So here we are, the end of the jailbreak arc. A few things to get clear before this starts, I am going to condense the next few arcs (Promised Forest Arc, Search For Minerva Arc, and Goldy Pond Battle Arc) as much as possible because nothing much will change from the cannon, except for a couple of things here and there. It won't be until the Goldy Pond Arc that Gifted Children's story picks up new content apart from the canon. From there will be a new arc. So here's where I need help; my question is, do you want me to concede the arcs into one-chapter summaries, write it like normal, or simply cut to the good part after Goldy Pond? Just leave a review with your answer. With that done, Enjoy!
"Words" Speaking.
'words' Thoughts.
"Words" Demon Speech
Gone, they're both just gone.
Never before has Emma felt so empty. Even when others left before, it never felt like this. Maybe it was because she now knew the truth, now knew their fate beyond the gate it hit so much harder than before.
'Norman and Spencer are gone, and it feels like something is missing within me. Even though it's been a week since they left, I'm still looking for them. I look to Spencer's bed in the morning, wanting to see his ridiculous bed head and unwillingness to wake up. I'm greeting Norman's seat in the morning, where he sat next to me for breakfast. This pain in my chests, in my heart, is agonizing.' Emma thought as she walked outside with her crutches.
Now sitting under a tree, Emma hugs some of the younger kids as they talk to her. Even now, she tries her best to keep the facade, to act like nothing's wrong. But some of the older children can see how much she is hurting behind that smile.
"Emma looks down again today," Phil observed.
"It's not just Emma," Lannion commented. "Ray too."
"They both must be feeling lonely," Phil said.
"I mean, those four were really close friends," Thoma agreed.
Later that night, the eldest four met in the dining room. It was the first time they had a meeting like this after Spencer and Norman left.
"Fuck it, let's all just kill ourselves," Ray stated, dark circles under his eyes.
"Huh?!" Emma questions, looking at him in shock.
"We can't win. The Cliff is too long to jump over, and the only bridge is controlled by HQ," Ray said, looking down to the ground. "But most of all… I'm tired,"
"Wha-" Don exclaims.
"I'm just exhausted," Ray told them.
"Then, what about this?" Emma said, taking out the disabling device." Don't you want it back?"
"Don't care… you can keep it," He tells her.
"Runaway if you want, but I am not part of the plan anymore. I'm sorry." Ray told the others, specifically looking at Emma.
The eldest girl looks directly into Ray's eyes for a moment before hobbling out of the room, her hair covering her eyes.
Emma runs down to her room, quickly opening and closing the door before flopping onto her bed.
'What should I do? What can I do?... I know I have to do it, but my body and mind refuse to work. Until now, I've always had Spencer by my side and Norman to help, but now they're gone, and Ray… now I'm all alone, and I don't know if I can do it! Can we all escape and live?' tears started to well up in Emma's eyes as she grasped the sheets. 'I am nothing without them. They did all the work, and I couldn't even save them. Spencer saw right through me! It's not possible, without Spencer, without Norman, we can't escape!'
Emma started to curl into a ball, wincing at the pain of moving her leg. 'My leg hurts, but it's not even a tenth of the pain I feel in my heart! But he-they wouldn't want that, they told me to keep moving forward, I have to snap out of it, I have to move!" Emma thought, trying to sike herself up.
Emma was too caught up in her inner monologue to notice the door open and close. It wasn't until she saw the light shift from her closed eyes that she saw the looming figure of Mama in front of her.
"I did knock, you know," Mama told her in response to the shock on Emma's face. "Did you not hear me?" Emma's face started to change as she began to get up onto her good knee.
"Oh, you poor thing… you must be in pain! After all, Spencer and Norman are dead, and Ray has given up. There is nothing you can do now! You've lost your wings, realized how trapped you really are, and lost the one you love on top of all that." Mama wrapped her arms around Emma, hugging her close to her chest. "I know that feeling, the soul-draining despair you feel right now. You must realize that escape is futile at this point."
Emma closed her eyes. Even though she knows she shouldn't listen to Mama, her words were true.
"Give up love. The only way to cure your suffering is to simply give up. The only way to save yourself from the pain is to accept your fate. You'll feel better in no time! Conflict always causes pain. You must understand what you can and cannot change." Mama tells her.
