Hour 4: Technically Pacifist
Uncertainty. It made a cool night colder, an island a short distance from the mainland a million miles away, it made rough sleepers insomniacs. It seemed to be carried in the wind for miles around; the soft howls of the sea breeze served as a constant reminder of the unknown fate awaiting all on Caphraig.
All. Why did that phrasing suddenly come to the mind of the slender yet curvaceous girl currently wandering towards the island's south coast, facing the mainland? As she traipsed along a grassy trail she couldn't see the jagged rocks that marked the island's edge, but already audible were the harsh sounds of the waves crashing against them. The sound would do nothing to help her unwind, but for Rahne Southers relaxation was quite out of the question anyway.
Unable to shake it, she asked herself again why she had in that moment considered everybody's life at risk on the island. She and her kin? Obviously, apparently they were all marked for death. But the ones behind all this were quite safe weren't they? She struggled to imagine something happening to them any time soon. If only everything was sitting in her head as it should have been.
Now there was an amusing thought. Putting a hand to her temple, just below her distinctive spiky red hair, Rahne forced a weak laugh from herself at the idea of this time and place of all being one to find inner serenity. That was insignificant right now though. The real issue was what had happened in the classroom. The murder wasn't something she was prepared to think about right now; what had hit her was the way the Anti-Clique had acted.
That made little sense; the group argued and disagreed all the time, but when it came to the important stuff they stood together, or at least pretended to. What she saw though a couple of hours ago was the kind of disunity that unless you knew them as well as they knew each other you'd swear could never exist. Could never have existed after they first started calling themselves by that accursed name anyway.
As Rahne drew nearer the cliffs, she found herself thinking back to how she herself coined the term "Anti-Clique" way back in S3. 'Ugh, if only I knew what I was unleashing upon the world at the time!'
It was a lunchtime in January 2016 and Rahne, Holly Morgan, Anna Wilson, Sandra Jackson, Sadie Willis and Carol Veers, the latter of whom had left school after fifth year, were sitting in front of the large statue in a large circular area 50 feet or so in front of the main school building. It was fun to just sit there, chatting away while watching the other students go about their business. The building was a large cuboid on a larger rectangular plain, made a densely populated plaza by the assembly hall extension that gave the school its distinctive L-shape.
Adam Lewis, Scott Irving, Mark Johnson, Kim Magdalene and Kenji Kamin were usually to be found in a secluded circular area nearby. It was at the top of a very slight tarmacked hill that rose from the main plaza and was about 20 feet to the left of the statue if one faced the school. After getting lunch they'd typically wander round there, often discussing politics or some such. For some reason though, things were unusually heated that day and they hadn't made it past the plaza. Rahne was always at the statue long before they passed it, and if, as often, there was an argument to be had, it was generally in full swing by the time they reached her. Normally they were ignorable, but that day had been different.
Exactly what happened was unclear, but the argument attracted a crowd. It seemed that Adam and Kim were at each other's throats; she wanted more religious teaching in schools and Adam did not, from what Rahne could see of it, and things had somehow exploded. As was often the case, Scott sided with Adam, Mark with Kim, and Kenji remained neutral. All three, however, soon found themselves merely trying to keep the peace, as things became more personal between Adam and Kim.
They were shouting at each other, and quite clearly something had to give. By the time it did, Rahne's group, though keeping away from the masses, were themselves watching (if only because this was quite clearly not normal). She believed Adam's exact words were "Kim, just shut the fuck up, you goddamn junkie whore!"
That was unexpected. Everybody immediately went silent, as Kim started to spin. She was struggling to stand, stunned by what had just been said, while the others were looking at each other, trying to think of what to do next. Adam, meanwhile, just stood there, trying to stare Kim down. Suddenly she swung for him, punching him so hard in the head he must have fallen back the better part of twenty feet before hitting the floor and sliding to a halt. Kenji, Mark, and Scott immediately moved to disperse the crowd, clearing. Kim was in a state, unsure whether to help Adam or run off screaming.
