Everything was suddenly standing still. Becky kept staring at the corpse of Erin Underwood, the corpse that she had created, as a sickly lump grew in her throat. All she’d wanted to do was to save a random girl from getting shot, instead of walking away and leaving her to her inevitable death. She’d never thought about killing the assailant, or even what would happen after she’d kicked her ass. Yet all it had taken was one misplaced foot, and now one of her classmates was impaled on a tree.
It was just like the time she’d beaten up Tammy Warner in sixth grade, except times a million. Her parents had been so mad at her, the teacher had been telling her off non-stop, there was talk of anger management at some point, but she’d never really meant to hurt Tammy back then; all she’d wanted was for her to shut up. She hadn’t even been that badly hurt in the end, either.
Not like Erin, who was about as hurt as any person could be, being dead and all.
As she felt the buzzing of a panicked swarm in her stomach, trying to force her meager dinner of bread back up out her mouth, Tori made her move to start looting the body. Becky wasn’t thinking about what she was doing as she approached, she was still far too stunned by the fact that she was a freaking murderer, but when Tori pulled the gun out of Erin's hand, she regained Becky's attention through bringing about the terrifying presence of danger, enough for her to listen to her properly.
What Tori said did not help the situation.
It took her a moment to get words together; the sheer shock of what Tori had flatly stated put the chaos of her thoughts into further disarray. All she could do was stare back at her with a blank face, the implication she'd put forward sounding completely impossible. However, the skeptic inside her was growing weary with the Program, and what little reasoning she still had in her delirious state finally burst out of her mind and into words.
“Why?! Why do you want to kill me?!” she screamed. It was yet another person she’d known, not as on good terms as Maxim but still better than a stranger, who was turning around and announcing their willingness to kill her straight to her face. It was like every hour she spent in the Program, more and more people were getting ready to put a bullet in her head.
“What did I ever do to you Tori?! Erin wasn’t your friend, was she?! I didn’t try to kill you, all I did was try to save Yumi!” she kept screaming, her voice threatening to run hoarse as the words grew more desperate, but she kept screaming. “I didn’t want to kill Erin, so don’t try to kill me like I did it on purpose!”
An accidental murder: it might've persuaded a jury of manslaughter, but would it persuade Tori to let her live, despite her claim of no murder attempts? Would everyone else on the island decide that she was the one who killed Erin, just because an announcement said so? Would it be enough to convince herself of her own innocence?
None of that mattered right now. What mattered right now was how much Tori was driving Becky crazy.
Hush, Hush
Open
"It doesn't matter if it was in self-defense!" Tori snapped, waving the gun around. "You could've rendered her unconscious instead of killing her! Nobody, not even those assholes like Brian, deserves to die in this damned game, and you've just submitted." Tori motioned towards Erin with a scowl. "The government wants to murder us all, and why?! Is there a point to this killing?! As I said before, I'm not killing you, or anybody. I'm not going to submit and slaughter my classmates. They can't make me."
Tori's rant, combined with her previous screams, had rendered her parched and exhausted. Sighing, she reached into her bag and took out a bottle of water. Fumbling with the cap and managing to open it, she sipped from it thoughtfully. Turning back to Becky, she continued her rant/speech/whatever it was now.
"We clear on that, I was saying I could, not that I would." She affirmed with her. "I know it was accidental. Sorry about that." Now that the rage was gone (thanks to that rant), she came back to her senses and began to notice that an alliance might be salvageable. "But people will think you've murdered her voluntarily. Players will think you're a threat and target you. Vigilantes will see you as a bloodthirsty monster and shoot you on sight. Everybody else will see you as dangerous and avoid you. In a nutshell, nobody will talk to you again." Tori paused to take another sip from her bottle. Giving speeches was sure hard work. "Listen, I know that you didn't mean it, but others don't know that. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't do that again voluntarily, so I know I'm safe." She looked Becky in the eye. "Right? Will you murder again?" Tori tightened her grip on the gun.
