The Exchange

Slowly making our way to the beach our eyes caught sight of two people talking. Getting closer to see that it was Hannah and Nurse Ratchet we stayed hidden to hear Nurse Ratchet say, "You heard that freak Z, the main building is off limits. I am not going to risking my life or freedom for anyone, especially not you." Hannah said, "I'm running out of my meds." Surprised to hear that I kept myself hidden to hear Hannah also say, "HRT and hormone therapy". Both Nightmare and I thought Hannah is trans? Carefully making a small noise we walked out of the trees. Hannah and Nurse Ratchet looked at us worried.

Making our way to the shore we gave them both enough space to continue talking. Feeling the water touch our feet we had a brief moment to relax before hearing Hannah and Nurse Ratchet coming closer. Hannah asked, "What did you hear?" Turning around to say, "I know you're on HRT." Worry spread from Hannah's eyes to every inch of her face.

Looking over to Nurse Ratchet she kept her eyes down as her body tensed. I asked, "Is there anything you can do to help Hannah?" They both looked up at us in surprise, Hannah had a hint of hope in her eyes. Nurse Ratchet said, "Yes, although I'd have to go into the lab under the main building." Nodding my head I turned to Hannah, "When was the last time you took your meds?" She pressed her lips together before saying, "I've been taking the daily meds without a hitch, but I need certain ones every few months. The day of the breakout I was supposed to take another dose so I need those meds ASAP."

Knowing that both of them were being honest I sighed before saying, "Go get your meds and anything else you'll need. Ratchet take a blood sample, run some tests to see if you can help with Hannah's transition. Aside from that neither one of you are to help Armstrong or Anderson. If you do I'll personally put the collar back on you myself." The fear returned to both of their eyes with that last sentence. Nurse Ratchet and Hannah walked to the main building quickly. Once they were out of sight I rubbed my temples thinking Those two are going to be the death of us.

Walking to the cafeteria I began to feel hunger pains as we reached the steps. Opening the door to see no one is sight we grabbed a few plates before finding the closest table to sit at. With our back to the wall we saw everyone else come in to get breakfast. Noticing Mat followed by Ed, Eric, and Shelly coming to the table we were a little surprised to see them come our way willingly. The corruption on our hands was still there without any sign of going away. All of us made idle chit chat to pass the time as we ate. Eventually Hannah and Nurse Ratchet came to the cafeteria. They took one look at me before grabbing a plate of their own.

Finishing off the last plate we rose from the table to walk towards the kitchen and janitorial staff. All of their eyes landed on us. "As of right now there's no telling when the ship will be hear to take you all home. If all of you have something valuable I can leave a tiny part of myself in it for your safety. It's only meant to be used for life and death situations. If by chance you lose the item you can call my name into any shadow and I'll come running to help." Everyone rummaged around to find their valuables. Nancy was the first one to rise from the table holding out a necklace with two wedding rings in the palm of her hand. As she came closer she must've seen the look of surprise on my face. With a small smile she said, "These belonged to my parents, I never go anywhere without them." A smile reached my lips while a bitter sweet feeling took hold of us. I'm really going to miss her I thought. Nightmare replied Me too.

Hovering my hand over Nancy's rings I felt our shadows intertwine to form a tiny black star on the inside of her rings. The whole process barely took a minute. Nancy put her necklace back on before saying 'Thank you'. With everyone else ready and lined up after her I did the same thing 19 more times. Zach being the person to give me a zippo lighter that must've belonged to someone else. Looking out at everyone talking and enjoying the beginning of the day a feeling of dread began to form in my stomach. Quickly walking to the doors I ran straight to the beach in a hurry.

As my feet hit the edge of the island I looked out at the horizon to see a big ship coming our way. "Knew it", came out of my lips before I could make a run back to the cafeteria. Opening the doors everyone turned to stare at us in a fright. Looking to the kitchen and janitorial staff I said, "The ship will be here soon. I hope all of you are packed. There's a sea loading dock to the right of this building. Go there when you're ready." They all ran out of the cafeteria to grab their bags in a rush. Turning to the others I said, "Mat and Ed I need you two to follow me into the main building to get the hostages, including Anderson and Armstrong. Ashe, Ben, Mark, and Leona I'll need you four to be on the front line with the others and I. As of right now I can only assume the Navy is on that ship with who knows what kind of weapons to use against us. If things go sideways I'll yell 'now' for Dean to create a portal big and long enough for everyone to get to safety. Those of you who are scared or can't fight, hide behind the trees. The rest of us who are staying behind will hold off any and all attackers until it's safe to join the rest of you. I know we are asking a lot out of every one of you and we really appreciate the trust you've given us. Now let's get started."

