6 The Forest

[SOTF: Discord]

The forest is not a rainforest, but still warmer than what the students from New York are used to, hinting that the island lies south to the US.
There are a total of three bridges made to cross the river that splits the forest in two. Inside the forest are the factory and the mansion, both connected with a cemented road leading to the city. There are also a few smaller non-cemented roads leading through the forest and connecting all the bridges.
Otherwise the forest is pretty intact. Even before the island became almost empty, barely anyone strayed off the roads and smaller paths without a good reason. Travelling through the wilder areas away from the roads is possible, but more time-and energy-consuming.

[SOTF: Discord]

[+] We Tried Our Best, and Thats What Matters.

Nigel Sullivan | Ahn Phan Phuc — 09/23/2021 4:51 PM
Name:
We Tried Our Best, and That's What Matters.

Time:
Day One.

Status:
Concluded.

Nigel Sullivan | Ahn Phan Phuc — 09/23/2021 5:37 PM
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+ B003 - SULLIVAN, NIGEL: START.

He'd always tried to be a good person. When an opportunity to do the right thing was available, he took it. He wanted to make the world a better place. He'd never had any illusions about it - he was just one person, and there was only so much he could. It didn't matter to him.

What goes around came around, he thought. So much for his karma.

Here he was, trapped on an island a thousand miles away from anywhere he had ever known. His reward for a life of kindness was to fight and die, a combatant without a cause. He couldn't accept that as the only option. He didn't care if he won. All he wanted to do was set the world right.

Nigel stepped through the thick forest, brushing flora from his face as his feet dodged around roots and brambles. He silently cursed as his jacket caught in the thorns, and he struggled for a moment to dislodge it.

Just as he freed himself from the clutch, the sound of gunshots rang out, and a burst of three bullets whizzed past his head.

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+ B002 - CLAY, DUNCAN: START.

He'd always tried to keep his head down and stay out of trouble. When someone wanted something from him, he listened, he nodded his head, and he complied. The first thing he had ever learned was compliance - to be an ordinary cog in any machine that would have him. It had been a frustration sometimes, but he'd always held out hope that he'd look back and realize it was worth it.

He hadn't even wanted to go on the trip. The only reason he'd stepped onto the bus that morning was that his parents insisted on it - never one to rock the boat, he'd agreed.

When they told him to kill, he didn't see any other option but to comply. He knew that this was bigger than himself than any of them. He didn't want to kill either, but what choice did he have?

Duncan shook his head slightly and lowered the rifle, then stepped forward. He hadn't heard a scream, but the lack of a returning volley convinced him that the path was safe. He aimed his assigned weapon at the brush and prepared to venture into the unknown.

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Nigel scrambled into the thicket, desperate to evade what seemed to him to be his imminent death. Thorns cut at his face and neck and embedded themselves within the fabric of his clothes.

He didn't dare to reveal himself to the would-be murderer, though he was able to gain a glance at him from his position of cover. The other boy was tall but otherwise ordinary in appearance. He wore a black, open-faced trucker jacket, a white jacket, and jeans. His black hair was short and neat. He recognized him from the halls of his school, but he couldn't place a name on his face. In his hands, he held what was unmistakably a rifle - the same instrument of death he intended to use to end Nigel.

He tried to muster the courage to call out to his attacker, but the words died in his throat.

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Duncan frowned as he stepped forward through the brambles. He'd hoped to take his target by surprise, ending any confrontation before it had even begun. It'd be less painful that way for him and them both.

As he trudged forward, he saw a sliver of a human being behind a treeline - no doubt the boy who had fled from his pursuit. He raised the rifle, closed his left eye, and aimed down the optics. He lined up the red dot with what he thought was the head and fired another burst of three.

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The other boy had fired another volley, though his aim was poor - of the three bullets he had fired, two had embedded themselves in the other side of the tree, and one had grazed the side of it, sending particles of wood and bark into Nigel's eyes.

While a single burst of fire could have been an accident, this pursuit made it even more evident to Nigel that he was in peril for his life, hunted by one of the quislings amid his class. He'd need to find a way to disable the attacker - ahead of him was a more open area of the forest, and as a result, running would reward him with little more than lead in his back.

He ducked back into the brush and prepared to circle the other boy.

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Duncan cursed under his breath, seeing his mark disappear from his sight. He considered a retreat but shook the thought from his mind. If Duncan established himself as a threat now, others might leave him alone out of fear. He couldn't be weak now - it was survival of the fittest on the island, and he needed to be strong, with no hesitation.

He raised his gun and moved through the brambles towards the large tree. If his estimation was correct, there wasn't much cover in that direction - he could shoot his quarry from the clear ground.

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Nigel crept in the shadows and readied the so-called weapon he had received - a heavy tile, fragile to the touch. If he landed a good hit, he could probably stun the other boy long enough to take the gun and flee, if not knock him out entirely.

He edged his way towards the foe, who marched like a soldier towards the more open clearing. He raised the tile with his hands and charged forward, then swung.

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He took a step forward and paused for a moment. He could hear the rustling of leaves for an instant.

Before he could react, he heard a loud sound like a crack and a sudden pain in his right temple. He watched as his body tumbled out from under him, and he fell face-first into the ground, shards of tile scattered across the grass.

As his head hit the ground, everything went dark.

- B002 - CLAY, DUNCAN: END.

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Nigel watched as the other boy collapsed like a Jenga tower, in a manner unnatural and frightening. The tile had practically exploded from the force of the hit, sending fragments everywhere.

He dragged himself to the rifle and pulled it from the ground, then returned to his position by the other boy. He shook him, but the other boy did not indicate that he was awake. He placed his hand on the unconscious boy's neck and checked his pulse.

Horror dawned on him as he realized that it was gone. The other boy was stone dead by his hand. He had underestimated the strength of his weapon and the force of his blow.

A million thoughts ran through his mind as he stumbled his way out of the forest.

[B003 - SULLIVAN, NIGEL: CONTINUED IN "F. M. L."]

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[SOTF: Discord]

[+] Ich und mein Holz

DerArknight — 09/24/2021 5:18 PM
Name: Ich und mein Holz
Time: Day One
Status: Closed

DerArknight — 09/24/2021 5:24 PM
When a random guy abducted you, shot your teacher and told you to kill your classmates in order to survive, most people would panic.

Marty Freeman wasn't "most people".

((Marty Freeman: Start))

He had always felt like his everyday, normal life would end one day and something exciting would finally happen. Oh, how many schooldays had he spent daydreaming about the school being attacked by aliens. Or his magic powers awakening. Or the zombie-apocalypse starting.

To be frank, being thrown into a game of death had been a liuttle bit farther below on his list. But still up there. What more awesome could he achieve than to defeat the evil terrorists and save his whole class? All the girls would finally notice him! This was what he had prepared for since middle school!

But before the action could start, he needed to take a look at his weapon. Marty threw the plank of wood that lay on his daypack for some reason aside and opened the backpack to find...

... nothing.

It took a few seconds before his eyes wandered back to the plank of wood.

"Seriously?"

jillz [abel/harriet i guess idk] — 09/24/2021 11:14 PM
Click.

"Don't move."

DerArknight — 09/25/2021 9:02 AM
Marty didn't move.

Not because he decided to follow the command, but because he was taken aback by the sudden voice.

Once he recollected himself, he slowly raised his hands.

"Hold on a minute. I am one of the good guys."

jillz [abel/harriet i guess idk] — 09/25/2021 9:40 AM
"I don't care," the voice replied immediately.

The voice didn't say anything for a few seconds, just snorting.

"Give me your bag, or I'm gonna blow your fucking head in."

DerArknight — 09/25/2021 11:02 AM
Marty started to get nervous. This was not how things were supposed to go. He was the hero. His job was to save people from situations like this one, not be the one who.needs saving.

"How do I know you actually have a gun? The clicking noise earlier could have been anything."

jillz [abel/harriet i guess idk] — 09/25/2021 11:13 AM
Crunching could be heard behind Marty, right before a loud bang went off. Something struck into the ground up ahead.

"That was your yellow card."

DerArknight — 09/25/2021 1:01 PM
"Okay, okay." Marty decided to believe that his hands weren't shaking when he said that.
"Let me just the bag, yeah?"
He slowly bent down to pick up his bag.

Then, when he believed that his body blocked the other guys view, he grabbed the wood quickly spun around and aimed for where he believed the gun to be.

jillz [abel/harriet i guess idk] — 09/25/2021 4:24 PM
The wood plank smacked Abel right across the head, sending him stumbling backwards and snorting in anger and crying in pain. The gun went off in his hands again, this time the bullet found itself lodged in a nearby tree.

DerArknight — 09/25/2021 4:26 PM
Marty's surprise attack was a successful failure. After all, his goal wasn't to send this dude to the hospital. He wanted to disarm the boy so they could put their differences aside and work towards escaping this place.

