Chapter 11: Back to being alone

Chapter 10: Back to being alone

The ocean was gray that morning.

Waves rolled lazily against the walls of the prison. The Atlantic looked endless from where Audrey stood, her hands gripping the rail of the narrow watch deck.

She'd come to this spot every morning since was brought here. The air here was cold, but it smelled cleaner than inside the cells.

Her fingers traced the chipped metal rail. She could almost imagine she was standing at a cliff's edge, free, with wind in her hair. She heard familiar footsteps.

"Tennessee?"

He appeared from behind one of the pillars, his dark hair pushed back messily, his prison shirt unbuttoned at the top. In his hand, wrapped awkwardly in a strip of newspaper, were a few wilted flowers, daisies, their white petals smudged with dirt.

"For you," he said simply.

Audrey blinked at them, her lips parting in disbelief. "Where did you even get these?"

He smirked. "You'd be surprised what grows by the sewage fence."

She stared for a moment, then laughed, a sound she hadn't heard from herself in weeks. It startled her how light it felt.

"You picked me flowers from the sewage fence?" she teased softly.

"Hey," he said, shrugging, "it's the thought that counts."

She took them, holding them carefully as though they were made of gold. "They're perfect," she whispered. "Nobody's ever brought me flowers in this place."

"Then that makes me the first," Tennessee said, leaning beside her. His eyes followed the waves too, distant, lost in some thought he didn't share. "Anyway, you're my wife now." He scoffed.

For a while, neither of them spoke. Seagulls cried far away, their voices echoing faintly.

Finally, Audrey turned to him, her voice quiet but curious. "What next?"

He looked at her. "What do you mean?"

She gestured vaguely toward the prison yard below, the fences, the endless ocean. "All of this. The plan. The marriage. The headlines. What happens now?"

Tennessee exhaled, rubbing his jaw. "Now... we wait."

"For what?"

"For him to move," he said. "Izo doesn't sit still when someone provokes him. He'll try to fix his mess soon."

Audrey frowned. "And if he doesn't And if he's truly dead? Then I married you for nothing?"

"He is not dead."

She shook her head, staring at the flowers. "I don't even know what to believe anymore. My whole life, everything I knew... it's like Earth rewrote it all. My parents are dead, my sister hasn't visited me since I came here, and I'm..." she laughed bitterly "...a prisoner married to another prisoner."

Tennessee didn't interrupt. He let her talk, just standing beside her.

Audrey's voice broke. "I just... I don't know who I am anymore."

"You're still Audrey," he said quietly. "Were you expecting to be somebody else?"

She looked at him sharply. "I hope you didn't trick me to get married to you."

His answer came with a tired smile. "I have a very beautiful girl out waiting for me, you're ugly compared to her."

Audrey nodded. "I saw her come visit you."

Tennessee exhaled. "Yes...She knows the plan."

She opened her mouth to speak again but before she could, the siren wailed. A sharp, shrill sound that sliced through the still morning air.

Audrey flinched, her heart jumping. Guards began shouting from below, their boots slamming against the metal stairs as they climbed up toward the deck.

Tennessee turned. "What the hell..."

Before he finished, two officers appeared at the top of the stairs, their rifles slung over their shoulders. One of them, a broad man with a shaved head, called out, "Inmate Tennessee Whitmore!"

Tennessee stiffened. "Yeah?"

"You're coming with us."

Audrey frowned, confused. "What? Why? What's going on?"

The guard didn't answer her. He held out a slip of paper. "Official order. Tennessee Whitmore's release has been approved."

"Release?" Audrey repeated, her voice a whisper.

Tennessee laughed once, a short, stunned sound. "That's impossible. I was sentenced for ten years. I've only served two."

The guard's expression didn't change. "Orders came in this morning. Your case has been reviewed. You're free to go."

"Reviewed by who?" Tennessee demanded. "The court doesn't even..."

"Doesn't matter." The guard gestured impatiently. "Pack your things."

For a moment, silence hung between them, heavy and unreal. Audrey felt her throat close. "Wait...no, this has to be a mistake."

"Ma'am," the second guard said to her stiffly, "step aside."

Tennessee looked at her, confusion flickering across his features. He shook his head. "I didn't ask for this."

"I know," Audrey whispered. "Then why-why would they..."

The guards stepped closer. "Whitmore, now."

Tennessee hesitated. He looked back at Audrey, his jaw tightening. "I'll come back," he said. "I'll come see you tomorrow, I promise."

Her eyes filled with tears. "Don't say that if you don't mean it."

"I mean it," he said, voice low. "I promise."

The guards grabbed his arms. Audrey reached out instinctively. "Wait! Please...he didn't-he can't go! You can't just take him!"

"Mrs. Whitmore, step back," one of them barked.

Her heart shattered at the sound of that name - Mrs. Whitmore.

Tennessee looked over his shoulder as they led him away. His hands were cuffed, his steps echoing against the metal stairs.

He didn't look back again.

Audrey ran to the railing, her hands gripping it until her knuckles turned white. Below, she could see the courtyard where the van waited, its engine rumbling faintly. The guards pushed Tennessee inside. The doors slammed shut.

The van began to roll forward, disappearing through the outer gates until it became nothing but a speck moving toward the horizon.

And he was gone.

Audrey stood there for a long time, staring at the place where he'd vanished. Her body trembled. Her breath came shallow and uneven.

She didn't know how long she stayed like that before her knees gave way. She dropped to the cold steel floor, the flowers scattering beside her, crushed and broken, their petals blown away by the wind.

"Why?" she whispered. Her voice cracked. "Why does everyone leave? What is really happening?"

She thought of Yvonne, of her sister's promise to protect her. She thought of Izo's smile when he said he'd love her forever. She thought of Tennessee's steady voice saying I'll come back.

Every word felt like a lie now.

Audrey hugged herself tightly, rocking slightly, as if trying to keep her body from falling apart.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she whispered to the empty sea. "What did I ever do to deserve this?"

Her voice was swallowed by the wind.

Far below, the waves kept hitting the steel walls, again and again, relentless.

Audrey sat there until the sun began to set, her hair tangled in the wind, her eyes red and swollen.

The flowers were gone, carried away by the ocean breeze.