Life Sucks And Then...

[Tagabasa*]

FEMALE #14: SYDNEY COLE
START

Sydney Cole woke up on the hard floor, right beside some kind of mattress. She really would have laughed, except for the fact that sheer terror was currently overtaking her.

Oh shit. Oh shitty shit shit shit. Sydney didn’t usually swear, even inside her own head, but today was different. Today was, most likely, the day she was going to die. It was like there was a little watch over her head, counting down the seconds she had left. It was not a comforting thought to the girl, who had always been so active, so alive.

Okay, stop with the ‘shit’ing. Yes, you. Calm the fu-calm down. Life isn’t fair, and sometimes bad things happen to good people. This is the price kids have been paying to keep America from toppling over, to keep this country great. She fingered her necklace. So what if you’ve got to pay it too? You should feel honored, really.

Sydney didn’t believe the words in her head, but they did get her to start breathing more steadily. Even if they were fake, she felt a bit better. Sydney had known she was going to die since the announcement, and had been trying to justify her fate, trying to make her death seem worthwhile, since then. It was a hard thing to do, especially when she could still remember the pale faces of her family and friends from when she had been called.

Called. Culled. Sydney wasn’t a huge fan of wordplay, but Charlie was. He had pointed it out before she left. She had told him to shut up and stop acting like a traitor. It was for his own good, really. Charlie was the best brother she could ever have hoped for, but he needed to watch himself, or their parents would lose both their children.

The eagle-marked pack sitting next to her contained the items given to every kid in the Program. Sydney knew pretty much everything in there, except for one. Her assigned weapon, the tool the government had given her. She hesitantly opened the bag and started to search through. Some food, water, a first aid kit, a brush, a-wait. When did they start giving out brushes? Sydney picked it up, examining the thing. Well, that was her weapon then. She felt…a little relieved, actually.

The next thing to do was...Sydney had no idea. She was in a darkish building, with a bunch of low beds. She could recognize it as a hospital, and an extremely creepy hospital at that. Other than looking around, she didn't know what she was supposed to do. Hide, maybe? It would be better if she found somebody else, somebody who knew what they were doing.

"HELLO! Hello, is anyone there? Anyone?" Sydney's call didn't exactly echo, but it seemed to hang in the room longer than it should have.

[KamiKaze]

Announcement Day. That was when they picked who got sent off, didn't they?

It seemed like something she would never experience in her life. She had heard stories about it, but never really payed attention to it. Of course she knew it sucked, obviously, but it wasn't something she regularly thought of. It would pop into her mind now and again, but The Program wasn't something that was always on her mind. It was just something that happened in her country on a regular basis.

So came that one fateful Announcement Day. Kami Steele usually paid no addition to which schools were announced and who was gone. It wasn't as if she was that callous, but rather they never stuck in her mind. Simple as that. And, as one might expect from someone like Kami, she began to space out, not paying attention until...

Someone said her name.

As she looked around her, she could see people staring at her. Did... did she do something wrong? She was just spacing out. Was that it? It wasn't a good idea to space out during one of the General's Announcements, that she knew.

But before she knew it, she was being grabbed by some big tough-looking military guy, and then she knew.


Congratulations, Kami. You're going to die a horrible death.


A long-ass busride later, and she was being forced to listen to that bastard cheerfully going on about The Program like it was some sort of summer camp.

So where was she now?

She had no clue, actually.

Was it some sort of receptionist area? Looked like it, with the desk. After staring at the ceiling for some time, Kami lifted herself off the ground with a grumble.

Oh, jesus, JESUS! Did her head hurt!

Okay, about the whole "kill your classmates until there's one remaining" thing... oh jesus christ, what was she going to do about that? She... really had no clue.

Well, it didn't sound so hard, actually. She could just attack as many people as possible? Go kill a bunch of suckers? She didn't really know many of them, but that made it a little easier, to be honest. She just needed to kill about 50 people, and then she'd be out of here. Simple enough, right?

The real horror of her situation hadn't settled in just yet, but for now, Kami was content in her ignorance. Hoisting herself up so she could see the top of the desk, she saw a bag resting on it. Oh, that was hers... right then.

Zip.

Oh hi gun.

Yes, there was a gun. She didn't know what kind, but there it was. She had seen such things in movies and such, but never in real life. Of course she wouldn't, they were banned. And now she had one of these mystical devices she heard so much about...

