dare to be a fool { roadkill day 1 }

k!ah
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dare to be a fool { roadkill day 1 } Feb 21, 2021 8:41:15 GMT -5

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Post by k!ah on Feb 21, 2021 8:41:15 GMT -5

They were fucking moles.

As I run my eyes take in the landscape, one hand cradling my nose to avoid the vile smell that surrounded us, the other clasping the hilt of my rusted knife. I did not know what I expected, maybe something like the 85th, an ethereal environment, one so beautiful, yet so deadly. Even the ice hell from last year was dangerously beautiful. And yet, we get this. This fucking wasteland habitable for cockroaches and rats.

Rats.

I had be bloody demoted.

Not just demoted from being a career, but from being a fucking human being.

And like the rats we were we ran and hide, waiting in the shadows for the fighting to end, to scavenge the remains of the bloody battle field, for anything that could help us survive.

A safe enough distance from the bloodbath I stop, crouching by some rumble I turn to watch as other begin to flee. I watch as three hold onto each other, desperate to escape, using each other as a support beam as they fled. I recognised Grubby, as he limped away, clutching his allies. I silently wondered how he must be feeling, I get the sense that he was a bit of a germaphobe. In this environment he might lose grasp on his sanity early.

Then I recognise Turner. From the distance I can't see much, but I can tell that he took a few heavy hits. I should be glad, glad that his blood painted the dusty ground, glad that his injuries were greater than my own. But despite myself I felt concern for the boy, concern that my last piece of home might slip through my fingers too quickly.

I don't move, or say anything, until I am sure that the last few tributes have left, my eyes not for one moment leaving the tower that reached into the clouds. Once I am sure, I turn to face my allies. Cassidy looked the worse, she had a bruise forming around one of her eyes, and I could see a tear in her pants, her knee glistening with blood. Flynn seemed to escape with nothing but a bruise.

Revan had seemed fine, but as were were running his body had begun shuddering as electricity surged through him, burning him from the inside. A moment later it was gone, but my heart still thundered in my ears, fearful that the shock might be recurring, targeting myself or Cassidy or Flynn.

"You okay?" I ask him, examining him closely for a moment longer. "I believe the last of them should have left by now. We should go back, see what we can find." My pack was feeling awfully light, I would have to change that and soon. Turning to Cassidy I give her a grin, "looks like your stylist didn't get the memo, they wanted us to look pretty, not like we'd been punched in the face."

Standing up right I turn back towards the tower, jogging towards it before anyone could object. Each step closer the remnants of the fight becomes more clear. Blood and scuffed earth become more evident, my teeth snagging my lower lip as I slow to a walk, eyes searching the ground for anything that might have been left behind.

I spot a few things, bending over before quickly shoving them in my pack, then I am standing before the tower. I have to tilt my head back so far that I feel a deep stretch down the front of my throat. An idea races through my mind, one I knew could very well be an extremely bad one. My teeth digging deeper into my lip I slip my pack from my shoulder, moving close to the large, old looking tower.

The closer I got the more the hairs on my body begin to lift. At first I think it to be my bodies way of telling me that that was close enough, but after closer inspection I notice it to be some sort of static.

I move closer.

The voice in the back of my head screams at me to stop.

“I wonder what is up there, do you think it could be climbed?”

Flynns voice sounds behind me, throwing him a glance over my shoulder I give him a grin, "any fool could climb it-"

"“Okay, then I dare you too.”

My grin grows, I do love a good dare. "Okay, Flynn, game on." I step closer, wrapping my hands around the metal poles. I heave myself up, my arms reaching for the next bar. "But remember, Flynn, if I do this, you owe me," I toss him another grin, heaving myself further up the tower.

The voice in the back of my head is yelling at me, you fucking idiot, it screams.

[ does things, picks up stuff ]

✮ UPAT ✮

d6a georgie cham 🍓🐢 frankel
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call me jaded

dare to be a fool { roadkill day 1 } Feb 22, 2021 10:47:08 GMT -5

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Post by d6a georgie cham 🍓🐢 frankel on Feb 22, 2021 10:47:08 GMT -5

A clean rusting knife and an empty bag, the prizes of having a bruised arm. We should have stayed longer. There are no medical supplies. No food. No Water. If it meant getting my face slashed, I wish I just stook around a little longer. Grab as many prizes as I could. Instead, I am going to have to stab people close or throw a bag over their head. The bonus is that I still have my head, a head that carries the aches of the poison that is being pumped into every corner of my body.

I know District Six can be a bit murky sometimes, but this is worse than the bottom of a dumpster.

Yeah, I have been in the bottom of a dumpster before so I can compare the two. No, it was not a dare. Big George just thought it would be fun to throw me in one of the big ones outside the food store. Then he had a picnic on top so I could not climb out for an hour. I could still smell the rotten food in my nostrils a whole month later. How I survived the festering germs inside, I really do not know. I must just be built different.

