Good Day Sunshine

[decoy73]

Brian was reluctant to split the group, but Stephanie and Mallory wanted to leave and were having reservations about escape - mainly because, as Stephanie said, it "wasn't safe." Mallory thought that a bigger group would attract more attention from someone like Hansel. Zubin had to think for a couple seconds before he took a deep breath and started talking.

"Okay. I'm urging you to reconsider. For what it's worth, you're right Stephanie. Escape isn't safe, but it isn't any less safe than trying to win. Our chances of winning fairly are, one in, what one fifty, two hundred, assuming everything's equal. Plus, escape has been done before, and it was impossible then. And Mallory, yeah, someone like Hansel could come in, but with four of us, it would be easier to fend him off than with only two of us, and that's only if Hansel's truly crazy. If he's sane, we could either talk him out of it, or he would be smart enough to realize that there's four of us and one of him, and that even if he gets one of us, he's not going to be able to take on everybody without going down himself."

Zubin took another breath. "So, yeah. Please stay. Four of us is better than two."

[randomness]

((Retroactive notice of skipping Fioriboy, sorry for any potential inconvenience))

Uncertainty.

Mallory was right, of course. And Zubin was right too. And she wanted to let neither of them down. How was she supposed to choose between being gunned down by terrorists or being blown up by her own classmates? What sort of sick choice was that?

She wanted to help Zubin, but she wanted to leave just as much and she could feel the contradiction tearing her apart. There wasn't anyway to do both, was there? There wasn't any third option that she could choose. And now her thoughts were jumbling up, running so fast that she couldn't make heads or tails of them, logic giving way to the stress that she was faced with.

She needed to calm down.

She took a breath, trying to focus on the problem at hand but it didn't help. Either choice she made would leave someone upset, and that was the last thing she wanted. But if she stayed here making the decision too long, she'd be the one to snap.

She hated making decisions. Especially when there were people waiting on her answer. But she couldn't make any non-committal statements here and now.

"I don't know." she said, ignoring her last thought. "I don't know." She brought her hand up to rub her temples. This wasn't good at all. She was far too stressed out to make a good decision. She needed to calm down. Calm down. Calm down.

[ViolentMedic]

((Sorry for skipping, but it's been twelve days and I don't want to risk inactivity.))

Why wouldn't he just let them leave? Why did he have to keep talking about escape and making her think about it?

With every sentence Zubin said, Mallory got angrier. Because his attempts at insisting that it was possible was just making her think about all the reasons it wasn't.

Escape was more safe than trying to win? Only if it succeeded. And there was no reason it would. The terrorists had, like... forever to plan it this time. And the other kids were probably crazy braniacs or something.

Talking Hansel down? Fuck that. Hansel had a huge gun. He could shoot all four of them easy! And he'd be more likely to if he saw Mallory, what with her throwing things at him and all.

How were they meant to deal with the cameras and the collars? He didn't fucking know. He just wanted them to stay still until they possibly came up with a plan that would likely get them all fucking killed and--

"It's not fucking possible, alright?" Mallory yelled. "I don't know how to shut down cameras or take off collars, you don't fucking know either, and I'm pretty damn sure no-one on this fucking rock with the exception of the assholes who dumped us here know how! So just... shut up!"

She picked up her little bundle of blankets and pillows, stuffed what she could in her daypack, turned away from Zubin and Brian (why did she yell that in front of Brian, why), walked past Stephanie and left. She hoped Stephanie would follow. Maybe she'd realise Mallory was a total asshole and stick with Zubin and Brian, and they'd find a way off the island while Mallory wasted her time doing stupid stuff.

Mallory wanted to believe it was possible. But it was too hard. And she just didn't want to have to think about it anymore.

((Mallory McCormick continued in Fluffytown.))

[Fiori]

Well, from the look of things Mallory and Stephanie were dead set on heading off.

He returned her forced grin with one of his own, rubbing the arm that she had jokingly punched. It seemed obvious that despite their differing views on what to do with themselves, neither of them actually wanted to split up. Mallory was his friend after all, so the thought of possibly never seeing her again was one that was hard to bare. Regardless of whether or not he and Zubin ended up being successful in their efforts to make a difference, deep down he knew that there was going to be some friends he would never get to see alive again. So naturally he wanted to stick close to the friends whom he did know for certain was alive and well.

But at the same time, he completely understood why Mallory didn't want to stick with him and Zubin. She wanted to enjoy what little time she had left, seeing as she had no intention of playing by Danya's rules. That was fair enough, Brian had been tempted to do the same thing himself. If they were going to die anyway, may as well have one last party to celebrate right? That said, whilst he was well aware that escape was highly implausible, at the same time he felt like he couldn't bring himself to just ignore what was going on around him. He had to fight back in some way, even though chances are it would only get him killed. But hell, if he was going to die anyway, he couldn't think of a better way to go.

