Well, hopefully if you're still reading, it means you liked the last chapter, so that probably means you'll like this one. And this one should be a little less graphic than the last one.

Day 2 (cont'd)

Simon's POV

The hallway leading to the lobby was littered with broken glass and picture frames. Phrases like "HERE STOOD MRS. DUMBASS" were written clearly on the wall in fresh, dark red blood.

We finally turned the corner to the lobby. The tall blonde man sat at a rectangular wooden table, sipping coffee casually. Three chairs His AK-47 rested on the table next to him, but there wasn't another man in sight.

He looked up and smiled at us as we approached him. "Welcome," he said slyly.

Brady Moore cautiously pulled out one of the chairs across from the blonde guy and motioned for me to sit. I obeyed as he pulled one out for himself and sat. Gault remained standing a few feet behind us.

As if sensing the tension in the air, the blonde guy cleared his throat and continued: "You will refer to me as Randy. I already know who you three are. You're Brady Moore," he said pointing to Moore in the seat across from him. "You inherited the single most crappy state economy in the U.S. and somehow managed to make it even crappier." Moore said nothing as Randy turned his attention to Gault. "And you; you're John Gault. You get a lot of shit from the press. You DO realize you were pegged for being the ring-leader of the most counter-productive senate in the history of America?"

Gault squinted at Randy. "Does it really matter any more?"

Randy smirked. "I suppose not." He then turned to me. "And you… you're not a politician. Nope. I know you; you're that Seville guy. Pop-star." He chuckled. "You'll never believe this, but, we have a couple people here with us who you know. Even care about."

I nodded. "I know." I was trying to ignore his attempts at getting into my head.

He laughed. "Already ran into some of your other rodent buddies outside, eh? I bet that fat green one told you all about it."

"Shut up," I said, glaring at him.

Suddenly, Moore butted in. "Fellas, please. Perhaps we could begin the negotiations?" He looked over at Randy hopefully.

"Of course," Randy said, nodding. "We have a lot to talk about."

"Hardly," John Gault growled. He walked forward and leaned forward over table, bringing his eye level square with Randy's. "Here's what's going to happen: you release all hostages to us by the end of tonight… and we'll give you a ten second head start to make a break for the ocean."

Randy laughed. "Oh really? I don't think so. You see, Mr. Gault, you may not have any experience in negotiations, so let me fill you in. Everything revolves around leverage. And right now, I'd say I have just about all of the leverage. I have hostages, a valuable hotel, and not to mention guns and explosives. Unless I'm missing something, I think that I'll be dictating the terms toady."

"Here's what I think," Gault retorted, "I think that we have something that you really want, but you can't get it by yourself. Otherwise you would have taken your guns and gone on a rampage through the city trying to get it."

Randy laughed out loud. "We aren't barbarians, Mr. Gault. It's not in our best interest to kill. We will if we have to, but if everything works out as we planned, then everybody in this hotel building will walk away scratch free." He paused, then smiled at me. "They might even thank us."

"Listen you piece of filth," Gault snarled, "I'm not going to deal with this bull shit. You have three minutes to return the hostages to us and then ten more seconds to make a run for it."

I put my paw on Gault's forearm. He turned to me, almost panting. His face was blood red and sweat was trickling down his forehead. "Senator Gault," I said, "could I please speak to you for a moment."

He sighed. "Certainly."

We both walked off a short way towards the hall so that Randy could not hear us. Moore followed despite not being invited.

Once we were certain Randy could not hear us, I turned my attention back to Gault. "Look," I said, "I admire your determination to be firm with this guy, but you need to be a little calmer and, for the moment, a little more open to negotiation."

"But Simon," he replied, "you can't just give this guy what he wants. We need to scare him into thinking we actually have leverage."

"I understand where you're coming from, but you need to give in a little. At least pretend that you are willing to listen."

"He can't think that we're desperate, Simon."

"Listen, Gault," I said, beginning to get frustrated, "you may be trying to think of the greater good here. But I have two people whom I love trapped in this place. And if just one thing goes awry, they could die. If they haven't already."

He looked me up and down. "Alright, Simon. I rest the burden of the remainder of these negotiations on you."

As we turned back towards Randy at his table, I caught Brady Moore shooting an icy glare at Gault.

Gault responded by adding in: "Good luck, little man."

The three of us made our way back over to the table, where Randy awaited smirking at us. "Have you finished consulting with each other?" he asked as Gault pulled the middle chair out for me. I hopped up thankfully and stood on my tip-toes to see Randy slouching with a cup of coffee in his hand. Gault and Moore took a seat to either side of me.

"Yes," I said. "I believe we are ready to begin negotiations."

Randy looked surprised at me being the one to answer. But he nodded and began: "I'll make this short. The first order of business for you to get your people back is by building a boat."

Our eyes widened. "A boat?" Moore asked.

I thought about the billions of people around the globe, specifically Big Brother, who just heard that.

