Joshua's POV

All the guys file out to start working. I grab the shovel and start digging the ditch. We have to dig four feet down, three feet around. So yeah, I no longer am that chubby. In fact, I'm pretty fit now. A six-pack, actually.

Anyway, David walks over to me. "We have to get out of this hell-hole." he squeezes his eyes shut. "For Ian-I mean for all of us."

"Dude, I know you like Ian."

"Don't freak."

"I won't."

"I know you like Mari."

Unlike him, I decide to refuse. "No."

"I know, Josh. I'm not stupid."

"Yeah. I do." I sigh and look down. "This sucks."

Matt walks to us. "So, that girl, Emma, we're dating." I rack my brain for who Emma is. Ah, black hair, shoulder length, brown eyes, pretty

"Sudden... Good for you." I turn back to my work.

What? Can't a time skip have privacy?

The whistle blows, signaling the end of the day. I look up, sweat dripping into my eyes, and start walking. They keep eight to a cell, so it's all of us (and Emma) in one. We arrive and I sit in a corner. Ian and David sit in another, Kalel and Anthony in the far right corner, Matt and Emma in the far back left.

A girl screams so I look up. Emma is screaming, pointing at the door. I look and make a weird noise in my throat. An unconscious Mari is in a kidnapper/rapist's arms. He drops her and leaves, so I stand up and pick Mari up. I sit back down, Mari's head resting on my chest. I see she's shirtless, so I tug my own off and pull it over her head, pushing her arms through the holes. I close my eyes, despite being worried for Mari, and drift to sleep.

I wake up to something shifting on my lap. I open my eyes and see Mari moving on my lap. Everyone sees and runs over. Ian kneels down and touches her hand. She makes a weird, shrieky noise in her throat. She crawls backward and reaches another corner and rocks.. One by one, everyone tries until it's just me and Kalel left. She goes first.

Kalel approaches Mari and touches her hand, but Mari doesn't let her do anything else. Mari's still rocking back and forth, but she doesn't crawl away. Now it's me. I kneel by her and start talking before she's able to do anything. "Mari, it's me, Joshua. I'm not a bad guy. That shirt you're wearing is actually mine. See? I'm good here."

She looks up to me. I kneel next to her and pick her up, her head resting on my bare chest, and sit back down. She raises a hand, puts her pointer finger out and draws the number seven. Oh God... "Did seven people rape you?"

She nods and starts whimpering. I hold her tighter as she starts crying on my chest. "We're leaving, now. Kalel, you have hair pins? Use them to unlock the door. We're going."

Kalel does, and we start running, guards chasing us, but the door ahead is too small for me to carry Mari through.

"Leave me." She whispers.

"NO!"

"Joshua, you must. Or else they'll capture you and butt-rape you." She grabs my hand and pulls it away, forcing me to drop her. I look back, just as guards grab her.