The Phoenix Colony

Allen watched as Reva and the other guy spoke. He didn't know what to make of this. Was it a good thing that she came? It was too soon to tell. For all that had happened in the clearing she still obviously didn't want to be near him. Her voice was like ice.

Answering Chad's question he said "I was heading for the nose of the ship. I wanted to see if the communicaton array was still working. When the storm came along I got this." He held up his broken arm, then looked over at Reva. "She fixed it up."

 

Viva waved to Pasha as he left, and quickly put more wood in the fire to cook the meat.
"I think we'll be needing more firewood soon!"
She giggled, and placed the sticks like a retort stand, thus to support the barbecue sticks. She looked back at the two girls with enthusiasm.
"I've been planning. We can make a blanket from these furs, like Mr. Huggles said. Then, we can start making this place more of a home! We should know how to make good foods...and we definitely will need fashionable attire!"
She chuckled, waiting for Raylene to hand her a needle.

 

Smith nodded to Allen and then looked over at "Reva" and smiled warmly, he'd always be happy with more people in the group. Plus a female and on a planet like this, with no hope of getting rescued they were more important than the abondant males. Then he remembered his jacket, and smiled even larger. "You found my lucky jacket?" He asked excitedly. "I thought it had been lost when the ship crashed."

Chrys looked over at Smith amused. "You have a lucky jacket?" She asked with a smirk. Smith gave a quick laugh alowing chrys her revenge after all the makeing teasing he had done. "Hi, I'm Chrys." She told the new comers.

"Welcome to camp, you're all welcome to stay we've got room for about five or six more in the cave." He said motioning towards the woven wall that was the front of the cave. "Doesn't look like much but it gets nice and toasty inside at night." He said and walked over to help them out with the deer. "We still have to find a way to put up a perimeter fence of some kind." He told Derek as he helped them.

 

Raylene found the needles and gave them to Viva. She then went to the fire and turned the meat. She sat next to Viva and began placing the furs next to each other to see how the ends matched up the best.

"Viva, can I ask you something? And you have to promise that you'll answer honestly."

 

Viva giggled and nodded, taking some of the thin strips of leather Pasha had cut to sew.
"Sure, why not?"
She decided to make holes first, seeing that the leather strips were not thin enough for one to use them.

 

Raylene takes a deep breath and her hands start to shake."You were talking to Allen in the forest. I heard you talking to him, but I heard something else. I heard......Fox, help me explain this. She's going to think I'm crazy."

 

After Britney has her fill of the weird fruit, she continues to look for things around the side of the mountain. She comes across some marks on the ground. Kneeling down, Britney thinks "It looks like someone, or something, was dragging its prey. I should follow this trail and see what I can find." She stands up and cautiously continues to walk forward.

Fox says "Raylene can sometimes hear people's thoughts. She heard you think that you're a spy and that you're here to kill someone. Is it true?". Fox tries her best to keep her mind blank, as to not interfere with Raylene's ability.

 

"You know those guys? Well, that'll make introductions shorter. Why do you look so worried?"

Reva bit her lip and looked an apology at Derek, sorry to have worried someone who was being kind to her.

"It's nothing." She smiled at him reassuringly.

"You found my lucky jacket?" Chad asked excitedly. "I thought it had been lost when the ship crashed."

Reva's fingers went to the jacket sleeves defensively.

"I-I found THIS jacket," she said cautiously, "I was thinking of it as...well...as my jacket."

The girl teased Chad, "You have a lucky jacket?" Obviously they had a friendly relationship.

"Welcome to camp, you're all welcome to stay we've got room for about five or six more in the cave." He said motioning towards the woven wall that was the front of the cave. "Doesn't look like much but it gets nice and toasty inside at night." He said and walked over to help them out with the deer. "We still have to find a way to put up a perimeter fence of some kind." He told Derek as he helped them.

Reva had not intended to stay but as she looked at their preparations and heard the friendly voices she was tempted. Very tempted. She slid a look at Ben and Allen as Allen explained the broken arm.

It all depended, of course. How safe was it with them here? Allen couldn't do much damage right now unless he ripped her jugular out with his teeth. Somehow she didn't think that fit his M.O.

 

Viva tried not to show elements of surprise. She pushed her hair back and then looked innocently into her female friend's eyes, first into Raylene's and then into Fox's.
"That would be weird if it were true."
She giggled, and then looked into her mind for plans.
"So, what will it be, Miss.I-know-everything?"
Shut up. I don't need your criticism. I can't blow a good cover.
"Yeah, but if she can read minds...you may want to shut up."
Viva immediately stopped pondering over the fact, hoping Raylene had not picked up anything. She grinned and went back to work.
"People always think I'm ditz...some think I'm beyond that, but for all I know, I'm just a really happy person!"
She winked and then giggled.
"You can ask Pasha if you like. You trust him better, don't you?"

