He grimaced as he caught sight of the black woman’s full, round breast on her left side, as her shirt was gaping, having been torn open to hang across her like a thin tunic that left that one dark mound bare. He started to look away, but the woman just grinned. “Don’t fret, Jonnie,” she called him as she had since he had hauled her into the lifeboat when their ship went down in a monstrous storm. “After the way you saved my butt, you deserve a lot more than a free peek,” the twenty-something woman grinned wearily as she leaned back on her elbows, looking up at the sun high in the sky.
“Any idea where we are now,” one of the teenagers asked.
He glanced over at them. They were twins. Maybe seventeen, if that. Pam, and Tammy Carter, as he had learned over the past few days at sea. Both female, though opposites in manner. One was shy, the other was a bit outgoing to the point of daring. If he were a more randy kind of man, he would think he had the start of his own little Eden here. He knew better. They had only just survived the days on the ocean, and now they had to survive on an unknown island until they could either find, or summon aid.
“Not much more than I had last night,” he admitted, having been trying to track their position from the stars. Only with the constant storms, and the resulting cloud cover, that had been impossible. “Maybe I can find out tonight though, if it stays as clear as it is now.”
“You can really figure out where we are from just looking at the stars,” one of the blondes asked a bit shyly. Tammy, he thought. She was the quiet one. Otherwise, you couldn’t tell them apart. They were both dressed alike, in evening gowns that were much the worse for wear by now. Of them all, only he had shoes left, as he was still wearing the sneakers he had been wearing for jogging around the deck when the storm had hit. Dressed in rugged denim jeans, and a faded sweatshirt, he had been better off that the twins in their dresses and heels, or the black woman in her skirt and blouse.
“Yes,” he reassured the girl. “But, meanwhile, we need to work out a few serious matters that need taking care of if we’re going to survive.
“Food, water, and shelter. Especially water,” he grimaced, knowing they were all parched, as their fresh water had ran out in the emergency kit almost two days ago now.
“God, I’d kill for a cold bottle of mineral water,” the black woman he knew by now was Dana Shelby, a hotshot Hollywood actress, sighed as she looked at him. “I don’t suppose you think this island is inhabited,” she asked him with naked hope in her dark eyes.
“Afraid not. Or at the least, it’s doubtful. I was awake when the surf pushed us toward the reef, and I got a pretty good look at the island as we approached. It looked maybe fifty miles in diameter, but one side was all mountainous, likely volcanic. This side was the only real approach to the place, and you saw how it was bordered by that corral reef even at high tide.
“Overall, it’s not the kind of place anyone would settle,” he told them honestly. “Still, it’s been around long enough to grow this jungle, so let’s hope there is edible food, and a freshwater spring around.”
“God, yes,” the more overt twin groaned. “I’m so tired of those stale crackers.”
“Cheer up. The last of them went down with the life boat,” the black woman grinned.
“By the way,” Jon finally sighed. “Anyone know anything about survival at all? Has any of you had any training,” he asked. No one spoke, and he just shrugged helplessly.
“We were all hoping things wouldn’t be this….drawn out,” the black woman grinned as she sat up straighter, and offered him a well-manicured hand. Or a hand that had been manicured at the start of their trial.
“Well, I think I can handle things okay, if we find what we need. But I’m going to need help with some of the day to day stuff if you three think you can manage it.”
“I think I can hack it, Jonnie,” Dana grinned. “I‘ve actually roughed it more than once on a few of my shoots. I might not be….trained, exactly, but I‘ve learned how easily you can do without some luxuries, in favor of just staying alive.”
“And I thought being a star was all high living, and smiling for the cameras,” Pam exclaimed, having declared herself a fan from the moment Jon had pulled her on board their lifeboat. Two others had been on board, too, aside from the twins, but they had lost those two in the subsequent storms when both men, businessmen types, panicked, and tried to swim for what they thought was shore. Jon had tried to warn them. There were mirages at sea, too, but they hadn’t listened. And now they were dead.
“Say, Jonnie, I‘ve been meaning to ask,” Dana blurted out as she stared up at him. “Got a last name? ‘Cause we sure ain‘t heard one yet.” “Walker,” he told them with a faint smile.
“Jonnie Walker,” the woman chuckled. “I bet you had a lot of jokes with that one,” she told him.
Jon just smiled.
“Maybe not,” she sighed, seeing the core of hard steel in his steady gaze. “So, Jonnie, you seem like the man with the plan. What do we do first?”
Jon pushed himself to his feet after he finished draining his shoes, and tying them back on. “We should get out the sun. Especially you two,” he told the twins. “It’s only going to be getting hotter with the clouds gone now, and you’re already getting more than a bit raw. You don’t need to really get burned.
