They Couldn’t Buy A Fucking Toaster. They’re Broke, John.

[Ohm]

He returned the thumbs up and smile to Charelle as they waited for Thomas and Sakurako to have their talk in the other room. That smile went to a neutral face as they waited and to a grimace as Charelle stated something Sean did not want to think about. He was stuck there on the floor trying to and failing to block out the implications at the convo happening before him. That was the thing to talk about? And with her leg like that? These were desperate times, but Sean wasn't sure her pain threshold would tolerate that.

It was weird how long it took them, but Sean figured they needed it. Besides, he didn't figure Thomas as someone that could do that kind of stuff, the impression he'd gotten of the guy over the past few days painted him as neurotic as fuck.

In a way, he reminded him of his brother....

Even here he couldn't escape him.

He kept his face down at the letter and read it again, to kill the time and take his mind somewhere else, preferably a place where he didn't have to think of Thomas "doing it" or his brother.

Eventually the door opened. Sakurako was sitting on the bed, not much she could do with that leg of hers. Thomas sat next to her. Hands intertwined. "You two seem happy." He said as he stood up, put his hands in his jean pockets and leaned against the wall. He tried to give them a smile, but he was not sure if it looked right.

[Polybius]

Charelle chuckled at Aditi's comment. Man, girl was not happy about having to wait for those two. Aditi wanted to spread the good word about the great plan as quickly as possible. Charelle, she wasn't so impatient. Waiting a little was fine. They didn't have anything else to do, aside from dying. Just like...

She frowned. She'd almost been able to push the thought out of her mind.

ANYWAY the door opened eventually, revealing Thomas and Sakurako smiling and holding hands on the bed. Charelle laughed again.

"Called it." she said as she eyed Aditi.

[Maraoone]

At some point, Aditi's frustration had ebbed, and she settled into this dull stasis set off by situations like being in a clinic waiting room without a magazine, lying on an uncle's couch while her parents and their siblings talk about towns and people she's never even seen or been to, sitting in an abandoned living room waiting for her allies to finish and put their clothes on while their friends and classmates died outside. She regretted having Sean keep the paper, if only because rereading her own words, ironing out the kinks would have given her something to do besides scratching the same old bites.

It was a small mercy that the walls were thick enough to block the rhythmic creaking of bed springs, or any quiet moaning. Charelle's idea could remain just that, an idea.

Their long wait ended eventually. She rolled her eyes again at Charelle's statement, breathed through her mouth. She didn't want to risk smelling anything, if she was right.

Before Aditi could say anything, Sakurako slipped a paper into her hand. She frowned at first while reading it.

Using medical supplies as fire accelerants would have been a great idea approximately three years ago, during the sixth iteration of this game. Maybe Sakurako had been too busy screaming after Ms. Garcia's death to pick up on everything the terrorists were saying, which was fine and understandable, but Aditi had been listening. The side-effects that came with the knockout gas, the wooziness, the confusion, they had all been shaken off after the first gunshot.

No fires, the terrorists said. That had been crystal-clear. There was no point in anything Sakurako had just written.

And then, a bit of a smile broke on Aditi's face, for a second. She fought it back, continued reading with a neutral expression.

There had been a caveat that she'd forgotten to take into account with her own letter. The terrorists had said, to be exact, no fires in an attempt to signal someone. But they, with all their untouchable cameras and microphones and collars, were not omniscient. They could not track intent. The terrorists wanted death, but what was the line between a signal fire and murder? And, what of other signals, like seaweed on the beach, like Sakurako had said? These were the lines they were meant to be pushing, these were the boundaries they were meant to nudge.

Of course, the key to this idea was that the terrorists couldn't be let in on this specific idea whatsoever. If they had any hint of what they would presumably try, then boom. Collars explode, another generation of kids gets to die three years later. So, no speaking of this, at the very least. No writing, too, depending on how powerful the cameras were. The few shots of previous iterations that had ended up on mainstream broadcasts tended to be blurry, pixelated, but there had always been rumors that the footage was more high-definition than most people let on. Not that she had ever cared to check. There seemed to be no point in doing that, back then.

She looked up from Sakurako's paper, locked eyes with Sean, and nodded in Sakurako's direction. She hoped he understood what she meant, that she wanted him to give them her own paper, but, again, non-verbal communication had never been her strong suit.

