm right here. Was just checking the place out. Y'know, makin' myself useful."

He couldn't pretend to smile, though he tried.

[Deamon]

Gray didn't actually know where Sean had gone, he'd just wandered off not something Gray was inclined to do anymore, there was an incentive not to, in that he wouldn't have to feel like his leg was breaking if he didn't move any more than he had too. As long as Sean didn't do something stupid on one of his forays everything would be fine.

He was thinking of a response to Kathryn's question about when Sean himself turned up, stepping out from around a corner. He'd changed his clothes; it made sense since the ones he had been wearing were covered in blood. It was a lot less disturbing if Sean walked around in a fresh pair as far as Gray was concerned. He didn't need a constant reminder that his friend was a killer.

That had been Gray's first train of thought, but as Sean spoke a second one pulled into the station. How much of what he'd said to Kathryn had Sean heard, and had he told Kathryn too much? They weren't really questions Gray felt he could answer. He didn't want to think about them either. Instead he played along with where the conversation seemed to be going.

"Find anything?"

[Arscapi†]

Kathryn's eyes snapped to Sean the moment he stepped from the building. She stopped herself from jumping up. So far he wasn't threatening in any way, just coming towards them. It didn't look like he had a weapon. Kathryn was a little surprised when Sean answered the question that she'd asked Gray. She wondered if he'd been standing somewhere watching and listening to them.

Not a bad strategy Kathryn thought, one that would allow you to get the drop on your enemy. Hide your numbers, and determine the threat level first. Of course if she'd been one of the killers roaming, poor Gray would probably have been dead before Sean could do anything about it.

She didn't say anything as she was curious about the answer to Gray's question as well.

[MK Kilmarnock]

"Just... just the front doors," Sean responded to Gray's question.

He considered himself lucky that it was Kathryn who had approached them, and not anybody who was actually intent on doing anything, up to and including hurting or killing anybody. The fact that if she WERE somebody intent on killing them she most likely would have succeeded in offing Gray was not lost on Sean. It was why he wanted to prove himself as a more stable and competent partner, so that Gray might finally let up and allow him his weapon back.

He didn't want to hurt anybody, honest he didn't, but the situation was kinda thrust on him. Not a whole lot to do against a bunch of faceless jerks forcing kids to hunt each other down like animals. The traces of adventure and mystique to the game, sick and slight as they were, had gone. The actual sight of death and blood and pain had forever killed the sense of wonder and exploration in Sean, and he was pretty sure that if he made it back home he'd probably set the Guppy on fire and never think about piracy again.

He had instead retreated in his mind to every other aspect of life he enjoyed, binding to those so he might still find some solace as he lived day to day. Never before had he wondered if he was going to see the next day when, prior to all of this, the greatest thing he worried about was if there was a pop quiz coming in Mr. Connor's class. It stunk, this whole lot, but if Gray wanted to live, if he wanted Sean to live, he'd hand over that stupid gun.

He could only hope Gray saw it the same way.

"Not sure if we wanna park ourselves inside? I dunno if there's anybody else in here. ... I should probably be facing the entrance, come to think!" He disappeared behind the corner once more, doing just that.

[MK Kilmarnock]

((Because DZs make Ricky sad. Godmodding the fuck out of this whole scene and I don't really care))

Sean decided it was best if they rested in the building for a while, given the terrible shape Gray was in. They'd be out of sight and (hopefully) out of mind as far as people armed to the teeth and looking to kill were concerned. In a bit of wishful thinking, he was pretty sure that everybody alive at this point didn't really have a beef with him, that they'd see him and go 'oh, it's just Sean' and 'the really tiny kid who likes pirates'. That was about his best shot at surviving this thing.

They'd have to clear out the school, to make sure there was nobody kickin' around. First they'd probably have to clear the perimeter, walking along the outside of the buildings and the fields to check for anything useful. It was a risky move, knowing that there could be somebody out there and that there'd be no cover to hide from gunfire. They didn't find anybody. Anybody alive.

Sean spotted one body from afar, and the blood on the face and distorted position of the body was all he needed to see in order to know he didn't want to look at it up close. He didn't have a chance with Deanna, letting out a sharp yelp when he spotted the girl laying back with blood soaking her side. She looked peaceful... it didn't seem like she had been dead for terribly long.

On second thought, Sean didn't want to spend the night in this area anymore. They'd have to go somewhere... somewhere a bit more devoid of bodies, if one of those places even existed at this point. He was sick of seeing corpses. All of them reminded him of his mistakes, of the friends he was losing one by one.

He didn't want to snap like that again. He'd tell Gray, then they'd leave.

((Sean Mulcahy continued in Love and Marriage))

[Deamon]

Sean had only found the front doors. He must have spent most of his time getting changed. Gray wasn't going to question it. Sean disappeared back around the corner. Gray sighed and pushed himself up, making sure not to put any extra weight on his leg. He picked up his bag and the FAMAS before turning to Kathryn. "Guess we're going inside." He said with a shrug and then started hopping towards where Sean disappeared.

He didn't get very far before Sean re-emerged. From the sound of it the place wasn't exactly empty. If it made Sean feel better than Gray was more than happy to move somewhere else. He just didn't want Sean to expect them to make progress at any real speed. He told Kathryn she was more than welcome to join them. It was safer for the saner people to stick together.

As Gray followed Sean he thought about potentially giving him his gun back. He toyed with the idea before deciding that if the trip went by without any incidents Sean would get his gun back. Until then, he'd just have to make sure he was careful.

((Gray Emerson continued in Love and Marriage))

[Arscapi†]

Kathryn returned Gray's shrug but followed Sean as well. Kathryn debated for only a moment before deciding to follow the boys. She wondered briefly how they would feel about her sanity if they heard about Iselle and Carlos. Would they believe her that they'd both been accidents.

"Great, more walking," she muttered to herself as she walked away from the school.

((Kathryn Nguyen continued in Love and Marriage))