Byron Lugo's Story

Violet enters the hallway about the time the guard steps over Evans. She is careful to avoid getting too close to the guard as she approaches the dazed Evans. After a quick exam determines he has suffered no permanent injury, Violet decides to move him.

"Evans don't try to talk or move yet. You just need to rest for a while, I think."

Violet puts a comforting hand on Evans' shoulder and looks around for help. There's no way a slender but fit woman like her can move the chubby man on her own. Spotting Francis, the young blind man, waiting in a doorway she almost asks him for help. But then someone new steps into the hallway. From his looks he is another experimental subject not a guard and quite strong.

Waving to the big man, "Hey, You're new here aren't you? Could please give me a hand. I need to get this guy into a bed. And I can't move him by myself. One of the guards Tazed him or something. If you have questions I'll try to answer them the best I can while we move him."

Violet quickly directs the strong young man into an empty room and to place Evans on the bed.
"Thank you. This is Evans, he's been here longer than anybody else, I think." Violet indicates the groggy, chubby man.
"I am Violet Whitt. I am a evolutionary and environmental Biologist from Princeton University. You, like the rest of us, have been conscripted into an experiment of some sort. I don't know enough right now to even know what questions to ask yet. But there are ... strange and dangerous creatures on this island, be careful. I wish I could tell you more."

Returning to the halllway and approaching Crombie, but addressing both men, "I was going to head out into the jungle for a little walk. Either or both of you are invited join me if you wish."

Evan blinded in a daze trying to see who was leaning over him. It was her again. His first thought was to 'man up' and try to jump to his feet but instead it came out as, "Nah-am fine, ghnnn." He lifts his head and his arms then just as quickly laid back out like a sack of potatoes. Hearing Violet talk to someone who had an unfamiliar voice made it all the more difficult to stay still. Once the man picked him up thought he wanted nothing more than to be put back down. His wriggling was enough to provide a minor annoyance for Bryon but not enough to make him get dropped.

The guard watched Evan get picked up and carried away with the help of the other subjects. "Never could keep yourself out of trouble without relying on others." He softly scoffed before walking out of the hallway and closing the door that prevented the other subjects from having access to areas they weren't allowed to venture into.

He felt himself get flopped onto the bed which both helped jostle him back into reality and curse out the man for not receiving gentler treatment. Most of all he just wanted someone to take his frustration out on. "If you really want to help me you'd get me back out there so I can make sure those asses with security clearance don't find what we could get from that boat!" He holds his head after sitting up because of the migraine he felt since he had woken up. "I wouldn't worry about the old subjects unless they find out you have something they want. Not that I would recommend talking to them-" He had stopped himself and immediately hoped that no one caught that.

Groaning he slowly gets to his feet and does his best to steady himself. Keeping a few paces behind he follows Violet back out to the hallway before steadying himself with the wall. "I'm starting to think that building a hut out on the beach is more enticing than bland food and scratchy sheets in a bleached out room." He shook his head at Violet's last comment. "Sure you want to do that with a blind man and a-a new guy you don't even know if he will snap your neck if you turn your head away for a second."

Byron just sort of...stared, at the man, as he rambled on about getting supplies from a boat and building a hut in the middle of the jungle. What in the hell sort of place where they in? He remembered no jungles close to his home, he must have been halfway across the world, at least.

Before he had a chance to accept the woman's offer of going for a walk out in the jungle, this snide ass decides to tell her that he is the type that might snap her neck while she isn't looking. This boiled his blood for some reason, for this man to just assume he was a killer, after he had just lugged his tons of fun off the floor and carried him to his room. "Hey.." He approached the man, prodding him in the shoulder to get his attention. "Hey! I just heaved your sorry ass back to your room, and you're gonna start spouting stuff like, 'Oh, he's gonna kill ya!' You don't even know me, man, I suggest you watch your mouth." He shouldered past the man to where the woman and the apparently blind man were. "Yeah, if you want to go for a walk, that's fine by me, I could use some fresh air, it feels like I've been out of it for days, and you did say you'd answer any questions I had. At least, the ones you can, and right now, I'd really appreciate that."