This made the fight against her classmates that much easier.


This was going to be cake. Just shoot everyone with that and they will all die quickly. Simple. She always heard killing is wrong, but to defend herself? Well, that was a good reason, actually. Plus, she might come home and be celebrated like some old war hero. In fact, she WOULD be like some old war hero, wouldn't she? No one would view her as some psycho murderer, after all, they would view her as someone who was doing the right thing and defending herself.

"HELLO! Hello, is anyone there? Anyone?"

Someone was here? Already? Damn, her solitude was ruined too soon. Alright, better check that out...

She grabbed the gun, and quickly realized she wasn't wearing pockets. Curse her wearing a dress! Eh, for now she'd carry it, and see what's up. Zipping her bag back up and hoisting it over her shoulder, she went to investigate.

Oh god, why was her heart racing? This was going to be pretty easy, right? Just kill everyone? Everyone in sight? This was a pretty creepy place, she had to admit.

As she padded along further into the building, she saw literally a sea of beds. A hospital, then? And... the person who was making noise.

Kami clenched the gun in her hand.

So this was it, then. She was probably going to fight this person sooner rather than later. It was a girl, with blonde hair and a green polo shirt. Kami took a deep breath, and exhaled.

She wanted to point that gun at her head, and shoot at it. She told herself it was easy. It was, wasn't it?

She didn't, though.

Guess she still had a conscience after all. Damn.

For now, Kami just stood staring at the girl, without making any comments.

She was the enemy here. Kami wasn't that smart, but she knew that much. For all she knew, she could have some kind of dangerous weapon and then she'd have to fight her off.

[Tagabasa*]

On the positive side, somebody heard Sydney. This was a good thing, because it could possibly give her an ally. If the person was friendly, they could team up and face their enemies together. It would be like a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, except...well, nothing at all like one, actually. But that wasn't the point. They could join together, and maybe find some other people to form a party. And maybe then Sydney could make sense of all this, could figure out how to deal.

On the negative side, the other girl had a gun. This was a bad thing, because HOLY SHIT THAT'S A GUN AND SHE'S GOING TO KILL ME AND I JUST WOKE UP AND I WANT TO GO HOME AND I'M NOT QUITE SURE HOW I FEEL ABOUT MY GOVERNMENT AND SHE HAS A FUCKING GUN.

Okay, calm time. Sydney thought of birds and campfires, 12-sided die and comedy shows. She thought of chasing down frogs with Charlie, and whistling through a blade of grass. It didn't really help.

Sydney brandished her wire brush, looking the other girl over. She had seen her around school enough, but the girl never seemed to want to talk to her much. Still, it wasn't like she was pointing the gun at Sydney. Maybe she wasn't a bad person who wanted Sydney dead.

"Um, hi. Kami, right?" Names were something Sydney had always been good at. Names and birds were the two things she could remember fairly easily. "It's Sydney. Sydney Cole."

Kami probably didn't know her, which meant that Sydney had to be on guard. Why did she get stuck with a brush, anyway? All of Sydney's relief and not drawing a gun melted away.

"Hey, I'm not going to harm you, okay? I really can't." Sydney whipped her brush around like a real blade or something. "See? This thing is about as useful as bard in a swordfight. If I could do you any harm with this, they might as well just call me the winner already."

Wait a second. If I just convinced her I was harmless, who's to say that she's not just going to kill me for my pack? Okay, Plan A. Act like you're useful.

"On the other hand...I guess I can give you a back massage with it."

Wonderful. What the hell was Plan B again?

[KamiKaze]

And out of nowhere, the girl just... rambled on.

"Um, hi. Kami, right? It's Sydney. Sydney Cole."

Kami opened her mouth to respond, most likely to ask how the hell she knew her name (then again, apparently they talked a lot about her at school), but she continued before she could get a word out.

"Hey, I'm not going to harm you, okay? I really can't. See? This thing is about as useful as bard in a swordfight. If I could do you any harm with this, they might as well just call me the winner already."

The girl started whipping around what appeared to be... a brush of some kind? Kami really had no clue. Only something about bards and winning. Kami tried to get a word in, but she just went on.

"On the other hand...I guess I can give you a back massage with it."

