Levi played with the apple in his hands, looking at it boredly. This was all his lunch according to them and so he wasn't planning on wasting any of it. His stomach grumbled loudly with hunger but he still didn't take a bite of it. He had had a good amount of the water in the coconut that was past around, the unflavorful liquid feeling great on his dry throat. Finally, after a few more minutes of staring at the apple, he bit into it.
Paul was moaning weakly in the background as he held onto his leg, making sharp intakes of air through his gritted teeth. During the past few days they've been trapped in this cell, Paul had gotten gradually worse; his leg wasn't healing and, frankly, he didn't look good. Now he was in a corner of the cell, pale and even more sweaty than the rest of them. His breaths were irregular and unsteady. When Harry took a look at his leg wound yesterday, he found that it was infected. You didn't have to be a doctor to tell that. Harry had taken and kept the bandage off since there was no point in keeping it on. It didn't look good for Paul. On the island there wasn't anything to help his leg wound. No one said it out loud, but they all knew he was going to die. And soon.
If it weren't for the small window in the cell they wouldn't have known that it was the third day since Levi, and his four friends were captured. Three days. Three whole days he'd been stuck in that cell with nothing to do but sleep and occasionally make conversation.
However, in addition to that he would also pull out the photo of his daughter, Rylie, and despite the damages done to it, he had come to accept it as it was. It was once again treasure in his eyes and he would be forever grateful that he didn't toss it into the water like he had come so close to doing. That was the only thing that kept him going. He had vowed to make it back alive for Rylie and he was going to do it...somehow. Somehow he'd make it off this island and back home for her. He knew that's what she would have wanted.
He tossed the core of the apple aside on the dirty ground when he was finished with it, only to eventually pick it up and give to them as they didn't want the cell to be too cluttered.
"Levi," Captain Drake said after they collected the apple cores and left, "you never did tell me why you got into a fight."
Levi crossed his arms as he caught a glimpse of Paul who was now slumped over against the wall asleep and snoring slightly. And shrugged. "I just fought with Paul because we wanted to have a match, for fun I guess. I normally wouldn't have, but I got drunk and so did he. In the end, yes, he definitely won." Levi chuckled lightly. "Should have surrendered after the first few punches."
Captain Drake only nodded.
"Are my bruises finally gone? I'd imagine so, right? Or is there still a hint of brown and purple? There aren't exactly any mirrors around."
"You're bruises are gone," he answered simply, not caring to meet his eyes, instead closing his. "You know, I used to get into fights all the time when I was your age. I'd start matches in alleys just to release my anger of my wife's passing." The captain sighed heavily.
"Your wife?" Levi couldn't help but ask. "You had a wife?"
"Yeah. Her name was Peyton," Captain Drake said quietly, frowning at the ground. "She got cancer. Thyroid cancer and the doctors said she would most likely survive, that that was the cancer to get, but they couldn't remove it all. She grew weaker and weaker for months until she died four months after the diagnosis." The captain shook his head sadly, clearing the subject painful to talk about.
"Peyton? Is she who you named the ship after?" Captain Drake nodded slightly and rolled a hand down his face, sighing. "I see," Levi said softly after a moment, before he closed his eyes to sleep the day away since there was nothing really to do anyway. Captain Drake and really everyone else in the cell was doing likewise.
"Levi! Levi!" someone urged in a far away voice. Their words grew clearer and clearer until he recognized Harry's voice and he creaked his sleepy eyes opened.
"Yes?" Levi asked, sleep present in his voice.
"They left the door open! Levi, we gotta go!" His words were quiet but eagered.
He suddenly jolted up with new energy, standing onto his feet. He was right. The cell door was, in fact, open and not a sole was in sight to stop them. But something about this just didn't seem right. "No Harry, we can't go out there," Levi insisted and looked around at everybody else. "It's a test. Please, they'll kill you. Don't fall for it!"
Wendy shook her head, almost rolling her eyes. She held a deep frown as she looked at Levi, clearly in denial of his statement. "Yeah, whatever," she muttered as she carefully and quietly slipped through the door and tiptoed over to the side door.