Rahne and her friends quickly decided to go to Kim's aid, skipping past the crowd by running over the grass, something the teachers were curiously ruthless about punishing normally. Kim hung out with the Anti-Clique most of the time these days, but she was also very close to their group. Well, she got on well with almost everyone, but Rahne had been friends with her since Primary School. By the time they got there, however, she had already hurtled off down away from the assembly hall doors, around the back of the extension. A number of people started chasing after her, but Sadie was quick to point out a bigger concern – Adam lying almost unconscious nearby. She, Sandra, Carol and Anna headed off people going after Kim, directing them towards Adam instead. Rahne and Holly did likewise, but also moved to cut everyone else off from him and Mark, Kenji and Scott, who were in utter shock at what had just happened. Fortunately, Adam wasn't unconscious, although he was clearly dazed.
"Are you alright?"
"What do you think, Mark?" Rahne snapped sarcastically.
Suddenly Scott took control. "Mark, go after Kim, will you?" His voice then lowered to a whisper, "But don't make it look as if that's what you're doing. Cut through the foyer, try and head her off before she gets to the gates, or worse, R.E."
He looked justifiably concerned. Following on the path on the other side of the foyer led to the gate, where Jenna's group could generally be found smoking. It wouldn't end well for Kim if she ran into her. Turning left instead led to the other side of the extension to the school, so Mark would be able to find Kim that way. The path northeast, meanwhile, ended at the Religious Education buildings. Kim naturally went there for guidance a lot of the time, but if she went there now, she was going to get excluded; much as she was liked among the staff, you just couldn't ignore something like this. Of course, she was likely to be excluded either way. This was bad.
"Could you guys help me get Adam inside, please? And let's try and be at least vaguely subtle about this!" Scott said vainly. Given how many people where there, subtlety wasn't a realistic option. Holly and Rahne herself were helping him to his feet; Kenji helped Carol, Sadie, Sandra and Anna in their failing attempts to keep the burgeoning crowd off. They headed for the foyer, but Scott quickly directed them to the Assembly Hall doors instead.
"The lighting box. It's our best shot. Holly, go up and find out if anyone's in there?"
"On my way," she hastily replied.
The double doors they were approaching led into a foyer. On the other side, a staircase led to the balcony over the Assembly Hall. There was no common room for the Seniors in this school, so that balcony was all they had. The seating was directly above them, facing towards the stage at the back, the 5th Years using the block of seats on the far side from the entrance and the 6th years the near. The lighting box was in the corner just behind the 6th year seating. It was small, containing as it did little more than lighting and sound equipment. Assuming the box was unlocked right now, it would be easy to sort things out, assuming Adam didn't need medical attention. Better still, it would be easy to keep the crowd at bay.
Fortunately, it was both unlocked and empty. Some of the Seniors were perplexed as to what these S3's were doing, but none of them actually cared enough to investigate. Adam was hurried into the box and laid down on the uncomfortable industrial carpet floor. Unfortunately, Scott was called by the group downstairs for crowd control purposes, but Rahne and Holly stayed with him. Unsurprisingly, he was still confused. The fact that he was still conscious, however, did seem surprising.
"Don't…don't let Kim get excluded for this. Please. Rahne. Holly."
"What? Adam, much as I like Kim, she hit you pretty damn hard, and that really wasn't called for! I don't think there's a lot we can do about this, even if we wanted to!"
"Yes, Holly, there is. You guys are the main witnesses, right? I mean, you were the only ones who saw exactly what happened – everyone else just saw a whole load of commotion and me looking dizzy, right?"
"Well, I guess technically that's true, but-" Rahne was confused. 'Why is he doing this? He's not angry at all?'
"Well, then when the teachers ask about this, it's you guys they'll go to. If you could please just say that I tripped and smacked my head off the ground, then I'd be seriously grateful. It was my fault – I shouldn't have said that about Kim, and I don't want to see her excluded for reacting. I know it sounds stupid, but please, could you?"
