(S:ARG) Paying the Price: Of Greed

[Zhaliora]

Vincent stood stunned for a few moments after Jason shot one of the guards before he came to his senses again. "Damn it Jason! You can't just kill people like that! You just KILLED someone. What the FUCK?!" He snorted before he reached down to the other man lying on the ground and took the man's pulse. "This one is already dead. Don't be barbaric enough to shoot dead bodies," he said and walked back to the other two. "Clay, Able, are you two all right?"

Jason heard Vincen't voice but nothing he said sunk in. He stared down at the bloody corpse, missing most of it's head and then to the gun in his hand. Colt 911, good, solid and heavy. He heard others behind him and turned to look at Clay and Able. Vincent look over at Jason with a myriad of emotions on his face, most negative.

Truth be told, THIS part of Jason was easier to be. Since leaving the Corps, he'd missed this part of him and felt like he was doing more to supress this and force himself to be the NEW Jason. One of the reasons he loved paintball is that he felt like a predator, he had JUST enough of the old lifestyle to sate that side of him. He turned his gaze from the 3 and started going through the corpse's person, snagging the holster and 3 other magazines, some baby wipes and a small brown bottle of unmarked, white pills. "Go through the body, see if you can find anything. Then we need to go through the truck. Quick, we need to get the hell away from here in a few minutes before someone else comes along."

Clay had just managed to pull himself together when the cart flipped, and everything was shaken up, yet again. The odd, functional portion of his mind was getting tired of these problems. He had to admit, however, the crash had been a nice wake up call. He could think a little bit better. Something still dulled his mental capacity, but he managed to speak, for the first time in a while. "I'm...I'll live. Let's get the hell away from...this place. You're right, Jason. We need...to...find...shelter, away from here." He was still feeling light-headed, which he figured might have had to do with some kind of injected drug in his system. Maybe he drank something drugged the night before. It didn't matter, either way- they needed to move. He could be in pain later.

Able fought away vertigo as he watched Jason go to work on the injured soldier. This vertigo was not from the brutality displayed by his friend however, no Able was in total agreement that the fucker needed to be wasted. His vertigo stemmed from the blow to the head he had apparently suffered in the crash. His skull above his left ear throbbed with pain that radiated with each heartbeat down through his jaw and to the backs of his eyes. He tried to focus on Vincent as the man addressed him, but Able found it initially difficult to focus on objects close to him. Vincent was a blur when he responded, "I'll be alright, the damn cage brained me when we flipped." Able gripped at the wooden bars and grunted with the effort to lift himself up and towards the opening. He had to immediately steady himself as he stood, a wave of disiness washing over him. It took a moment but the nausea finally subsided, and Able made his way over to where Jason was searching the bodies.

"I'll search the cab," Able said as he passed Jason.

He approached the front of the truck and was almost stopped immediately by the broken glass pressing painfully into his bare feet. Amongst all the chaos he had totally forgotten that the kidnappers had taken his shoes. Turning back to look at the bodies of the dead soldiers, Able saw what he needed. Without a word or a second thought Able knelt down beside the man Jason had shot, and quickly worked to remove his shoes. Years ago, before Able had become a firefighter, such an act would have repulsed him. Now, after almost a decade of seeing bodies burned, mangled, dismembered, and destroyed in manners that boggled even the most generous of imaginations, Able was all business. He needed shoes, this asshole didn't anymore. Problem solved. The shoes were faded Li-Ning trail runners, and Able slipped them on without much effort. They were a little snug in the toes, and Able almost laughed at the absurdity of the thought.

His feet protected, Able returned to the truck as the others milled around the wreckage. He made his way to the exposed undercarriage, and climbed up to the passenger side of the cab using the suspension and engine as foot and hand holds. The door was closed with its window open. Finding the latch jammed, Able shimmied down through the window opening until he was standing with his feet on the crushed door of the truck's driver side. This put Able at eye level with truck's glove compartment, and so he searched there first. The compartment was small, only holding a small MOLLE pouch and a worn velvet Crown Royal bag. Able removed the MOLLE pouch first, and unzipped it. Inside he could see two sealed rolls of Kerlex bandages, and several other small pieces of first aid equipment. He resealed the pouch and slid it into the cargo pocket of his shorts before turning his attention to the Crown Royal bag. The weight of the bag surprised him as he lifted it from the glove compartment, and slidding apart the pull strings he was even more surprised by what it contained. Reaching in, Able removed a snub-nosed, .38 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver, and he stared down at the oddity in his hand as if it was an apparition. The weapon had spots of rust on its black frame, and the wooden grip was pocked and scratched, but it otherwise appeared in servicable order. Able released the cylinder and saw that it was fully loaded with five hollow point bullets, and that the action seemed smooth enough to reliably fire.

He slipped the revolver into his waist band at the small of his back before pocketing the Crown Royal bag in his left cargo pocket. The bag had also contained about fifteen extra rounds for the revolver. With a quick once over of the rest of the cab, Able was satisfied that he had found all of the useful equipement inside the truck. He hooked his fingers on the edge of the passenger door, and pulled himself up into the bright island sun. Able jumped down and made his way over to Jason.

"Found a revolver with some spare ammo and a small first aid kit; just some badages, tape and gauze. What are you thinking's next Leatherneck?"

The activity behind him barely registered after he told everyone to grab gear. His own level of focus was going up and down and he'd realized he'd been starting down at the corpse for some unknown amount of time. They were either drugged on the boat the day before, or they were drugged when they were in cages. Or both, but he could tell that whatever was running through his system was the reason that he felt like this, it wasn't either of the blows he suffered earlier or the crash.

