The Phoenix Colony

"Raylene please calm down. Whoever Jacob is doesn't matter right now and its not like he'll tell you the truth." says Britney as she continues to point the gun at Ben and Allen. "You two, hurry up and finish eating the piece your holding now. And then get the hell out. Allen we don't trust you. Ben, if you're going to side with Allen then we won't help you again."

 

"Calm yourself girl, I'm sure you heard something, but then again strange things happen all the time around here. I've never been this alert, and yesterday I was nearly killed by some invisible monstrosity. No one thinks your crazy, so stop acting like it." Ben looked to Allen, form the look on his face he was someplace else. Sighing, he continued, "All I'm saying is give peace a chance, I mean we're in a strange place, we have half an idea of what to do just to survive, and we won't survive if we're at eachother's throats. I don't care what you heard, has he tried to kill anyone yet? Huh? Have I ever harmed anyone here unprovoked? Stop holding grudges and get with the program, we are in this ****ty predicament together, and there are a hell of a lot scarier things out there than Allen."

 

"Just shut up Ben. Raylene isn't going to start trusting Allen, I don't trust him and I don't think Fox is even willing to work with him. Your best bet is to hope that there is another tribe near by and join them. And by all of the talking your doing, I'm guessing that you're not that hungry, so just leave now." says Britney.

The fire seems to spark up and grow more intense as she talks to Ben.

 

The rapidly aging lawyer only sighed. "Failure to admit where you've been wrong stands in the way of self improvement. Get over yourself. Allen its obvious these two are too thick accept anything but what they want to. They like being angry, but I don't." He got up and walked away, out of the cave and out of the people within's lives. He walked away, not waiting for Allen, sincerely disappointed. He passed by Reva and Pasha, messing around with a spear. Hard to believe he had her pinned down only an hour ago.

 

The sounds of arguing from the cave, indeed the sound of everything around Reva, seemed to sharpen becoming a roar. She clapped her hands over her ears which felt under pressure as though she was far under water.

"Stop." Her voice was no more than a blade of grass in a windstorm, "Stop it."

She breathed the words, begging the noise to go away. Pasha's voice rolled like thunder talking about another tree, footsteps sounded like crashing surf and she saw Ben stalk by, scowling, the sound of the fabric of his suit coat sleeve rubbing against his side becoming a sandstorm of sound.

The pressure increased to a painful degree and Reva slumped to the ground in a graceless faint.

 

Juliano awoke with a start. He had been asleep for an age. Nothing was as it once was. There were shouts coming from somewhere. He blinked repetitivly clearing his mind. He was in the cave. He started to walk towards the noise.

"what is going on here?" he boomed.

 

Britney looks over at the new guy and says, "Nothing important, we just got rid of some unwanted pests. There's some meat cooking on the fire if your hungry." as she puts Fox's gun back down, beside the unconscious body of Fox.

 

Juliano was in a bit of a pickle. He WAS hungry but he didnt like the sort of Tribal Rule going on. But if he wanted to survive it was best to keep out of such things.

"hmm if you say so," said Juliano suspiciously. "do you want to join me for some food?" he said, his stomach growling.

 

Britney's stomach growls. "Sure, I'd love to." says Britney as she goes to the fire and grabs one of the sticks with meat on it. She bites into it, the meat was okay, but it would probably go bad soon. "You better eat up while this meat is still good." says Britney.

 

Juliano grabbed the stick with the largest piece of meat on it "hardly 5* quisine but it will do" he muttered. Looking about the cave there seemed to be a growing presence of violence. There were more weapons here than first were and it made him slightly uneasy.

"did any of the guards survive the crash?" he asked.

 

"I think that I'm probably the only guard to survive. If there were others that survived the crash, they were probably killed by the convicts." says Britney.

She looks at Fox and continues "Even though the first convict that found me was considered one of the most dangerous, she knew that we needed to work together to survive on this planet." She bites into the meat.

 

"That is certainly the most important thing right now. If we can survive then we will be ready if anyone bothers to come and look for us all. Then I can get home and prove my innoncence. However, it all seems rather trivial right now. What we all did in our previous lives doesnt it."

The meat was soon gone, a few bits remaining for the others.

"we should start rationing, we dont know how often we will be able to get food."

 

Pasha’s hand barely reached her before her body hit the ground. He put his hand under her head, shock apparent in his face. She was obviously still breathing, so she had… fainted. He looked down at her cursing as he lifted her into his arms.

“Yuri… what do I do?” he growled, as he slowly headed towards the camp.

“Take her to the camp!”

