The Games

[La_Reina]

Crime ran rampant after the Last Great War. The world wasn't like it was. The military took over control of everything. Life was stricter. The rich bought off military officials and the poor got fucked. People couldn't feed, clothe, or educate themselves under the harsh ruling of the government. There wasn't anymore free schooling or basic rights. You paid for everything. Those who couldn't afford or didn't care about an education found work. There wasn't anymore fair trade laws or human rights while employed either. You took what you could get and how you got paid for your services. Everything was legal now except the few basics: no killing, no stealing, etc those stayed the same.

It was a hard, dirty, rough life. Dirt and grim was on everything and everywhere unless you were the wealthy or the military and even then the lower rank of the military had the same hard look as the poor. There were really only 3 classes: the poor, the rich, and the military. Once in the military you were in for life. You might have a roof over your head, food (or a little bit of it) in your belly, but you served your life away. Only after 60 years could you retire. It was hell.

Neri thought of joining the military many times, but knew she couldn't leave her little brother, Samuel age 12, and sister Ava age 9, behind; their mother stayed home, but she wasn't really there mentally. She fell into a depression a few years back and some days were better than others. Neri was only 19 and the job she had sucked. The owner, Marcus, was underpaying everyone, but no one would hire her without some sort of sex being involved. She worked 80 hours a week and barely managed to put food on the table. She couldn't afford for her siblings to go to school so she taught them what little she knew. She was one of the few people who could read and write. An asset you think that would take her far.

Neri had just walked through the door when she smelt something that had her salivating. There was a turkey on the table. Neri knew she didn't make enough for this. "Where'd it come from?"

Her little brother smiled proudly. "I nicked it. It was just sitting there, half eaten, and was going to be thrown away and we are so hungry. I took it and brought it back."

"No, no, no," Neri said. "We have to take it back." Her brother looked so sad. The food looked so good. "No one saw me."

Right when he said that there was a knock on the door. Everyone jumped. Neri slowly walked to it and there were 3 uniformed officers. "Thievery is not permitted. It's punishable by law. Who took the turkey?"

Neri turned to her little brother who was scared. She saw his whole body shaking. She turned back to the soldiers. "I took it. It was going into the trash."

"That doesn't matter. It's still stealing." They turned her roughly around and slapped cuffs on her wrists. Her little brother came running up, but Neri hushed him.

"Shhh, you're the man of the house now. Take care of momma and Ava. I love you and I'll be home soon." They both knew that was a lie. Neri was yanked away from her family and thrown into a military vehicle.

The next weeks went by in a blur. Her trial was a joke and she was sent to The Games. It was a way to bring the crime down. Every person who commited a crime from stealing to rape and murder was sent to Hell's Island. On Hell's Island was numerous cameras that televised The Games. No rules. Just survive. It was the Rich's form of entertainment. People would bet on the winner of the day or week and if you survive long enough or were popular enough sometimes people would send you bounties like food, water, or a weapon.

Neri couldn't believe she couldn't get a reduced sentence by being someone's servant, but she had refused to talk. She had probably been given the choice and hadn't answered. She was pushed off of a boat a mile from the Island. She had to swim to land. The ones that couldn't swim were taken care of first. The government didn't care. Neri tred water and floated til nightfall. There could be traps waiting for the newbies to the Games. She was tired when she finally came on land. She rushed inwards and stared at the first camera she saw knowing it would be televised. She ripped the sleeves from her shirt and wrapped it around her head. She cracked her neck and looked as menacing as she could. "Sam. Bet on me. You know how and where." She turned her back sure that her brother got the message.

Neri walked off into the night.

http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/files/2006/10/20060320-amerie.jpg


(Open. PM me for Interest)

 

[Prince_Truhan]

"Bam!" and that have been it, another soundly betrayal, and Mack Macheath was the only member of his team again. He hadn't been the one doing the betraying, he was the one shooting whoever decided his cooperation wasn't as worthy as the points his death could bring them.

Points, points, points, that was all most people in the island cared about, as if any of those fools could rack up the ridiculous amount of 5000 to be allowed to leave. He captured points too, he couldn't judge, he just had figured ensuring his survival was better than a couple of quick points.