Then, when Able spoke up, again his mental fog was shaken away and he looked around, focusing on Able. "Yeah. Uh." He shook his head and pinched himself on the cheeks, the pain helping him focus slightly. "Fuck. We need to get away from here. We should find shelter, preferably a cave, something with shelter and privacy and we could even get a small fire going. After that, I dunno man. We have zero idea where we are, how big this place is and what's out there. I am not really sure what to do. Try to find a village or a city I guess. We may be on an island, we may be on mainland somewhere. Finding someone and asking them would be better than walking across an entire island to answer one question I guess. And we gotta find food."

The four of them gradually made their way to one another and after Jason spoke, they all looked back and forth at one another in silence. They were a mix of scared, nervous, sad, angry and a myrid of other emotions, and also nagging at the back of their minds was Brett.

[Lillian Thorne]

The rattle of the truck as it rumbled down the track that had dreams of someday being a road jarred her enough that she couldn't slip into the sweep oblivion of sleep. Her head hurt from the blow she’d taken and her heart ached for the brutality she’d seen. She felt so alone, so lost that she would have welcomed that darkness even if embracing it would have been the cowards way out. But hadn’t she been brave enough? Hadn’t she watched that awful fight without looking away? Surely that was bravery? She dreaded the thought of having to be brave again even though she knew deep down she would do so and without hesitation when the time came. She’d been raised to do her best, be her best and never quit. She was just indulging in a moment of weakness just then.

She watched the vegetation as it whipped past and idly made a catalog of it. She wasn’t a botanist by any stretch of the imagination but part of her job was capturing the local flora and as such she’d learned just a bit about it on her shoot. She’d seen enough to know that they were likely in the same general area they’d been grabbed from which was good she supposed. She looked over the other prisoners as they all bounced around merrily in the back of the truck. Most of them were dead-eyed, she wondered if that was how she looked to them. Several of them sported angry, calculating looks and whispered among themselves. She watched them but did not join in. She sought out the faces of the girls she’d been on the boat with but didn't see even their vaguely familiar faces. Not that it would have provided much comfort as she barely knew their names. She was alone in this place, well and truly. The only other people she could claim to know were the guys and one of them at least was dead.

Her stomach twisted at the thought, Brett had been so full of life when they’d all met at the hotel bar. They all had been but he was partying like he had something to really live for, his eyes when he’d looked around had seemed to take in everything like he wanted to memorize it. She knew that look, she’d had it the first time she’d went abroad and started seeing all the differences, both in small mundane things and in larger things. She’d taken pictures of them all on the boat, sitting back and watching them party, and partying herself too. She closed her eyes and called up all the pictures she’d taken, the way the sun had glinted off the water, making some shots a challenge but making others pure pleasure. He’d been such a ham. But now, now he was dog food and she had no idea what had happened to his friends. Had they been Set free too? She had a feeling that where the women were heading, that being set free would be a mercy. She remembered all the jeers from the guards and knew exactly what was in store for each of the women in the truck, herself included.

She looked to the cab then, and had the misfortune of meeting the eyes of one of the men driving the truck who had been evidently roaming his eyes over the catch. He grinned at her when he saw he had her attention and with fingers and tongue made an unmistakable gesture. She quickly looked away but heard his laughter over the rattling of the truck. It looked like she’d made a friend.

[Azseth]

He watched her from the cab, grinning at her menacingly, his thoughts and intentions evident in his eyes and his twisted smile. His smile was twisted, literally as the left side of his face had a jagged scar that went from the corner of his lip about 3 inches up his cheek. He never talked about it, but rumors were rampant about everything from an animal attack, to self mutilation to a female he was attempting to rape getting a sharp rock and hacking his face.

No one would ever know the truth, but they did know one truth: Leeto liked to rape. He was one of those in the rag tag militia that had been a while and Leeto was also known to be one of the most violent, even amidst their own group.

There was something about that one, the way she looked at him, Leeto KNEW she wanted him, wanted him to protect her, to take her. God had sent another helpless women to him for him to shelter and bless.

Then the radio cracked to life, interrupting his thoughts. He looked at the driver and made a motion to stop, the diesel engine too loud to hear when it was running and only audible when the vehicle was stopped and idling.

"Mako and Yei have not checked in, be on the lookout. We'll send a patrol shortly, but you know the orders. NO FUNNY STUFF PRIOR TO DROP OFF!" There had been several incidents of murder and rapes and fighting while prisoners were in transport and one had cost the organization a LOT of money when their girl was murdered after being fucked by damn near the entire militia, and since then they've tightened down significantly.

[Zhaliora]

The four walked for about an hour until they found a cave large enough for the four of them. The cave was also easy to defend since it was hidden by trees and there was a small hill in front of the entrence. They had almost missed it when Clay had called out to the others about the cave. He also suggested that they divided the tasks between them to make it easier. Clay said that he would find food. Able would find firewood and something to keep them warm during the night. Jason would make traps around the area. They were lucky to have Clay, his knowledge of general terrain and what to look for, and to avoid, proved invaluable.

Before all was done, Vincent cleared his throat and started talking to everyone. "Hey, I'm not really, I dunno. Useful in this situation, but I'll watch the cave I guess. Able, can I get that gun really quick, just in case?" Able sighed, liking the comfort of the gun but gave it over, having no reason to need it any more than anyone else. "And look. Jason, man. Sorry about before, what I said and all that. I'm not used to this shit. I'm that rich, spoiled party guy, I'm not built for this. I shouldn't have said that to you. Have you...... done that before Jason?"

Jason just stared at Vincent rather blankly and then blinked a few times. "Don't worry about it. Just stay here and watch, maybe gather some wood and put it in the cave, and big leaves or grass to lay on." Without another word, Jason spun on his heel and left the group.

