Rick felt bad after Kyle and Matt left. He realized that he had just let the negativity affect them, and it wasn't helping them the slightest. He knew it had to be done, but it didn't make him feel any better. He turned to Alice and Sue, "You two should get to bed too. Joe and I may be up for a while, and it won't do us any good if we are all sleepless wrecks in front of her tommorow." He flashed a gentle smile, and turned his attention back to the subject at hand. "So do you have any idea of where we can find one of these passages in a place like this?"
Mad as a hatterSue listened to the conversation, but contributed nothing to it. We go from one gilded cage, right into another. The Queen here is like us, human, so we have that advantage. She won't want to kill us right off the bat...
If anyone can think of a viable escape plan, it's these two. When Rick said about going to bed, Sue finished eating and took her leave without saying a word.
Upon entering her room, she flopped down on her bed and immediately fell asleep.
Give the world the best you have and you will get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway."Okay. We got picked up in a plane, yes? That indicates at least a mid 20th century level of technology. Assuming that's true across the board, we can conceivably get a small amount of explosives. I don't think that these walls are strong enough to withstand that. Alternately, many old castles had catacombs. While many didn't lead to the outside, some did. We'd need to disable that plane, though. Our group would be too easy to spot."
"I guess." Joe paused and sighed. "What do you think, Rick? Are these guys on the level, or am I just being paranoid? I don't like saying it, but I'm kind of against giving these people a chance to do anything. I don't know. It's hard for me to trust the natives here after what happened when we arrived."
"One, you are being paranoid, but rightfully so, and two I have no idea. I want to say these guys are truly on our side, I really do, but after what happened to us last time, I can't say for sure. Personally I don't trust them completely, but at the same time if it weren't for them we probably wouldn't be able to have this discussion right now, would we? That still doesn't qualm my fears though, and I am sure it doesn't for you either, am I right?"
Mad as a hatterRick began to head to his bedroom, but before entering he turned back to Joe, and said, "Listen, Joe, I understand that your scared. I am scared, and it seems that nothing in this world is assured to us. But there is one thing I know for a fact, and that is that no matter what I will do my best to make sure that no one under my lead dies. Never again, and as far as I am concerned Matt is now apart of our group. Now try to get some sleep Joe, we are going to need our rest if we are to pull off a miracle escape. If necessary of course."
Mad as a hatterRick went into his bedroom, and tried to go to sleep. He couldn't, so he decided to try and think of some pleasant thoughts. Rick's mind began to go back to before the field trip. He remembered the friends that he has lost, the times they had together. Rick shook his head, trying to get back to something happy. He remembered the cheer leader he had a crush on, who time after time would go out of her way to avoid him or reject him. Rick sighed. He hit himself in the forehead slightly. His thoughts then began to wander off towards someone else. He had noticed how Sue acted around him, but he wasn't quite sure as to what it meant. Had he offended her? No, at least he hadn't thought he did. Rick laid their in his bed starring at the ceiling, trying to figure the girl out. At least she was cute...
"Shut up brain." Rick muttered, as he drifted off to sleep. He wondered why he felt the sudden urge to say that.
Mad as a hatterHa. Ha. Haven't heard that one a million times. Asshole....
As soon as she opened the door to the library, she was greeted by a familiar voice. "Sue! You're here!" It was Ron, her Editor in Chief. "You have an article for me right?" Cammie, who had been editing pictures for the newspaper looked up and nooded a greeting. When Cammie's in the zone, she can't be bothered with much more than that.
Sue pulled a few pages from her backpack. "Right here, sir." She handed them to Ron, who glanced over them. After a moment, he pushed his glasses and and glanced at her.
"Jesus, Sue. Would it kill ya to write something nice once in a while?"
"That is nice, Ron." She grabbed the pages and made her way toward one of the free computers. "I'm being honest. Andrew Cohen needs to get his shit together so he can play again." She waved her hand dismissively and fiegned concern. "Think of the parents, Ron! What will they do if their babies don't win another championship?" She sighed and logged on to the computer.
Cammie snickered and turned her chair around. "Hey, Sue. I ran into Rick today."
Sue grunted.
"Yeah. He said that he would totally date you if you asked him."
Sue stopped typing, but didn't turn around.
"He also said that he wants go get you behind the bleachers and help you to loosen up a bit." She poked Sue with her elbow. Ron was trying his best not to lose it.
Sue turned in her chair, slowly. When she and Cammie were finally face-to-face, the photographer realized that she had hit a serious nerve. Sue sealed that thought with one word: "Bitch..." She turned back around and resumed typing.
"Hey, Sue. It was just a jo-" Ron was interrupted by Cammie grabbing his arm.
"Don't, Ron. She'll kill you in your sleep."
Sue sighed and logged off. "I can't concentrate here. I'm going outside. Don't let the librarian catch you two fucking." Before leaving the library, she mentioned "I'll email my article."
Sue woke up in the middle of the night with a slight headache, and her back hurt from laying awkwardly. After she sat up, she remembered where she was.
They died right in front of me... And we never made up.
Sue had counted Ron and Cammie among her only friends, and she was sincerely hurt by Cammie's joke. She remembered going outside and going to those very bleachers that Cammie mentioned. She remembered snorting derisively. Not my thing... Fuck that. Fuck those two. Fuck this school. I don't care where I go from here: Los Angeles, Seattle, Orlando, fucking Timbuktu. As far as I can get from this hellhole.
She looked out her window at the endless sea of grass. Careful what you wish for...
Sue felt wide awake. I won't be going back to sleep any time soon. I need a distraction... She left her room and went out into the main area. Something to write with... Something to write on...
Give the world the best you have and you will get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.Joe was lying on his bed, in the grey area between being asleep and being awake. His leg was acting up again, and he really wished that he had some painkillers. He was absentmindedly chewing on a toothpick and thinking about the situation they were in. Let's see. What can we do here? If there were only a couple of us, this would be easy. Unfortunately, this is not the case. There's also Matt. He's an unknown variable here. I want to be able to trust him, but I can't. He's been here too long. He might try to sell us out to his new friends. He sighed and went over to his window. We would be too easy to spot on this field. We need to find another way out.
As the morning sunlight shone into the compound, Xerxes opened the door and entered. He was surprised to notice Sue passed out on one of the chairs in the common room. He didn't know the details of what she, or the others for that matter, had gone through, but evidently it was enough to disrupt her sleep. Poor thing, he thought to himself.
Knocking on the doors, he said, "I've brought some breakfast, for those who want it. Afterwards, get yourselves ready, for the Queen is waiting to meet you."
The students opened the doors, to be greeted with a pleasant aroma. Although it may have come from different animals than they were used to, breakfast consisted of a fairly decent approximation of bacon and eggs.
First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.

"Sure, got any suggestions, cause all I can think of is setting a fire, although that did help us escape last time, I am not as positive that it will work this time."
Mad as a hatter