NUMBER THREE.

Sink or Swim

We all sat leaning back slightly, our stomachs full and pushing past our waist band limits, good thing these pants had an elastic band for the waist.

"I hope we don't have to go back to our rooms." Number four spoke, her eyes not leaving her hands, breaking the silence that we were sitting in for forty minutes. Number one let out a laugh, his two plates scrapped clean, "I could run a marathon right now." A hard slap bounced off his stomach before he let a burp escape his mouth, causing Seven to giggle profusely. "Not without puking," I smirked in his direction, he almost got a retort back at me but the sound of the doors unlocking and opening cut him short.

"Was your food satisfactory? You must of all been very hungry." Dr Sephiran elegantly strutted herself back into the cafeteria as the question left her lips, she didn't allow us to reply. "You guys are going to need it!" She beckoned us from our seats with a motion of her hand, the two guards waiting by the doors for us to follow demands.

Seven got up hastily, his chin wobbling slightly already, Four and I followed behind, One was the last to leave the table, a loud dramatic sigh was heard as he followed the demand.

The hall seemed to go forever, a never ending amount of unlabelled doors.

I wonder how they remember where everything is.

Just as I began to get lost in my thoughts, we reached a wider corridor with no doors decorating the walls. In fact, the walls were decorated with more masked guards causing a swelling in my chest.

I didn't notice two were closing in on little Seven until Four let out a defensive shout. I snapped my sight to the sound to see a syringe filled with the same unnatural blue lodged in Sevens neck, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as he goes limp in one of the guards arms. Number One was shouting profanities and throwing blows against the three guards trying to restrain him to administer a similar needle, I didn't have time to see if they succeeded as large hands captured my upper arms, I kick, causing me to hit the ground in a forward motion, throwing one of the guards over my head into a somersault. He crashes harshly to the floor as black dots my vision, a sharp pain pushed against the middle of my back, consciousness losing me.

*

I awoke in darkness and attempted to inhale a deep breathe, to realize I wasn't able to. Surrounding me, was a large body of water, and I was no where near the top. Panic started to swell in my chest as my lungs began to scream for relief of oxygen. Swimming frantically, I thread the water, boosting myself upwards, all the muscles in my body pulsating and getting weaker by the second. The light of the surface was just appearing into view and my body felt faint, the corners of my vision becoming blurry as water seeps into my nostrils as my lungs try to fill themselves.

I breach the surface, water spluttering from my mouth as I cough, choking on the air I forcefully inhaled. My whole body ached as I struggled to stay afloat, my muscles disagreeing with me. I search the horizon and see nothing besides a small island in the far distance and some drift wood.

I swim towards the drift wood, securing it comfortably under my armpits I allow myself to float for a moment, letting my lungs recover. The rest is short lived as a figure splashed to the surface of the water, about 15ft ahead of me, but they were struggling to stay afloat. I hurry forward, realizing quickly that it's Number Seven, his freckled face gasping and red as he frantically looks in my direction.

He grabs onto the other end of the drift wood, his breathing harsh and constricted as he lays his head against the wood, the water lapping against his forehead as his breathing slowed. I rub his back as he coughs, reaching to his neck, I check his pulse to make sure he isn't going into shock. Surprisingly he seemed okay, although he did look exhausted.

Once Seven regained his breath, we start to swim towards the small island, using the drift wood as a floaty. The sun began to set against the horizon, painting the sky with pinks, oranges and reds as we reached the shore, with our weak legs we barely step into the sand before falling against it, the uneven ground against my head felt more like a pillow.

I sit myself back on my bum, squinting in the evening glow that has dimmed significantly since we hit the sand. Surrounding the beach was a dense tree line, unlike the tree lines I saw previously, these are more tropical like trees, not pine and filled the island.

"Where is Number Four?" Number Seven asked in a croak, his stumbley legs standing as he began to frantically look around. I followed suit, searching the tree line with my eyes as I peered past Sevens small frame.

"Four and One can't be far if we're both here." I step ahead of him, feeling somewhat responsible for Seven due to his age, he is obviously very frightened and not one to give direction.

"We need to set up a camp, night is coming fast and it's going to be cold. We'll have to find them at daylight." We begin to walk the tree line, collecting dead branches that have fallen over time, we quickly had a pile of fire wood that would last the night.

Just as I dropped my last collection of wood on the pile, Seven let out a yell, waving his arms frantically in the dark.

"Its One!" I hurry myself in his direction, to see him standing beside a form face first in the sand.

He's not breathing.

One is a larger guy, at least 6ft in height, and wider set than the rest of us, I struggle to push him over to his back.

After a few tries, Seven and I manage to flip him over, I realize quickly that he is not breathing at all. Reacting quickly, I begin to preform CPR, after pushing chest compressions, I breathe air into his lungs and repeat. My effort feels useless as One lays there motionless.

Leaning him on his side, I slam three hard smacks into his back before slumping backwards. All to be heard was the lapping of water against the sand and Sevens sniffling.

I felt frustration build up into tears as a loud gasp filled the air, jumping forward I grab Ones shoulders as he upheaves all of lunch onto the sand along with the water that filled his stomach. Spluttering he dry heaves some more before laying back down, disoriented. Seven lets out a big breath of relief as I start laughing, my hands shaking as adrenaline overwhelms me.

"Where the fuck did you learn CPR?" The coarse tone of Ones damaged voice took me off guard, as he sat himself upward he turned his head to me.

"I-I don't know." I shrugged half heartedly and stood back to my feet, offering a hand down to One. "We need to make a fire." He ignored my hand and stood tall, attempting to dust the sand off his wet skin. Where did I learn CPR?

"It's dark." He paused, looking at both of us in the shadows with a squint, "Where's Four?"

"We don't know, we just found you." Number Seven piped up, his tone laced with concern and disappointment. I started to walk towards our fire wood pile and came to realize I don't know how to start a fire. I hesitated to ask anyone else.

Number One came up behind me and kicked lightly at the wood pile, and did a small head shake.

I sat myself on a log adjacent to the pile of wood as One walked off towards the tree line, Seven sat to my left.

I didn't realize I fell asleep until the light and warmth of a fire woke me. Number One sat quietly, his tan skin paled in the night as flames danced shadows across his bumpy nose. I rubbed my eyes sheepishly, leaning away from Seven who ended up using my side as a pillow and snored soundly on the log beside me.

"Where did you learn how to make a fire?" He blinked at me in surprise, seeming to be lost in his thoughts as a smirk creeped the corner of his mouth.

"The same place you learned CPR."

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