Young Writers Society

Z

Z stands in the campsite and watches as Q comes back in trailing behind a boy with dark hair.

One of the last recruits for the night. He does a once over of the guy- Jason- before he turns his attention back to Q- who even in the poor lighting still looks way to pale for his liking.

Then he turns his attention back to the rest of the troupe, deciding that it’s time to fill them in on the expedition at hand.

“So you may realize by now that you are all recruits for the Safety Zone and now that just about everybody is here...” he glances down at the machine in his hand as to make sure, before looking back up at the group, “We can get started with everybody.”
Then he presses a button of the edge of the machine and suddenly there is a strange roaring sound in the distance. Some people look around in alarm but in just a few minutes it becomes apparently obvious what the sound is as a helicopter with the headquarter symbols painted brazenly on the side appears almost out of nowhere.
“We’re catching That?” somebody asks in shock and Z grins at their shocked faces.
“No, actually,” he tells them, “we’re just getting equipment.”

There is a disappointed growl within the crowd, but all eyes are cast upwards as the people in the chopper begin to lower several large crates.

“We will be catching a helicopter at some point though... or so the sources say, but first we have to walk to the edge of the island... which is where this stuff comes in.”
As the boxes are lowered safely on the ground the chopper takes off again, leaving the group in silence.

After a while Z moves towards the boxes and begins unpacking. There are several black backpacks- each with the recruits name labelled on the front in clear, golden letters.
Each bag he knows contains the general stuff for the next week or so. A ration pack for food, a large bottle of water and maybe some sort of basic first aid kit. But also in each bag for the recruits is something that they- and only each of them in particular- can use. Something similar to their skills.

He grins and grabs one of the first bags, reading the label before he tosses it over to Ali. By this time Q also walks over and grabs a handful of the bags throwing them out to each person.
At the bottom of that box are also packages full of heavy-duty sleeping bags and the best torches that the agency could get.

Z begins to unpack the next box which just happens to contain weapons- just about anything and everything that they’ll need- but is a little cautious about handing them out. In the end he just pushes the box slightly and tips it into the middle.

“Everybody grab something, because believe me. You are going to need it. There are going to be more mutants outside this city then you’ve ever seen in your entire life. And the ones we come up against... well they aren’t going to be stupid.”

He grabs a sheafed knife off the ground for himself and looks at them all, still standing there in silence, holding their bags, before he turns on heel and walks away.
“Dig in-“

Behind him he can hear as people dart for the crate, trying to grab the best stuff that they can get.

Slowly he moves towards the last crate. The one that the pilots dragged to the corner of the clearing but unlike the others this one is listed with a large sticker stating that the contents is for official purposes only.

“I’ll leave this one to later...” he murmurs, remembering X’s instructions clear in his head.
He turns back to the recruits.
“We’ll leave first thing in the morning, so get some rest, get to know each other and be prepared.”

Ash

Ash moves forward to grab her pack off Q and takes a step back out of everybody’s way to dig through it. Food. Water. Med kit... nothing really out of the ordinary... though the food looks good.
Really good.

Maybe because you haven’t eaten in hours, idiot.

She shakes her head as something else in the pack takes her attention.

It’s a bag full of containers and bottles filled to the brim with all kinds of different powders and chemicals.

Stuff she hadn’t seen in years and some stuff she’d only ever heard about.
She grinned.

Well... I could certainly have some fun with this.

She looked around at the others and as far as she could see, none of them got chemicals. Nobody seem mad about what they did get though and Ash laughed under her breath as she watched them.

It’s like Christmas and Birthdays and whatever other festival-ly day I can think of all mixed in to one here today at Camp Le-Safety Zone.

She pulled the bottle of water out of her bag and took a swig. Watching as Z unpacked another box and a ton of weapons went piling onto the ground.

Eyes lit up everywhere and she shoved the bottle back into her pack as the agent started talking.

“Everybody grab something, because believe me. You are going to need it. There are going to be more mutants outside this city then you’ve ever seen in your entire life. And the ones we come up against... well they aren’t going to be stupid.”

All at once four or five people seem to dart forward grabbing whatever they can get- probably the best of the lot- and as she piles in Ash manages to grab some sort of double edged dagger and a handgun.

Yup that’ll do me. And if all else fails and I lose em then I can just blow up some random building or something with all this new material... seeing as I used all my old supplies trying to impress the agents...

Which was Priceless. And I have to do that again sometime...

She moved away from the weapons crate and turned around to see the other chick- Q- handing out sleeping bags and shiny silver torches.

She made a grab for one, wondering if it would fit into her bag for later...

Maybe, maybe not. Then again I’ve still got my other bag. That thing could hold just about anything in it.

She looked around the campsite again as Z finished speaking and skulked off to another crate in the corner somewhere.
She looked around at the other recruits trying to remember what they’d said their names were .

The blonde haired girl was Ali, the skinny, emo boy who she been recruited with was Gab and the Asian lady who had healed Q the night before had called herself Ayumi.
Then there was Jeydon- one of the new ones and she’d heard the agents referring to the dark haired guy who just arrived as Jason...

But there’s one more... she looked around and spotted the other guy- who’d introduced himself as Mr Winters earlier that day- standing near the treeline and holding some sort of mechanical device.

Ash watched that for a minute and jolted backwards when suddenly, it moved.
Then she grinned, wondering if anyone else had seen it.
That is so cool... Wonder what it is...

She started walking over but he didn’t seem to notice her until she asked,
“hey... what is that?”

Mr. Winters

The campsite held little interest for Winters, nobody was doing anything exciting and the pain from Cabbage’s death was still fresh in his mind. He decided it was about time to get into some mischief. If anything, it would at least distract him for a little bit. Before he could make any progress on his plan, a helicopter started to drop supply crates into the already cramped campsite. However, his irritation quickly died after he heard they were all getting special equipment.

If these guys actually managed to get me some decent parts, this might get pretty interesting. Time to see what kind of hell I can raise.