For that reason, he swung the wood again, aiming at the gun in the boy's hand.

jillz [abel/harriet i guess idk] — 09/25/2021 4:50 PM
Abel withdraw his hand in time for the wood to miss its intended target, but the plank still smacked hard against his upper arm.

He scooted his feet away, keeping the pistol aimed right at Marty.

But then, Abel didn't do anything else.

Blood trickled down Abel's gaunt face, dying his pale face and chin scruff in streaks of red before dripping off his chin and onto his black hoodie. He just kept glaring at Marty with a pistol in his hand, wincing in pain and huffing in rage like some sort of wild beast.

DerArknight — 09/26/2021 7:27 AM
Marty's attack had been surprisingly effective.

Maybe a little bit too effective, seeing how the other boy started to bleed.

Marty lowered the wood. "Hey guy, sorry fo-"

Then he saw his attackers face.

His first thought was that this boy was Abel Manning, a guy from his math class. The second was that Abel looked more like a wild animal like human right now.

The look in Abel 's eyes was filled with hatred and murderous desire. Just looking at him sent a shiver down Marty's spine.

Before Marty knew what he was doing, he had already raised the wood and bashed it another time in Abel's direction.
And again.
And again.

jillz [abel/harriet i guess idk] — 09/26/2021 8:04 AM
After another whack or three, Abel took off. He jumped over a fallen log and fired a shot behind him haphazardly before (( disappearing into the green, green brush. ))

DerArknight — 09/27/2021 1:05 PM
Thankfully, Abel made a quick escape.

Marty lowered the wood, suddenly feeling out of breath. What the hell had happened? Within a minute, he had gotten into a fight.

"Man." he said to no one in particular. "This island is crazy."

((Marty Freeman continued in Look, a Corpse!))

[SOTF: Discord]

[+] we live forever and we love to live

almostinhuman | Monica, Douglas — 10/03/2021 4:14 PM
Name: we live forever and we love to live
Time: Day One
Status: Closed

almostinhuman | Monica, Douglas — 10/03/2021 4:14 PM
((Ingrid Wilde starts here))

They'd given her cigarettes for a weapon. And not even good ones. Fucking Marlboros. Assholes. Almost as bad as kidnapping her in the first place.

Whatever. She did need a smoke, however awful the quality. They'd at least given her a lighter for it.

Sitting under a dead tree, she stuck a cigarette in her mouth and lit it.

jillz [abel/harriet i guess idk] — 10/03/2021 6:04 PM
(( The mansion was well behind the veil of trees at this point. ))

What a fucking day.

Abel plowed straight ahead through the winding trails of the forest, one hand on his bag strap as it dangled loose off his back. It looked like it was really starting to get late now. The sooner he got back to the city before sundown, the better.

His feet slowed to a standstill at the sight of a girl up ahead where the trees were less dense, sitting under one of the dead looking trees and smoking what was probably funny things.

And he watched.

almostinhuman | Monica, Douglas — 10/03/2021 6:31 PM
She was not alone.

For fucks sake. Couldn't have shit.

"Can I fucking help you?" She glared out of the corner of her eye, barely turning her head.

jillz [abel/harriet i guess idk] — 10/03/2021 6:35 PM
Abel didn't say anything. He just kept glaring at her, his face and body frozen behind the trees.

almostinhuman | Monica, Douglas — 10/03/2021 6:44 PM
No response. No reaction at all. He just kept staring.

She got up, dropping the half-burnt cigarette to the ground.

"Whatever." She stomped the cigarette out into the dirt. "You can have this spot all to yourself if you're gonna be like that."

jillz [abel/harriet i guess idk] — 10/03/2021 8:01 PM
"Smoking's bad for you," he finally spoke, his voice dry and monotone.

He didn't move from his spot, his gaze transfixed on the cigarette being snuffed out. The ashy stench lingered in the air.

"You really shouldn't."

almostinhuman | Monica, Douglas — 10/03/2021 8:28 PM
"You think so?" She stuffed the cigs and lighter in her back pocket. "Cause I can think of a few things that're probably worse for my health right now."

He was talking now, at least, but that proved not the least bit reassuring. This dude was creepy. Why'd the first dude she bumped into have to be a weirdo?

"So what do you fucking want?"

jillz [abel/harriet i guess idk] — 10/04/2021 4:25 PM
He took a minute to reply, gather his words.

"I was thinking of robbing or shooting ya, but I changed my mind."

almostinhuman | Monica, Douglas — 10/04/2021 5:43 PM
So he had a gun. She'd thought maybe she'd be able to take him before. Goad him into doing something stupid, take his weapon, kill him with it. A gun changed everything.

She didn't trust he meant it, either. That he wasn't gonna shoot her. He had no reason not to. It was just a matter of when.

Even so, she couldn't help but mouth off.

"What changed your mind?" She slowly edged back, braced to duck behind the tree. "Can't shoot a pretty face?"

jillz [abel/harriet i guess idk] — 10/04/2021 6:06 PM
Abel stepped closer, through his line of trees. One hand still on the strap of his bag.

He flashed a smile at Ingrid.

"Nah... I like you."

And then frowned.

"...But maybe if you weren't my fourth today. I'm tired and just passing through."

His head started throbbing again. He pressed his hand into the bandage on his head, finally breaking eye contact as he looked downwards.

almostinhuman | Monica, Douglas — 10/04/2021 6:23 PM
He broke eye contact. A dumb, impulsive version of her... well, a dumber, more impulsive version of her, would probably take the chance to charge him, go for his gun. A smarter version of her would've taken the opportunity to bolt and lose him in the trees.

She did neither. She stood in place, staring at the creepy kid, and asked a question with a painfully obvious answer.

"The fuck happened to you?"

jillz [abel/harriet i guess idk] — 10/04/2021 8:28 PM
"Mmmmmmm," Abel nonanswered. He lifted his hand down and looked at his palm, balling it into a fist and out.

He glanced up and cracked another grin. "I'll tell ya if I see ya again."

almostinhuman | Monica, Douglas — 10/04/2021 8:38 PM
"Hm. Whatever."

Ok, this dude was still weird, but clearly didn't want to hurt her. Yet, anyway. She should probably stop testing him.

"Try to be less creepy next time, then."

Hopefully there wasn't gonna be a next time.

She turned away and disappeared into the woods.

((Ingrid Wilde continued elsewhere))

jillz [abel/harriet i guess idk] — 10/04/2021 10:20 PM
(( Abel watched her leave and eventually did the same. ))

[SOTF: Discord]

[+] you are a stranger here

almostinhuman | Monica, Douglas — 10/13/2021 5:36 PM
Name: you are a stranger here
Time: Day One
Status: Closed

almostinhuman | Monica, Douglas — 10/13/2021 5:36 PM
((Monica Reed continued from F.M.L.))

It was already getting dark. No good. She didn't want them to get caught out in the woods in the middle of the night. There was no telling what kind of attention they would get.

The others - Anh and Ava - trailed behind her as they trudged towards the factory. Monica had relatively little to say to either. This was all strictly business, far as she was concerned. They had a mission and they had to stick to it. Idle chatter could attract all sorts of trouble. And more importantly, well...

It'd make it easier. To deal with it, if anything happened - and odds were good that "anything" would.

So she kept her focus on the way forward, only occasionally glancing back to make sure the others were following.

we should hug! | Whitney, Ava — 10/13/2021 6:08 PM
This blows. Hard.

[[Ava's life was fucked before and was still fucked now]]

News that shocked no one-it sucks to hike through a forrest wearing what are essentially slippers. The only people shocked are the braindead realizing they are actually capable of thought again.

Maybe it was stupid of her to have kept going at this point. Maybe it was stupid that she went with the forrest group instead of the city group-she wouldn't have had to hike anywhere if she'd stayed there after all, unless you counted going up stairs as hiking.

But damn it, there was about one other sane person in the little group of their's, and like Hell was she about to deal with Brody without Monica.

Plus, she wasn't one to go back on things unless it really bit her in the ass. She chose to hike with unwise footwear, and she would have to live with it. Better to need a foot doctor when she got back home than to need a plot in the local cemetary.

So dispite the dissatisfaction Ava felt, she kept her mouth shut for the time being, followed close behind Monica but not close enough to make the other girl uncomfortable, and made sure the gun in her hands was being held properly-finger kept straight on the side instead of hovering over the trigger.

She was not about to risk blowing some of her own toes off just to be ready to shoot at anything.

Yona || Ahn/Theo — 10/13/2021 6:13 PM
Why even a forest, again? Like, the fuck is even in here? Is he, a teenager whose computer experience goes as far as Basics of Python 1 in middle school, going to have to out-hack a terrorist organization with, what, sticks and leaves?

This is hopeless. It really is. He can't wait to see this whole group implode so that he would have an excuse to fuck off and leave them (Brody especially) to...

