"Hands were I can see you."
They obeyed.
"Drop your weapon young girl."
She did.
"Now turn slowly."
They turned carefully to be met by several sizes of guns pointed their way. The Captain laughed hysterically as he saw the fear on their faces.
"Please, don't shoot." Dian reasoned half-bravely, "We are just innocent children."
"Children?!" The captain laughed even more hysterically, "Tell me, which normal child manages to escape from a tightly secured cage, knocks out four of my men and tries to steal a lifeboat? Huh? I'd rather not be fooled"
"Oh yeah?" Hammed countered, "Then drop your gun and come fight me like a man!"
The captain let out a lighthearted laugh before continuing in his British accent to his ally, "Please, escort them to their various cells. This time be sure to lock them separately without communication." He continued with a smirk, "I'd rather not have them throw another funny show in my ship."
With a nod two men proceeded to handcuff their hands behind, making sure to secure Hammed's cuffs first.
When the last cuffs was done they were quietly guided down the cabin.
"I'm sure I saw a drone earlier." The blonde girl whispered to Dian
"What? Where?"
"Shut up and keep moving." One of the guards warned.
She continued, "Earlier when the captain was speaking, I saw a drone high in the sky behind him."
"Both of you keep quiet."
"It could be easily missed, but I am very sure I saw it. I believe it is a spy drone."
The impatient guard quickly held their shoulders, stopping them abruptly in their track. "I will only repeat myself one more time – "
"Hey, big guy!" Hammed called out from where he stood when their walk was interrupted, stubbornly resisting the other guard who pushed at him frantically to move as he said "Leave them alone and come fight someone your own match!"
"I will murder this lad." He growled. With vain bulging through his beefy arms, he strode his way to Hammed.
With ease he was able to secure Hammed dangling in the air as he strangled him.
"Leave him alone!" Dian cried as she ran to free Hammed from his captor but was easily shoved down by his free hand. The blonde girl and Kinsley only watched fear-struck.
"Captain Rob will not be pleased to hear about the death of his prisoner, Dandy." The other guard warned.
"Relax, Gab. I only want to teach this lad fear."
"You can do that later. For now, we must do as told and take them to their separate cells… Alive." The emphasized the last word.
"Fine." Dandy grunted before letting Hammed slump to the floor as he struggled to fill his oxygen-deprived lungs with air while Dian crawled to tend to him.
"Quick, Stand up both of you." Gab commanded, "I have many important things to attend to."
They reluctantly obeyed as Dian helped Hammed to get to his feet but they quickly fell back down along with Kinsley and the blonde girl as the two men braced themselves to the cabin walls while the ship quacked on impact accompanied by a deafening sound.
"What was that?!" Dandy asked but his question was answered with sound of gunshots.
"We are under attack!" Gab answered with bulging eyes. Just as quick came another sound as the cabin quacked on impact. This time causing a lantern to fall from where it hung, igniting on the wooden floor with help from the kerosene it once contained.
"Put out the fire!" Gab screamed as they proceeded to stop the fire from burning any further. But the fire was one step ahead, with a swift move it quickly ignited on a pile of hay which lay close by and so escalated before their eyes.
"Where are those kids?" Dandy narrowed his eyes, "Those vermins."
"The fire first, we will deal with them later!" Gab reasoned. They promptly began to do the best they can in putting out the violent flames.
******************************************************************************
Breathlessly, the four of them stopped, very certain they are far away from their captors.
"Please tell me someone has the key." Kinsley prayed breathlessly.
"I got you covered." Said the blonde girl as she turned around to display a bunch of keys in her cuffed hands.
"Has anyone ever told you that you have sticky fingers?" Hammed joked.
"Hmm, just a few." She smirked, "you know, my dad, my mom, my step-mom, all my friends both at home and in school, all my teachers, my nanny, my –"
"Good heavens! We get it." Hammed interrupted, "Pretty much everyone has."
"Yup."
Another impact quacked the ship.
"Guys, try locking your mouth then unlocking our handcuffs." Dian chided.
"Come Kinsley, you are first." The blonde girl said.
