Alive - KSJ

01 | Breakdown

Burning with excitement, you stepped aboard the Pirates of the Caribbean ride with your best friend Jeon Jungkook. The two of you had been planning a trip to Disneyland California together since you were little kids. This summer, both of you had worked your asses off to save up enough money. And now the two of you were stepping onto your first ride of the trip, enthusiastic and a little nervous.

Surprisingly, there were very few people at the park. You didn't question it of course, it just meant shorter waits for you. Even on the ride, the were only a few people on each raft. Your's seemed to be the only one completely full. Six boys had piled in behind you, play fighting with one another loudly. You and Jungkook ignored them and instead, focused on  the ride ahead of you.

"I'm so excited!" Jungkook whisper-yelled to you as your seatbelts were checked by a worker. Then with a little jolt, the raft began to move.

"Me too!" Your eyes were trained on the dark area ahead of you. Slowly, every raft made its way through the dark and into the pirate-land you had been so excited to see. 

At every turn was a new life-sized animatronic. Some moved and some did not, however they all had a chilling accuracy to them.

"Wow. They look so real." Jungkook said, gaping at the incredible craftsmanship. You could hear the other boys on the raft also exclaiming at the animatronics, noisily shouting and pointing. 

The pirates were also making sounds, talking from speakers that were hidden in their piles of gold. A quiet song played in the background of the ride, creating a real buccaneer atmosphere. 

As your raft rounded another corner, it entered a large room with hundreds of animatronics. Some were up above on bridges and fake buildings, others were sitting on barrels towards the edge of the water. A few drunkenly tilted back and forth, while some pointed their pistols at one another. Everyone spectator was completely enchanted by this world they had entered.

Suddenly, your ride jolted to a stop. 

Everyone was silent for just a moment, still somewhat engulfed in the scenery. And then, the music and sounds stopped as a voice came over the speakers.

"Welcome everyone, to the most magical place on earth. Remember that magic is weird and absurd. In a world of princesses, pirates and dreams, let everything now become as it seems. The doors are now closed, the gates are now locked. There are two ways out, death or the clock." 

You looked around with wide eyes, trying to tell if this was part of the ride. You had heard many stories of ride's shutting down so you just waited anxiously for it to begin working again. The animatronics started up again, but this time it was different. They began to slowly move their arms and legs, as though they were real people experiencing life for the first time.

Still, everyone on the ride was silent. You wondered briefly if this was a malfunction, but then you saw the Jack Sparrow animatronic. He was flexing his fingers and stretching his neck and then-

You locked eyes.

These weren't the empty-eyes of a robot. They were looking at you, really looking. You felt that you couldn't look away, as a small smile grew on his face. 

It was so bone chilling that you couldn't help but scream. And just as you did so, all hell broke loose. 

The pirates, though still trying to gaining control of their limbs, lurched towards the rafts. One jumped directly from the land to the raft in front of you, slicing the throat of a citizen with his dull sword. 

You noticed that the pirates who didn't quite make it into the rafts were really struggling to stay afloat. It appeared that they couldn't swim. But those who did make into the rafts? They were already turning the water red with blood.

Everyone in the room began to panic. Some jumped in the water to swim and others stayed in their rafts out of fear. 

You felt Jungkook tense up beside you and you knew he was gonna jump out of the raft. You began to prepare to jump with him, but then someone put a hand on your shoulder. 

Immediately you flipped around, ready to fight. However instead of a pirate, there was a tall broad-shouldered boy looking at you and Jungkook. You recognised him as one of the boys that had been bantering in the back of the raft. 

"I have a plan, trust me." You glanced at Jack Sparrow whose eyes were still locked on you. There was a murderous look in his eyes as he was moseying over, stepping through other pirates carefully. While everyone was running, he was moving slowly towards one target. 

You looked to Jungkook and then back to the stranger. "What is it?"

He rallied everyone in the raft and spoke quickly. "We're gonna disconnect the raft from the track. Then we're gonna flip it over, get underneath, and use it as a shied as we escape." 

Everyone looked at one another. And then, knowing you all had no other choice, you nodded at the stranger. 

Immediately, he jumped out and beckoned for you to follow. For a moment, you were frozen. But when a pirate jumped towards Jungkook, you were set into action. You grabbed Jungkook's hand and jumped off the other side of the raft, ready to help. The water was shallow, only reaching up to your ribs. The stranger placed his hands on the raft and began to rock it back and forth. Five of you went up to help while two others tried to hold off the animatronics. 

After a few big shoves, you heard a loud pop as your raft disconnected. Once you had all flipped it over, you ducked underneath. Very quickly, everyone else from your raft got under and began to move slowly forward.

It was too quiet under the raft. 

The only sound to be heard was heavy breathing. None of you said a word, too afriad to be noticed by the pirates. You were no longer in the front, Jungkook and the stranger led the way.

You tried not to think. Instead you focused on the cold water surrounding your legs. However as you all moved forward, the water slowly began more and more red. 

Your breaths became shallow as the situation replaying in your head. This trip was supposed to be a dream. And the first ride, the very first ride, became a nightmare? Was this even real?

All of a sudden, there was a hand on your ankle. You clapped a hand over your mouth to cover your scream as you kicked it away. 

Everyone under the raft looked towards you with nervous eyes. Your voice trembled as you whispered, "Some of them can swim. We've got to hurry." 

Within a few minutes, the water became too shallow to remain under the raft. The stranger turned his head to Jungkook, speaking ever so quietly. "I've been on this ride before, I think we're at the end. The track should go up a hill, but we can't carry it up there. I say we get out and run."

Jungkook looked back to you. "I agree." 

You nodded. "Let's go." 

With heave, the eight of you flipped the raft over. Following the strangers lead, you began to run forward and up and hill. After a few turns, you were out of the ride and in the open.

Disneyland was complete chaos. People everywhere were running and screaming, some being chased by characters. Though the stranger said he had been there before, he appeared just as lost as the rest of you. 

"Where is the exit?" Jungkook asked him urgently.

"I....I've only ever been to the Tokyo Disneyland. It's a different layout." 

You looked around. To your right was some kind of café, and to your left was a mutilated body. Though you wanted to take cover, a part of you thought you should check the body for a map of the park. 

Comment next to what you want to do.

Go search the body for a map.

Go take cover in the café.

1362 words. First chapter complete! Please feel free to give constructive criticism and tell me what you think, I want you guys to have as much fun reading this as I have writing it. I can't wait to see what you all choose for the next chapter!

Stay hydrated everybody!