Well, except for dying at the age of one hundred in a king-sized bed, but that pretty much goes without saying.

Still, Mallory seemed open to the idea of meeting up again, which begged the question as to where. Brian thought long and hard about this, seeing as he had no idea what Zubin's intentions were. The place they were staying at seemed pretty secure, and he didn't really want to leave the town so soon. But what if Zubin wanted to head off to somewhere in the woods? What if the location suddenly became a dangerzone?

In the end though, he didn't actually get a chance to make a decision. After Zubin tried again to convince Mallory to change her mind, she suddenly snapped at him, yelling about how escape was impossible before storming off.

"Mal, wait!" Brian exclaimed, but it was too late. By the time he had gotten off the bed and reached the door, she had already left.

This was bad. He wished that Zubin had just let it go without provoking her like that. How was he supposed to let her know where to meet them now? He could run after her of course, but given her mental state he doubted that she would listen to him, even though he was pretty sure that she was mainly angry with Zubin rather than him. He couldn't blame her for getting so frustrated, especially seeing as most of what she said was probably true. Even then, he couldn't deny that her harsh words had stung him nevertheless.

He turned to Stephanie, who had yet to head off. If he couldn't organise a place to meet-up with Mallory, he may as well make some attempt with Stephanie.

"St-Steph, when you see Mallory could you tell her that if she ever wants to meet up, me an' Zubin will probably still be here..."

He turned to Zubin. "Is that cool with you? We can still search the surrounding area, but this place seems like a pretty cool hideout if you ask me."

He turned back to Stephanie. "But if we do leave, we'll probably leave a note telling her where we're heading to. Probably underneath one of the pillows or something. Have you got all that?"

[randomness]

((Sorry for skipping again, but just gonna follow Mallory))

Stephanie's stress dissipated for a moment as Mallory snapped back at Zubin. It was shocking to see the reaction from Mallory, after all, Stephanie had been seconds away from doing the same.

Mallory was leaving, and the door still hung open, ready for her to follow. Stephanie couldn't leave her behind. Not now. It didn't seem safe to let her go out like this.

"I'll tell her." she said to Brain, not quite looking him in the eye. "And... I'm sorry. Really."

It made her feel a little better even though she wasn't quite sure why she was apologising. Her pack was heavier now, with some proper supplies this time. She hefted it and followed after Mallory. Hopefully she could catch up before it was too late

((Stephanie Wright continued in Fluffytown))

[decoy73]

"Wai - ah, crap." Both Mallory and Stephanie left. Zubin just shook his head and picked up the pad. Now they were down two members. He and Brian had sprit, but their planning was strictly in the abstract stage at best. He looked at Brian.

"Yeah. Let's see what we can find. See how we can defend ourselves better if anything. Where should we start?" And where do we start with the collars? Zubin wanted to add. "Let's find something, though."

[Fiori]

"Thank you..." said Brian just as Stephanie turned away and followed Mallory outside.

Now it was just him and Zubin. And Nina as well, as far as Brian knew, seeing as he had yet to realise that she had left for good as well. As much as he wanted to believe that they would see each other again, a part of him still felt like that was the last he would ever see of Mallory. At least he got a chance to hang out with her one last time, something which he probably won't be able to do with most of his friends. And who knows, maybe they really will meet again someday.

Until then, now seemed as good a time as any to start getting to work.

"Hmm, lets see. First things first, I think we ought to start exploring our surroundings. Never know what you might find in these houses if you look hard enough..."


Several hours later, Brian began to suspect that if there might not be anything useful in the houses after all.

Not that his search proved to be completely fruitless or anything. In the first couple of houses he'd found plenty of pens, pencils and paper which Zubin could probably use, as well as plenty of spare wood from the more decayed buildings. He even found a hefty collection of boardgames in the house they had stayed in, although he was well aware that it would be pointless to play them. After all, they didn't have enough players for most of them.

But when it came to finding useful tools, supplies or anything that would help them get a better idea as to where exactly they were Brian found nothing. What little food he did find was horrifically out of date, and anything which could remotely resemble a computer was conspicuously missing. In a way, it didn't really surprise him. Of course the terrorists would have made sure that there was nothing left that could help make their escape a lot easier. Whilst Brian wasn't sure of the details, he was vaguely aware that the last escape attempt was made possible because of the equipment that had been left behind during the last game. Or something like that.