Mama sits down on the bed next to Emma, her right arms still around the eldest girl." You know Emma… if you were willing to accept it, I could recommend you to the higher-ups to become the next Mama of this plantation."
Emma's eyes widened in shock. "I could… become a Mama?" She asked.
"That's right. You would be able to grow up… have a child... and if they deem your abilities exceptional, would be able to return to the house as a Mama or Sister. You are an exceptional child that has the right to obtain this option. If you want, I will do everything in my power to make you into a Mama."
'Who in their right mind would-' Emma thought.
"I am guessing you're thinking something like 'Who in their right mind would wish for that?' right? Emma, think about this. What more could you do? There is nothing you can do! You cannot save a single life. If you try, you'd only continue your suffering until your own death." Mama explains.
Taking Emma's face into her hands, Mama looks directly into her eyes. "You have to live, Emma. Live and pursue to become a Mama. Accept your situation and be at ease. Give up on everything and everyone else, become a Mama, and let yourself feel better."
Emma closed her eyes, letting Mama's words echo in her head, with images of the other kids smiling at her, the ones that have left, the youngest that are still here, and the ones that supported her on their quest to escape.
"I can't. That's the only thing I will never do," Emma tells Mama in a shaky tone.
Mama's smile morphs into a scowl before getting up and starting to walk to the door. Glancing back at the girl, she tells her. "Fine then. Struggle and die. I will not allow you or anyone else to leave. Let the knowledge of your inevitable failure sink into that stubborn mind of yours as you wallow in your suffering." Mama starts to open the door but stops to look back at the girl one more time, not with a scowl but with worry and sadness.
'Naive child! You know it's impossible. All your doing is making yourself miserable! Then again, I was the same until my day came. Maybe then she will change her mind.' Mama thinks before closing the door.
'Think. Think. Think! Think!' Emma continues to say to herself, trying to find a way out, only to remember that she is alone and how impossible it is.
Two months later
It has been two months since Spencer and Norman left. Now it's Ray's turn as he leaves tomorrow night.
Emma walks down the dark and empty halls, it is already past bedtime, and most of the children are in bed. Emma knows what tonight is and that Ray will not be sleeping. Seeing the dining room door ajar, she enters to see Ray leaning on one of the chairs, a book in his hands.
"Ray… what are you doing up this late?" Emma asks.
"Oh nothing, just walking around the house, getting ready to say goodbye," Ray tells her.
"Tomorrow is your birthday…" Emma states.
"Yep. Tonight's my last night here. I'll be getting shipped out tomorrow." He replies. After a moment of silence between the two of them, Ray gets up and looks directly at Emma. "Hey Emma, I've got a question. Did you really give up? No, I don't even need to ask. I know it. You are still planning to escape, right?"
Emma smiles at the boy in front of her. There was no hiding it from him, He could read her like one of his books.
"Yeah, I haven't. But you haven't given up as well, right?" Emma shoots back.
"That's right, we really do think similarly, don't we?" Ray said. "We both pretend to give up hope, only to keep planning until this day."
"Let's get straight to the point, Ray, we're escaping, and I'm here to tell you the plan," Emma asserted.
"So commanding Emma, never thought you'd order me like that. Good thing I'm here for a similar reason." Ray told her. "I mean, we haven't really talked in the past two months."
"Yeah, sorry about that, but my priority was to not let Mama know of my true intentions," Emma apologized.
"Hmm? Do tell." Ray asks.
"Mama is smart and has more experience than all of us combined, so I had to keep my facade 24-7. Even after a few weeks, she continued to monitor me. She really is very cautious," Emma explains. "However, being overly cautious of one person can be a weakness. She was only focused on me and did not pay attention to our surroundings."
"Don and Gilda, Huh?" Ray guessed.
"Yes, She may work for the demons, but she is only human. Mama was so invested in us that she couldn't keep track of everybody. I had Don and Gilda do most of the work for the past two months, from training the younger kids to gathering supplies." Emma tells the eldest boy.
"And how have they progressed in that time?" Ray asks.
"They finished everything. We can leave anytime we want." Emma tells Ray.
"That's perfect! All that's left is the actual escape!" Ray exclaims.
"I've got a plan for that too. We are escaping tomorrow at noon." Emma explains.
