May The Odds Not Fuck You In The Butt

[ViolentMedic]

((Mallory McCormick continued from Disneyland with the Death Penalty))

Mallory wanted to get as far away from the gunshots as possible, so she ran once again in a zig-zaggy pattern, changing her mind about which way to go, and dragging Stephanie along behind her. She probably didn't need to drag the other girl, but getting separated wouldn't be good, especially while running from a crazy cowboy (maybe) with a giant-ass fucking gun.

Eventually, she had to stop. Because she'd spent most of the last hour running and combined with the bag and the after effects of the sleeping gas that would tire out anyone, even someone as fit as her. When Mallory came to a stop, they'd just emerged from the woodlands Mallory had dragged them into, out into a wheat field. Mallory let go of Stephanie and immediately flopped into the wheat, rolling onto her back.

"That was balls," she mumbled. "Damn guns are everywhere."

She looked at Stephanie.

"My bad, this was probably the opposite direction we should have gone. But, well... fucking bullets and all."

[randomness]

(Stephanie Wright continued from Disneyland with the Death Penalty)

Being dragged for the entire distance was no fun, but Stephanie was happy to be away from the gun. Whoever that had been, he didn't seem in anyway hesitant to fire.

When they had finnaly come to a stop, Stephanie followed Mallory in collapsing to the ground.

"T-that was no fun at all." Stephanie turned to Mallory, the image somewhat more blurry than usual.  Stephanie wiped the sweat out of her eyes.

"So this cowboy you keep talking about, he went psycho with a gun?" Stephanie picked up her own bag and began fishing for her specs. Seeing well would be good about now.

[ViolentMedic]

"I think so. I woke up, and I was like 'whoa, this is shit' so I thought I'd run around a bit, and then I saw Alba, and thought he was gonna be a jackass because he's normally a jackass, but then the cowboy showed up with this big-ass fucking gun, and he was the real jackass, and he was all 'stick 'em up and gimme things' and I was all 'dude, not cool' and Alba was like 'dude, not cool' and then I threw a bottle of water at him and I think it hit his bad shoulder, because someone else shot at him or something, and then I ran away and Alba and the cowboy did... something. And then I got to the rollercoaster and then I--we--heard the gun and it sounded like the same gun so yeah."

Having eloquently described to Stephanie the emotional turmoil she'd been through until that point, Mallory frowned at the sky for a few moments. She had stopped for a rest, which meant she actually had to think about what was happening, and this time she had no rollercoaster to focus on.

"This is all balls. Balls, balls, balls, balls, BALLS!" Mallory yelled abruptly. She then rolled over onto her front, resting her face on her forearms.

"...I wanna go home," she mumbled.

[randomness]

Stephanie pulled her glasses on, letting them settle there for a few seconds before adjusting them again. There was a reason why she didn't wear glasses often. Nonetheless, she was rather pleased with the result. The fields were a brilliant gold, stretching as far as the eye could see. Stephanie fancied for a second that she could still see the amusement park far in the distance.

Mallory's sudden yell took Stephanie by surprise, coming at the end of a tale Stephanie could barely make heads or tails of. She sat there for a second, waiting for Mallory to continue, but she simply stopped with a resigned statement.

Stephanie looked down, wondering how best to help her new friend. Instead, she simply lasped into awkward silence, staring into the field as if it could give an answer.

It didn't.    

[ViolentMedic]

For the first time in her life, Mallory didn't want to move. She just wanted to lie face first in this wheat patch forever and let this stupid, stupid terrorist act just pass by. It wasn't gonna pass by, but it wasn't like there was anything she could do about it. And as much as she wanted to live, killing was stupid. It was for dumb, violent idiots, like punching people without asking first. So fuck that. She was just gonna lie here forever.

But that was no way to spend her last days.

She was going to die. And this was pretty much the most miserable way to go out ever. But she could make it... less miserable. She'd felt good when she saw the rollercoaster and realised she could clamber all over it and no-one would be able to stop her, unlike a real amusement park. She just had to go with that. All she had to do was focus on good, fun things she could do.

Wouldn't help her survive. But goddammit, there was never gonna be another chance to live, and what was the point in dragging out survival if she didn't do anything fun? She'd rather die sitting in a rollercoaster, making stupid, childish but inexplicably fun 'vroom' noises, than curled up in the corner sobbing her eyes out and just waiting for death.

She rolled onto her back again before sitting up and feeling around for the zipper on her bag. "There anything you need to do, Stephanie?"