It wasn't the first time he had been the only member of his team left, it was time to get another one, surviving alone was nearly impossible out here, some people achieved it, mainly because they were so deranged anybody sensible was afraid to approach where they were.

Knowing he needed to recruit, he decided than rather than trying to join a established team, he would get someone new and that had no choice but to rely on him, that should ensure more loyalty... the problem was finding one that wasn't worthless.

The new people always were dropped down around the same area, and few of them made it out of there alive. Killing someone new was worth very little points, almost a waste of a bullet, still useless killers stalked around there.

Mathew made his way around slowly, paying attention to any movements. Then he got lucky. He saw a beautiful girl getting dropped off, usually those didn't last long, somebody would pick them off, or worse pick them up as their personal plaything. This one was unusual however, he concluded as he watched her, it seemed like she was determined to survive, like she had something to live for.

As he was pondering this in silence someone came out of the woods behind her, she heard him and turned, but she only had a knife and the assailant had a gun.

With a silent sigh Mack came out of his hiding spot, and shot the nameless idiot on the face. He was close so he he had no trouble aiming and he didn't want to waste bullets.

"He should have shot you from where he was hiding, I hadn't noticed him" he told Neri without caring much about if she was shocked or scared, she had to learn how things were fast if she was to survive.

Only then he turned to face her "Get his gun and search him for extra bullets, you are coming with me."

 

[La_Reina]

Neri was walking through the jungle, but not pushing the leaves away. She was walking around them trying as much as possible to not disturb the foliage. Sometimes, mostly around holidays, her boss would pay her the full amount of money and she would splurge and pay for a weeks worth of television. Her siblings and her would watch the only entertaining thing on which was the Games. They had often commented on why this person or this person would die and one thing they realized that if anyone was watching the moving leaves was a giveaway that someone or an animal was there. So she was doing her best to not disturb anything.

She had made her way to one of the many point stations. This was an automated indestructible, the many marks on it prove it, system that told you of your standings and how to score points. If you reach 5000 you got to go back to society and get out of this living nightmare of death. Neri read the point system:
Men – 5 points
Women – 3 points
Military or training of any kind – 6 points
weapon – 5 points
each kill – 1 points

There was a new feature the people at home didn't know about. It seemed to ensure that people don't just stop killing and revolt against the system they had two names with how many points you can get for killing them. Crazy Paul - 50 points. Red Rick Leader of the Rickies - 500 Neri could only stare at that. Than she looked at the rating. She was only 3 points. She was not the last but tied for it. Sad really.

Okay, I need to get a weapon. That'll give me more points and ... protection. Neri hated to think of that, but she had to if she wanted to survive. She was walking again when she heard snoring. She couldn't believe someone could sleep out here, but you had to sleep sometime right. Neri krept up on them and saw a man sleeping under some brush. If it wasn't for his snoring you would have walked right past him. Neri knew she should kill him, but how? She walked closer and saw he had a knife in his hand. So if he woke up he could come up slashing. Neri slowly reached forward. Her fingers lightly brushed the knife. She gently grabbed the side and lifted it slowly so he wouldn't recognize the weight was gone. She pulled it to her when she had it in the air and smiled. She had a knife. She stared at the man. She couldn't kill him.

Neri walked out of the brush into a small clearing. She was trying to decide where to go. What had her and her siblings said about these things. Head towards water? Just then she heard a shot and she panicked. Had she been shot? She turned hearing a body drop. It was the man who's knife she had stolen: with a hole in his face.

The voice had her jumping. She turned and saw him. "I know you. You're Mad Dog Matt. You have more dead partners than anyone. Always killing them for some reason or another." Or that's how the tv showed it. Neri jumped doing what he said before she realized she was doing. "He just has a gun no bullets. Guess that's why he didn't shoot me." And why he had the knife out instead of his gun.

Neri shook her head. "I'm not going with you. You'll kill me. And I'm not fucking you. I'm not fucking anyone. I know what you people do to women here. NO. I'll figure something out." Neri pocketed the gun and kept her knife ready. Now she was back to her original problem. Which way to go?