(uh I dunno, die, I guess.)

But, eh, this'll do for now.

"So, like, anybody wants to, uh... hunt some animals instead? Maybe see what native species are here, get a feeling of where we are geographically? Can't imagine there being a supercomputer hidden in here."

almostinhuman | Monica, Douglas — 10/13/2021 6:28 PM
There was a second reason she didn't really talk to them, of course. They were kinda dumb.

Well, Anh mostly. Ava seemed a bit much, but at least she wasn't quite so... out of it.

"We don't need to hunt and we definitely don't need a supercomputer." She replied, without looking back or stopping. "Brody might think this is The Matrix, but my plan is a bit more analog."

Truthfully, she still wasn't 100% sure what she was hoping to find once they got there. A source of electricity would be nice, but unlikely; some tools that could maybe get through the collars before they blew seemed less far-fetched.

"Besides, figuring out where we are is pretty fruitless if we can't actually leave."

we should hug! | Whitney, Ava — 10/13/2021 6:57 PM
Let it be drugs. Let it be that he's usually smarter than this and is still just blitzed out of his mind. I do not need to deal with a guy like this in what might be my final days.

Ava held back a pained sigh. She honestly didn't know what to expect for this plan either. She doubted there would be any sort of 'Instant Collar Removing Tool' anywhere on the island. But there had to be something useful. Bolt cutters or some electrical wire shit that could short-circuit the things into uselessness. Again, SOMETHING!

Ava wasn't a hopeful person most of the time, but if there was any way to get out of this Hell Hole without ending a life, she at least wanted to go for that before any other methods. She wasn't some psycho after all.

She nodded along with Monica's sentiments, one hand leaving the gun for a moment to pat the pack hanging from her shoulder.

"She's right. We've got food already, and even if we find out we're in the Galapagos or some other island, it's gonna do fuck-all if we've still got no way off this rock.

"We should probably find out where the fuck we are at some point, but leave it on the back burner for now. Until we've dealt with the important shit."

That seemed like a fair compromise, as far as she was concerned.

Yona || Ahn/Theo — 10/16/2021 3:36 PM
''I guess. But. Doesn't really matter.'

He left it ambiguous what wasn't mattering, kinda. The brainstorming session had brewed in his head for hours now, and he's ready to spit it all out.

''They've got something to control these buttons remotely. 'less they're camping on the island themselves, which considering we've got guns, they aren't. Probably on a ship or somewhere. Maybe another island. They're using bluetooth. Wifi. I don't know, but either way there's cameras, or at least stuff that detects where we are and what we're saying and maybe pressure censors, too, if it's rigged to explode when we mess with it and not manually instructed to blow up every time.. But it's sophisticated and complicated and, like, we don't have to try to cut it through with scissors before the connection processed their input to blow our necks up.''

He bounced a rock against a tree, praying that he was right. Well, as much as he, an annoying reddit atheist, could, anyways. Maybe this was his punishment or whatever.

''We don't have to do that at all. Putting sharp weapons against ourselves and then praying to whatever god is out there thats already fucked off to nowehere. We just have to block that signal, y'know? Wrap, like, tinfoil or wire or whatever against the thing... or some kind of metal? The problem's electric. Whatever this thing runs on it's got a battery and a processor and code.''

almostinhuman | Monica, Douglas — 10/16/2021 7:12 PM
Well. That was certainly enough to get her to stop.

"Where the hell was this earlier?"

Monica had read Anh completely wrong, it seemed. Ditzy though he'd first appeared, he was probably the smartest person here. He was far closer to something good, something real, than any of them had been. She wasn't afraid to say so.

"You're on to something. Probably more than I was."

we should hug! | Whitney, Ava — 10/16/2021 7:50 PM
Ava had to work to hold back a sob that threatened to rack her body.

He's smart, he ACTUALLY has a brain, we might be able to really do something about this, thank you God, Buddah, Allah, or whatever deity is truly up there

Outwardly, she merely let out a relieved sigh of air she didn't realize she had held in.

"I vote we don't complain and just be grateful. Better now than after someone gets shanked in the throat."

She had to think for a moment. Tinfoil around the collars? Could it really be that easy? It probably wasn't, and there would likely need to be additional steps, but it was a start to planning and any start was better than nothing.

"So, tinfoil or something-maybe aluminum foil?-to cut the connection, then maybe...maybe we could maybe use pliers or bolt cutters to get them off? Something meant to cut through metal at least. Even if we make these things useless we should still get them off."

Her joke of an idea could actually be useful if they found one of the tools. It would almost be chuckle worthy, if not for the fear of her potential death looming.

Yona || Ahn/Theo — 10/17/2021 9:00 AM
''I, like, man, I know I sound like I have 50 more IQ than I do at the moment, but I gotta admit we're still kinda screwed? I mean, like, I've been overthinking the hell outta this once the drugs wore off and I'm throwing away bullshit that I think can help but I'm not really sure, and the moment I fuck up we all go kaboom. If we get tinfoil to cut the connection, if we're cutting the collars off then we gotta do it quick, since we'll cut the tinfoil too. I dunno. I overthink a lot. Brainstorming if you wanna make me sound better.''

He lowkey backtracked mostly just cause he didn't want people to give him these... expectations, yknow? Fate of people on his hands suck. God, he fuckin hated this shit, having people expect everything from him all over again, like the kid who does everything in group projects? And now that these girls looked at him lile the second coming of jesus christ he's gonna have to actually live up to it.

And that just sucks.

He only had ideas. He couldn't do shit.

almostinhuman | Monica, Douglas — 10/17/2021 11:26 AM
"Call it whatever you want. It's more of an idea than we had before."

He was backpedaling a bit now, far less sure than he'd sounded a minute ago. But Monica was undeterred. His own lack of confidence aside, this was an angle worth pursuing.

"Look," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I didn't mean to sound like we'd found the Holy Grail or whatever. But it's a lead, something with potential. Because honestly, my plan kinda was to just bust this shit open and hope for the best."

Her hand fell back to her side.

"It's okay to scramble for something. That's kinda all we've got right now."

we should hug! | Whitney, Ava — 10/22/2021 2:01 PM
Ava gave a nod at Monica's words. "More or less. Something is better than nothing, and that's at least something."

He was backtracking, and she couldn't fully blame him. She probably should've toned down her reaction a little bit. But hey, live and learn-hopefully an emphesis on live there.

"And we've been here for, what? A day, at most? I don't think anyone's expecting shit to be easy here, but it helps to have somewhere to start. Otherwise we may as well be chickens with our heads cut off, running and waiting to die."

And Ava still had no intentions on dying. At least not here, and not now.

"So, should we workshop this idea a bit more, or just keep it in mind for later?"

almostinhuman | Monica, Douglas — 10/23/2021 4:39 PM
"It's worth keeping in mind, at least. We do need to find the materials to even begin testing it out."

They were already halfway to their destination, where hopefully those materials lay in wait. Even if they didn't, it would be a waste to turn back now, not to mention dangerous, as night rapidly approached.

"For now we'll keep going. Stay close."

((Monica Reed continued elsewhere))

Yona || Ahn/Theo — 10/24/2021 8:35 AM
''Uh, sure. Where we going again?''

(Doesn't matter. He's following them either way, now.)

we should hug! | Whitney, Ava — 10/24/2021 11:56 AM
Ava resisted the urge to roll her eyes and nodded to Monica's request.

It's this or killing people, and you're not about to shoot up that cute girl from the football team.

[[They weren't strangers, but Ava followed them anyway.]]

[SOTF: Discord]

[+] .. - .- .-. .-.. .. --. .... -

Nigel Sullivan | Ahn Phan Phuc — 10/23/2021 5:27 PM
Name: ... - .- .-. .-.. .. --. .... -
Time: Night One
Status: Private

Nigel Sullivan | Ahn Phan Phuc — 10/23/2021 5:27 PM
[B010 — ...- .- .. .-.. --..-- / ... .- -- ..- . .-..: CONTINUED FROM "..--. --- .-.. .- .-. .. ..."]

He moved through the forest, past old trees, through the brush, and signaled forward to illuminate his path.

"."

He'd find someone, something, somewhere, sooner or later. Do something right, help someone, be someone worth being.

Amy Carlson | Eduardo Salinas — 10/24/2021 5:11 AM
(Amy Carlson continued from danya’s kinda cringe ngl)

Oh man. She was totally lost in these creepy ass woods. After Amy had left the cave, she had just kinda went in one direction for a while, but there was nothing there so she tried to go another direction and then blah blah blah she was totally lost in these freaky woods at night.

Branches and leaves crunching underfoot, Amy anxiously aimed the rifle around, her mind conjuring up all the things in the world that could pop out of the darkness beyond the treeline and kill her. Goblins, demons, Michael Myers… The flashlight had run out of battery at some point, and carrying it and the rifle would be really hard.