The every-present smirk on Winters’ face grew larger as he composed new plans for the creations he could make with anything better than the rusty screws and bolts he found in the city. Then again, he did make an amazing find before he came to the camp.
Once again, his thoughts were interrupted by the unpacking of another crate, this time one full of weapons. Everybody dived at the pile, looking for the best things they could find. Winters, on the other hand, had the philosophy of quantity over quality. He never needed to fire a gun himself, but his machines would certainly last longer with the added firepower.

And now to take a peek at my present.

Anybody else would have been disappointed, and possibly confused, with what Winters found in his bag, but to him, nothing could have been better. The vast assortment of parts put even his latest find to shame. Best of all, it had everything he needed to make a new and improved crawler, hopefully one that wouldn’t explode every time it got covered in mutant blood.

Winters wandered to the edge of the group, hoping to avoid any unwanted attention. By now he had perfected the art of making crawlers, so it took almost no time at all for him to turn piles of screws, wires, and metal into one of the most finely tuned machines in the world. Not like that was a difficult thing to do in this day and age, but Winters had high hopes for this little guy.
While most of the crawlers were no bigger than a fingernail, this new one was much larger, just slightly larger than his hand. Its larger size allowed Winters to pack it full of surprises, possibly even some he was unaware he added. He never really paid much attention to what he was doing while he worked, he just made sure that he did it right. The programming he was able to do with the new materials surpassed anything remotely imaginable back when the world was prosperous. The best he could do before was a mere shadow of intelligence, but this new machine had the potential to become self-aware one day, presuming Winters could keep it alive for that long.

After adding the finishing touches, Winters had the crawler hide in his pocket. Even though the group knew how to handle mutants and day to day survival, Winters doubted they had much experience with robots. Once his new friend was safe and secure, Winters decided to look for anything else that might be of use. On his way back to the crates, he was stopped by one of the other recruits, Ash of he recalled correctly. Although he wasn’t good with names or faces, Winters was fairly certain he recognized her. He had quickly associated the smell of chemicals and gun powder with her, and he made a quick check for the burns on her wrists to confirm her identity.

“Hey,” she asked, “what is that?”

I took him a second to figure out what she meant, but he eventually realized she must have seen him working. “Oh, this?” he asked, silently calling his pet to his shoulder, “this is one of my inventions, I call them crawlers.” He was surprised to see that she was paying close attention to what he was saying. “I haven’t quite decided on a name for him yet, but I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

Suddenly, he remembered his scheme to prank the rest of the group. With a burst of energy, he eagerly started whispering to Ash, hoping she would help him out.

“Hey, you interested in pulling a little prank on the other guys?”

Ash lit up with excitement, but Winters stopped her before she could say anything too loudly. The look on her face was he need to know she was in.

“Just this morning, I found some hologram projectors. Not the low-end crap you find in supermarkets, but the good ones. The ones rich people used to make it look like their stuff was protected. I managed to modify the image to show a mutant shuffling by, and I even got a few audio clips to play with it. I’m thinking we put the projectors on a few defective crawlers, and once everyone starts freaking out, we set off a charge and blow the ‘mutants’ to smithereens. What do you say?”

~Alison~

Alison wasn’t too impressed with her “present”.
She was the first of the group to open her bag and the least excited of the group at what she discovered.
The inside of her backpack contained simple survival stuff - food, water, first aid kit etc. These items were what Alison had been expecting and she found no interest in them. The only object that stood out among the rest was a… well, she didn’t exactly know what it was.
It was a small shiny sphere about the size of Alison’s fist. She reached deeper into the black bag to pull the strange object out into the warm glow of the fire to try and identify it better. The object had a smooth texture and felt cold in the palm of her hand. The ball-shaped item was perfectly rounded and looked somewhat futuristic compared to the natural scenery surrounding the camp. It must be made of some kind of metal. There seemed to be nothing special about the item and Alison was greatly disappointed.
While she had been studying the unknown object, the other members of the group had dived like untamed animals towards the weapons crate. Alison had given them a wide birth. I already have a weapon.
Alison considered her dagger lucky. After all, it had helped her kill all twenty of the mutants she had met in the city, plus the ones she’d fought when she was found by Q and Ayumi. The dagger had also helped her catch the attention of that ‘X’ guy, and now she was on her way to the ‘Safety Zone’. My dagger can never be replaced.
After the pandemonium of weapon choosing, Z announced that we should all get some rest – we would have a big day tomorrow.
Earlier that evening, when Alison and Ayumi had gone into the forest, Q had set up a few more tents and hammocks for the other survivors. Now there were a total of three small tents and another hammock.
Alison would never admit it, but she had been quite impressed at how little time it had taken for Q to set up the rest of the camp. Heck, she’d managed to finish the camp and scare Alison to death all in the tight space of an hour.
The group slowly dragged themselves towards the tents and hammocks, all satisfied with their new possessions – apart from Alison.
Z and Q stayed behind to discus who would take the first watch. After a small argument, it was agreed that Z would be on lookout first. Alison envied Z and Q’s closeness to one another. They associated with each other like they were family – something Alison would give anything for.
Alison was one of the last to leave the campfire. She was about to get up and make her way over to one of the tents when she something caught the corner of her eye.
A little distance away from the campfire Alison noticed two of the survivors huddled suspiciously in the shadows. They looked as if they were plotting something and spoke in hushed whispers, mischievous smiles dancing across their faces.
Alison recognized the two survivors as a couple of the newbies. She rattled the cage inside her brain, trying to match their faces to the names that were announced earlier that night. Ash and Mr. Winters, at least I think that’s right.
Ash looked as if she was about to explode with excitement.
I wonder what they’re talking about…
The thought of socializing with anyone defeated Alison – she wasn’t used to being around so many people all at once – and she ignored the warning signs that played repeatedly in her head.
Finally lifting herself off the sitting log, Alison stretched her arms high above her head towards the heavens and gave a well-earned yawn.
She walked over to one of the tents and stuck her head inside. No more room here. Traveling over to another tent, she peered in to see if it was also full of people.
Q and one of the new guy survivors looked up automatically as Alison stuck her nose in. Alison recalled the guy as being the one who had smiled at her. Jeydon, his name was.
“Uh, hey guys. Is there enough room for me?” Alison asked, though she knew Q would rather drink poison than let Alison sleep in the same tent as her.
Q was just about to open her mouth objectively when-
“Sure, climb in,” said Jeydon, giving Alison a warm smile.
Q looked outraged. “But…” she trailed off helplessly.
Alison grinned at Q’s lack of reason and crawled inside the dark tent.
Jeydon shuffled across the floor space so that he was in the middle of the tent, creating room for Alison, who squeezed in beside him. Alison wanted to be as far away from Q as possible.
An awkward silence followed soon after Alison’s arrival, and Alison wondered whether Q and Jeydon had already crashed out. Alison rolled over on one side so that she was facing the others.
Jeydon stared back at Alison. The way he looked at her was quizzical. A half smile formed on his lips when her eyes found his.
Well, looks like someone’s awake.
Alison hadn’t realised how close they were until now. Their faces were only inches apart. She couldn’t see him all that well, but as her eyes adjusted to the dim obscurity of the tent, she noticed fuller details about his appearance. Alison took this moment to take in his features.
Dark brown eyes, like deep shimmering pools, watched her with intensity. Even darker hair fell slightly over his forehead. He had a face that would make any girl swoon, and by the way he held himself confidently, he knew it. Alison lowered her gaze to the beautiful smile he gave her, the way only one corner of his mouth curved upwards. The way his lips were only inches away from hers…
Stop it, Alison! Stop right there! Alison’s eyes couldn’t stop staring at his mouth. It took all her effort to force them back to where they were supposed to be. Alison met Jeydon’s eyes again, returning the smile he sustained lazily.
Rolling back over so that she was facing the wall of the tent, Alison closed both her eyelids and pretended to sleep. She continued to feel Jeydon’s eyes watching her, making her uncomfortable. She tried her best to ignore it.
Eventually, after what felt like forever, she drifted off into a heavy sleep.
Not long after to be awoken by the sound of mutants.