Cause if you will, I'll have to pop off your kneecap.
Tori's rant, combined with her previous screams, had rendered her parched and exhausted. Sighing, she reached into her bag and took out a bottle of water. Fumbling with the cap and managing to open it, she sipped from it thoughtfully. Turning back to Becky, she continued her rant/speech/whatever it was now.
"We clear on that, I was saying I could, not that I would." She affirmed with her. "I know it was accidental. Sorry about that." Now that the rage was gone (thanks to that rant), she came back to her senses and began to notice that an alliance might be salvageable. "But people will think you've murdered her voluntarily. Players will think you're a threat and target you. Vigilantes will see you as a bloodthirsty monster and shoot you on sight. Everybody else will see you as dangerous and avoid you. In a nutshell, nobody will talk to you again." Tori paused to take another sip from her bottle. Giving speeches was sure hard work. "Listen, I know that you didn't mean it, but others don't know that. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't do that again voluntarily, so I know I'm safe." She looked Becky in the eye. "Right? Will you murder again?" Tori tightened her grip on the gun.
Cause if you will, I'll have to pop off your kneecap.
Becky just wanted to keep screaming back at Tori as she shouted her twisted logic back at her. She hadn’t even been trying to kill Erin, she never would have, but Tori just kept coming at her like kicking someone onto a tree branch was a perfectly predictable consequence to trying to play hero. She could keep telling her that she was a murderer all she wanted, but Becky was never going to accept that title, even if she was really starting to want to kick Tori onto a tree branch now too.
Yet Tori just decided to flip her off even more by taking time out of their argument to quench her first. Becky could just stand there with another stunned look on her face, one the displayed just how offended almost anyone would be when someone took a drink break from screaming in your face when there was a dead body right behind them. The fact that she decided to get civil right after, like she’d washed all the screaming out of her throat, did not sit well with the increasingly pissed off Becky Long.
The apology was unexpected, but insufficient. It kept her from shouting back at her for long enough for Tori to keep going, but only basic manners was how she’d been raised. She wasn’t going to grab her own water whilst Tori was talking, even as her throat burned raw from her constant shouting that day, that was for sure.
Tori’s follow up, however, tossed Becky’s courtesy back out the window just by the sheer scale of how insulting it was.
“What the hell is your problem, Tori? You grab a gun, say how you could kill me, and then you’re gonna talk to me about how everyone else is gonna kill me too? What is your freaking problem!?” she was shouting again, but nothing could stop her anymore, not even herself. “Not everyone else is like you! Not everyone is so freaking stupid that they won’t understand it was an accident! If you really don’t think I’m gonna kill you, then-“ her tirade paused, as she tried to think of way to get Tori to shut the hell up and stop acting like she was so much better than her. The fact that her grip still held the gun tightly gave her the idea.
“Then throw the gun away! Prove it!
Yet Tori just decided to flip her off even more by taking time out of their argument to quench her first. Becky could just stand there with another stunned look on her face, one the displayed just how offended almost anyone would be when someone took a drink break from screaming in your face when there was a dead body right behind them. The fact that she decided to get civil right after, like she’d washed all the screaming out of her throat, did not sit well with the increasingly pissed off Becky Long.
The apology was unexpected, but insufficient. It kept her from shouting back at her for long enough for Tori to keep going, but only basic manners was how she’d been raised. She wasn’t going to grab her own water whilst Tori was talking, even as her throat burned raw from her constant shouting that day, that was for sure.
Tori’s follow up, however, tossed Becky’s courtesy back out the window just by the sheer scale of how insulting it was.
“What the hell is your problem, Tori? You grab a gun, say how you could kill me, and then you’re gonna talk to me about how everyone else is gonna kill me too? What is your freaking problem!?” she was shouting again, but nothing could stop her anymore, not even herself. “Not everyone else is like you! Not everyone is so freaking stupid that they won’t understand it was an accident! If you really don’t think I’m gonna kill you, then-“ her tirade paused, as she tried to think of way to get Tori to shut the hell up and stop acting like she was so much better than her. The fact that her grip still held the gun tightly gave her the idea.