“They’ll think I did it! I don’t usually get the benefit of the doubt.” He said stopping in his tracks. He looked back at the woods... there had to be other streams. He could try and wake her up himself... or he could leave her.

“Yes, and I suppose leaving her would make you look less guilty? Take her back to camp Pasha.”

He growled under his breath and stopped just outside the mouth of the cave. He took a deep sigh, trying to make sure he looked as concerned as possible.

“I’m not so sure that’ll help…” Yuri muttered.

Pasha hoped so.

He briskly walked into the cave, and gently laid Reva onto the ground. He stood back from her, not sure what to do.

“I don’t know what happened… but she fainted.”

 

"The only problem with rationing is that we have no way of keeping food fresh. All we can do is keep it in the back of the cave near the spring and hope that the cold air helps it stay good for a little longer than it would otherwise." says Britney.

She sees Pashe carry Reva back into the cave. She goes over and checks her for a pulse. "She should be fine after some rest. Don't worry Pasha, I don't blame you. All of the guards were briefed on the dangerous prisoners. If you would have done this, then she'd be dead." says Britney as she picks up Reva and lays her next to Fox. "Damn, there goes two members of our tribe. Since we kicked out Allen and Ben, that leaves us with only five people right now." says Britney. She looks over at the dead ram creature, she points to it and says "Hey Pasha could drag its body away from the cave, I don't want any predators wander into the cave because they smell it. Raylene, Viva, could you two start making some cloaks out of its skin, thanks."

 

Viva crawled out of the corner when she saw Pasha arrive, though she acted as though she was gathering the last few scraps of meat for herself. She saw Reva had fainted - and Pasha had actually bothered save her.
"You should add to his list of disorders that he's got multiple personality disorder. Maybe that's why he's being so nice to everyone today."
Viva growled and looked away, convincing herself to stop being angry for no good reason. Of course, she had a good reason.
"Jealous are we. Well, at least Reva doesn't have stupid mint green hair like you."
Viva felt her confidence falling, something which hadn't happened in years.
"Or a childish voice. Or a torn up top and dusty jeans. Or she doesn't call him Mr. Huggles."
Viva crawled back into the corner, dunking her hands in the wall. Reva is so dead when I get a chance.
"I'm charmed."
Viva heard Britney's orders, and replied bluntly:
"I'll get it done in a few."

 

Pasha gave a nod, not really liking that he was now probably the only one that would be getting this job. He quickly grabbed what was left of the bones, luckily it was mostly in one piece. He grabbed his furs, placing the organs and entrails inside, and wrapping it up, throwing it over his shoulder. He half-dragged half carried the carcass from the cave.

He looked back at Viva with longing eyes. He sighed, he missed being next to her… he’d have to spend time with her when he got back to work.

“I might be able to manage a makeshift needle out of some bone...” He didn’t wait for an answer and continued pulling the carcass down the hill. He didn’t stop even when he got in the woods. He knew he’d need to drag it as far away as possible.

He continued until he was a good 20 meters or so into the woods. He stopped, taking a quick breather. His back ached from the long haul and the constant bend, but he smiled, he was going to be able to be with his Furstin soon. He took his bludgeon stick, and hit it with great force onto the ribs. He did so a few times, getting a few of the pointed ends and putting it into his pocket. He aimed for the tailbone next, knocking it off in a few pieces. He then dumped the remains from the fur, throwing it over his shoulder. He came back in a run, eager to start his work.

He stopped next to Viva, a smile on his face.

“Sorry we didn’t get to spend much time together this morning, been a bit busy.” He muttered.

 

“Sorry we didn’t get to spend much time together this morning, been a bit busy.” Pasha muttered.
Viva shot him an angry glance, trying hard not to cry.
"Busy, eh? Now that's the language used by the male. At least he's a male, not something else."
"Well, maybe we shouldn't burden him with social code. He is busy - maybe he's a gigolo?"
"Or he's just autistic. Be positive!"
"So, you were busy? Oh, I get it. It's alright, I don't mind. We're all really busy here, survival and all the additive activities. Thus, it's completely fine if you're a two-timer - except I'm not gonna be a part of it."
Her voice was relatively towards a childish one, yet she managed to screamed the last part. She then picked up the skin and sat on the corner, her face turned away.
"Ooooh, that was a quick break-up. Well, other than Danny whom you ditched in three hours."

 

Hearing Viva yell at Pasha Britney thinks to herself, "Great the lovebirds are going at."

She looks at them and says "Pasha you should probably give her some alone time to cool down. Could you please go forage some fruit for us, I don't think you and the others really got any of the meat."