Rahne shook her head in disbelief. "Fine, I'll do it. Holly?" Reluctantly, she nodded, looking quizzically at Adam. "Alright then, we're both in and we'll get Anna, Carol, Sadie and Sandra to do likewise. Do you want us to speak to the others for you?"
"Just tell Scott and Kenji – they'll understand. Ask them to tell Mark, and he'll sort things with Kim. I seriously need to apologise to her right now." He looked disgusted with himself; Adam's self-hatred was in equal measure irritating and endearing. But Rahne was actually angry at this by now, and did something that had an impact she could never have comprehended at the time.
"Adam, can I ask you something?"
"Course, Rahne, what is it?"
"Please don't take offence to this, but why do the five of you hang out all the time? Pretty much every day you're fighting or arguing. I mean, something this serious was surely gonna happen, sooner or later. I don't understand it. And now that it has, you want to pretend it was an accident?"
"Wow…I guess…well none of us have ever really fit in anywhere. Not a lot of people share our interests. I mean, we get on well with folk, but it's kinda hard to hang out because of that lack of common ground. Ok, yeah, you guys are really close to Kim, but she does feel a bit out of place sometimes. So I guess it's kinda mutually convenient for us to hang out." Adam looked a bit confused as he said this. Maybe it was a bad time to ask. Maybe he really had never thought about it this way before. Rahne had been wondering for some time, and the look on Holly's face suggested the same now that it had been brought up.
"Wow, er, ok. So you're like a clique of people who don't fit in cliques. Like an "Anti-Clique" or something, aye?"
Adam's eyes lit up when she said this. It was the perfect description. They were the antithesis of a clique - an Anti-Clique. Rahne didn't intend that as a complement; after all, it seemed stupid to hang out with people purely because you don't fit in with anyone else. It quickly became their identity, however, and none of the five had ever looked back. A legend was born.
Adam kept quiet about Kim hitting him; his ruse worked, though both were given Standard Lines for causing a scene. It was put down to his clumsiness and Kim's running off was just one of those episodes she sometimes seemed to get, when she'd start acting crazily for no reason. Probably the influence of her strange friends, Rahne often joked, although these days she knew the truth was likely more sinister.
As she drifted back into reality, Rahne shivered. It wasn't because of the cold; it was the regret she realised she felt about the Anti-Clique having fought in the classroom, with each other and with their teacher, and been met with a brick wall. Nobody was innocent of causing that, including herself. Yet it was only now that she found herself caring, and she realised most still wouldn't.
Pete Morgan was a smart guy, but he knew what he was up against and it was the situation that made things so easy for him against them. His eyes gave it away though, she'd noticed it whenever he looked at an obviously distraught Holly. He was scared of them. They were a threat to him, and to this whole operation. Rahne doubted anyone else could provoke that kind of fear in the administration; for all the Anti-Clique's goddamn attention-seeking and aggravating pretentiousness, when push came to shove they got shit done. And as much as she hated to admit it, they were best placed to prove that again. She just had to hope and pray that the damage hadn't already been done. None of the five seemed all that stable anyway, and the three whom Rahne had seen leave certainly did nothing to prove otherwise as they left the classroom.
Using her bag as a makeshift stool on the moist grass by the cliff edge, Rahne looked out across the sea. A single faint light flashed in the distance through the morning fog, presumably coming from one of the Government's boats that were apparently circling Caphraig.. It wasn't enough to properly light the area around her, which suited her just fine. Nobody else seemed to be about, fortunately. What she wanted to do was sleep, and this kind of seclusion perhaps offered a rare opportunity to do so. It wasn't going to happen though; there was too much to think about. Was there really some sort of "legacy" the Anti-Clique were going to go after? Today wasn't the first time Rahne had had the feeling they were destined for something, and she knew she wasn't alone in thinking that. But this was different…there was something unnerving about it all.