Ash

Ash studies the crawler on his shoulder and smiles, listening into every word that he says.

The guy is genius... pure, freaking genius.
And just coincidentally that would be an AWESOME pet.

She was watching the strange, metal creature on his shoulder when he whispered,
“Hey, you interested in pulling a little prank on the other guys?”

Instantly Ash’s eyes flashed upwards to land on him and a wide smile crossed her face.
He read my mind... This place could use some action.

Before she could say anything too loudly and spoil the whole thing before it even started, he began talking again in a low voice.

She listened to his scheme with a grin, glancing around the campsite at the others from time to time. Everybody is shuffling about quietly and the whole campsite has a dim feeling to it.

Everyone seems so... lifeless... this might just be a good wake-up call... and uh, I kinda want to see the look on their faces.

She nodded, “I’m in. I mean I’m not the most techno person in the world but if you need explosives.. or anything to ‘randomly’ blow up... That I can do.”

She thought for a second, “So.... when the agents... or even some of the other guys over there see these ‘mutants’, they’re probably going to fire at them straight away. And say if everybody is firing at them, then that might be a good time to ‘blow em up’... while everybody is distracted?

And if we did that then it would look...”
She thought for a second and a picture of somebody firing at a mutant only for it to shatter to pieces and grinned at what their faces would look like.
“Well like a scene out of one of them old ‘movies.’ ”

Okay, well you probably stopped making sense the minute you opened your mouth, Ashlee. Dammit, stop babbling and start making sense.

She looked over at his metal creation and smiled, “With all this new equipment that they gave me, I know a formula I can make pretty easily that won’t actually do any damage to these things-“

She tapped the crawler and smiled, “It’s pretty simple mix actually. Two... mixtures, I guess. Alone they do nothing but when you put them together. They make noise. Exploding sounds I guess. Kinda like a bomb. And there would be a lot of smoke... which would make it look, uh, realistic?”

Babbling again, Ash. Not doing to good for your first day at camp. We still have to get through another couple of weeks. Or however long it takes to get there.

She shook her head, looking over towards the tents.

“Whatever we do, it should probably be soon... before everyone falls asleep and doesn't notice them at all.”

She looked back at him, feeling relieved he didn’t look annoyed or mad. Just... thoughtful.

Then he pulled out the projectors and started fiddling with the wires. Ash took this as a sign to pull out her own pack and sat herself down on the ground to mix a few chemicals together quickly. It only took her a few minutes before she had the formula’s mixed.

“How’s that coming?” She smiled, glancing at the hologram.

Q



Q sat in the tent still furious that Alison was sleeping like a baby as the world was gong to madness.

"you should try to sleep," Jeydon whispered to Q still staring at the tent door.

"If I do,I'll have to wake up 30 minutes later to take over my shift." Q replied her eyelids growing heavy. She sighed and turned to face Jeydon. "What was your life like before the plague?"

The boy signed and looked at Q and opened his mouth to speak but the sound of mutants cut him off. Q felt Alison jump up out of her sleep and Q grabbed for the bow she had picked out earlier and ran out of the tent. Z ran over next to her and had his shotgun. Q and Z leaned up against each other and tried to make them selfs smaller. Alison had run out too and the others soon followed. Q raised her bow and shot at a shadow in the woods. Z shot at another one then all of a sudden a huge explosion went off. Q was pushed behind a log by Jason who was next to her. She felt dirt raining from the sky and weaving into her hair and clothing.

"What the hell was that?" Q screamed as Jason shrugged. On the other side of her, Z was putting in more amo and looked ready for a fight. She stood again only to see Ashand Mr. Winters with smug looks on their faces. She was furious with them and she knew Z would be too.