“Anyone? H-hello?” Amy called out. Nothing but her echo replied.

Nigel Sullivan | Ahn Phan Phuc — 10/24/2021 11:51 PM
"."

The flash of a meaningless message illuminated a break in the forest ahead of him, and he could see at the edge of his usable vision the silhouette of human life. Close enough to see but not to hear.

"."

Another flash of light revealed the anxious posture, a person in distress. They'd likely gotten lost in the woods, probably without a flashlight. He knew the route in and out of the forest and could help them find their way. He moved through the brush towards an open area, the first step towards the exit of the woods.

Amy Carlson | Eduardo Salinas — 10/25/2021 2:24 AM
A few more seconds of wandering, and then a flash of bright light that hurt Amy’s eyes; shouldn’t have been staring at it, Amy. Still looking at where the light had been, Amy didn’t notice a tree root sticking out. She tripped and hit the ground with a grunt, pushing herself back up and now aiming the rifle at where she thought the light had been.

“Is-is someone there?” Had her prayers been answered, or was this some guy looking to come and kill her? So many people had died already. Killed by her own classmates. Amy didn’t know who she could trust.

Nigel Sullivan | Ahn Phan Phuc — 10/25/2021 1:11 PM
Samuel stopped in his tracks when he reached the open clearing. His hair blew in the gusts of loud, cold wind. He turned to the estimated direction of the person and aimed the signal lamp.

".... . .-. ."

He assumed that, like the others, they wouldn't understand the meaning. It didn't matter, though. As long as they drew close enough to hear, he could lead the way.

Amy Carlson | Eduardo Salinas — 10/25/2021 1:16 PM
More lights. Amy had been aiming a little to the right, so she adjusted her aim, watching the light closely It was being turned on, off, on, off. Like a pattern. Morse code or something. Some of the tabletop games she'd played had like, Morse code and stuff in them but that was the kinda stuff that the characters knew, not her! Maybe it was like, uh, fuck, that Japanese demon thing that lured travellers in with a light and then strangled them to death! Or was it drowned?

She shouldn't watch so many creepy videos late at night. Or read about mythology. All the villains and demons of the world were behind that light in her mind, ready to lure her in and kill her dead. "C-come out so I can see you!" Amy shouted. She didn't know if the light-bearer could hear her or not, but she was starting to freak out, and not in a good way.

Nigel Sullivan | Ahn Phan Phuc — 10/25/2021 1:19 PM
The raw roar of the night wind sent shivers into his body as he typed out a repetition of the message on the signal lamp.

".... . .-. ."

He just wanted them to come closer, just a little closer. Just enough to hear, to see, to speak.

He only wanted to help.

Amy Carlson | Eduardo Salinas — 10/25/2021 1:22 PM
"J-just fucking come out!" Amy begged, close to tears. She didn't wanna go near the light. She did want to go to the light, she wanted to run away, she wanted to shoot it, she wanted to not shoot it. All the fears playing on her mind were in full force now. Who could be behind the light? Whitney? Abel? Some- some goddamn maniac?

Please.

She didn't want to shoot. But her finger tensed on the trigger, on the verge of firing.

Nigel Sullivan | Ahn Phan Phuc — 10/25/2021 1:28 PM
The bay of wind barraged his ears with noise as Samuel typed out a hurried message of morse and human vocals blurred together.

".--. .-.. . .- ... . / .-.. .. ... - . -."

Doubts filled his mind as his body ached with cold.

───────────────────────────────────────────────

Can anyone hear me?

Is there anything out there, further than I can see?

Can anyone see me?

Amy Carlson | Eduardo Salinas — 10/25/2021 1:29 PM
Taking a shaky breath, Amy squeezed the trigger, and let out a yelp as the gun banged against her shoulder, causing her to pull the trigger again, momentarily lighting up the forest with each blast. It was like she had a little capsule of daytime in each shot, meant to last only a moment before darkness claimed the forest again.

Nigel Sullivan | Ahn Phan Phuc — 10/25/2021 1:30 PM
The howl of the frigid air cracked as two bullets tore through the ambiance. The first bullet clipped the signal lamp, shattered the glass, and punched a hole in the metal frame. It was knocked out of grasp and fell to the forest floor.

The second struck the left side of Samuel's chest, smashed his ribcage, pierced his lung, embedded itself, and burned like the sun. He fell back against the nearest tree.

A solitary glance at the wound told him everything he needed to hear. He reached his left arm and pawed at the discarded signal lamp twice to nudge it towards him, then grasped it with his trembling fingers. There was only one thing he could think to do.

Amy Carlson | Eduardo Salinas — 10/25/2021 1:34 PM
Amy panted as the pain in her shoulder slowly subsided, the ringing in her ears fading. Had she just, oh, had she just shot someone? That wasn't, uh, oh jeez, oh Jesus. She wanted to run over to whoever had been behind the light, but she was frozen, like tiny little vines had clung to her sneakers and refused to let go, like that one thing out of Harry Potter. Or, uh, Dungeons and Dragons. Was there a trap like that? Was this really important when she had just shot some person???

"I'm..." The panting turned to what felt like a panic attack, Amy's legs giving out from underneath her as she collapsed to stare at the starscape above her. It was so bright. So beautiful. She didn't want to get up, but she knew she had to. She couldn't just stay there. With a gasp, Amy pushed herself up, and slowly started to take steps towards where the light had been.

Nigel Sullivan | Ahn Phan Phuc — 10/25/2021 1:35 PM
He pressed the buttons on the lamp in a dying rhythm, a final message, last words in morse code. His final work done, he laid the object beside him, placed his right hand on the wound, and stared up at the stars from a clearing in the forest's canopy. His fading vision lingered on a bright blue dot in the night sky.

───────────────────────────────────────────────

Polaris is the brightest star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is readily visible to the naked eye at night, from virtually anywhere above the equator. It stands almost motionless, and all the stars of the northern sky appear to rotate around it. Unlike all other stars in the sky, Polaris always points to the North and helps determine direction. Over time, this has caused it to gain symbolic meanings such as guidance, hope, and freedom.

He didn't know where he'd go, but he made a final resolve to himself.

He'd watch over them, in this life or the next.

───────────────────────────────────────────────

By the time Amy found him, the light of his lamp and his dying smile both said the same thing.

".. - .----. ... / --- -.- .- -.-- .-.-.-"

- B010 — ...- .- .. .-.. --..-- / ... .- -- ..- . .-..: END.

Amy Carlson | Eduardo Salinas — 10/27/2021 3:56 PM
Amy followed the lamp, shining like a star in the sky, all the way to whoever had owned it before they

She

Oh Jesus

Fuck

Fuck.

Fuck.

That was a guy all right. That was uh, shit, what was his name, Samuel? He’d been nice when they had bumped into each other in the corridors, but that was all they did and it would be all they ever did because oh Jesus Amy had just murdered him. What the hell had she been thinking? She had just - just panicked, but like, if he was gonna kill her he woulda done something more than shine a light at her!

Amy just stood, staring at his body. She couldn’t pull herself away. This was… this was her fault. She was the one to blame for this. And she wasn’t gonna be able to forgive herself. Not in a million trillion years. All her worries about, about goblins and Michael Myers and whatever she had said just felt childish now. This wasn’t some shitty D&D one shot where she, like, could just kill her characters off easy-peasy.

At some point, she sat down next to Samuel.

DerArknight — 02/04/2022 4:15 PM
((Oops, I forgot to move the inactive character out of the thread. My bad.))

Eventually, the next announcement played, naming her not only as a killer, but also as the winner of some sort of price.

Amy wondered why the hell the terrorists had chosen her. She hadn't even wanted to do this.

"Fuck you." She said straight to the nearest camera. "I am not going to take your shitty present. And I never liked pancakes."

With that, she finally stood up and left, her steps shakier than she wanted to admit.

((Amy Carlson continued in Tabula Rasa))

[SOTF: Discord]

[+] look, someone has to try it once

Amy Carlson | Eduardo Salinas — 25/10/2021 22:17
Name: look, someone has to try it once
Time: Night One
Status: Oneshot

Amy Carlson | Eduardo Salinas — 25/10/2021 22:25
((Eduardo Salinas continued from Searching))

Well, fuck. He'd been running all over looking for that girl and now he was hopelessly lost in the woods. Up shit's creek without a paddle, and he was sweaty from the running and the wetsuit he had been wearing. Should have taken it off, but no, you just had to be smart, Eduardo. Ain't any beachfront property here, that's for sure.

Right now, he was sitting on a tree stump, fiddling with his gun. Big revolver thing. Couldn't hit shit with it, either. That girl was probably crowing to herself about getting away. Making a goddamn fool out of him. His gun tapped against the ball-and-chain around his neck, and Eduardo sighed.

Come to think of it, this stupid thing couldn't be hard to shoot off, could it? It was just a bit of metal. Sure, he'd have to worry about riccochet and all that, but if he just angled the shot right so it'd bounce off the collar and into the night sky, he could probably...

