Topic Title

[Courtography]

(Keith Bauer continued from With Blood and Rage of Crimson Red, Ripped From A Corpse So Freshly Dead)

Keith hadn't said much after they'd left the cliffs. Not that he had been talking much lately. He'd just been doing a lot of thinking. The thoughts were repetitive, but he couldn't help but focus on them. The fact was that he was almost definitely going to die, and he was hoping it wasn't as horribly as that of the girl whose corpse had been lying there on the way into this part of the wards.

Although he still really wanted to live, but it was starting to feel more and more futile. There were getting to be less and less of them on the island, and it just felt like he couldn't make it. He wasn't tough, he wasn't armed, and he didn't feel that smart at the moment either. If he'd truly been smart, then he would have had an inkling of a plan to get off the island, or to help them live longer to increase the chance of being rescued or something.

But he hadn't, and now they were back to exploring parts of the asylum.

His footsteps echoed through the halls. It gave him the creeps. He wasn't used in being in buildings that were just so quiet.

[Emprexx Plush]

((Ty Yazzie Continued From Accept Our Ring and Join Our Fight))

Keith was a mystery to him. He couldn't go more than a few minutes without wondering why the guy was still around. Did he think Ty could protect him? The last few days should have shown him how wrong that was, so that couldn't be it. He didn't seem to care for him too much either. It could be that at this point, they were just used to being around each other. It was easier to keep going forward than to split up and be alone.

Felt kinda wrong to be so disconnected from him, though. Ty didn't know a thing about the guy, to be honest. Wouldn't be surprised if it turned out he didn't know anything about him either. Ain't that something? It wasn't the first thing that should come to mind in this run down spook show of a building, but after everything he'd seen it'd take more than a little bit of dark atmosphere to get him to take notice. His mind stayed locked on the guy up ahead.

"Hey, Keith? You lookin' for anybody out here?"

[ViolentMedic]

((Clarice Halwood continued from The show starts at five. Bring snacks.))

Day 7. Two days since the fire. Still not a glimmer of help to be heard of. As much as Clarice wanted to hope someone had seen the fire, she now realised that she had no idea how long a possible rescue would take. And maybe they hadn't seen it at all. Should she try again? She couldn't set another fire. The only other library was part of the asylum, and if she set the entire asylum ablaze it'd likely kill anyone inside it. Clarice could end up with the biggest body count of SotF history if she did that. No. Fires weren't working.

Maybe Kizi had been right. Maybe slowing down the game by forming a community was the only viable path. But then there'd always be people like Nancy ready to break a lasting peace.

Well, no-one like Nancy anymore.

No-one like Isabel, either. She'd been announced dead on the announcements that morning. Scout had a hand in that one, too. But it seemed like half the island had.

Clarice wondered if she should feel happy that Isabel was dead. She'd killed Conrad. She'd killed a lot of people. But Clarice didn't feel happy. She didn't even feel that slight hint of dark, twisted satisfaction that she'd felt while hearing about Conrad's death and thinking about what he'd done to Harold.

There wasn't much feeling going on in there right now. She'd burned out as much as the library had. And even aside from that... well, she'd run out of water. That was an issue. Her mouth was all crackly and it was starting to make the rest of her feel like shit. She wasn't sure how she was still on her feet.

But she was. And so she walked along the halls, footsteps loud and a little uneven. Loud enough that she didn't hear the footsteps floating from elsewhere in the ward.

[Courtography]

"No."

It came out blunter than he meant it to, but it was the simple truth. There was no one to look for. His close friends had taken a different science class this year. When he'd found it out he'd been a little disappointing, but he'd brushed it off easily enough. In the long run it didn't really matter if you got to spend time with your friends in science class or not. Or so he'd thought. It turned out it was a huge deal. The only ones he'd had to lose in the damn place were Joshua, who he had gotten along pretty well with even if they weren't real friends, and Lizzie, who he barely knew before the field trip gone wrong.