Harry and levi exchanged an alerted expression, each nervous.
"She ain't coming back," Paul mumbled, back against the wall as he slowly stroked his leg with his hands in an effort to ease the pain a little. He stared expectantly ahead, a frown over his face.
Levi turned to April and Captain Drake and it was clear that they weren't going to sneak off.
Wendy carefully opened the door and tried to do so quietly, but the door still creaked noisy. Wendy froze for a moment before sneaking outside and shutting the door behind her.
"Is there anything we can do? Surely there's something," April insisted, making sure to keep her voice low.
"Just wait," Levi grunted at her, wanting the talking to stop and it did; the following minutes were filled with nothing but complete silence, deafening silence until Captain Drake finally spoke up.
"Think she escaped?" he muttered, asking the question that everyone was wondering as his eyes concentrated ahead, uncertainty in them. No one answered; none knew and therefore none could provide an answer.
The side door suddenly burst open suddenly, revealing an angry man. "So," he boomed, making many of the prisoners flinch, "she thought she could escape, did she?" And a cry of pain could be heard, no doubt Wendy and when she appeared in their sight, it was confirmed. The man had a handful of her hair in his hand as he took a step forward, forcing her to do likewise. "Not on my watch. She's made a big mistake; she fell for it and now she shall face justice!"
With that he walked up to the cell, her hair still in hand, every step of the way another cry of pain coming from her, until he stopped in front of the cell. He used his free hand to lock up the cell and the two left Levi and the others in the cell without another word.
Everyone was quiet; not a word was spoken after this horrific sight. The atmosphere in the cell was tense, all of their eyes wide with both shock and terror. Questions ran through their minds, the one in need of an answer most was whether or not they were going to kill her.
Levi looked around at everyone, feeling both relief and frustration at the same time. He was relieved no one else fell for the test, or course, but he was also frustrated at the captors. Who did they think they were? How could they just lock a bunch of people in a cell and leave them there? Were they supposed to just be okay with it; with spending the rest of their days cooped up in a cell? Or were they are going to kill them eventually?
"No, no," Harry repeated in a quiet voice as he stepped over to the cell bars and wrapped his hands completely around them, his knuckles turning white. And suddenly, only seconds later, his barely audible voice turned into a loud, noisy one. "Get back here! Don't touch her!" he demanded.
"Shh!" Levi tried, finger to lips. "Stop! You'll get in trouble, Harry stop!"
The man continued despite everyone telling him to do otherwise, until Captain Drake stood to his feet and with an arm dragged him away from the bars, his other being used to cover his mouth. And finally his shouts subsided and the captain let go.
Harry eventually sat down next the to wall, his posture defeated. Time ticked, minutes went by, minutes filled by nothing by uncertainty. It would seem their captors weren't coming after all. After all of Harry's ruckus. Maybe nothing would happen.
The rest of the day they all awaited news on Wendy but got nothing out of them. When it was dinner time and when they saw someone coming with their food, the captives asked questions. But to no avail. The woman simply gave them their bread and coconut with water and left, only to come back later to gather the empty coconut.
Levi stood to his feet and paced around in the cell as he thought of how they could possibly escape for the well-over twentieth time in the past three days. Trapped. That's what they were, trapped in a small cage.
"Captain," he said eventually, arms crossed over his small frame, "you told us that we needed a plan, right? Then let's make a plan!"
"Maybe next time someone comes one of us can play sick and they'll come inside...?" Captain Drake suggested a bit hesitant. His thumb was fingering his slightly hairy chin that was getting rather pronounced without any razor for a long period of time; in fact all of the men were getting pronounced facial hair.
"They probably won't care enough to come in and look at the sick person," Paul sighed, before coughing weakly into an arm. Paul himself was sick and they hadn't done a thing to help him, so why would they do something if someone else was sick. No, that plan wouldn't work.
"Or perhaps we could dig ourselves out of here," April suggested, but immediately shook her head at her own idea feeling it was unrealistic. "Can't do that. Anyone else got anything?"
