Still accepting OCs for the story. Just give me a name, appearance, personality, preferred clothing/armor and gear/weapons, love interest (if any), and how long you want them to live (if you want them to die tell me when and how) (optional). Age is optional. Check my other stories to!

Chapter 6: Rise Of A Leader

"Jacob! Your alive!" screamed Kaira. A tension in Jacob's chest seemed to fade at the sight of this particular girl and he was about ask if she was alright when she ran up to him and embraced him in a crushing hug. Jacob wheezed and struggled to break free. Charles walked up to them and tapped Kaira on the shoulder. She looked up and realized what she was doing and let go of Jacob, blushing a bright red.

Jacob gasped and slowly regained his breath. Charles waited until he recovered from Kaira's death hug. Lancer was the first to speak. "How are you still alive?! We thought you were dead!" Jacob waited a few seconds before answering. Lancer wiped his brow with his right arm to clean off the blood, holding his left shoulder as blood stained his shirt. His red hair made it hard to see the scratches there but the matted spots made them easier to spot. Collin followed behind him, no visible new injuries. Aurelia was also there to support Collin on her shoulder.

"I killed the raptor." he said. His friends all gasped. How did he kill a raptor in melee by himself?

"I had to escape that ship and came across a dead guy and grabbed his shotgun and pistol." Jacob continued. "If I hadn't come across you guys at the right time we might have lost someone else."

"Well, it's good to have you back nonetheless Jacob." Lancer said.

Then Jacob realized something. "Where's Eli?" he asked. Everyone looked around for the boy when they heard a familiar voice.

"NOOOOOO!" Eli's scream was mixed in with the grief filled sobs of the of others. He stood a few meters away from them, Erica on her knees crying with her face in her hands. In front of them was their brother Jason's mauled body.

Eli fell to his knees as well and began to weep in misery. Kaira walked up to him and placed a hand on his back. She tried speaking to him softly but could not console him. She then went to Erica who responded and the two began to have a whispered conversation. Eli eventually joined in and Kaira began to use comforting words to get to them and calm the two of them down. Jacob opened his mouth to say something but had no idea what to say and Lancer was just barely keeping his cool. On the inside he was burning with a hatred that only blood would satisfy.

Kyle shouted, "Can you keep it down over there!" Jacob was about to lose his temper and his teeth began to sharpen again. Lancer, who was glaring daggers at Kyle, caught a quick peek at his sharpening incisors.

Then he had a flashback to the ship. He remembered Jacob yelling for them to leave him behind on the ship. "What is that? What's happening to his teeth?" But then Jacob gave a furious yell that made Lancer's ears ring. He charged Kyle and tackled him to the ground. Lancer snapped back to reality and tried to pull Jacob off of him.

Dylan got there first and kicked Jacob in the face. Lancer quickly changed his target and threw multiple punches at Dylan. They were about to go all out when Lancer was pushed onto the ground by strong hands. He looked up to see Charles. He also saw Jessica and Leo grabbing Dylan by his arms. Amy was charging in but was intercepted by Aurelia. The scuffle was brief as Aurelia ducked a punch and tripped her. Amy tried to roll to her feet but took a foot to the face before fully standing up.

"ENOUGH!" someone shouted. They all looked up to see Jessica huffing with her fists clenched.

"What is wrong with you people?! We are fighting amongst ourselves at a time like this? I know that I have participated in fights like this before but I don't want to do this anymore." She broke down in a sobbing heap on her knees. "I just want all of this to stop! Why can't we just stop fighting?!" Everyone stared at her in utter confusion. Had this confident teenage girl, one of Kyle's friends and a skilled fighter, really broken down like that?

But that was what angered Jacob. "But you fought us for so long." he growled, but the tone in his voice wasn't as fierce as before. Jessica raised her head to look at him. "If you wanted this to stop why didn't you say something?" Jessica's lips began to quiver as crying escaped her mouth.

Aurelia lightly punched him in the arm. "Don't be mean to her." she said. She stared straight into his eyes. "That's just mean. She's really sad right now."

Jacob seemed surprised that she was defending Jessica, but then he remembered that Aurelia was kindhearted most of the time. She only got mad when someone attacked her or her friends or when someone started a fight. Other than that she always stood up for most people. "Why are you supporting her Relia? She has always been your rival. She's part of Kyle's gang of thugs."

"What did you just . . ."

