In Between the Beyond (#1 in the Rotten Water Series)

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Another Look at the Color Purple

Bunker A - May 23, 2017 - 11:57 p.m.

Martin Riley

They stood by Sheenan's side for minutes, calmly treating the boy with their silent presence. They let him cry, giving him no judgements. After witnessing the horrors that just happened, Martin could only imagine the things Tense went through without him knowing, and how hard it must have been to go on pretending like nothing ever happened. He reflected back upon his own parents, realizing how good he had it. His parents were kind and welcoming, but they didn't go without punishing him when it was necessary, nor did they treat him like he was beneath them in any way. They treated him the way a parent should treat their son, nothing less, and definitely nothing like what Tense and Sheenan got.

"I'm sorry this happens to you, Sheenan," Martin finally said, breaking the emptiness in the air.

"Don't be sorry for something that's not your fault," Sheenan mumbled, wiping the puke off his mouth.

Footsteps suddenly paddled the stairs, jolting everyone but Sheenan up, who stayed laying on the ground, broken and defeated. A group of prisoners stood at the bottom, stunned at the sight of Sheenan. Among the group, stood Trent, Andre, and Malik, all of which rushed to them, examining the scene. "What happened?" Malik asked, moving the fallen bucket away from Sheenan.

"Ronald," Collin answered.

Behind the prisoners arose several guards, holding the keys to their cells. "Come on, leave the boy alone," a man demanded, pushing prisoners out of their way. "Stand before your cell, it's time to lock up. Francine and Ever, you mind taking Sheenan upstairs?" They nodded, one taking Sheenan's legs, the other taking his arms, carrying him all the way up the stairs as he groaned in pain, his blood trailing underneath him.

The guards then continued lining the prisoners up, putting them in their selected cells. Once everyone in that group was inside, they brought in the next set of prisoners, doing the same for them. Sawyer was amongst the last set, his face burning bright red.

"What's wrong?" Martin asked as soon as the last guard fled the floor.

"Me and Samantha had work to do near Renzy's office, we were wiping some crap off the floor and whatnot," Sawyer said quickly, trying to run past the obvious. "And Renzy's door was cracked a little, so I could hear bits and pieces, and what I heard is not something we're gonna enjoy."

"Well, spit it out," Audrey said, starting rudely, but catching herself halfway through, changing her tone. "Please?"

Sawyer gulped, looking over at Nessa in the next cell, giving her a reassuring smile before coming in close on his cellmates, "he has big plans tomorrow night. The exact words I heard him say were: be ready. It's happening tomorrow night, something big. A lot of the prisoners are going to die."

"Are you serious?" Spencer asked, looking at Sawyer with concern in his eyes.

Sawyer nodded subtly, "ask Samantha. We both heard it. Whatever it is that Renzy's got planned, expect to see it happen twice, Martin, because your name got mentioned a lot, and I only heard scraps of the conversation. I think it might be something to do with the studies he's been doing on you and Spencer."

"So people are gonna die?" Martin asked out loud, though meaning it more for himself. "And it'll be because of me?"

"No," Collin grunted. "Renzy and Ronald are gonna die, and it's gonna be because of me."

***

Martin laid on the cold floor, deep into his thoughts. Whatever Renzy had planned could very easily be his fault, and depending on how things turn out, he wasn't sure if he could carry a burden like that. This may be his last good night's sleep for a long time, and while he'd like to stay up all night and plan for the worst, he knew he'd need some sleep to prepare for whatever was coming. He closed his eyes and allowed the usual darkness to evolve him, swallowing him into its world.

"Spencer!" a voice called in panic. His eyes looked down, spotting a purple flame-like substance burning beside and in front of him, but for some reason, his legs kept on running, until suddenly, a body crashed into his own and he went stammering sideways. "Martin!" Tense cried. Spencer picked himself up, peering over at Martin, who had been hugged by the purple substance that had nearly gotten him.

The memory then shifted, cutting itself short, bringing another one to the forefront.

"I just want a dad," Spencer's voice trembled. "Someone to teach me baseball or show me how to shave... I want what everyone else has, please, mom, please... reach him somehow, I want to meet him. Please."

"Someday you will, honey," Spencer's mom said softly. "He just isn't ready, I'm afraid."

"Make him ready, then, I don't care!" Spencer snapped. "I want to meet the man that stripped me of what I should've gotten!"

"When he's ready, I promise."

The memories then evaporated and Martin's sight was his own again, staring up at the ceiling to his jail cell, being woken by someone's cry. He stood up, looking around the dark cell, finding Collin curled into a ball at the other end of the cell. Everyone else was asleep as far as Martin could tell, which meant he'd have to be the one to give Collin company.

He walked over to him, sitting beside him, resting his hand on his knee so that he knew of his presence. Collin jumped, startled to see Martin so close. "Oh, shit," he mumbled, wiping his nose and tears with his already damp sleeve. "Did I wake you up?"

"No," Martin lied. "I can't sleep with everything that's going on, but I heard you, and figured I might as well come give you some of the Martin Riley wisdom."

Collin slightly chuckled, "the Martin Riley wisdom, huh? Shit, kid, I could have used some of that a long time ago."

"Well, you got me now," Martin insisted. "What's on your mind?"

"Amelia," he admitted without much hesitation. "I brought you guys all the way here because I wanted to see her, I got Travis killed, and I got us imprisoned, just for the reason we went through all that to be pointless, because those motherfuckers killed her."

"Don't blame yourself," Martin said, nudging him softly. "You couldn't have known. Kai, well, Renzy, betrayed us. The fault is his, not yours." Collin smiled, offering Martin one of his remaining crackers from the previous day's rations. Martin took it politely, biting into it slowly. "You're a good man, don't let bad people convince you otherwise, they're the problem. Not you, not Sheenan, none of us. Them. They are, and always have been the problem. The world would think that the rotts would be our biggest concern, that once dead, now living beings literally trying to eat us might be the thing we fear most, but that isn't the case at all. Human beings are far worse than the rotts could ever be, because we actually have a choice, they don't. Rotts can't control what they do, but humans can, and rather than us trying to build the world back up again, we've just made it worse."

Collin nodded, "at this point, I'd rather be a rott than a prisoner."