[Catche Jagger]

And so they talked and, you know, other things.

In the rush of it all, the comfort the feeling of real joy for the first time in four days, Thomas was almost unaware as an old topic slipped back into his life, one he hadn’t paid much mind to since the infirmary: escape.

He’d thought his confidence too shattered to properly follow through on any such notion, but here with Sakurako… well it seemed like damn near everything was achievable. And so, the two of them plotted and planned as they remained close, entangled in the here and now. She placed her necklace on him and he looked at it closely. He’d seen it on her before, a silly little thing reading, “Return to Tiffany”.

Thomas wished he had some token to give her in turn besides the gum that was still in his bags. Then they might really be entangled, like in a cosmic sense, two bodies circling one another each carrying something of the other.

However, his mind couldn’t entirely be occupied by saccharine thoughts of what the two of them were or might be, but also needed to seriously needed to consider this matter of escape. Sakurako believed in him, in spite of all his weird bullshit, and if he believed in her then logically he had to believe in himself, right? He had to believe the plan. It wasn’t up for debate.

And so, with some manner of plan devised, they brought their hands together and held on tight as their solitude was ended.

It was strange seeing Sean again, mainly because the guy had really only seen him at varying degrees of crisis mode, while for the moment he had achieved a level of internal peace, only tempered slightly be a tinge of embarrassment stemming from the inference he drew from Charelle.

However, as Aditi was handed the piece of paper, Thomas for all his weak spot with social subtlety could see the clear doubt run across her face and he knew that he couldn’t just rest on optimistic laurels. Indeed, the question of whether success would be achievable had sat in the back of his mind as plans had bounced between him and Sakurako, but he had let it remain there for a time. It was relevant now, though.

Still, the concern was not so weighed down by nerves and panic as had his earlier island endeavors. Thomas Buckley was no longer aimlessly flailing into the wind. He had a purpose now beyond not dying and not going crazy.

If worse came to worse and this all fell though, he’d make sure Sakurako was safe, Sean too (he owed the guy at least that much after sticking with him this long). Aditi and Charelle seemed like good people, but he didn’t know them very well and thus wasn’t going to be carrying around some internal dedication to their safety.

Sakurako and Sean. They were his people.

Still, all that was a matter of conjecture, right? Everything might work out and they might manage to save everybody, eliminating the need for some myopic focus. This was simply a contingency.

He gave Sean a nod, in an attempt to assure his companion that all was well, followed by a smile at Sakurako to deliver the same message to her, and to himself.

[Sunnybunny]

"Yeah... wait, what did you call, Charelle?"

Her tongue flicked out at the girl, and she gave Sean a thumbs up and smile. For the moment, she was really, really content. Even watching Aditi frown up at her plan didn't shake it, and she glanced at their little group, simultaneously broken and complete.

Apparently Aditi had written something up as well, and Sakurako read the... it was a manifesto, more than anything else. Days and days of waiting, and the fact that the focused cheerleader hadn't really come up with anything more practical proved just how bad the situation was.

She spoke of future games, of bending the game until it broke.

Nudging Thomas, she passed him the paper and let her mind drift around the subject. Really, Aditi hadn't been addressing the part of escaping that had always been on Sakurako's mind: someone was going to have to pay the price for it. There was no way they could pull this off with no casualties.

Which one of them was the fool, again?

A good plan that existed was better than a perfect one that could only ever be theory.

There was something endearing about the other girl's harsh stubbornness, or maybe she was just biased heavily toward the fashionable hotties of the world. In any case, there was no way any of her companions needed to face the terrorists's wrath. Charelle was a cool chick, Sean had proven to be a friend when she desperately needed one, Aditi was Aditi.

She wasn't going to leave Thomas to freeze in the Atlantic Ocean, just to promise she'd never let go...

"We should go for a walk, if the sun ever decides to shine again. Well, I'd be going for a limp, but still."

Her thumb rubbed against Thomas's hand, stroking it almost idly as she nodded at their self-appointed leader. Felt nice. Even reality couldn't make the happy jitters go away.

Her happiness, which would hopefully lead to his and their safety.

[Ohm]

A nod from Aditi and Sean got up on his feet, assuming he got the message right. He returned the thumbs up as he walked up to the pair on the bed and handed them the paper Aditi had given him before returning back to his spot against the wall.