"Wait a second there. That doesn't sound like a good idea. We should leave at night instead." Ray tells the eldest girl. "Take a seat and hear me out," he asks, to which Emma complies.
"Beyond the wall is a cliff, one we can't simply jump off of or make a bridge of our own. There is a bridge, but, while unguarded, it is a direct path to HQ, so crossing it is out of the question. Furthermore, Mama is a wall in her own right, one that getting past with everyone in-tow will be nearly impossible." Ray explains, taking a breath before continuing, "there is also the fact that Mama is always holding one of the toddlers, and sleeps in the same room as the babies. If we want to escape, we have to distract Mama for an extended period of time, where we can get everyone together and get past the Cliff somehow. If Mama finds out before we leave, we are screwed." Ray.
"Then what do you suggest?" Emma asks.
"Well... This is my plan…" Ray said, placing his hand on an open box. Ray then opened it to reveal several containers of lamp oil. "Let us burn this house to the ground," he says, sharpening his eyes.
"Burn it down?" Emma repeats, questioning the action.
"Yeah! While Mama takes care of the fire, we can get everyone out for "safety reasons" and Jam the secret door to Mama's radio with something. This way, even if HQ sees the fire, they'll think it's a simple outdoor fire and not anything dangerous like an escape. Furthermore, security will not be uptight, and we can use the bridge with the chaos we will be causing." Ray explains.
"Chaos?" Emma questions.
"Oh, yea, I never told you, over the past few years, I have created 10 Molotov cocktails." Rays said casually.
"Mo-Molotov cocktails!?" Emma questions with alarm.
"That's what I just said. While we pass each plantation, we throw a couple into each. The ensuing fires will concentrate HQ's efforts inside rather than out. And by the time they find out what happened, we will be outside beyond the Cliff," Ray tells the orange-head.
Walking up to Emma with a can of oil in hand, Ray reaches for Emma. "Come on, Emma, let's get out of here tonight! Can you do it? If Gilda and Don have everything we need, and all the kids are trained, then all we need is you. How's your leg?"
"All healed up!" Emma exclaims, stomping her once broken leg.
"Then let's begin," Ray says, opening the can.
Ray then starts to pour the liquid on the floor of the dining room. Walking towards the box with the rest of the oil, Emma walks with him.
"Umm, Ray?" She questions.
"Don't worry; the dining room is the furthest room from the bedrooms. We can get everyone out safely, no problem. On a different topic, I have a confession to make. I am still against taking everyone. I just don't think it's possible. With the Cliff and the unknown wilds beyond, I think the most we could bring is Gilda and Don. We should leave the toddlers behind, for both our and their survival." With that, Ray finishes emptying the first can and starts on the second.
"I know I won't change your mind; honestly, a part of me wants to support your crazy plan rather than stay here and die. So that's why I will remain neutral. You decide what to do with them." Ray says. "What are you still doing here? Go get the others."
"Ray, your plan sounds good, but what if Mama abandons the building and stays with us outside?" Emma questions.
Ray suddenly stops in his tracks and drops the can. "Heh. So you see the hole in my plan, huh. Your right, she may just leave with everyone, but I have a trick up my sleeve. A trick that will guarantee that she stays inside for the longest time possible." Ray tells the girl as he got another can from the box. "All we need," he says, opening it. "Is a carrot on a stick!" he explains, pouring the contents of the can onto himself.
"R-Ray!?" Emma yells out in shock.
"Isn't it great! A full-score child that is to be shipped off tomorrow, up in flames! Mama will have no choice but to stay and try to salvage me! I've been waiting for this for so long. This is my way of getting back at her, as childish as it is." Ray says, dropping the empty can to the ground.
"To tell the truth, Emma, I don't like reading or studying. I actually hate it, but I stuck with it, building myself up to be a high-quality child, a perfect child that took 12 years to make! And all that work will go up in flames, right before the harvest!" Ray told the girl in front of him, who looked at him slightly scared.
Even if he was facing Emma, it was clear Ray was no longer talking to her. "You think you can beat me? You think I'm going to just lay down and die? You think I'm just some pig that can be fattened up for the slaughter?! I'm Human! Take that, you shitty demons!" Ray yells out.