A back massage. Really? "Oh no, we have to fight to the death and I might die. Here, let me give you a back massage with that brush." Really. That was the only thing she had to offer.

Kami really had no clue what to think. She had a clear advantage in weaponry, of course. But, this girl was just... she had no clue... talking about random things that barely connected to one another?

Maybe this whole "killing your classmates thing" was going to be a liiiiiiittle difficult than she first thought. Sure, she wasn't very well armed and seemed to be more scared and rambly if anything, but the thing was... she was scared and rambly.

"Uh..."

Seriously, how the hell was she supposed to reply to using hairbrushes as back massage-thingies and bards? Kami felt that pressure coming up in her neck again. It always came up when she had something to say, but couldn't say it.

Just blow her brains out! her brain screamed at her.

But Kami, once again, didn't even lift her gun.

Instead, an odd look passed over her face, like this "Sydney" person was some weird alien from Mars who just told her that she was about to be anally probed. With a hairbrush.

"Uh... uhm... ah..."

The words weren't even coming out! She should just shoot the girl and be on her way!

[Tagabasa*]

"Uh... uhm... ah..."

Kami hadn't shot Sydney yet, but the gun was still ominously present in her hand. There wasn't an easy escape route from the hospital room, either, so she was trapped.

Sydney was close to panicking now, pacing and wringing her fingers. Her voice was tinged with confidence, but it was that kind of wide-eyed energy people get when their backs are against the wall and they have nothing to lose.

"Look, you're in front of the only door to this place, and you've got a gun." Sydney absentmindedly prodded the closest pillow with her brush. Well, she thought it was a pillow. It really was closer to a scrap of fabric with a few handfuls of feathers stuck in it. There was nothing under it but dust. Not that Sydney really expected to find a magical solution to all of her problems at the moment. Not at all.

"So, um, I kind of don't have a leg to stand on here. If you're going to use that thing, you're going to use it. And there's not a damn thing I can do about it, is there?" Okay, so she was swearing now. Good to know. Sydney picked up a thin mattress and confirmed that there wasn't anything under it either.

"Otherwise, I'm searching this room and getting out. I don't know if you've noticed, but this whole place is creeperific as balls." There was some eerie feeling that seemed to hang over the building. Come to think of it, the whole atmosphere was probably helping drive Sydney up a wall.

She checked under the bed frame. No dice. Kami was probably still standing there, but who cared? It wasn't like anything Sydney could say or do would really help her out of the situation. The girl didn't even seem to recognize her, even though they had gone to the same ordinary-sized high school for two years.

The beds were all the same, and Sydney went down the line, checking each one of them. She wasn't one hundred percent sure what she was looking for, but she got the idea that she would know when she found it. If she found it. Whatever the outcome of the search, it would be a huge relief to get out of the hospital. Maybe then Sydney could find an ally of some sort, a friend to spend her last day (days?) with.

The dank feeling of the room was becoming overpowering, so Sydney started to hum the Benny Hill theme song. Who cared if the other girl thought she was insane? They would both be dead soon, regardless.

[KamiKaze]

"Look, you're in front of the only door to this place, and you've got a gun."

Well, that was obvious. Of course she had a gun. Of course she was standing in front of the door. What was she going to do, comb her hair until she gets scalped and bleeds to death? Oh, the horror! The horror of the hairbrush! Nooooo!

The girl started poking around the pillows and mattresses, for some... strange reason. She really had no clue. Was she even looking for something?

"So, um, I kind of don't have a leg to stand on here. If you're going to use that thing, you're going to use it. And there's not a damn thing I can do about it, is there?"

... Okay, that was true.

Kami was, after all, the exact same person who upon spotting the thing said to herself "Yes, I'm going to kill people with this and watch their brains splatter!". If she said anything else, she would be a god damn liar.

"Otherwise, I'm searching this room and getting out. I don't know if you've noticed, but this whole place is creeperific as balls."

No! She was getting away!

Kami had been just standing here, staring at her like she just announced that she ate babies with ketchup and mustard, and "attempting" a conversation ("attempting" being the key word here, and was in fact quite the understatement of the millennium). If she wanted to live, she had to shoot this weirdo in the head and go look for more people to kill. Killing people to live wasn't hard. It was turning out to be a little harder than she expected, but she was sure that it wasn't that difficult to just shoot someone.

