The Island

Part 7 - 1

Part 7:

One:

For once on the island, an alarm woke Michael and his roommates. A sound buzzed near Brock's head, which startled him awake. He blinked in confusion and recognized that the sound was an alarm. Brock slapped the snooze button; everyone had stirred by then. "It's Election Day!" Michael merrily said as he rose out of his bunk. He threw his feet over the side and jumped onto the floor. Brock yawned. "Is it really necessary to wake up this early?" He mumbled. "Of course!" Michael happy tone scared Brock a little. It was unlike him. "Michael..." Taylor said sleepily, still lying down. "C'mon, everyone!" Michael called. He took off his shirt, revealing his fit body. Of course he hadn't done a whole lot of exercise since Adin's death, but he still looked very fit and athletic. Michael first went over to Taylor's bed, the one below his. He grabbed her right shoulder and shook it. "Get dressed!" He called. He went over to Randy, who had sat up in his bunk. Even though he was the shortest person in the room, his head nearly touched the ceiling on his top bunk. "Get down here and put on something nice." Michael said, waving down at Randy. He slowly put one foot at a time over the edge of the bunk and let them hang there. He laid down and used the wall to push himself feet first off his bed. Nearly falling, he landed clumsily on the ground. Brock was still in bed along with Taylor, who were obviously not happy about being woken up this early. "Brock! Taylor! Get your asses out of bed!" He called. "Okay, I'm getting up..." Taylor forced herself out of bed and to her feet. Her hair was an absolute mess. She walked over to her dresser, located at the foot of her bed. She shared it with Michael, but he only used one of the five drawers. Taylor had separated all her clothes into the rest of the drawers, making getting dressed much more orderly. She quickly stripped herself of her pajamas and found some descent clothes to wear. She never changed completely in front of the guys - what logical girl would? Taylor turned back around and looked at Michael and Randy. Michael wore some cargo shorts and a collared shirt and Randy wore denim jeans and a Nike sweatshirt. "You all ready?" Michael asked. Taylor looked to Brock, who still was in bed. "Most of us." Taylor replied, gesturing at the tired Brock. Michael looked over too and saw him. "Brock lets go. We need to get a move on." Michael rocked Brock back and forth. Brock turned over in bed and looked up at him. 'Give me a minute." Brock sleepily said. He got out of bed and stretched. He walked past Randy and went to the dresser. Michael went to the closet, looking for his shoes. "I don't know about you guys, but I think I have this one in the bag." Michael said, not bothering to look back to his roommates. "Since you here are voting for me, I already have an advantage of three votes-" "I wouldn't assume that." Randy spoke up. Michael perked up at Randy's words. "What?" Michael turned slowly to Randy. "Excuse me?" Brock transitioned to the situation unfolding behind him. "Randy, you better damn vote for me." Michael hissed. "I don't know who you think you are-" "Shut up. I would really consider voting for me." Michael cut Randy off. "After all, you wouldn't want me to tell them all your little secret." Randy gasped. "I thought you said you'd drop-" "Just stop. This isn't worth discussing with you. Randy, vote for me, or the truth comes out. Plain and simple." Michael paused. "I would recommend voting for me if I were you." He let a silence fall over them, but not for long. He clapped. "Alright, let's head out." No one budged a bit. Taylor and Brock still stood in shock at Michael's words. They breathed slowly and quietly. "Michael, I really think you should let Randy choose-" "Brock, don't." Taylor interrupted. "Let's just get out there and vote for Michael. It's in all our best interests, especially now." Brock looked at Taylor, taking in every word she said. Michael stood at the door, watching and listening to the two. A long pause ensued before Brock finally nodded. "Okay. Let's go." Brock slipped his shirt on and followed the rest out of the room. Michael led them with an expression of anger written on his face. They all were silent, and so was the hall until they past Sara's room. Out of nowhere their door came flying open. Sara and Andie stood there, smiling at each other. Sara jumped a little, not expected Randy, Brock, and Taylor to be in the hall right in front of their room. "Oh hi, guys!" Sara giggled. "Are you ready for elections? This is going to be exciting!" She said. "I'm very ready." Randy replied to her. Michael glared back at Randy. He didn't bother to stop as he turned down the Billiards hall. "Where's Michael?" Sara asked. "He's ahead of us. C'mon." Brock gestured. Sara followed the three out the door. Andie was the last to follow, closing the door behind him. He watched as all of them turned into the Billiards hall. At the end of hall stood Jeanette, in a different dress than yesterday. "Welcome, guys." Andie heard Jeanette say. "Hey, Andie. Looking good today." Jeanette greeted him. "Thank you." Andie replied. "And you're looking nice yourself, too." "Oh, thank you. Anyway, line up at the pantry and wait for your turn to vote. Remember to vote once, don't discuss your vote, ya-da ya-da." Andie nodded. "Alright Jeanette. Thank you. Good luck." "Thanks." She smiled. Andie continued past her and looked to his right. A line of six people stood in front of a glass box. Andie had seen it before, but he had never paid attention to it. Now thinking about it, the glass pantry looked like a fishbowl with windows. Andie took his place in line as the seventh person. In the front of the line, Randy stood and waited for his turn. Michael guarded the pantry door, making sure no two people could be in the pantry at once. A figure emerged at the glass door and tapped on it. Michael opened the door, letting the quiet Emma slip out. "Okay, Randy. Time to vote." Michael said to Randy. "Take as much time as you need." He smiled. Randy advanced into the glass room. Michael patted Randy's back and rubbed it. "Make the right choice." Michael whispered. Before Randy could react, the door was shut on him. Randy looked around him and observed all the boxes, bags, and containers of food. Ramen, Macaroni and Cheese, canned soup, you name it. It stacked all around the pantry. Inside, the same podium from yesterday stood. It held pieces of paper and a pen. Randy approached it and looked down. Taped to the podium, Randy read the note aloud; "Vote only once and place under the podium. Do not tamper with other votes." it read. Randy picked up the pen and looked down at his paper. Voting was nerve-wracking; this was going to be a very difficult decision to make. Almost hurriedly, Randy wrote down the candidate who he thought would lead the island best. He quickly folded his vote and placed it in the shelf in the podium. He went for the door and knocked. Michael opened the door and looked to him. "Did you vote for the best candidate?" Michael asked. "Yes." Randy replied. He shuffled out of the way of the next voter and left Michael. Michael watched little Randy scamper away to the kitchen. He glared. A while later, the candidates disappeared from the dining room. The occupants sat aloud the table, making loud and joyful talk. People like Emma and Andie remained quiet. The anticipation for the candidates to return silenced them. Almost 45 minutes after the last person had voted, the candidates stepped back into the room from the kitchen. The people at the table turned their focus to them. "Since we cannot administer the vote count, we have chosen one of you to count the votes and deliver them to all of us." Jeanette said to her friends. "The person who shall count the votes shall be Logan." Sara said. Her voice echoed a bit in the large room. Everyone's focus shot directly to Logan. She slumped down in her chair, realizing she was about to deliver the fate of everyone in the cabin.