 

[Prince_Truhan]

She talked back, he didn't expect that, she knew who he was, he didn't expect that either, well if she had followed everything he said she wouldn't make a good backup, she did have no reason to trust him other than:

"If I wanted to kill you I would have already shot you" he said without moving towards her "I told you to get the gun, you have a knife, the pistol didn't make you worth more points, it wasn't a trick"

He searched one of his pockets, he didn't have many but he did have a couple of bullets for that gun.

"You claim I kill my partners, we could talk about that, but it's unimportant right away considering people are heading here to collect spoils after the shot I fired"

Then he took a step closer to her "Right now point wise you are worthless, rack up a few kills and then you can wonder about me betraying you. As far as your other concern, you have heard of me, have you heard of me ever raping anyone?"

"You have two choices, come with me, or try your chances with a knife and an empty gun, don't forget this place is a beacon for lousy killers, I'm sure you can figure your way out though"

He waited for her answer, deciding he wouldn't wait for her long, he wasn't going to waste his bullets to get out of lame zone for a handful of points.

 

[La_Reina]

His words struck home. She had almost been killed. It was like her brain had glossed over that even over the man's death when she had rummaged through his pockets and now with Matt's words it was crippling. She gasped as she felt as though she had been punched and his hardness only added to the fact she was alone. No more little warm bodies to cuddle or kiss goodnight. She watched him search the dead guy once more and he pulled out bullets that she had missed.

He took a step towards her and she flinched and took an involuntary step back. Again his words slammed home. She was worthless. Would he betray her if she killed someone? Could she kill someone? Her eyes were wide and they didn't hide the questions there. She shook her head no at his question. She hadn't heard Mad Dog Matt had raped anyone, but that could be for any reason.

She didn't wait long as she heard scuffling in the brush. She took a step and he seemed to read her as agreement and turned and headed into the jungle. She had to do this. To save her brother and sister. She was sure her brother had bet on her living for 6 hours, which she should be coming up, and should have received enough coin to get some bread and maybe some meat for dinner and the next day's meal.

Neri placed her hand on Matt's shoulder stopping him. "Look. I'm Neri. I know everyone says this, but I have to get out of her. But that's not all. I have family on the outside," Neri kept talking before he could override her with everyone as family. "Family who's going to be betting and giving us help if we play this right. We have to get famous and become a threat for more tv time, for gifts, and to fund anyone who's betting on me or errr us. Promise me that and I'll be your partner until you decide you can find a better one and if you do please just warn me first."

 

[Prince_Truhan]

"All I care is that you have a reason to live for, I'm tired of psychos. I need you to be able to kill, but if you start to enjoy it too much is a liability."

He held up his hand and put his finger over his lips as he scanned for noises before turning to the left.

"We can talk here" he handed her the bullets, they were only 5

"Don't waste them, if you have a good shot hit the head once, if you need to aim for the chest shoot three times"

He looked at her taking in details for the first time, she was very attractive, and she seemed determined, as hard as the circumstances were for her she still seemed to be holding her own.

"I will be your partner and I won't betray you, if you have anything to ask about whatever they showed you do so, it will be better than if you get silly ideas."

He gave her a second to let that sink in "I believe the story about your family, but you need to kill if we ever hope to get out, so I have a question for you, do you want an easy mark or are you ready to go after points?"

 

[La_Reina]

Neri blinked. Like to kill? Never crossed her mind. She immediately stopped talking when he hushed her.

"Okay...thanks." She was aware he could have kept the bullets. Should she tell him she didn't know how to shoot or even load the damn thing.

"Okay. Hit the head or chest 3 times." She was repeating his words, but she put the bullets in her pocket.

"How can I believe you. Why will you not betray me and kill me in my sleep? How do I know you're telling the truth?" These were all hard questions, but they needed to be asked.

"It's true. My family is all I have." Her words faltered as she realized what he was saying. "I .. I don't want to kill.. just yet. I need to rest and eat." She was stalling he knew it and probably the betters too, but she just couldn't do it yet. Not now. But hopefully, maybe soon or she was a dead woman.

 

[Prince_Truhan]

"Truth be told you have no reason to believe me, anymore than I have a reason to believe that you won't betray me, I armed you, if you manage to shoot before I do your points would suddenly go way up."