Clay needed time to function. He'd gotten his time. Ignoring everyone else, he mentally mapped out the way back to their little cave, and set out for the food. In this are, he had seen little wildlife worth hunting, and so their primary food source for the meal would likely be vegatation. He'd camped in areas like this many times before. There were very specific things that would kill you in seconds, and others which would fill you in just a few bites. There were likely mangoes here. If he could find those, then, well...good eatings. Some breadfruit would be nice, too. It was hot as hell, here in the tropics, he reflected. He was lucky he'd been trained in dealing with this kind of shit. He moved under the shade, whenever possible. They'd be able to function better in the evening, too, when the heat died off. Of course, night was the predator's environment, so it was a lose-lose scenario, but at this point, predators were safer than the heat. Heat would kill anywhere, indiscriminately. Predators only killed if they were hungry, and if they found you.

Aha! He found what he was after- a tree with some green stone fruits. Had to be a Mango Tree. And of course, no knife. Lovely. Clay cracked his neck, and wrapped around the trunk of the tree, shimmying up to grab the fruits. He dropped them to the ground, counting on the hard outside shell to protect them reasonably well. He was right. Upon landing, he checked each of the eight fruits over, and was pleased to find none had taken any damage. He bundled them up in his hands, using years of practice to carry more than he should have been able to, and retraced his steps back to the cave.

"Hey," he said. "I'm back. Anyone got a knife?" Then he looked up. Able and Jason were gone. Great.

Jason moved through the jungle quickly trying to distance himself from the others quickly. He was annoyed and confused and suddenly it dawned on him how badly his face and head hurt. He'd taken two blows for sure and he didn't remember exactly what happened during the crash, but the thought vaguely that he remembered hitting his face on either the bar or the truck or the ground during it all. The Marines used to say "pain is weakness leaving the body." Jason smirked and said to himself "more like pain is your body telling you 'ouch'" and he stopped suddenly and looked around. He was in the jungle and while it wasn't his element necessarily, it was actually more fortuitous for him in terms of setting traps.

The majority of Jason's training in the Corps related to deserts, hot and barren environments. However, staying alive was staying alive and it WAS hot here, but just a different kind of heat. But, in the desert, you were VERY limited to trap methods. It was mainly mines or ambushes. Here however, you could hide things, make pit falls, snares, spike pits and a myriad of other traps meant to maim or kill or warn to the presence of others. Immediately, he found some large sticks and a few rocks to assist him in digging. The first and most basic trap he intended to make were pit falls. Basically, he'd dig a small but deep hole and cover it. Simple and effective. Eventually he'd like to put wooden spikes in there, but he had to pace himself. They had no food or water at this point and needed to pace themselves and not exert themselves. Mindlessly he dug and dug and dug and amidst the work and labour, he lost track of all his race and worry and sorry from earlier.

Jason always felt better doing things that kept his mind from everything else.

Able handed over the revolver reluctantly to Vincent, and watched closely as he addressed Jason. It was difficult to read what Jason thought about Vincent's apology and inquiry into the Marine's past, but it didn't seem to concern Jason over-much. For some reason however, Vincent's comments made Able's blood boil, and as Jason walked away into the jungle, Able exploded.
"What exactly is your fucking problem man? 'Have you done that before?' He's a god damned Marine, Vincent. They're not trained to sail around the globe and read poetry!" Able threw up his hands and began to stalk off into the brush, still looking back at Vincent. "Fuckin' perfect time to go all Dr. Phil."
Able didn't wait for Vincent's response, because he knew he didn't want to hear it. He was already regretting blowing up at Vincent, he knew that his friend was under just as much stress as he was right now, and Able had done nothing to help the situation. Still, Able justified to himself that Vincent had to be brought down to Terra firma every once in a while, and the current situation seemed as good a time as any.

Desiring to push the moment from the forefront of his mind, Able set about gathering wood with the vigour of a man with a desperate and narrow purpose. The fallen sticks and logs on the ground were generally long and twisted, and Able had no hatchet or axe to shorten them for carrying.Though he was no woodsman, he was a problem solver, and one that understood practical physics, and after a short brainstorm he knew what he needed. It took him several minutes, but he managed to find two stout trees whose trunks had grown close together, and almost parallel to one another. Satisfied, he took a log that was about the diameter of his wrist, and about eight feet long, and placed three feet of its overall length between the two tree trunks. Gripping the log at the end farthest from the tree trunks, he heaved against the log with all the force he could muster. Almost instantly the resounding crack of splintering wood filled the jungle as the shorter end of the log snapped free. Able almost cheered aloud at his success, but almost instantly he froze. The sound of that cracking log had been loud and sharp, and there was no way to know how close the soldiers were.

Still frozen, Able listened for several minutes. Only the sound of the midday jungle filled his ears, and he at last relaxed. Cursing himself for his carelessness, Able set about finding other pieces of wood. When he had ten large armful sized bundles stacked nearby he began transferring the fruits of his labour back to the cave site.

He'd lost track of how long he'd been digging when he heard a loud *SNAP* off in the distance, his head shooting in that direction almost instantly. It had to be one of them, the sound was too foreign to be natural, and he could see no reason any other person would be out here making such noises. He waited, poised and listening for a few minutes. If it happened again, he'd go and make sure that whoever di--. He paused himself mentally, finding himself immediately going into a mood. He needed to sort himself out, relax. Yeah, it wasn't the smartest to go snapping branches like that, but he may have done the same thing and whoever had done so had got the point obviously.