Not helping matters was the fact that they spent the first couple of hours trying to figure out where Nina had gone. At first he assumed that something had happened whilst she had gone out for a bit of fresh air, like a killer or something had snatched her away when they weren't looking. It was only after an hour or so of looking around that it finally occurred to him that maybe Nina had decided to leave as well, only unlike Mallory she wasn't so open about it. Which meant that it really was just him and Zubin left.

So much for sticking together as a team...

At the very least, Brian was able to get a better idea as to his surroundings. As it turned out, the house they had stayed in was part of an area that the map referred to as the 'gated community', which judging from the types of houses that littered the area meant that it was where all the rich fat cats used to live in order to get away from the unwashed masses. There were twenty houses in total, although Brian only explored four of them thoroughly, seeing as by the time he had finished exploring the fourth he came to conclusion that there probably wasn't much to find. The fact that he found a particularly nasty looking wasp's nest in the basement certainly didn't help.

By the time he had checked the last house, he realised that it was beginning to get dark. Turns out that exploring twenty houses ate up a lot of your spare time, especially if you'd spent the majority of the morning looking for someone who had already left. The only thing left for Brian to explore was the guard station near the front gate.

It was at this guard station that Brian found a number of uniforms, one of which looked just his size. Unable to resist the temptation, Brian swapped his leather jacket for one of the security jackets, then put on a cap with the word "Security" on it. With his new security gear on, he stepped outside and posed near the front gate, pretending to check the ID's of imaginary guests.

"Evenin' ma'am, I'm gonna have to check your ID first before I can let you into this here community..." he said, putting on a particularly bad southern accent.

Well, that was amusing for about ten seconds. Better head back before...

There was someone in the distance. Two people in fact. He couldn't quite make out who from where he was standing, but from the looks of things they were both armed to the teeth.

"Oh shit..." he whispered underneath his breath, ducking down behind the guard station as he prayed that they didn't spot him. He knew that he should have been more cautious, that it was only a matter of time before someone else happened across their supposed sanctuary. Of course, it was possible that these newcomers were friendly, but on the off chance that they weren't what the hell could he possibly do about it?

Nowhere really to hide, and it's only a matter of time before they show up. God damnit, what the hell do I do?

He gulped, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow as he peaked around the corner. If he could just figure out who was heading towards him, than maybe he could...

He recognised one of the two figures immediately.

No way. Could it be...


((Ruby Forrester continued from Check Out My New Weapon, Weapon of Choice))

"Brian?"

Ruby stopped dead in her tracks, lowering her gun as her eyesight adjusted to the darkness.

She and Ami had been traveling for the majority of the day, only stopping once near the beach to have some quick dinner before continuing on towards the town. They had decided after a while to try heading towards an area the map referred to as the gated community, the idea being that perhaps there they would find a more secure place to hide than the small house they had stayed in the previous night.

They were cautious of course, avoiding open spaces or traveling too loudly, but it also meant that it took longer for them to travel than it would have if they were more carefree about it. As a result, it was dusk by the time they had reached the gated community.

However, whilst Ruby had anticipated the possibility of bumping into other people who had decided to take refuge in the gated community, she had not expected to find none one of the few people she was actively on the lookout for.

"Ruby!" exclaimed Brian, a smile on his face and tears running down his cheeks as he ran towards his closest friend, embracing her as though it had been years since they had last seen one another.

After getting over the initial shock of having found her childhood friend alive and unhurt, Ruby was quick to return Brian's embrace, even allowing a tear or two of her own to run down her cheeks.

"My god, I... I thought I'd never get see you again!" said Brian as he loosened his bear hug.

"I thought I'd never see you again either!" replied Ruby, taking a step back to look the clothes Brian was wearing. "Er, what's with the security guard get-up?"

Brian shrugged, drying his eyes with his jacket's sleeve. "Dunno really, thought it'd be funny..." he replied, letting out a small laugh as he took the cap off. "So what've you been doing all this time?"

Now it was Ruby's turn to shrug. "Surviving, I guess. I bumped into Ami the other day, and we've traveling together since."

"Same here. Zubin's around somewhere, probably waiting for me back at the house. We should probably head back inside before it gets dark..."

He looked over Ruby's shoulder at Ami, noting the particularly large gun she was carrying. "Hey! I, uh, don't think we've ever really spoken before..."

[Ciel†]

(Ami Flynn continued from Check Out My New Weapon, Weapon of Choice)

Ami stood behind Ruby, a good distance away from her reunion with someone else. A boy she vaguely remembered doing... Sports? To think she thought she knew everyone's name in her class. The reunion was sweet, Ami supposed, but she held no part in.  