Levi looked around the cell in thought, not that he didn't know his surroundings because he definitely did after being trapped there from so many days, but he did so nevertheless. Wooden walls, dirt floor, hard and rugged cell bars, wooden roof. He and the others had already attempted to break out through the wooden walls, multiple times in fact, but each time they ended up giving up. This place was very well put together to say the least.
Like April suggested they could try digging themselves out; that might work, or instead they could get caught and get into trouble like Wendy did. Wendy. He wondered if they'd ever find out what really happened to her. If the punishment was death, was it quick and painless? Or was it long and painful?
"I don't really see any other option, honestly," Levi said finally, breaking the long silence, "I think we should do what April said, I mean...what else can we do?" They looked at Levi for a moment, before some brief nodding of heads followed.
"Dig? With what, our hands? That's a bad idea, it's horrible! Let's think now, okay? Do you people really think we'll be able to dig ourselves out before we get caught?" Paul spat with frustration, wildly shaking his head.
"Some of us could sit in front of our progress in case anyone comes..." Harry trailed off. "Right? Wouldn't that work?" Paul shrugged, rolling his eyes. But eventually nodded slightly, agreeing with that.
"Maybe," Paul added.
Paul tried to pull himself to his feet, but after numerous attempts he let himself slump against the wall. His eyes were flickering shut as if he were about to go to sleep right then and there. And his breaths were really shallow Levi saw when he watched his chest go up and down. His sickening pale face had layers of sweat, and was mixed into his hair that Paul weakly ran a hand through. Everyone was quiet as they watched Paul with concern, his short and quick breaths all that could be heard.
"You okay?" Captain Drake asked. Levi glimpsed at the captain and found that, he too, looked worried. This may very well have been the first time worry was evident on his face because he normally could hide his feelings well. But not now. Now he was worried; Captain Drake was actually worried.
"Paul? Are you okay?" Captain Drake repeated again when no response was given. Paul nodded slightly, pulling himself up a little.
"Let's just get this escape plan over with," Paul said.
Levi was the first to begin the hole. Knowing the pile of vomit was by the other corner, he crawled over to the other side and began digging, the dirt feeling slightly hard between his fingers, but it wasn't too hard that he couldn't dig.
As he did so, he heard someone crawling over to him and saw that it was April when he took a glance. The two dug and dug, their hands growing tired as Captain Drake and Harry made sure to sit in front of the site just in case.
Everyone's ears were open, listening for any pair of footsteps coming their way and they managed to be alone, without distraction for what felt like a good two hours before a pair could suddenly be heard, following the opening and closing of the door to their room.
Levi and April removed their hands from the site and desperately whipped at them, trying to get rid of the dirt evidence. But they only had merely ten seconds to do so before a man appeared, stepping cautiously toward the cell, a couple coconuts, water inside them, and some bread for them in his hands.
"Here's some food," the man said simply, continuing forward until he stopped just in front of the cell, his eyes that previously were on the stuff in his hands now on the prisoners. And he suddenly held a deep frown with a pair of suspicious eyes. There was a paused. "Why don't you each come get your bread," he said as he tossed the perfectly fine bread onto the ground's filthy surface, making sure it wasn't within reaching distance for any of them and that they'd rather have to come and get it. And then another pause. "Well?" he questioned with irritation.
Levi didn't know what to do and as he thought he subconsciously continued whipping off the dirt from his hands, although they were already acceptable. His breathing picked up speed, knowing perfectly well what the man was asking of them. He wanted each of them to come and get their own bread, but Harry and Captain Drake couldn't. No, they were in front of the site; this wasn't supposed to happen. Had they somehow looked suspicious like they were hiding something?
"I'm really not hungry," Harry insisted, his attempt at holding a neutral expression failing with his lips trembling, and, well, all of him trembling. He was shaking a noticeable amount, and the desperation in his voice didn't help in the least.
The man shrugged with exaggeration, clearing not buying that and his frown only deepened. "You're not?" he chuckled, shaking his head. But the forced laughter stopped short. And he crossed his arms. "Move. Now," he demanded, his instruction directed at all of them, his eyes thoroughly looking over each and every one of them.