Harsh as the wind was, it was at least more natural than anything around her. Rahne had barely taken any notice of her assigned weapon, but glancing down at the crossbow sitting beside her she sighed and loaded it. Just in case. She turned back to the sea, watching the movement of the morning tide. It was probably a better view than anything that might have been behind her.
The wind may have wondered whether Rahne's wistful ruminating had denied her the chance to find her friends; she couldn't bring herself to care. Such an attitude, had it been known, would have been seen as a sign of weakness by the very friend she may have found, Anna Wilson.
"Sandra? Sandra is that you hon?" It was tough to tell, but to Anna there was little doubt. The shadowy figure dropped to the floor and said nothing, but a quick glance at the moonlight gave it away; Sandra didn't have the most feminine of appearances, and her unusually muscled limbs made her stick out a bit more than she liked.
"Look it's me, Anna, okay? No need to be scared, look, I'm not even armed! Well, not unless you count a stick as a weapon!" Anna moved forward, holding the nunchaku non-threateningly, amazed at her luck in finding a friend so soon. Chances had been just as good that she'd run into someone more dangerous instead; of all the things you could call Sandra though, that was the last.
"Jesus don't sneak up on me like that Anna!" Sandra immediately bolted up and recoiled backwards. Anna's first reaction was to roll her eyes at this possum-like defence, but it was understandable. She threw her weapon to the floor and held her hands out to embrace her friend.
"Hon, you don't need to panic, it's okay! It's just me and I'm not gonna hurt you."
"Yeah, yeah I know. Sorry, just a bit confused about things, don't think I'm quite thinking straight!" Sandra laughed amiably, as if bemused by her own actions. Gathering herself together, she noticed the nunchaku. "Think you dropped these?"
"Thanks. Not exactly awe-inspiring if I'm honest," Anna replied, taking them from Sandra.
"What, you wanted a big weapon, like a gun or a…tank…or something? Doesn't sound like you?" Flippant as Sandra sounded, Anna could tell she was only half-joking and looked into her eyes reassuringly.
"No, I didn't." She reconsidered. "Well, not for fighting or that anyway. But you've gotta defend yourself, I mean look what happened to Man-" She was interrupted by Sandra putting her hand up as she turned away.
"Please."
"Sorry I-"
"No, it's okay, but can we not talk…about that, or this thing, whatever it is? I just-I really don't want to." Sandra looked like she was going to cry, but stopped herself. She wasn't a very emotional person, and it often seemed like she was afraid of them. Certainly she didn't understand them, which made her quite strange to be around in stressful times; it could be like talking to someone from another planet.
"Okay, okay that's fine hon, I understand". Anna paused a moment. She needed something else to talk about and she needed it now. Fortunately, her mind was sharp. "Hey you know me and Jake ran into Carol the other day, she thinks she can get us tickets to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year. Meant to tell you guys but it slipped my mind!"
"How did she pull that off, you need to be 20 for that?" Sandra was intrigued but slightly suspicious.
"You didn't hear about her new boyfriend? It's that guy Alistair she was with when we met up with her last."
"I thought they were just friends?"
"That's what they've been telling everyone, he's 23 and everyone he knows who knows he hangs out with her is pretty unhappy about it. Hell I only found out when I caught them sneak a kiss when they thought I wasn't looking. Ageism, you've gotta love it eh?"
"Definitely," said Sandra, rolling her eyes. "So what's this about getting us tickets?"
"Oh, right! He's working the Fringe this year, so reckons he can get security passes sorted out. We might need to make ourselves look a bit older for the photos, and cos it involves cutting corners with the DNA profiling we'll need to keep our heads down, but he seems serious about it."
"Really? That's great, I've always wanted to go along. Bet Jake was excited?"
"To the point where Carol almost went home alone," Anna said, giggling. She loved Jake, everyone did. "So you want me to say to them? He said it's cool for the six of us."
"If he can do it then aye I'm game! When does it start again this year?"