"Thank you for waking up the entire camp and scaring the living daylight out of us." Q screamed at them in a sarcastic voice. She looked over to Z who had an even madder look on his face. He shook his head and grabbed Q's arm and pulled her towards the woods.

"You take watch, while I calm down the camp." Z said in a very hard voice. Q nodded her face still in a frown,she was not impressed. She slumped down and sat on the roots of the tree as she felt leaves move next to her, Jason.

"Hey," He said crossing his legs. Q stretched out her long legs across the ground and wished she had her jacket on.

"You okay?" Jason asked turning to face her. Q shrugged and he nodded leaning against the tree. "I really missed you."

Q was surprised he sad that, sure they were best friends but she was sure that he had forgotten about her. "I missed you too."

He nodded and they sat there for a little bit just watching the woods. Q felt her bandages cutting into her skin, but it could be worse. She sighed and leaned he head against the tree waiting for Z to return.

Mr. Winters

Winters knew he made the right decision when he asked Ash to join in on his plot. They decided that whatever they were going to do, it needed to be done soon. Ash pointed out that the other members of the group would probably start shooting at the first sight of the holograms, a fact that Winters had completely forgotten. While Ash was working on the explosives, Winters started making some last minute adjustments to the projectors. If people were going to shoot at the mutants, then the mutants should look like they were being shot. Using a few spare parts, Winters made a remote control that would add bullet holes to the individual mutants with the press of a button. He thought about making an image of severed limbs fly towards the group after the explosions went off, but that would just be too cruel, even for him.

Once the projectors were welded onto some of the more buggy crawlers, Winters asked Ash about adding the trigger for the explosives to his remote. A look of shock crossed her face when she saw how quickly he had manifested the controller. “You gotta remember, I might not look it, but I am a complete genius,” he bragged, “Well, maybe not complete, but a genius nonetheless.” He didn't have any problems joking about his diminished mental state. He was well aware the he was a bit insane, but as long as he knew how to keep it in check, he didn't see any reason to try to fix or cure it.

Noticing how arrogant he must have sounded, and not wanting to offend his partner in crime, he tried to make a quick recovery. “Of course I'm not the only brilliant person here. I mean, just look at your mixtures and bombs! Most people that tried to make anything like them would end up with hands worse than mine.” He held up one of his hands and flexed a few of the mechanical fingers, the slight whirr of gears turning and the clinking of metal on metal was like music to his ears.

He typically didn't care about offending people, but he was glad to see that Ash wasn't upset by his brief display of hubris, or his attempt to correct it. “While we're on the topic of your bombs,” he added, ”would you mind making a few explosives to add some fireworks to the smoke and noise?” Ash was ecstatic when she heard this, and wasted no time before she started brewing them up. “Sure, no problem. Just give me a second.”

By now, the rest of the camp had gone off to catch some sleep, but that wouldn't last long. Winters clambered up a nearby tree, aiming to stay out of sight and get a better view of how everyone reacted to the “attack.” Ash jumped into a nearby hammock, positioning herself in a way that would let her see everything happen. Though she wanted to be up in one of the trees like Winters, she knew it might look suspicious if they were both missing.

Winters let a few minutes pass before he set everything into motion. Timing was the biggest part of any well thought-out plan. Once he felt enough time had passed, he started the audio loop and activated the hologram projectors. From up in his tree, he saw the ghostly mutants surrounding the camp, and it didn't take long for them to be noticed. Bullets started flying as the panic set in, if this had been a real attack, they would have no chance of survival. Every time someone landed a shot near one of the images, Winters would press a button on his remote, and a fresh bullet hole would appear on the mutant. Thanks to Ash’s chemical mixtures, Winters was able to make smoke billow out of wounded mutant. Nobody had ever seen a mutant do anything like that before, not even the local mutant expert, Z. If anyone came too close to a mutant, he detonated its bomb, making it look like a failed kamikaze attack by yet another new form of mutant.

And now for the grand finale!

“Did you get it to work?” he asked his little friend. The crawler give a hushed squeak in conformation. It tilted its body in a slightly confused fashion, scratching its head and pointing at Ash. “We couldn’t tell her about this part of the plan, that would ruin the surprise,” he answered to his pet’s inaudible question, “and the best part of any prank is the surprise. Everybody loves a good shock every now-and-then.”

With the flick of a switch, the crawlers started to converge, piling on top of each other. As the little mound of crawlers formed, the ghost mutants also started to morph together. What originally looked like thirty or forty mutants turned into a hideous blob of melted flesh and wriggling limbs. Everyone gazed in horror of the beast, too frightened to even breath. Ash’s smile grew faster than the monstrosity, and her eyes were almost as bright as the imminent fireworks.

Just as the beast was at its largest, Winters played the sound of a hundred mutants, distorted to make it sound as if demons were crying in fear if their king. With a loud hiss, the giant mound of flesh leaned back, smoke pouring out of its body. And just as fast as the attack started, the mutant exploded with a force so tremendous that even Winters’ mechanical grip couldn't keep him in the tree. Thankfully, everyone was paying attention to the hologram, and the sound of the explosion was much louder than that of Winters thudding onto the ground.

As the commotion settled down, Winters and Ash couldn't resist laughing, leaving no doubt about who set up the fake offensive. Everyone was furious at the mischievous pair, but Winters figured that some of them had to at least appreciate a little bit of action.

If anything else, at least they know what things are gonna be like once the mutants actually do attack.

Z appeared to be the most furious. He was the one keeping watch at the time, and the group was sure to ridicule him for letting the “mutants” sneak up on them. Even worse was the fact that he fell for the trick. He was supposed to be the one who knew almost everything about the mutants, and his ignorance about the “new breed of mutants” surely made him feel stupid. Winters could feel Z glaring daggers at him, and he wondered if he should sleep in the tree for the sake of his safety.

Unbeknownst to Winters, his companion had been closely paying attention to him while he was explaining things to Ash, and the little machine had a plan of its own.

