NUMBER THREE.

The First Trial

I wiggled my toes close to the fire, the cool of the night made the sand very chilly and our damp clothes weren't helping, which I now notice is still the grey hospital scrubs. I let Seven continue to rest on my lap as I whisper to One.

"We've got to go look for Four when the sun comes up." He seems to of been ignoring me, poking a stick at the fire, causing sparks of light to dance above it before adding another piece of wood.

"No, we need to find water, and food." One muttered after a long pause, his eyes drifting towards the sound of the open sea that sloshed against the shore. I pondered for a moment, my hand rested on the scuzzy driftwood, feeling the groove of moss under my fingernails.

I looked out towards the sounds of the waves also, taking a deep breath of the salt filled air. "Where do you think we are?" I ask quietly, feeling awkward and uncomfortable at Ones uneasiness since he seemed to be so sure of himself. "I don't know. I've been thinking for hours, they said this is a test but I'm not sure how." His eyes cast downward to his lap as he scratches the scar on the back of his neck, the same procedure done to me by Doctor Pace. "What if they just got rid of us?" I utter, not believing myself as I say it. He shakes his head and a dry laugh emits from his coarse throat, "That would be a blessing." One lifts his head to give me a smile, softer than his previous ones, "I'm going to catch some sleep, you keep watch and wake us when the sun rises."

A good amount of time went by and the sun rise was beautiful, and I must say, a much nicer view than the tree line window. Rays of pink and orange filled the horizon and warmed up my cold skin. I wake Seven first, lightly giving his shoulder a squeeze, his brown eyes blink open and squint at the light of dawn, sitting upward, he leans away from me, his face flushes red, as does his ears in shyness. I wake One by giving his foot a few kicks with my own.

"Are we going to find Four now?" Seven croaks outwardly, his voice laced with concern and determination. I look to One, not knowing if he's the smartest decision maker but seems to have more knowledge on survival than the rest of us present. One gets up abruptly, and starts searching the shore line in silence, I follow suit, not exactly knowing what I'm looking for, and Seven cautiously stays in my shadow.

"What are we looking for?" I ask finally, as One didn't seem to collect anything. "Something human or traces of a fresh water source." He doesn't even look at us as he speaks.

"I know where water is." Seven announces confidently, and abruptly stops walking, "Not the ocean numb nuts, theres salt in it." One rolls his eyes, and it's the first sentence that had his attitude in it since we arrived here. "No, I know where clean water is. I can feel it." I look at Seven bizarrely, as does One. "You can feel it?" I ask, looking down at his smaller frame. "Yeah! Follow me." With that, Seven takes off into the forest.

One and I following suit, in disbelief. The forest floor scratches at the bottoms of my bare feet, as Seven treks on for awhile, climbing over forest debris, as if he had a map of a precise location.

"Listen kid, theres no wa-" Just as One was about to argue, we heard it, the soft sound of a river flow. One and I share a look of shock as we pick up into a run towards the sound, the sound got louder until we reached it through some thick bushes. Seven was right, there was a clearing with a stunning river coursing through it, and the water was sparkling and fresh. We all drop to our knees and begin cupping the water into our mouths, ignoring the damage the river rocks are doing to our knees. I felt as if I could cry as the relief hit my dry, coarse throat. We all sit back, out of breath and happy.

"I guess they weren't wrong when they said we have abilities." I ponder on the thought, my gaze turning to look at Seven quizzically, "I wonder what else we can do." The ginger boy smiles proudly, wiping water off his chin. "Maybe I'm like a superhero." His eyes light up at the idea, causing One to chuckle and shake his head.