A gunshot.

An explosion.

((Eduardo Salinas: DECEASED))

[SOTF: Discord]

[+] Bruh

DerArknight — 11/05/2021 3:07 PM
Name: Bruh
Time Night One
Status: Oneshot

DerArknight — 11/05/2021 6:14 PM
((Seth Kent continued from Starting point for girl 19))

He didn't have to run very far, yet he came too late.

Before him was a small hill free of trees, the moon spending a decent amount of light compared to the rest of the forest. This gave Seth a good look at the remains of Eduardo, laying on top of the hill, surrounded by blood.

Seth's first reaction was to kneel over and empty his stomach.

Seth's second reaction was to cough out the last drops.

Seth's third reaction was to punch himself in the face, finally putting an end to this unsightly sight.

This was no time to be shocked. Whoever killed Eduardo might still be nearby.

Taking a closer look at the corpse, Seth realized that Eduardo was holding a gun and his only wound was around the neck, which had been totally eviscerated.

Did... his collar blow up?

A disturbing realization dawned him.

Eduardo had tried to shoot off his collar.

It had resulted in his death. That meant...

Harriet is in danger!

If a bullet wasn't fast enough to keep the collar from exploding, then any other weapon wouldn't work either. If Harriet tried to put her plan into motion, she would either kill herself or someone she tried to help. Seth had to warn her.

But before that, there was one more thing to do. With steps more shaky than he acknowledged, Seth went to the corpse and took not only the gun, but also the backpack.

"Sorry, man." Seth said. "I will tell your family you died trying to get us all out of here."

Then he turned back in the direction he had come from, the gun still in his hand. While this was his first time using a firearm, he had seen enough movies to know how they worked.

Unfortunately, there are things movies don't teach about weapons.

Especially about weapon safety.

For example, you should never go near to the trigger unless you want to shoot.

BLAM!

The bullet entered Seth's right leg above the knee and travelled through the limb before leaving him shortly above the foot. He instantly fell, rolling down the hill while his leg splurted blood out of both wounds.

His journey came to an end when his head hit a rock, knocking him out.

By the time he would have awoken, Seth had already bled out.

B008 Seth Kent - Deceased

[SOTF: Discord]

[+] Didnt Have Too Much To Say

LS | Arizona Walker'Texas'Ranger — 11/08/2021 11:33 PM
Name: Didn't Have Too Much To Say
Time: Night One
Status: Open

LS | Arizona Walker'Texas'Ranger — 11/08/2021 11:36 PM
((Arizona, Ottla continued from [Rode a Stranger One Fine Day]))
There wasn't much to say or do on the way other than think.

Though there was a lot to think about. Realistically, they were going to have to consider getting their hands dirty. Ottla didn't want to, no way did she want to play this twisted game. The only problem was that others were already playing, and refusal to do so themselves would eventually cost them dearly.

She had to let Arizona know there wasn't a choice. If they wanted to live, they had to consider fighting and even killing the people they knew.

LS | Arizona Walker'Texas'Ranger — 11/08/2021 11:47 PM

Ottla was in her own head, thinking thing through so deeply and intently. Arizona wasn't like that at all, she acted and maybe thought about if her actions had consequences later. Like when she woke up on the island and found her weapon.

She had some sweet poses and epic lines that she practiced. Of course, in the process of messing with her gun she dropped her ammo in the river.

Left her with just one bullet, but that wasn't going to be an issue. She didn't plan to shoot anyway, not unless she had to. It was a weapon of intimidation, not aggression. Besides, hurting people for real was wrong and something only bad people did.

And she and Ottla were not bad people. They were good people, and she knew that was always going to be the case.

They came across a less densely packed part of the forest, the moon still bright but more difficult to spot between the trees.

"I think this looks like a good spot to rest for the night. It's safe and open, so if we take turns keeping watch we'll be golden."

almostinhuman | Monica, Douglas — 11/10/2021 10:33 AM
((Douglas Wilson-Horne starts here))

For a second, he'd gotten his hopes up, thinking the first person he'd bumped into was alone. But of course she wasn't. Another girl trundled in behind her as they came to a stop. It was like they hadn't listened at all to their little orientation before they'd been dropped here.

You'd think they'd have realized their survival was mutually exclusive.

He remained statue-still, observing the girls from behind the trees. His derringer was loaded and held tight in his right hand.

LS | Arizona Walker'Texas'Ranger — 11/14/2021 8:52 PM
"That sounds like a plan, but I really don't think staying out in the open like this is the best course of action. We should find somewhere more hidden, we wouldn't even need to keep watch of that many spots if we were out of sight."

Ottla gestured to the foliage around them.

"I mean, you could definitely hide in bushes like these with this kind of night. It wouldn't even be that hard." Hell, someone was probably just chilling in the forest and avoiding everyone all together. If it wasn't for the explosive collars, that might even be the best possible plan. The place had to be huge, no way you would get found randomly hiding out here.

She frowned, now she had to let Arizona know what she was thinking about. She knew that Arizona wasn't going to like it, but Ottla needed to make her thoughts clear.

"Arizona? I have something to ask." The look of curiosity she got was expected. The look that would come after was what she dreaded. "If it came to it, if we were forced to... participate"

"We won't, not now or ever."

"But if we had to—”

"No."

"Arizona, be reasonable."

”No Ottla. Never going to happen. We'll find a way out, we won't do as they say. I believe in us, in you. And if you can't believe in yourself, then believe in the me who believes in you." Arizona struck a star pose with her left hand on her hip and her right thumb pointed to herself.

almostinhuman | Monica, Douglas — 11/16/2021 5:01 PM
Ugh. How saccharine. There was pretty clearly only one way out, and no wishful thinking was gonna change that.

At this point what he had planned was probably merciful.

He leaned out from behind his hiding place and took aim. He had two shots, one for each of them. He needed to make them count.

LS | Arizona Walker'Texas'Ranger — 11/25/2021 12:31 PM
"Arizona, I'm being serious. It may save our lives." Ottla made her tone more stern and firm. "I'm not saying we're going to go hunting people down, but we have to be ready to defend ourselves at the very least."

"Ho? Is that right?" Arizona drew her limbs in and placed her right hand over her face. "I hadn't considered that, Texas. How careless was I to dismiss the possibility!"

"Will you listen to me!?"

"How about this instead?" She rushed over to Ottla and wrenched the golf club from her hands, flinging it to the side into the trees.

almostinhuman | Monica, Douglas — 11/25/2021 1:22 PM
The club smacked Douglas square in the face. He heard his glasses crunch and snap, felt his nose break from the force. His arm jerked away and fired, the shot going harmlessly into the trees.

He'd taken too long. He should've just fired.

He leapt up to his feet, firing another wild shot as he bolted from the girls.

LS | Arizona Walker'Texas'Ranger — 11/25/2021 5:17 PM
"What the—" her exclamation was cut short with the sound of the gunshot. She searched around for the shooter, before another shot rang. She wasn't sure where the shots came from or of what to do.

She knew exactly what to do. Arizona had no hesitation, she had to chase down the assailant and deliver righteous justice.

The only problem was that her body refused to move. She was paralyzed with fe— no, some vile paralytic vapor must have been released as well. "Scheiße!" Her dark power was being restrained.

"Texas! Beware the enemy's traps! They've immobilized me!"

Was Arizona hit? She wasn't sure, she couldn't be sure of anything. She had no idea who was shooting at them or from where.

She moved without thinking, straight toward where Arizona threw her weapon, running and yelling at full volume. "GODDAMMIT! GODDAMMIT! GOD DAMN ITTTTTTT!"

almostinhuman | Monica, Douglas — 11/25/2021 5:29 PM
He had to get out of here. The reload on his weapon was far too cumbersome, and without his glasses he couldn't even see if his shots had hit home. He'd fucking blown it. He had to run.

((Douglas Wilson-Horne continued elsewhere))

LS | Arizona Walker'Texas'Ranger — 01/31/2022 4:13 PM
They needed a talk

They needed a talk

((Arizona Ranger, Ottla Redding continued elsewhere))

[SOTF: Discord]

[+] When You Talk, All I See Is Red.

Nigel Sullivan | Ahn Phan Phuc — 11/27/2021 5:32 PM
Name:
When You Talk, All I See Is Red.

Time:
Day One.

Status:
Oneshot.

Nigel Sullivan | Ahn Phan Phuc — 11/27/2021 4:24 PM
[B003 - SULLIVAN, NIGEL: CONTINUED FROM "Stand Your Ground."]

Nigel walked through the forest, the place where he had awoken. His feet dodged branches, and the crunch of leaves beneath his feet echoed outward. He couldn't say it was somewhere he had wanted to be, but it was so large that it wasn't possible to avoid.