"Middle of August I think. Still not told Holly Rahne or Sadie yet, but we can tell them together when we find them yeah hon?" Anna was now beaming; Alistair had always seemed like a decent guy anyway, and remarkably cool with the age difference. Okay so there was nothing illegal about someone older than 20 going out with someone younger than that, but it was generally considered social suicide. Best to keep that sort of thing quiet really.
"Course we can!" Sandra was equally excited, or as close to it as she generally got anyway, but she suddenly looked closer to sullen. "Hey Anna? There's just one problem with going to the Festival."
"Really? What's that?"
"We're not going to be alive in August. We're not going to be alive in June." All the life seemed to drain from her eyes as she said it. As it hit Anna, she felt faint. It wasn't anything she didn't already know, but it still shocked her to hear it in such blunt terms from Sandra. Anna moved quickly to embrace her friend, who looked lost.
"It's okay Sandra, it's okay hon," Anna said, tightly wrapping Sandra around her. "We're going to sort it all out, alright? You're not alone, you're with me, and I'm not going anywhere. Nor are you. I know you're scared, I am too. But I can't let you run off, we need to stick together now and find the others. Don't suppose you've seen any of the others yet as you enjoyed a nice relaxing holiday on Caphraig?" Anna managed to completely avoid any trace of sarcasm in her voice, which she was quite impressed with, though the weak, wry laughter the words were met with meant she was walking a fine line regardless. Sandra sighed.
"None of our group, but Sadie was the only one who left before me. And Jake obviously. Were you a while after me?"
"'Female student number twenty' apparently, so yeah quite a bit. Rahne left in-between us; Holly was still there when I left though. Not seen anyone before you, which is a bit weird. I did leave pretty fast though, I mean I wanted to find you!" Soppy as she sounded, she knew Sandra would appreciate it.
"You're so sweet," she replied, giggling slightly, appearing to relax just the smallest degree. "Saw a few others about though, didn't want to risk anything though by going up to them."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, Dave had a big shotgun in one hand and Jade in the other which was quite cute. Kevin seemed to be wandering aimlessly, think I heard him muttering about Shanae or something, but she was still there when I left. Charlotte looks totally out her tree, she was prancing about with…I think it was a remote control car?" She and Anna looked equally bemused at the idea.
"I don't know where she got that, I don't think I want to know. If that's her weapon…" Anna realised where she was going, and stopped herself. "Shanae left right before me anyway, so if you've found me then no reason why they can't find each other." Returning to a more upbeat tone seemed sensible.
"Yeah, you're right." Sandra had to admit, she had a point, as she generally did.
"Of course I am, I'm always right!" Anna quickly replied, mocking surprise that it was ever in doubt.
"I'm trying not to think about this though, let's talk about something else." Sandra realised the futility of that; it wasn't easy to not think about imminent death when it was starting you in the face like this. It didn't escape Anna's notice that despite Sandra's resistance, she still reciprocated the hug.
"What else can we talk about? We're here, that's it. And unless we find our friends, we're in trouble. Follow me. I'll figure something out, I can't do it without you and Jake and the others. I don't have much of a weapon, but I've got a pretty sharp tongue when I need it." Anna knew what she had to do now.
"You think that would stop whoever…you know…to Manuel?"
"I don't want to ever have to find out hon, but if that person tries anything with you or the others then I'm not scared to fight back. And it's not like I'll be alone, cos you'll be with me, right?"
Sandra remained silent a moment, but Anna knew Sandra realised she couldn't escape this. That she knew Anna was right. They often joked about it, but more often than not it was true. If anyone knew what they were talking about, it was her, and what's more it wasn't Sandra. She was a nice girl, smart and tactful. All qualities which were next to useless in a crisis situation, and truth be told Sadie wasn't far different.
No, neither of them had it in them to figure a way out of here. Anna would have to do that. She hoped she'd find the others soon though, since she knew she couldn't do it alone. More people and more weapons. Without those she had no chance. At least she'd made a start though; she'd found Sandra, who looked like she was going to follow her.
