The 7 Plan

Chapter 4

I'm all alone. This is my second night on the island. The ocean turned into a pit of slick oil and reflected the sallow glow from the constellations above. I wrapped my arms around my legs and sighed. For the first time in over two years, I felt like giving up. There was no more hope for me, I was sure I would die here. I scouted the whole island, and there was not even a damn coconut in this place. I suspected there wouldn't be any, the radiation has killed off or mutated most of the animals and plants, but it wasn't the radiation that worried me. My only concern was starvation. I chuckled at the irony. Our world has fabricated suits that could protect us infinitely from radiation, but we still couldn't end world hunger. Our ancestors must be disappointed.

I didn't care about my future as much as the future of this planet. There would be no more hope for it once the Determinators "saved" the world. All of human civilization will have turned into throng of mutations too; humans physically, but controlled by a computerized chip mentally. The 7 Plan was just a piece of paper but the most destructive thing that mankind would never know.

I couldn't let Boss get away with this, he didn't deserve to. I have to escape. I couldn't let the whole world turn into a mass of robots; I had to at least try something.

"Hello!" I screamed. My voice just bounced off the clouds and back to my ears, I listened for a few minutes but there was no answer. No one was around me.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"When should I press the button Boss?" Keaira questioned. She was glancing down at the transparent, circular table glowing with a single red dot inside an irregular oval.

"Why are you so eager to press the button?" Boss snapped.

"Sorry, I was just trying to follow your orders. What's up with you today, anyway?" Keaira stared at him curiously, Boss never got angry, or at least he never showed it.

"I'm sorry Keaira," he said sincerely, "I was up all night; the lack of sleep must be getting to me."

"So...should I press the button now?"

"No, not yet. I want-" He caught himself. He was hoping to give Alatea enough time to find her way off the island, but he couldn't say that aloud.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Help! Help! Can anyone hear me?" My voice croaked for the hundredth time. I could feel my hoarse vocal chords straining for rest. I knew no one was around me, but my voice wouldn't stop screaming.

I decided to pull out The 7 Plan again, hoping for anything. I figured if Boss left one clue, maybe he left another. For some reason, I kept feeling this magnetic force dragging my hand to that piece of paper, some gut feeling, so I gave into it. Unfortunately, I've stared at this crinkled piece of paper all of yesterday, until the sun cast an orange glow on the tiny flakes of sand and sinuous trees; dipping them in gold, but found nothing. Now, as the ghostly moon rose higher in the charcoal sky, I unfolded the paper once again and glanced at its familiar contents. I scanned over the note Boss wrote to me, which was of no use to me now, since I already left the ship. It just bothered me that if he was trying to help me, and knew I was leaving that night - which meant that I didn't see the note - why wouldn't he stop me?

Concentrate. I couldn't think about Boss's mental games now, I would find that out when I got back to the ship, if I ever found my way back there. I read over every blurred line, every fake word, every vacant space. Nothing. I groaned and shoved the useless paper back into my pocket. My fingers suddenly brushed across a small silky cube, and I pulled it out curiously.

"How could I forget?" I whispered astonished. How could I forget about the one thing that all of us Determinators carried around at all times, the one thing that could keep us alive? It was my ESC-pack. I can escape.

I automatically rushed to the rocky edge of the island and unwrapped the fabric from the metallic cube. It let off a red glow from the numerous buttons that covered its surface. My fingers slickly pressed the buttons, then set my ESC-pack down on one of the smooth rocks. Seconds later the cube let out a jarring scream and inflated into my speedboat. It bobbed in the water, the boat's slick surface reflecting the faint starlight. Meanwhile, I heard a low buzzing and mindlessly threw up my hand to swat away the pest swarming around my ear. The noise didn't stop though, and I curiously turned back to look where its source was coming from. I didn't notice the difference at first, but after a few seconds of staring, I realized the forest of palm trees was growing thinner. It looked like something was slowly consuming the island; the trees would sizzle until they disappeared into thin air. The buzzing grew more thunderous as that "something" got closer. What was going on? Well, I knew one thing; I wasn't going to stay and watch that "something" get to me.

I hopped into the speedboat and pulled the lever to start the engine. The buzzing had become deafening, like millions of bees were swarming inside my ears. The boat jolted forward as I twisted the throttle. I ripped into the grayish water, then turned my head to look back at the island, but to my surprise, found nothing there.

"How is that possible?" I whispered to myself. I looked ahead at the desolate water that stretched before me. It was like the island was just soaked up into the sky. Was I having hallucinations now? Yep, I must be going crazy. I risked another glance and again saw the vacant space where the island used to be, it was as if it had never existed. Then a long buried image exploded in my mind. A tiny red button enclosed in a glass case inscribed with the word DELETE, connected to a circular table that had a holographic map of the world. I can't believe it. They deleted the island.

"What a plan, drawing an island just to get me off the ship." I grumbled. The team had the power to create or destroy anything on this earth that they wanted. It was sickening. I was going to change that, I was. I hope they thought I drowned.

I had no idea where I was, but I remembered the directions Boss gave me before I left the ship. I hoped they were right because they were all I had. It seemed logical to start with the strongest Division first though. The 7 Plan would begin in two days, and I hoped that would be enough time to find my way back to the ship.