Taken (On Hold)

Chapter 5

"Okay, here's the plan," I say, gathering my friends into a huddle. "We need to find a bunch of long planks of wood or logs, and something to tie them together. Rope would be ideal, but I doubt we'll find anything like that here on this island, so we can make do with vines or something."

"How should we split up the supply gathering?" asks Eri. They both turn to me. I guess I'm the unofficially elected leader of our group.

I think about this. "I think two of us should look for the wood, since we need more of it and it will probably be harder to find. Anybody want to volunteer to go after the vines by herself?"

"I can," Eri offers.

I nod. "Okay, meet back here by dusk, even if you haven't found enough yet. We don't want to lose track of each other."

"Will do." Eri leaves in search of vines.

"Do you want to search together, or should we work separately?" Amy Rose asks me.

I think about this. "We would cover more ground if we split up."

"Okay," Amy Rose agrees. "See you tonight, then." We head off in opposite directions.

 *        *        *

Several hours later, I've only found one decent piece of wood. I knew the raft idea was a long shot anyways, but I can't help feeling disappointed. Deep down, I had really thought this plan might work.

My mood instantly changes, however, when I get to the top of a large hill. My eyes widen when I see a pile of logs at the bottom. Jackpot!

I pick up as many as I can carry and make a mental note of the location so we can get more logs if we need them. Then I make my way back to the rendezvous point as quickly as I can while dragging a bunch of logs.

Eri is already there, sitting on a small rock next to a pile of vines. She smiled as I approach her. "Hi, Megan. Looks like you've had a lot of luck searching."

"Yeah," I agree. "And you did too, I see."

"I wonder how Amy Rose is doing," she muses.

As if in cue, I hear her footsteps behind me, and I turn to greet her. But my words die in my mouth as I realize the footsteps belonged not to Amy Rose, but to Leyla.

I didn't know she was here too. Can this situation get any worse? Wait, pretend I didn't say that. I don't want to jinx anything.

"Well, what have we here?" she asks with false sweetness. "If it isn't the oh-so-amazing Megan." Her lips curl into a sneer. "But Megan isn't all that amazing, is she? When it comes down to a situation like this, she's not that much better than the rest of us."

"She came up with a plan for escape, which is more than you could ever do," Amy Rose says hotly. She just returned from her search, but I didn't see her until she came to my defense. I smile gratefully at her.

"Oh, do tell," Leyla says, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "What is this brilliant escape plan you've put together?"

"We're building a raft," Eri explains cheerfully. "We're going to sail off this island. Would you like to join us?" I grit my teeth, and Amy Rose stiffens, but Eri doesn't notice. She continues to smile sweetly at my nemesis. That's the only thing about Altruisme. They're nice to everybody, even jerks like Leyla. But it's definitely better than being a jerk to everyone, so I'm not complaining.

"I think not," Leyla answers snidely. "I wouldn't trust anything that Amy Rose and Megan put together."

"That wasn't called for," Eri says softly, and I am touched. People from Altruisme rarely take sides in arguments, so I am honored that she is standing up for me.

"Whatever," Leyla shrugs. "See you around, losers. On second thought, I don't actually want to see any of you again, so hopefully this is goodbye forever." Then she turns and stalks off.

Eri stares after her. "Wasn't she from Taide, like you?"

"Yup," says Amy Rose.

"I thought only Class A people acted like that."

I laugh humorlessly. "Nope. And she's not the only one either."

Eri shook her head. "How . . . shameful." I can't help but smile a little. A lot of Class B kids are really innocent, being such nice people and all.

Amy Rose shifts uncomfortably. "Anyways, guys, I don't know how successful you were, but I couldn't find any - " She stops when she catches sight of the pile of wood I lugged over here. "Wood," she finishes after a moment. "Where on earth did you find all that? I walked all over the whole island, and I didn't find a single decent piece of wood!"

I roll my eyes playfully. "Obviously not the whole island, Amy, you missed the big honking pile of logs that I found."

She glares at me, but I know she isn't really mad. "Well, half the island, at least," she insists.

"What can I say, Amy? I guess you just have. to be awesomely cool like me."  

 She smacks my arm lightly. "Show off," she mutters.

"Anyways!" Eri interrupts loudly. "With the woodpile you found, Megan, we probably have all the supplies that we need within our reach."

Amy Rose smiles. In a rare moment of optimism, she declares, "I do believe that we will successfully escape this island together!"

And so it looks like they will escape. There may only be one more chapter or two left in the story. Then again... There might not. You never know what might happen. By the way, can anyone tell me what movie inspired Amy Rose's last comment? It's worth a dedication to the first person to get it right. ;) Sorry this chapter was slow, but hopefully you enjoyed it enough to keep reading!

-Lucia<3