"I-I guess standing around here isn't going to do us much good then? Where should we go?" Any lingering hint of resistance was gone from Sandra's eyes as she looked up at Anna. Leader. Follower. They both knew how it had to be.
"Well hon, judging by that brick by your bag it looks like we're a bit stuck if someone tries anything with us for now, so I guess first things first is to find somewhere to hole up and think of a plan. Maybe we'll get lucky and meet find one of the others on the way." Anna was speaking more authoritatively now, suppressing the admittedly unshakeable uncertainty
"And if we do meet someone dangerous?"
"Then we do what any right-thinking person would do if attacked – we run like fuck. Come on, get yourself together; we've either got a very long day ahead of us or a very very short one." With a somewhat flippant smile, Anna gave Sandra room to compose herself, and walked on as she had before. She didn't have much more of a plan than she had before she found Sandra, but at least she wasn't alone anymore. Given the circumstances, she found herself very grateful, and just a little less afraid.
A chainsaw. A hulking metal monstrosity of a device, with evil-looking teeth in its chain, and a soulless shell serving as a handle. It was useful in its own way in forestry, an unfortunately necessary part of life, but here on Caphraig there could only have been one reason for its presence, and that reason seemed to emanate darkly from it. It existed not to cut through wood but through flesh and bone.
So observed the greenish-brown eyes, pushing their way through long brown hair, of Sadie Willis. By her watch she'd left the classroom about three hours ago now, and so was taking a break on a small hill…somewhere, she couldn't quite work out where exactly she was. Having not been interested in the contents of her bag at first, other than knowing it was heavy, curiosity had now gained the better of her and the ugly thing sat beside her.
She was never going to use it of course; she was a pacifist through and through, which was inevitable given her parents were hippies. While they were by no means undisciplined, being a far-cry from the "Work? What's that?" stereotype of the lifestyle, they were nonetheless very laid back and had raised Sadie accordingly.
Small and petite, being just 5'3" she was always that cute girl who would stop and say hi to a fly if it could understand her, and that endeared her to almost everyone. Well, her popularity was a combination of that and having ready access to a large supply of some of the best weed in Perth, courtesy of her parents. She'd brought a healthy supply with her for the trip, naturally, and figured now was as good a time as any to spark up.
Lying back against the grass, a different kind of grass in her hand, Sadie quickly found herself relaxing slightly. It was stronger than she'd expected, but that was no bad thing. It wasn't strong enough though, not to put her mind at ease about all this. It hardly bore thinking about, but that wasn't an option for such an ardent pacifist as Sadie. Here she was, on what was normally such a pretty island, surrounded by death.
She had faith enough that most people wouldn't try and hurt each other, since it was a good-natured year for the most part and the majority of violent people didn't stick school out as long as S6. No denying though that some people would. That some already had…it was such a mess. How could people do that to each other? Blood wasn't something Sadie was comfortable around, and the thought of what might be to come over the next few days sickened her.
Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard footsteps nearby. Trying to remain unseen as she looked around the hill, Sadie saw a tall, fairly masculine frame, though the shoulder-length curly brown hair meant the person was female. She clearly wasn't someone who paid much attention to her appearance, being very pale and conservatively dressed. She moved with a slight sense of caution, with neither determination nor panic being obvious in her stride. It was clearly Rozelinda Mayfair.
Quickly coming up with a plan, Sadie picked herself up, leaving the chainsaw on the ground but staying in sight of it. She didn't want to startle Roz in case things turned bad, though the potential need to try and defend herself couldn't, try as she might, be denied.
"Hi-Hi Roz! How you doing?" Doing her best to sound chirpy, but clearly not succeeding, Sadie waved weakly. Roz stared back, pensive.
"Sadie. Been better." She sounded almost monotone; had the words come from anyone else they might have been an attempt at humour. Her hands were in her pockets as she tried to gauge Sadie.