But, the girl continued searching. Seriously, what was she doing? They probably cleaned this place out ages ago.

At least she was distracted, though. Might make things a little easier.

Kami gently placed the bag on the ground, and with gun in hand, started to approach her until she was a couple of feet away from her. Okay, so far so good. Now she had to get to the hard part; actually killing her. She knew killing was a hard thing to do. At times she pondered what it was like to actually kill someone. Not that she would actually go through with it, though. But now she had to, and that's what she was going to do. She knew on some level she wasn't going to enjoy it, but that's how things go in life.

Wait a second, was that girl humming the fucking Benny Hill theme? What was this, some sort of wacky chase scene?

After that brief distraction, she turned her mind back to the gun in her hand, and raised it towards the girl, holding it sideways like she always saw in movies and such. No reason, it just looked cool.

"... You're correct", Kami said, speaking her first actual words since she arrived.

[Tagabasa*]

There was literally nothing in this room. Nothing! Not only had the powers that be dropped Sydney into this game, they had barely given her anything useful. She she have felt lucky that she got a pack, at least. God only knew, some bureaucrat might have thought it amusing to "forget" to give everybody one.

She banished that thought from her head. The Program was run like a well-oiled machine. Everyone got a pack. That was just how things went here.

In the meantime, the only thing left to do was sit around and wait for gun-girl to make up her mind.

"... You're correct" said Kami.

Sydney turned her head around to the girl, not at any particularly quickened speed. Why bother? If she was going to get shot, she was going to get shot. There was no reason to rush here. You had all the time in the world, if you could figure out how to keep yourself alive.

And keeping herself alive was a plan that didn't look so good for Sydney now. The other girl was holding her gun at her, in a fairly ridiculously manner. What, did she think she was some kind of gangster now that the government had given her a new toy to play with?

For a second, fear overtook Sydney.

Wait? What? She's going to...she's gonna...Why? I-I don't want to! I was a good kid. I never did anything wrong. I never hurt anybody. I just wanted to live. I don't...I don't want to die! It's not fair! I can't! I mean, why should I? I don't want to; I don't! I shouldn't have to die here. I...I...I just...

But that was only for a second. From that point on, all of Sydney's fear and panic were transferred to blinding rage. At the government for betraying her when she thought they were the good guys, at her family for failing to protect her, at her friends for...well, no reason, actually. It was a rather irrational hate. But, most of all, Sydney felt it for the girl standing in front of her.

"Oh, aren't we a big person, now?" Her voice had lost all of it's earlier giddiness and had now dulled to barely more than a angry hiss. "They gave you a gun and told you to kill, so now that's what you're going to do? I guess I can't say that I wouldn't do the same, so I'm not going to act all high and mighty."

"Here's what will happen. You'll shoot me with that thing as soon as you can get it to work. I'll be moving though, so you'll miss me with your first shot. Pistols aren't the easiest things to aim, and you'll be a little nervous. But you'll get me before I escape, sure as anything. You'll shot me once or twice more, and I'll be dead. Game, set, match. All that's left is to collect the loot and EXP."

"And then you'll have a death on your hands. I don't know how you'll handle the unbearable guilt, but whatever. That's beside the point. You'll be a few bullets down, and soon everyone on this island will know what you did. You'll be a target for those killers who want to eliminate competition, for those seeking a thrill, for those well-intentioned ones who think taking you out would be the righteous thing to do. And you'll be alone, watching your own back."

"I suppose there's another way for this go. You can get that thing out of my face, and we can leave. I'll watch your back. We'll survive however we can, and if there's someone you feel like shooting...Hey, I'm not judging here. Your life, your rules. But, even if you're going to kill, why bother wasting time and bullets on somebody who's going to die anyway? I can't see the sense in that, personally."

"I won't lie. As soon as I find some friends, I'll be off. But, until then? This can be a mutually fulfilling relationship. And, hell, why not?"

Sydney Cole set her brush on the ground and held her arms behind her head. There was an angry, manic look to her eyes now, like that of a cornered animal.

"So here we are. I won't draw this out any longer. Your choice."

[KamiKaze]

And suddenly, the girl told her off, like an angry parent or teacher. Telling her that if she shot her now, she would miss and if she did actually get a bullet in people would come for her like some sort of wanted criminal with a bounty on her head and kick her in the rear booty. Telling her that there was no use in killing her. Oh and something about loot and EXP.