"Well uh, there's no one to look for."

That probably was also the wrong thing to say. Ty probably had people he was still looking for, and it could be seen as a tad dismissive.

But that didn't matter much, because Keith was pretty sure he heard footsteps. Loud ones.

"Shit," he muttered.

Meeting his classmates had become a lot less appealing recently.

[Emprexx Plush]

Ty tensed up as soon as he heard those heavy footsteps coming. He raised a hand to Keith to try and get him to quiet down; no use giving out more than they had to. Any edge they could get in case they were hostile was good news. He started to creep around the hallway, trying to figure out where they were coming from.

'course he shoulda known who it was. Only one person around here who could make steps like that, and as he rounded up behind her he wasn't real sure how to feel.

Clarice looked like she was struggling as much as he'd been a few days ago. Couldn't imagine the days she must have had. A small part of him felt spiteful; maybe they could have held on better together if she hadn't been so damn angry and driven him off. He shouldn't give into that though. She was Bee's friend. Nah, that it wasn't fair to put that obligation on her, she was his friend, his co-captain, his goddamn third musketeer when it came to the wrestling squad. There was no way he would leave her behind.

"Clarice."

His voice came out soft and his hands were up for her to see if she decided to turn around. "It's Ty. I ain't armed. Keith's around here too, and he ain't either." Felt important to get that out of the way right up front. He was about to ask if she was okay when his face twisted up in a frown. No way in hell anyone could answer that with a yes at this point. Instead he said "You hurt?"

[ViolentMedic]

Clarice came to a halt when she heard Ty's voice. She wasn't sure if she wanted to turn around, so she stood still as he spoke and stayed silent for a bit afterwards.

Part of her just wanted to walk away. Part of her still hated him. For Conrad. For leaving. Even for the stupid jerk things Ty had done years ago. A lifetime ago. Part of her wanted to continue on without ever seeing his jerk face again.

But that part of her wasn't as strong as it'd been a few days ago. Almost everyone she'd met in the first couple of days was dead now, along with most of their killers. Everything was just a haze of death followed by more death, and it'd long since stopped having any meaning. In the end, did it really matter who was to blame specifically for each person's death, when all the blame should be thrown in the face of the people who left them here?

Besides. Ty was her friend. She hated him a little, but he was still her friend.

She turned around. Ty had his hands up.

"Put your hands down, dipshit."

Clarice studied him from a moment—unhurt, physically, but the island could do worse than physical harm. Then she took a few steps forward before grabbing him in a one-armed hug.

"...Sorry."

She didn't know if she meant sorry about Bee, or sorry for the blame she'd thrown at him. Maybe both. Both was good.

[Courtography]

Keith was a little shocked that yet again they came across someone Ty knew well. Keith couldn't remember her name for a moment. For whatever reason he had assumed that there was a limit on this sort of thing. Ty had seemed to have lost a lot of people. But what did Keith know, he'd only really spent a few days with Ty, and just because Keith didn't need to search for anyone on the island didn't mean no one did.

He was almost tempted to ask the story on why their being united again seemed so dramatic. But he didn't. There was probably plenty of bad shit, given where they were. Heck, there was the chance he'd find out anyway.

Oh right her name was Clarice.

"Hey,"

[Emprexx Plush]

Given everything that had happened, maybe he should have been more defensive when Clarice started lumbering forward to put her hands on him. He hadn't seen her for days and they hadn't split up on the best terms. Somebody a little more cagey, or practical, or however the hell you wanna phrase it might have kept their distance rather than letting her pull him in, but Ty just didn't care about that at this point. She was all he had left out here. His arms wrapped back around her almost on instinct.

"Me too."

There was a lot for them to be sorry about, but right now he didn't feel like hashing it out. He just wanted to hold her and know she was still alive. From all appearances she was still pretty fucked up, but this was a win. At least it was the closest thing he'd gotten to one the whole time here. He could hold on to this one good thing. It was enough for now.

