A/N: I tried to write a fight in this chapter, which means there's probably blood and gore and a sort-of fight scene. And maybe some Joe whump. Don't worry, Frank fans, he won't escape this unharmed... but Joe's turn first. Thanks to everyone for the reviews!

Warnings for violence, blood and language.

"We need food," John spoke up after they'd pooled the contents of their bag. They'd ended up each keeping their original stuff, as it was all about the same. "We all have a container for water but no food. If they want us to live long enough to play out this game, there's gotta be animals or fish even in this forest."

"Just not in this pond," Joe quipped. Frank rolled his eyes and nudged him. They had to be careful. James may be claiming that his murder charge was related to domestic violence, but Frank wasn't sure he trusted him, and John could turn on a dime if he really was who he claimed.

Luckily, John ignored Joe's quip. "We need to find food. We're not going to be any good without it. They'll make it obvious, but we need to go in a pair if we're going to not get mauled off by the other teams."

"Technically, they can't kill anyone the first day," Joe interrupted.

"Yes, that may be in the rule, but let's be realistic here, Joseph. You're working with a large majority of people who don't like the rules," John pointed out. "Pairs - me and Joe, Frank and James. Meet back if you find food or it starts to get dark. I guess this should be our squatting ground, as it's got clear water."

Joe and Frank exchanged a look, and Joe could tell Frank was just about as happy about the idea of him going off with a murder as he was, but he didn't really see any good options. Both John and James were older than Frank and Joe and had more physical stature if anyone tried something. "Alright," Frank said, after a minute. "Let's just come back here as quickly as possible."

"Sounds good," Joe said, rubbing his eyes as he followed John. He noticed that Frank had kept the backpack, which he was glad for. He didn't want to risk having all the items on him that they'd need.

"We should be looking for small animals or fish - something that's going to be easy to clean, cook and gut. You ever been hunting before?" John asked, reaching into his backpack. "We don't have anything to make a fishing rod out of but I bet we could improvise."

"I mean if it comes down to it we can catch fish barehanded …. right?"

"Just so long as it's not piranhas or sharks," John muttered as they walked over. "Did they give you the rundown of the other groups?"

"No, they just said that there were murderers and rapists, I had a feeling he wasn't giving as much information as he could."

"We were told that the other groups were rapists and murders, too," John said, "But they weren't specific. I'm thinking they're generalizing; they want to see what we do. Begs the question of why you're here. Oh, and they told us Hardy's kids were here."

"Probably offered a special bounty to whoever could take us out," Joe grumbled.

"They did," John responded. "That's why we teamed up with you."

Joe stopped, "You want to take us out?"

"No. Your dad did me a favor once. I owe him," John explained. "I knew you wouldn't last ten minutes with some of the groups in here. Don't think that when it comes down to it I won't look out for myself, but for the meantime-"

"Got it," Joe muttered loosely, "What's the bounty?"

"First group that knocks you down will get a three-day food supply. I'm thinking that if they really want to survive long-term, they'd be stupid to do it, but what do I know?" John asked, "Another lake. Animals will likely follow patterns, even in this forest, which means-"

"They'll go for water," Joe nodded as the two approached, before Joe paused, "Fuck." He now saw the beauty of the suits, they were easily spotted. "Well then."

"You stay here," John ordered. "I'll be back."

Joe frowned but did what John asked, not feeling like testing the blood member's patience, especially not when there was a bounty on his head. He'd have to let Frank know that as quickly as possible, too. He mildly wondered if this whole thing was a setup to see how long he and Frank could survive and see if he and Frank could be taken out but dismissed it. Even if it was…

John came back, "Alright, so those are crip members."

"Um-"

"And I'm a Blood member."

"And -"

"And you owe us, Johnny boy, don't you?" one of the other members asked, coming up with a smirk on his face. "Pretty sure I've killed more than you."

"Pretty sure I don't give a damn," John retorted to the man. "No killing for the first 24 hours, eh?"

"You actually going to follow the rules? I know you've killed before… even if I have killed more than you."

This whole thing was like watching something out of a storybook. It couldn't be real. Joe was kind of worried now. "Also," the second man said, joining them, "Why do you have Hardy's kid with you? Why haven't you killed him yet?"

"The reward is for both him and his brother," John said simply, "And do you see Frankie with me?"

Joe knew John was just trying not to get killed but still… that sentence unnerved him.

"We were told that either way we'd get rations so let's do it," the first man said, and before he knew it, Joe was knocked on the ground by one of the crip members. Joe tried to fight back but before he knew it there was a knife against his throat. "Ready to meet your maker, baby?" he sneered. "Then there would be twenty-three left."