Winters was triumphantly strolling around the camp, unaware of just how quickly the group would get their payback. He was about to brag to his pet about how great the plan had gone, but the little robot was nowhere to be found. Winters started to panic, fearing that one of the others had stolen it to get revenge. Just as he was about to start making accusations, he heard a faint click under his foot.

In a mixture of confusion and hysteria, Winters stopped to see what had made the sound. It didn't take long for him to find out. Not soon after he had stopped, a small explosion was detonated from under him, sending him sailing through the air. If he hadn't been wearing his mechanical armor, the explosion would have undoubtedly killed him, but the humiliation was for more damaging than any physical harm it could have done. For the second time that night, Winters experienced the cold embrace of the ground.

Once he came to his senses, he saw the little machine standing beside of him. Slowly making the connections, he realized that he had become the victim of a prank by his own creation. Unable to yell, he hoarsely moaned, “what the heck was that about?” The crawler scurried to his side and started scratching letters into the ground. As Winters sat up, he saw the little guy proudly standing next to the word “SURPRISE!” etched into the dirt.

Winters’ rage and embarrassment quickly died down, being replaced by the amusement of his tiny friend. They sounds of everyone laughing brought back old memories. Although he spent most of his life alone, Winters did have a family at one point. One memory in particular involved his first pet. Shortly before he lost his parents, they had gotten him a dog. Even though Winters couldn't have been older than four, he still had an astounding vocabulary, and an ironic sense of humor. The dog, an energetic collie, was always happy, and he would fill even the most depressed or furious people full with bliss. As an act of irony, Winters decided to name the collie Melon. He always thought it was funny that Melon the collie would make everyone happy.

“Well,” said Winters, brushing of some dirt, “looks like I finally found a name for you. It might not fit as well, but I'm sure it’s still perfect. What do you say about being named Melon?”

Melon emitted the most joyful squeak Winters had ever heard. After several apologies were made, and even a few compliments, the group finally settled down for the night. There had been enough surprises for one day.

Jeydon

Laying in the tent, I allowed Alison to lay with us. It felt a little awkward because of the tension between Q and Alison. I layed there for a few minutes then looked over at Alison who had just looked at me. She had pretty eyes but we just stared until she turned over and eventually fell asleep. I hope she don't think I'm weird. I say to myself.

Turning over I look at Q, "You need to get some sleep." I tell her. "I can't because right when I do, I'll have to get up and cover my shift." I just look at her and she stares at me. "What was your life like?" She sighed and asked. Right before I could talk, we heard a sound that sounded like a thousand mutants. Alison jumped up and got out. We all did the same.

I seen an arrow go into the dark. And I was about to shoot. Before I did we found out that Mr. Winters pulled the prank. Everyone was very angry. I smiled a little but was still aggravated. Soon I climbed back into the tent and put my knife under the pillow. Then layed down and just stared.

Q eventually came in too, after she got done talking to the new person, Jason.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

Z

“Hey, you two-“he motioned for Ash and Winters.
“Can you come over here for a minute.”

They slunk towards him nervously, and Z pretended to look incredibly pissed off.
Q was glaring at them from a distance and while a few of the other recruits looked awed by their tricks most of them just looked tired and aggravated by the prank that the two had just pulled off.

And probably also a little mad because they fell for it.
“Alright, you two.” He started when they were a reasonable distance away, “ If you want to pull pranks like that in the future, then you’re going to have to time way it better then you did tonight and not jump campsite when everybody is sleeping. Because that-” he gestures around the campsite for a second- “is just stupid and it keeps everybody up.”

“You’re not mad at us?” Ash asks, looking confused. For once.
“No, I am mad at you.” He said, glancing between them, “you just woke up the entire campsite. The day before we set out.”

A tiny little metal creature clampers up Winters side and onto his shoulder. He pretends not to notice.

“but for the trick? The mutant thing?” She asks and slowly Z looks between them both again, judging their reactions.

“All that I can say is that X was right about you two... And for future reference this kind of thing would be better pulled on the actual mutants then it would be for people that you have to work with for the next few weeks.”

They both nod, looking a lot like little children who got caught with their hands in a cookie jar.
Z nods, “Alright. Keep that in mind and go and get some sleep-“
They both turn to leave and Z makes up his mind. “Oh and just for the record you are now both on cleaning duty, and ‘setting-up-camp’ duty until we get off this island. Got it?”

They both nod their heads and Z turns to walk away, a grin splitting his face as he thinks about the earlier hours.

He walks back over to where Q is now taking her watch. One of the other recruits is sitting by her and for a second a spiral of jealousy courses through him. He shakes it away tiredly.

“You two should go and get some rest now. We have to get out of here pretty early...”

Q


Q crawled back into the tent having Z come back over still furious to take his shift. Jason headed off to his tent and Q went to hers.

"Are you OK?" Jeydon asked her as she sat next to him. She shrugged and put the bow down on the floor. "Come on, tell me."

Q sighed and faced him. "I don't really know, I'm under a lot of stress right now."

The boy in front of her nodded and looked straight into her with his melting eyes. "It's OK, I understand."

Q nodded and rubbed her eyes as she took off her jacket. The bandage was now completely soaked though with blood and felt nasty against her skin. She torn off a bit of cloth from on of her spare shirts and took off her old bandage. Her cut was nearly an inch deep and it was super painful for Q to raise her arm. She tried tying it on her self but Jeyson scooted over to help.

"I got it," He said taking the fresh cloth from her. Q moved her hair out of way and pushed it over her good shoulder so Jeyson had room to work. She felt his fingers brushing her back every once and while sending shivers up her spine. "Done."

She turned to face him again and pushed her hair onto her back. "Thanks,"

He nodded and Q yawned still tired from the long night. She pulled out her sleeping bag and slid into it. Jeyson pulled his out too and laid down next her. She stared into his deep eyes with her silvery grey ones. She really hoped that he didn't think of her as to much of a treat so she acted more sweet around him.

