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Even though the room is dark and I can’t make out everyone’s features, I can feel all their eyes on me.

“Why are they here?” a voice booms from the back of the room.

“Yeah, why are they here? They're not one of us. How can we trust them?” another person shouts. Like a domino effect, one by one, people begin demanding to know why Tyler and I are inside their safe space. I keep quiet, not wanting to overstep by answering. Instead, I wait for Sara to answer.

“Quiet, quiet. These are our people. We are going to help them, so let's welcome them. You all know Theo and Tyler, and I can assure you they are not with Logan. With their help, we can stop Logan and his people,” Sara says, addressing the entire crowd.

From the back of the room, a man speaks up, “And how exactly are they going to help us?”

“We can help because we know things you don't,” I answer.

“And what exactly is that?” asks the man. I stand silent for a moment, unsure if I should announce what we know. I look over at Tyler and he is silently staring at me, waiting to hear what I say.

“Yeah, what information do you have?” asks Sara, cutting in.

“Before I tell you what we know, I need to make sure you are not going to turn on us and force us out,” I say, turning back to Sara. “Can we trust you?” Sara purses her lips together, then turns to the crowd. She doesn't answer my question.

“We’re all family here now. We all want to survive and get back home; we can't do that unless we work together,” she explains.

“I can appreciate that. If you decide to trust us, we should move all of you to the medical center. There, we have fresh air and natural light from the patio, as well as more room than inside here. It's not massive, but it will give you all a little more space.”

“Why don’t we just kill Logan so we can all go back to our own rooms instead of being cramped together and scared for our lives?” asks a woman from the back of the room.

“Natalie, we’ve already discussed this,” Sara says, shaking her head. “We’re not just going to go out and start killing. We are not like Logan.” Her voice is stern, as if she has had to repeat this multiple times.

“Has anyone tried talking to Logan?” I ask, curious if they have even attempted to have conversations.

“Yes, one girl, Brittney, was trying to make peace with the other side. We all warned her that Logan didn’t care; from what we saw, all he wanted was power and to be in control of everyone, but she decided to go anyway. The following night, they brought her body and tossed her in front of the guards on duty.”

“Wow, that’s really fucked up,” I say.

“Yeah. Ever since then, no one has left. We only have enough food to last another day or two if we ration carefully. Our water is also starting to run out.” She sighs.

“We’re running low too— we don’t have enough to feed this many people. But that’s not our biggest worry right now. We overheard Logan, he’s planning an attack against you. If you don’t provide them with what they want, they’ll start killing⁠—”

Everyone gasps, and panic ensues before I can finish my sentence.

“Wait, hold on,” I say, raising my hands to get the crowd to quiet. “The good news is, other than the few spears they’ve created, they don’t have any real weapons. We also heard them say that.”

“Well, we don't have any weapons either,” says Sara.

“Where did you get those axes? Could we get more?” asks Chris.

“There should be one or two above each fire hose station. They’re located all around the ship. I can't remember exactly where each one is, though,” I answer.

“Well, that's good. We just need to find them,” says Chris.

“That's easier said than done. I think we should relocate to the medical center. Everyone should find something to protect themselves from Logan’s group. It's pretty much a straight shot back there. We can create a plan from there on what to do next. The only thing I know for certain is that we are now in a kill-or-be-killed situation,” I say.

“Okay…” Sara nods. “Give me a minute to think about all of this.”

The room is silent as Sara paces back and forth. Before Sara can say no to her group moving to a new location, I decide to speak up.

“I have no idea when Logan plans to strike, so the faster we relocate, the safer we'll be. If he finds out that you have no weapons, they’ll just break down your barricade and attack regardless.”

“You’re right. We move tonight.” Sara looks around at her people. “I know that I have said countless times that we are not going to just start killing people, and I meant that. But if Logan’s coming to attack us… don’t go down without a fight. Theo, we’ll follow you.” I nod. “Everyone, grab anything and everything you can to protect yourself. Look around, these are your allies, your family. We need to protect one another. Don't let your guard down, stay on high alert, and most of all, let's get there as quickly and safely as possible.”

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