‘’Niamh,’’ I gasp in horror, ‘’what are you doing?’’

‘’Alex!’’ she roars again, ‘’Alex!’’

I stare at her for a moment; this girl is supposedly my friend. She is acting as though she doesn’t know me. She is clearly scared, she is screaming for her teammates because she is frightened. Surely she knows I would never hurt her. Surely she doesn’t think I would murder someone, let alone my friend!

We act surprisingly quickly; Aaron picks the boy up and tosses him over his shoulder as though he is weightless. I grip my knife, as do Eve and Kate. We are ready for a fight if it comes. The quiet boy does nothing; he simply stands waiting to follow us when we move.

‘’Let’s go,’’ instructs Aaron, and he begins to run as Niamh continues to scream.

We move from the clearing as Alex and the rest of the red team join Niamh. She quickly explains to them what has happened and then they begin their pursuit. We move as quickly as we can, but with the boy over Aaron’s shoulder – wriggling and struggling to break free – it is quite hard to move at a steady pace.

We move between the trees, the footfalls of the red team members are closing in on us with every moment. They will catch up with us soon. I don’t want to think about what is going to happen if they do, when they do.

‘’They’re gaining,’’ gasps Kate between breaths as we run.

‘’We just need to move faster,’’ explains Aaron, pushing himself and the rest of us harder and harder.

We continue moving through the trees until we exit the tree line and escape into the open. The domed grey LIS building is visible in the distance; however that is not where we are heading for. We keep along the edges of the trees, moving for our camp.

‘’Is he really worth it Aaron?’’ I ask as the red team draws nearer through the trees with Alex leading them.

‘’What?’’

‘’If he’s a mute like Niamh said, we won’t get anything from him,’’ I explain.

‘’Everyone has their breaking point,’’ he replies with a sigh. It hurts him to say it.

We continue to move. Although I feel we are not moving very fast, the red team seem to be falling further and further behind. Somehow, they are managing to move slower than us. We are escaping them for now. Their footfalls slowly begin to cease. Our pursuers then halt completely.

‘’Take him! He doesn’t bloody talk! He’s no use to use and he’ll be no use to you!’’ roars Alex in the distance as we continue to run.

It is saddening to think how little he values another human’s life. The mute says nothing – unsurprisingly – as we take him away from his team and towards our camp. However he does look horrified. Petrified. He is clearly stunned his teammates would allow him to be taken so easily. I know none of us would allow any of our teammates to be taken without a fight. It would not be just.

Alex continues to scream at us as we move further and further away from him until his words are too distant to decipher. I glance back once more at him, Niamh and the rest of their team before we enter a small clump of trees. They have turned their backs on us and are heading back to their own camp.  

As we enter our camp, the sun is scorching from the centre of the sky. The sky is still a beautiful cloudless blue and there is a gentle breeze blowing. It is cruel how nature mocks us. It can remain so beautiful and carefree as something so horrific is underway.

Aaron tosses the boy onto the ground. The boy groans out in pain as he hits the floor. Aaron then removes the bandana from around his neck and ties the boy’s hands, securing them behind his back. He then sits him on the log in front of the fire pit and gets to eye level with him.

‘’What’s your letter?’’ he questions, placing his hands on the boy’s shirt, holding him up in front of him.

The boy doesn’t respond – as expected.

‘’Give me your letter!’’ yells Aaron, he throws the first punch.

There is horrible noise as the punch hits the boy’s face. He cries out in pain but remains silent otherwise. Aaron punches the boy a few times in the stomach, with each blow he groans in ache. This is horrible.

‘’Give me your letter!’’ roars Aaron again, he is already getting impatient.

The boy doesn’t speak.

‘’Tell me your letter!’’ he demands again, shaking the boy in his grasp.

The mute’s head jerks back and forwards in Aaron’s huge hands, but he keeps his lips sealed shut. Despite how strong he is acting, his face reflects a deep sadness.

‘’What’s your letter?’’ he asks again, punching the boy across the face again, this time drawing blood from the poor boy’s nose.

Still the boy remains quiet as the blood moves down his face and drips down onto his clothes – splashes even hit Aaron’s hands.

‘’Give me-‘’ begins Aaron once more.

’’Stop it!’’ I scream, ‘’just stop it!’’

Aaron looks at me, as do the others. They all appear shocked at my outbreak.

‘’We have no choice Alice,’’ he responds, ‘’you know that.’’

I turn to Eve, Kate and the quiet boy for back up; surely they think this is inhumane too. None of them say a word. They appear to be on Aaron’s side. How? This is cruel!

‘’Surely there is some other way. I can’t take having to watch this,’’ I explain, tears begin trickling down my face. This really is unbearable.

‘’Alice please. Don’t make this harder than it already is. I have no choice. We have to get off this island,’’ responds Aaron, turning from a murderous monster back to the boy I think I may be starting to fall in love with in a second.

I stare at him in horror. I really don’t know what to do. This can’t be the only option.

‘’Take him away from here at least. Bring him somewhere where we don’t have to watch,’’ suggests Kate.

Aaron sighs and picks the mute up by the scruff of his neck. He then carries him from the camp and disappears into the trees once more.

‘’This isn’t right,’’ I exclaim when the faint sound of his demands for the boys letters recommences.

‘’We’re going to have to a lot of things in the next few days that aren’t right Alice. Aaron is right though in what he said, we have no choice,’’ explains Kate.

I don’t respond to this, I simply stare at the blackened pit where we had a fire going last night. I can’t think of anything else other than the fact that Aaron is just a few meters away pummelling that poor boy for the sake of this stupid, sadistic game.