I can endure a whole hour in a dumpster, but I do not think I am built for a week inside a radiation wasteland.

I wait besides Nan as the figures sprint from the chaos. Some healthily run away, others drag the legs of their allies. There were so many fists being thrown but no weapons, but I really think I saw a gun. A gun that does not look like the ones the peacekeepers carry. More like what the pirates carry in the picture books. Oh damn, how cool would it be to have a gun? Pew. Pew. It will be a lot more fun to carry than this corroded kitchen tool. All I will have to do is point and pull the trigger. There is nothing hard about that. I think.

Revan and Langley reach us both, one looking a lot worse than the other. Though the older boy looks like he has just endured a thousand volts, so he is not having a good day either. Really, I think I have gotten away with it. Poor Langley has definitely taken one for the team. Finally, the chaos seems to have dispersed and we all make our way back to the tower, scavenging for the scraps left behind.

There is not much laying around at the bottom of the tower, though the medical supplies are certainly welcoming. I will have my worth in this little alliance. Doctor Flynn will be to the rescue, basic first aid is the first thing we learn. Mouth to mouth and everything that comes with it. My bag starts to feel slightly filled. Finally, it has a job.

I notice Nan is looking up above us, the tower is really…towering. There must be something up there, but I am not being the one to find out. “I wonder what is up there, do you think it could be climbed?” I say to Nan, stepping back slightly as this is one thing I am not volunteering myself for. "any fool could climb it-"

Fair enough.

“Okay, then I dare you too.”

Oh shit. Not again. Shit. Shit. "Okay, Flynn, game on." She is already preparing the climb before I can retract my dare. It is too early to watch someone fall again. Not like Tommy. I cannot let Nan go this quickly. It has not even been an hour. What a stupid thing to say. I cannot make the same mistake again.

Nan is already scaling the tower before I can get my stupid brain to say the right thing. ”It looks really high Nan, you should come back down now.”

[Collects items]

Last Edit: Feb 22, 2021 10:47:26 GMT -5 by d6a georgie cham 🍓🐢 frankel

alex 🐺
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a la folie

dare to be a fool { roadkill day 1 } Feb 22, 2021 14:44:43 GMT -5

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Post by alex 🐺 on Feb 22, 2021 14:44:43 GMT -5

The boy from Eleven, she doesn’t even know his name or his story, carries her away from the Bloodbath, away from the fray and she feels her mangled body torn and bleeding.

Her lip is split, her knee is bruised, and her eye is a black slit. She squints into the sunlight and looks to Nanette from Four and whatever the hell the younger kid’s name was from Six. Flynn something.

A knapsack is slung around her shoulders and she carries a warhammer - the steel is true in her hand, but she’s weak and even lifting it is a task. How in the world could she be asked to end a life with this?

Nanette looks at Langley appraisingly and the girl wants to spit at Nan's feet under her obsevation, but she only grins.

“Looks like your stylist didn't get the memo, they wanted us to look pretty, not like we'd been punched in the face."

“Fuck you, Four. They came outta nowhere like bats outta hell once the cannon went off. I guess that’s why they call it the Bloodbath. Ugh,” Langley spits again, feels a chipped tooth on the bottom of her mouth. “It was like target practice with all of those damn fists flying.”

She mutters a word of thanks to Eleven - his name is Revan, or something. But he just watches as Nan and Flynn debate about the stupid silver tower, daring each other to climb it.

Idiots.

Nan cheers triumphantly as she grabs something silver and shiny and then falls to the ground. Idiot.

Lang drops the hammer and runs to Nanette’s side as the girl lands, a swirl of dust all around her. She's not concerned. Not at all. She just wants to gloat.

“That’s what you get for showing off. Here,” she holds a hand out to help up the girl, looking all around them. People are still running around everywhere. Lost in the melee.

“Where d’ya think we could get water around here? Doesn't look like the most hospitable arena they've had.”

[Langley wanders a bit, picks some stuff up]

the smell of night, inhaling stars.

Cato
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I wish Cato didnt die

dare to be a fool { roadkill day 1 } Feb 22, 2021 19:10:04 GMT -5

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Post by Cato on Feb 22, 2021 19:10:04 GMT -5

I'm running, carrying my ally along with me. Not exactly sure why, but I felt like she needed it. She thanks me, and I nod my head. Sometimes it might get in the way, but for right now this is what I need. I need to make sure they're all okay, and that they make it further in the game. I know I can't rely on them forever, but for now they're my buddies. I can't call them friends because they don't exist here. So why I'm even helping them out right now is beyond me. Maybe I care. I don't want to care about them. It's complicated, but I can't let it be. I have to be prepared for anything, and that includes killing them. I want to make it home alive to my family who needs this food more than anything. I betrayed a brother, so I'll do whatever I have to do to win this entire game.

