Too Cold To Shiver

[VoltTurtle]

((Madeline Wilcox continued from I Was Once Alive))

Madeline sat alone in the park after making her way away from the shopping center.

She ate some of the bread that she had pulled out of her bag, although she wasn't really hungry. She wasn't sure why she was eating, to perhaps help her with the fact that she was all alone again? She didn't know. Although, she really couldn't blame anyone but herself for being alone now. She should have gone with Chris, at least she would have known what happened to him and potentially have known what happened to Michael. Or she could have instead joined them in whatever fate befell them.

...Whatever that fate was, she doubted that she would have wanted to share it. She drank a little bit of her water. She would probably need to get more, and soon, but for now she wouldn't worry about that.

She thought to herself about what she has done on the island so far. Really, everything she's done has been the same, day in, day out. Eat, drink, avoid conflict, talk with allies, occasionally fail to avoid conflict, kill or scare somebody off, sleep. All the while half ignoring what was going on in order to keep her sanity.

And now she was alone, again. At this point in the game, there was no chance of her making any new allies. She was on her own. If anything, even, she would probably just end up meeting one of the many surviving violent people.

With just a few days left, she could afford being alone. She would have to be anyway.

Maybe that would change that formula just a little bit.

Maddie took the loaded gun-knife out of her bag. She needed to have it nearby from now on, at all times. She couldn't afford to trust anyone anymore. It was obvious that everyone left was either violent or unhinged, arguably including herself, given whatever happened to Chris and Michael when they both went off for just a few seconds.

Ultimately, she didn't want to go back to the hostility and mistrust that she had on day one, she still felt bad about all of the actions she took during those first few days and in hindsight she could have afforded to be a little more civil given that most of the people alive were still sane. But now? The only people left were the paranoid, violent ones. The ones who were willing to do nearly anything to live. The ones like her. At this point she had to be paranoid and hostile in order to compete, in order to live. But, she thought, by receding back to the paranoia, she was just helping to contribute to the violence of these last few days.

...

She decided she was okay with that. She did what she had to do to survive, and in her situation, who could really blame her?

She put away her things, albeit still clutching the gun-knife in her hand. It was her only lifeline, an ill-gained, stained-with-blood lifeline, but a lifeline. A lifeline she needed.

These last few days were going to be hell, but she was ready to take on the world.

((Madeline Wilcox continued in Shallow Grave))