“You can stay in the trees, resting for now. I’ll do a quick recon of the immediate area, and see if I can form a viable sitrep we can deal with,” he told them as he started toward the thick brush that marked the growth of the jungle beyond the sandy expanse of beach they were on.
“Let me guess,” Dana grinned. “You were military.”
“Still am,” he told her with a faint smile as he checked the strap on the single empty canteen from their lifeboat he had managed to hang onto when it had gone down after being smashed against the corral just off shore. “I’m on medical leave.”
“Oh, yeah,” she asked. “What happened?” “Sorry, can’t talk about it,” he told her with a wink as he studied the thick brush before him.
“Right. Okay, girls,” Dana addressed the twins. “Let’s at least get out of the sun, like the man says. And then we can maybe hunt up some kindling, or something for a signal fire in case we see someone out….there.” she gestured at the wide, empty horizon.
“Good idea. But stay close, and stay together. I’ll try not to be too long,” he told her as he headed into the jungle without hesitation now
“Be careful,” Dana called after him.
“And good luck,” one of the twins yelled. Likely Pam, but who knew?
Jon headed back to the beach after some hours of exploring. The trees were laden with fruit that would keep them alive. He had found several promising roots that resembled potatoes, or some kind of tuber that would make a good meal. He had also heard some small boars running about several times, so he supposed he could hunt then down whenever they needed meat. It would be a start.
Even better though, was the small river that flowed from out of the mountains from somewhere. He had heard the sound of distant falls as he neared the base of the mountain closest to the beach, and following the sounds, he had discovered the freshwater source that was as clear and clean as any water he had ever gotten from a purifier. That was a major worry off his mind. Now all they needed was a viable shelter, and they could start making themselves secure against a long stay, should that prove necessary.
It was in him to keep looking for a site for such a shelter, but he had been gone for at least four hours by his reckoning, and the women would likely be a bit antsy if he was gone much longer. Cradling the makeshift basket he had made of his sweatshirt to hold the fruit and tubers he had found, he tightened his grip on their sole canteen he had filled with water after drinking his fill, and jogged steadily back the way they had come.
“Jonnie,” Dana gasped, staring at him with huge, white eyes as he stepped out onto the beach where they were huddled around a small pile of deadwood they had gathered. “Thank God. I was trying to get a fire going,” she smiled wanly as she glanced at her meager effort. “But I guess I’m not much good at this Daniel Boone stuff.”
“Even Daniel Boone had to learn, too,” he told them as the two girls looked up from where they were huddled together against the growing evening chill in damp blankets that must have washed up from their lifeboat’s stores.
Overhead, the sky was just darkening as the sun sank below the horizon, and the night promised to be clear and still for the first time in many days. Unfortunately, that also made it a bit chilly as the sea breeze swept over them, carrying with it a chill that had all three shivering.
“Besides, you picked the wrong stones,” he advised her. “I’ll show you the better ones tomorrow,” he promised. “But for now, we’ll splurge,” he said as he pulled out a lighter from his jeans pocket.
“Cheater.”
He grinned as he squatted beside her to get the fire going, and gestured to his bundled sweatshirt. “Bananas, mangoes, and a few tubers that aren’t bad. And I found a freshwater river,” he added, nodding at the canteen he had set down. “We’ve got all the water we’ll need.”
“Thank God,” Pam exclaimed as she scrambled for the canteen.
“Let’s take it easy. Everyone needs a drink, and the river is too far to refill it tonight,” he advised her. “Besides, after our meager rations, we need to be careful about glutting ourselves on food, or water until our systems adapt.”
“Right, Mr. Expert,” Pam drawled as she opened the canteen, and took a long, deep drink. “God, that’s sooooo good,” she moaned as she swallowed several mouthfuls in quick succession.
“Thanks,” Tammy smiled as she handed her sister the canteen next as Dana opened his sweatshirt to reveal the small mound of food he had gathered along the way.
“And to think, I never cared that much for mangoes,” Dana exclaimed as she eagerly bit into the ripe fruit, chewing it with genuine pleasure.
“I’ll take some bananas,” Pam exclaimed as she did just that. “I heard they got the vitamins, or something you need anyway.”
“What are these,” Tammy asked him as she lifted some of the white tubers that looked like a variation of potato.
“Tubers. Like potatoes, I imagine. But they’re edible. I had a few on the trail. We could roast them if you think you’d like them better that way,” he grinned as he sat back, watching the small fire flare up as it caught.
“Heat,” Dana groaned, moving back beside him with several of the small mangoes in her hands as she chewed her mouthful.
“Why aren’t you cold,” Pam asked as she and her sister moved closer to the fire that grew as he carefully fed it from their stack of deadwood they had gathered.
“I’ve been moving for several hours. Exertion equals sweat, ladies,” he smiled as he glanced at the nearby ocean. “And speaking of sweat.”