I'm looking around, and I see a tower, and the moment I look at it, I'm hit with something. Electricity flies through my body, and my hair stands on end, and for a moment everyone of my muscles tremble. I've never felt anything like this, but I stop myself from letting out any sign of pain. I have to remain strong and courageous, but damn it hurts. Nanette asks if I'm okay, and for a moment I don't know the answer. I'm alive, am I must be doing fine, right? I don't know though. "Yeah, I'm fine." I mutter quietly through gritted teeth as I watch her make her way over towards the tower. The same tower that just shot electricity out of it. Why would she do something like that?

I listen as my allies go back and forth talking to one another about trying to climb it, and before I can give my own opinion on it, Nanette starts climbing. I stand there with my arms crossed looking up, watching her go higher and higher and higher. I wonder if she's smart enough to make it. I wonder if she can do it. The easiest part is going up. Coming back down will be more difficult, and I truly believe she's not off more than she can chew. It's on her though. Shouldn't have tried it. For a moment, I'm amazed. I watch as she grabs an item, and even as she climbs higher. I'm quite impressed, but I blink and look away. It's like it all comes crashing down, and Nanette comes tumbling down. I run over wanting to make sure she's okay, and when I see that she is, I can't help but start laughing. She should've known better.

Then she stands and she's up in my face, and she doesn't waste any time shoving me slightly. Only I don't move. "What you laughing at?" She pushes me again, and it's starting to make me mad. She has no right to touch me like that. No right to lay a hand on me. "Think you can do better?" She pokes me in the chest with a finger, and I'm about to snap. I could just break her neck right now and be done with it. "Go on then, big guy, get up there or quite your fucking laughter." A challenge. That's what it is. A grin slowly spreads across my face as I look at the tower. People always underestimate me back home, and for once I don't care. I have to show them and myself what I'm capable of, and I will not stand for some girl from district four mocking me. "Fine, I'll go up." I pause placing a hand on the bottom of the tower slowly starting to ascend. "But I want an apology when I make it down without falling."

-collects things-

k!ah
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dare to be a fool { roadkill day 1 } Feb 23, 2021 3:28:16 GMT -5

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Post by k!ah on Feb 23, 2021 3:28:16 GMT -5

The climb is easy, almost peaceful if I could ignore the screaming in the back of my mind and the god awful smell that lodged its way so far up my nostrils that I was sure that even when I got home I didn't think it would fully leave disappear. To my left there is a gleam, an object that I cannot quick make out. With a grunt I move faster, my fingers closing around the object. Internally I was buzzing with excitement, wondering what sort of treasure I had managed to get my hands on...

But...

But as I pull it free I identify it as a can opener. Just your regular standard can opening, that has the leavers and shit, not one of those cool up to date mechanisms that I have at home that electronically opens the can for me. Rolling my eyes I quickly shove it into my bra, freeing my hands to continue my climb. My hands reach for the next rung when it happens. My foot slips, my fingers tips slipping from the rung.

Shit.

I don't scream, I barely have time to register what has happen before the ground collides with my body and the air is knocked from my lungs. Desperately I try to get them to work, to breath in the toxic air around me.

Suddenly two faces appear before me, neither of them all that concerned at my topple back to earth. Both filled with some sort of satisfaction at seeing me on my ass. Cassidy offers me a hand, “that’s what you get for showing off. Here,” I take it, climbing to my feet to dust myself off. "Thanks- my, uh, foot slipped. I could have done it, ya'know-"

Laughter sounds beside me, cutting me off. My eyes narrow as I turn to see Revan's chest bouncing as a deep chuckle escapes his lips. Anger flashes through me as I turn on him, my teeth as sharp as the shark that I had slain. "What you laughing at?" Before I can stop myself my hands connect with his chest as I give him a shove- well try too but he barely moves under my touch. "Think you can do better?" The challenge slips past my lips as I poke him in the chest. "Go on then, big guy, get up there or quit your fucking laughter." I shouldn't have shoved him. I knew I shouldn't have, my mind head was spinning, my lungs had just started working and every little thing seemed to be pissing me off from the moment I ascended into this wasteland.

He moves to the base, placing his stuff beside my own. My eyes land on the spear that slightly rolled on the uneven ground. "Fine, I'll go up. But I want an apology when I make it down without falling." I barely look at him, mumbling my approval. I was going to need to apologise, but not for my previous behaviour, but for what I was about to do.

I watch as he starts his climb, moving slow at first as though to get used to the feeling of pulling his body weight up the tower. Once he is a safe distance I move towards our discarded bags, picking up the spear and tossing the strap of my bag over my shoulder. Opening it I dig through the contents, looking for the knife. “If you are going to fucking laugh, I’m going to take your spear," I mumble to myself, fishing it out I toss it onto the bag, walking away as I tuck the spear securely by my side. “We’ll see whose laughing then."

