Water rushes past us as Rose groans at Thadius, "You broke my nose!" I smile at her, "At least your head is still on." She growls, "Shut up, haircut." I look at myself, Carter really did give me a haircut. Markus shouts, "Shut up! We have to figure a way out of this!" A woman surfs in with a board. A giant glowing fish flies in after her. She waves her arm and the water changes current, forcing the fish over the ledge. She grabs her knee, "Shit!" She swings her head up and she grabs her forehead, "Oh god, too fast going up." I shout, "Hey!" She ducks immediately. Markus shouts, "It's us, Jess!" She peeks over, then slowly picks herself up, "You want the good news, or the bad news?" I shrug, "What's the bad news?" "This place is flooding and I'm too tired, we might end up drowning." Rose shouts, "Then what the hell is the good news!?" Jess frowns, "We don't die alone?" She squints, "Oh shit, is she-" Oh shit, Mama! I turn to her and she's not looking good. "Mama!?" Jess washes over to us and she points, "Let's get her up to that high tower."

  With her help, getting there safely with all the water flooding below is easy. Thadius slows the flow, using his body and shield. It's not much, but he doesn't care. Guy's foreign and on top of that, he's crazy strong. Jess leans back in a flaunting way as the fish thrashes around from below. Rose smacks me and I fall off my crate. She glares at me and I stare back at her, "What was that for?" She crosses her arms as Jess opens her mouth, "Rose-" "Shut it, you!" Jess frowns as Rose gives her an aggressive look. I grab my arm and grit my teeth at the sharp pain when I move it just a little. Mama groans, we all turn and nearly trip to get to her.

  I sit myself down, "Mama, I'm sorry." She takes a second, then sighs, "It's okay, child. You did right in the end." I grab her extended hand. I betrayed you right back. I didn't do right. Markus sighs, "We should remove the knife, but I'm afraid it might kill her." Jess sighs, "And I can't exactly press the wound if she does start to bleed out right now." Mama waves, "It's not near any arteries. But it did get worse because Markus was so rough with me." He stammers, "I had to." I sigh, "I'm glad you're okay." Mama laughs lightly, "You did get what you deserve though, Jack." I grab the knife and her grip grows tighter, "Careful, now." I gulp and slowly pull on the knife. For an old woman, her grip nearly crushes my limp hand. It gives a little, then it just slides out with ease. She jerks my hand closer, "Jack, you almost died today." I nod as she turns her head slightly towards Rose, "And Rose-" She takes another second, then sighs. "Rose, I'm glad you are safe too." Rose grabs at her arm as Mama clearly has much more to say, but chooses not to. Rose glares at me for a second.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Thadius shouts, I get up and watch as a giant school of fish pour past him. He jerks his head forward and shakes his fist back at the fish. One slaps him across the back of the head and he punches himself. I laugh lightly and Rose leans her elbow on my back, "What's so funny?" "Thadius just got played by that school of fish." Her elbow's really digging into my shoulder, "Stop that." She works it in and I wince, "You're fine." "It's in both my arms." She pulls away, "Fine." Jess smiles, "Jack, is that food in that crate?" I look down, "Yeah, food, water and ammunition." Rose glares at Jess, "Carter left it for me. I was supposed to shoot you guys on the way in." Markus scoffs, "That was you!? You almost took my head off." I smile and shrug, "I aimed to the ceiling. It was nowhere near you."

  Rose glares at me, "I bet you were aiming for him, but missed." I shake my head, "I don't miss." She growls, "You definitely miss, you missed the line in the sand." I tilt my head, "You wanted us to hurt so bad you agreed with Carter just like that." She shudders, "Then you agreed to-" I growl, "I never agreed to that!" She growls, "Then why didn't you say no!?" Jess and Markus excuse themselves as Mama tries to talk, but she gets cut off immediately, "You wanted to!" I stomp and get in her face, "Not in a million years!" She pushes me back and I wince at the pain in my arms. "I don't care if you were scared! You took it out on me and that's not okay!" She rips the only bedroll out the crate and pouts away. There's no time to sleep, we have to get out of here.

  I clench my fist, "I didn't-" Mama sighs, "You did do all that, Jack. She's right, you're wrong." I turn to her, "Whatever happened to me doing right in the end?" She makes a face at me, "Doesn't overwrite all the bad you did, Jack." I take a deep breath, "You better find a way to make up for all that or you might get stabbed in your sleep." "What about all she's done?" She rolls her eyes, "It doesn't matter, child. Make things right or she'll hate you forever." I shake my head, "I'll just sleep with an eye open." She shrugs and nuzzles against the cold hard floor, "Good luck with that." If she can't make up for what she did, I don't have to either.