He shot the man another sideways glance. "I don't know why I'm here, alright?" He began to raise his voice, it was as if he finally came to reality with himself being captured. "I didn't ask for two guys to come jump me at my damn job, and I sure as hell didn't ask to be ripped from my home and brought to some jungle! So the next time you wanna go on about whose gonna kill someone, you might just wanna think about what that person might be going through, because I get the feeling you didn't ask to be put in here, either."

At this point, his temples were pounding, he turned from the group, pacing down the hallway, giving himself a couple of good hard slaps to the head. It was his own way of venting, self destructive, he knew, but it worked.

Violet isn't sure but she thinks she heard Evan imply Treeclimber, Minotaur, and the other unusual beings were once subjects like her and the other people here. The consequences of that idea are almost too disturbing to consider. But they also feel too plausible, if scientifically ridiculous, to just be dismissed. She pauses rubbing her sore arm as these and other uncomfortable thoughts come unbidden.

After a few moments Violet shakes it off. She can't let unknown possibilities paralyze her into inaction, she has to do something. Find out more about what this place is and what's going on here. Violet decides to give the new guy a brief tour and try to find the place Minotaur and Sharkcreature fought over Treeclimber. Hoping to find some clue about their identities. And if she runs into one of them, try talking to them.

"New Guy, the elevator at the end of the hallway seems to be the only way out. And it only goes to this floor and the ground floor lobby. At least for us that is. I have some experience navigating jungle environments, so if you don't I suggest you stick by me or the paths once outside. It is very easy to get lost if you don't know what you are doing."

Violet enters the elevator and pushes the button for the ground floor, but holds the door for any who want to enter as well.

Evan furrowed his brow at Bryon's actions more than what he said. He winced when those prodding fingers shoved into his shoulder to push him back. If there was anyone on the island that made a point to decide whether to judge someone on how much they annoyed him, it would be Evan. The words that came out of his mouth where typical. On the other hand, the self-inflicted pain that Bryon looked to be causing himself did give Evan a reason and concern enough to take a mental note of that detail. A head slap today becomes another's head slammed into the wall tomorrow. Nothing to worry about. Not as long as he kept an eye out for himself. But he couldn't just tread carefully. He had to poke at the fire. It was his job to see who was capable of what.

Evan looked Bryon up and down as if he was deciding on how to judge him. Which he was, and how he would react to how the man was speaking to him. "If you think I'm bad. You're going to have a hell of a hard time getting along with the others." He walks into the elevator with Violet. "Bit of advice, you might want to get chummy with the ones who know about this place. Making enemies here will get yourself killed." Normally he would have a smart ass smirk after dispensing a nugget of 'I know something you don't know'. He just wasn't feeling it this time. He lowered his voice so that only Violet would hear him. "I've seen it happen." Judging by the serious look on his face it was safe to say that he wasn't lying.

He already knew what he would do once they were topside again. Check for security, secure his hopefully still hidden stash, and hope to snag other people's stashed goods. That is, if they managed to stash them, and provided they weren't discovered either. Normally he would find a way to sneak it back to his room. This time however, he knew it wouldn't be possible to smuggle in so much of his half earned, half stolen salvage. People will catch on if he kept going back to his hiding spot, and the guards would raid his room like a surprise room search in a prison. They mostly did it just to piss him off. He knew that much.

Byron was already in the elevator when the others crammed themselves inside. He stood, leaning against the back wall with his arms folded broadly across his chest. He ignored everyone and just looked down toward the ground. 'Great, now I've got this mental case telling me that if I don't watch what I say, someone's gonna kill me. Heh, they better be packing something pretty big if they think I'm just gonna lay down and take their shit.'

He closed his eyes and drew his breaths slowly. When the elevator reached it's destination, the doors slid open to reveal a new area. Stepping out, he looked around cautiously, not seeing anything that set off any sort of alarm in his head. He didn't venture far though, he turned to make sure the others were still coming. After all, he had no idea how to navigate through jungle terrain, and he still really wanted to go outside.

"So, what kinds of things are there to do outside? Can we stay out there as long as we want? Not a whole lot of this makes sense." Again, he folded his arms across his chest and started looking around the room once more. He contemplated whether or not he would want to return to this building once he managed to get outside. If there was some sort of hideaway he could make in the jungle.

