Build a Boat Out of Mud

Once again, during free time, Penny, Norman, and Emma hurried into the forest and grabbed something from underneath their shirts. Emma grinned. "You know, this is a great idea, Norman. Pulling out spare table cloths." the eleven year old said, lifting her shirt to reveal table cloths wrapped around her waist, tied up to act as rope.

"Yeah!" Penny grinned, releasing her batch of ropes. "Great idea, Norman! Grabbing spare table cloths!"

Norman grinned, holding up a rope. "These could be tied up and used as rope!"

The night before, the trio had snuck into the room that wasn't used the most...the storage room. They called it the forbidden room...even Mom who had the house key (Penny used to call it magical, since it unlocked every door in the house) hardly ever went in there. So, thanks to Norman's skillful lock picking, the three managed to quietly grab the rope and wrapped it around their torsos, underneath the white shirts. Penny was silently thankful that the table cloths were white, too, that way they wouldn't get caught.

They grabbed the rest of the table cloths that weren't tied up and began working. When they were finished, Penny did the job of bagging the rope, and she handed it to Emma, who climbed up a tree and hid the bag in a hole. She glanced at them with a grin. "Now we have a way to climb over the wall!"

She hopped down.

Norman turned to the wall, frowning. "But we still have to figure out the hard part..."

"How to deal with the tracking devices..." Emma muttered, lowering her head.

"And how to take everyone else, our precious siblings..." Penny muttered, shaking her head.

"Hey, Norman, Penny and I talked about it, and we thought it was a good idea." Emma suddenly said. Penny jumped, quickly turning to Emma. "You really think we should tell him this? What if it's not the right time..."

"It'll be fine." Emma said reassuringly. "It's Norman, he'll agree to the idea."

Norman raised his eyes at the girls. "What do you have in mind?"

Emma narrowed her eyes. "Penny thought it would be a good idea to tell Ray and get his opinion."

"I was thinking the very same thing." Norman said, turning to the girls completely. "I also think Ray would be the least likely to panic. And because he knows a lot, he's good at working with machines. He would be an asset to our plan. But..." Norman paused, frowning.

"But what?" Penny and Emma asked.

Norman quickly smiled. "Tell you what, I'll talk to Ray myself, why don't you head back to the house for now...."

"Why not now?"

Penny squeaked in surprise, and she, Norman, and Emma turned to see Ray trudging through the bushes towards them.

"Ray!" Emma said.

Ray raised his hand. "Yo."

"Dude, don't scare me like that!" Penny grumbled at him.

"Sorry, I followed you." Ray said with a shrug. "It's been bugging me all day, so I thought I should just come out and ask you." He walked up and showed them the book he was reading. Penny hesitantly took it, staring at its cover. She squeaked again as Ray wrapped both arms on Norman and Emma, and reached down so he could grasp Penny's shoulder with his hand. He stared at them. "Tell me what happened at the gate the other night!"

"Wh-wh-wh-" Penny stuttered, frightened at his sudden temper.

"You know, when you tried to take Little Bunny to Connie." Ray continued. "You three were acting a lot weirder than usual, and came back empty handed even though you didn't see her. And you looked more terrified than usual." Ray shot a suspicious look at Penny, and she gulped, not knowing what to say.

"You're so sharp." Norman chuckled nervously.

Ray growled, glaring at the three. "So I assume something must've happened, now spill it! Penny's never been this terrified, and you know it!"

"Me?" Penny squeaked, a bit rattled by Ray's sudden temper. "Terrified?"

"It was written all over your face." Norman pointed out.

"Not helping, Norman!"

"Aren't you a clever one!" Emma squeaked out as Ray squeezed her with his arm.

It took a while, but with Norman and Emma's help, Penny managed to tell Ray what had happened at the gate. The raven haired boy sweat-dropped as he slowly spoke. "Demons, huh? A farm? Mom is the enemy?" He lowered his hand from his mouth, frowning. "This is bad."

"He catches on fast!" Emma jumped, startled.

"So that means this whole time," Ray touched the numbers on his neck. "Mom's been taking care of us and feeding us so well, so that we can get shipped out and be demon food."

Penny said nothing, hiding behind Norman a little while Emma responded hesitantly. "Actually, I'm surprised you're ready to believe in this so easily."

Norman glanced at Emma as Ray spoke. "Huh? Of course I believe it. Norman will never make up such an unbelievably dumb lie. He's not you, Emma."

Emma groaned, slumping. Penny chuckled nervously, patting the girl's back.

"So, if we're really going to make a break for it, we need to address a couple of things." Ray said.

"Like what?" Penny asked curiously. Ray glanced at her. "First is the number of kids. We should narrow it down to those who could make it...."

"WAIT!"

Ray glanced at Emma.

Emma glared at him. "We're leaving here, and taking everyone. And to make that happen, we need you!"

Ray turned pale, his arm falling to his side. "Everyone?" He asked slowly. "You're kidding, right? There are thirty seven kids here, and most of them aren't even six years old yet! There's Mom. Demons. Homing deacons. Those factors take a bad situation and make it worse. You want the impossible..."

"I know it will be tough," Emma retorted, balling her hands into a fist. "But I don't think it's impossible-"

"It can't be done!" Ray said sternly. "Emma, you don't get it, do you?"

"Ray, hang on!" Norman said, reaching for the boy.