"Shut it Dylan!" Jacob was still in a bit of a battle frenzy and would turn around and start swinging in a heartbeat.

"OH, I OTTA . . ."

"SHUT UP!" Jessica screamed at the top of her lungs. Her voice was filled with sorrow, confusion, and frustration. Everything seemed to stop right then and there. Almost every student in the area stared at her once again. "Just… shut up."

Aurelia grabbed Jacob's arm and turned to face her. She was about to give him a piece of her mind! "Jacob!" She snapped. "Now look what you just did!" She pointed a finger at Jessica.

"B-but I didn't. . ."

"Don't you give me give me that crap!" Aurelia interrupted him. "You know exactly what you did!" Jacob just gave her a blank look. "Uuuhhh." Aurelia facepalmed. "She's depressed right now and needs someone to comfort her. Just like all of our friends help you when you get stressed or angry."

Jacob sighed and seemed to calm down. "Your right." he said. "I shouldn't have been that mean. Jessica obviously wanted us to stop fighting and I was to blinded by hatred to listen to reason. I was being more hurtful than I intended, though. In fact, I just wanted to know why she was trying to stop it now."

Aurelia smiled her innocent childish smile that everyone knew her for. "I knew you would see reason. You can ask her but ask her nicely this time. And if she cries don't pressure her."

"Yea Jacob." sneered Dylan. "No need to be mean now."

Jacob gave him a death glare while Aurelia whipped her head around and barked "Shut it asshole!" She barked. Dylan was about to retort when she added, "you're just as responsible for Jessica's meltdown as he is! If you hadn't kicked Jacob this wouldn't have happened! We could have just held Jacob back and everything would have been fine!"

Dylan couldn't retort. Leo walked up and grabbed his shoulders, guiding him away. They engaged in a heated argument before Dylan yelled, "I don't know what's wrong with her! One moment she's perfectly fine, next she's a crying mess for no reason!"

Jessica leaped up at that sentence and grabbed Dylan's shirt, turning him to face her. "A crying mess for no reason!" she screamed. "I watched Ben die in front of me!" Her friends, including Dylan, all gasped and looked around, finally noticing the boy's absence. The same question ran through their minds. Was it true? Was ben really dead?

"He died saving me." Jessica continued, crying into Dylan's shirt. "He saved my life (sob) and I couldn't save his. He died in front of me." Dylan didn't know how to console her. He was speechless until he pushed her off and started calling Ben's name.

"Ben! Ben!" He yelled. "Ben! Ben, where are you?! Beeeeen! BE . . ." he stopped short upon seeing a certain corpse. This particular corpse had a face that he knew all too well. "Ben . . . no . . ." Dylan also became a crying mess. No-one dared interrupt him.

Amy and Kyle stared in shock at their friend's corpse as tears threatened to leave Amy's eyes and Kyle shook his head and hissed, "Dammit, dammit!" with his eyes squeezed shut.

Erica finally stood up and walked towards her friends and hugged them for comfort while Ely still cradled his brother's body. Kaira stayed by his side as he embraced her in a bear hug and cried his emotions out. He never noticed the temporary glare Jacob gave his back.

That's when Charles showed up. "It's time to leave before anything else shows up." Aurelia spun on her heel and shushed him. He looked around for Jason. As in the one that had the flares. He wondered what was going on when he saw Eli and Erica crying while Kaira tried to comfort them and Eli and Erica's brother lying on the ground with a half-eaten face. His face softened a bit but he didn't say a word. All he did was turn away and let Kaira handle things.

"You saved my life. Thank you." a male voice said. A Spanish boy with an average build approached them. It was the other Jason. He looked unharmed but still on edge.

"No problem." replied Jacob. He then winced in pain from the wounds that he was now noticing.

Jason walked towards the group, flare gun in hand. "Jason," Charles said. "we need to leave."

"I know. Let's get everyone moving. But first we've got to do something with these bodies." he turned and was about to speak when he paused. As he observed the field of corpses and grieving teens a question entered his mind. What was he going to say?

Charles noticed this and decided to help. The rest of the group were sharing their recent experiences and finally noticing their wounds. "You need help figuring out what to say?" he asked. "You might want to let someone else take over. Or you could just speak from the heart."

Jason locked eyes with Charles. "Why don't you tell me exactly what to say then?" Jason asked.

