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 Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 7:40 pm
Rajni pulled the crank on the machine once more. At first she had been somewhat more optimistic about these blasted boxes of coins, but the more she played the more she felt like she was wasting her money. The jackpot was lingering over her head- one thousand ******** coins- in bright neon lights that flashed intermittently, but she hadn't seen a single person win it.
Rajni wasn't a gambling soul, but she was one that needed coins, bad. The more she stared at the grand prize the more hungry she felt, the more desolate the situation became.
It was some time after her initial chat with Fantasia that the girl approached. She had gathered intel from both the man called Boss and Justin, and was pondering over some of the things they had said to her. Universities, prisons. There were all kinds of people caught up in this environmental war, weren't there?
Her stomach growled and she realized she hadn't eaten in ... ********, how long? That wasn't unusual though. Hunger was merely a constant in this time. She had long since stopped whining about it, even internally.
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 7:48 pm
She couldn't help but wonder what Daddy would have thought, seeing this: not the apocalypse-grimy, miracle healing, curling up in a laundry room daughter part, but the definitely playing in a casino daughter part. Funny: she had only turned nineteen a few months before the outbreak had occurred, so he couldn't use the you're underaged so no excuse. The slots pulling, honestly, had been a little more fun than Fantasia had figured it would be; yank a lever, get prizes. She knew it wasn't the same in the real world, but the attraction of winning had seemed so heady the longer she sat there...
The teen came to abruptly when someone shuffled behind her seat while on the move for something. The machine was blaring at her to take her coins and go, and she scowled back at it. Only five goes? Really? What the hell? Still, she had gotten a sizeable catch at least...
Dumping the coins willy nilly into her pockets, she stuffed her fists in and got to her feet. It just so happened that Rajni was arriving then. "Any luck?" she asked.
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 8:18 pm
"So so." It was so-so in fact. She had only a handful more coins in her pocket than she did before. It was better and she was making her way (only about 50 coins more ... s**t), but she was still going to have to work for it.
She sat down at one of the many benches and somewhat glumly said, "Does it even matter?" If they escaped out, was anyone coming to rescue them?
Listen to no one, he had said. The vines are the real threat, he had said.
It's too late, he had said.
"I get the feeling a victory here is not a true victory."
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 8:33 pm
Oh, God. They couldn't both be spiralling into pessimism, it just lead to faster steps towards the cliff, more peeks over the edge, more questions of why even bother anymore?
(She wished she hadn't written that stupid note now. She doubted anyone had paid it any notice, but the fact that it existed embarassed her keenly. She should have known nothing written in a fit of pique was a good idea.)
Fantasia resisted the urge to clutch her knees and curl up again. "I'll call it a victory if we're still alive," she said with a tiny shrug, as if trying to play it cool. Pretend you are more confident than you actually are and eventually the mask would become the reality, right? "They're giving us options, that has to mean something, eh? That has to." Unless it was just them pulling strings and making them dangle like their little marionettes...
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 8:40 pm
Rajni nodded, if only because she knew being hollow would make Fantasia even more so. We're both getting out of here. Such brave intentions, such arrogant speech.
"Their word is good," she said shortly, gesturing to a gruff man with an eye patch still playing the blackjack game. "That man there. I do not know his name, but he bought his freedom." She nodded. They were at least going to stick to their word. Rajni had fears of deceit, but Magnus had subsided them. "He is very brave, he intends to buy a whole group of people."
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 8:46 pm
Fantasia trained her eyes on the man, wary and skeptical despite Rajni's assertions. By his appearance, he must have been with the prison faction. Maybe there really was such a thing as honor among thieves, huh?
"You seen the prices we got around our necks? No way he can buy a whole group," the teen said with a shake of her head. "He'd literally have to sell everything off his back and hope he's got a ******** harem of Lady Lucks to have a shot." It was too farfetched to her; noble, but impossible. Someone was always going to die, no matter what they did; wasn't that what the entry and orientation portion had shown them?
(The woman keeps thanking her and thanking her and she can't feel even a shred of moral release knowing someone has been saved.)
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 8:49 pm
"I would like to believe in him, I think. His intentions are more righteous than ours, and that must be honored." Rajni moved her eyes to another individual, lest they be caught staring. It'd be awkward to be caught staring at him creepily.
Still, that's too many words spent by Rajni now. With a hand she shooed Fantasia away. Less talk, more coins. A jabbering mouth would not win money.
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Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 8:50 pm
Fantasia made a face as she was shooed away. What did honor mean now exactly? More people to take advantage of you, that's what. But she supposed she wished the guy luck all the same.
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Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 10:12 am
Rajni at least watched Fantasia as she walked away. In her own way, she was making sure the girl got out of here alive.
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