He decided to head back to camp anyway, realizing he needed to find some shoes. His feet weren't that bad as he constantly watched his step, but he did have a small cut from where a piece of glass had gotten him. He remembered Able had done so, and he smirked, realizing his friend one upped him. He was walking slowly and made note to remind everyone of his traps. He'd put his pitfalls between trees, and each time he dug one out, he would take the stone and carve 2 large X's on the trees to their side. He did so while extending his hands and body as high as he could. He'd remembered an old teaching that most people going through brush rarely looked about eye level as the majority of dangers or things we're supposed to watch for are eye level or below.

Then he slowed and listened, realizing that somewhere in the far distance, he thought he heard the steady high pistoning of a diesel engine...

¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨

"Rodger that. Anything else to report? I'd like to get a move on again soon." "Nothing, just stay on alert if you should happen upon the missing truck. Base out."
Leeto looked back at the catch. "Fuck, I wanted to have a go at that one before we dropped them off. I have to share her when we get to the base." The man stared at Eddie for a while with a lecherous stare before he turned to the driver. "Get a move on. Fuck, you think with how much money the organisation gains that they could at least get better trucks" he glanced towards Eddie. "Or let us have a go with one of them before we drop them off." The truck slowly got back in gear and drove along the bumpy road again.

After driving for a while, the truck stopped. Leeto and the driver both got out of the truck and they were accompanied by two guards with assault rifles. They loaded off the women a few at the time and moved them to one of the houses in the camp before they returned for the next batch. Leeto smiled to himself when it was Eddie's turn. As he helped her get out of the truck his hand went for her genitals. He leaned in close and whispered into her ear; "I'll be keeping my eye on you, sweetheart." He licked around her ear and massaged her with his hand a few times before he sent her off with the others.

[Lillian Thorne]

There is a certain kind of scrutiny that feels almost like a physical blow. Eddy learned this firsthand on that horrible trip to the bleak prison the rattling truck pulled up to. She felt dirty, filthy from the gaze the scarred faced one kept leveling at her. Even though she never looked back after that first initial eye contact she could feel it. She wrapped her arms around her belly, barred in that stupid red bikini that her friend Marley had insisted looked so good on her. She was normally a tank sort of girl but Marley had insisted she live a little while she was still young and on a whim Eddy had bought the damn thing and worn it on the boat that fateful morning. She’d felt so different, so bold with the marks of a man she barely knew still on her body and little red scrap of fabric had seemed fitting. Now, now she felt like she might as well be naked, especially with the eyes of that man on her constantly.

When they pulled up to the compound her heart sank. Towers, barbed wire and guards enough to man it all. It was daunting and any slim hope of some kind of miracle escape flitted from her mind. Who was she kidding, she wasn’t anything like the sort of person who escaped from anywhere, let alone an armed compound run by whack jobs in a southeast Asian jungle. Why hadn’t she learned such useful skills as lock-picking and escape artistry? Why had she been sensible and stuck to things like photography and creative writing?

The man back at the place she’d woken up had spoken of ransom, something she’d not allowed herself to think much about. She supposed most of the people who came here as tourists were well off enough to vacation frequently. She’d been working and had simply taken a few days off at the end just to relax and celebrate getting her dream job. Some dream, it had turned into a fucking nightmare so fast. There was no way her grandparents would be able to pay any sort of ransom, nothing to make it worth the while of these madmen. So a new cold fear filled her as she contemplated just how they’d take it out of her.

The backdoor of the truck clanged open and armed men began barking orders at the frightened women. The women froze in panic so that the guards had to reach in and haul them out bodily. They were marched into the compound two at a time, flanked by armed guards. Eddy was in the third wave and even though she tried to exit opposite him old scar face grabbed her and dragged her to him. He slid his hands along the red fabric over her crotch and groped her in what he probably thought was a sexy manner. Eddy’s stomach churned but she didn’t react. She simply stood there, her chin up, her posture proud even when he licked her throat and gave her one last good grope. She let her mind drift back to a different set of hands on her. A shaggy blond head, tattooed arms and a whipcord lean body. Able, that was his name. She fixed her thoughts on him while she was groped and it helped. She didn’t scream, she didn’t vomit. She gave the bastard no satisfaction. And then she was away, escorted into a prison she wasn’t certain she’d ever escape from.

[Zhaliora]

Instinctually, Jason lowered himself and focused on the sound. The good news is that he was between it and the camp, so he could make a hasty retreat if completely necessary. The truck was well off in the distance and between the jungle brush and some rolling hills, there was absolutely zero visibility, but he still slowly moved towards the camp, eyes ahead, looking back towards the truck sound until finally, it revved up loudly and disappeared into the distance. "Good," he said quietly to himself as he continued on his way. While it wasn't dark by any means, the sun was obviously on it's descent and that wasn't a good thing. They had a crude shelter, no fire and no food, zero watch set up and thta all had to be hashed out before they went to bed. 'Lord knows we need some fucking sleep,' he thought to himself.

"The only easy day was yesterday," he said with a smirk, something he hadn't said since taking off his cammies for the last time.

Jason arrived at the camp before the other two and found Vincent sitting around. As Jason approached from the side of the cave, Vincent wasn't even aware of him, so he didn't sneak so much as he walked up and kicked Vincent in the foot. Startled, Vincet shot up and reached, well fumbled, for his gun. Jason cuffed him upside the head and snapped in a quiet voice, "relax there Cheddar Bob."

Originally Jason would have been mad or snapped at Vincent for being so careless but he'd done some thinking about Vincent and the situation and what he'd said earlier and when all was said and done, Vincent WASN'T used to this. Wasn't built for or trained for it, and that wasn't his fault. 'If V was one of my Marines, I'd have had his ass,' he thought. But he wasn't. And if he could work WITH Vincent, try to make some progress, it was better than yelling at him and making him feel useless and possibly resisting any form of change and instead sulking and being distant. This was a delicate situation and Vincent was a wild card: he could either be a big help or big hinderance and Jason would rather have his support vice having to support him.

