Exhausted

[Lord_Shadow]

((Maria Hall continued from Open Grave))

Funny thing about the Sheriff's announcement. He had berated them for staying in shelter, and subsequently closed them. The Chapel and the Ghost Town were dangerzones now. But the mines weren't. And they were shelter.

So Maria made her way there. She tried not to think about the people who had died. Two of the people she started with were gone. Only herself and Lucy remained. And that girl opted to stay behind as far as Maria knew. She hoped Lucy hadn't made a mistake.

They didn't really know or like each other. But Maria sure didn't want her to die like the others did.

"It's just the way it is. It's always the same. Always the same. Here I am again won't find me. Deluding myself into thinking that I'm safe." She laughed to herself.

"It's all a game. A messed up game. And I'm someone who desperately doesn't want to play."

[Courtography]

(Rebecca Clark continued from Sleep)

She was alive and that's what mattered. Alive and rested, the best way to be. After leaving the train station she made her way along the mountains until she found the group of buildings along with the entrance to the mines. Well here we go again...

She descended into the earth, quickly finding the bodies of Clair and Trevor again. Maybe this would be a decent place to roam for awhile. Hide out in the darkness then kill someone from real close. Maybe she could even get a gun that way.

She kicked a rock that tumbled down the shaft. It made a clacking sound. Not an issue, it wasn't like many people would come down here anyway. Then why was I hoping for a gun down here? Yeah that was kinda stupid. Well, fine, she'd be pretty safe down here while she healed up then.

She took a swig of water from a recently opened bottle. Good thing she'd looted supplies, otherwise she would've had to go for refills by now. There, she had done something smart then. Something smarter then getting bruised up by multiple people, getting her earlobe torn along with one of her earrings, and then on top of it all, taking buckshot to the hip.

Yeah laying low down here would be smart.

[Lord_Shadow]

She wasn't sure how long she had stayed there in the dark. It was so lonely and gloomly here. She was all alone. Or so she thought. But the sound of clacking roused her attention. She wasn't alone anymore.

She gripped a rock in her hand, and crept as silently as she could manage to see who it was.

[Courtography]

Her gait slowed. The way she was walking was irritating her hip. She definitely didn't need to wear through the bandage and start a new flow of blood. She had taken enough of a beating already, so weakening herself would do her no favors.

But she had to wonder. Why was she the top killer? She killed people when she came across them, but surely someone else had tried that too. Was she just better at it? Or did the fact that she wound up fighting people without guns have something to do with it? She really didn't know. It was a surprise for sure. Heck, earlier she had just wanted to make out with Brian and get him to kill the others. Now she was willing to shoot an arrow in his back to get closer to home.

Oh how things change...

She let out a soft laugh. She had changed so much but there was no turning back now. Not if she wanted to live that is.

[Lord_Shadow]

To Maria's surprise, it was the person she least wanted to encounter. By now, everyone who had even met her once remembered the name of Rebecca Clark. The most prolific killer in this entire nightmare.

And against logic and better judgement, Maria was not going to try to kill her. She was going to try to understand just why this deranged maniac played the game, and played so well. She called out from the shadows, "Not smart to let your guard down like that Clark. You got a lot of enemies that would be more than willing to take that advantage against you."

She let loose the rock to fall on the ground. This wasn't what Maria was all about. In fact it was pretty much the opposite. But something about this whole place changed the way she was. She was more cautious, more studious, examined possibilities more. For once, she was thinking before she acted. Talking instead of fighting.

And as long as that kept up, Maria hoped she could be able to talk to this killer and find out just what was wrong in that head of hers. "Not me. Not right now. I wanna talk Clark, work something out. I," she paused for a moment as if unsure what to say, "I need to know some things. You up for a talk? Or will you just kill me and get things over with?"

[Courtography]

A voice came from the dim light. The bow rose up. Whaddaya want bitch? Who's the real bitch...shush. She had let her guard down? A bit. The bow was up now though, wasn't making that mistake now. No mistakes.

She heard the noise of something being dropped. A weapon? No time to look down and check. The other girl might use it as a ploy. Her fingers twitched on the string, ready to fire it now. But she didn't, she rejected the urge for now.

The girl needed to know things? Couldn't live without them? Well maybe she'd die for them. Not yet...she hasn't threatened you. Since when does that fucking matter? It did this time. Somehow.

"Fine we'll talk." She kept her fingers at the ready. Ready to fire nearly certain death. "Just no sudden moves, got it?" she added.

[Lord_Shadow]

To Maria's surprise, the other girl was ready to talk. Of course, she did make the whole no-sudden-moves threat. Not that Maria was planning to do that. She leaned against the wall and sighed. She wasn't sure what to ask first.

Talking wasn't her strong suit, but she was going to try. "First things first I guess. Why'd you do it? What made you play the game? Why did you kill all those people?" It was an important question.

It was the question that would allow Maria to make sense of why tnis was happening. Maybe she would understand why she didn't turn out the same. If anybody where to turn killer here, wouldn't it have been the girl who always got into trouble?

She sighed again. No way she could piece together Clark's thought process. Hopefully she would be willing to tell the truth.