He thought for a second "I won't kill you in your sleep because I'm impatient, as I said before, if I wanted you dead I would have done it before you had the pistol, you were worth the same as you are now, and even after one kill or even ten your points won't go up enough for you to worry about me betraying you, your safety is that you don't trust me, you'll keep an eye on me"

He had to make a compelling argument, just "trust me" would never work, she had no reason to do it, if she trusted him just cause he said it, anyone out there smart enough to talk could sway her against him.

"You are stalling" he said when she claimed she wanted to rest and eat before having her first kill, she probably knew he knew but if he said it she couldn't ignore it. "You have no food, it's alright if you want to rest, but I won't share my food with you before knowing you are able to kill. Until you get some experience being with you is more of a liability for me than an advantage, so what is it going to be Neri?"

 

[La_Reina]

His words made sense. For now it would be no good killing her. She wasn't a threat and one measly point wasn't going to make much difference when it was obvious, from watching tv before she got into this horrible mess, that teams lasted longer. Neri turned her back knowing the cameras were probably all over her face capturing every moment. What do I do, Sam? Neri mouthed the words to the camera. Her little brother and sister could read lips. They had to be real quiet sometimes especially when the military was out and about and the best way to communicate was through mouthing words. She knew Sam would know what she said and help her.

Neri turned back around. "Okay. We'll team up." She hoped she was making the right decision.

No sooner had the words left her mouth than he was telling her to kill again. It was too soon. She couldn't do it. Her stomach churned and she felt light headed. "You don't have to share your food. You're the one that offered the alliance not me. You should have thought of me being a liability," she spit the word at him as her voice slowly rose, "before wanting to team up with me. So you're taking back your word already?"

Neri didn't want to argue and she was already regretting her shouts of anger. They were going to attract people. She turned and headed off into the jungle twisting and turning to not disturb the foliage. She did not want people to know where she had gone off too. She was not going to go hunt someone down. She needed to rest and she needed some food. It had been yesterday since she ate and she was starting to feel sick from the lack of food and water.

 

[Prince_Truhan]

"I did think of you being a liability, that is why I want you to kill now, so I know you can do it when either of our lives depends on it."

He smiled, she was angry, he needed her fiery, intellectually she knew she had to kill, she just wasn't up for it yet sentimentally, he could coach her, get someone tell her about their crimes real or made up and get her hate to do it, but he wanted her to do it for herself, to find the strength to care enough about her life or little enough about the life of another person.

She was probably being shown like an innocent girl forced into the games, if he started to mess with her mind it would look bad on him, specially if through some mistake she died soon.

She started to walk to the jungle so before she left he added. "I'll be here, and I have food and something to drink. You should load that gun, shopping for food can be dangerous in this market."

He sat down on the ground "Whistle 3 times if you need me for some reason, and try not to get killed, I would hate to go all over this again"

 

[La_Reina]

Neri stopped. He food and drink already. Neri knew she needed to move from their current location. She couldn't waste time she went back. "I would like the food and drink please." Neri watched enough shows to figure out how to load the weapon though she never did so before. It was simple and hard at the exact same time. Simple because she knew the theory of doing it hard putting it in practice.

"I will kill just .. not now. I'm too tired. It's hot, I'm dehydrated and so hungry. Everyone who comes here kills. It's the only way to get home. So believe me when I tell you I will be going home." Neri knew the cameras were poised on her face reading the determination. "Though if I could get some help in the quickest way possible that would be nice." Hint Hint, but to whom. She hadn't done anything to warrant any special help or gifts. She was just a girl begging.

Neri had to be impressive. She had to stop stalling, stop being afraid and contribute. Matt was right. She had to prove herself. There was commotion to her left. She knew their yelling would attract attention and sure enough a big spiky haired man came through the brush. He looked at Matt, frowned, looked at Neri and smiled. That smiled told her everything. She wouldn't be in the same deal with him as she was with Matt. Neri spun, grabbed her knife, and came back her momentum hurling the knife at the man. It hit him in the middle of the forehead. He went stiff, and fell backwards. Neri had been aiming at his chest. she got lucky it was a killing blow.

Neri posed. "Is that good enough for you?" She asked it to Matt and the unseen audience. She calmly walked over to the man and pressed her foot on his chest. She reached down and pulled her knife free. She returned to Matt. "I didn't want to cause anymore noise and send more towards us." She sat down doing a pretty good job of hiding her shaky hands, her trembling voice, and holding back the tears. She had just killed a man.

