Mark had overheard the conversation between Team Two, and thought, "I hope they're smart enough to know that the three of them probably won't be enough to take on these guys alone. All the captives will have to work together to get our freedom." Mark looked down to see that Det was looking around the other teams, probably looking for scraps but finding none. He then said to his team members, "What do you guys suppose we do if we stage a successful escape attempt? There's so much desert that we'll probably die of thirst before we reach the nearest settlement."

{ooc won't happen again}

The slaves were mostly sitting with their assigned teams as was encouraged by the Spartans. Lunch was heartier than breakfast and Saracen Saul enjoyed the variety of food.

Eddie had the idea that radscorpions and ghouls were even worth worrying about. Saracen Saul let him believe as he wished. They would all soon be in for much worse.

As he gnawed on a rock hard prewar cupcake he watched the women's team. They seemed to be up to something. They looked too upbeat and chatty.

There was still plenty of food for their 'last meal'. Saint liked to stuff slaves before they got killed entertaining. It was the one form of mercy he endorsed. Saracen Saul used this as an excuse to walk over towards the female slaves as if just going to get more food. He only heard a few words of their speech but easily gathered that they were plotting something.

Are they really that naiave? Are they planning to escape? This ought to be good...

Saul seemed reluctant to Eddie's remark. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea. There'd probably be worse things to care about. Well look at that...the one who was quiet actually introduced himself. Good to see, Eddie thought.

"Well hello there Tommy boy. I'm Eddie Aerts. You feel alright about the teams? I saw you looking over at the other team over there with a litte envy. Don't worry about it man. We'll all get out of this mess. Hehe...I at least hope that Saul wont take us back if he becomes a slaver again. Perhaps give us the luxury cots?"

Eddie followed his group to the chow room for the last meal before the games. Man...the Grand Canyon...what an amazing vista to visit. Of course he wont be able to enjoy the sights...allegedly.

Ren looked at the new plate of food she was given. To her surprise it looked like food, unlike what she was given for breakfast. She quickly swallowed a few mouthfuls of food before she could think twice.

"So what's everyone's strengths?" Ren asked her team, "I think I may be one of the fastest slaves here, although I'm not sure how far that will get us."

The fact that the first game wasn't directly involving killing other slaves put Ren slightly at ease.

Saracen Saul came and sat back down with his team. He had another helping of food and started right in. It seemed he had missed some conversation here.

He chewed without any semblance of table manners and looked over at the quiet guy. He hoped that the man hadn't said anything while he was gone. He would have liked to hear him talk.

Maybe he is a mute. Saracen considered. It would be just like Saint to put a mute in these games. Mute slaves were nice if you didn't want them to be able to talk. But it had been his experience that knowing what someone was about started with how they chose their words.

He finished, having eaten a big breakfast anyway and offered his remaining food to Eddie. This might have seemed out of character but Saracen was thinking of himself when he did it. Eddie was the closest thing he had to an ally. Might as well act like they could be friends.

"As long as you don't waste ammo on Radscorpions you can have any gun we get. I think me and him can stick with spears and clubs." Saracen was talking to Eddie when he said this but looked at the man with scars. This time he was ready for the staring contest.

"Unless you would prefer I had the gun?"

Tom raised an eyebrow and thought to himself 'Tommy Boy?' before giving Eddie a small smile.

"One of the guys is an old friend." Tom said, gesturing toward them with his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I'll pull my weight here." He eyed Saul and commented "The last thing we want is a gun in your hands."

Tom thought the man would be surprised to hear his voice, but he didn't care if most people thought he couldn't talk. That just meant he wouldn't have to say anything to the people outisde of his group.

Mark took a bite of the food, finding it better than breakast. Det had come back and was also enoying the food. Mark said to Ren, "I'm a pretty good shot, I can fix things, and I have a lot of knowledge when it comes to flora and fauna." Mark then went back to eating while thinking, "At least I don't have to kill other slaves." He then said, "The Grand Canyon, that'll be a sight. Maybe if we escape we could go further west to the NCR for supplies, they owe Tom and I for helping them, plus I happen to know a person over there."

Saracen Saul heard the steady and confident tone of the Tom's voice and realized he preferred the mute. He had never been intimidated by a slave. Especially one sitting down, but then again, he had never been a slave either.

I'm not intimidated. I could take this guy. He is just some desert do-gooder. He told himself.

"Didn't think so." He replied without as much control as he had felt earlier.

He noted that Tom had friends in the other groups as a fact. That could be a problem since Saracen Saul needed to win. Saint wouldn't let him become a Spartan if he didn't trump these slaves...

"I'm not sure science will help us too much with this challenge, but its nice to know you're good with a gun. I'm comfortable without one, so if you or Nathan want to be our shooter that's fine with me," Ren said to Mark.

