Survivors

43

We were all lounging in our pens. Darius kept staring at the clock while I rested my head against his shoulder, trying not to have a panic attack from how small the cell is; Yaz was doing sit-ups; Ben was messing with a sharp bone; Sammy was chewing nervously on her nails; and Brooklynn was sitting with her knees hugged to her chest.

"He left us," she said. We—minus Darius—stopped what we were doing to look at her. "I can't believe he just left us. I don't get it."

"Why would Kenji do this?" Yaz asked.

"You think you know a guy," Ben said.

"Yeah, what you all said," Sammy agreed. "What do you think Darius?"

"Four, three, two, one," Darius mumbled before looking at the entrance just as a clanker-X walked in and scanned us.

"All accounted for," the clanker-X said before walking out. 

"All right, guys. That BRAD patrols every half hour, which means we have thirty minutes to find a way out of here," Darius informed.

"Way to go Dino-nerd," I said, grinning. "But I'm not leaving without my bow and arrows." I pointed at my bow and arrows sitting on the desk across from us.

"Don't worry," Darius said. "I wasn't planning on it."

"That's good," I said. "We're going to need something to shoot with if things get a little iffy."

Darius nodded and then we started to look around for a small opening.

Sammy tried prying open her pen while Yaz held Ben on her shoulders as they tried to reach a vent.

"Come on!" Sammy groaned as she kept pulling on the pen door.

"Oh, uh, a little to the left," Ben instructed. "Yeah, okay, maybe if I can get my foot on this I- Whoa!" Ben and Yaz then fell back. Sammy ran over to them to see if they were okay.

"Maybe next time you don't step on my face," Yaz suggested.

"Sorry, when I said left, I'd thought you'd go left," Ben said. "My bad." He then laughed.

I popped a few blueberries in my mouth before offering some to Darius, who was frowning. He took some and rolled them in the palm of his hand. He ate a few before letting the rest roll out of his hand.

"There's gotta be a way out of here," Darius mumbled. "Think."

I watched the blueberries roll towards the drain on the floor and fall down in it.

"There's a way out," I said, pointed to the drain.

Darius looked at me before looking at the drain. His face then lit up. "Chris! You're a genius!" He then hugged me.

"I know," I said, playfully smirking.

I realized something as I grabbed my pocket knife. "And they didn't take this."

Darius, Brooklynn, and I looked at each other before grinning as I bent down and used my knife to pry the drain open. We were greeted with an awful smell.

"That is vile," I said, covering my nose with my jacket.

"I think we found a way into the sewer system," Darius said.

"Defiantly," Brooklynn agreed.

We then heard the footsteps of the clanker-X and quickly put the lid cover back on. The clanker came in a scanned us again.

"All accounted for." The clanker then walked out.

Darius then opened the panel again and coughed at the smell.