SOTF Archive/SOTF Classic

Despite the fact that she slept for over 10 hours, Carmina still felt very groggy. So when she woke up the next morning, she didn't bother moving at all. She felt very disturbed when she heard the announcements. The man talked about deaths, the deaths of her classmates, like they were comedic. Like it was all just a joke and they were starring in some twisted horror show. He talked about them so casually and that made her feel horrified. They even had an award for the 'best kill'! Were they demons? She could only assume they were if they were cold enough to doom hundreds of would-be graduates to their deaths.

And then there was the fact that the game had begun already. She recognized Dave and Kelly as being from the volunteering club. Carmina was never close with them, but hearing their names... it was odd. When she heard of celebrities dying or of some murder on the news, it made her sad. But this was different. These were people she'd seen, maybe said a word or two with. They were the people she saw walking in the hallways, talking with their friends. And they were gone. It felt surreal. Also, the players. She didn't feel any anger at them. All she felt was fear.

She thought about the next couple of days. If things went right, they'd pull off their big escape and make it home. She'd get to see her mom and dad and she'd get to play with Kate again and tease her and make her let out that adorable giggle she always loved about her.

But if that didn't happen?

It was a possibility that, although it was extremely likely, she'd been pushing away. She couldn't envision herself dying at the hands of her classmates. Like everything else that happened yesterday, it seemed unreal. She didn't want to deal with this. She wanted to stay away from the island for a bit longer, so she kept her eyes closed and tried to go back to sleep.

Boring? Not exactly the word she would have used, but she could be particular about word choice later. Jaquilyn stood up and moved quietly over towards him, looking over her shoulder to see if their host was watching, or even awake.

"Look, we got real lucky that other kids started playing yesterday."

She kept her voice low and turned back to face him. She knew her words were crazy, but she also knew that she and him were on the same pages about most everything at this point.

"If those kids hadn't killed, we would have been blown up by now."

The announcement had mentioned more than one non-homicide, but nothing in the game was entirely accidental. The idea that social Darwinism chose to rear its head during a game of Survival of the Fittest was too ironic. The announcer expressed doubt in what exactly happened in these two deaths, she couldn't be sure of their causation either.

"We can't just keep living in fear... hoping somebody else kills and somebody else dies so that we can have more time."

Her words weren't enough to convince her. It was such a monumental decision. She needed somebody else's support, somebody else's encouragement. It wasn't enough to just say she was doing it for both of their own good, she needed it confirmed that what she was suggesting made some kind of sense. They needed to get in the game, and soon. For all they knew, all of these deaths had occurred in the first hour of the game. That meant they would need another one as soon as possible to reset the clock. Jaq's head jerked in Carmina's direction.

"She's still sleeping..."

"You want to kill Carmina?"

Joachim looked over at their host, then back at Jaquilyn.

She confused him. The day before, she forced him to say that he would not play, but she also mentioned that she'd be the hunter. Now she all but stated wanted to kill Carmina. In order to avoid the dreaded collective death of all the students.

There were a lot of questions in Joachim's mind. Whether it was worth it to kill. It was likely that someone else would continue or start killing. Also, he wondered what Jaq's motives were. Why did she insist on him staying 'innocent'. Why was she ready to kill the people she went to school with. And why, for god's sake, was the question, whether this action was 'right', the last one that appeared in his mind? Actually, Joachim knew the answer for that. Because the idea of managing to kill somebody appealed a part within him. Yet the answer did nothing to resolve his inner conflict. No, it made the chaos even worse.

Joachim was sick of it. Sick of the questions. Sick of the conflict. Sick of the chaos.

Thus he decided to take the easier way.

"Yes, Boss. Let's hunt"

He grabbed his knife.

Carmina was wrong.

They hadn't been innocent people looking for a place to rest they were going to stab her and shoot her and the blood would spill out all over the floor and she'd die without getting to see Mom, Dad, Kate, Lauren, Yukiko, Maynard and everyone else. The bullets would embed themselves in her ribs and then she wouldn't move again and she'd spend her last moments screaming crying begging for mercy-

She had to calm down, but she had no idea what to do. Both her 'weapons' were effectively useless for her. She let her guard down and now they were also too far away for her to get. If she tried disarming one of them, the other would just kill her.

She got up as fast as she could, then shoved one of them (she couldn't tell who she shoved) so hard they fell over. Hopefully, that would distract them and give her just enough time. She then made a rush for the back door and ran for her life.

((Carmina Maliksi continues in Red as Blood))

"Yes, Boss. Let's hunt"

Jaq's eyebrow narrowed. She wasn't so sure is she liked that Joachim had agreed so quickly. It was convenient they were on the same page, but it would be harder for him to plea innocence if he kept that attitude up. Before she could think of a proper or reaction to his words, she felt a pair of sudden, hard jolt come from behind her and to the side. As she fell forward, Jaquilyn took a step and grabbed at the couch's arm rest to slow her fall. Too far to the side, she slipped and was on her back on the ground.

Everything, ruined. No quiet kill. No discrepancy. No fucking turning back, either. Carmina knew what her fate was, and she was running from it. She was pushing it away in a last minute desperate effort to continue convincing herself she stood a living chance. Jaquilyn knew exactly what the target should be thinking, and that would put her back in the lead. The shove had startled Jaquilyn, but she was back in her targets head.

"JOACHIM! The  door, QUICK!"

The door was the only obvious exit. The girl had short legs and looked chubby, but Jaquilyn needed to make sure she wouldn't have time to hide or escape. Two versus one, Jaquilyn was armed, aggravated, and assisted.

Carmina overheard Jaq and Joachim. Very well, this is probably more honorable than killing her in the sleep. Give her a fighting chance, or something. Should make him feel better -  less bad.

When Jaquilyn was pushed aside, he wanted to fire his knife, but he realized that he would miss. Not enough time to aim. Jaquilyn commanded him. The door, quick.

Indeed, the door. Carmina may have won some time by surprising the pair. Maybe she could even use the second and a half Joachim needed to start running. He doubted that it would help her much.

Then she dashed out of the building, leaving his bagpack behind. He could collect it later. Everything he needed, the knife and the energy bar, was either already on or in him. He was ready to kill his classmate.

No, not his classmate anymore.

His target.

[Joachim Lovelace, continued in Red as Blood]

Yes Joachim. Go. Get her. Hold her down. You didn't have a choice, I made you do it, we're going to beat everything. Don't seem to eager.

He was up and bolting towards the door, if he could get a good pin down, she could give this girl the quick, painless death she was entitled to. It didn't have to be messy, it didn't have to be cruel. Fuck the terrorists for thinking that a fatty meal and a new weapon were enough to motivate her into torture.

Jaq had stayed down too long. From her position , she lunged forward to land on her hands and knees. Her weapon wasn't nearby. It was back at the lounge seat she'd slept in. Thank fucking luck that Carmina hadn't thought to take it. Jaquilyn rose up into a sprinters position as she took off towards it, scooping it up with both hands. She rose up straight and turned the running towards the door now, bringing in her shoulders as she clung the gun and stepped heavily footed on the club's wooden floor. Next to the door hung a decorative mirror. A glimpse of her sprinting reflection reminded Jaquilyn that there could only be one.

She turned to fit through the only partially open door and ran after Joachim.

((Jaquilyn Locke continued in Red as Blood))