"Geeze I'm cold," Q said curling into a tighter ball in her sleeping bag.

"Here," Jeydon said opening his arms. Q scooted closer to him and she felt his warm arms around her small figure. She felt so much warmer and fell asleep instantly because she actually felt safe for once.

Gabriel woke up with the early morning sun beaning into his eyes behind the trees. I turned my head to the side and remembered yesterdays events. When Z got us all to pick a weapon. I decide on the chainsaw, even though it may be loud, it'll wipe out some of them mutants. He was also given a bag, that had supplies he needed to survive. But, the biggest one that happened was Winters prank, I didn't really pay much attention, but the others didn't seem all that happy with him.

Gab stretched the back of his head and shook the dirt off. He thought it would be better if he stayed outside near the fire. He stretched and yawned. A few people were coming out of their tents, he noted Z, Q, Alison and Jaydon.

He noticed that Alison and Jaydon seemed to be getting along quite well. Gab saw Alison's eyes go wide as she rushed over to him. Jaydon looked shock and frowned.

"Gab!" Alison cried. Gabriel didn't understand what she was going on about, "You're bleeding." He looked down at his arm, Clean. He thought. He looked to the other arm, he had a gash from the inside of his elbow, down his arm to his palm.

"How didn't you feel that?" Jaydon inquired. He knelt down next to Alison, placing a protective hand on her shoulder.

Gabriel shrugged, "I have this... Illness called analgia.. So basically, I can feel no pain. None at all." Jaydon looked to Alison and shook his head. "I'm being serious. My chainsaw must of got me." I chuckled. They seemed surprised.

"Just let me bandage it.." She took my arm and tore her eyes away from Jaydon's. He frowned at her hands touching Gabriel's. He rolled his eyes, something is clearly going on there.. He thought. Alison tended to my wound. She wiped the blood and got Jaydon to place some cloth on my arm and apply pressure. Throughout all of this.. Gab felt nothing. Jayson stared down at her hands moving over my arm. A slight chuckle rumbled from him throat.

"You guys make a good team." He winked. Alison blushed as Jayson looked at her smiling . "Don't worry about me I'm fine now." He said standing up. They also stood up. Alison moved off a little so I quickly grabbed Jayson's arm, "Mate.. What's the look?" Gabriel laughed, "Don't worry about me stealing 'your girl'. It's cool." Gab nodded once. "Bro's code." he put my fist up, he just looked at me with a smug smile, "Okay, yeah, that way pretty lame. Go, someone is waiting." He laughed again and nodded towards Alison, who had her hands behind her back and was looking at them innocently. Jayson waved and ran off after her. Who knows what they're up to.. He smiled and his head.

"Oh, my goodness, Gabriel! What happened to your arm?" Someone called out to me.