 

Allen looked over the camp. It looked nice. Things were clean and organized as much as could be done in this situation. It was good that they had a cave, it would be easier to defend. There was even a lip on the wall by the entrance that would be good to hide behind if somebody decided to fire a gun into it.

So Chrys lost all of her memory of what happened. That was something to remember. Allen took the time to wonder briefly if Chad would be able to swindle Reva out of the jacket. That would be fun to watch.

 

Raylene focused with all her might while Viva side stepped the question. The buzzing sound came immediately.
"So, what will it be, Miss.I-know-everything?"
Shut up. I don't need your criticism. I can't blow a good cover.
"Yeah, but if she can read minds...you may want to shut up."


Raylene's eyes flared with hate. "If there's one thing I hate more than anything, it's liars. My father and uncle are liars, my husband was a liar, and you are too Miss Viva. Exactly how many people are in there talking to you?"

She stood and walked out of the cave. The ringing was completely blocking out any other sound and she walked deafly through the trees. No birds or insects could be heard above the noise inside her skull. She sat down hard on a fallen tree and tried to focus on a tiny insect pulling a leaf through the mass of twigs. The ringing began to wane and she heard the tiniest little noise. "Chav, chav! Burgh buy'!" The creature kept repeating this, over and over like a chant. Ralyene sat back up, the ringing was gone and her head only slightly ached.

((Translation of creature language is in the discussion thread.))

 

Cevin followed the creatrue's tracks until the sun began to peek otu above the trees. The creature had corssed it's own path several times. "Trying to confuse me, huh? Now why would you do that? Hmmm ... either you were chasing something or something was chasing you." As the bushes cleared, he found a large horned skull. "Well I guess that answers that."

As he tried to break off the horns with a rock, Cevin's fingers began to tingle and swell. "Aw crap, not now." The pressure had been building in them for several hours as he was following the animal. His joints began to stiffen and swell. Both the rock and skull fell out of his palsied hands. "Ok damn it. Fine."

He looked around searching for something big enough. In the distance he saw a rock jutting out of the ground. The convict quickly ran over and began rubbing the rock as hard as he could.

Random images floated through his mind. His grandmother. Sunday dinner. His first trial. The small bird that made a nest outside of his cell. The images picked up speed changing quicker and quicker as his hands returned to normal.

He stared at the rock and chuckled before ripping off a small piece. It had been years since he had cherry jello. He sat down and waited. After a while insects began to swarm over what was once a rock. Carefully, he picked off those he knew weren't poisonous and dropped them in a small sack. Satisfied he had enough for dinner, he reutned to the tracks.

 

"I should have known, there was something about you that didn't seem right. Listen, in all honesty, working with a government agent rubs me the wrong way. But when you consider the situation, it can't be helped. Listen as long as you don't harm anyone in our tribe, I don't care about your past. Actually its probably a good thing that you're a spy, atleast then you'll be useful. Now, if you'll excuse me, I got to go find Raylene." says Fox right before she stands and leaves to cave.

After walking for a little while, she came across Raylene sitting there. "Hey, are you okay?" asks Fox.

Suddenly Fox felt an intense pain, it was as if her nerves were on fire. As she falls to her hands and knees, she can feel the movement around her. She feels Raylene's pulse and the muscles of her lungs working. She can feel the bug dragging a leaf. She can feel the grass gently moving in the wind. Fox falls to her side and lets out a scream. After about two seconds, what felt like an eternity for Fox, the feeling became much weaker. She sits up, feeling a low, dull pain in her nerve endings. She couldn't sense any of the small movements anymore. She looks at her hand and thinks "What the hell is happening to me."

 

As Juliano was returning to the camp after his little "walkabout", he heard a scream from around the corner of the track. He ran along and roun it to see Raylene and Fox. It was Fox's scream.

Just as he approached she stopped screaming and looked at her hand. She didnt seem to be in any danger but still, he felt sorry for her and walked over.

"hey!" he said, gripping her shoulders" "I heard your scream, whats wrong? Are you hurt?" he continued, looking into her eyes.

 

"Am I ok??? Are you ok???" Raylene drops to her knees next to Fox. "This planet is changing us. We have to learn to control it. I made myself focus on that bug right there and I could hear it. Couldn't understand it, but I could hear it. And that Viva has a whole community inside that nutty skull of hers. She and Pasha are perfect for each other."

Her head throbbed. She suddenly realized that Reva had been gone a very long time. "Do you think Reva is ok?"

 

Fox looks up at Raylene and Juliano, she says "I should be ok now. This damn planet is changing my nervous system, I can almost feel it. As for Reva, she was able to get away from a ceader, so I doudt she is in too much danger. Also Britney is scouting the area, so there's a chance that she'll find Reva before too long." says Fox as she stands back up.

