The Phoenix Colony

"I thought so. Thats why you could tell that Allen was going to kill Reva. Listen, I doudt you will be able to turn it off. All you can do for now is just try to ignore it when you don't want to listen to that persons mind." says Fox.

She looks up into the sky. The sun had set by now and the stars were bright. There were two moons in the sky. One was about two times the size of Luna (Earth's moon) and had a bright blue glow. The other one was about two thirds the size of Luna, it had a dark crimson red glow to it. "The sky is beautiful tonight." says Fox.

 

Smith helped Derek with the deer and slowly they made their way back to the cave. "So, what do you have against me anyways?" He asked Derek, he was sure he wasn't wrong about this. The man had something against him, his hand tightening on the weapon the first time they meet, and just an overall since of dislike.

 

Ben thanked the two as they finally managed to get the thing into the cave, shadows on the walls, cast from the fire. Ben took out his knife and began the process of gutting the beast, though he had never gutted anything like a ram before he found it was mostly the same as anything else. Tear the fur, cut down the chest, tear out the organs and start stripping it of the meat. Less than 10 minutes and the first cuts were frying over the fire, and Ben could finally relax.

He sat down, opposite to the blathering girl who was in the process of interrogating Allen, shotgun never leaving his arms, and he waited for the opportunity to present itself.

 

"Heh, how do people keep noticing?" Derek smiled a bit. "I guess I just don't trust you. I mean, you kinda are the one that locked me in that cell. Never really been big on authority figures." That was when Derek saw Harold, drenched in blood and holding his large thorny branch, standing over Juan triumphantly. "Oh s**t. Yo, we should put this down. Big Harold isn't lookin' too happy. How good are you with that rifle? I wanna go talk to him, but I'm not sure how safe I feel when he looks like that. S**t gives me the creeps."

 

Raylene could smell the meat cooking. "I killed a rabbit, but I guess we won't be needing it since Ben killed that big ram." She stood and started walking towards the cave. She turns for a second and tells Fox, "Thank you for understanding and letting me know what's going on with you. I don't feel as crazy anymore. Maybe it will help us. Let's go eat."

 

HArold watched Derek approach. HE placed a foot on Juan's broken leg and twisted making the blind man scream. The bloodied gangster smiled. "Well Derek who are you with? Me or your new friend? He doesn't look like he takes orders well." The thorn branch shot out and burried itself into Juan's neck. Blood poured freely covering the gangster.

 

Before Viva could answer Ben walked back into the cave with a dead animal and started preparing it.

"We'd better talk later."

Allen turned his head at Ben and said "Yo! What's the chance of me getting some of that, and a drink?

 

Ben got up, setting his weapon up against the wall and grabbing some of the food as well as a hollow rock full of water. Coming over to Allen, he said in a very quiet tone, "Listen, it doesn't take a ****ing sociologist to tell your not being very well liked around here, but it just so happens I am. You want to survive here, your going to need me, and I'm going to need you. You and me, to the freaking end, but I'm going to need to know who you are. You want this food?" Allen shook his head. "Well what the **** are you and what the **** were you doing on that ship?" finished Ben, glancing around, checking to see if anyone was hearing what he was saying.

 

"What the f**k happened to you? Hope you ain't tryin' to lead with that 'fear' bulls**t." Derek pulled one of the poisoned stakes out of his pocket. With his arm in a sling, he didn't want to take chances. "I guess I'd have to say I'm with myself. You know how it is, gotta look out for numero uno."

 

HArold ripped the thorns from Jaun's neck releasing a final fountain of gore. He began to circle Derek and shaking his head. "That's not an option boy." He swung wilding just barely missing Derek's head.

 

Smith raised the rifle and aimed it nurviusly at the big gangster. He looked around for Chrys, she would be of some help here. "Look, just calm down. You look like you're having a mental break down or something, had one of them yesterday actually." He said and laughed. "Look, maybe if I put the gun down you'll step away from that guy?" He asked, not wanting to put down the gun but thinking he'd be able to get it quickly enough if the big guy became a problem, they had some room.

 

Reva stayed outside, hoping that the smell of the ram would blow off of her. Ben had taken the animal inside to clean instead of listening to her.

Well...whatever. It wasn't like she was an expert.

She rubbed one freckled wrist tiredly across her forehead and smiled at Juliano who stood uncertainly by.

"Come on, we'll try to find you a place in the cave to call your own."

 

"Ok." says Fox. As her and Raylene walk back into the cave Fox looks around. Britney sat there staring at the fire, almost as if she was in a trance. Ben was talking to Allen. Pasha continued to build the gate. She walks over and feels the bloody fur of the gaint ram. "It fur was soft, but the skin felt like it was as tough as leather. This would keep us warm and protect us from any crude weapons that the other tribes would make." thinks Fox. She looks over at Ben and says "Since you were the one to discover this thing, I guess you get to name it." She stands up and says "Hey guys, do any of you think you could make some cloaks or capes from the skin of this thing. It would help to keep us warm, for when it gets cold."