He and Brody had separated as they searched for their allies to cover more ground, but he could almost wish that Brody was beside him. The silence made his heart hurt, and he felt a sense of utter isolation. His ally would have been on the other side of the island by now, guided away by the river. For all he knew, the rest of the group was dead now.

He didn't believe it for a second.

He walked into a familiar clearing, and it dawned on him where exactly he was. As the ceramic shards crumbled under his feet, he was confronted once more with the worst thing he'd ever done. He stared down at the corpse's dead, empty eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, some word of apology, some plea for forgiveness, but the words didn't come out.
────────────────────────────────────────────────
He was cut off in the middle of his thoughts by the roar of feedback in his ears as he scanned around for speakers that he couldn't see. It had taken him by complete surprise, and at first, he'd expected that it was another student. His shock soon twisted into anger as he heard the sound that soon arrived.

He listened to the voice of the terrorist, the one who'd shot their teacher, as he broadcast the game's first announcement. His face contorted into a frown, then a scowl, as he heard jokes and jeers, comedy at the expense of the dead. The booming voice of Victor Danya listed everybody who had died and everybody who had committed murder.

Nigel was the second killer he mentioned. He recognized the name of the victim he'd killed, Duncan. He'd heard it thrown around, but never often, and it had always belonged to the type of person who was on the periphery of everyone else.

He was glad that the group wasn't around anymore. He knew they wouldn't want him around anymore, not after what he'd done. He was a murderer, a threat, a danger to everybody around him.

It served him right to be named.

He felt the weight of secrecy slide off his shoulders, and a sense of undeserved relief fell over him. However, this too soon ended and was replaced with a sense of dread as the terrorist continued to speak. They were going to give an award to their favorite murderer, an incentive to keep the slaughter going.

And they'd chosen him.

They wanted him to kill again.

He could feel the fire swell inside him and the angry tears that filled his eyes. He shouldn't be rewarded, praised for what he did.

He wasn't some champion.

He didn't deserve celebration.

He didn't deserve a gold star or a pedestal.

He slammed his fist into a tree and winced as he clutched his bleeding knuckles.

He'd fucking show them. He didn't know how, but he would.

[B003 - SULLIVAN, NIGEL: CONTINUED IN "Everything Is Worth Destroying."]

[SOTF: Discord]

[+] No One Dared To Make A Slip

LS | Arizona Walker'Texas'Ranger — 01/31/2022 4:21 PM
Name: No One Dared To Make A Slip
Time: Day Two
Status: Open

LS | Arizona Walker'Texas'Ranger — 01/31/2022 4:20 PM
((Arizona Ranger, Ottla Redding continued from Didn't Have Too Much To Say))

She tried to get a word in. "I said I was—"

"Don't." Ottla crossed her arms and sighed. "Thank God you weren't hurt, that none of us was hurt. Thank God for that, but goddamn if that wasn't the stupidest fucking thing you've ever done."

This was perhaps a bit harsh, but it needed to be said.

"Alright, let me try and make sure I'm understood here."

LS | Arizona Walker'Texas'Ranger — 01/31/2022 4:32 PM
"I love you, and all your quirky nature, but sometimes I feel like you forget that there's a world outside of your fantasies.

Arizona, when we found each other here, I was so relieved that you were still with me. I was terrified before I found you that something may have happened to you, that you may have gotten hurt."

Arizona shook her head. "But I wasn't hurt, I'm not hurt. I—”

"Listen, please." Ottla raised her hand, then lowered it. "You're right, you weren't hurt. And I'm glad that's the case. But I'm asking myself if you remember seeing the same thing I saw, hearing the same thing I heard, and if you know you're in the same place I am."

She shook her head. "This isn't some game, this isn't some story of good guys and bad guys. This is probably the worst scenario we could have possibly ended up in. The reality of it is that we need to consider everything carefully. One mistake could very well cost is our lives. And I don't want that to happen."

LS | Arizona Walker'Texas'Ranger — 01/31/2022 4:41 PM

Arizona practically jumped up. "Neither do I! That's not what I was trying to do. I just, I just."

She couldn't bring her gaze up to Ottla.

"I-I guess I was too scared. Too scared to admit I'm scared. What am I supposed to do? I don't know how to protect you. I don't know how to protect myself. I don't want to die, but I don't want to hurt people either. But people want to hurt us and I don't know how to deal with that!"

She couldn't fight the tears anymore. She brought her arms up to wipe them away, but they flowed steadily.

Texas brought her arms around her, held her tight.

"We're both scared. We're both clueless on what to do. But that's why we need to talk it out and see what to do. 'If you can't believe in yourself, then believe in the me that believes in you.' Isn't that what you said?"

She held her close and kissed her cheek.

" We'll figure it out, or something like that. "

LS | Arizona Walker'Texas'Ranger — 02/08/2022 10:32 AM
They held each other together for a while, just letting each other feel their warmth.

"I think we should find better shelter first. I don't know if I can take this forest for another night, you know?"

She laughed softly and stroked Arizona's hair.

"We'll make it through this, I promise. No matter what, no matter how bad it gets, we'll make it through."

Arizona wished that they were back home, that they were anywhere else. They could just sit together and hold hands and relax and watch a movie or do anything without worrying about anything in the world.

They weren't home though, and things were bad, but they weren't going to give up.

Maybe they could avoid the violence, maybe they could find a way to escape or something.

"Yeah, we'll figure it out on the way I guess. It is kind of cold, not like camping at all. Not exactly my isekai fantasy, after all."

She took Ottla's hand in hers.

"Let's go, let's find our own way."

"Do our own thing. See the invisible, do the impossible!"

"ROW ROW, FIGHT THE POWER!"

The girls giggled and laughed and went on their way. They were together, that's all that mattered.

((Arizona Ranger, Ottla Redding continued elsewhere))

[SOTF: Discord]

[+] Tabula Rasa

DerArknight — 02/04/2022 5:28 PM
Name: Tabula Rasa
Time: Day 2
Status: Inactivity-Cleanup 2

DerArknight — 02/04/2022 5:28 PM
((Ava Grae continued from you are a stranger here))

Fuck.

Right now, Ava had many reasons for this reaction. She had been abducted. She was in a death game. And now she had even lost her team while running away from the factory.

She had spent the night roaming the woods, with no news.

Well, almost no news.

((Harriet Kownacki continued from Starting point for girl 19))

„Are you sure we are getting closer to Brody and the rest of your group?“ Harriet inquired. „Because this trees look pretty familiar.“

„Don't worry, I know where we are headed.“ Ava lied.

On one hand, she wasn't a big fan of Harriet back at school. On the other, Harriet was a good friend of Brody, who was one of the team, so she might as well bring her along.

Together they more or less travelled in the direction where the whole group was supposed to meet. And they would have almost made it, but fate turned out to be particularly cruel on this day.

„What the-“ Ava let out.

Before them was a small clearing with a hill. On top of this hill was a guy Ava remembered from school. Some kind of surfer dude. At the feet of the hill laid another boy who Ava remembered seeing in the hallways of Cory Baleson High now and then. Both were dead.

The view was distressing. Ava had known that her classmates died here, but this was her first time seeing it that close. Harriet on the other hand seemed disturbed for other reasons.

„That one is Seth Kent.“ She said, pointing at the boy who had apparently fallen down the hill. „I met him briefly last evening.“ Her voice was shaking.

Ava recalled the announcement. According to that asshole Danya, Seth had died in an accident. She was unsure if this was a good or bad thing. However, she did take notice of the gun Seth was still holding. Figuring that two guns were better than one, she wanted to pick it up.
BANG!

Since the bullet had not been aimed at any of the two girls, but were unhurt. But it still made them pause.

„I would advise you to get your damn hands up.“ The boy who stepped out from behind a tree said.

((Abel Manning continued from we live forever and we love to live))

Ava froze, feeling a cold panic spread within her. Before she knew it, she had taken a few steps back and indeed raised her hands, just like Harriet.

Abel looked at them sceptical for a second. „Give me your bags.“

„Wait a moment, please.“ Harriet tried. „There is no need for you to do this. We can all escape from here.“

Abel looked at her as if she had said something funny. Which meant he looked at her as if he wasn't going to shoot or rob them. Which was good enough in Ava's book.

„She is right. We are part of a group trying to get the collars off and leave this place. You can join us if you want.“ She had no idea what the others would say to this new recruit. But Nigel had also been on the announcements, so it should be fine, right?

For a few seconds, Abel just kept the gun aimed on them, seeming to be in thought. But then he relaxed and sat down on a fallen tree next to him, without the gun showing in any other direction that the two girls. Finally, a devillish grin flashed over his face, and Ava knew she had fucked up.

„How about this: you remove your friend's collar right now, before my eyes, and I will say goodbye to my life as an outlaw and join you guys. Fail, and I will shoot you down. Say no to my offer, and I will shoot you down as well. Deal?“

Ava gritted her teeth. She threw a quick look at Harriet. She considered drawing her gun, calculating who would be faster. Finally, she answered.