Charles glared at him, sending chills down his spine. "And to think I saw potential in you. I can see things about people that others don't, especially natural leaders. Even those that have the potential to become leaders. I thought that you are a leader, but it seems that I was mistaken." Those words, for some reason, got on Jason's nerves quite a bit.

"You shouldn't have put that much faith in me." Jason growled. "Why would you expect that seem to take this situation much better than I do. I'm not ready for this. Someone needs to lead these people, but it's not me. I'm just not ready yet."

Charles's stare softened and a smile began to form on the corner of his mouth. "I knew you had it in you." he said with an 'I told you so' voice.

Jason was confused. "What does he mean?" Jason thought. "I just told him I'm not ready to be leader. How does that prove his point."

Charles's smile grew. "You have on quality that a wise leader must have. You have courage. The courage to admit your limits. To know not to put yourself somewhere you know you are not ready to be."

Jason raised his eyebrow in confusion. Charles continued. "You are right, you're not ready."

"Then why did you try to convince me to lead them?" Jason asked. Charles chuckled and looked straight into his eyes again, this time with an amused look in his eyes.

"You don't understand?" Charles asked, barely stifling another chuckle. Jason shook his head. "I was testing you. I wanted to see how you act under pressure. In this kind of situation it's best if you can tell where other people stand.

"You have the potential to become a leader. You certainly have the courage and brains for the job; you made it clear when you gave everyone those flares. I chose you first because you were the first to catch my eye. You handle pressure well but lack something. What is it?" When he finished Jason was awestruck. Had Charles really seen that much in him?

Jason's expression changed from confusion to anger when he heard Bianca shout "Lancer, you're alright!" as she threw her arms around him and embraced him in a tight hug. Charles looked in the same direction as lancer pulled off Bianca as she held on to his hands and ranted on and on about how worried she was about him.

Jason sighed in frustration. "Why can't I just get her to notice me? What does that guy have that I don't?"

Charles seemed to be reading his mind. "Amazing looks, good reputation, doesn't chase girls around like a lost puppy, an attitude that seems to catch their interest at first glance, a voice so sexy they seem to almost faint at the sound. Other than that I don't know. He seems to be a natural chick magnet."

Jason turned his attention to Charles. "What, you don't think I have that?"

"Oh, you have it." Charles answered. "It's just that Lancer's is on a much higher lever." Jason seemed defeated. "But there is one thing you have going for you that he doesn't." Jason perked up at this. "Lancer doesn't really care for girls. He doesn't have any interest in romance."

"So you think I really have a chance?" asked Jason.

"I know you have a chance." replied Charles.

Caleb saw this and after seeing Jason's reaction knew he wasn't ready to take charge as well. He heard their conversation change from what to say to the other students to what Charles saw in Jason to Jason's chances with Bianca. He knew that they had to move, but how could get the others to follow him?

The Asian had a mop of messy hair and a tall, stocky and muscular build. This combined with his blue eyes and smooth talk had made him pretty popular. He stumbled up to the two and said, "Let me handle this." with an encouraging smile. Jason and Charles looked at him expectantly. With that kind of confidence he had to have a plan right?

Caleb searched for a spot to address his fellow survivors from. Then he saw it. A tall boulder with a flat top stood on a hill overlooking the clearing they were currently in. "Perfect." he thought. He walked over to the boulder and climbed on top. When he reached the top he scanned the bloodied, grieving crowd. "Well, here goes nothing." he opened his mouth and began to speak.

"Attention everyone." he yelled. All the students turned their heads toward him. Caleb suddenly felt like a stone dropped in his stomach. This happened all the time when he was in front of large crowds. But then he took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. "Concentrate." he thought. "You have been in this kind of situation before. Just stay calm and speak with confidence."

Caleb opened his eyes and saw the crowd of devastated students once again. He quickly thought up something to say. "Fellow survivors. . ." he began. "I know we are going through a devastating crisis." Mumbles answered the sentence.

"That's an understatement. . ."

"What do you mean crisis? This is a tragedy!"

"We're all gonna die here!"

"Listen, everyone, listen!" Caleb yelled. The crowd began to quiet down. "We all have to stand strong. We should all rejoice in the fact that we are still alive."

"So you say we should just forget about all the people that are dead?" yelled Susan. The girl's perfectly straight black hair and gold jewelry made her easy to spot.

"What he means is we should remember that were still here." Piped up Alex. He was an Afghan American boy with a scar across his left eye and a black mohawk.