Ray sighed, looking down. "I see. That's why you said you'd talk to me." He walked up to Emma. "But you have to be up front of something this grave. Emma."

"Yeah, what?"

"We can't just worry about escaping, it's not enough."

"What do you mean by that?"

"We don't know what's waiting outside beyond this wall. But there's a place we're getting shipped to. The fact that there's a farm and a buyer should give you an idea. What waits outside is a demon's world. There's no place for humans to live. It was never meant for our kind."

Emma and Penny gasped. Norman lowered his head.

Ray continued. "So, it's impossible. If we take everyone, then we'll all die out there." He rested a hand on Emma's shoulder. "We leave them behind, that's the best option."

Emma closed her eyes and opened them again, determination swelling in them. "No way!"

Ray took a step back, startled.

"Even if it's impossible, they're all coming!" Emma said. "We can figure it out!"

"WHAT?!"

Penny watched with an amused expression. "Here we go..."

Emma glared at Ray. "I don't know what's on the outside, but leaving part of our family behind isn't an option!" She glanced down. "Penny and I talked about it, we both want Connie to be the last one they take. Never again. I won't lose anyone else like that! If there isn't a place out there for humans to live, we'll carve one out for ourselves! Together we'll change the world!"

Ray stepped forward, anger written on his face.

"Thank you, Ray, for helping me to understand, but we're planning an escape where we get everyone out." Emma continued, giving him a determined look. "I'm not bending on this, I've decided." She grabbed Ray's arms and glared at him, nearly yelling. "Stop jabbering and help us!"

Ray flung Emma off him, and the girl stumbled into Penny's arms, and they both tumbled to the ground. Penny glared at Ray. "Not cool, Ray!"

Norman started chuckling, and Ray turned to him. "How could you just laugh? Her plan is suicide-"

"WE'RE LEAVING WITH EVERYONE, AND THAT'S IT!" Emma screamed, flailing her arms around. "I WON'T AGREE TO ANYTHING ELSE! I WON'T! I WON'T! I WON'T!"

Penny started laughing at Emma's childishness, and Ray glared at Norman. "Someone should knock some sense into her! It's unreasonable!"

Norman laughed. "Yeah, totally! I'm glad that she and Penny are back to their old cheerful selves!"

"You're missing my point, Norman! Stop her, or you, Penny, and Emma would all die!" He narrowed his eyes. "Of course, you knew all of that from the very start, didn't you?!"

Norman looked down. "You didn't see...the way they cried." He glanced at Ray's shocked expression and continued. "That night, I thought she was crying because they were terrified. I know now that I was wrong. What I saw there made me afraid of dying. Emma and Penny were scared, but it was the thought of their family dying that horrified them. They're so amazing, to be in that situation and worry about protecting others."

"But it's a lost cause!" Ray yelled. "The four of us could make it, but trying to take everyone? It's like making a boat out of mud!"

Norman glanced down.

Ray glared at him. "You should be scared. There's nothing to be ashamed of. Don't let feelings cloud your vision! We'll die!"

Norman glanced at Ray. "I do see clearly." Norman grinned and raised his arms out. "I wanna build a boat out of mud as well!"

Ray stared at Norman in shock. "Huh?! Don't be a fool! You're supposed to be different! You're the coolheaded one who should lay out the best option! WHAT GIVES, HUH?!" He yelled, grabbing Norman by his shirt and pulling him close.

Norman smiled. "Because of the girls, and how I'll do anything to always put a smile on their faces."

Ray let Norman go, gritting his teeth. "You've gone crazy... what if they both die because of it?!"

Norman narrowed his eyes. "That won't happen. I will make sure of it, and I will do whatever it takes." He smiled. "Look on the bright side, I've always been able to accomplish whatever I set out to do. If you bake mud, you could make a vessel. So a boat that's made out of mud wouldn't necessarily sink."

"You've lost your mind..." Ray stuttered, staggering backwards.

"You think?" Norman grinned. He raised his arms again. "Perhaps the girls and I are all insane. We've completely lost it!" He walked up to Ray, giving the boy a smug look. "So you can't let us do it alone."

Ray stared at Norman, but then a smirk finally traced his lips. "You jerk. What kind of friend would I be if I did?"

The bell dinged.

"Hey, that's the bell!" Penny said suddenly, drawing the rest of the group's attention.

Emma frowned. "Hey, guys? Shouldn't we still have some free time left?"

"We should go," Norman said. He took Penny's hand and the four made a dash for it.

Everyone cooed at the new baby in Isabella's arms. Beside Isabella was a new woman. Isabella spoke to the kids. "Attention, I want you to meet Carol, your newest sibling." She motioned her hand to the woman beside her. "And this is Sister Krona. She's here to help me with my duties."

Penny felt her blood run cold as Sister Krona smiled at them, but why did it look like she was doing it by force?

Emma gasped beside Penny. "An adult?"

"Another enemy..." Norman whispered.

Ray said nothing. He glanced over at Penny, who looked terrified. The boy frowned and grabbed her hand protectively, eyes never leaving the new woman ahead of them.

Sister Krone smiled at the children. "I'll be living here with all of you from now on. It's nice to meet you."

While the kids introduced themselves to Sister Krone, Penny glanced at her so called mother, who seemed to be smirking at them.

Penny shuddered, tightening her grip on Ray's hand.

This didn't look good.