She removed the map from her bag once more. This time, she started scouring it for locations that looked interesting. She made a mental note of the beach and the series of buildings back in the direction of the golf course. As well as maybe exploring the amusement park more throughly if they... if they lasted long enough.

[randomness]

Mallory had taken it upon herself to break the silence, a fact that Stephanie would remain silentlly grateful for. Home seemed liked such a faraway dream and Stephanie would probably have let the silence drag on forever.

"Things I want to do, huh?" There were a million things that she wanted. She wanted to go to college, get a nice job, find a nice boyfriend. But if she wanted one thing most? What would it have to be?

"I want to play tennis. One last time." Stephanie looked up at Mallory. "Sort of like an apolgy to the game I turned my back to. How about you?"

[ViolentMedic]

"Tennis! Right on, that sounds pretty good. Was more of a football person myself, but hey, what better time to pick up tennis." Mallory squinted at the map before pointing at the golf course. "Golf courses sometimes have those fancy clubs with tennis things, right? I definitely saw a building in the distance while I was running away from stuff. We should check there. But we'll have to go the long way around to avoid the cowboy guy."

Wanting to play sports was a pretty good goal. And it was closest, as well, so Mallory was fine with putting it first. She still wasn't sure where she wanted to go. Not until she looked at the shopping center on the map. Would they have... blankets? Blankets and pillows? She used to make forts with her little sisters when it was her turn to watch them. They never made big ones because the house didn't have enough blankets, but a giant blanket fort...

Mallory wondered if she could ask whoever was watching to get a screenshot of her making a giant blanket fort, and then to send it to her family so they could give it to her sisters. After all, wasn't that the best way to be remembered ever? Big Sister Mallory. Queen of the best blanket fort on an island of death ever. It was much happier than their last image of her being something bloody.

"I want to go to the shopping centre and make a blanket fort afterwards," Mallory said. "But that's further away. So we can do your tennis thing first."

[randomness]

"A blanket fort, huh? Sounds like fun." Stephanie smiled. Mallory really had a knack for coming up with the most inane things. In a good way of courae. Stephanie sometimes wished that she could be so open. It felt weird, awkward to have her help her do something personal.

"I don't mind it either way. It would spruce up this death trap of an island. But for now, I sorta wanna just lie here and catch my breath. " At that, she slumped backwards, lying against the soft vegetation.

[ViolentMedic]

"Yeah, that's fine. Long run and stuff."

Mallory got to her feet after a couple of moments of rest. She didn't need too much time to recuperate, and she was already getting restless again, now that there was a purpose set in her mind. No matter how ultimately meaningless that purpose was. Mallory shifted on the spot for a few moments, her eyes set on the farmhouse and other little buildings on the edge of the wheatfield.

Maybe someone was in one of those buildings?

With little consideration for the danger involved, she cupped her hands around her mouth and bellowed, "HELLO? ANYONE THERE?"

[randomness]

Once again, it was Mallory that got up first. Where on earth did this girl get all her energy from? Keeping up with her was going to be tough. She rubbed her arm, partially out of habit but also because of the strain of being dragged such a distance.

With no warning whatsoever, Mallory began shouting at the farnhouse not too far away.

"I don't think that's such a-" Stephanie began to protest but decided against it. If there was anyone there they'd already know they were here. Might as well make sure they were friendly.

"Fuck this, " she sighed, before joining Mallory in shouting. "Is there someone out there?"  

[Fiori]

((Brian Zhdanovich continued from Russian Roulette))

After closing the door behind him, Brian looked back at the two figures he had spotted in the distance from inside the farmhouse, squinting his eyes as he tried to  get a better look at them.

After moving a little closer to the field, he could finally make out who they were, and sure enough his earlier guess had turned out to be correct. He couldn't help but smile when he realised that one of the two girls was none other than Mallory McCormick, a good friend of his as well as the very same girl he had sat next to on the plane.

As for the other girl, whilst he recognised her to be Stephanie Wright, admittedly he didn't know that much else about her. He did distinctly remember once seeing her get picked up from school by a guy with a badass-looking motorbike, something he couldn't help but be a little jealous of. Other then that, the two were barely acquaintances.

That said, after noticing the red jacket she was wearing, he couldn't help but be reminded of Ruby. After all, she happened to own a jacket almost just like it. Hell, when he first spotted her in the distance for the briefest second he thought he had finally found his best friend. So as relieved as he was to have found one friend, a part of him couldn't help but feel disappointed that Ruby wasn't with them.