"The fuck man, you scared the shit out of me."

"I know, and that's because you were half asleep. Look, if you're getting tired, you gotta move. Stand, walk. If I was one of those fucking assholes, you'd be dead man." He put a hand on Vincent's shoulder at that point and squeezed it, looking at him. "I'm not trying to ride you, I'm just trying to teach you how to stay alive. I'm working on toning myself down V. I'll try not to be in your shit."

Vincent looked at Jason and then around them as if he had something to say, was debating something, but wasn't sure what to say.

Able made his way back to the cave laden with sticks and small logs of various sizes. It took him several trips but he managed to get all of the wood he had collected back in only a couple of hours. On his last trip he dumped his load upon the already large mound of fuel, before making his way over to where Jason and Vincent sat inside the mouth of the cave. Both of them seemed tense to Able, but he realized that such a state must be natural for anyone in a situation like this; and Able knew he was as high strung as any right now.

"Well the woods here," Able said, intentionally ignoring Vincent's glare. He sat down a couple of feet from Jason and ran a worried hand through his blond hair. "I'm no survivorman, but I was thinking that a fire might not be such a great idea. That wood I've been gathering will burn, but it's wet, and that means its going to smoke like a motherfucker. Not the best when those fuckin' murderers are running around."

Vincent continued to glare at Able, his eyes narrowed as he finished speaking.

Able pointed a finger at Vincent, "Stop giving me the stink eye Vince! You were being a fucking dick earlier."

"Fuck you Able, I'm sorry if I'm trying to maintain some simblance of humanity right now!" Vincent said, his eyes widening in anger.

Able took a deep, hissing breath through his teeth before answering, "Vince, Brett was just shot in cold blood, right in our faces. Do you think we can treat those bastards like some group of frat boys that get too rough at the bars? Fuck, maybe you could 'reason' them to death!"

Jason cut in sharply at that point, trying to be a mediator and not choose a side,"STOP," he hissed, keeping his voice low. "First of all, we need to start shutting the fuck up. We're going to have people looking for us. A: they hear that, B: you can't hear THEM when you're raising your voice. Keep it down."

He looked at them, the look on his face not accusatory or negative, just looking for some form of acknowledgement. "Come on guys. That shit's done. Let's move on, no right or wrong. We need to stop focusing on how we reacted to everything a few hours ago and start thinking about what we need to do to stay alive. Not sure where Clay is at, but in the mean time, we only start a fire in the cave, towards the back. It slopes up and forward so the smoke will rise up, not smoke us to death. Back of the cave, less visible. That will also help to dissipate and disperse the smoke slightly as it moves to the mouth of the cave. Eventually, we need to build a wooden or cloth cover for the cave to hide the light, but not today. We'll figure out watches soon, I'll go first I think."

He looked around, figuring they'd have to move most of the wood in the cave, find leaves or mosses to sleep on and start settling in. Silently he hoped Clay found some food.

"Uh. Anyone know how to start a fire?"

Able's mouth hung open in mid sentence at Jason's interjection. He was of course right about the destructive consequences of the argument, but Able still felt anger burning in his chest. He looked to Vincent and watched him as Jason continued to speak about the cave, and getting a fire going, and he realized that he was focusing his anger about Brett's death onto his friend. As he admitted that to himself, he felt the rise in emotion that could manifest into tears, but he forced the feelings from his mind, and willed himself to let the pain go. Just like he had done so many times before.

Vincent was looking right back at him, and seemed to somehow realize what Able was experiencing. He too seemed to be battling the same welling of survivors guilt, rage, and helplessness all rolled into one, and through the shared experience the two men reached a silent detante that was stronger than any spoken apology could have hoped to be. Jason finished by asking about who knew how to start a fire, and Able jumped at the chance to have work to help his mind stay away from the darker emotions that had been arcing through his mind. "I got it man."

Able stood and reached into the Crown Royal bag that was sitting beside Vincent, and withdrew one of the spare pistol rounds. He slipped it into his pocket as he made his way out of the cave to gather up some of the smaller kindling and sticks that he had gathered earlier. With an armful of fuel, he moved deeper into the cave until he found a large flat area. He began building the fire by placing the kindling in a loose pile, being sure to allow enough space so the fire could 'breathe'. While the strands of bark and grass he had gathered were fairly dry, they still possessed enough moisture to make it difficult for them to ignite with just a simple spark, and that's where Able planned to use the pistol round.

He removed it from his pocket and placed it carefully on the top of a flat rock. With another rock the about the length of his middle finger, he began to press against the brass casing, just behind where the bullet was clamped. It took several long minutes of the frustratingly tedious work before the bullet finally popped free of the shell casing. With a grin of triumph Able moved back to his pile of kindling and crouched down so his face was inches from the bundle. His tongue poking from the corner of his mouth, Able carefully poured the gunpowder from the shell casing at the base of the kindling, so it formed a small mound. Satisfied, he took the two rocks that he had used previously, resting the flat on his left hand at an angle just above the mound of gunpowder.

With sharp, short blows, he struck the second rock against the first. Small clusters of sparks jumped from where the rocks met, and the glimmer of success pulled salaciously at Able's mind. Finally, it happened, and a large spark landed in the mound of powder. Immediately the black dust sizzled with bright flame that quickly spread to the kindling above it. Able quickly began to pile larger and larger twigs and sticks onto the burning kindling until a sizeable fire was burning almost cheerfully in the cave.

Able looked to his friends, a broad smile cutting his face, "We've got a fire for fuck's sake!"