He dashed the thought from his head. He had no idea how to find food for himself, and water was going to be even more difficult. No, this was going to be something that had to be done over time. Certainly not his first day here. He figured today would be the day he try to find a good place to set up camp once he did decide to make a break for it. That was the best plan he could come up with.

After Violet gives Byron the 2 cent tour of the lobby area, she heads outside into the jungle.

Once Violet feels they are far enough from the Facility that security can not overhear them anymore, "There was a boat sinking it the bay here... Actually I'm entirely sure how long ago it was but some time ago. But me and some others took some supplies off the boat. I hid them out in the jungle. I plan to check on them and the place I last saw one of the other strange inhabitants of this island is not far from there. I want to check around to see if I can determine what happened to her. At least I think it was a her. After that I will answer other questions I can while we do a little foraging. I'm no expert, but I am a biologist and was a girl scout, so I am confident I identify some non-poisonous plants and fruit. If you want I could try to teach you do it yourself. The food here is nutritionally sound but otherwise rather unpleasant."

Violet begins navigating her way back to point along the stream where Sharkcreature and Minotaur fought over Treeclimber's fate. Oncw she is confident she has found the right place she checks the area for any unwanted eyes.

Evan didn't respond to Bryon when they all piled into the elevator. He'd rather let Bryon stew in it for a while and find things out for himself much like Violet and the others had to when they first woke up. But even they managed to get a few tips to fend for themselves before their first day was over. Violet spoke up; rather quick to let Bryon in on what she had learned in the short time that she was there. He shot her a look. It wasn't anything harsh. More along the lines of, 'Did you have to tell him so soon?'

To their credit Evan was having more fun now than he did with any of the others. Most of the time they would stay in their room and bawl their eyes out, keep picking fights with the guards until an 'unfortunate accident' claimed them or disappeared, never to be seen from again after going into the forest or attempted an escape. He tuned back to Violet when she started talking about the possible food sources on the island. "The only decent food you will find are from ships that occasionally wreck themselves on one of the reefs here, or you happen to be good at trapping any of the wild animals here. Speaking of which-"

He separated from the two to slink off to his not so secure cubbie hole. If anything he could find them again once he did what he needed to do. It was a good chance the girl would go back to where the fight broke out. He didn't know her for long. She just looked like the type not to let things well alone, whether it could cause her trouble or not. Walking toward the beach he rounded the bundle of trees that marked near where his stash would be. The sounds of snorting and sand being tossed around came exactly from where his stored goods were. At first he thought it was another subject who went back out to steal from him. Much to his surprise, he would also find that he made a very big mistake. A large boar was digging up cans and trying to open them to get to the food inside. Some were dented just enough to cause some of their contents to leak. The smells attracted the hungry animal thanks to the light storm winds that kicked up from the ocean.

Just when Bryon and Violet, and anyone else who happened to be with the group, thought that they wouldn't have to deal with the chubby ass, he came running back at full tilt with a horrified look on his face. A couple of cans were tightly clutched in his hands. Squealing from the angry boar could be heard a few paces behind him as it tried to get back at him for startling it. "Go go go go go!"

Taurus had awoken quite a ways down the river that Alex had dragged him through, half drowned and exhausted. His massive mound of dark brown blended in neatly with the surrounding jungle making him pretty much invisible to the patrolling guards that had gone to collect the unrest prisoners. He woke up cold, his fur damp and his whole body aching. With difficulty he got to his feet gripping a nearby tree trunk with his malformed hoof-hands. He snorted, causing the moist dirt and grass to scatter around his muzzle.

Taurus tromped through the jungle until he found the main building of the facility, managing to find the group just as the boar charged for Evan. He gave another warning snort and went down to all fours, his two large deformed hoof fingers acting as the supporting toes on a grazing animal. There where several earth trembling thuds as he charged and a sweep of long curled horns sent the boar flying through the air, squealing like a stuck pig. He barely missed Evan's ankles with that sweep and he could feel the hot breath of the beast just before the dirt flung up by his hooves as he skidded to a halt would have showered Evan's lower legs. It was a close call on two counts for that man but Taurus snorted and stood at his full height, a lumbering golem in their presence, fur caked with mud and strung with vines and peered down at him with massive dewy brown eyes.