“Then throw the gun away! Prove it!
"Oh come on, Becky!" Tori snapped back, stepping forward. She had pissed off the second girl today, and it didn't look like she was going to stop. So much for keeping quiet. "The only people who saw it were you, me, Yumi and Zora. If your logic is fine, then all the deaths were accidental!" Tori almost grabbed Becky by the collar, but had enough common sense to do it. The rest of her sense, however, had long gone away.
"And I know that's bullshit. I saw Clara shoot Caleb. That was legit murder, and paranoia had taken over everybody here. Nobody is stupid enough to go 'Oh, she killed so-and so? It must've been an accident!'" Tori winced as the picture of Caleb's corpse materialized in her head, but she kept it headstrong. God, it was stupid trying to rationalize with Becky! Tori's been pissing people off every day or cowering, and she'll be dead soon if this keeps up. Hell, Becky could kill her right now!
"Besides, look at all those overly patriotic kids! They'll be hunting people down anyway, and trust between friends has been completely obliterated. I'm not sure I can trust my own friends!"" Tori stopped and heaved. Stepping back, she glared at Becky. The command from Becky came as a shock. Did this girl expect her to throw away something that could keep her safe?! Nobody's stupid enough to do that! It's like taking off your life jacket over the Mariana Trench, or throwing away your flashlight in a haunted forest! "Hah, sure, like I'm-" Then, Tori's common sense went out the window. Her mind came up with the absurd idea to comply with Becky, just to spite her. It didn't make sense, but it sounded brilliant at the time. Bravo, bravo, give the girl a prize!
Tori laughed. "Really, okay," Tori didn't drop it, she threw it on the ground, landing at Becky's feet. "Fine. Happy now, murderer?" The Filipino girl smirked and took three huge steps back, to show it even more. She stretched that last part, just to piss off Becky. It was the entire reason she was doing this whole thing.
"And I know that's bullshit. I saw Clara shoot Caleb. That was legit murder, and paranoia had taken over everybody here. Nobody is stupid enough to go 'Oh, she killed so-and so? It must've been an accident!'" Tori winced as the picture of Caleb's corpse materialized in her head, but she kept it headstrong. God, it was stupid trying to rationalize with Becky! Tori's been pissing people off every day or cowering, and she'll be dead soon if this keeps up. Hell, Becky could kill her right now!
"Besides, look at all those overly patriotic kids! They'll be hunting people down anyway, and trust between friends has been completely obliterated. I'm not sure I can trust my own friends!"" Tori stopped and heaved. Stepping back, she glared at Becky. The command from Becky came as a shock. Did this girl expect her to throw away something that could keep her safe?! Nobody's stupid enough to do that! It's like taking off your life jacket over the Mariana Trench, or throwing away your flashlight in a haunted forest! "Hah, sure, like I'm-" Then, Tori's common sense went out the window. Her mind came up with the absurd idea to comply with Becky, just to spite her. It didn't make sense, but it sounded brilliant at the time. Bravo, bravo, give the girl a prize!
Tori laughed. "Really, okay," Tori didn't drop it, she threw it on the ground, landing at Becky's feet. "Fine. Happy now, murderer?" The Filipino girl smirked and took three huge steps back, to show it even more. She stretched that last part, just to piss off Becky. It was the entire reason she was doing this whole thing.
The screaming match wasn’t getting them anywhere, except further and further into their conflicting fits of anger. Tori’s unique brand of logic, better known as total freaking stupidity, would’ve made her easily dismissible under normal circumstances. However, Becky never was the type to just dismiss someone, especially when they were still calling her a freaking murderer that everyone was going to try to kill to her face, and a dead body just a few feet away from both of them was still rendering this far from normal circumstances.
