When I wake, I immediately spot Kate and Jack sitting on one of the logs beside each other. They are facing me, watching me as I sleep to make sure I am OK – presumably. I don’t spot Aaron and I feel as though my face frowns slightly, which Kate seems to notice because she explains that he has gone hunting for food. I nod my head and pretend to be unfazed by his absence, secretly though I wish he had woke me up and taken me with him.
I climb from my sleeping bag and sluggishly approach the duo. I take a seat next to Kate and she smiles weakly at me. ‘’You OK?’’
‘’Fine,’’ I nod.
‘’Nightmares again?’’ she asks.
‘’Mmhmm.’’
‘’About what?’’ she questions.
‘’I keep having flashbacks of how we got here. First I saw Niamh and I get abducted, then we were taken to some building and just now I saw our bracelets being put on. It ended with us about to be sent to board the planes that took us here,’’ I explain, the two nod as I speak – taking in what I am saying carefully.
‘’I’ve been having some too, but they’re all way too hazy, I can’t decipher anything and I forget most of it when I wake up,’’ she explains.
‘’Mine are so vivid, it’s like I’m living the moments again.’’
‘’Have you learnt anything about the people that run this thing?’’ she asks.
‘’We’re not the first people they’ve done this to. I think they do this annually,’’ I explain as I recall the man’s words.
Both of their jaws drop; Kate’s quite dramatically, Jack’s only slightly.
‘’What?’’ gasps Kate, ‘’how do they get away with it?’’
‘’I don’t know.’’
‘’Do the survivors not tell someone?’’ she questions, ‘’surely they tell someone!’’
I shrug my shoulders and repeat, ‘’I don’t know Kate.’’
‘’What if there are no survivors?’’ she asks.
‘’Kate.’’ I say, slightly angry this time. She jumps back slightly.
She stares at me for a moment in shock and what could be sadness.
‘’I’m sorry, but don’t say that. They must drug the survivors so they have no memory, like they did already to us.’’
‘’Think about it,’’ begins Kate again, ‘’nobody knows where we are...we don’t even know where we are...’’
She is beginning to panic, I can tell by the tone in her voice and her shaky mannerisms that she is losing the one thing that gets me through the days here, that helps me turn a blind eye on the horrors that we witness each day – hope.
‘’I might find out if I have another flashback,’’ I suggest, trying to be more positive.
‘’We’re going to die,’’ utters Kate. Jack places his hand on hers and she looks at him. I can tell that there are tears threatening to pour from her eyes, this island is beating her.
‘’I promise you Kate, we are getting off this island alive if it kills me,’’ I vow and only afterwards do I realise the tragic irony in my poor choice of words.
She nods, although there is as little conviction in her nod as there is in my promise.
We sit quietly for the next thirty minutes or so, waiting eagerly for Aaron’s return. I know each of us is hoping that he brings something back with him, we really need the energy. As we wait, I go through the details of my flashback in my head.
How have they gotten away with this for so long? Surely someone must have reported this...
Even though I explained to Kate that they will probably inject us with some sort of amnesia-inducing liquid, I cannot find solace in this theory. Surely if the effects of the injection are wearing off on me now, they must have worn off on the other survivors. It makes so little sense.
Even thought I yelled at her for suggesting it, what if there are no survivors? What if nobody makes it off the island? What if we have all been brought here to die?
Stop it Alice.
Also, why did the woman say that only five candidates would be flying on each of the two planes? There are, well there were twelve of us at the start...so why only ten? What does that mean? Were the mutes sent separately? Were two already on the island? There is so much I still don’t know. So much I still don’t understand. With the way things are going, it’s unlikely I’ll ever know.
Subtly, I watch Jack and Kate in my peripheral vision. The two are still sitting with their shoulders pressed against one another and their hands intertwined. Kate speaks to Jack quietly and he responds with either a nod or a shake of his head.
I can’t imagine a relationship with someone in which only one person spoke, it is strange. But then again, that is probably due to my lack of experience with anything like that. Perhaps when all this is over, Jack’s vocal chords may be able to be fixed. If not, maybe he’ll be able to get whatever Stephen Hawking has to aid his speech. If all else fails, he could just use a keyboard to communicate.
It’s quite sad really what they did to poor Jack. He may never be able to speak again; he may never be able to express to Kate how he really feels for her. What is scary is how close I came to being in his position. If it were not for the apparent kindness of that familiar voice that saved me, I would be in his position! That thought is truly frightening.
I desperately try to remember the voice from my dream and try to think of where I recognise it from. It doesn’t make sense, I can’t remember much from normal life, let alone people so it only makes sense that I recognise the voice because they are here on the island with us.
But what does that mean?
Was the voice that saved me someone on the red team? Or perhaps the blue? If so, then why weren’t they lying on the bed like the rest of us? It seemed as though they were working with the people behind this.
A traitor?
As the word flashes in my mind, my thoughts flood with possibilities all at once. It is almost overwhelming. Perhaps that’s why only ten of us flew here, because there are really only ten candidates, plus two spies working here for the sickos behind this. The more I think about it, the more sense it makes – despite how much I wish it didn’t.
But if there are two spies, then who is the spy on our team? Jack? Kate? Aaron?
Neither of those three seems like viable options. It seems practically impossible that it could be Jack considering he is a mute. The voice I heard was speaking about mutes so I know it cannot be Jack. Although it is never right to assume, it could still very well be him.
I know it can’t be Aaron, from the very start he has taken control and kept us safe. He has managed to bring food to us and defend us from the enemy. If he was the traitor – assuming there even is one – why would he bother saving us? Why bother prolonging his own time here on the island?
Kate doesn’t seem like the kind of person to do that, she is too nice. Although that’s what she’d want me to think if she was plotting against me. She has played it so innocent this whole time, is she acting? Is it faked?
Stop it Alice.
I sigh. I’m already turning myself against my friends even though I’m not even sure there is a traitor. Perhaps the spy is already dead. Maybe it was Robbie or Eve. Surely the people that run this can’t have control over how things play out. There’s no way that they could keep the spies alive in something as unpredictable as this.
The time seems to drag by as I await Aaron’s return. All I want is for him to get back so I can share my worries with him, he has so far proven very calming when it comes to comforting me. I don’t like being alone here with just Kate and Jack, I feel as though I am intruding on them and I don’t trust them enough to share my conspiracy theories of a traitor amongst us – especially considering it could very easily be one of them.
The noise of my starved stomach rumbling interrupts my reverie I clutch it to stop the noise. Neither Kate nor Jack look at me, but they definitely heard it. I am surprised how little I actually think about my hunger, I suppose fear is the dominant feeling here, it pushes all the others aside.
Hurry up Aaron, I silently think to myself, stay safe.
I can’t imagine what would happen to us if Aaron was to be ambushed by the red team while out hunting for food. We would be screwed. It would definitely be over for us. He is the driving force behind our team. It is because of him that I am still alive. It is because of him that we have made it this far. Hopefully it will be because of him that we get off this godforsaken island.
‘’I’m going to the toilet,’’ I state, getting to my feet and beginning to walk from the clearing.
‘’Want me to come with you?’’ asks Kate however I shake my head.
‘’I’ll be fine,’’ I smile weakly and head into the cover of the trees.
I walk a few meters, disappearing into the trees and search for a place to squat. As I get to my hunkers, and place my hands on my trousers – about to pull them down – a hand clamps over my mouth and a second wraps around my throat. I try to scream but the hand blocks out all noise.
I am dead.