The Island

Part 5 - 4

Four:

In the room next door, Michael stood in the middle of the room, facing Randy and Brock. The door was a bit open; Taylor had gone to use the restroom. "Okay, what should I say in my speech?" Michael asked his friends. He grabbed his handy notepad he had packed for some odd reason. He looked up to the boys, sitting on Brock's bunk. "I don't know." Randy shrugged. Michael looked to Brock. "Anything?" Michael asked him. Brock pondered his thoughts for a second. "You should give reasons not to vote for the other candidates." Brock began. "Oh, I like that." Michael nodded, writing Brock's words on his page. Brock continued. "And say how you suggested democracy first when Sara and Andie basically stole investigating from you." Brock said. "That's really good." Michael nodded, still bent over, writing Brock's words down on his notepad. As Michael was finishing up, the door squeaked and Taylor appeared. Michael looked over to her. "Hey." She greeted him. Michael looked back at his notes. "Have anything useful for my speech?" He asked. Taylor saw Randy and Brock on the bunk. She threw her purse down and walked over to them. Taylor took a seat in between them. Once she sat down, Taylor pondered Michael's question. She thought about what Michael could do for her as a leader; first off, she'd be close to authority. She thought of that first as a bad thing, but then she realized something - being close to authority offers protection. She knew if Sara was leader, her first goal would be to punish her number one suspect. And more likely than not, she was on the top her list. If not, it's Brock or Michael. Taylor concluded Michael needs to become leader. "Michael..?" Taylor asked Michael. He looked up. "Yes?" He asked her. Taylor inhaled. "Will you protect us?" Taylor looked at Brock. "If you become leader, will you protect Brock and I from Sara? I think she's going to blame us," She gestured to herself and Brock. "for Adin's murder." "Of course I will." Michael replied. "Why wouldn't I? I know you both didn't do it." "Thank you." Taylor said to Michael. He looked up from his writing. "There's no need to thank me. It's the truth. I know it's the truth." Michael replied back to her. He continued writing his last thoughts on an abstract ideas page he made that he will use for a rough draft for his speech. "What do you plan on doing when you become leader?" Randy asked in the middle of a pause between the four. Michael stopped writing. "Well, it's hard to say. I kind of want to inspect the cabin for food. We aren't going to last forever on Jeanette and Carmen's delicious meals. We're already losing a lot because of snacking. I know I'm guilty of that, but the main reason is just for our sake. We might run out sometime; and I want to prevent that basically." Michael replied. "Why can't you inspect the food cabinets now?" Randy questioned Michael again. "Have you seen Jeanette and Carmen? Especially Jeanette - she's protective of the food. It's almost kind of scary-" "Michael, finish writing down ideas." Taylor interrupted. Michael looked at her. "What's the rush?" Michael said, teasingly. "I don't know." Taylor replied, shaking her head. She sighed. "To be honest, I'm anxious about this election. I really hope you get elected." "What if he doesn't get elected?" Randy looked at Taylor. Michael still looked at all of them. Brock scooted away from the two, noticing Michael's changing face. His natural smile became a dismal frown. "What is that supposed to mean?" Michael questioned Randy bitterly. Randy smirked. "Well, I'm exploring all the possible scenarios." Randy replied with a smile. Michael's eyes locked on Randy's in a look of fury. "You better damn vote for me." Michael bitterly said to Randy, still standing in his original spot. "You wouldn't want this whole thing to come crashing down on your shoulders, now would you?" "Michael, I think that's enough-" Brock tried. "After all," Michael ignored Brock. "there's been a murder." "What do you mean by that-" Randy tried, but was cut off my Michael sudden movements. He threw his notepad onto the bunk overhead Randy, Brock, and Taylor and turned to the door. He suddenly walked out.