Emma looked at Ray, no longer with fear but with sadness. "Don't be sad, Emma, I deserve this. After watching so many of my family walk to their deaths… I don't deserve to live for their sacrifice. I remember every single one, so warm, so happy…" Ray explains.
Emma starts to walk and reach for Ray, but Ray puts up his hand, stopping her.
"Emma, we only have one chance. It has to be perfect. We can't let everyone we lost die in vain… oh, almost forgot, here." Ray said, grabbing a book and handing it to her.
Taking the book from him, it was the 'Promise' book from before, opening the book revealed several pictures.
"I took those with the camera after taking the strobe for the device, well, except for two," Ray explains.
The picture showed all of their siblings, and in everyone, they were smiling. Moving the pictures a bit caused Emma to gasp at what she saw. A photo of her, Spencer, and Norman, all sitting next to each other. She doesn't remember this one. The only one she remembers is where Phil took one of the four eldest.
"After everything, I want to curse my life, but I can't. You, Spencer, Norman, and everyone else made my life a wonderful one. Goodbye, Emma." Ray says, lighting a match.
"RAYYYYYY!" Emma cries out.
As he dropped the lit match, Emma rushed to Ray.
Time seemed to slow down as Emma reached both hands towards the falling match. She closed her hands around the match, snuffing it out.
"Emma? What are you doing? Your hands?" Ray said, confused.
"Spencer thought you might try to kill yourself, so he told me to tell you something. 'You can die whenever and wherever you want, but this cage is not the place. I'll show you something game-changing, so come with me." Emma tells the boy, wet with oil.
"What the hell!?" Ray asked in shock.
"Spencer and Norman knew you'd try this, even before they left. They told me, and we agreed to not allow you to do it. Sorry, Ray, I can't let you die too, and neither will any of the others!" Emma told Ray.
"Wha- what do you mean "The others?" Ray asked.
Emma walked to the kitchen door and opened it, revealing Thoma and Lannion, each holding a box.
"Emma! We got the stuff you asked for!" Thoma told the older girl.
"And everyone is ready to go whenever everything is ready!" Lannion said with a thumbs up.
"Thanks, Lanni, you two, Thoma! Great job!" Emma praised. "Come on Ray, take off the wet clothes! We are escaping tonight! All according to Spencer and Norman's plan." Emma says, taking out a new set of Ray's clothes.
As Ray got undressed and redressed, Lannion and Thoma started to unpack the boxes. Ray looked up to see Lannion taking out several locks of hair and Thoma unloading many meat scraps.
Ray looks to Emma once he finishes putting on the clothes brought to him.
"... But Emma, I…" Ray said, trying to find the right words.
Emma walked up to Ray and slugged him before grabbing his head and getting close to his face.
"Quit being so suicidal, you stubborn son of a bitch! Cut the BS and escape with us!" Emma shouted at the boy.
"Emma! We're done here!" Lannion and Thoma told the eldest girl.
On the ground where the clothes Ray was wearing before, along with two braids of hair and several slabs of uncooked meat.
"This is going to be your replacement!" Lannion told the eldest boy. "Norman and Spencer said this way we can trick Mama."
"Apparently, it's going to smell really realistic," Thoma added on.
Ray was shocked to see the two blond braids among the meat," Those braids!" he exclaimed.
"Yea, Anna gave them to us," Emma replies. "All that's left is your tracker… for the plan to work, it needs to keep working, so show me your ear and bite this piece of leather," Emma said, taking out a scalpel.
Taking the leather in his hand, Ray realizes everything. Spencer and Norman's plan was to fake his suicide, making Mama stay behind and try to save his "body" while everyone escapes.
Two months ago, the night before Spencer and Norman left.
It was their last night there, their last night alive. Spencer and Norman knew they had to plan, they had to make sure two months of work could be done, so they spent the night talking.
"I think Ray plans on dying rather than escaping," Norman tells Spencer.
"What? What makes you think that." Spencer asks.
"Well, remember when he said, "the goal of keeping you three alive?" that makes me think that he is excluding himself from the mix. Furthermore, I found several canisters of Lamp Oil under the floorboards under his bed. This makes me feel that his trump card is Self-immolation, burning down the house along with himself. Mama would try to save his body for the demons, and that would ensure everyone gets a chance to escape." Norman explains.
Spencer takes a moment to absorb the theory Norman told him. It makes complete sense and is a good plan, but for Ray to sacrifice himself for everyone else is not acceptable, not to him at least.
