"You have been sentenced to life in prison. Your ship will leave tomorrow for the island. Gather your things."
When you've been decided a criminal, you're a criminal. There are no ifs, ands, or buts; whether you did the crime or not. Courts and ju...
"This is why there's no room for kindness in survival," Aurora whispered to herself. She was beginning to shake from the cold, cold ocean water that lapped at her thighs.
"P-please hurry..." Mirage begged.
Jake's fingers began to shake as he worked at the military grade lock. The only thought on his mind was hypothermia. "Almost... almost..." Jake's legs gave way, sending his body underneath the water.
"Oh my god!" Aurora grabbed his arms and helped him stand up again.
He was really shaking after that, but went right back to work on opening the lock, despite his numb fingers.
The second it unlocked, he slid it open just enough for Mirage to slip out, slammed it shut on the other screaming prisoners, grabbed the two girls hands, and ran. It didn't look much like running though, because moving against the water was nearly impossible. By the time the three of them made it to the stairs, the now very angry prisoners were already halfway there.
"Go, go! As soon as they lose sight of us they won't know how to get out!"
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The Jackson's, Oliver, Logan, Kithara, and Audrey pushed the trunks along as fast as they could. Foster had already argued that bringing them was a waste of time when they needed to focus on getting out before the ship sank, Audrey screeched that she wouldn't leave what little she had left, and Oliver settled it all by reminding everyone that they might actually need something from in the trunks in order to survive.
Once they reached the base of the stairway to the upper deck, they started carrying them up. It was a slow process, but ten trunks isn't that many when there are six people to help. When they were down to the last two trunks —the other eight were up on the deck with Logan and Oliver watching to make sure they didn't side away— Jake, Aurora, and Mirage ran up to them, all three soaking wet and shivering.
Kithara recognized Mirage right away. "What happened?"
Mirage's teeth chattered. "W-w-water." Her orange jumpsuit was clinging to her body, just as it was for Aurora and Jake.
"Don't worry, Paradox just came and told us that there is an island somewhere nearby." Kithara tried to comfort her.
Mirage just nodded whilst Nicole and Foster carried up another trunk. Audrey was talking to herself and walking around in circles. Jake was staring off into nothingness, so Kithara tapped his shoulder to get his attention. She wasn't expecting his reaction. He whipped around, picked Kithara up and slammed her against the wall. She whimpered and squirmed, not fully understanding what had just happened. Aurora pulled him off of her, but before she did, Kithara noticed his face. It wasn't Jake, it was a corpse.
"Jake, relax!" Aurora yelled. "No one is going to hurt you!"
Hurt him? Why would he think I was trying to hurt him? Kithara took a step forward, wishing she could help.