---

---

Many hours would pass for creature before she heard an odd scratching in the ceiling of the cave. Tex had landed on what felt like a hollow bit of earth. He dug his talons into the dirt and kicked as best he could, carving up the dirt like soft clay. It took a while and he was cautious not to let the ground collapse right underneath him. Dirt would first trickle down into the cave before clumps began to cascade around creature. Tex eventually had to leap out of the way, flapping his wings hard to get his weight off of it. He hopped down inside once a mouth was opened wide enough and grasped the wounded bundle of blood stained water dampened cloth. His weight would have been felt on her body slightly as he crouched and leapt again, flapping his wings for vertical lift. Being carried by Tex was by no means a gentle and graceful flight, not at such low altitudes with no wind to pick him up. It was abrupt and uneasy as his wings took the whole burden with each forceful thrust, an up and down jerking motion out of the cave only to be dropped onto the soft dirt. Tex landed next to her and crouched low so his face was close to her. He tugged off some of the bindings covering her face and peered at her with a sharp clinical gaze. "You have two choices here, let me tend to you and be indebted to me or die out here in the cold of night. Choose quickly."

Having spotted a small mushroom patch Violet had crouched down to examine them. And was about to go into some general rules on how identify edible and poisonous mushrooms, when Evan came running in shouting.

Not waiting to find out what is chasing Evan, Violet throws herself to the side away from the path of the incoming. With a splash Violet ends up in the edge of the stream.

"Crap!" Violet was hoping to be able to spend some time examining the sea chart she pulled off the boat and hid, but now. She needs to get cleaned up or risk causing more damage to it. Slowly extracting herself from the river silt, Violet finds she is missing a shoe. "Double crap." Violet takes a few moments to confirm it's gone before returning up the bank to the others.

"Is everyone all right?" Violet looks around and is relieved to find no major injuries. Spotting the dead boar and Taurus, "I guess we all owe you a big 'thank you', big guy." If Taurus let's her Violet gives him a friendly pat on the arm.

"I don't suppose anybody has a knife and knows how to gut an animal. We could have a pretty nice lunch or dinner here. If you can find some flint I can make a knife if anybody knows how to use it."

(I was hoping Castiel would post since they still seemed to be in the game, but I'm not going to wait any longer. I have a full plate and I don't want to miss my windows of free time to keep this place going. I'm not going to drop the ball last time....also I just broke my own rule of not being allowed to bring OOC in here. But I will make an exception for myself. Just this once. And delete this little diddy in a week to redeem myself.)


Evan went down like a sack of potatoes. Not because Taurus tagged him, because he didn't, but because the shock of having that burly brick shit house come so close to brutally maiming him without actually trying to hurt him. Not that he's done anything to wrong Taurus specifically...lately. It's just that he's developed a reflex around anyone or thing that moves at a pace considered hostile. He moved rather quickly for a fat man. His legs after all weren't wholly made of blubber. What he did end up doing was taking quite a spill in the mixed earth and sand. He was too disoriented to be angry about it when he came to a stop. His legs were splayed out and his arms were resting in front of him like a stuffed teddy bear.

He looked up to the hulking beast and saw that Taurus wasn't having much luck dealing with this island either. "If this keeps happening I might have to start calling you Clutch." Evan slowly bumbles to his feet. He looked at his hands. His fingers still clung to the two cans he held so tightly onto. They were dented up but still intact.

His attention was draw up one of the nearby trees. Varin the skittish guy of likely shifty alliances, somehow managed to get himself caught up a tree. The hints that the guy actually didn't want to be in the tree weren't hard to interpret. "Don't look at me. I'm not getting you down." He said it knowing that Varin hadn't asked for help in the first place.