"It's a good plan, but for him to die for the escape is not acceptable," Spencer said.
"I agree, but I think we can use this. We can use his plan, just without him dying." Norman told him.
"If we could get a dummy of some sort and take out his tracker without disabling it, it could work," Spencer suggests.
Norman smiles and nods his head. "I agree completely. If we use some extra hair from one of the others with long hair and some raw meat, it could burn and smell just like a body." He says.
"Okay, so with that out of the way. How are they going to get the materials needed to escape without Mama noticing." Spencer thought out loud.
Norman looks at Spencer straight into his eyes. "You know what we have to do. The only way is for Emma and Ray to have Mama's full attention. If Emma and Ray get any of the materials, it is all over. You said they, meaning you know we won't be part of the escape." Norman tells the shaggy-haired boy.
Looking down, Spencer's face turns into a sad smile, "Yea, I figured you'd known the same. If you and I run now, the chances of Mama sending one of the others too high, I was planning to find out what's beyond the wall and then return. I will not let my life cause the death of Emma or anyone else." He tells the white-haired boy.
"Same here. Oh, I almost forgot, in my drawer, I found these. I think there from Sister Krone." Norman says, taking out something wrapped in cloth and a pen.
"What is that thing wrapped in the cloth?" Spencer asks.
"A mold of her key, I think she wants us to use it to barricade the secret room or use it to get supplies from the yard house or infirmary," Norman explains.
"I guess that in the end, she knew she was going to die, so she gave us this to help us escape, but what about that pen?" Spencer askes.
"I've been fiddling with it for a little bit now, and I've found out that you can pull it like this and…" Norman explains as he takes off the cap and places it on the end, then pulls the pen. Suddenly a beam of light shoots from the side of the pen and creates a light surface between him and Spencer. Spencer jumps back, almost falling down but catches himself.
"What is it? A hologram?" He asks in surprise.
"Yea, see it's the owl with 'Promise' morse code circle on it, along with 00-00. On the pen is encrypted B 06-32, this leads me to believe that this is a GPS of sorts, showing us coordinates." Norman explains.
"Coordinates to what though?" Spencer asks.
"I believe to Willam Manerva. Also encrypted on the pen is WM." Norman tells the other boy.
"I think we should take the pen with us to the wall; maybe we can find out what B refers to in the plan and what direction the numbers indicate," Spencer suggested, causing Norman to nod and put the pen away. "Oh, on the topic of gifts from Krone, I got something to." Spencer continues taking a folded piece of paper from his back pocket.
"You got a note?" Norman asks.
"As well as this," Spencer replies, unfolding the note and taking out and handing Norman what looked to be a bookmark, one with a four-leafed clover on it, on one of the leaves was in gold letters the word HOPE.
"A bookmark?" Norman asks, taking it from Spencer.
"Yea, but seeing as an ordinary-looking pen is a hologram projector, It may also hold a secret we don't know about. The note is from Krone; this is what she says." Spencer says, bringing the note up for him to read. "I'm going to die, Isabella is sending me to my death, and I know it, but I won't die quietly. I'm going to make sure you kids escape and ruin her perfect record. I gave Norman a few things that will help with your escape, and to you, I'm giving something I found in one of the books here in Grace field when I was here as a child. It may seem ordinary but trust me when I say you're going to need it if you want to learn more about the outside world. I failed in putting the pieces of this puzzle together, but you kids are smart, smarter than me, so find the pieces and put them together. When you leave, don't look back, get out, and live." Spencer finishes.
"...We may not have trusted her, and if she succeeded, she would have sent all us out, but in the end, she was just like us, someone trapped within these walls from birth, made to believe a lie," Norman said, a little depressed.
"Yea… but now we have a chance. With your pen, we have a goal when they get outside, and with the key, they can get everything they need. Hopefully, they'll figure out why the bookmark is so important." Spencer says.
"Hmm, we'll need to write down the plan before we leave tomorrow night, but for now, let's get some sleep; we have stuff to do tomorrow," Norman says, getting up and walking to his room.
The next day, after Norman and Spencer return from the wall.
Spencer and Norman go outside after dinner, as most of the older kids clean up. They needed to write down the plan, as well as their own letters to Emma.