Mat and Ed came to our side quickly. Looking at Ed I said, "When we get to the main building turn back into a tiger in case any of the hostages try to run." He just nodded his head in agreement. Turning to Mat, "I'm going to need you to use your voice to bring all the hostages out of the main building and keep them in line." He replied, "You got it." "I'm going to have one last talk with Anderson and Armstrong before letting them go", I told them both. Leading the way out of the cafeteria all of us speed walked to the main building. Hearing a loud horn from the freight ship I ran faster to see Anderson in the main area. Grabbed her arm tightly to drag kicking and screaming to the Maximum area. I stopped right in front of Armstrong's cell to see him finally asleep. Slamming a closed fist onto the wall hard enough for it crumble to the floor. Anderson finally stopped trying to wrestle out of my grip seeing first hand that it was pointless now. Watching Armstrong get off the floor in a hurry, seeing the frightened look on his face brought a smile to my own.

Tossing Anderson in I commanded, "Both of you are going to keep your mouth shut and stay where you are until I say so." They both started grunting in protest to that order. Using the same tone I said, "The only reason why I'm letting you both leave this island is due to the fact that neither one of you deserves any more of our time or energy in this place. I've already infected every human here, you two are next and I'm going to make your lives are a living Hell." With worry seeping into their eyes I finished with, "Just for fun both of you will stick out your tongues when I say so. Then I'm going to leave a part of myself inside the both of you to keep any and all secrets about this place hidden. To make sure that happens I'll put you both into a deep coma the second you touch dry land or try to talk about anything that you've done in this place on the way there. When that happens I will haunt your dreams with everything bad or just straight up evil that you've done in your life to be relived until you reach this moment. If you're still alive by then I'll make the both of you feel like you're falling into a bottomless hole where you won't feel, see, or hear anything. Once the both of you lose all hope that's when I'll kill you with my bare hands."

Letting my words sink in I commanded, "Now stick out your tongues." They both reluctantly did so while their bodies trembled at the idea of what's about to happen. Taking one step closer we began to change into our shadow form. Hearing the fabric tearing we ripped off our clothes in a flash. Standing over Anderson and Armstrong as they began to whimper looking up at us. We placed a long pointed nail on each of their tongues until a bead of blood popped out. Feeling a part of myself seep into their tongues to watch it turn black surprised us. Letting their tongues go we clasped our hands together just to watch them squirm.

All of a sudden some voices began to call out to us. Fully turning around to see Mat and Ed staring up at us petrified. Ed finally said something to us by thought Eric just said everyone is ready at the dock. The ship just dropped the anchor. Not wasting a second I said to both of them, "We have to go." Before anyone could say another word I opened a portal to the dock for all of us to go through at once. As we all rose from the shadow portal everyone looked at us in fear especially the staff. Inhaling deeply our body shrunk into my original size. Before the shadows could form into corruption around our hands we made sure to wrap Anderson and Armstrong in a tight grip. Keeping our body covered from the neck down we walked in long strides to the head of the dock.

Seeing the stairs descend to watch a man fully dressed in a Navy uniform walk down followed by two young male soldiers. Both of them walked a few steps behind, each holding a gun to their side. Looking up to see all the soldiers who were watching us had a gun ready to fire. Hearing the steps getting awfully close we looked down to meet his eyes with confidence.

When his boots touched the dock he said, "I am Admiral Gonzalez. Who is the one in charge here?" Using my normal voice I held his gaze to answer, "We are, the name is Z."

"You?"

"Got a problem with that?"

"No." Hearing him think Jesus Christ, they're just kids. What the Hell happened here?

"We will hand over the kitchen and janitorial staff first, scientist and guards next, then Armstrong and Anderson last."

"Very well, I'll have my men bring the supplies down once we get some of the hostages on broad."

"Fair enough."

"Who are the people you're currently holding?", he said looking between both of them carefully.

"These assholes are Anderson and Armstrong."

Admiral Gonzalez took one at them before asking, "These two must've really done some heinous things, huh?"

"You don't know the half of it."

Admiral Gonzalez's eyes soften at hearing our tone drop. He said, "Let's get this exchange started."

He moved to the side while his soldiers followed behind him to aim a pair of guns at me. Keeping our eyes locked on the three men in front we said, "Nancy, you and the others are free to go first." Hearing their footsteps coming closer we moved as well to give even more space for everyone to walk up the stairs.

The majority of the staff went up the stairs without looking back. Nancy was the last one to reach the stairs. "Thank you", she said over her shoulder while touching the necklace. Taking a quick look to see her smile one last time, I couldn't stop myself from saying, "You're welcome."

