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This first thing that she was aware of was the hard edge of plastic pressing through a thin glove. She glanced down to her waist and saw a cellphone there, glowing a bright blue. A cellphone? Okay, a cellphone. A cellphone was something she recognized. Her senses slowly buzzed into focus. There were blue tent walls around her, three tables, cots (including the one she was on), and most importantly, other people.

Silently, the girl took the time necessary to find her bearings. The others had numbers on their helmets, and after doing a quick head count, she knew herself to be Eta IV. Eta Four? E4. Eeefour. Eeeeetaahh -- fooooour. No matter how many times she echoed it in her mind, Eta IV did not find any trace of identity attached in it, or even in her mind.

Uh, weird. What did she remember? A dream in a classroom. And now waking up with a stiff back on a cot in a tent. The ache in her back didn't seem dream-like.

While the others spoke near the map, Eta IV took the time to read the cellphone message in her hand. Only thirteen would make it off the island? Eta-4 quickly counted heads in the room. Twelve. So all of them could survive if they stuck together.

She watched Eta XI stab the table and smiled dimly. Proactive! She liked it. Then he tossed the stake to the ground and went off to pout like a teenager who lost Prom King. Hm, well. Maybe not him. Eta Four didn't want to have a teammate who was a quitter, or a whiner. She just wanted a team of winners.

Getting to her feet, Eta Four crossed over to the table to snatch up a first aid kit and the bag with her name on it. "We need to decide now," she said briskly, eyes flashing to the other gas-masked faces in the room. "There's twelve of us here. If we stick together and form a team, we could all survive this. Whatever this is." One hand waved vaguely around the room, the other opened the bag. She saw a pair of small nunchucks.

There was the tip of no-nonsense in her voice. After the text message, she had not waffled for a bit on her morals, or on her humanity. Eta IV had received a message saying that only thirteen people would be surviving this strange situation, and she was sure as s**t going to do everything in her power to acquire that golden ticket for herself.

Eta Four stepped forward. "I'll go scouting," she said to Nine. "Once we pick a destination, I think our best bet is to keep up numbers." Her eyes wandered back to Eleven. He really was showing his whole hand of emotions, not exactly Four's cup of tea.

Eta Four shrugged. "Let him pout," she murmured, eying the map. Briefly, E4 considered taking the stake from the ground -- hey, if he wasn't going to use it, right? But there were more important matters at hand.

"If the others are still sleeping, we could maybe split into smaller groups, leave them a note or something to meet up with us later." There weren't many locations pointed out on the vague map, but they had to start somewhere. "I feel a little exposed in a tent on the water."

But where should they go? Cornfields? Uh... no thanks. That had HORROR MOVIE written all over it. Lighthouse? Well, Four felt a tingle of uneased that made her pretty sure she was not much of a fan of water... The beach? Same problem. The Dark Cove? It was like the Cornfields and the Lighthouse/Beach had a baby that was both ominous and watery. No. Thanks.

That, for her, left the Abandoned Town -- but what would the others think of it?

Eta Nine smiled from behind the mask as Eleven volunteered to venture out of the home base. He may be a pouty little punk, but at least he had some initiative! Six quickly followed suit, and to Nine's surprise even the newly awakened Four managed to compose herself quickly enough to take on the task. "Alright, I think four people is enough for a preliminary scouting mission. We don't want everyone going, since we still have some sleepers and they made need some clarification once they wake up."

She turned to look back to the map, brushing her hand across it. The most immediate concern was figuring out exactly where they were on the map. "I agree, Six. Thing is, we have no idea where we are. We can't travel to a specific place until we determine where we are on this map. The cornfields, the beach, they could be in any direction, and we'll be moving blindly if we don't know where we are in relation to them." She nodded at her teammates, stepping back from the map and marched purposefully towards the tent exit. "I say we go out and look for some landmarks that will identify our location. It shouldn't be too hard. An abandoned town will have buildings, a cornfield should have corn... And from there we can decide on our next step."

η XI had actually had the sense enough to put his stake in his bag with his kit. He had only three possessions right now, so he may as well hold onto them until he found something better.

He had no real reason to go to the other locations. As much of a jerk as he came off as, he wasn’t too keen on killing unless he absolutely had to. Maybe some of the other groups would kill each other off themselves before he had to actually do anything. He didn’t like anyone, but he didn’t have any sort of grudge. Not yet, anyway.

He roamed down the beach for a while, able to see the lighthouse dimly silhouetted in the distance. Eh… No reason to go there. Maybe if I get bored. I could report back, though. η XI actually kind of liked the beach after he got used to it. There was something old and nostalgic about it- he could sit there for hours, if he was allowed to. Instead, he turned and found the others still hovering around the tent.