After she had managed to un-cuff Kinsley, he quickly proceeded to un-cuff the rest.
"My hands are sore." The blonde girl groaned as her cuffs was undone least.
"Now what?" Hammed inquired.
"Nothing new, we just take the lifeboat unnoticed and sail away while we can." Dian said matter-of-factly.
Without no further ado, they four found their way to the deck to me met by war cries as armed men ran around, swords clashing, guns shooting, cannons booming and helicopters hiving.
They quietly snuck around until they made it to the boat which was still secured on the mainmast unscratched.
They quickly untied it and gently lowered it to the sea.
Without any warning Hammed quickly jumped off the ship earning a panicked cry from the rest. Like a fish, he gently swam his way up to the lifeboat to secure it as he climbed his way on.
"Well?" Hammed called, snapping them out of their slacked jaw stair.
"Do you expect us to do just that? No way!" Kinsley retorted.
"We will just use the ladder, thank you." The blonde girl simply said as they descended through the ladder. Hammed secured the lifeboat safely under the ladder as they all climbed in.
At once the engine came to life as they zoomed away from the ship, the chaos and all.
"You still have the map right, Hammed?" Dian asked.
"That's correct." He fished a wet paper out of his pants and handed it over to Dian as he sailed with the other hand.
She quickly spread the wet map on the boat floor, they three trying to make sense and match their location in the map.
"Trouble in paradise?" Hammed jokingly asked.
"Yeah," Dian slurred, "Do you happen to know how to read a map?"
Hammed chuckled, "Figured you three were as good as lost from the look on your faces."
"Oh brother." The blonde girl rolled her eyes.
"Someone should take the wheel." On hearing this, they all case a blank stare at one another then back to Hammed. "Seriously?"
"In our defense, our fathers do not own a ship." Dian countered.
"Uhhm, mine do." The blonde girl cringed, "But it is just one large fancy boat."
"Tell me about it, Blondee." Hammed said sarcastically.
"Its Arora, Arora Frost." She countered, "Daughter to Mr. Benjamin Frost."
"Yeah yeah, Arora. You can call me Hammed." He replied absent mindedly.
"I'm Dian Boris and this is my brother, Kinsley."
"Dian," Arora said, testing the word on her tongue for the first time, "That's a lovely name. My mother's name is Diana."
"Don't you think its funny, Arora?" Dian smiled, "We being through all those chaos without knowing each other's name?"
"Yeah, it's funny now I think about it." They both fell into a comfortable giggle.
"Guys," said Kinsley, "That helicopter seems to be heading our way." And sure enough a black helicopter was hived forward to their direction.
"Can this boat go any faster?" Dian asked.
"Brace yourselves." Come the reply. The boat added momentum giving them a jiffy to adhere to Hammed's warning. But, the helicopter seems to be equal to the task, for it too picked up in acceleration.
"We are not the enemy." Came a megaphone from the helicopter as it continued, "We are here to help. Please, stop the boat."
Hammed paid no mind as he kept up his momentum while the helicopter repeatedly blared the same instruction on repeat.
When it was clear that Hammed was reluctant to stop the helicopter gently retreated without any further instructions.
"I think we lost them." Dian heaved a sigh o f relief.
"Yeah, that was close." Hammed laughed.
"Like too close for comfort." Arora commented.
"So, where are we heading to now?" Kinsley couldn't help but ask.
"First, we need to find shelter as it is already dawn," said Dian. "Tomorrow we all will go our separate ways. At least, some of us deserve a break." She said the last part casting a knowing gaze to Arora who smiled with an acknowledging nod.
"Then What?" Hammed asked as he turned to cast Dian a sad look.
"Then," Dian took in a sharp breath through closed teeth, "we need to find shelter first. And make the best out of the moment."
"Who is ready to be drunk and wasted tonight?" Hammed cheered.
"absolutely not!" Kinsley giggled.
"I second that." Arora chimed in.
"Getting drunk after all this trauma doesn't strike me as a bad idea" Dian reasoned.
"I second that." said Arora.
"Absolutely not!" Kinsley countered as they all busted into feats of laughter as the boat gently sailed its way head first into dawn.