Well, guess I better say hi.

"YO, MALLORY!" he called back, waving his right arm in the air. He was pretty sure they must have spotted him as well by this point, but he figured it was better to be on the safe side just in case.

[ViolentMedic]

Someone came out of the house, and for a moment Mallory was aware of how terrible a plan it was to scream at a house and hope the people inside were friendly. She had a brief urge to duck back into the wheat and pretend she'd said nothing. But then, as she squinted, she recognized the person as Brian.

Last she'd seen him, they'd been discussing soccer on the plane. It'd felt like one minute they were talking about soccer, the next minute Mallory had felt sleepy, which was insane considering that just wasn't her sort of thing at all (sleep was boring, even on a plane, so why would she nap?) and then a moment later she'd been inside a room watching Mr. Davidge--

Not important right now. Her mind shoved away that memory.

The point was, there was Brian. Not dead. Which was fucking awesome.

"Brian! Hiya!" She started wading through the mass of wheat towards him, turning back after a few steps to say to Stephanie, "That's Brian, he's cool, come on!" Then she returned to wading through the wheat, waving her arms above her head in case he was having trouble seeing them.

[randomness]

Stephanie wasn't expecting anyone to appear at all. Perhaps it was just wishful thinking, or simple complacency, but Brian's appearance had taken her by complete surprise. Nonetheless, Mallory seemed to be okay with him, and he didn't seem hostile.

"Cool is good," she replied, before quickly following Mallory towards him.

Brian was a person she knew, but only by way of rumour. She never liked listening to gossip, badmouthing a person behind their backs was utterly distasteful, but it was nearly impossible to have a semblance of a social life without hearing this sort of thing. And what she had heard about Brian had left her feeling like she knew far too much about a person who she couldn't pick out from a crowd. Well, at least that wasn't true anymore.

"Stephanie, by the way," she stuck her hand in introduction. "Mallory seems to think you're okay, so that's fine by me. So, what are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"

[Espi]

((Nina Clarke's story continues from Craven))

Nina's stay on the island had rapidly gone downhill from the moment she woke up for the second time. As soon as she found herself robbed, she really hadn't had it made, to say the least. Now, as she wandered, lost in her thoughts, she realized she'd come across a large wheat field of some kind.

She heard voices from inside. That either implied a haven or a hell, depending on who they were. After a moment of pondering, Nina recognized the voice as Mallory McCormick, a girl who she had mixed feelings on.

Still, Mallory seemed like a safe bet for a non-killer. Why not? Not like it mattered anymore.

"Hello? It's Nina! Nina Clarke!" She called out through the wheat, stepping gingerly through the tall field. Her lack of height made it tough to see over the wheat, so she had to wander in blindly and hope for the best. That'd worked for her so far, so why stop now?

"I'm not violent, though I will defend myself should it become necessary, so...yeah, let's be peaceful!" Nina wasn't sure why she needed to clarify, but it felt fair to offer warning that she wasn't going to lay down and die. "Mallory, is that you out there?"

[Fiori]

Brian began wading through the wheat field towards Mallory and Stephanie, meeting the girls halfway through.

"Man, I'm glad to see you're alright" he said to Mallory, shortly before turning his attention to Stephanie. He shook her hand enthusiastically, a smile on his face as he did so. "Good to see you too Stephanie."

She asked what he was doing out here in the middle question. Fair question, the answer of which Brian wasn't entirely sure of himself. He shrugged. "Dunno really. I was just wandering around, looking some friendly faces when I happened across that house over there."

He motioned towards the building behind him; briefly glancing back to check whether or not Zubin could be seen inside. "Bumped into Zubin whilst I was there, and we were just chatting until I heard the two of you shouting in the distance. Then, well... Here I am."

He glanced at the sun, shielding his eyes as he tried to figure out the time of day. From the look of things, they only had a few more hours of daylight left. "We probably ought to head back inside before..."

It was at that point that Nina announced her presence. Brian was surprised he hadn't noticed her earlier, though the fact that she was practically hidden in the long wheat field probably had something to do with it. It must be easy for people to remained concealed out there; stalking unsuspecting passers by like a lion on the prowl. It wasn't exactly a pleasant thought given their current predicament.

"Hey! Uh, same here I guess! None of us have any violent intentions either..."

He turned to the two girls. "...Right?"