Kami's features twisted for a few seconds. She... didn't like being yelled at. It always made her nervous and feel bad. Which is strange, due to the fact that she was currently trying to fucking murder someone. Damn it, she should have just shot her in the head, taken her stuff, and went off to kill everyone else. It was like a series of boss battles in a video game or something. She just needed to kill the 50 or so people here, and kill them well. This woman was making it difficult.

She never really liked being guilt-tripped. People always tried to get her sympathy, to get her to do things. And they'd do it by trying to get her sympathy, to make her feel bad. However, to be honest, it was kind of one of her pet peeves. It always irritated her as much as it did make her feel guilty.

The hand holding the gun started to tremble, not only because she was getting upset and anxious, but because... well, let's just say she wasn't used to holding a gun at someone for an extended period of time.

Okay, just shoot the bitch and make her stop yelling at you.

....

Shoot her.


....

Shoot her.


....

JUST FUCKING SHOOT HER AND BE DONE WITH IT.

It would stop her guilt-tripping and her Benny Hill and her god damn chattering about nothing and her looting and EXP points and her hairbrush massages and-

Kami took a deep breath.

This... again, was going to be a bit hard. On one hand, she seemed more the scared type. On the other... Kami was expecting, at most, for her to be all "Oh god please don't shoot me crazy fat chick I'll do anything please!" if she wasn't playing at all. Instead, she was ranting at her.

And yet, at the same time, she was offering a team-up.

A team-up.

Even though this girl could easily take her weapon from her, or turn out to have a bigger gun, and the minute her back was turned, she would happily use it to her advantage.

"Tell me... what would be stopping you from... I dunno... killing me as well? Or leaving me to.. you know... fucking die at 'fe hands of some psycho if we teamed up? Give me a good reason why even if I let you, uh... live, that you would be useful."

She couldn't get the words out. The block that stopped her from talking at times was still there, like a bad piece of fish bone stuck in her throat that no matter what she did it remained there, leaving her gasping for breath. Heck, even if she wasn't holding a weapon of small-scale destruction in her hand, she would smack herself across the head or something so she could calm down.

Murder was supposed to be fucking easy. Not... whatever this chick was trying to do.

[KamiKaze]

((Kami needs to liiiiiiiiive.))

And suddenly, she put the gun down.

She couldn't do it. Not right now.

Murder was a bit harder. And to be honest... she wasn't sure if she could kill someone in cold blood, now that she thought of it. Sure, if she actually was attacking her, it would be no problem. But this girl was just being weird and confusing. And annoying. But really, it would be silly to just kill her. To be honest, there wasn't much of a reason to shoot her, other than the fact that they were supposed to kill each other and she was annoying and confusing her somewhat.

Yes, a confusing annoyance. Just like everyone else she knew. Can't live with them, can't shoot them.

Kami started stepping back, until she was back at the entrance. Scooping down to get her bag, she placed the gun inside and hoisted it over her shoulder again. She look another look at the girl, and suddenly she started getting that feeling again, that feeling of being choked.

It was strange how she could easily kill someone, but the minute someone yelled at her...

A few more steps back.

And suddenly, Kami did the one thing she did in the past when people had yelled at her.


She ran the other way.


Kami didn't need to team up with someone! She was just going to stab her in the back the minute she had the opportunity, anyways. Was that right? Well, it was a game where you couldn't really trust anyone at all. That meant your death, right? It was probably some trick, like to get her gun or something. It was her gun, and she wasn't going to let go of it for a while.

Though this murder thing... it was going to need a bit more work. Maybe a bit more elegance was in order. Be suave, like James Bond or something. Make a witty one-liner. Or not. Just calmly shoot people with a smile. Though again, could she really kill someone who was just being odd?

In any case, Kami Steele was on the move.

((Kami continued in Tough As Steel(e)))

[Mini_Help]

The girl bugged out. That was pretty good, Sydney supposed. Seemed easier that way. Safer. She hadn't been killed, too. The girl with the gun hadn't killed her.

Unfortunately, she didn't really know what to do. She was alone in the hospital. She'd been telling the truth about finding friends, though. Friends would be nice.

So Sydney set off to search hers out.

((Sydney Cole continued in Plenty Death To Go Around))