Spencer leaves Norman alone to write the plan. Spencer walks toward the tree line to write his own predictions of what might happen during the escape and outside, as well as his own final letter.
Sitting down under a tree, Spencer collects his thoughts and then starts to write.
"Dearest Emma, below this note, I have written some things I guess will occur during the escape and what might occur outside. The escape will be set for 2 months, a night before Ray's Birthday. Ray plans to kill himself by setting fire to himself, this would be a good distraction, but you can't let him go through with actually dying. Norman has a plan of how to make a fake Ray to trick Mama. Norman told you the true plan, so I don't need to go and retell it. Emma, the past 11 years of my life have been filled with joy. I don't know what the bookmark is for. All I know is that it's important, keep it and the pen with you at all times. Seeing your smile every morning made me happier than any word can describe. Did you know that each leaf on the four-leaf clover has a meaning? One represents Hope, one Faith, one Love, and one Luck, well you are my four-leaf clover Emma, you are my hope, you are my good luck charm, I have faith you will succeed, and you are the one I love the most. Sorry I couldn't tell you face to face, but I feel like it would hurt more that way. Anyway, just remember the plan, and plan around my predictions. I know you'll get everyone out, never think it's impossible, cuz all you have to do is make it possible. Take care, Emma."
After writing down what He guesses what will happen during and after the escape, he folds the paper up, walks to the house, and waits for Norman. They plan for Norman to hide the letters and the mold and key in a tree and tell Gilda and Don to get them in a couple of days.
Now that he made peace with Emma, he had to make peace with himself.
Back to the escape.
Cutting off his ear was painful, but it was something Ray could deal with. Taking Ray's ear, Emma drops it among the other things that make the Ray dummy, with Thoma and Lennon pouring more oil on the ground.
"Okay, Ray, wait outside, everyone will be there soon, and then we can leave," Emma tells Ray.
Ray does as he is told, even though he was planning on dying tonight, Emma's persistence and defiance are too much for him.
Soon Ray sees the large glow of a fire in the dining room from outside and hears Emma scream, and a minute after that, he sees the other children running out of the house.
The next few minutes seemed like a blur, the kids moving like they have done this a hundred times, going to different locations and getting multiple bags of supplies. Soon Emma runs out, holding a cloth to her ear.
"Sorry for the wait, guys!" She yells out to the others.
"Emma!" Most of them call out.
"You destroyed all your transmitters, right?" Emma asked two of the kids.
"Yep! Everyone got theirs destroyed!" the child answered.
Anna walked up to Emma with a concerned look. "Emma! We need to treat your ear before it gets infected!" Anna told the other girl.
"Thanks for your concern, Anna! But we need to keep on schedule and run." Emma responded.
"Okay, everyone! We gotta go now!" Don yelled to all the children.
"To the wall!" Gilda added.
Everyone started to sprint towards the wall. Ray, who was near the end, caught up with Don.
"Hey… Don. What the hell is going on? Does everyone here know what's going on? About the secret of the house? About how we're gonna run away?" Ray asks.
"Yup," Don responds.
"How?" Ray asks, confused.
"Emma told them." He spoke. "Back when Spencer and Emma confronted Krone, Anna, Thoma Lannion, and Nat listened in on their conversation. As for the rest, they were told by Emma right under Mama's nose."
Ray stared at the boy in silence. All this time, and he didn't notice? They had accomplished so much without his help.
The children ran the rest of the way in silence. As soon as they arrived at the wall, the children went to work.
"Don and I will climb up first, then hoist everyone else," Emma announced.
"Right, just like we practiced everyone!" Don said.
Looking at the group of kids, Emma smiled. "We're all gonna get out of here in one piece," she said.
Ray started to look around. 'This doesn't look like everyone? Where are the youngest?' he thought.
Once he was on the top of the wall, he asked.
"Emma, where are the youngest?"
"I was thinking about what you said, about minimizing the number of people we take with us," Emma told him as she looked back. "We're leaving the youngest ones on the farm. But we aren't giving upon them. For now, we can't bring them."
"For now?" ray asked.