"Only if your partner is ready to meet his maker," John said lowly, and although Joe couldn't look, he sensed the knife being pressed closer.

"Kick him, Marty," the crip member said, and before Joe could do anything, Marty was on the ground, blood coming out of his stomach. He winced, knowing that John had had to fight for his life more than once.

"Pretty sure he's dead," John said, "You wanna be next?"

"You asshole! You weren't fucking supposed to kill him until after the 24 hours was over! I'm pretty sure it's not!"

"I'm pretty sure real life violence doesn't wait for a fucking counter," John retorted, grabbing at the man. Joe started backing away as soon as the man was after him. "We have two choices here. I can let you go free and we can pretend to play this damn game, and call a temporary truce, or you can try and kill me in which I'll just kill you. What will it be?"

"Option three - kill Hardy's brat! His father put me in behind bars!" With that the man charged at Joe, and Joe was knocked to the ground. He cried out as his leg twisted awkwardly and he landed on it, Joe still tried to get away, praying that John wouldn't kill him, that this man wouldn't kill him, that his leg wasn't broken - small things.

The crip member must have been operating on more adrenaline than Joe was, because he threw off John, and charged straight at Joe, shoving him at the tree. John grabbed him and threw him off, pinning him to the ground. "Don't," John retorted. "I told you the bait money is for both of them. I really don't want to kill you -"

The crip member ignored John and pushed him up again. Joe backed away, knowing he'd be no use to the fight in his dazed condition. John simply grabbed at the man, and the two locked hands, rolling towards the water. Joe watched in a dazed glance as the two rolled on the ground, kicking and throwing punches. He shook his head, backing away slowly as he backed into… something. He frowned, looking at it. It must have been the man's bag; the dude from the crip. He had some fish in it, from what it looked like - raw ones, some water purifying tablets, and some book about animals and game.

John came back, brushing off his hands. "We should go," he said. "He's only unconscious."

"Yeah," Joe responded, pulling himself up before he grabbed the bag. "I don't feel so good. The bag, I think it was his…. should we give it back?"

"Don't know if he'll wake up," John said. "Take it. Does it have anything useful?"

"Yeah, some fish. If he's unconscious, should we risk fishing?"

John stared at Joe for a long minute. "Fine. But you sit on him."

Frank and James started out, walking where Frank had remembered seeing some rabbits the night before. While he didn't like hunting, Frank knew this was about survival and personal likes and dislikes were going to have to be pushed to the back burner.

Within a few minutes, they had trapped four rabbits. Frank and James made their way back to the fire. James, who had a knife on him, successfully skinned the rabbit and showed Frank the best way to cook them.

A booming voice came over the loudspeaker. "You are now 5 hours into the competition. Someone has broken the rules, and a man is now dead. This was strictly self-defense, so the 24 hour rule will be continued. There are 23 players remaining. Good luck." With that the loudspeaker went dead.

"Joe and John aren't back yet," Frank said, uneasy. "I hope they didn't run into trouble."

"John would handle himself fine - it would be Joe I was worried about. Did the man tell you their was a bounty on your head? Three days' rations for killing the Hardy Boys."

"So why are you helping me, and not slitting my throat?" Frank asked.

"Not worth three days' rations to piss off your father," James replied simply, "And I don't want to kill anyone I don't have too."

"That's… comforting," Frank said, trying to smother his unease about his younger brother while turning back to the fire. "Joe!" he said, seeing his younger brother limping back with John. "What happened?"

"Do you know about the rivalry between the crips and bloods?" John asked simply, helping Joe sit down.

"Yeah..." Frank asked, looking over his brother before going to the first aid kit. "You're bleeding, Joe."

"'S fine, Frank," Joe said, "It just started."

"Well, you're still bleeding so - let me patch you up." Frank grabbed an edge of the cloth and pressed it against Joe's skin. "So what happened?"

"One of the idiots tried to kill Joe and me. So I took him out," John replied simply. "The other one's in bad shape, but I let him live."

Frank sighed as he placed the band-aid over his brother's cut, knowing it would hardly do any good with Joe's other few cuts, but he figured he may as well try. "Joe, are you okay?"

"Peachy," Joe grumbled, and Frank's concern kicked up a bit. Even if they were the last ones alive they were still dead. They had to find a way out of here.

A/N: There you have it... Chapter three.

Please cast your votes for next chapter... Joe or Frank whump?