 

[Prince_Truhan]

She came back, as he knew she will, he wasn't sure what her plan was, if she wanted his help in finding her first mark or if she would try to get off of it again with a speech.

It was the second one, he heard patiently, and he was starting to consider feeding her, she did make a point about being hungry and tired, and if she was exhausted to be exploring around could be dangerous, and she had soem determination that inspired some confidence in him.

Then some noises started, and some man showed up on their secluded part, he was clearly new, because he just frowned when he saw Matt and then smiled at Neri, under normal circumstances he would have already shot him, but he knew that her first kill had found them, he didn't even seem to have weapons, if he managed to kill her he would shoot him afterwards. He wasn't going to offer a partnership to this kind of character.

That all was brief seconds, after they ended the man was dead, and she was asking if it had been good enough, she did know how to work the cameras, they should have some sort of gift coming, she was young and very hot.

"Almost good enough, search him and push him off this tree circle, I don't like corpses looking at me eat"

After saying that, he retrieved food and some water, he unwrapped a small package and set it in front of him, it was mostly fruit, but there was some meat.

"You should probably tell "me" about who is waiting back home and why you aren't giving up."

 

[La_Reina]

She took the food and munched. It helped calm her down. She didn't ask about the meat. It wasn't allowed to be a cannibal here and usually after a few seconds .. yup. A craft came and picked the body up. It was like one of those old game machines where it had the 3 fingered hand and the person tried to pick up a plush stuffed toy. Neri had seen one of those in a very, very old magazine. This was exactly what it looked like.

She took a swig of the water and quickly put it down seeing the tremors from her shaking in the bottle. "Family is why." She wasn't going to elaborate. It was none of his business. "Do you have a safe place we can sleep at?"

Suddenly she was so tired and she just wanted to sleep. She got up and noticed a nearby points station. Her name was next to Matt and they had a combined total of 60 points. Better than the 5 she had started out with. There was also a name scratched out in red under her name. The man she had killed. Neri turned away.

 

[Prince_Truhan]

"Don't tell me if you want, I don't care, but a nice story of a tragic home might help with the support we get, family is ok, but you might want to say more at some point."

He took a drink of water before going on.

"Yes, there is a place to sleep, safe as much as it can be here, we'll go after eating, you need rest, tomorrow we'll have to get you more bullets, even if you can pull that knife throwing trick over and over we'll face more than one person at once eventually."

Once they were down he folded the package and put it away "Let's go" He lead her quietly around the woods until they reached a cave.

Only when they were inside he decided to speak "A powerful team used to be here, so most people leave it alone, some of them died and the rest stopped getting along. I don't know for much longer it'll be safe though"

The locations weren't luxurious by any definition, but there were some makeshift beds, and it was dry even if it rained.

 

[La_Reina]

"Don't tell me how to play the audience. I don't see anyone ever giving you support or needed weapons." Neri wasn't trying to be harsh. Her nerves were on edge and she wanted to sleep. Just sleep it all away. He was talking about finding more weaponry and Neri knew it was the way of where they were, but she was so taken aback by his callousness. She just killed a man.

He offered her food and her stomach grumbled loudly. As on edge as she was she couldn't deny her body sustenance. She took the food and ate it trying to savor every bite. She wasn't sure when she would get more food. She washed it down with water and when he said it was time to go she got up quietly and followed him.

Neri looked around the cave. She nodded understanding completely. For now this was home, but tomorrow it may not be. She found a bed and crawled to it. The blankets were thin and the night air was getting cool. Soon she was shaking and shivering. Sighing groggily she crawled over to Matt. "Cold," she said before laying down next to him. His body heat immediately helped warm her up and within seconds she was dead to the world. Her knife in her fist and the gun in her waistline.

The sun hitting her face woke her. Neri rubbed the sleep from her eyes with her fists and stretched. She glanced around, but Matt was gone. "Matt," she called softly.

 

[Prince_Truhan]

He didn't argue with her, he was right and knew it, in time she would learn to listen to him, at least she had seemed to be listening about the important stuff. In the same order of things he allowed her to go to sleep where she pleased without commenting, the weather was very unkind in the area, but making any suggestion would be misinterpreted, and he couldn't really blame her for it, so he kept silent.