[Courtography]

Rebecca glared through the dim. That was what everyone fucking wanted to know wasn't it? Alex wanted to know why and make her "turn back from her evil ways! On her way to salvation!" or whatever bullshit it was. Then that crazy chick wanted to know why she killed Sam, which had kinda been an accident. Kinda. Not that telling her would have stopped her.

She kept it simple to start. "Well first off, I wanna fucking stay alive." Okay now what, there was always more, wasn't there? "Oh, and Clair tried to beat me to death. Yeah, that's what happened to my face, before you ask." Bitch.

And that didn't even cover everything..."Oh and with Sam I was trying to kill someone else, but shit happens." Wow, how could she make that sound less bitchy? "Oh and Alex asked too many fucking questions." That wasn't it. But who fucking cared, it was a threat in its own way. Alex had asked questions and tried to reform her of all things. Well guess what, they hadn't been rescued and even more people had started killing.

So fuck you Alex.

[Lord_Shadow]

Survival. That was the first thing she put up for her defense. Not surprising. That had been Maria's plan of survival at first. Kill to live. But having lived so long without resorting to that made the excuse seem hollow to her.

Self-defense followed, along with a not-at-all-subtle threat. Maria listened, arms folded. So what? Did she think that made it okay to be a murderer? "I get it. I get it. Still doesn't change the fact you're a homicidal psycho" She unfolded her arms.

"Next question. Just what the fuck do you intend to tell the families of the kids you've killed? What the fuck is your plan once you get out of here? What the hell is driving you to keep at it?"

[Courtography]

More accusations, more questions of what the hell she was doing. Why the hell did the girl have to throw it all in her face? She was horrible. She knew it. But that didn't give this bitch the fucking right to be so superior about it!

"FUCK YOU!"

Her fingers twitched and the arrow flew in the dim towards Maria.

[Lord_Shadow]

"Ugh." Despite the dark, the arrow hit its mark. Maria felt the tip pierce her abdomen, along with all the pain that came with it. She was shocked for a moment. It happened so fast.

But that was only for a moment. Her eyes flared up with anger. "I AM GONNA BEAT YOU TO DEATH BITCH!" She yelled as she leaped from the shadows. She finally understood why that no good murderer did what she did.

It was all instinct. Rational thought had nothing to do with it. She could only scream in her head as her body lumbered rage-filled toward the girl who had hurt her. This is what this game and place did to people.

[Courtography]

Beat her to death huh? That's what Rebecca tried to think anyway, the sarcastic bitchy remark you'd think when you'd killed nearly ten people. Truth was, she was scared though. She'd been beat before and knew how it could hurt, even from someone who was going to die anyway.

"You wish BI-BITCH!"

She then took off down the tunnel. Yeah chase me down bitch, do it, see how far you get with an arrow in your guts. I hope you don't get far anyway...

She'd grab an arrow in a moment, she needed all her concentration to not run smack into a wall in this shitty darkness.

[Lord_Shadow]

Clark ran like the coward she knew she was. Maria was still in a frenzied haze, the pain lingering but not impeding her progress. "RUN MOTHERFUCKER! RUN! I SWEAR TO GOD I'll CAVE YOUR FACE IN!" She coughed up blood.

"Fuck. I need to end this fast." Maria thought as she raced, the blood flowing down her side, the strength beginning to leave her. A few more moments and she'd be unable to keep chase. She decided to risk going a bit faster.

In the dark, that wasn't the smartest move. She tripped, landing forward on the ground. The arrow dug straight through and came out her backside. She screamed in pain. Tears of rage, fear, and pain streamed down her face. She howled into the dark.

"GOD DAMMIT!" Every movement just sent more pain into her. Her vision began to fade. The blood rushed out of her body much more quickly now. "Dammit." She tried to feel where the arrow was. She just felt the warmth of her blood.

"Not like this. Not... like this." Her last words came out pitifully. Maria lay there to sleep, empty of everything that gave her life.

F13 - MARIA HALL: ELIMINATED

[Courtography]

She heard the screamed threat. She tried to brush it off as nothing, but just because the girl was doomed didn't mean that she wouldn't try to take her down with her. Being noble or some bullshit like that.

Rebecca had kept moving. She hadn't seen any weapons on the girl, but better safe than sorry. She heard a howl echo down the tunnel. She stopped walking. Just wait a moment, wait.

After several unbearably long moments she made her way back. The arrow had finished its job, being buried deep inside the other girl. The scent of blood was heavy in the air. Fuck it's like trying to suffocate me. She tried to hold her breath as she went in to grab the girl's bag. She ignored her arrow as it had been buried too deep to be worth the trouble of getting it out.

Plus I'd have to really dig and feel inside the-

She started to gag. Fuck, she shouldn't have thought about it. She had the girl's bag now and made her way down the tunnel. She searched through it, having pulled out her flashlight to look through it now. No weapon. Fine then. She really needed something other than the bow soon, she was running out of arrows and had nothing for backup.

She needed to move. Find someone else. Or something.

(Rebecca Clark continued in On The Outside)