Keith's voice pulled him back a bit. He looked back but kept holding on to Clarice with one arm. "Clarice, this is Keith. Couldn'tve made it through these last few days without 'im." Maybe that was overselling the dude a bit, but hell, who knew if Ty'd be sane enough to talk at this point if he'd stayed on his own. Sure, wasn't Keith's idea that they get together, but he'd stayed with him. Dude deserved some credit.

[ViolentMedic]

Keith seemed decent enough. Hell, if Ty was vouching for him almost a week in there had to be something good.

"Well, uh... cool. Thanks for, y'know... looking out for him and stuff." Clarice tried smiling at Keith, although it came out as that polite not-quite-smile that people sometimes did when passing each other on the street.

And now that they'd jumped the 'glad you're not dead, sad about everything else' hurdle, Clarice had no idea what to say next. Which wouldn't be a problem if this was just their everyday lives. It'd be a little awkward nod, maybe a bit of fumbling for a topic.

But there was always that sense that time was running out. That there wasn't time for it. Like there was something Clarice could be doing, even if realistically she had no ideas. Even though she'd wasted the last two days barely talking to anyone.

But, shit. Right. She did have a goal, if only a short-term one.

She thumped Ty on the back once before letting go of him, looking past him and Keith. As if South would be at the end of the corridor, just waiting. But nothing was ever that easy. The loss of Ty's weight caused a slight wobble. Her vision sliding a little before realising she was still on her feet and snapping back into place. Disconcerting, but ultimately harmless. Clarice put her hands out for a moment, blinking as the dizziness passed, before lowering her hands again.

"Have you—" Clarice cut off, her mouth not wanting to function with so little liquid. She shut it for a moment, trying to find enough spit to work with. "...You seen Scout? Short. Orange hair. Usually looks grumpy."

[Courtography]

What.

Keith was not expecting a statement like that at all. He wasn't exactly the kind of guy that very many people would call emotionally supportive. It's not like Keith had made any efforts to talk about what had happened to them or about the people they, and more specifically, Ty, had lost. But shit, maybe Ty didn't want to talk about things either. Keith certainly didn't. Talking about how they were all almost definitely going to die wouldn't help them stay alive or probably make him feel any better.

He readjusted his glasses rather than acknowledging the statement.

Clarice didn't seem real sold on him, and it made sense, it's not like they really knew each other.

"Uh, sure thing, yeah."

But moving onto something that was much more concrete and easier to deal with. No, he had not seen Scout.

"Nah, sorry."

[Emprexx Plush]

In Ty's experience, there were only two reasons you decided to look for somebody out here. He'd done both of 'em, so he wasn't real sure which side of the line Clarice was on. She seemed calm, not all riled up like he'd been. But how could you really know anymore? The name "Scout" wasn't ringing any bells, but he'd only kept track of a couple names over the loudspeakers. Clarice was hurt on more levels than he was by now, at least near as he could figure it. No telling how many people were wrapped up in that.

"Nah," he echoed, "we haven't run into anybody like that." But the rest of what he wanted to say hung in his throat. They'd just found each other and it seemed like they were getting along. Somebody he cared about, really cared about, was around for the first time in days. Was he really gonna fuck that up by pushing at her?

"Why're you looking for 'em?"

Yeah. Probably. Seemed to be about the size of things. If Clarice was on some kinda revenge quest, he had to know. Didn't know what he'd do no matter how she answered, but he had to know. Maybe he'd stop her, or help her, or just get a fucked up kinda relief knowing somebody else went to the same place he did. No matter which way you cut it though, he had to prod her to figure it out.

[ViolentMedic]

Clarice tilted her head and squinted at Ty. "I mean... why wouldn't I want to see her? Yeah, we weren't sisters yet, but... well, you know. She's still family, even if it wasn't official yet. I don't really know what I'm gonna do when I find her, can't say I'm really happy about... well. But it's something."