"Yeah I know the feeling, everyone must be thinking the same thing huh?" That's it, just break the ice. She's covered in it, but be reassuring, that's how to start.
"Oh I doubt that. Different people, different ideas, different attitudes. A morbid person might be fascinated by all this. That's not your style though." Roz didn't even pose it as a question; there was no need. Sadie was somewhat brazen in her politics, though that was no slight against her. She was also close to the late Zoey Volta, and death was prone to affecting rational thinking.
"You guessed aye?" Sadie laughed weakly, feeling slightly uneasy around someone of Roz's temperament. At least she didn't seem aggressive; she wasn't waving a gun around or anything.
Looking around a little, Roz caught a glance of the chainsaw and raised an eyebrow. "I didn't need to guess. You seem as afraid of your own weapon as anything else here…I don't think that's wise; that could be your salvation because it is yours. It is the weapons of others you should fear." Sadie's eyes lit up and her breathing quickened; she didn't know what Roz was carrying and she didn't want to.
"Roz stop this! What's the point of it all? Huh? Tell me, please. What good will scaring me do? We should be helping each other out! Surely you don't agree with what's happening? If you don't then why don't we try and persuade the others?" Sadie was trying hard to lock eyes with Roz, but the fear of suddenly being set upon by the stoic girl meant she was looking instead to her hands, which for now were firmly inside her coat pockets.
"Excuse me, what are you suggesting we do, and more to the point, why?" A faint hint of curiosity tinged her voice, it now being Roz's turn to feel slightly uncomfortable.
"Okay, so you've seen me lay my weapon down right? I don't want it, I don't want to use it. I don't want anyone to hurt me but I really don't want to have to hurt anyone myself. And it's harder for me to do that if I don't have a weapon. That's what we all should be doing! Getting rid of these awful things and trying to find a way out of here! You're smart and quite strong, I'm popular and people will listen to me. Put the two together, and who knows what we can do?" Excitement was now starting to take over; the more Sadie thought about the idea the better it sounded. She just needed one ally to get started, and began moving towards Roz.
"Yes, you're right. I am quite strong, and if you don't stay back I'll prove how so." This wasn't the reaction Sadie was expecting.
"Wh-what? You don't want to do this? Why not? How else are we all gonna survive if we don't try and help each other?" She didn't want to believe it, but Roz looked serious.
"We're not 'all gonna survive'. I suggest you start accepting that, as I have. It's not for me to know or understand what will happen over the next three days, but I do know there will be more bloodshed." Roz spontaneously raised a fist threateningly at Sadie, who instantly recoiled, terrified. "I suggest you reconsider your idealism, for others may not hesitate in following through with this." The fist flew through the air, causing Sadie to run backwards several feet, though the "punch" wasn't even at Roz's full arm-length.
With a dismissive snort she turned her back on Sadie and walked off, her pace slightly brisker than before. Amusing in its own way though that had been, Sadie's idealistic delusion made her a clear threat to anyone who might consider befriending her. She shook her head at the thought, and was gone.
Sadie felt her heart racing. She'd been in no danger whatsoever, with the punch clearly not intending to hit her. As Roz implied however she was lucky; lucky that she was no more than uninterested and cynical rather than a real threat. After reflecting on this a moment, Sadie shook her head and smiled. Roz had been almost emotionless for a few years now, so why should Sadie have expected her support? Others though would surely be more acquiescent. Her most loyal friends, were out there somewhere and there was no way they'd fail to stand with her. And they'd certainly never play this awful game. She just had to find them, that was all!
As she stood up to start looking, she turned back to where she'd left the chainsaw on the grass. With Roz's words echoing in her mind for some reason, she calmly and silently returned it to her bag. She paused a moment and thought. She knew it was never going to be used; that was a ridiculous idea. But it was best to have it with her all the same, in case anyone else found it and thought about using it. Just in case. That was all.