Luckily she came towards him, attractive as she was they both needed their sleep, and if he made a wrong move it would make his attempts to teach her the basics all the more hard.

When morning came she was still asleep, he slid out of the bed. He would let her sleep for now. He had to check around the cave, it was a very good spot for a base, and it didn't take too much of a brain to figure there wasn't a big group in it anymore.

He took a chance whenever he slept, the chance of somebody finding him asleep was high in such a place, after this day he could keep watch with Neri if they were to stay there, still the best thing to do was making sure they were no surprises.

After securing the area he went back to the tree where they had been the day before, and retrieved some food, just enough for them to have something to eat and drink. He heard a noise and stayed silent and motionless, then it was there again, but closer.

"Who is there?" he asked where he was standing before moving quickly in case whoever it was didn't share his philosophy of saving bullets. It was the right thing to do since a couple of bullets flew through where he was.

His eyes kept scanning the forest looking for any movement, any change at whichever height they could be. He thought he saw a shadow but restrained from shooting, and moved putting a tree between him and the shadow.

Matt's eyes kept scanning and then he was sure that the shadow was a person sneaking, it had made the mistake to move so now Matt could see him. It was a hardened man, he seemed to have some combat experience, but was probably new in the island, otherwise he wouldn't have fired those shots and would have stayed hidden until he could make the kill.

"What do you want?" Matt asked loudly, he was hoping the man would get hasty and screw up, he wasn't comfortable shooting a shadow, he could miss the important parts. "Weapons, food, water?" he wasn't going to offer him points after all, even if he wasn't planning to give anything, it wasn't necessary to clarify, since the answer was a loud "to get out of here" with shots between every word that impacted in the tree that was between them.

Those movements told Matt all that he needed to know, he also hated the waste of bullets, he already considered those his. So when the shots ended he tried the talk approach briefly "I can help, just listen to me..." he didn't continue, he jumped to the side and from the ground he shot the man three times.

Sure that the man was dead he approached him and retrieved the weapon and checked him for food and bullets, there wasn't any food, but the bullets were plentiful, so it wasn't that bad that the man was so a liberal with them.

He retrieved the rest of the food from the tree, after all that noise the place would be swarming with people soon.

As he walked back to the cave he gave one farewell to the man "Well I did get out of here"

 

[La_Reina]

"Matt?" Neri called again. She didn't think he had left her. She sat down cross legged wondering if maybe he had gone to use the restroom as she herself had a strong desire to pee. She stood up ready to go after him when a small package floated in front of her. Neri hoped no one had seen it. It was a known fact that people scanned the skies hoping to see a package and follow it to it's owner to not only claim the package as their own, but to get a free point. Neri tore open the box and saw fresh meat inside.

"Thank you, Sam." Neri had her eyes to the sky so he could how grateful she was to have food her own. That's when the bullets rang out. Neri ducked thinking they were for her, but she realized that they were further away. Neri stayed in the shadow of the cave and waited.

Matt came walking up and Neri ran to him relieved he was okay. Her eyes rove over him looking for signs of injury. "Did you hear the gunshots? Someone is close by. We should leave." Neri had already rolled up the begs for them to take with them. "Oh and I got a gift from my brother. Fresh meat. He must be doing well on the bets." Neri smiled.

"I bet you that you can't get me to kiss you before the end of the day." Neri wasn't looking at Matt she was looking at the sky although she was talking to him. "What do you think odds like that are: 4 to 1 you can or can't?" She was trying to get her brother more money during his bets and maybe get herself more packages especially if she was hoping to get a weapon worth a damn.

 

[Prince_Truhan]

"Of course I heard the gunshots, I shot the last three" he offered her the new gun "you can pick between this and the other one now"

His eyes widened at the mention of meat, he wanted to see it but seeing how it was neatly packed he opted to not do it. Her question about the kiss surprised him, and made him wonder if she some sort of code worked out with her brother.

He paid no attention to that however, Neri was very attractive, and he wasn't going to let such thing to go through their conversation untouched. He moved closer to her, so that their eyes would meet when she stopped looking at the sky.