~Alison~

Alison was the first person in her tent to open her eyes the next morning. Trying not to wake the others, she slipped silently out of her sleeping bag. Something shiny and silver caught Alison’s attention. The sphere. Alison picked up the small orb, deciding to take it outside with her.
Stepping carefully over the many hidden limbs connected to her fellow tent users, Alison unzipped the small tent door and emerged out into the chilly morning air.
Alison took a deep inhalation and felt the fresh oxygen of the forest travel smoothly into her lungs. The cool temperature of the new day awakened her consciousness gradually. Sweeping her eyes over the wide-open fields, Alison could almost see the distant haze of the city. Judging by the smoky grey horizon, the sun had not yet risen. A few stars still winked down at her from the sky. Alison guessed the time was around 5 in the morning.
Alison treaded over to the campfire, which had turned into nothing more than a pile of ash. Sitting down, she took out the cold metal sphere she had shoved in her jumper pocket. Alison once again examined the mystifying object, waiting for it to do something. Anything.
“What’s that?”
Alison turned her head to see who had spoken. Her heart did a little race.
Jeydon stepped out of the tent she had just escaped from and came to sit next to her.
She scanned over his toned, muscular body and felt the burning warmth of his arm as it pressed against hers.
Alison remembered the way she’d observed every feature of his face in the dim light of their tent, before the ‘mutant’ attack.
Jeydon’s masculine smell sent Alison’s head spinning with giddiness.
“I don’t know,” Alison replied with a shrug. “I got it last night. It was in my backpack.”
Jeydon reached out his hand, wordlessly asking her whether he could hold the object.
Alison gave it to him.
Jeydon turned the smooth ball over and over, looking at it with confusion. “Well, beats me,” he said, handing it back to Alison.
Alison sighed. “Everyone else got all this cool stuff, and all I got was a useless metal round thing.”
Jeydon smiled at this, but it wasn’t just a lazy half smile. This smile traveled to his eyes, filling them with light and leaving cute little creases in the corners. It was the most beautiful and contagious smile Alison had ever looked upon, and she couldn’t help but smile with him.
There was a period of silence between the two of them, although this time the silence wasn’t awkward. It was easy and comfortable, like the quiet that came after two friends who had known each other all their life.
Alison watched Jeydon stare off into the forest. “I wonder what’s lurking behind those trees,” he said.
Unfortunately, I already know the answer to that. “Believe me, it may look incredibly scary on the outside, but the most dangerous thing you’ll ever find in there is a ‘drop Q’.”
Jeydon gave her a strange look. “What on earth is a ‘drop Q’?”
“It’s like a drop bear, but instead of a bear dropping from the branches, it’s a freaking secret agent who goes by the name of Q. They’re a pretty rare species. I’ve heard they only come out after you’ve annoyed the crap out of them.”
Jeydon laughed at her words and Alison let out a small giggle.
Good to know he has a sense of humor. She wore a smug look upon her face.
Just then Q appeared, along with Z. They were conversing with each other – probably planning the big day that was ahead of them all.
“Speak of the devil,” Alison muttered under her breath, only slightly audible.
Z and Q sat down opposite Jeydon and Alison. Q completely ignored Alison’s presence, as if she wasn’t even there.
Well, I’m certainly not complaining.
Alison and Jeydon talked some more. It seemed that the more time she spent with Jeydon, the happier she felt. After only a few moments, they had upgraded their relationship from acquaintances to friends. They laughed and smiled, and for once in her life, Alison felt like she could completely be herself.
By this time the sun had awoken, painting the sky a perfect china blue. Mist rolled in across the hills and the world was filled with colour once again. Young, fragile rays of light ventured slowly over the campsite.
Another person came out into the open and started walking over towards where they were sitting. Gabriel, though he mentioned that he preferred to be called Gab.
As Gab drew near, Alison gasped in shock, her eyes growing wide. She jumped up and rushed over to him urgently. “Gab, You’re bleeding!” she cried.
Gab looked oddly confused. Alison watched him look down at his right arm – the one that wasn’t covered in blood, and then looking down at his left. She saw the surprised look in his eyes.
Alison sensed Jeydon come over and stand beside her. “How didn’t you feel that?” he asked Gab with bewilderment.
Alison felt Jeydon’s hand fall protectively on her shoulder.
Gab shrugged. He looked completely calm despite the scarlet waterfall trickling down his arm. “I have this... Illness called analgia… So basically, I can feel no pain. None at all.”
Alison and Jeydon exchanged glances.
“I'm being serious. My chainsaw must have got me,” Gab said, after they looked at him disbelievingly. Gab gave a slight chuckle.
How could he be laughing while he watches himself bleed to death? Alison looked up at Jeydon, who appeared to be thinking the same thing. “Just let me bandage it,” said Alison, directing her vision back to Gab again and taking hold of his arm.
Many other survivors were up now, and shock dominated their faces at the first sight of Gabriel’s arm. One of the survivors ran to get a first aid kit, handing it to Alison.
Alison wiped away the large amount of blood cascading down Gab’s arm, but could not save his shirt, which was now stained a royal red.
From the corner of her eye Alison could see Gab rolling his eyes. All of a sudden Alison was overcome with insecurity.
Was his eye roll meant for me? Am I doing something wrong? Shit, of course I am. Ayumi should be doing this kind of stuff, not me. Alison glanced upwards at Gabriel’s face and realised the eye roll had been for Jeydon, who was just behind her. Maybe my medical skills aren’t that bad after all…
Alison ordered Jeydon to get a cloth and apply pressure on the wound.
He did this without complaint, which Alison was grateful for.
Gab didn’t flinch once, which astounded Alison.
After the blood lessoned and the flow had almost died down, Alison started bandaging the arm, wrapping the bandage around and around with her fingers following its trail.
Alison saw Gab’s eyes shoot past her to where Jeydon was. Gabriel’s stare bounced from Jeydon to Alison, and then back to Jeydon again, before he released a second chuckle.
Alison didn’t understand what was so funny. She finally finished bandaging Gab’s arm.
Gab checked out his newly hospitalized arm. “You guy make a great team,” he said with a wink.
Alison felt heat rise into her cheeks and tried desperately to hide from Jeydon’s smiling face.
Oh how I love that smile…
Gabriel stood up, saving Alison from further embarrassment. “Don't worry about me. I'm fine now.”
Alison also got to her feet, Jeydon copying her movement.
The two guys hung back to talk separately while Alison walked back to the campfire.
She had left her metal sphere on the ground there in the shock of Gab’s bleeding arm. Alison picked up the sphere. She was about to tuck it safely into her jumper pocket again when she discovered something.
Alison swore that the detail hadn’t been there before. She swore that when she had left it by the campfire there had been no marks etched into it. Yet right there, imprinted in small, neat letters, was a sentence that circled the ‘equator’ of the small sphere.

That what you seek is what you least desire

Alison had no clue what the hell that meant. She looked over her shoulder to see that Jeydon and Gabriel were wrapping up their conversation. Alison hid the sphere behind her back just as Jason approached her with a gentle wave.
For some reason, Alison didn’t want anyone else to know about the changes in her metal ball. At least not until she figured out what those changes meant.

Q


Q woke and found that Jeyson and Alison had already left the tent. Z had woken her up in the night for her shift but she didn't mind. Q walked out of the small tent with Z who must have come in went the sun started to rise an hour ago. Her hair was in a mess and she was still super exhausted. Q walked towards a boy with a cut down his arm.

"Oh, my goodness, Gabriel! What happened to your arm?" Q said walking up behind him and crouching next to him.

"I cut my self," Gab replied looking at Q with his dark blue eyes. "I ave this thing where I can't feel pain so, I guess the chainsaw got me."

"Wow," Was all Q said as she moved from her crouching position to the seat next to him. They sat there a while till the others had all woke. "Maybe you should trade that chainsaw for a whip."

Gab nodded and Q passed over the whip to him flicking her long hair over her shoulder. She got a glance of Jeyson and Alison giggling by the woods. Q turned her head completely towards them and Alison smirked at her. Bitch.

Jason came out of the tent and took a seat next to Q and took her arm. "Hey what's up?" Q asked as he pulled her towards the woods.

"I need to ask you something," Jason said looking her straight in the eyes. "Can mutants run?"

Uh oh, that didn't sound good. Q shook her head no.

"Okay good, because there are an ass-load of them coming up the hill now." Q took his hand and they ran back towards the camp and informed everyone. They ran off to get their weapons and Q pulled out her handy hunting knife. She stood in a fighting position and she ran towards the first mutant she saw. Flying though the air she sliced off it's head while kicking another mutant down the hill.

The others had now gotten their weapons and where fighting along side her. Q sliced mutants one by one weaving though the crowd looking for Z. She found him and they stood back-to-back, fighting just how told them too. They watched each others backs, moving at the same time slicing and shooting every mutant in a 10 yard distance. Then came probably the biggest mutant Q had ever seen.