„Deal.“

And so, Ava found herself staring at her open first aid kit, trying to figure out what tools to use for the job.

In front of her sat Harriet, slightly nervous. Somewhere behind her was Abel, gun surely still trained on her.

„Are you gonna start today?“ Abel asked.

„Sure.“ Ava answered. Then she grabbed the lighter and a tweezer.

„There is a barely noticeable fissure in the collars. I will heat this tweezer and stick it into said fissure, destroying the mechanism that triggers the explosives. Then the collar can be cracked open.“ She lied.

In truth, her plan was much more desperate: the moment Abel seemed to be distracted, she would rush him. A part of her knew this was a risky plan, but if someone pointed a gun at you, your pool of unrisky plan tended to be a manageable amount.

Ava felt Abel staring at her intently.

She took her sweet time heating the tweezers.

Ava felt Abel staring at her intently.

„Get ready.“ She told Harriet.

Ava felt Abel staring at her intently, showing no signs of taking his concentration off her.

With all her possible moves used up, she had no choice but to grab Harriet's collar in order to keep pretending she had a plan.

And that was when she found it.

There was a barely noticeable fissure on the lower part of the collar. Just as she had claimed.

“...” This sudden development was so awkward Ava froze for a moment.

“I. Am. Waiting.” Abel spoke slowly.

“Sure, sure.”

All of a sudden, her distraction didn't seem to distracting anymore.

If the fissure was real, maybe the rest of her plan would work as well? Then she would quickly remove her own collar as well while the panicking terrorists blew up Abel to avoid more of them becoming collarless. And then they could get out of here.

Slightly hopeful, Ava grabbed the collar firmly with her left hand. Harriet, who had seen Ava's face going through forty different expressions during the last minute, looked even more confused than before.

Ava found herself smiling.

Harriet seemed unsure, but smiled back.

With no more hesitation, Ava inserted the tweezers into the collar.

For two seconds, nothing happened.

Then the collar blew up, blasting both Ava's left hand and Harriet's neck into pieces.

G019 Harriet Kownacki – Deceased
The explosion made Ava fall back on her butt. Pain exploded where her left hand, making her scream.

Laughter was mixed into her screams.

“So much to your big escape.” Abel mocked. “Well, at least you gave me a good show. But now-”

“Hold it right there, criminal scum!”

B009 Donnie Thornberry – Start

Donnie stood on top of the hill, right next to Eduardo's corpse. He had watched. Watched and waited. Waited for the right moment to make an awesome entry. Like any hero, he always arrived in the last possible second.

He totally hadn't hesitated or anything. Why would you think that?

“Your evil deeds will no longer be tolerated!” He exclaimed, pointing accusingly at the dumbfounded Abel. “Receive heaven's wrath.” With that, Donnie unleashed his weapon: the frizbee of divine punishment...

“Yagaboo dibiity ba ya do de ahaahwa awhiiiibibibibibi!”

… which missed Abel by about two meters and landed somewhere in the bushes.

Donnie stared at the weapon that had failed him. Meanwhile, Abel looked at him with a mix of pity and second-hand-embarrassment.

“Wait, how about we talk-”

His only answer was a bullet to the face.

B009 Donnie Thornberry – Deceased
“... So, where did we left off?” Abel asked.

His answer was a bullet as well. With blood spurting out of his shoulder, he fell down.

Ava breathed heavily. But she was alive. Now she had to patch her hand and-

“Stay right where you are, murderer!”

Ava spotted the pair of newcomers. One boy and one girl. The latter was pointing a firearm at her.

((Amy Carlson continued from ... - .- .-. .-.. .. --. .... -))

((Scotty D'nnough continued from Come Fly With Me))

Ever since killing the boy, Amy had felt the need to make up for it. But she hadn't known what. Her new companion had suggested that they went around to bury the dead in order to give them some respect. And for a while, this had felt good. They had buried Bob and Marty at the beach.

But Amy had still been dissatisfied. She wanted to do more good.

And now she had the opportunity.

“Listen up,” she told the girl who had apparently shot four boys and made one girl's collar explode. “Give us your weapons and promise you won't hurt anyone form now on. Then you will live.”

Right next to Amy, Scotty was unsure if they were doing the right thing. But Amy had acted pretty weird so far, so he didn't dare to speak up.

Another person watched the proceedings.

B023 Dixon Cider – Start

Dixon knew this was a risky situation. But there was a big award waiting for him: the gun still in the hands of Seth Kent.

His designated weapon was a report about why strapping a kid to a bison was impossible. Dixon had gotten to page 44 before throwing it away.

But a gun would be useful. He just had to quickly rush out of his hiding spot, make it to the corpse five meters in front of him and start shooting like in Counter-Strike.

When the girls seemed to be busy with each other, he saw his opportunity. Hastily, he jumped up and sprinted to the gun. Two seconds later, it was in his hands.

And in the next, he had pulled the trigger.


Meanwhile, the girl who had been sleeping nearby the whole time finally woke up.

((Stanislava Ionescu continued from Come Fly With Me))

All she wanted was to sleep. But stuff kept happening around her.

Enough was enough. Time to tell the world she needed her nap!

“Hey, can you all tone it down a bit?” She asked, stepping out onto the clearing.


Abel was still alive. And he was furious.

The moment more voices and noises emerged, he collected all his powers. His shoulder hurt, but the bullet seemed to have missed everything important.

With one push, he stood up, raised his gun and fired.


Startled by the people suddenly moving and appearing, Ava and Amy fired as well.


For about 20 seconds, shots from several firearms turned the clearing into a concert of death.

Then there was silence.

DerArknight — 02/04/2022 5:35 PM
Stacy went back to sleep. Forever.

G019 Stanislava “Stacy” Ionescu – Deceased


Scotty spent his last moments wondering who would bury him.

B020 Scotty D'nnough – Deceased


Ava breathed in. Ava breathed out.

Was this how it ended? All her plans of escaping with Brody and the others, just gone? Would they look for her? Would they care? Would anyone care about her demise?

Ava breathed in. Ava breathed out.

She didn't breath in again.

G003 Ava Grae – Deceased


Amy didn't even have time to believe it. Everything she did in her life had been leading up to... this?

Why was I even trying so hard?

G005 Amy Carlson – Deceased


“Wait!” Dixon managed to mumble while he bled out. “This wasn't supposed to-”

B023 Dixon Cider – Deceased


And after the five had stopped breathing, one single soul stood above them.

B015 Abel Manning – Still Alive

Abel took a deep breath, greedily filling himself up with air. When the bullets had been flying, he had expected to get shot down, but somehow everyone had missed him.

He smiled. Was there a bigger proof that he was invincible? After surviving this, who could even dream of besting him?

((Horace McGillicutty continued from danya's kinda cringe ngl))

Horace was not having a good time.

After losing his second companion within 24 hours, he found himself wandering through the big forest in the middle of the island. Sometimes he would stay on the road. Sometimes he would go right through the woods. But at all times, he would unconsciously avoid the mansion. It was a false promise of safety that had cost Alexis her life.

And then he found one of the two people he had been looking for.

Abel, the boy who had killed Alexis, stood right in the middle of a small clearing, surrounded by a ridiculous number of corpses. Had this monster killed all of them? Maybe. Horace didn't know, and he didn't care.

He would make sure that Abel would never hurt anyone else again.

When Horace entered the clearing, the other boy heard him. No words were spoken between the two.

Since he had emptied his weapon during the shootout, Abel dropped his colt and picked up the weapon closest to him.

It was Scotty's FUBAR.

Horace raised his baseball bat.

The two boys clashed.


One might have expected an epic fight with many clashes, both boys unlocking their true potential and holding epic monologues during the battle.

There were none of these thing.

Horace aimed for Abel's head.

Abel aimed for Horace's chest.

Both found their mark with fatal precision.

While Abel died instantly, Horace had time to fall to the ground and feel how every breath filling his lungs with blood.

He had no regrets.

B015 Abel Mannings – Deceased

B007 Horace McGillicutty - Deceased

[SOTF: Discord]

[+] What A Big Bloodbath

Undead Sweetheart | Tad, Evan — 02/15/2022 6:26 AM
Name: What A Big Bloodbath
Time: Day 2
Status: Open

Undead Sweetheart | Tad, Evan — 02/15/2022 6:20 AM
Evan has seen the aftermath of it all. He had heard voices and then the gunshots. People screaming. Dying. He had stayed hidden behind a tree as he had been close to the bloody nightmare.

And then there was a wave of silence.

He had cautiously made his way towards the place he had heard it and he had just witnessed Horace and Abel taking each other out for the count.

Evan stared.

Stared at the bodies.

What the hell? Everyone really did go crazy here, huh?

He kept himself silent as he continued to glance at the the mangle of bodies covered in blood.