"I always bet on my favor." He said looking into her eyes "Specially when I know I'll win" with that his hand made it to the back of her neck and he pulled her to him as he placed his lips over her. That he hadn't forced himself or that he hadn't tried anything last night didn't mean he hadn't entertained such thoughts before falling asleep.

 

[La_Reina]

Neri's eyes went up when he mentioned he was the one responsible for the gunfire. "Don't you ever conserve bullets or have a day go bye without you killing someone? You must or you'll be on the hit list or have more points than you do." Neri was laughing feeling a bit better about her situation and having gotten a gift so early.

She was wondering if they would have time to eat before heading out when he stepped up to her. She felt his hand on her neck, his lips hovering over hers. She pulled back before he could kiss her laughing. "Do you truly think I am so easy? You've been here too long Matt. The bet was for YOU to get ME kiss you." Her eyes twinkled and she was staring up at the sky into the cam she couldn't see. She figured there would be a few patrons out there who would be betting on this as well.

"If you can find me a wild orchid," a flower that Neri knew was rare on this island and only grew at the mountaintop of the island. A place no one has ever been too. Every night when the show ended it would zoom to the top of the mountain and show the pretty blue and white flowers. "Or something else pretty and worthwhile." she was hoping people would get into the mood of the games and start sending them gifts.

"Hey do you think we have time to eat this meat as a breakfast?"

 

[Prince_Truhan]

"If I shot it means someone died, luckily it wasn't me or you" he answer coldly, her staring at the sky might have seemed amusing for a while but was now getting on his nerves.

She moved away before he kissed her, and he didn't like her response at all, he could deal with them not being intimate, it bothered him that she was playing or acting like some fairytale princess.

"Then I'm off to collect the orchid atop of the tallest mountain, and hope her highness doesn't get shot while I'm out."

He moved away from her and started a fire, the fire place was secluded so the smoke wouldn't be seen, the only use of it was to cook it couldn't double as a heater "Yes we have time, since it wasn't that close, but we should move after we are done eating. Remember you have to choose a weapon, we are dumping the extra one."

He pointed to the packages, it wasn't a weird sense of male and female duties that made him do it, but respect for the privacy of her stuff, he wouldn't want her messing with his things, as few as they were, so he provided the same courtesy.

 

[La_Reina]

Neri stared at him and saw that Matt forgot the audience in this game. This game was made for them. The more favor or popular they were with the audience the better their chances of getting free or gifts to help them survive. His next words confirmed it. Though they were the right words they were said in such anger that she should have been scared.

Neri went to her gift and unwrapped it. She pulled it apart to see 2 pieces of bacon and a thick slab of meat. Her mouth was watering just looking at it. She handed it to him as she squat beside him.

"Look. I'm trying to gain favor with the audience. It's bleak and horrible out there. People are coming here by the buckets. If we give them a love story maybe we can get more things. Draw out the kiss until the last moment make them sweat, scream, ache and we'll have them. Either play along or not. But stop acting like a asshole!"

Neri stood up and grabbed both guns. She stared at them both and put one in her back. "I want them both." She stomped out of the cave and to a nearby section of plants. She started to pee and hoped that she still wasn't on camera for this. Sick perverse people would get a kick out of this.

Neri paused as she stood up, but it all seemed quiet to her. She returned to the cave and sat down waiting for him to finish with the meat so they could eat and leave this place. She was in a foul mood and it was his fault. Fucking men! They all sucked and Matt was no different.

 

[Prince_Truhan]

He waited until she came back to say anything, the food was nearly done by then, only when she sat down he talked.

"They edit the stuff, with that you saw of me, wouldn't you think I was ready to betray you as soon as possible? you can deviate from your script, they know how to sell." He paused briefly "Listen I don't mind selling a sob story of how your family misses you, a story of a broken home whatever, a love story..., we are going to be offing people everyday, if we are lucky. You got here yesterday, call me cynical, I don't think you'll be in the mood for those stories for long."

He handed her half of the food, and kept the rest for himself. "Thank you for the meat I haven't eaten something this good in a long time."

His eyes went to her backpack "Why do you want the spare gun? you can't use both at once, that thing is better off in some idiot hands making him think he can do stuff."

