Jordyn
The high-pitched noise starts to fade, and I open my eyes, leaving my chin resting on Sam's shoulder. The monkeys have retreated, but several dead bodies litter the shore. Their cries are nothing more than an annoying buzz in my ears.
"Are you okay?" Sam says to me. His eyebrows turn down in concern. I only nod as he begins to walk out of the water.
"What in the world was that?" Kaia yells, digging her fingers into her ears. She shakes her head as Neil rubs his temples.
Sam lowers me into the dry sand, and I stumble away from him in a deafened shock.
"It sounded like an alarm," he yells back.
"How in the world did a bunch of monkeys make that horrific sound?" Kaia asks.
Sam and Neil both shrug. I walk away from their conversation to inspect the body of a nearby monkey. Sam follows, looming behind me protectively.
I lift the tiny body up and cradle it in both hands.
"It's so light," I whisper. My hearing is almost completely back by now.
"What?" Sam yells in my ear. I cringe and glare at him.
"Stop yelling," I mumble. "I said it's really light."
He crouches down beside me and reaches for another body.
"What in the world," he says in awe. In one swift motion, he draws his knife out and sticks it into the center of the tiny animal's stomach. He jerks the knife downward through the fur. I expect to see blood and organs, but nothing comes out of the huge gash. Sam furrows his brow further and pulls the stomach of the animal apart like double doors.
"It's a machine," I say, wide-eyed.
Mechanics make up the bulk of the animal. Gears, beams, and wires surround a metal box in the center. Sam reaches his hand out and pulls out the box. In the process, he snaps several of the wires causing sparks to fly. He winces as the tiny embers meet his open skin.
"Murano Industries," I read off the side of the box. Sam turns the thing over in his palm. "Wait- what does that side say?"
He turns the box again to reveal a series of white, neat letters printed on the side opposite the first set.
"Surveillance Device 77201," Sam reads. His eyes go just as wide as mine.
"They're security cameras," we say at the same time.
Sam puts the monkey back into the sand and shakes his head.
"I knew we were being watched, but this a new level."
"What did you expect from The Island? Everything's fake, remember?"
"Are we even on a real island?" Sam asks, running a hand through his hair.
I don't answer, because the Kaia and Neil walk up behind us. I had thought we were to begin with, but maybe...
"You're kidding!" Kaia says angrily. "All that, and we don't even have food?" She kicks a sand mound and storms away. Her hands knot themselves in her hair.
Neil sighs.
"I'll go into the jungle and get us some fruit," he mumbles with a glance back at the girl.
"We'll go with you," Sam says, standing up.
Neil shakes his head.
"It's better if I go alone."
YOU ARE READING
The Island
Science Fiction"This is The Island, a prison designed for minors like me- too young to be executed, too old to be reformed, and too much of a stain on humanity to let exist. It was 'the answer' to the growing crime rate resulting from a world that was falling apar...