Fair enough. The second he left, the smoke started. Clay sighed. This wasn't going to work. He needed a god damned knife, or they weren't going to get anything. He'd gone looking for something sharp. And now they were back. He reversed gears, heading back to camp. "Glad to see you all managed to do things without me. Always nice." No sarcasm, heartfelt satsifaction. The way things were, they'd need a hell of a lot of teamwork. He looked around. "Didn't any of you look around? Gimme a sec. And give me that." He stole the knife away, and wandered off a few yards, where he reached down, pulling the just-perfectly ripened fruits from their hiding place. He carried the load of mangos back to the campfire, where he set them down gently, taking them, one at a time, and cutting a little sliver of the skin off, before handing them out.

You'll have to peel the skin away, sure, but we have food. And pretty damn good food, at that." He completely missed the past tension of a few minutes ago, settling back to eat. "So," He mumbled, with a mouth full of fruit. "I think we're doing pretty good as of right now. We can't stay here forever, of course, but we'll make do for the night, I guess. As long as we keep this fire out as much as possible, we'll be all set for a day or so. All the same, they're going to be looking for us, I'm sure, and this light, small as it may be, will attract quite a bit of unwelcome attention. We should get the hell out of here asap, and make for a new shelter. We'll basically be hobo-nomads. Sounds fun. By the way, I got two of these things for each of us, so dig in." Jason sighed slightly at the sight of fruit, not realizing that he'd silently been hoping for some form of meat. He kept his disatisfaction to himself though, realizing it was ridiculous at best to have expected anything more.

His face darkened as he ate some more of the meal. "There's...uh, another thing. Our friends are out there. Probably far worse off than we are. We need to get them out of there. As soon as we can. It bugs me that we're out here, safe and sound, and they're all...not. It was a weak finish, but there was only so much an untrained orator could do. He settled back, brooding a little. It's my fault that Laura got caught up in this. They didn't do anything wrong. I di-we did. If they get hurt from this, I don't think I'd ever forgive myself.

"First things first. We need to survive. Period. We need to set up shop, get patterns going and all that shit. No one goes ANYWHERE without telling everyone where they're going. No exceptions. I don't want anything unfortunate happening to any of you," he glared at Able as he spoke. He took a bite of the fruit and chewed, then after swallowing, continued. "And I'm going to be honest, my priority is not saving anyone but us right now. Straight up. I'd love to go charging in, guns blazing and rescue innocent people, but the bottom line is that we don't have any idea what we're up against. Where we are. Where THEY are. The only way I can think of getting information is getting one of those Asian fucks and interrogating the shit out of them, and no offence, but I am not sure any of you are up for that. You're all too good of guys for that," his gaze once again lingered towards Able, his words obviously carrying some meaning behind them. Truth be told, he didn't know how he felt about Able right now, but he did know he wasn't fond of him. Now that there were so few things to focus on, and it was just the 4 of them, his resentment was creeping out a bit.

"Anyway, we need to sleep, all of us. I'll take first watch I guess."

"You'd be surprised, dude. I've killed some ridiculus shit." He cut open his second fruit, and wolfed it down as fast as he was able. "I'll take second shift. Wake me up in about three hours." He headed to sleep, and dropped to the floor. He knew how to fall asleep quickly, and so he was unconscious in half a minute.

Able sat alongside Clay and Jason, and listened quietly to the two men. He chose to remain silent, even with the blatent prodding from Jason. Instead he just stared into the fire, letting the short flames lull his mind into a vague feeling of normalcy. It was obvious that Jason hadn't forgotten the incident that had occurred between Able and one of his ex girlfriends not three weeks ago. Truth be told, Able had been so distracted by the sudden shift in his life that his poor choice had caused, that he had almost decided to not go the tournament. A wry grin passed his lips, Making the call to stay home is looking better by the minute, buddy. There was nothing he could do about it now though. Any of it. He had cheated on Jason's sister, and most likely ruined a friendship he had had most of his life. As he continued to stare into the fire, Able thought about things to say to Jason; that it had been an accident, that he should've known better. But none of it sounded good enough.

It hadn't helped that Able had hooked up with a girl after the tournament too. Eddy was her name, and he smiled slightly at the thought of her. The feeling turned quickly dark however, as his last memory of her being dragged away with the group of female prisoners filled his mind. There was a good chance she was dead by now, and his stomach twisted. His relationships with all the poeple he cared about in his life had eroded away over the last few weeks, and Eddy was the latest casualty. If this whole fiasco was karma's justice, than Able surmised he was paying his share forward in spades.

With Clay turning away to sleep, Able finally looked up at Jason. He found his friend glaring back at him with a gaze of steeled resentment.

"Listen, Jason, I fucked up. No doubt about it. I think about how I hurt Alicia every...single...day. If you want to have it out with me here and now, then I'm fine with that. You have that right." Able took a slow breath, his eyes not wavering from Jason. So what's it going to be bro?"

Jason was definitely caught off guard, having expected nothing more than silence and watch. He stared at Able for a long few minutes. He debated unloading on him verbally, and part of him wanted nothing more than to have it escelate to a violent outcome, but it wasn't for the best, not now. Like or hate Able, they needed everyone to be in the best condition possible to survive. Sometimes Jason wondered why he DID care about Alicia so much. It was never like they were close or anything. In fact, she hadn't really talked to Jason at ALL since her and Able broke. He figured she held him accountible in some way being that they were friends.

The more he thought about it and started, he realized that he had actually saw their relationship and it kind of gave him hope. His life was a mess and that of his family was a mess. It was great to see something NICE. His sister and his best friend. And Alicia actually saw Jason occasionally and was normal around him, but now all of that was gone. Jason got up and started to walk, silently hoping to get some shoes soon. "I don't have shit to say to you. Go to sleep."

