Blake was dropped unceremoniously onto a hard, damp wooden surface, and when he tried to move himself so his face wasn't pressed painfully against a particularly splintery segment of deck he discovered that his hands and feet were tied. He moved his head as much as he could, just barely catching a glimpse of Mallory next to him, a slight that flooded him with relief. Whatever was happening, at least she was with him.<br/><br/>"What kind of haul is this? One's a girl, we already got one an' we don't need more bad luck. An' the boy looks like he could be overpowered by a fuckin' minnow."<br/><br/>"Yeah, Margo's been slipping, we might need a new source. But we'll see what we got in the morning, eh? Time will tell."<br/><br/>"Hmph. Kibbel and Rumskin, put em with the rest, already."<br/><br/>The words sounded oddly distant to Blake's ears, although that may have been a result of the recent blow to the head. In any case, a moment later he was seized and carried over to a hatch, which he was dropped into; he panicked, unable to grab hold of anything, but someone with rather muscular arms caught him down below with the kind of ease that suggested he weighed as much as a rag doll. It was all so confusing, even if he'd wanted to talk, to yell, or fight, he didn't know what he'd even say. It was easier just to allow himself to get swept up in it, hoping all the while that he wouldn't be separated from his friend.<br/><br/>A little while later he felt the ropes binding his hands and feet get roughly severed by a knife, and then he was hurled through a doorway. He heard the sound of someone else falling through behind him, and then the door slammed shut, a sound followed immediately by the metallic clink of a lock.<br/><br/>Wondering how many times he was going to be dropped in one night, he blinked stupidly as he pushed himself up to a seated position, noticing with a jolt that several other people were in the room with him. There were three boys, one with hair that resembled an overturned black bowl, and the other two with messy brown hair that made Blake feel uncommonly clean. There was also a girl, who was seated against the far wall in a dark corner.<br/><br/>"Nice of ya to drop in," said the bowl-headed boy, grinning toothily at them. The other two didn't seem to share in his high spirits, but the speaker pointed them out all the same. "That there's Gill, and the other's Dingus. They call me Shitsack," he added, grinning rather proudly as he turned his attention to the girl. "Don't know what her name is, she don't talk. Who're you?"