Ren turned her attention back to the food she had, she began eating again. As she was eating she ran her boot across the floor and noticed how loose it was. It was close to three sizes to big she guessed.

I won't be able to run half as fast as I normally do with these on. I guess I'll just run barefoot. Doesn't sound too comfortable though... She trailed off in her thoughts.

Mark said, "This food is pretty good compared to yesterday, hopefully it isn't made of human." He then thought, "I sure miss my machete and Plasma Rifle, hopefully I'll get one of them today if our team wins." Mark then looked over and saw Tom and the ex-slaver talking. Mark cracked a smirk when he saw Tom speak up. The ex-slaver didn't show it on his face, but Mark could see that he'd been intimidated, though he quickly recovered. Mark thought, "I guess after considering people like us to be lesser beings, the fact that a slave stood up to him really rocked his world, if only for a second." He then looked in Tom's direction and gave him a nod in support.

Nathan looked at Ren"I am decent with a pistol and know a great deal about fighting opponents stronger then me." with a look of pain on his face , which was quite impressive for a ghoul, Nathan continued in a softer voice "I also know how to fix a person up, just don't depend on me pulling any miracles."
Nathan looked to Mark while eating the food served best he could grimacing at the idea of human flesh,"A plasma weapon would be useful for several things." he left the others to make guess for what he meant, that could be discussed later,"I'm alright with going hand to hand if it comes to that." Nathan rested a palm on the top of his wrist "there may have been a lot of propaganda in between the useful bits but I did learn a few things in my last job." Nathan wiped one slop covered hand on the ground and waited for anything else to be added before the fighting began.

((Guys, remember that Charlette is a cannibal, although she doesn't know it. She's lived in Andale her whole life, she's not completely useless. ))

Charlette looked at the lumpy stew that was put before her. It was dirty water mostly, with chunks of meat floating on the surface. Alice sat down next to her, with the man sitting opposite them.
"Eat up. You'll need your strength." Alice joked, looking thoughtfully at Charlette. She picked up a spoon and started eating the slop, and Charlette did likewise. The meat in the soup tasted just like back home, Sweet with a bitter aftertaste. It was delicous! After finishing three bowls of the stuff Charlette was content. She hadn't eaten that well in a long time.
For the rest of lunch it appeared as though every team were planning tactics for the games. Charlette was still a bit confused, but Alice had explained her plan to her. "What if they give us pointless items back?" Charlette pondered. "Like a shoe, or a belt? I don't think they'll be giving us weapons straight away." This comment was met with silence by all three teams. These slavers were evil, they'd surely give the useless stuff back first.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, eh?" A small weasel-like man said. After afew moments muttering continued, she could see the other teams eying her. They thought she was useless.

The heat was unbearable on the journey to the Grand Canyon. The slaves were shoved in what Saint liked to call "Monkey Cages". He told them that the reason he called them that will be known to them if someone disobeys them, so they figured they were better off staying in the dark.

After the long journey they reached their destination, mostly people slept due to being isolated in separate cages, but some stayed awake due to anxiety. There were lots of Wastelanders, all cheering, some shaking the bars of the cage and getting dragged away very roughly by the Spartans. When the Monkey Cages were brought to a halt, Saint got his men to drag the slaves out and put them into their assigned teams.
"Team One! Over here now!" Saint shouted. The team hastily made their way to Saint. Saint snapped his fingers, and three Raiders came, holding weaponry. "This is your gear; A 10MM Pistol, two Baseball Bats, Combat Armour." the equipment was tossed at them. "I'll let you all decide who gets what" he said, with a malicious gleam in his eyes.

"Team Two!" They approached Saint. Alice glared at the man, he simple just smiled back. "You equipment," he said, "Plasma Rifle, Baseball Bat and a BB Gun." When the gear was thrown at them Alice was shocked A BB GUN?! They walked over, debating over who should get what.

"Team Three!" The team of burly-looking men walked over to Saint. "Your gear; Hunting Rifle, Shovel and a Knife." The equipment was tossed to them. "Now, now, don't give me that look. You are all well-built men, I'm sure you can make do with these." Saint said, a wry smile flickering across his face. Then he announced, "You have ten minutes to decide who gets what, then your going in there!"

Alice turned to look at her team. "Okay, first off, he's better off with a gun here and who's good with beating things to death? We're going to have to use that BB Gun as a club, so we only have a Plasma Rifle to keep use alive, ranged-wise."

Sean thought for a moment and decided that Alice was better with a gun than him. If only they had explosives...
I could use the bat I guess... Sean said, "I think you should take the plasma rifle Alice, your better with a gun than I am. I'd like to take the baseball bat if that's ok. Charlette you can use the BB Gun, I know it seems ridiculous you can still do damage with it, or even cripple them!"

Sean turned to Alice and asked, "Are we still sticking to the plan? You know," Sean whispered, "Escaping?"