Levi glanced at the hole that wasn't exactly small and looked around the ground for something he might be able to place over it. But he soon realized that there was nothing and so he slowly slid the dirt back into the hole and was careful to do so quietly. He patted it down and it almost looked decent, almost normal. But it wasn't enough.
It wasn't enough, so what could they do? Levi thought as he concentrated involuntarily on the ground in front of him. He sighed heavily at the idea that came to his mind, and after a few more moments of thinking he decided to go with it. He prayed it would work out, but he didn't know. Hesitantly, he stood to his feet and stepped forward. He bent down for a piece of bread but stopped and looked ahead at the gloomy hall, seemingly frozen himself. "Wendy?" Levi asked nervously, causing the man to look behind him only to be grabbed at by Levi.
Levi had managed to grab a hold of him through the bars and pulled him forward, banging him into the rugged bars and the man groaned in pain. And Levi did this continuously until he was unconscious. Upon letting go, he fell to the ground with a large thud.
Levi looked at the man that was unconscious on the ground and saw that he was breathing. He was alive, but his breaths were unsteady and shallow. They'd have to keep a close eye on him in case he were to wake up and mess up their escape.
Levi, on his knees, reached through the bars and over to the man, searching one of his pockets and a brief smirk took place on his face. A key was pulled out of his pocket and Levi stood up and, the position looking rather painful, he twisted his arm dramatically to place the key in the lock. He grunted as he turned the key and a click sounded throughout the room. It was unlocked.
Levi quietly opened to cell door the rest of the way and stepped through. I'm through! Levi froze realizing that he was actually out for the first time in days. He had gotten everyone out and now they could escape. Levi smiled as the others made their way out, unable to believe it. It was then that it came to him: he could have done that to begin with.
"Levi? W...what did you do?" Harry blurted out, not caring enough to keep his voice down.
"I don't really know what I just did either, H. I don't really know," Levi said finally, after his froze spell wore off.
"I knew you had it in ya'," Paul chuckled slightly, before coughing into his arm again. "If only you had that kind of determination in the basement."
Harry and April looked between the two confused for a moment.
"Everyone, before we go through that side door we should at least take a few sips of water. Who knows when we'll get this opportunity again," April said, and grabbed to coconut. Paul shook his head when it was past to him, but after some insistence he reluctantly obeyed only to cough the majority up.
It was Harry and Levi who helped Paul up, taking him over their shoulders.
Everyone stopped in front of the side door and stayed that way for a few moments, unable to opened it. They were at ease of what might be behind it.
"Wait," April said and hurried over the abandoned gun laying next to the unconscious man on the floor and she picked it up. "Alright," she breathed, walking back. She prepared herself in front of the side door, gun directed in front of her. "Now."
Captain Drake only nodded to her as he placed a hand over the door, ready to push it open and not a second later he did. They were all greeted with a rather nice breeze on their sweaty faces the moment the door opened, but they didn't have time to enjoy it.
Levi stole a glance at the side of the door and hurried back for cover immediately after doing so. He didn't see anyone. No one. He searched Captain Drake's face after he did likewise and the captain nodded. Captain Drake led the way out, Levi following right after him. All five of them made sure to keep their backs in contact with the wooden house like their lives depended on it. Because they did.
Just ahead was the glamorous forest. It looked beautiful, but Levi knew it was more than likely full of snakes. And so they weren't to run to it.
"April, give the gun to me," Captain Drake instructed, looking at the gun in her hands. "I'm good with them and we may need to use it." She shook her head. "Give it to me! Hand it over!" he whispered harshly, holding out a hand sternly.
"I'm really good with them too. Probably better than you, trust me. I'm a great shot," she insisted, holding the weapon behind her back.
Captain Drake looked at her with frustration, shaking his head. He was clearly not having it. He continued holding his hand out until he got the gun in his grasp after a few seconds of a tense stare down.
"Alright, everyone, here's what we do. It may not be satisfactory to all of you, but I don't care. We're going to do this since this is our only option." He paused, looking at each of them. "Okay?" Heads nodding slightly, and it was then that the captain told them to plan.