Able watched as Jason walked away. He said nothing to his friends back, instead he stared a moment more into the fire before moving to a flat spot to lay down. His mind was still roiling with the day's happenings, and the nightmare that could be tomorrow, but the welcoming arm's of sleep soon enveloped him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After all the prisoners had been unloaded, they were marched into the showering section of one of the houses. One at the time, the women were ordered to strip in front of a guard so that he could hose her body with water. One of the women refused to comply and was hit hard over the face with a baton, making her fall to the ground before the guard tore of her clothes and then sprayed her with the cold water. She was then dragged out of the booth by the guard before he said to another one in broken English. "Send her to the `correction centre´, that should make her more, willing." One of the guards licked his lips as the order was given, hoping that he would be the one `correcting her´.

It soon became Eddy's turn to undress in front of a guard. "I'll deal with this one" a familiar voice called out as the guard with the hose nodded and was replaced by Leeto. He grinned at her and ordered her to strip or face the same treatment as that woman from before. Eddy reluctantly took of her clothes and turned the other way as instructed before Leeto licked his lips as he started at her before he approached her. The bulge in his pants were quite obvious as he moved ever closer. He pressed his crotch up against Eddy's nether regions and started to grope her chest forcefully and aggressively and swung his hips at her a few times. "I want to screw you so hard right now" he whispered into her ear and bit her earlobe. "Too bad that I have a duty to fulfil right now" he said and backed away and picked up the hose and started to spray the cold water against her and threw the disinfectant powder before hosing that off and ordered her to turn around and he did the same and threw her some rags and a towel and left the building.

As evening came, the new prisoners were given a quick tour of the camp. Well, everyone part from that unfortunate woman. As the group came across a building in the centre, cries and shouting could be heard from inside and the group were ushered inside to take a look. What met them were a place or horror. Torture devices, bondage equipment, the beaten body of a woman being gang-raped by five men without any protection what so ever. Her body was red and scared from whip marks. Her nipples had also been pierced in a crude way and she was still bleeding somewhat from the holes where a chain linked both breasts and to a collar around her neck. Tears streamed down her face as she cried out in pain and humiliation. "This is the `correction centre´, be good, and you don't end up here. All right?" a man said with a northern British accent.

Letting the other women take in the scene for a while, they were ushered back to the house they had taken a shower in and were shoved into their new home. It was not the most clean place imaginable, but other women kept it clean, the guards did not care. Nor did they care that there was not enough beds for everyone so some had to share their bed with someone else. "You have free reign within the camp, part from the house nearest the entrance to the camp, and the most centre one. Also, we'll put you to work soon enough. How you want to work is up to you. Just know that those whom offer themselves up to us will receive benefits" the British guard said and grinned before closing the door behind him.

[Lillian Thorne]

Eddy watched in horror at the treatment of the woman who refused to shower. She didn’t think the woman’s reaction warranted the treatment she received but she was fairly certain that someone would have been singled out for some reason, petty or not. This was a lesson for all the women, more than it was a lesson for that one unfortunate woman. Anyone hesitating would have been targeted. But the men, no, the animals, she corrected herself, the animals needed to cow the women. A herd of frightened women would be easier to manage and the cost was so small and might even be seen as a benefit to the men, a play thing. So Eddy seethed but bit her tongue. There was nothing she could do for that woman and anything she did would simply ensure that she joined her. She knew this, but it didn’t make it gall any less.

When her turn came she undressed without any protest. She was wearing a scrap of a bathing suit in any case, they’d already seen almost all of her so what good would it do to protest? So with great dignity and her chin held high she dropped the small scraps of red Lycra to the ground an stood where she was directed. When her “friend” came forward and groped her she held her chin high and kept her face impassive. She would not let them get to her. She may not be brave but she was proud and she wouldn’t let this pig take that from her. None of the other women had it in them to fight and she was fairly certain she saw a look of disappointment on more than one of the guard’s faces. Again, she didn’t let it touch her.

But she wasn’t able to maintain any semblance of indifference when they were finally taken to the Correction Center. The scene there was from a nightmare. Rape had long been a tool of weak men to subjugate women. It was in its way effective and she saw a certain hopelessness settle over most of the women, she felt it in herself. She knew that they were all picturing themselves there, bleeding, battered and used. But some of the women, the ones talking in the truck seemed to still and it wasn’t hopelessness that filled them, it was anger. Eddy wondered which would be a better thing to be filled with in a place like this, Anger or hopelessness?

After their final lesson was over they were let loose on the compound. Many of the women clustered together, safety in numbers. She watched the angry ones eye each other from across the group, messages being sent, will being firmed up. Eddy held back, watching not certain to which group she belonged.

[Zhaliora]

"We've lost contact with the truck carrying them" a man's voice said with a heavy German accent. He paused for a few moments before continuing. "I hope your contact knows what to do." "Yes. We told him what to do if this situation ever should arise" a second male voice said with a Huston dialect. "He should make his move soon. I know he would not want to disappoint us, he knows what would happen if he does." "I hope you're right my friend. We need his cooperation for this to work after all." The man paused again and looked at a third man. "What about their company? Did they arrive without any trouble?" The man shrugged his shoulders. "One of them got sent to a `correction centre´ first thing that happened after she came into the camp. She got abused pretty heavily. She might never recover" he said with a Japanese accent. "It does not matter, we already got money for that one" the second man said. What about the others?" "A guard took interest in one of them, part from that, no problems." "Good" the German man continued. "Try to contact your man. We might be able to move things along according to the schedule after all."