Randy grinned from ear to ear. "That's right. You on the outside are going to construct a boat for us, if you can't find one that is. Serviceable enough to make it across the strait to mainland New York. And then once you have the boat, I expect that my colleagues and I will have a perfectly clear passage way to the harbor. And trust me, we will hold our hostages close every step of the way. If I get even the smallest sense of going wrong, people start to die."

We all blinked in amazement. Had we really just heard that? "Randy," I muttered, "what you're talking about is suicide. You'll never make it past the GFFA forces. You heard what Big Brother said before deportation: 'Any attempt at escape will result in immediate termination.'"

Randy laughed, putting on his best surprised face. "Escape? Who said anything about escape, Mr. Seville? We simply want a nice pleasure cruise around the island. Maybe some fishing."

Moore groaned. "Look, regardless of your intentions, Big Brother isn't going to allow a boat to just roam freely around the strait. He'll blow you sky high."

"That's what you think," Randy responded, grinning ear to ear. "But we have a secret weapon. Big Brother wouldn't dare touch us."

"What secret weapon?" I asked.

He eyed me. "That's for me to know, and for you shit heads to find out. Now you know our demands and you know your deadline. I suggest you get to work."

The three of us stood up, turned towards the hallway which led to the revolving glass door, and began walking. Gault was in front, followed by Moore, followed by me. Just as I was about to round the corner, Randy's threatening voice broke out from behind me. "Simon!" I stopped dead in my tracks, but didn't turn to face him. "Don't even try to screw me over," he continued, "or else I'll do things to your girlfriend that you can't even imagine. Understand?"

I didn't answer. All I could think of was, I SO want to fuck you up right now. Without even acknowledging him, I turned the corner to the hallway and began making my way to the revolving glass door where Moore and Gault were waiting.

Jeanette's POV

It was finally all over. The scruffy man smirked down at me as he wiped his fingers with his shirt. I spit at his shoes in defiance, glaring daggers back up at his smug fat-ass face, as if trying to show that what he had just done to me had not fazed me but had only made me angry. It was a pretty pathetic attempt, as I could not help but whimper at the pain I know felt. The guy cleared his throat, gave me a smug, sarcastic "see ya" salute, and without another word he trudged up the stairs and left.

There was nothing I could do but slump to the ground and cry. Was anyone trying to rescue me?

Brittany's POV

We all waited impatiently; the politicians, the rest of the crowd, and of course us chipmunks. We hadn't heard any gunfire yet, but that did not necessarily mean they were still alive.

Eleanor sat on the curb pavement with her face pressed into her knees. I couldn't tell whether she was crying or just really badly wanted to. I guess I'd be lying if I had said I didn't want to cry along with her. I just told myself that I needed to stay strong so that I could help support her.

Suddenly, the glass revolving doors began revolving as Brady Moore, Simon, and the other politician guy stepped out with seriously concerned faces. Eleanor quickly snapped her head up from her legs as if hoping Jeanette and Theodore would walk out along with them. They didn't.

The three of us ran up to meet Simon, who gave us each a giant hug. It was Alvin who asked the first and most obvious question: "So what did they want?"

Simon sighed. "They want a boat. In three days flat."

Eleanor gasped. "A boat? Like, to try and get to the mainland?"

"Yeah pretty much. They say they have a secret weapon so that Big Brother will let them cross. Honestly, that part doesn't really concern us. He says that once they are at the peer with the boat, they will release Jeanette and Theo, as well as the rest of the hostages to boot."

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Eleanor cried.

"Ellie," Simon murmured calmly, "we aren't just going to pull a functional boat out of our ass in three days. And what are the odds that the GFFA left one behind by accident?"

Eleanor wiped a tear that was trickling down her cheek. "So what do we do."

Simon shrugged. "Hopefully we can throw something together that could maybe buy us a little extra time."

Suddenly, Brady Moore trudged slowly over to us, clutching his stomach and staring at the ground. He stopped and looked at Simon with sickly eyes. "Big Brother wants a word with us," he said grimly. "And it doesn't sound like they'll be very nice words."

Theodore's POV

I slumped to the ground, panting so hard I couldn't help but drown. My arms were pinned tightly behind my back in an uncomfortable position. I was totally blindfolded, but I was pretty sure that the room I was locked in was pitch black anyway.

The room was small, no bigger than a large walk in closet, and solid concrete formed the cold floor and walls. I had walked and felt around enough to be able to tell. I was all alone, and by this point very bored.

I expected help to come at some point. I even prayed. I had never prayed before in my life, never.

Simon's POV

The entire committee met up just outside of the office room that we had all gathered in before. On the other side of the well polished wooden door, supposedly, was Big Brother and his cohorts. No one made a sound. I gulped down my inherent fear and nodded at Brady Moore, prompting him to open the door.

He took a deep breath and reached food the shiny gold door knob. He slowly twisted his hand and pushed the door open.