It’s clear the boy is going to break eventually; he should give his letter sooner to save himself the pain. Then again, his basic human instant to keep going, to keep trying to survive no matter what will be working against it. That is why he is staying silent. That is why he hasn’t given up any information.

Kate takes a seat beside me on the log. She sighs.

‘’I’m sorry about Niamh,’’ she says glumly.

‘’It’s alright,’’ I reply.

‘’She was probably just scared, I mean, she was alone against the five of us, and we did have one of her members,’’ explains Kate.

I nod, what she is saying does make sense. I would have probably acted the same way if I had been in that situation. But still, it hurts to think that Niamh betrayed me, without the slightest bit of hesitation. Not even a pause.

‘’Try not to think about,’’ Kate says again and I nod my head.

‘’I can’t believe she’s here too, only one of us are going home,’’ I sigh.

‘’Not necessarily,’’ replies Kate, ‘’once we get the code to the boat, there’s no stopping us from letting those that remain join us.’’

‘’But in order for us to get the code we need all six letters.’’

‘’Well we might be able to guess it with just four or five, we may be able to get Niamh out of here,’’ she suggests and I smile weakly.

‘’It’s not much, but it’s hope nonetheless.’’

‘’Hope is the strongest incentive to keep moving forward,’’ explains Kate.

I glance over at the quiet boy. He is staring into the empty fire pit, his face expressionless.

What is he thinking?

‘’You alright?’’ I ask across the camp. I know it is a stupid question, but I also know it’s nice when someone shows they care.

He looks and me and nods slightly.

‘’Don’t worry, we won’t let them get you,’’ I promise.

‘’And if they do try take you, we won’t just give you up,’’ adds Kate.

I glance at Eve, we meet eyes. She raises an eyebrow as if to say ‘do you expect me to say something?’ When I don’t look away, she rolls her eyes.

‘’Yeah,’’ she says.

The quiet boy smiles ever so slightly, we’re obviously making him feel slightly less fearful about this horrific ordeal. Although it’s quite hard to comfort him when he refuses to let us know exactly what is scaring him the most. Despite this, I think he now knows that we are all in this together, and we will not let him get hurt. We can’t and we won’t lose anyone else. Not after Robbie.

We sit in relative silence for a few moments. There is no more noise coming from the poor boy being throttled by Aaron. However there is the noise of Aaron. He is cursing quite loudly in the trees a few meters away. He sounds angry. I get to my feet and begin to walk towards him.

‘’Alice, it’s probably not best to-‘’ begins Kate, also getting to her feet.

‘’It’s fine Kate. I’ll be back in a second,’’ I interject and she doesn’t bother arguing.

When I step out of the small clearing our camp is set up inside and step into the trees, I spot Aaron. He is a few meters away pacing anxiously, a look of disbelief on his face. As I approach, I also spot the mute.

The body is badly beaten; he is bruised black and blue and there is blood covering almost every inch of him – although I cannot seem to locate the source of the wounds the blood is pouring from. It is as though his pores are secreted blood instead of sweat. His clothes are torn; his red bandana is a few feet away from him. His eyes are shut and he is still.

‘’Alice,’’ mutters Aaron as he notices me, ‘’no. I don’t want you to see this’’

‘’Too late,’’ I respond and continue to approach him.

‘’I...I didn’t want to do it. You have to understand that,’’ he explains as he wraps his arms around me.

I nod, although I do not respond. I feel as though I am in danger by embracing him, yet at the same time I feel as though he is the only person that can make me feel safe. I try to ignore the vicious paradox raging in my mind and rest my face against his shirt.

‘’I...he didn’t...I didn’t get his letter. He wouldn’t speak,’’ he explains in a whisper into my ear.

‘’What?’’ I question in confusion.

‘’I killed him, but I didn’t get his letter.’’

‘’What?’’ I ask again, this time with shock.

‘’Yeah...’’

‘’So what will happen?’’ I ask.

‘’I dunno,’’ he respond and I pull away from him.

‘’Are you sure he’s dead?’’ I question, kneeling down on the floor and pressing my fingers to his throat.

‘’I already checked for a pulse,’’ explains Aaron.

I try a few different spots on the boy’s neck but cannot find anything. I curse and take the boy’s wrist in my hand, perhaps I will have more luck finding one here. As I am checking it, Kate, Eve and the quiet boy join us. None of them say anything, they just watch me. They are smart enough to know what is going on.

Then I see it. There is a small letter printed across the screen of the boy’s bracelet. The letter ‘O’.

‘’Look!’’ I gasp and Aaron kneels down beside me.

He takes the boy’s wrist in his hand and examines the letter on the bracelet. His eyebrow raises slightly as he contemplates what this could mean.

‘’How?’’ I question in confusion.

‘’How what?’’ asks Kate.

‘’I killed him accidentally, before he gave up anything,’’ explains Aaron, ‘’we thought that meant we wouldn’t get his letter.’’

‘’But it’s here. The bracelet is showing us. It’s ‘O’,’’ I explain.

‘’Which means that we get the letter, even if they die before they tell us,’’ says Aaron.

This changes everything. Quite considerably.

‘’So we can just kill them,’’ says Eve as she realises what we are all thinking although are reluctant to say aloud. It sounds so awful out loud.

‘’What?!’’ gasps Kate in a mixture of shock and disgust, ‘’you want us to go from torture to murder?’’

‘’Think about it,’’ argues Eve, ‘’killing them would put them out of their misery. They die once they give up their letter anyway. We can speed up the process. We can reduce their suffering.’’

I shake my head slowly. Even though I know what she is saying makes sense, and it is the more humane option, I can’t even think about murder.

Aaron sighs, ‘’she’s right.’’