Moving my attention back to the Admiral he looked at me with a hint of kindness. Feeling a spark of hope begin to form felt unreal. Admiral Gonzalez used his radio to order, "Bring the crates down and lower you weapons. Over." One of the soldiers by his side commented, "Is that a good idea, Sir?" Admiral Gonzalez broke eye contact with me to order, "At ease soldier." Both of the soldiers lowered their guns yet still kept them ready to fire.

Keeping our guard up we reached out to the others minds to say Everybody stay on guard. Those of you who are strong or can handle animals help with the crates. Everyone else hide behind the trees. Seeing the majority of them hide I reached out to Hannah next If you want to say any last words to your father come to the docks. She barely waited a second to reply My father died the day I became Hannah. Knowing exactly how she feels we left her mind at once.

Saying out loud, "Scientist and guards get on the ship." All of them ran up the stairs in a hurry some even bumped into each other. Hearing the Admiral's radio go off, "All the crates have been cleared and are now on the ship, Sir. Over." Finally letting go of Anderson and Armstrong they both didn't waste any time running up the stairs just as fast as the scientist and guards. Looking back to Admiral Gonzalez I said, "Looks like our business is done here." He looked to his soldiers to order, "Back on ship soldiers. I'll be up in a moment." They followed the Admiral's orders without hesitation this time. Looking up to see a few guns still aimed at us he said, "I don't know what happened here or why we were sent, yet I do know that you seem to be handling things responsibly. I hope we never have to come back here again. You kids take care of yourselves." Seeing the sincerity in his eyes I responded with, "Thanks for being kind. We haven't seen that in a long time."

Watching the Admiral walk up the stairs I reached out to everyone's minds asking Everyone ok? They all agreed while some of them asked Are we safe now? Replying The ship is leaving now, I'll make sure no one pulls a fast one. By the time Admiral Gonzalez was on the ship and the stairs were gone he looked down at us to wave goodbye. Returning the wave Admiral Gonzalez and his soldiers dispersed to the rest of the ship. Keeping watch over them until the ship was out of reach to send any kind of weapons our way we finally left the dock.

Walking to the beach I yelled, "It's safe, does anyone know how to cook?" Seeing nine people come out of the forest with a raised hands I said, "Go to the kitchen and start cooking, I'll be there shortly to help." As all of them walked to the cafeteria I went into the jungle to see what the others were up to. Everyone was working together some kept the animals calm, while others build fences, there was even a woman working the soil to help with the seeds for plants.

Hannah came to my side when our eyes met. "How is everyone holding up?", I asked. "Ashe and Isabella are taking care of the animals. The crates came with some fencing supplies, Ashe put most of the guys to work on that. Lily over there has a green thumb that makes gardening easy. All of us got a snack a few hours ago, I held onto a granola bar for you." She handed me one as I said, "Thanks." Seeing that we weren't needed I looked to Hannah to say, "I'll call for everyone when the food is done, if by chance y'all are done before seeing me come to the cafeteria." She just nodded her head in reply.

Thinking We're finally free as we walked back to the cafeteria. Noticing the sun was beginning to set Nightmare asked Should we patrol again tonight? Giving it some thought I replied Yeah just to be safe. Finishing off the granola bar we entered the cafeteria to see everyone in the kitchen working as a team. Moving all the tables together to form one long one in the middle of the room. When I was done setting the table someone from the kitchen said, "Food is done." Looking over my shoulder we asked, "By any chance did any of you find any wine?" The person who first spoke said, "You're in luck." Seeing everyone bring out a bottle of wine to fill the cups I said, "I'm going to get the others, thanks for the food it smells wonderful."

Running into everyone halfway there I told them all the good news. Holding the doors open for everyone to enter they all took a seat. By the time the last person sat down I noticed the only chair left is the one at the head. Seeing Ed and Mat on either side I made my way to that seat while everyone watched and waited on me. As we sat I lifted a glass of wine to say, "Here's to hoping for the best, being prepared for the worst, and finally living our own lives. I also want to thank you all for helping, none of this would be possible if we didn't work as a group. As for the chefs, thanks for the food. Cheers." Everyone said 'Cheers' with a raised glass in hand. We all ate and talked about what happened today and what to do moving forward.

By the time everyone finished Hannah and a few others offered to clean. While everyone went to a room of their own I walked out to the beach alone. Nightmare said Looks like we did good, huh? Sure feels that way I replied. Taking in a deep breathe I felt our bodies change to take on Nightmare's look as a man. As Nightmare made a few rounds of patrolling I finally began to relax. Feeling my brain begging for sleep I knew Nightmare could be trusted with the patrol. Knowing that Nightmare heard my thoughts I slowly drifted off to sleep.