Nathan looked to the weapon going to the opposing team "Didn't think of that, So" Nathan began addressing his teammates "Which of us gets the gun," The question being directed at Mark "And who wants the armor?"

Mark's thoughts about someone else getting his Plasma Rifle were, "I can't believe after all the trouble of jumping an Enclave patrol to get that thing, someone else gets it. Oh well, hopefully if we win, I'll get a chance to get it back. Either that, or that woman's nice enough to just give it back if we escape, but I doubt it. First rule of the Wasteland: Finders Keepers." He then said to the rest of his team, "Ok, so who wants what?"

Nathan was slightly bewildered as he and Mark nearly synchronized with their question. Pausing for a moment he considered his options about the gun, Nathan had learned quite a few things about small arms from the ridiculously well stocked enclave library.
"Seeing as it is a pistol I think that I would do better with it." Nathan looked around him and saw the other teams getting ready, he idly wondered whom on Tom's team was going to get the gun.
"I figure if I get the gun you ought to take the armor and split it with Ren ,if she wants anything out of it."

"There you go Eddie. I think we can all agree that your the only one of us trusted enough to have the firearm." Saracen Saul pointed to the hunting rifle.

Then he picked up the shovel.

"I am good with spears...this will do nicely." He looked to his team mates for any objection.

That left the knife for Tom which seemed to fit the man like a glove to Saracen Saul. Quiet and deadly.

Mark said, "Ok, I guess I'll take a bat, and Ren and I could split the armor, unless she thinks it'll slow her down. Now where is that pillbug?" Det then came outside of the bag and crawled on top of Mark's head. "Oh, there you are.", he said. Mark then took a bat and waited to see what decision Ren would make about the armor.

Saracen Saul glanced around distractedly as his team stood pondering whether they agreed with him so easily or not.

He spotted what appeared to be some kind of huge caterpillar or cochroach or something (to Saracen) crawling all over Mark!

"What the (censored)?" He muttered. Was that thing his pet?

Weird. Saint sure knows how to pick the crazy ones...

Mark looked around and saw the ex-slaver looking at him like he grew a second head. Mark muttered, "He's the first person I've met here to actually react that way to Det, or react at all, it's like everyone else besides Nathan and Tom ignore the fact that I carry around a giant terrestial crustacean as my companion."

Alice moved closer to Sean and whispered, "Yeah don't worry. Just play along for now." Then she began dishing out the weapons. Handing Sean the Baseball Bat and Charlette the BB Gun. When she handed Charlette the gun she grinned and said, "You can still shoot with it, just expect to poke someone's eye out at best."

The remaining time on deciding on weapons was spent devising a plan to win this match and keep their gear. "Look, most people here probably don't want to kill each other, afterall, we're in this together, right? So I was thinking, hold fire and don't attack unless they attack us first. Just make a beeline for these flags and watch out for whatever critters are down there. Saint said there'd be Ghouls and Radscorpions, so try stay away from those Radscorpions if possible. If you're stung, I doubt you'll be getting much medical help." she said, checking that the Plasma Rifle was properly loaded.
She looked up from the gun, "Anyone got any suggestions to the plan?"

Ren looked at the items her team was given. As Mark and Nathan picked over who would use the gun she debated taking the armor. It looked to be about her size, and the boots looked a lot more fitted for running.

"I think I'll take the armor then," Ren said without much emotion.

"No suggestions here", Sean answered. Sean thought to himself, She should have been the leader of the Rangers.... After years of fighting along side with Alice, Sean began to trust her with his life.
Sean swung a few times with the bat to get the hang of the weight and the timing.
Sean then thought of an ammo preserving idea, "Hey, if we do run into any Ghouls I'll just hit it in the head with my bat. It's easier and it will save ammo. It would be a little more dangerous for a Radscorpion on the other hand. You'll just have to shoot it if it comes Alice."

Sean was actually pretty excited about going on a new "adventure", it had a lot of drama in it. Also he couldn't wait to take the baseball bat into action.
The conditions were pretty brutal, the sun baked on their necks and Sean was pretty sure he was sunburned already.

And there the Grand Canyon was before them.

Turning his head toward Ren he spoke " are you sure you want that extra weight on your chest?" Nathan looked at the combat armor again " You are likely to be running a lot so take the pants and the boots that way you can defend the parts of the body you really need." The ghoul turned to Mark and looked back to the armor. "Mark will likely be taking hits from the ghouls eventually,if he doesn't want the gun, they generally go for the torso." He made a clawing motion across his chest to hopefully hammer the point home.
Picking up the pistol and checking it over the ghoul noted that the weapon was a very poor stand in for the various 44. handguns he had taken care of and he could feel cracks in the grip. Someone had also torn the safety of the gun off entirely, pulling the release on the clip Nathan was quite surprised to see it nearly full, sliding it back into the weapon he placed the gun back down.