The 7th Child

Chapter 14: The Plan

May, 2016

It had been months since the children had removed the chips that were inhibiting their ability to escape, but the plan still had to be made. And now, after many near misses, failed plans, and paranoia on the part of both Jennifer and the kids, they finally had a full proof plan. A way to get off the island, a safe place to go to, and no way that anyone could stop them. The Doctor was getting suspicious though. He started noticing some patterns, certain people being certain places at regular times, though whenever he questioned it, it always amounted to nothing. Ikemi took special care to ensure that he didn't have anything to accuse them of, the kids or the adults. They all knew what would happen if they got caught, especially if the children got caught even conspiring to escape. The night before the attempt, the children all got together to discuss one last time to learn what the plan was. "We need to make sure we get this right," Ikemi states as they all sat in a circle in their room, for what they hoped was the last time, "We'll only have one shot at this.". "We need to be precise, silent, and quick if we're gonna make this work." Levia adds. "Guys, are we sure about this?" Apollo asks nervously, "I mean I'm all for leaving this place, but imagine what happens if we get this wrong," "We'd get caught," Legai responds "And be in the Box for the rest of our lives," Jackson continued, "This place would become Alcatraz," Lenani added, "Not to mention they would probably kill Jenn, and everyone else that's helping us." Aajiah said, finishing the dreadful thought. "We can't let that happen." Legai said in reply to the thought of his mother being killed.

Ikemi redirects the attention back to her, "Which is why we need to get this right, now let me go over this with you guys." She says, trying to keep her voice down. Just then a shadowy figure crept up behind her, scaring all of them and catching them off-guard, "Go over what?" A deep and condescending voice said from behind Ikemi. Ikemi let out a small yelp as she was startled by the figure coming up behind her, "OH! Doctor.. Uh hi. What's up?" She said, trying not to sound suspicious. "What are you preparing for 03?" The Doctor said, with his usual stern voice. Though his voice was always slightly menacing, especially to the children, he only ever addressed them by their number if they did something to upset him, and upsetting him usually led to the Box. They had to tread carefully. "Uh...um just this new research idea that I've been having. T- to study Aajiah's powers." She said, with the best smile she could conjure hiding the terror behind her eyes. "Very well then," The Doctor said, "Let's hear it." He said, putting all of them on the spot. Legai, thinking on his feet, jumps in to reply, "We can't tell you, we want it to be a surprise. It'll be done soon though." He says, jumping in between Ikemi and The Doctor. The Doctor looked down in suspicion, "You remember the last surprise project, do you not?" He said, calling attention back when Aajiah's headband malfunctioned, resulting in multiple injuries. "That time was different, sir." Ikemi insisted. "That was a solo operation. But I've gotten everyone's help on this so that we can all make sure nothing goes wrong." She says, gesturing to everyone else in the room. All the other kids unanimously nod in agreement. The Doctor gave a slight grunt of disapproval, and was about to say something before Jennifer came into the children's room as well, "Doctor, could you help me with something?" She says, rather urgently. The Doctor turns to her, "In a moment." He said dismissively before turning back to the kids. Jennifer insists, "It's just that it's kind of serious so I thought you would want to know about it." She says, pointing towards the hallway gently, looking in between him and the kids. The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Fine, I'm coming." He says, turning from the kids to Jennifer as he walks into the hallway. Jennifer, winking to the kids with a warm smile, follows him quickly.

"Jenn coming in clutch, nice." Jackson whispered as the door closed. "Let's make it count," Levia said, "Go over the plan." She demanded Ikemi. Ikemi, although not appreciating the hostility, proceeded, "Ok, so here's what we know," She said, rejoining the circle, "We know that there are armed guards on the island. Now they circulate shifts every 2 hours. Which means there is a 3 minute window every night at exactly 12am. So if we're gonna move at any time. That's when we should do it. Everyone is asleep, and everyone else is busy circulating shifts. Now I've installed some micro-cameras around the place to figure out how to navigate the Facility during our window. I figured out after a lot of watching that one guy by the docking port takes 2 minutes to get off the dock, and the other guy takes 2 minutes to reach it, cause he comes through the dining room and then straight out the courtyard." She says. Apollo interjects, "But that only leaves us with a minute, we'd never make it." He says, everyone silently agreeing with him. "Exactly," Ikemi replies, "I was stumped for a while, but then I realized a simple trick that could help us." She said, about to continue but as soon as she finished her statement, Lights out was called and the lights in their room went out automatically. Ikemi reactively lit a smile fire in her hands to provide light for them. "Anyways, here's what I'm thinking. The only reason he gets to the dock as quickly as he does is because he cuts through the dining room and into the courtyard." Ikemi continues. "So we need to make a road block." Jackson said, following her train of thought. Ikemi snapped and pointed in his direction, "Yes. I'm thinking that Levia could cause some kind of flooding incident. Something believable that can't be traced to us. Then our guy would not only lose his bonus time," She said, gesturing for them to reach her conclusion.