“You’re not going into the water in this air,” Dana exclaimed as he stood up to head for the water after kicking off his shoes. His socks, as all their underwear, had been long since sacrificed as toilet tissue to clean themselves as needed.
“Just to rinse off a bit. Besides, I’m a lot more inured to this kind of thing,” he assured her.
“Just another day at the office, huh,” Dana smirked.
“Just about,” he agreed as he stripped off his jeans after he was closer to the water, and farther away from them. Then he dove into the water, and let it soak into his tired bones as he swam idly about in small circles. He wasn’t about to push himself, remembering the sharp corral reefs that weren’t that far out.
After he felt cleaner, and a bit more relaxed, he climbed out of the water, and stood in the darkness that was growing around them. After the gentle breeze dried his dark flesh, he pulled on his jeans, and headed for the fire where the girls were just watching it after having eaten most of the food.
“We saved you a few roots,” Dana grinned.
“I had my fill, thanks. We’ll save them for breakfast if none of you want them.”
“So, what’s on the agenda for tomorrow,” Pam asked him.
“Tomorrow morning, I’ll dive into the lagoon and see if we can salvage anything from the boat. Then, we’re going to head into the jungle. Odds are, we’re going to be here a while. So we should find a place closer to the food and water that’s available that will give us suitable shelter from any future storms.”
“God, I really hate hurricanes,” Pam sighed as she stared at the fire.
“I’m not overly fond of them myself,” Jon smiled thinly. “Anyway, we have to prepare for the worst, and hope for the best.”
“I’d hope for a helicopter right about now,” Tammy sighed with a forlorn tone.
“Do you think anyone else made it to safety,” Pam asked him abruptly, and not for the first time over the past nine days.
“I wish I could say,” he told her honestly. “A man as important as your father would certainly do his best to find you. And I’m sure Ms. Shelby’s studio must be frantic by now with no word of her fate.”
“What about you,” Dana asked him. “You said you were only on leave. Won’t the military be looking for you?” “That depends,” he told her honestly. “I don’t know if the captain managed to get off a distress call, or not. That storm hit hard, and fast. I saw the communication antenna snap when one of the first waves hit us. If they didn’t get word out before that happened….”
“Sure, give us the bad news now,” Dana muttered as she looked down at the fire again.
“I would encourage you if I could,” he told them. “But we have to be realistic. We could be on our own here. And we have to prepare for that.”
“But….? What if someone comes and we’re off in the jungle,” Tammy protested. “How will they know where to find us?” “We’ll be leaving a signal,” he told her. “Before we leave tomorrow, we’ll leave a signal for anyone that flies over, or comes by. If they can get past those reefs,” he grimaced.
“Have you figured out where we are,” Pam asked him then. “I mean, it’s dark, and….?” “I have a good idea,” he nodded. “See that constellation,” he pointed out. “Pleiades is just to the right, and the north star is there.
“Given our last known position, and the general locations of the known stars, I’d say we’re somewhere in the middle of the Pacific, well south of the Hawaiian Islands. And unfortunately, probably well out of any known shipping lanes,” he added gravely. “We must have been drifting south all along, and the storm didn’t help.”
“Will they know to look for us out here,” Pam asked him earnestly.
“The men that do that kind of work know the factors involved, Pam,” he told her. “If they’re looking for us, they won’t just be looking at our last known position. They’ll triangulate that, and then move out in increasing radiuses until they either find us, or…..”
“Or give up,” Dana finished for him.
“Or give up,” he nodded solemnly.
“So we’re going to be stuck here eating bananas and roots for thirst of our lives,” Pam asked in horror.
“No. We may have to find a way off this island ourselves if it comes to that, but we wouldn’t be the first. Natives in these waters have traveled for centuries making rafts and boats out of what they had available.
“If they could do it, so can we. But we’ll wait until we’re better able to make such an attempt. For now, we prepare for the immediate future, and leave rescue to luck. It’s all we can do.”
“Why do I feel like you’ve done this before,” Dana asked him blandly.
“I’ve been in similar situations. I’ve been in worse,” he told her honestly. “I’m still here. As long as we don’t lose our heads, and act rationally, we’ll be fine.”
“God,” Pam moaned, shaking her head as she jerked her fingers from her matted, dirty hair as she attempted to run her fingers through the tangled mess. “We’re screwed.”
“You wish,” Dana smirked, trying to lighten the mood.
Pam just glared at her.
“I would advise everyone to settle down, and get some rest. Use one of your blankets to lay beneath you, huddle together, and cover with the other one. You’ll stay warmer that way.”
“What about you,” Dana asked as the twins moved to carry out his instructions with lethargic movements.
“I’ll be settling down later. I’ve a few things I want to do first,” he told her.