Ayumi

It was a crystal-clear morning. Ayumi opened her pack and examined the contents in the light of day. The sleeping bag had seen immediate use, and the first aid kit contained numerous useful objects. There was, however, no extra shirt in the bag. It seemed as though she would have to do without, which was not a comforting thought with characters like Jeydon and Z around. She buried in further and found a leather bag with something heavy and metallic inside. She opened it gingerly and poured a variety of thick needles and flat-bladed knives on the ground. The knives would be useful for severing the tough spinal cords of mutants, while the needles had a variety of less dangerous uses. Also in her pack was a coil of rope and a large, carbon fibre dolphin's tail for swimming — the sort only manufactured in the Old Days. The word "Lunocet" was printed in bold letters at the bottom of the fin.

As for her other catches...
The spear she had grabbed, she hoped, would act rather like an elongated needle. Just find the right spot and...
Then she turned her attention to another small bag she had fished blindly out of the weapons crate. Whatever was in it would certainly be dangerous. She loosened the cord and allowed a series of small, coloured glass bottles to roll out. Each had a label.
Batrachotoxin, Potassium Cyanide, Botulin...
Ayumi unscrewed a cap and sniffed the contents of the Batrachotoxin bottle. Yes, it was the real thing. Pure, unadulterated arrow frog poison. Toxic at two grains. She therefore owned a selection of the world's deadliest poisons, a spear, some daggers and needles, food and water, a first aid kit, rope, a fin and a sleeping bag. Ayumi stowed the poison in her pack, but tied the bag of needles to her belt.

The tents had already been struck and someone had shot down some birds, which were roasting over the fire. Q and Z were looking rather surly. Much ammunition had been wasted on Mr Winters' hologram prank, and the tents had been soiled by the explosion. Q and Gab were in conversation by the fire. There was something else bothering the agent, though. Q's eyes flickered periodically toward the forest, where Alison and Jeydon were getting close. Ayumi felt her own hackles rising. Now there was a character she would happily spend a drop of poison on. Jeydon. He was handsome and he knew it. He flaunted his eyes and didn't seem to care what he left in her wake.
Well, I'm certainly not falling for it, Ayumi thought. She would keep her daggers ready.

One of the guys approached Q rapidly and led her away toward the woods. After a few seconds of conversation, they turned back to the camp. Q's eyes were wide.

"Mutants!"

Ayumi delved into her pack and pulled out the poison. Her fingers shook as she unscrewed the cap of the cyanide bottle. Two drops per dagger would be enough.
She stood and twirled the daggers to dry. That was when she saw the scale of the attack and paled. This was not another joke of Mr Winters. This was a full-blown mutant pack.

Q and Z were there first, clearing a ten-yard radius. There was a lull in the attack and Ayumi took advantage of it to approach. The smell of blood filled her nostrils. Q's teeth were bared, Z's arms spread in readiness. It was then that it happened. An enormous mutant — he must have been a body builder in real life — stepped between her and Q. Ayumi did not stop. She took a running leap and skewered the monster's spinal cord, twisting the dagger as she thrust it into the dull flesh. There was a crack of bone and the mutant dropped to the ground. Ayumi turned, too late to see the next, but Q had already shot it in the neck.
"Nice aim," Ayumi called. She severed another spinal cord with a deft strike to the back of the neck. As long as she didn't have to face one, she would be fine. Picking them off one by one was her style.
"How many more?" Q shouted back. She took down a circle of mutants around her with professional technique.
"We got the most of them, but there are enough for both of us!" Ayumi sounded braver than she felt. She had dropped her spear — it wasn't her sort of weapon. She would have to rely on speed alone to keep her out of the clutches of the mutants.
Z cut into his share of mutants with a voracity that frightened Ayumi. She picked off a few wandering around the edges with quick stabs, but kept clear of the main fighting. Soon she was actively searching for mutants — the flood was over.
"It's done!" someone called. "We got them!"

Ayumi staggered to the weapons crate to find a different tool of death. There was little left to choose from, but at the bottom of the box, beneath a flail and a dangerous-looking broadsword, there was a small, snub-nosed black handgun. Ayumi picked it up and was surprised at its light weight.
"That's a Beretta Nano you have there," a voice behind her said.
Ayumi turned sharply. "Who—"
"Jason Collin," the man said with a smile. "And you are?"
"Ayumi."
"Do you know how to handle that?"
Ayumi bristled at his tone.
"Of course I—" she started, but then realised that she had absolutely no idea how to fire a gun.
"Allow me," Jason said smoothly, pulling the gun from her slack fingers and ejecting the magazine with skilled ease. "First, you remove the magazine. You load it, re-insert it, remove safety, pull back the slide and release. There is now a bullet in the chamber, ready to fire."
He emptied the magazine and returned the handgun. "Your turn."
Ayumi's hands trembled and sweat made her palms slippery. She had to try several times before the magazine would click into position and the spring was very strong.
"Good. You need to practise this until you can do it easily. In the dark." Jason took the gun and aimed it at a tree. "Hold it like this... Aim through the sights and..."
He squeezed the trigger and fired a bullet into the center of the trunk.
"It's got a bit of a kick, but the Beretta Nano is a very easy weapon to conceal and use."
He twirled the gun and pressed it into Ayumi's hands.
"Cheerio."
Jason Collin strode off, leaving Ayumi with a mixture of indignation and wonder.

Jeydon

lordy! I said to myself after all the mutants were either dead or gone. There had been so much stuff happening since I came to this place. Everyone seemed to get a long just fine except for Q and Alison. Well also ayumi with all of us guys. It seemed to me that she was extra cautious around me.

It really started aggravating me a little so I finished talking to Alison and walked towards her after Jason walked away. "Hi." I say to ayumi. "What?" She said as she turned to look at me.why is it I feel your out to get me or something?" I ask. She chuckled and shrugged
"I'm not out to get you jeydon. I just don't like you." Then she walked away smiling.

I walked over and sat down on a log. "I don't find myself mean to people." I say to myself but out loud.



*sorry it is so short I'm on a phone at the moment so can't type much