Wait. Did Ty even know Clarice had a step-sister? Had she told him? It was pretty recent... fuck, she couldn't remember.

"Oh. Uh. My dad was getting remarried?" Clarice said slowly, idly scratching at the edge of her bandages.

...No, that was a conversation for off-island. A conversation that... probably wasn't going to be possible in ideal conditions, then. Was her dad watching now? Was Debbie? Were they upset with her for not prioritising Scout, instead running off to set fires that weren't. Doing. Anything?

Clarice blinked a few times. Panic was starting to boil somewhere under the layer of apathy that had developed. But it wasn't quite reaching the surface. Not yet. Maybe her words a little more stilted, her jaw a little tighter.

"Is... there... anyone either of you were looking for?"

[Courtography]

Keith was relieved when Clarice went back to asking general questions to the group. The idea of resolving whatever personal issues Ty and her had outside of being kidnapped by terrorists wasn't at all appealing. Keith usually tried to mind his own business, and didn't need the issues of near-strangers messing with the much larger issue of how he was almost definitely going to die.

He still hadn't talked to anyone about how scared he was about dying. It felt inappropriate to mention, since everyone probably felt the same way. There wasn't a point in stating the obvious. Heck most people would probably want to distract themselves from the idea of death, not have him bring it up.

"No," he started. "Wait. Have you uh, seen Jasmine?"

The question surprised him. Why had he asked it?

He shook his head slightly.

The obvious answer was so he could avoid her.

[Emprexx Plush]

Well. Didn't he feel like an asshole now? He had no idea Clarice even had a sister.

Jasmine and Scout. Maybe even Brendan. Ty wasn't real sure he could trust himself to find him just yet, but he should probably lay that one out there too. Eventually. Maybe. For now he scratched the back of his head and let his gaze drift down. "I'm not lookin' for anyone for good reasons. Everybody's..." The words caught in his throat. "I buried Bee, Clarice. There's nothin' else for me to look for now."

He managed to look up at her for that. With all the guilt that'd been weighing on him after Harry it felt kinda like looking up into the sun at the bottom of a long hike. Swallowed, probably sweated a bit. "I'll throw in on helping you find Scout, though. Least I can do." Ty threw a glance back at Keith. "You in?"

[ViolentMedic]

"Jasmine? I don't think so..."

Had there been a Jasmine in there? There'd been girls that Clarice didn't know that well... but no Jasmine. Had there? It was starting to feel like there were just chunks of her memory gone, or at least lost in the haze that was the last week.

"Right... right, I'm... sorry about Bee. But... but I'm glad you did that." There was a little, throwaway thought—'glad you didn't leave her to rot in the sun like we did with Harold'—but it didn't come out. It was gone before she could think about saying it. "There is a lot of... a lot of people gone by now, huh?"

Ty helping her, though... On one hand, having Ty with her—and this Keith guy, too, she supposed—didn't seem bad, exactly. The couple of days without company was already maddening.

On the other hand, she was in no shape to be protecting anyone. It would end up with someone throwing themselves at a killer and being killed, like Jennifer had. Or Clarice putting people in danger, like she had with the fire. And if the terrorists saw her partnering up with another group and not betraying them, especially since the fire had 'failed' and Clarice lacked the kill to coast through the game, what if they realised she wasn't playing? What if they realised the real purpose of the fire? What if they took it out not just on her, but on anyone near her at the time?

And Scout was a killer. Clarice didn't want to admit it, but she was. What if Ty broke her arm, too? She... hadn't killed Bee, had she? No... wrong day. Scout had only cropped up the day after. Clarice tried to remember who had, and found she couldn't come up with a name or even the circumstances it had happened under.

"Uh... I'm good. I mean... searching for someone in a group doesn't do much good anyway. Just, y'know... if you see her, tell her I'm looking for her?"