Hearing Violet ask for a knife and inquired about boar gutting he paused with an almost trance-like stare. The way he suddenly snaps up afterwards made him nearly scare himself. Reaching into his pants he produced a small pocket knife. Knowing that he wouldn't be willing to part with it for a single moment, and that it was likely Violet wouldn't want to touch it because of where its been, he volunteered himself to start gutting it. From the looks of it, he wasn't an expert at it. This wasn't his first time doing it either. "If you guys are serious about staying outside. You might want to figure out where to start building your shelters."

"Godsdamnit..." Varin cursed under his breath as he tried to adjust himself on the tree branch. Even if it was a life or mauling situation, he now regretted jumping up into the tree. He felt like a cat stuck on on a branch watching people walk by not doing anything. He looked over at Evan, who he never asked to help him down and rolled his eyes. An internal note was telling him to never trust this guy. Ever.

He soon started to wriggle himself out off the branch, soon looking more like a sloth on the branch and moving himself to a lower level before dropping his legs down to the ground before letting go. It felt odd, but at the very least it got him down. Now that he was back on ground level, he could see the extent of the damage done to the boar and Evan's attempt at gutting it. As much as he wanted a soft, warm bed tonight; there was no way he was going back to that hospital smelling building. It was either take another knock-out dart or he would go kicking and screaming.

"At the very least we're gonna have to find water too. And make weapons." He said as he started scanning the ground. Although he wouldn't admit it, he was growing weary physically. He hated being around alot of people or a lot of excitement for this reason. Normally, he'd have the option of excusing himself to go home and watch a marathon of breaking bad or something, however the most he could do now was get his hands working again. Give himself something to do lest he go mad with boredom and anxiety.

He started picking up what ever rocks and shells he could find, before taking a seat under the same tree he had been stuck in. Some of them were large and smoothed edged and others small, but at least it was something right this minute.

Violet pauses and considers Varin's and Evan's words. While getting away from the prying eyes of those responsible this twisted experiment is tempting, there is still to much to learn about what is really happening here. And inside the facility is still the best place to find that information. For the moment at least.

Speaking up Violet says, "While I don't think I'm quite ready to 'move out' myself, getting a place outside ready does sound like a smart move. I have some experience with setting up long term camp sites. I am willing to help anybody who needs it to set up their own or share one. As Evan suggested finding the proper place is important. I suggest we head to the beach after lunch and start looking for good places from there."

With her piece said Violet searches for some flint to strike for sparks. While looking, Violet also keeps an eye out for more mushrooms, fruit, spices, or other things that could be added to lunch.

It was then that Taurus grunted and tossed his head, stomping his foot as if trying to say something. "Aaaauuuuuuuuuuuooof" He mooed balefully and pointed up river. He pointed again at the sky then the facility which was still in viewing distance. It's not safe here. Was the message he was attempting to portray. Up the river! With out much warning than that he turned and trudged through the tangly foliage back towards the river.

If the group followed he'd be leading them at a winding path along side the river, taking a different branch off than Alex had when attempting to save her. The only identifying path would be the one that Taurus forged himself with his hulking form if any of them strayed to far surely they'd have gotten lost or at least covered in poison ivy and fire ants.

They would arrive at a shallow fresh water pond, one of many sources for the river with a small but sparkling waterfall providing constant motion and smooth rocks that catch and filter any grime. It was perfect clean water with a variety of tropical fish and frogs to catch and eat should they get hungry as well as a thick canopy to both shelter them from rains and provide cover from the searching eye of Tex. A safe haven. All they would need is some form of shelter to keep that shaded clearing warm at night. Taurus snorted and cupped his hands in the pond, crouching to one knee he splashed water over his face cleaning off the silt and mud caked in the fur, creating one clean spot over a mountain of filth.

---

---

Tex smirked "Don't you worry. Your death would do me no good." He grabbed a hold of creature with his tallons and took off once more, this time taking off high into the sky. He carried the semiconscious creature across the landscape much higher than her comfort zone, his talons pressing into her as he held her tight, he didn't cause her more wounds but she might develop bruises from the flight. If she was still awake she would see the cliff he was carrying her to and recognize it as his home. This is either an opportunity or a great misfortune as she had the opportunity to steal some of his stash. Getting away with it would be.........problematic though.