“Hey. The lighthouse isn’t too far off,” he said, pointing in its direction.

((OOC: AAAAAAAGH, brain fart, there's something blue on the map and I thought that was us because I'm attracted to the color and not words. 8C;;;;; Pretend everything HXI said is related to.... Um, the windmill I see in the photo. >_> So now they know what direction they're in. And instead of beach... Everything's dead and he doesn't like dead plants. C8;;;;; Okay, please continue. >->;; ))

(( I was running on the assumption that they don't necessarily know they are in the town! [edit] Aha, Wotcher and I are on the same page. ))

Stepping toward the flaps of the tent, Eta Four pushed one open, letting a long tongue of fog creep inside. She couldn't see much, but there was a building a few feet away -- a whole storefront of them. Murmuring to herself, she pulled the map out of her bag and took a look. "Um," she said dumbly, eyes flickering between the already-awake team members. "I think we... are at the town." According to the map, there didn't seem to be much else in the way of buildings.

Lingering here wouldn't give them any more answers, but Nine seemed to handle Six's worries just fine. "Okay, Six. We can meet back here if anyone gets lost." She tucked the map back into her bag, pulling out the nunchucks instead. Four handled them awkwardly; it was like she had never held a set of them before in life.

Great.

Nodding to Nine, Four stepped out into the fog -- but where would it lead them?

η XI shrugged. “Whatever yo teeny heart desires, Sixie.” He looked η VI up and down. “Got yo weapon in case some idiot thinks it’s a good idea to come snoopin’ ‘round? Be mean an’ scare them shitless.”

He turned to the other two. “We goin’ now? I ain’t seen nuthin’ interesting when I was out there.” η XI adjusted his knapsack and trudged along behind the other two.

((η XI is leaving Eta Squad Base Camp to The Scout Town))

A moment or two passed, not long but long enough that his mind began to wonder back onto unwelcomed thoughts; none of this seemed right, the words 'you want to be here' became the foremost thought in his mind and he brow furrowed, so he wanted to be here? He choked down a laugh born from rising panic but he quelled it, be a man he thought to himself and almost automatically he puffed out his chest. He thought harder trying to snatch at the disappearing dream like memory, the only one he currently recalled. 'If you last past the first test, it'll come back to you.' his name, that was right, what the hell was his name and what was this first test, it all sounded rather ominous and he worried with a lack of memory if he was at all equipped to deal with whatever this 'test' presented him with. The rucksack hung heavy on his shoulder and pictured the small knife he'd flipped so casually over in his hand and the first aid kit now stuffed on top of it, he didn't like the idea of what either of those items suggested to him.

So his memory was lost to him, for now at least, the last thing from the dream like memory which was left with him was the knowledge that he'd at least have a number. He smiled to himself a little at that, the old saying, 'you are nothing but a number.' Funny really how he remembered such things but not who he was, where he was from, his name of course and what he was doing here. He eyes returned to the room then, others still hung about in the room but counting the beds and those that remained in the tent, three had already left. He stared at one figure then, his eyes running over their strange dress and the mask clinging snugly to their face, on the side of the mask was a large white number 'η II'. He then ran his own hand across the side of his mask, the paint wasn't thick but it was enough to feel the slightly raised print of 'η III'. 'So I am to be known as Eta three for now,' he thought to himself.

Still no answer from the others mulling about in the tent, he wondered why the three had left, how long ago and how long had the others been awake longer than himself. Answers would come, he himself was still trying to puzzle things out, he left the others to their thoughts for the time and turned, there had been a third table he'd not inspected yet. He took 4 paces from the table where the remaining first aid kits lay and stared blankly at the third and final table. Nothing stood on it but something was indeed craved crudely into it's surface, a map. He ran his hand over it and placed it to memory, he had a photographic memory which was lucky really seeing as he couldn't take the table top with him once he decided it was time to venture out of this tent.

He was a practical man, of logic and reason and as far as he could see there was no reason yet to run off alone into the unknown. He was also patient but that of course would wear over time in given circumstances but for now a little waiting would do no harm, not from what he could tell. He'd give the others a little time to think, to focus and then they would plan, 9 remained in the tent, 3 had left and 13 would survive. He grinned darkly underneath his mask, 12 in a tent, something however told him there would be more tents, more people and the first aid kits where going to be needed, panic would set in, tension rise and accidents would happen, it was basic human instinct but there would be those that remained clear head, calm and calculated and those would make the 13; he'd remain calm.