The story she followed was Ruby's; Ami's story proved much more well-hidden, and what she had lacked a climax. She supposed the kidnapping could be considered the climax, the most exciting part of the narrative, but she was in Ruby's story, not her's.  Ami probably didn't deserve her own story. Maybe just being a supporting character would be good enough.  

Ami hoped no one would blame her fonits suing out of the hug. She was happy for Ruby, truly she was, she couldn't help feeling a drop of jealousy. It appeared Ruby knew this boy, much more that Ami at least. It reminded her that, apart from Ruby, Ami had no idea where her friends were.

Mallory, Maynard, Yukiko, Amy, heck, even Brandon. They went on the trip with her.  Were they even still alive? Would she ever see them again? Would she even be alive long enough to see them? Would...

The questions were back.  Ami creased her lips, staring through Ruby and at the surroundings. She rubbed at her temple with her left hand. Her mind was wandering again. Guilt and fear began to seep into her brain again, twisting her thoughts so right that they were nearly suffocating.

She remembered when she was able to keep those rogue thoughts out of her head.  Ruby and Ami traveled across the map once again. The second time around had been easier than the first, though Ami's legs still ached from the day before. When they sat down to eat hours ago, it was decided to head towards the separated community along the northern town. Ami had been the one to spot it out, a small accomplishment great enough to make her feel proud.  She figured there would be others, expected it! Ami did not expect Ruby to run into someone she knew. Ami considered dozens of possibilities, few pretty, but none of them included this.

... Perhaps she wasn't as smart as she thought.

The boy whose name she did not know spoke to her. She knew this because he turned to look at her, and his mouth started moving in her direction. But she had been so focused on her own thoughts that she almost missed what he was saying. She caught the tail end of it, enough to get the gist. But the gist itself just drew attention to the fact that she had no idea who he was, making her feel even worse. Ami's face registered surprise, and she looked away for just a moment, then over at Ruby.  

She met eyes with him again, with her head pointed away from him. Ami spoke, clearly but hesitantly.

"Ye... Yeah.  We haven't, have we?"

Quiet. Ami's eyes flickered. She looked at Ruby, hoping she would step in. She didn't.

"I'm Ami," she continued, fingers wrapping against the muzzle of the gun. "I'm friends with Ruby."

The gun felt incredibly heavy in her hands. She really wished she could just hide behind Ruby but that would be seriously pathetic. No way could she leave it at that. Ami had to say something else. She quickly fished for something relatively friendly.

"It's, aah, it-it's nice to meet you," Ami finished, eyes on Ruby again, aborting the conversation before she made a fool of herself. "Ruby, should we head inside?"

[decoy73]

It was now searching time. Just the two of them, alone and practically unarmed. Hooray for them.

SEVERAL HOURS LATER ...

Paper was good. That was it. No food, no improvised weapons, no electronic devices, nothing. Zubin had actually gone and checked out a couple of houses separately from Brian, and found nothing of note. And now it was getting dark. Zubin shook his head as he repositioned his fedora and walked around, looking for his partner.

A few minutes of searching yielded a group of three, none of whom looked very familiar. He slowly approached them, being careful not to startle anybody. Hoo boy. He was alone again.

[Fiori]

"Nice to meet you Ami!" said Brian, although by that point he had remembered where he had last seen Ruby's companion. Seeing as he happened to be a good friend of Mallory and Owen as well, he often saw Ami whenever he went to their parties with Ruby, although he never really got a good chance to speak to her. Still, she seemed friendly enough, and a friend of Mallory's was a friend of his as far as Brian was concerned.

He turned around, noticing Zubin heading towards them. "Yo Zubin! Don't worry, these guys are friends of mine! We're going to head back inside in a moment..." he said, turning back to Ruby. "Right?"

Ruby nodded in agreement. "Lead the way."

Brian smiled as he began to make his way back towards the house, with Ruby and Ami following behind. As the three made their way, Brian couldn't help but ask a question that had been on his mind since the moment he saw Ruby in the distance.

"So, did Mallory send you guys over here?"

"No, I haven't met her. Why, have you seen her around?"

"Yeah, we were travelling together for a while, but she decided to head off and do her own thing this morning. I'll tell you more about it later..."

Ruby nodded, briefly glancing at Ami to see how she was taking this news. After all, Ami was a good friend of Mallory as well, so she would probably want to know what Mallory had been up to.

In any case, one thing Ruby did know was that for the first time, things were finally beginning to look a little brighter.

((Ruby Forrester, Brian Zhdanovich, Ami Flynn and Zubin Wadia continued in Friends 'til the end))