Turning back to Flynn I notice some blood on his hand. "Hey, what happened?" I ask with a slight frown.

[ falls, gets laughed at and roasted, steals (with permission) Revan's spear ]
[ flees ]

✮ UPAT ✮

d6a georgie cham 🍓🐢 frankel
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call me jaded

dare to be a fool { roadkill day 1 } Feb 23, 2021 14:32:38 GMT -5

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Post by d6a georgie cham 🍓🐢 frankel on Feb 23, 2021 14:32:38 GMT -5

Bad things in my life are starting to repeat themselves. Accept this fall is nothing like Tommy’s. Nanette is already back on her feet before I can run over to her. Back up onto her feet and fending off the taunts of the other two. They are all so much older than me and still, they act like little children. Now the big guy is being dared to go up. Neither of them are any different to Tarquin, to Dale, to Jodie. Do people even mature when they grow old?

I leave them to the acrobatics, instead wandering around the tower, looking for anymore treasures to pick up. My feet hit a surface unlike the one I have already been walking on. A trap door. Oh shit. I quickly jump off the wooden door, expecting it to drop open and my body being swallowed into the earth. Except it does not move. I bend down onto my knees, pulling the door up and…”Ahhh, what the fuck.” I jump back up onto my feet, grabbing hold of wounded hand. ”Fuck you.” I swing my foot at the little rodent that has dared to feast on my fingers, flinging it quite far and the damned thing squeaks as it takes flight. Blood drips from my hand into the trapped door, onto the one thing that could quickly fix this. A medical kit! Now this is treasure. The rat bite is worth it!

I walk back to my band of merry kids. Revan is now scaling the tower. We really cannot lose our muscle like this. "Hey, what happened?" Nanette says as I still cradle my wounded hand. ”A rat just bit me. I kicked it though. I don’t think that thing will be biting anyone else!” I do not mention my new found treasure. It is my secret emergency supply. They do not need to know…

”Hey get down big muscles. We should move on. Try and find more valuables…”

[Flees the area]

alex 🐺
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a la folie

dare to be a fool { roadkill day 1 } Feb 23, 2021 19:00:24 GMT -5

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Post by alex 🐺 on Feb 23, 2021 19:00:24 GMT -5

"Thanks- my, uh, foot slipped. I could have done it, ya'know-"

Langley laughs when she hears Nanette’s excuse, a bark of laughter that does nothing to quiet the trepidation she feels surging in her chest at their surroundings now that she has a moment to take a breath and try to forget that her eye was nearly closed shut from that bitch from One.

The entire arena - it smelled like eggs. Like sewer. Like death and rats and the end of the world and maybe this place was meant to look exactly like that.

“What in the?”

A toxic wasteland with no green grass, no water, nothing to help them survive. Shocker - the Gamemakers want them to die!

Dusting off her boots by kicking one sole against the other, Lang picks up the warhammer again, swinging it around and listening with detachment at Revan and Nan argue and then Revan takes off towards the fucking thing that Nan just fell off of and -

“Children, you’re all just children,” she remarks, mostly to herself, her eyes following Flynn as he curses at the rat that took a bite out of his hand.

“Flynn, what the heck? Nanette, Eleven, should we go?”

[lang flees the cornucopia; actions to come in maint]

the smell of night, inhaling stars.

Cato
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I wish Cato didnt die

dare to be a fool { roadkill day 1 } Feb 24, 2021 18:25:52 GMT -5

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Post by Cato on Feb 24, 2021 18:25:52 GMT -5

I'm climbing higher and higher, and it's so freeing. Never in my life have I ever felt this alive, but every good things comes with consequences it seems. I'm not even halfway up, and my allies down below are going on about things, and I barely hear Nanette saying she's going to take my spear. Why would she do such a thing? She could've grabbed one herself in the bloodbath. It's not my fault she didn't. It's not my fault she's clearly not good at staying alive. None of that matters though because more is going on down below, and I can't even make out what all is being said.

Flynn tells me to come down and that we should go. Ten asks if I'm ready, and of course I'm not ready. I've just starting climbing this thing, but I guess it's going to be cut short because I really don't want to fall behind. So I slowly make my descent with ease. Not sure how Nanette ended up falling. Maybe because she was tying to grab things. I don't know.

"Can't..." I mumble quietly to myself. they survive without having to steal things. "Why..." is a career trying to steal all my stuff. She's more than capable of living on her own. "Stupid..." Everything is so stupid. I reluctantly reach for the knife that's on the ground by my stuff. It's better than nothing, but four has another thing coming, and she needs to watch her back.

-Flees the area-