Evan took a hand full of boar inners and yanked them from the body tossing them into the creek nearby to wash downstream. It wasn't like they could drink from it from where they were standing. Plus he could wash out anything from inside the body of it to prevent any foul taste from getting into the meat. "I wouldn't suggest that." He responded to Violet just before dunking the entire boar into the river to give it a good thorough soak, while still keeping hold of two of its legs. "We won't know how far the tide comes up. On top of that, what could we possibly build from sticks and leaves that can hold up against the monsoon season so close to shore?" He grunt trying to keep the boar from getting swept down stream.

With some lugging and grunting he pulled the carcass back onto dry land while trying to keep sand from getting onto it too much. "We need to cook this before it spoils. Its not going to last in this tropical heat." He watched Taurus do the bullish things that he was known for doing and rolled his eyes knowing he would have to follow him. If he left this here for a moment, scavengers would be on it in a heartbeat. He had to lift the gutted pig up and onto his shoulders. Red water that was still inside it begins to leak down his neck and back as he trudged along, a look of disgust on his face. They were going to owe him.

It was a rare day to see Taurus do anything more than skulk around and act like an olf. For one day, he proved to be rather useful. The water source that was away from the beach in a well hidden away part of the forest and well, well manicured to the eyes. It was almost too perfect, but his aching back wasn't complaining about the nice scenery. He dropped the boar away from the water's edge. "I'm not making the fire. I've done my part." He looked like a murder victim that got stabbed in the back with how his clothes were stained with watered down boar blood. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a patch through the trees that looked to be a thicket of some type of bamboo that wasn't much more than three inches wide, but grew beyond 20 feet tall.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Creature winced in pain from being grabbed. Her heart began to race again, just conscious enough to see herself far too high above the treeline. There was no way she would've put up with this if she were still healthy and uninjured. She looked like a limp sack of potatoes with a tail sticking out the back. She could swear she saw the others below her but her vision was blurry. By the time she was set back down in Tex's own little hideout she could barely keep her eyes open. The vertigo made her incredibly sick and the adrenalin was wearing off making her slip back into unconsciousness.

Violet had hoped to find a cave or something above a sheltered bay. Someplace that had a view or close to a place with a view of the ocean. That way it would be possible to keep an eye out for boats. As they would likely be the only source of rescue or escape. But hearing Evan, Violet is embarrassed to realize she failed to consider how potentially violent storms could be. There are ways to determine the height of 'normal' tides and Violet was sure she could place camp safely away from them. However, storm surge was nearly impossible to predict without complex computer models.

Violet is so distracted by her own thoughts, she almost missed seeing the flint while following Taurus. Violet notes the location so she return soon.

Violet looks around the clearing, the water, the sheltering rocks and trees, the bamboo. The bamboo especially would make ideal material for building a shelter and tools. It was nearly perfect but for one small thing.

Violet again approaches Taurus and makes sure to get his attention. "Thank you so much Big guy. But before we can really accept this generous gift we need one more favor from you. Will you promise to never tell or lead the guards here to us? If you agree I will owe you and I be sure to repay that debt in some fashion."

Violet scratches at some of mud drying on her. She wants to wash it off in the water but this is much more important.

Amy moves to her knees on the sand and shakes her head to clear it. What happened? She looks around herself, trying to get oriented, willing her memory to come into focus. She sees the remains of her ship nearby. That's right, she thinks. She'd been on her way to visit an old friend--using boat, because why not?--when a freak storm had risen out of nowhere, running the ship aground out here in the middle of nowhere.

Instantly, Amy panics. She's been traveling totally alone. In fact, she didn't tell anyone she was leaving on her trip--not even the friend she was going to visit. She's been living alone for years, checking in with her parents by phone once a week or so. Often over the years she's often had that thought that were something to happen to her, it would be days or even weeks before anyone noticed. How would she get help all the way out here? All of her belongings were gone, including her phone. Unlikely that there was cell service here anyway.

She put a hand on her forehead, covering her eyes, and took some deep breaths, conscious of how quickly her heart was beating. The panic was rising. She had to do something

Amy stood, putting one shaky foot in front of the other, and decided that the best thing she could do was explore her surroundings. Maybe there was a ranger station or some way she could get back to civilization. She started walking.