What the heck was he supposed to do now?

Undead Sweetheart | Tad, Evan — 02/21/2022 6:23 PM
Time passed by and the boredom had kicked in for Evan who was chilling and resting against a tree. Not the best thing to rest up against, but it wasn't like he had the choice for a comfy bed.

Evan took a sip of water from his bottle of water and he let out a small sigh. He felt like he wanted to do something to entertain himself, but the only thing he could do was practice his archery skills.

On what?

The bodies??

Evan frowned at the sudden thought. Too morbid.

Undead Sweetheart | Tad, Evan — 02/27/2022 10:35 AM
More time had passed and he hadn't heard any footsteps or voices for a very long time. He almost felt like having a nap. He would just have possible nightmares if he did.

He needed to think over what he needed to do next.

He had the time afterall.

Laurels | Flora — 03/02/2022 7:25 AM
((Cosima Love continued from Black Roses))

Cosima continued to walk through the forest. After fleeing the garden, she had found a nice crook in a tree to get at least four hours of sleep. Now it was the second day, more people were dead, but Cosima was still alive.

Cosima got up, brushed all the dirt and sticks off, and then continued walking with her sack. She still didn't have any idea of where to go or what to do, but every minute breathing was a victory for her.

Undead Sweetheart | Tad, Evan — 03/02/2022 7:34 AM
Evan could hear some noises and his body was suddenly on alert. He got up to his feet sharply and he glanced around like a rabid dog seeking out its prey. He made sure that the bow was at his side for a moment. He had a grip on an arrow with his other hand.

He had to do this to live.

Or for as long as he possibly could.

He couldn't see anyone at moment. Had it been an animal?

Laurels | Flora — 03/04/2022 1:54 PM
Cosima continued to walk. She wasn't sure where she was, but surely she'd find a landmark soon.
She continued to walk, trying in vain to keep the cans from clattering

Undead Sweetheart | Tad, Evan — 03/04/2022 2:01 PM
Evan then saw her and he was thankfully hidden by a bush and a tree. This was his chance to get something done. He had to do it quietly and without her attention on him.

Being a quiet kid had its advantages after all.

He got the the arrow ready and steady against the bow and he moved slightly to left behind the bush, getting a better view of the girl.

He couldn't stop now.

He aimed it accurately and slightly in front of the girl so that it would hit her when she moved forward.

....And he fired off the arrow to its destiny.

Laurels | Flora — 03/04/2022 2:03 PM
Cosima suddenly felt a force hit her that made her stumble back and drop her sack. She backed into a tree and slid to the ground.

She looked down and realized there was now an arrow sticking out of her upper chest. Her eyes widened in shock.

"W-what? What the fuck?" she muttered.

Her eyes darted around. Someone was shooting at her, and she was currently cornered and seriously injured.

Undead Sweetheart | Tad, Evan — 03/04/2022 2:12 PM
His target had been hit. No, a girl. Not a target. He had to remember that people were still human here, even if they had been killing each other left and right. Still he had got her, but it was likely she wasn't dead yet. He had to get closer to put her out of her misery.

He shuffled through the bush and he made his way closer to where he had seen her fall. He made sure to stop walking about five or six steps away from her and he didn't give her a pitying look or a sympathetic smile. He wasn't going to drag out her suffering.

He got out another arrow with ease and he aimed it right at her head steadily.

"....Sorry." Was all that he could muster softly.

Laurels | Flora — 03/04/2022 2:16 PM
Cosima's attacker had emerged. She looked up at the archer, seeing the bow in his hand as he put another arrow in.

Cosima tried to pull herself up and move, but she could barely move. It felt like all energy was sapped out of her.

She simply looked at the guy who was uselessly apologizing to her.

"Don't you dare-" was all Cosima could say.

Undead Sweetheart | Tad, Evan — 03/04/2022 2:17 PM
He let go once more.

Laurels | Flora — 03/04/2022 2:20 PM
The arrow pierced Cosima's forehead, and her head slumped forward.

There wasn't any time for her to make any final thoughts or remarks. The girl who had tried to stay low and hidden found the limits to her ability, and now there was nothing left for her to say or do. She was caught, and now there was nothing left for her.

G009: COSIMA LOVE: DECEASED

Undead Sweetheart | Tad, Evan — 03/07/2022 5:07 PM
He had really done it. He had taken someone's life. Like it had completely meant nothing to him. In truth, he actually valved his life a long more than all the others. He needed to keep himself alive.

He wiped at the sweat on his cheek and look at it. ....Oh, it was some blood. Huh...

He moved right up to the girl's corpse and he went to work to get the arrows back, making sure that they were not damaged at all. The one from her forehead was hard to get out and he made sure that the girl's eyes were closed.

He leaned her back against the tree gently and he decided to leave the forest of corpses.

He needed to wash away his blood-like sin.

((Evan Ridley continued elsewhere))

[SOTF: Discord]

[+] Late To The Tragedy

DerArknight — 03/10/2022 12:58 PM
Name: Late To The Tragedy
Time: Morning of Day 3
Status: Oneshot

DerArknight — 03/10/2022 2:06 PM
((Theodora "Theo" Reed continued from Black Roses))

It was a new day, and Theo had no idea where she was going.

Okay, she kind of had an idea. She just didn't know where to find it.

The last announcement had been as disturbing as every other one, with Danya making crude jokes about the deceased. Theo was busy imagining what he might say about her when he suddenly dropped something rather important.

"Don't worry, at this point nearly everyone of you has a firearm. And if not, there are a whole lot of armed corpses lying around in the forest."

It wouldn't surprise her if she was sole reason for the "nearly" being standing in front of the "everyone". If Theo wanted to survive, she would have to change that.

The forest turned out to be harder to traverse than on the first day. Was it because she had barely eaten? Or because she was actually looking for something this time? In the end, she dropped her scythe somewhere. After that, her fatigue was replaced with a feeling of dread. The scythe might have been heavy, but it had been the closest thing to a weapon she had.

Not that it would make her turn back to retrieve it.

__

Finding what she was looking for turned out to be much grosser endeavor. Before she saw the first signs of the bloodbath, the stench made her nauseous.

Theo instantly knew she had struck gold. Or lead. Or whatever metaphor was the most fitting right now. With hasty steps, she entered the clearing.

It was a good thing Theo hadn't eaten during the last hours, because now it would have shown up again. The sign of corpses was inescapable. Some where strangers to her, some she recognised from school and some she remembered talking to not even a week ago. All of them had ended up here, strewn across the clearing like some sort of gory shrine to the blood gods.

And many of them had what Theo wanted.

Focusing on her desire to leave this place ASAP helped her to approach the nearest corpse and check their hands. The dead girl was holding a small gun that Theo believed to be a 9mm Whatever XD.

Do I really have to... touch her?

It was true that had already touched the dead girl in the mansion. But said girl had been fresh. The corpses on this clearing where at least a whole day old. Plus they lay in the middle of the forest. Even now with Theo there a whole bunch of animals ranging from insects to birds were having a disgusting feast.

...
...

The stench seemed to get worse the longer she stayed.

Finally, Theo bend down and grabbed for the gun. Thankfully the grip of the corpse was faint and easy to loosen.

"Sorry." Theo said to no one who could hear it.

She even took the girl's backpack, figuring that she would need all the ammo she could get.

Then she was off, and the clearing became quiet once more.

((Theodora "Theo" Reed continued elsewhere))

[SOTF: Discord]

[+] It Was Early In The Morning

LS | Arizona Walker'Texas'Ranger — 03/14/2022 6:32 PM
Name: It Was Early In The Morning
Time: Morning Day 3
Status: Oneshot

LS | Arizona Walker'Texas'Ranger — 03/14/2022 6:44 PM
((Arizona Ranger continued from Big Iron on (Her) Hip))

The morning came and still Arizona lay next to Ottla's body. She didn't want to leave, didn't want to go. But she had to.

She took Ottla's bag, her golf club, and her tan ten-gallon hat. She stuffed the weapons into Ottla's bag, now hers, and looked once more at her darling dear.

"Guess I'll be on my way. Texas, if it's alright I'll be taking one more thing from you." She knelt down by the head of the body. She leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"I'll be taking the nickname I gave you back. I need it to make it through this now."

She got up and tipped the hat down.

A long time ago, Ottla had asked her if she her name was really Arizona. She had teased her in jest when she told her yes.

What she didn't tell her about ever, was that her parents gave her an embarrassing middle name too.

One that she would now need along with Ottla's nickname.

She had to move on from being just an Arizona Ranger.

She had to become someone else.

"Arizona Ranger is gone. It's time to become Walker, Texas Ranger."

She made her way out from the Factory and into the Forest. She had a single minded focus. It was time to end things, and she knew where she had to go.

She had to ride into the town. Slowly look all around.

And do what Ottla wanted her to do from the start.