As he did, he noticed the nonverbal language being exchanged around him. The faces of the people around him, he was no expert at reading those, but even he could tell there was something on there she wasn't on with. He thought about this as leant back on the wall and looked outside as he listened to the words Sakurako spoke.

"You uh," A few taps on the chin with his right hand. "You sure your up for that?" He looked over to the pair on the bed. It seemed like they beamed where they sat, it was a contrast to the last few days, in particular to Thomas. The happiest he'd seen the guy, ever.

It was weirdly nice, like a sign that things could get better around here.

[Polybius]

"Hmm? Oh, y'know that you two were..."

What was the polite way to communicate this? Charelle sorta just started banging her fists together, as a visual demonstration of what she meant. At first she considered going with the classic middle school finger-in-circle, but that would have been obscene. This was a Christian death game. Anyway, she figured Sakurako got the idea.

Apparently everyone was keen on the non-verbal communicating today. The lovebirds had their own sheet of paper. Maybe they had their own master plan? Soon everyone was passing sheets of paper and nodding at each other with their shared understandings. Except for Charelle.

"'Ey, don't leave me hanging here" she said. she extended her hands, open, towards the group. "I wanna see-"

Wait, was she blowing their cover? Did Charelle have to be more subtle and shit? Were they really even under cover? Aditi had said her whole plan out loud earlier. But they all wanted it super secret now. Eugh, she couldn't follow this.

"Uhhhhhhh... my hands are feeling really cold. If only I had something... in them."

Yeah.

[Maraoone]

"A walk in the sun sounds good," Aditi said.

Sakurako had a point, yet again. Maybe she hadn't been giving her enough credit. In order for the plan to work, they needed to wait for any potentially flammable materials, the wood this house was made of, for example, to dry out from the rain. Otherwise, their prospects of escape would fizzle out like what little flames they'd be able to light up.

The prospect of waiting more, letting more of their classmates die, irked her, to say the least, but there was nothing to be done about it. And she had a feeling more would be accomplished during the wait, this time around.

Aditi failed to hold back some laughter at Charelle's remark. Clumsy and stupid, yes, but she was getting it, she was catching on. The others seemed to be catching on, as well. Unless Sakurako literally meant she wanted to walk in the sunlight. She was only 70% sure that wasn't the case. But, anyways, they were catching on, and that represented progress.

Optimism generally terrified Aditi. It left one vulnerable, in case things didn't go to plan. She was all too aware of the risks this plan came, what failure would mean for all of them. Pessimism had been safer, back when being pessimistic about your prospects meant believing you'd probably end up in Duke rather than the Ivy League. The island left room for only optimism, however, optimism or paralysis, existential terror. And, for the first time in days, they were making headway. The paralysis was over. From one ally and no ideas just an hour ago, she now had four, and a semblance of an actual plan.

So, as they read and wrote and collaborated, Aditi allowed herself to smile.

((Aditi Sharma continues in Yellow Light))

[Polybius]

As everyone scribbled down notes and passed them around, Charelle began to understand. She followed the exchanges attentively, making sure she saw every little bit of information. For most of the "conversation", Charelle only read the others' notes, taking a paper from someone and then giving it to someone else. When everything truly began to come together, though, Charelle held her hand out for the pen. She jotted down one line on a scrap of paper, in tiny, messy text, and gave it to Aditi.

I'll do it

She gave a lopsided smile. Finally, it was time for her to *shine*.

((Charelle Chernyshyova continued elsewhere))

[Catche Jagger]

The feeling of Sakurako’s thumb rubbing against his hand allowed Thomas to remain in the moment, kept him from getting five steps ahead of himself with all of the planning business. When she suggested the group depart, he almost wanted to stand against such a suggestion, to try to hold onto this place of apparent peace while they still could, but he knew better.

It wasn’t the place, but her, them. That’s what he needed to hold onto most of all, just as she held onto him.

They had to go through with this, if only for the chance it might give the both of them and everyone else out here on the island like Sean and the others that had managed to hold onto their humanity in spite of the trials they faced.

“Yeah, a walk would probably do us all some good.” He agreed.

As he got out of the bed, he made sure to help Sakurako to her feet and offered his arm for her to lean on as they made their way outside. “Three legs are better than one, right?” He added with a… was he smirking? What a smug fuck. The thought didn’t stop the expression from coming, though.