"Yea, we're leaving the ones 4 and under. That gives us at least two years, but Spencer believed they'd halt sending 6-year-olds out cuz they lost 2 high-quality goods. His best estimate was 3 years, as most of the four-year-olds have good scores. We told Phil the truth cuz he has the highest score out of everyone, so we trusted him to prepare the other kids. Spencer believed that if the house is burned, the kids will be sent to one of the other plantations." Emma told Ray, looking back at the smoke. "We are going to return in 3 years and take everyone from all the plantations with us."
Satisfied with the answer, Ray nodded and started to run with the others down the length of the wall.
After a few minutes of running, an ear-splitting alarm rang out.
"Shit, the alert has gone off. We need to be set up and going over the Cliff by now." Emma said as they continued to run." Don, get going." She ordered.
"Right!" Don said, starting to swing a rope with four rocks on the end.
Don through the rope out towards a large tree, the rocks wrapped around the thick branch tightly, causing the kids to cheer.
Tying the other end of the rope to a nearby tree, Don positioned a coat hook as a zip line. Taking a running start, Don leaped off the edge of the wall and zipped above the chasm. The children on the wall held their breath, waiting, and hoping for him to cross safely.
After a tense moment, Don made it to the other side, disappearing behind the leaves. Don jumped down to the ground and ran to the edge, where he lit a lamp and waved it around as a signal.
"Right, now it's our turn!" Thoma said. Jumping right into the action, Thoma and Lannion took out bottles of water and an air pump. The water bottles had fins on their sides like a rocket. After a moment, pumping air into the bottles, they shot out towards the Cliff, roped attached to them.
Don retrieved them and tied the ropes to the truck of two trees. With the ropes tied up and connected. The kids started to line up behind the two ropes as Ray looked at the scene in awe.
"So, what do you think? Ray?" a disembodied voice said behind the black-haired boy.
Whipping his head back, he sees two people he thought he'd never see again.
"Nor...Spe…" Ray said in a hushed tone before he realized what he was really seeing.
"What's that face? You look like you've seen a ghost! Haha." Spencer joked.
"I still don't believe that we managed to trick you!" Norman said.
"Emma said, "I'll show you something game-changing." huh," Ray said, talking to himself.
"It's amazing, isn't it! It's something we all thought impossible. Then again, with Emma, nothing is impossible. With Emma's belief in everyone, with her recklessness, her stubbornness, her purity, her faith, and her hope, she was able to infect everyone with her qualities, giving them courage…" Spencer said.
"Don't give up Ray, you still have a long road ahead," Norman said, his form disappearing.
Ray suddenly returned to reality, seeing that most of the kids had already crossed, only leaving himself, Emma, Thoma, Lannion, and Jemima.
"Okay Jemima, your next," Emma said.
Jemima walked up to Emma, her hands shaking. "Emma… what do I do, my hands… I- I'm sorry! It's just... I remember how high up we are, and all I can think is what would happen if I fell."
Thoma and Lannion suddenly tensed up, Jemima's words suddenly making them realize their own situation.
'Shit!' Emma thought.
"No worries… I'll go with you, don't worry about anything," Ray said, picking up Jemima. "Emma, use the extra rope to tie Jemima around me."
"You know what to do, right?" Emma asked as she tied Jemima and Ray together.
"I can see, you know?" Ray retorted.
"Huh, smartass," Emma said with a smirk, finishing the knots.
"What about you two? You gonna be okay?" Ray asked the two boys.
"Hell yea!" Lannion and Thoma said with gusto.
"Good. Okay, Jemima, let's go." Ray said, sliding down on the zip line.
After Ray and Jemima landed, Emma helped Thoma and Lannion zip down.
Emma takes one last look inside the walls, the walls that have been her home for 11 years. "Goodbye, Grace Field house." She said before taking her descent into the unknown.
Once she got to the bottom, the kids started to untie the ropes connected to the home they once knew. And after that, they ran.
As the group ran into the unknown forest, nothing got in their way, let it be a tree or rock. After several minutes the group saw a light start to peak from the trees ahead.
Once they got to the edge of the tree line, the group stopped to see the sunrise.
"Hey, Everyone! This is our first Independent Morning!" Emma announced.
Chapter 7, End.
And there we go, the end of an arc. It's been a long time coming, but it's finally done. Soon we will move onto the next arc, the Promised Forest Arc. This one is going to take some time as I want this entire arc compressed into one chapter. I hope the wait was worth it, my friends.