DAY 2, EARLY MORNING

A man looked at the destruction caused by the `Army´. Bodies lay on the ground everywhere. Men, women, children, everyone had been slaughtered indiscriminately because the four men had escaped. The `Army´ had waltzed into the town and blamed them for the disappearance of the men. When they did not find them in the town, the soldiers had started shooting into the crowd of people without a care in the world. Like this massacre was an everyday thing. Like if you stepped on a bug or killed an insect. The soldiers had not hesitated, they had instantly begun to fire their guns when the order was given. Some of them even had grinned while they shot the villagers. They had left some women and children alive just to rape them next to their dead family before shooting them. And `Pablo´ had watched it all happen, without doing anything about it. He had watched as the soldiers torched the buildings with some villagers inside of them after barricading the doors and windows.

"Time to find these men for which sake the villagers had to die." He picked up his hunting rifle and hung it across his back with a sling that ran from his shoulder to his waist before leaving for where he thought they would be right now, in -that- cave.

[Zhaliora]

DAY 2, EARLY MORNING

His arm had fallen asleep as he had leaned against it for what seemed like days, and Able stood and shook the apendage in a vain effort to return some sensation. He had taken the last watch of the night, and sitting propped against a boulder at the mouth of the cave for hours had amounted to the most boring of tasks he had yet undertaken. That was of course, until the sound of ripping gunfire echoed into the camp. His arm still numb, Able tripped at the sudden sound, and he found himself facedown on the damp ground before he knew what was happening.

He raised his head tentatively, listening. The sound came again, and with last of the reports, Able sprung himself up from the ground. He ran to the fire inside of the cave, and yelling in a hushed and excited tone, he tried to wake his friends. "Get up dammit! There's gunfire in the distance!" Finally reaching the dim, but still smoking embers of the fire, Able began to frantically throw dirt on top of the fuel, smothering it.

Jason stirred slightly at the sound of gunfire about the same time that Able came back in and woke the group and started dumping dirt on it. It took a moment for Jason to gather his wits, still partially asleep, realizing the gunfire was off way in the distance and then watching Able smother the fire.

Quickly, anger shot through him and he grabbed Able's hand a lot more violently and suddenly than he probably intended, shoving it away from the fire and flinging some of the dirt that was in Able's hand around the cave. "What the fuck, don't ever put out the fire. Keep it low, but if it rains, and everything is wet, we're fucked and can't start another one. Think before you just go and start doing shit man, what the fuck?"

Maybe it was because it was Able, maybe it was the stress or maybe it was the fact that he thought Able should know better, but either way he didn't think of how aggressive he was acting as he glared at Able.

"Jason. Calm down man," Vincent said. Jason didn't react move or lower his gaze. He wanted to scream at them, about how they can't go off and douse fires or do stupid shit any time a twig snapped, or gunfire errupted, but he realized now wasn't the time. If it were Clay or Vincent, Jason would have apologized, but he couldn't bring himself to do so with Able, not now.

The surprise of Jason's action, combined with his already adrenaline filled heart, made Able's reaction a bestial one, and one unbridled by the bounds of reason. As he recoiled from Jason throwing his arm away from the fire, Able used the momentum to bring his right arm up, and then swing a hard blow to Jason's face. The pent up anger and resentment of the last few weeks, as well as the silent tension, all melded together to fuel the punch. Emotion was pouring out of Able into this one singular act, and if the blow connected it was to be a devasting one.

The reaction wasn't expected by Jason and he didn't have time to full out dodge, he could only move back slightly to lessen the blow and he threw one of his own but Vincent already moved to get between the two. Vincent did his best to get between the two and while the grabbed and threw odd angled punches that would most likely do no real damage. After several moments of scuffling, the other two managed to get Jason and Able apart. Neither looked much worse than before and there was a strained silence as the two glared at each other.

Then there was another burst of gunfire that had drew all of their attention back to other matters at hand. Jason took a step back from Vincent, obviously calmed down enough to the point that Vince didn't feel the need to physically try to hold him back any longer and Vince said, "look, can you two fags stop slapping each other's asses long enough to go check out what the hell is going on out there? Who knows, it may be help sent for us. I know you two would like nothing more than to stay on this tropical island and make out on the beach, but I'm trying to go home bitches."

There was another short silence and then a few smirks or outright smiles and some of the tension disappated enough to the point where at least Able and Jason were able to once again focus on something else. Finally Jason said "yeah, let's go. And I'm not gay V, you know I've been fucking your mom for the past few years."

Vincent shoved Jason as the group made their way towards the gunfire, almost a bit looser now that some of the stress and tension had been dumped.

[Zhaliora]

The gunfire stopped shortly after they left the cave but they still walked towards where it had come from. As they saw the smoke rising in the distance, they started to walk a lot slower and more cautiously. After they had walked for about ten-twenty minutes, a voice could be heard from above them.

"About time you showed up. I have been waiting for you for a while now." Up in the tree, a man of Hispanic appearance sat with a hunting rifle in his lap and stared down at the four men. The first reaction that he got back though, was two guns pointed towards him and he raised his hands in submission. "I have no hostile intentions towards you four. I merely wish to speak to you."

He lowered one hand and pulled at the bolt action, expelling a cartridge from the gun and dropped it onto the ground. "I know who you four are, or at least what have happened to you...and your female friends." Able and Clay seemed quite interested by that last piece of information. "You were taken against your will, probably drugged and shipped to this island. After being brought here, you were shipped here, and the women to different places. While on your way to a camp, you got away and hid." He stopped and tilted his head towards the smoke. "And then that happened as a response to you getting away."

With guns trained on his person, 'Pablo' jumped down from the tree. "Since you were on your way towards the smoke anyway, I'd like to show you the mess you guys caused." He stared them into the eyes one after another. "And then perhaps you can un-fuck the mess you've caused, and save one of the girls at the same time. Any questions?"