The group spent the next day working out the specifics of the signal fire plan. Thomas made clear to the others his presumption that this plan would not require all five of them to actually work, and it seemed a bit silly to risk some lives unnecessarily. In a stroke of luck for him, Aditi and Charelle agreed to be the ones to actually execute the damn thing while Thomas, Sakurako and Sean would wait for them some distance away, where they might be safe should things go awry.

After a day of planning and a night of contemplation and rest, the group settled on a meeting point and split up.

Though he had helped to give those he cared most about a better chance at survival, Thomas hoped that Charelle and Aditi would come back safely. They were both brave, certainly braver than he was, Thomas thought. Still, there was no way to be certain that the terrorists hadn’t already figured them out, or that they would show mercy to absentee co-conspirators should that be the case...

((Thomas Buckley continued elsewhere...))

[Sunnybunny]

Aditi was both correct and not in her thoughts that Sakurako had another reason for wanting to see the sun. True, wet kindling tended to make poor flames...

But the rain had become the backdrop of unpleasant, horrific memories. Girls tumbling down, losing their crowns, abrupt ends to nursery rhymes. It wouldn't leave her mind while the sound of it still lingered in her ears.

If only their bright ideals had come sooner, but that was a loser's lament, right?

"With all you guys in here? Come on, girl..."

Her chuckles filled the space, intertwining with their work and plans. There were moments that it didn't quite fit, sticking a megablok in a lego, much like this group in ways. It stacked all the same. She hadn't wanted to leave it all in Aditi and Charelle's hands, but there was no way her leg would allow her to be as agile as they required. Wasn't that absolutely fucked?

Hell of a start to a bummer summer, but Thomas's smirk brought her right back... up? Down? Ring around the rosie?

"We'll be the king and queen of having a third leg. Next field day, we'll have a field day!"

She was losing track of time, space, much anything but Sean's easy willingness to help/Charelle's humor/Aditi's smile/Thomas's presence. Friends and more than friends. A weapon against the darkness of the day.

((Sakurako A. Jackson continued in The Special Special Special!))

What was the sun, after all, but a giant fucking ball of fire?

[Ohm]

Ideas were exchanged and plans were set as two groups formed. Aditi and Charelle were one and Sean, Sakurako and Thomas another. Luckily for him, they were left with easier and far safer task. A fact that Sean felt a bit shame over as they stood there, getting ready to leave. Aditi and Charelle were risking more than they were in this act, but the logic made sense. The less people involved, then less likely it would turn into another mess for them all to live through.

His eyes glanced towards the two standing near him, hands entwined. There were a lot of things that Sean could say about Thomas. It wasn't too long ago he thought that the gun should no longer be in his hands and thoughts of grabbing it himself had ebbed and flowed their way past in his mind. He had come across as a nervous wreck on the first day that worsened across their stay the subsequent days. Obvious tensions across their group seeping through until that day at the infirmary where death set them apart.

But he was also the only one left from that group and the only one that had stuck with Sean through all this madness. A form of disturbed understanding was left between them now that he lacked with the others. His friends had gone mad or died or he couldn't find them. Lucas was on a revenge quest, Princess was missing. Desiree was dead. In essence, him and Sakurako were the only ones left that he could feasibly say that he trusted.

Maybe that's why he was fine doing this, it had her seal of approval on it. She had been like a beacon of sunshine when she arrived that day and Thomas had changed for the better since. Like a different person had taken his place with bits of who he had been up to then slipping through.

At the same time, a primal sense of fear permeated through him. It was different than it had been the last few days on the island. Those had been suffocating, like he'd been placed in a tiny box that had been thrown into the ocean to sink. There had been no choices for them and a course had been set. But not now.

It was a liberating feeling of fear. One that he chose for himself. A finger towards whoever sits in the hot seat up there thinking his shit don't stink.

His attention was taken by the pair in front now and he gave an nod to them, the brave ones of them willing to take the villains to task along with a hope to see them again before they went their seperate ways. Aditit for her part in saying fuck all this and refusing to take part and Charelle for going along with it. He didn't know either of them that well before this mess, but now he wish he had.

With this in mind as they set out and a general feeling running through that Sean hadn't sensed since before this mess. They had a chance with this.

((Sean Leibowitz continued in The Special Special Special!))