Big Brother sat motionless at the end of the table at the opposite end of the room as us. Around him stood two men in black suits as well as about half a dozen GFFA soldiers armed with guns.

Big Brother smiled at us. "Come in!" The politicians nervously entered the room one by one, closing the door carefully behind them. Big Brother motioned towards the table. "Sit down, please! We have much to discuss!" Once Big Brother had caught sight of Gault, who had obviously been attempting to hide himself after his previous comments about the dictator in this very room, Big Brother pointed to him and said, "You! You come here! You will get the honor of sitting next to me!"

Gault hesitated, but obliged, keeping his eyes aimed strictly at the floor.

Soon, everyone was seated. "Now then," Big Brother spoke up, "As me and my comrades have witnessed, you have had some trouble keeping things in your new city under control. We have been very disappointed in your lack of competence. You even let armed gunmen keep hostages in one of your designated shelter buildings. Very underwhelming."

Gault wanted to say something snarky; I could see it in his eyes. But perhaps it was that he couldn't think up quite the words to express himself, or maybe it was just the pure intimidation of sitting amidst Big Brother and his body guards armed to the teeth that kept him from opening his mouth.

Instead, it was I who said something: "It was you! You planted guns in an area where those men would find them! You're trying to sabotage this whole thing and make Americans look foolish and stupid!"

With an annoyed look on his face, Big Brother abruptly stood up and walked towards me. He suddenly stopped right behind my chair, leaned into me ear, and whispered, "You'd be wise to hold your tongue, Mr. Seville. This is my city, this is my island. I use it however I wish. And yes, you are here to prove my point. To keep your filthy American people content with the lives I have given them. You should consider yourself lucky; you get to live here, away from all that. Live as you please." He smirked. "If you survive, that is. As of right now I wouldn't count on it."

He then turned to his men and shouted something in Mandarin. They all murmured amongst themselves, nodding. Big Brother sat back down, obviously happy with himself.

"Now then," he said to all of us. "Back to the issue at hand. This… Randy. He has requested a boat, correct?"

We all nodded. I groaned. I knew this would come up.

Brady Moore, for whatever reason, thought this would be a good time to pipe up. "We have already begun search parties, as well as began construction in case we find nothing."

Big Brother held up his hand to shut him up. "I know," he said. "As of right now, your search parties are wasting their times. We left no way for you to escape this island, much less a boat." He laughed. "But there is also no need to hastily construct a shitty boat. As your Big Brother, I am willing to cut you a deal."

I raised my eyebrows. "What kind of deal?"

He glared at me. What, did he expect me to be quiet the rest of the meeting? Either way, he did eventually condescend to answer me. "Those armed men in the hotel building… they have taken one of my men hostage. He was caught in the alley while helping plant the guns. He's vital to this whole television program. He is the brain of the operation. We need him back, safely."

"Get to the point," Gault finally said. "What does any of this have to do with us?"

Big Brother eyed him. I could tell he was beginning to get annoyed with our collective presence. He felt weary from being forced to condescend to actually personally address us.

"This is Hao Zhan," Big Brother said, gesturing to a relatively tall Asian man in a black suit behind him who stepped forward obediently. "He has volunteered to take part in a mission which I am afraid I must ask you to carry out."

"What kind of mission?" Gault asked.

"A rescue mission. Simply, sneak into the hotel building, and swap Hao Zhan for our important hostage. All without the knowledge of Randy or his thugs. Hao Zhan will act as somewhat of a stunt double. He looks and sounds almost exactly the same as our hostage. The only difference is that he is of no import to us or our operation. When you bust our hostage out and bring him our safely and quietly, then we will plant a boat in your Eastern Harbor. You let Randy know that you have his boat, and the rest goes as you agreed. He marches hist men and women down to the harbor to confirm you have held up your end of the deal, and once he is satisfied, he releases your people back to your people and attempts to cross the strait with Hao Zhan."

"What happens then?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He smirked at us, then slammed his fist into the strong polished wooden table with a loud thud. "BOOM!" He said. It was as simple as that.

Hao Zhan's face stayed emotionless throughout. I hoped for his sake that he did not know English, and that he was not aware of what was going to happen to him.

"Any questions?" Big Brother said. No one raised their hands. "I didn't think so." He stood up and all of his men besides Hao Zhan followed him to the door. One of them opened it for him and they all walked outside. Before they closed the door, Big Brother turned to us one last time. "If I were you, I'd wait sixty seconds before exiting this room. Just a suggestion."

And with that the door shut loudly.

We all waited exactly sixty seconds. And when we finally exited the room, there was not a single trace of a GFFA member or Big Brother any where. No one had seen them, they had vanished.

The search parties were canceled and plans were drawn and gone over a thousand times to break into the hotel room… tomorrow was the big day.

There you go! Review please and let me know what you want to happen! I might give into requests if I see one I really like.