 

Pasha stood completely still as she moved away from him. His heart was beating insanely fast, and it almost hurt him. He fell back, his face white and his pulse fast. His ears barely heard what Britney was saying, but he gave her a gentle nod, and struggled to add a smile, as he looked up at her. He quickly got up, taking his knife from next to the half-made fence. He sprinted away from the cave, feeling more vulnerable then ever.

“Did she just break up with you?” Yuri asked. Pasha’s heart gave another painful skip as he got into the woods. He let himself fall onto the ground his hands shaking.

“Pasha… calm down. You can—“

“Shut the f**k up Yuri!” He screamed angrily, the tears started to come out. He grabbed the knife, and a piece of the bone. The tears came to an abrupt stop, as he looked down at the carvings on his arms. He eyed them, not sure of when he had made them.

“You forget so soon?”

“Anger… tends to do that.”

“Then don’t let it do that. Anger is what makes you a killer.”

“I thought it was instinct?”

“Anger. And... if you’re angry at Viva, what does that mean?”

Pasha growled under his breath, “I’m not angry at her!”

“Lying to yourself now, huh? You obviously upset her, she can’t stay mad… and you can’t let yourself get angry because she’s mad, even if it's for something stupid. That’s how women are. Go make things right.”

Pasha paused, biting his lip. He slowly slid the knife and bone into his pocket.

“How do you think I should start?”

“Let’s start with that fruit.”

Pasha got up and began to walk around the woods, making sure he could see the exit. He stopped just before some bushes, they appeared to have some odd fruit on them. He quickly began to pick them, placing them in his shirt, cupping it like a bowl. He stopped when he could carry no more, and headed back to camp. He slid them onto the cave floor, not far from the fire. He put a handful into Viva's lap, and scattered off.

He sat down next to the to the fence and slowly started work back up. He’d have to think of a plan to make her happy again.

 

Britney picks up on of the fruit and began to eat it, not sure why she was still hungry. It was the blue peach like fruit that she found earilier. She takes a small bite, to see what it tastes like. It has a very sweet taste. She quickly eats the rest of it.

As she sits back she looks around the cave. Viva and Raylene, working on the cloaks. Raylene has been silent for awhile, still probably thinking about what happened with Allen. Viva was seething with jealousy, upset that Reva had "stolen" what was hers. Pasha was building the gate, he looks like a lost puppy. And finally the new guy was just sitting there silently, not wanting to get involved.

Britney bites down on her bottom lip, holding back the tears. "Our tribe is falling apart. Fox, I don't know what to do. Everything that you've done so far is going to waste right before me, and I can't stop it. Fox, I...I'm sorry." thinks Britney.

 

Cull silvered out of the caves entrance his stomach howling with hunger. How long had he been crying for? His eyes were red and his throat ached as though he wasn’t done crying yet. He couldn’t be seen like this weak, shaking.

The ground was moist and he slipped about in the rotting leaf and moss. Cull took a shaky breath and looked towards where the other groups were. He wished he wasn’t alone, but he wasn’t sure he could take seeing something like what had happened with Juan and Harold again. He actually missed Harold, it was silly but they felt like family to him. Cull put his hand on a tree to balance himself and screamed out as electricity vaulted through his body. He was thrown back, his head swam with shock and pain and all he could smell was burning meat. This wasn’t the ship, so how the hell did this happen? Cull cursed under his breath. Even the stupid planet wanted him dead. He rolled to his side next to him a pool of his blood was growing.

 

Pasha ran out, noticing a man in the distance at the treeline. He stopped next to him, the smell of burnt flesh in the air. He scrunched his nose and bent down. There was blood on the ground.

“Do you… want help?” Pasha asked.

 

“No I just want to know why the flora on this planet wants me dead,” Cull sat up and brushed himself off.

He looked at the blood on his shoulder and sighed. “This is one big F****** mess. “ He tried to smile at the guy in front of him. “I’m Cull, Cull Brackwell.” He offered the guy a hand to shake.

 

Pasha raised an eyebrow and shook the man’s hand. He looked at the wound, and back at their camp.

“The names Pasha… come to camp with me. We can help take care of that for you.” He managed a forced smile and turned back, and headed towards camp.

“We’ve got water… and soon enough a fence. You’ll feel… right at home.”

 

Cull nodded, “I don‘t really want to impose. I mean I had a group they were great. Then one guy had a big melt down and murdered the other guy. I‘ve been living by myself since that happened.”

He followed Pasha thoughtfully. Water sounded great. He could really do with some. His mouth became wet with saliva at the thought of it dropping on his tongue and wetting his throat.