"Why should we listen to you Osama Bin Laden? You barely socialize with anyone so why would we care what you say? We barely know almost nothing about you. You might as well have organized that attack on our ship." said Susan.

That did it for Alex. He had heard terrorist jokes before but that didn't mean it stung any less. Especially the Osama Bin Laden jokes. Susan was only three yards away from him. Perfect. She wouldn't expect an attack from this range. In the blink of an eye he lunged forward and landed a brutal punch to the back of her head. Most of the other people gasped. It was bad enough to hit a girl in the first place, but one of the most rich and popular girls in school? That's a whole new level of either brave or stupid.

Max started throwing punches at Alex who dodged them all and simply grabbed Max's arm during one punch, pulled him forward, and tripped him, sending him to the ground. Max stood up spitting out mud and Susan was whining and rubbing the spot where she got punched. "Shrug it off, it wasn't that hard." said Alex with no emotion betrayed in his voice. This whole time his expression had not changed from that of an emotionless shell. Alex never shows his feelings. Ever.

Max was just getting up and ready to rumble when a hand grabbed his shoulder. He looked up to see Lancer. "Let go of me! He hurt my girlfriend! He hurt Susan! And this suit cost one-hundred and fifty dollars." shouted Max.

Lancer just put a stern expression on his face and looked Max straight in the eye. "I know that you want to protect those close to you, but this is not the time to go fighting amongst ourselves. Also, no-one cares about the suit. Our survival is much more important than fancy clothes."

Max was starting to get frustrated. First his girlfriend gets hurt, then his prized clothes get ruined, and now Lancer is over here scolding for trying to get back at emo for causing all of it! "Why don't you tell Alex over there not to punch my girlfriend!" he barked.

Lancer lifted his head and looked in Alex's direction. "I think someone else has that under control." he said. Max also looked in that direction and saw Kaira cracking down on Alex who seemed uninterested in what she was saying.

Jason then yelled to get everyone's attention. "Why don't we all get back to what Caleb has to say." The tension in the air seemed to loosen up.

"Thank you, Jason." said Caleb. "Now, as I was saying, we need to find a way to survive. We all have to contribute here, otherwise we won't make it that long. I suggest we head farther inland away from the shipwreck."

That caused a chorus of yells. "leave the ship?!"

"That's crazy!"

"We can't leave the ship!"

"It's currently our only home!"

One voice rose up above the others. "BE QUIET AND LET THE MAN SPEAK!" It was Kyle. "Let's let him explain himself. I've seen enough chaos for today." That seemed to shut everyone up.

"Thank you, Kyle. Now, the reason we must leave the ship is because those raptors will come back to finish what they started." Mumbles of agreement rose from the crowd. "They are hunting us, but not for food. They want us gone. They want us to leave or die. I don't know about you but I want to live." The crowd seemed to get his point. "Now, someone has to lead us. We need a leader, otherwise it will be only a matter of time before we fall apart from inner conflict. I volunteer to take this place." Now that caused an outburst. About half the crowd was in on the idea while the other either wanted someone else or themselves on the spot.

"Why should we follow you?"

"Caleb can do a great job."

"I'd do a much better job than anyone else would."

"There's no question about who should take charge."

"I think it should be . . ."

"We all know who the right answer is."

"It should be me!"

"Caleb can do a perfect job!"

"QUIET!" shouted Jason. It took a while, but the arguing crowd was eventually silenced. "Now, do you really want the position of leader? Having to make choices that decide everyone's future? Having everyone rely on you for guidance? The responsibility of keeping as many of us alive as possible? Can you even argue with anything else Caleb has said?" No-one said a word.

Charles joined in on this. "I think it's best if we listen to Caleb." he added. "Remember when he taught his own class? Or how about the time he wrote his own play? He is a natural leader. He is also the first one to speak out to all of us and is handling this situation quite well." Once again, no-one argued.

"Are we all in agreement then?" asked Caleb. Mumbles of agreement, some more reluctant than others, replied in support of the decision that Caleb should lead them. After all, Caleb did seem like the most fit for the job. "Alright then! Let's move out! We'll stop by the ship to salvage as much supplies as possible and then be on our way. Remember to keep an eye out for anyone that might be lost and take anything of value." As Caleb hoped off the boulder he wondered, what is happening to these people? There has never been this many fights before. What will become of them? The question that nagged him the most was "Can I lead them this time?"