 

[La_Reina]

Neri was confused. What the hell was he talking about. Something about him betraying her and deviating from the script. He wasn't speaking completely it was like he was giving her half formed ideas and she was grasping at the rest and not coming up with the right conclusions. She didn't understand one thing though. He wasn't buying her request.

"I don't think you are getting me. Out there everyone has a sob story. A broken family, blah blah blah it's boring. You can see that outside your door. What you can't see is love happening or how you can control it. I'm not asking for anything more than the end of tonight. It's not like I want to fall in love just get them to think it, get them to think they are in control of it. Hell get some better weapons then these shitty pistols." Neri wasn't sure if they were shitty or not, but it sounded good ot her.

Neri took her half of the food and walked away from slumping against the cave wall to eat. The food was fatty so it dripped with grease. The meat was good she ended up licking her fingers as she ate. "I want the spare incase the other breaks or I need to use it as parts. I don't want to give it to some idiot you can wind up killing me with it later. Unlike you I don't know how to shoot."

Neri was feeling defiant especially since he kept challenging her on everything. She crossed her arms after she was done eating and watched him eat the rest of his food. She took a sip of water and stared at the fire. Gawd, it didn't matter about the love thing anyways. He was a jerk and she wouldn't kiss him with a ten foot pole.

 

[Prince_Truhan]

Only when he finished his food he addressed her again.

"I prefer to leave unloaded guns around, give the weaponless people a chance to act stupid instead of just hiding. However you are right, you should keep it at least until one is out of bullets"

He cleaned the side of his mouth with a squared piece of cloth and offered one to her.

"You need to learn to shoot, my life might depend on your skill soon. Give me the weapon you have now, I'll show you how it works. If anyone shows up we'll consider it lucky and you'll have a target to practice."

The gun was a decent one, nothing special but one that wouldn't miss if aimed correctly. Most guns in the island were very well cared for because they didn't last in unskilled hands for long.

Matt showed her the different parts and how it worked, he made her aim at the entrance of the cave, his hands touched her shoulders and the small of her back as he adjusted her standing position.

"You won't choose the time to shoot, you might not be able to choose the proper position, but it's better to get as much of what you can to benefit your shot as you can."

He kept his hand firmly on her shoulder to keep her in position, even if he couldn't help but notice how soft her skin was.

"Go ahead shoot, don't even aim, try to guess where it'll go and see what happens."

 

[La_Reina]

"I don't like manipulating people..." she was going to say to their deaths, but this was the point of the whole reason they were here. Humanity was out the window and Neri wondered if anyone ever made it to 5000 points how they would function when the answer to every problem wouldn't be to kill the person. She wondered if the Government had that same thought. Than again no one has ever made it that high.

Neri sighed. He was right. If she was going to have weapons she should know how to use them. She let him poke and prod and pull her into she was where he wanted her to be. "Wasting bullets are we? Besides if we shoot won't we be attracting attention?" Still she nodded at his command and took aim. She was aiming for the tree not so far from the cave entrance. She pulled and the recoil through her off. She stumbled and widened her stance. She aimed and again the recoil was too strong, but this time she saw the leaves to the left of the tree move. She adjusted took aim and still didn't hit the tree. She wasn't sure where the bullet went. She adjusted again and again and again and again and all failed. The recoil was too much for her. She tried the other gun with the same result. Even when she got a firm hold the recoil would move the gun just that tiny inch and she was off balance.

"Fuck!" Neri wanted to throw the fucking thing. "This is stupid. I want to aim here!" Neri pulled the knife from her belt and threw it at the fucking tree wanting to throw something and knowing she couldn't throw the gun. The knife whistled through the air and sunk into the tree. All anger vanished. Neri blinked. She didn't even look as she slowly stooped down and laid the gun on the ground. She pulled out the other knife and taking aim like she did with the gun threw it. It landed slightly lower but in the tree. Neri slowly turned to Matt.

"You keep the guns." She trotted off to the tree and pull the knives out. The one she threw with anger gave her a little workout to free itself, but she felt much better. She can't shoot for shit, but she could work a blade. Neri went back to the cave and studied the knives. They were evenly balance she found as she balanced the weight on her finger. The hilt had a worn gripping area and the blade was sharp, but not as sharp as it once was.

"Do you know how to sharpen these things?"