"Hey guys, want to come with me as I scout around the area for a little while? Britney went to the left side of the mountain so we should head to the right side of it." says Fox.

 

"Yeah sure!" said Juliano, finally feeling like he was becoming recognised as part of the group.

"But you are sure you're ok?" he quickly added

 

The tracks kept moving higher and higer towards the ricky ground. All the while Cevin kept following the slight groove in the earth.

"WHat the hell?" Said Cevin as he knelt down.

The tracks suddenly changed without warning. The smooth, snake like groove vanished leaving six pairs of paws.

He looked around at the forest, the sky, the slightly off color sun. "This place just ain't right."

 

Raylene shrugs, "might as well, I don't want to hang around psycho all day, but let's go back and eat some of that rabbit first." She and the other 2 head back to the cave and grab a few sticks of meat.

Raylene puts a sweat shirt over her jumper and puts her cloak around her shoulders. "I'm ready. Let's go."

 

"Wait, your talking about permanent settlement, it's almost as if your all . . . happy with the situation." Ben couldn't believe it. He looked at the people around him, perfectly content to live out their days on planet, it was like insanity. "How can you be satisfied with this? Allen," he said turning to him, "You were talking about getting us back to earth, calling for help, were you serious or just telling them what they wanted to here?"

 

Allen turned around. He had to think for a moment. Yes, he did want to go home, but he didn't want anyone else to come with him. Was it worth the risk? Could he trust them? They knew, but they didn't know they knew, and even if they did know and made it home they didn't seem like the kind of people who would use that knowledge. They weren't like Xare.

He looked around at Ben, Chad, Chris, Reva, the guy who had come with Reva. His insides churned. Allen looked down at his useless hands, he wouldn't survive to make it home without these people anyway.

He looked up at Ben, staring him in the eyes.

"Yes, I meant it. The chances aren't good, but I meant it."

 

Cevin heard the mewing and only then the tinlking of the water. He was upwind and pressed his body tightly against the ground. Slowly he crawled to the dge of the clearing and peered over.

In the distance he could see what looked like four snakes covered in brown fur. Each had six tiny paws poking out from beneath their underbellies.

"If that tree is any judge, they must be as big as my thigh. There's at least a week's worth of meat down there." His brown furled. Those things were babies of some kind. His guts twisted sharply as the next though hit him. "So where's the mama?"

 

"Well good, we should work for that, a way home, I mean . . ." Ben began, but stopped as he realized something. He couldn't go back to earth. "****." He walked over to the cave wall and sat down, his hands groping at his forehead. "You know, I just remembered, it doesn't matter. I'm ****ed if I do and ****ed if I don't. I can't be a lawyer, I can't be a writer, I can't even use my name. What's the point of even trying? We're all screwed!"

Ben looked around, tears beginning to work their way out of his eyes, the fire's light causing them to sparkle as they rolled down his cheek. "There is not simple way out of this, is there?" He dropped his hands to his side and let out a deep breath, his fingers touched something, and thats when it came to him. "Wait, there is a simple way out of this!" he proclaimed happily, jumping to his feet. He picked up his shotgun, clicked off the safety and stared into the barrel. In nearly a whisper, he said one word. "Suicide."

 

Enter The Antagonist

Name: Fank Sellyon

Type of character: Criminal

Gender: Male

Age: 35

Appearance: He is average build, regular hair with a short beard and green eyes. He is Caucasian and about average height (5'7"). He bears no remarkable features whatsoever. He wears his old police uniform, dark navy with a shiny gold badge and his rank on his shoulder. He was a Lieutenant.

Vocation/Skills: Police Officer, good with guns and in close combat as well as psychological combat.

Results of Genetic Alteration:

Positive - He is extra tough, in general he's difficult to bring down. Bullets and the like do damage, but he's able to ignore most injuries for quite a while. Really he just has an amazing vitality.

Negative - Frank tires extremely easily, he needs to sleep and eat even more than your average survivor.

Personality: Arrogant, confident, intelligent, clever, and manipulative. He knows how to identify problems and deal with them, and he knows how to break people, force them to do what he wants, but when things get flaky so does he.

Background: He was a corrupt police officer, extremely crooked. He worked with the criminals shamelessly, pulling strings here and there to keep civilian endangering gang wars up and took kickbacks from drug dealers. When the force finally caught up with all the damage he was doing they found that in addition to countless criminals, he had killed 7 different officers to protect his scheme. In exchange for ratting out many gang members and other corrupt policemen involved with him, he got the life sentence.

 

Reva had been enjoying the conversation of the others and was charmed by the Rat-roo. Ben and Allen had stayed somewhat out of the mainstream and she hadn't approached them, not knowing what to expect.

Even with that she was shocked when Ben muttered something and stared into wrong end of the shotgun with a look of utter despair.

"Ben!" She shouted his name louder than she had the first time that day, "Don't you dare!"