Britney listens to Fox as she stares at the fire. She thinks to herself "Get cold, I wish I could get cold. If I tell Fox about the fire thing that happened earlier she'll think I'm some kind of freak."

 

Derek ducked to avoid the swing. "Too slow big guy. It's gonna take more'n a big stick bein' swung around by a guy pretending to know how to fight to take me down." God damnit Chad, hurry up he thought. He continued to dance around on his toes, ready to move around if need be. He knew he was fast enough to avoid anything the gangster threw at him, but he'd get tired eventually.

 

Harold swung twice more each time just missing. "I'm just playing with you Der, if I wasn't I'd -" The mobster spit into Derek's face and slammed his elbow into Derek's nose breaking it. He turned to Chad. "Wanna put him out of his misery pretty boy?!"

 

"I can sew," Raylene answers, "but the only thread we have is suture thread and I think we should save that. If we can find something stringy around here, like horse hair, that would work."

 

Smith took a deep breath and then swollowed, Joey squeeked angerly at the gangster, and Smith knew he had to do it. "Sorry." He said, last time he had been protecting himself, but this time he was protecting someone else. He had to, or he'd never forgive himself, he wouldn't kill him though. POP! The rifle rang bullet aimed at his legs. He fired again just to make sure something hit. POP!

 

F**k it Derek thought. His nose felt broken, and he was done distracting this guy for some jackass guard that wouldn't back him up. He failed to hear the gunshots through his crazed running and extreme pain. He had broken two bones in one day. Derek turned and ran as fast as he could back towards the woods, he knew the mobster couldn't catch up. I knew I couldn't count on that damned guard, Derek thought as he paused for a moment in the underbrush to snap his nose back into place. He stifled a scream, turning it into a swift inhalation followed by a dull groan. He turned and found a dark shadow, walking over to it and crouching. He was near invisible in the shadow, but still held the makeshift dagger in his hand, not willing to let it go.

 

HArold spun around as the bullet burried itself in his leg. Blood began to spurt as the ganster lifted himself up just high enough for Chad and Derek to see the thorn branch buried in his chest. As the blood kept pumping, the mobster's eyes rolled back in his head. Chad watched as the blood pumping from Harold's leg slowly lessened and the mobster gave a final, wet gurgle. His blank eyes locked with Chad's one final time.

 

Fox thinks "Well atleast I got one of you to start trusting me as a leader."

Fox looks at her and says "If we cut some of the skin into really tiny strips, could you use that instead of using thread."

 

Raylene fingers the tough skin of the animal. "Yeah, that might work. Ben, when you are finished skinning it, can I make a few cloaks from the hide? Afterall, you put all the work into killing it. It's only right that we ask for it first."

 

Smith knew it from the moment their eyes locked for the last time that the gangster was dead, but he ran over and checked for a pulse anyways. "Damn" He swore and stood up. Wondering why he hadn't shot at the foot insteed. A small voice in the back of his head reminded him that it was a much smaller target, and Derek was being beaten. He pushed the thoughts out of his head and walked over to where the deer was and grabbed hold of it and began draging it the rest of the way into camp, tears falling from his face. The man hadn't done anything to him, for all he knew the man wanted him on his side, he had asked him to help him kill Derek, why hadn't he negotiated with him? Why? He dropped the carcus near the cave but away form the two bodies and looked around for Derek. Smith hoped he was ok. Joey Chirped angerly at the man's corpse from Smith's shoulder as if he might get back up.

 

Allen swore silently and very profusely under his breath when Xaire interrupted Ben. He was really feeling the effects of hunger and his injuries now. Slowly his vision started blurring. Is that a fire? Pretty fire.

He turned his bleary eyes towards the female guard.

"So, what's it gonna be, starvation or murder? What's the kinder way to kill me?"

 

"So, what's it gonna be, starvation or murder? What's the kinder way to kill me?"

The sound of Allens voice snaps Britney out of her trance. She says "I don't know, do you deserve a quick death, or should we give you a slow death. Hey Fox, should we feed our guest."

Fox looks over at Allen and says "Give him alittle to make sure he doesn't starve to death. Oh, and Allen, you and me are going to have a little talk tomorrow morning. There is some information I want from you."

 

Ben looked over his shoulder and said, "Ya I'll get right on that in a minute." Looking back to Allen, he whispered four simple words as he brought the cut of mutton close to the prisoner's nose, "Who are you Allen?"