When Tori raised the gun, unbeknownst to Becky that her intention was only to throw it, every muscle in Becky’s body clenched up as Tori laughed, if only for a moment. When it came flying at her feet, she brought up her arms whilst letting out another yelp, expecting a loaded gun to smack her right in the face. When instead, it thudded harmlessly at her feet, she could only look back and forth between it and Tori, the latter continuing to push her luck with her unbelievably annoying stupidity.
The opportunity to finish Tori off permanently was lying right at her feet. It would be so easy to just pick the gun up, point it at her, and make her shut up forever. She’d get a gun, which everyone who seemed to have one was enjoying very much, whilst getting to also deal with someone she really really hated at this point. It would've been very easy and very cathartic.
But, instead of taking the practical route, Becky decided to just be petty. Looking Tori straight in the eye, she took her challenge head on and threw every shred of gun safety that she didn’t know out the window. With a single swing of her foot, she kicked the gun hard, launching it off into the bushes as its landing spot went lost in the moonlit night.
“Yeah, I’m really freaking happy now-“ she had trouble thinking of a comeback to Tori’s murderer accusation. “Well, I’m really happy now, Tori!” But of course she wasn’t. Every moment spent still looking at Tori was just driving her crazier in her already mad adventures in the Program. Right now, she needed to do what her parents always told her to do and just walk away from it all, even if she wanted so badly to just run up and kick Tori in the face. After running around in the valley all day, she was tired, cranky and just needed to get home, were the last one not totally impossible anymore.
“Screw you Tori! I hope someone murders you!” she spat back, not an ounce of respect for the two’s situation in her curse, before turning on foot and beginning to leave. She just wanted to get to town, sleep in whatever bed she could find and get as far away from freaking Tori as she could.
((Becky Long continued in Said the Spider to the Fly))
When Tori raised the gun, unbeknownst to Becky that her intention was only to throw it, every muscle in Becky’s body clenched up as Tori laughed, if only for a moment. When it came flying at her feet, she brought up her arms whilst letting out another yelp, expecting a loaded gun to smack her right in the face. When instead, it thudded harmlessly at her feet, she could only look back and forth between it and Tori, the latter continuing to push her luck with her unbelievably annoying stupidity.
The opportunity to finish Tori off permanently was lying right at her feet. It would be so easy to just pick the gun up, point it at her, and make her shut up forever. She’d get a gun, which everyone who seemed to have one was enjoying very much, whilst getting to also deal with someone she really really hated at this point. It would've been very easy and very cathartic.
But, instead of taking the practical route, Becky decided to just be petty. Looking Tori straight in the eye, she took her challenge head on and threw every shred of gun safety that she didn’t know out the window. With a single swing of her foot, she kicked the gun hard, launching it off into the bushes as its landing spot went lost in the moonlit night.
“Yeah, I’m really freaking happy now-“ she had trouble thinking of a comeback to Tori’s murderer accusation. “Well, I’m really happy now, Tori!” But of course she wasn’t. Every moment spent still looking at Tori was just driving her crazier in her already mad adventures in the Program. Right now, she needed to do what her parents always told her to do and just walk away from it all, even if she wanted so badly to just run up and kick Tori in the face. After running around in the valley all day, she was tired, cranky and just needed to get home, were the last one not totally impossible anymore.
“Screw you Tori! I hope someone murders you!” she spat back, not an ounce of respect for the two’s situation in her curse, before turning on foot and beginning to leave. She just wanted to get to town, sleep in whatever bed she could find and get as far away from freaking Tori as she could.
((Becky Long continued in Said the Spider to the Fly))
"Wow, such a nice girl, aren't you?" Tori spat back, walking off in the other direction. "Don't assume everybody's going to forgive you for that. People aren't nice, especially in this game." She didn't even bother to go get the gun.
(Tori Gavlik continued elsewhere)
(Tori Gavlik continued elsewhere)