“You’re….not going anywhere, are you,” Tammy asked fearfully.
“She was afraid you were going to get lost,” Pam chuckled softly as she lay down on the blanket first. “Or that you might decide you could do better on your own.”
“I won’t abandon you,” he told them, looking directly at Tammy. “We’re all in this together. Just trust me, and we’ll all be all right.”
---
“We’re saved,” Jessica cried as she pointed at the not too distant swell on the horizon. “Land! That’s land,” she exclaimed as she looked out at the welcome sight.
Simon lifted the binoculars he held, and studied the dark mass. “It’s an island. But it doesn’t look inhabited.”
“Who cares,” Allen grinned. “It’s land.”
“You’ll care if there’s not food, or water around,” Simon told them as he lowered his binoculars. “You’ll care even more if there’s no one around to help us find our way back to civilization.”
“We don’t have much choice,” Jessica told him. “We’re almost out of the emergency rations, and there are only five of us left,” she exclaimed. “Six, if you count that baby,” she added as she looked down at the young brunette holding the currently silent child to her breast.
“Five,” the woman said sadly without looking up from the child. “Amy died early this morning,” she sniffed.
“I don’t want to be thought cruel, but it may be just as well. She’ll be saved the trials ahead if we’re stuck on this island,” Simon told her as he looked out at the land mass again. It was getting closer. Or rather, they were. The swell of the water, and the resulting current was taking them right to the small piece of land in the middle of nowhere.
“Let’s row,” Allen suggested. “At least we know we’ll be going somewhere for a change,” he told the silent Henry who stared glumly at out the sea. He had been silent ever since he had learned he was the only one of his family to make the lifeboat. The rest had gone down with the ship before they even knew they were in trouble.
Henry looked over at Allen, and just lifted one of the long oars into place without being asked. They both already knew that Simon was content to sit in the bow and play captain. He had a long, wicked-looking knife at his side, and sat on the rations’ locker, never letting anyone see just what was inside. After it became evident that they were truly lost at sea, however, he turned from captain to tyrant, ordering them about as if he were some old sea captain, and they were his slaves.
“If you want to bury the kid at sea, you might as well do it now,” Simon told her. “We don’t have any way to bury him when we get to land,” he advised the young mother.
“Real compassionate,” Jessica snorted at him. The redhead was the only one that showed no fear of the man, though she stayed away from him. She just didn’t like him. The burly Simon was the type she had met all too often in her life. The bad type.
“It….It is for the best, honey,” Jessica told Samantha, who still cradled her child to her as if the body held life.
“I promised her she’d be safe,” Sam wept as Jessica took the baby blanket she had discarded against the heat, and wrapped the child in it.
“I know. She’s in a better place now,” she told her as she carefully sealed the blanket with a coil of rope she knotted around the child, and tied it to one of the small boat anchors they hardly needed.
“You’re only wasting your time,” Simon snorted. “The fish will be at it anyway. Just throw it over.”
“You’ve got all the charm of a barracuda,” Simon was told by the shapely redhead who glared at him when the boy’s mother wailed her distress as Jessica dropped the small body into the water.
“We all end up in the food chain, dear,” Henry finally spoke up as he groaned at his oar as he and the younger Simon pulled at their tasks to speed their way to land. “Just remember the Good Book assures us that someday the seas shall give up their dead, too, when He calls us all home.”
“Give it a rest, old man,” Simon spat as he stared out at the rising swell of the surf ahead of them.
“What’s that,” Samantha gasped as they all looked out at the white water that crested just a few hundred yards from the sandy beach line they could now all see.
“Corral,” Allen exclaimed. “Good God, the beach is surrounded by corral,” he warned too late as they heard their life boat smash into the natural defense that surrounded the island as if it had been planted there.
“We’re leaking,” Simon shouted in a shrill voice for a man his size. Was the man that afraid of water after all they’d been through.
“Row faster,” Henry suggested as they heard the scraping below their feet. “Maybe we can make it to shore before we sink. None of us is in shape for a swim at this point.”
“Speak for yourself,” Jessica told them, and dove over the side after shoving off her useless heels. Clad in a short skirt, and a thin blouse, she was able to swim easily as she paced the small boat. “How’s that,” she called cheerfully. “Make it any easier?” “Somewhat, dear,” the older Henry grinned. “But I fear it will still be a close thing. That hole is still too close to the waterline.”
“You go, too,” Simon ordered Samantha. “You can swim.”
“I….I can’t swim,” the brunette choked.
“You’ve got a life jacket on, damn you,” he spat. “Now, jump,” he ordered, putting a hand to the big knife at his side he had found in the emergency locker, prompting the fearful woman to leap blindly into the sea.
“We’re close enough we can all swim if we have to,” Allen told him as he watched the frightened woman splashing violently behind them as she proved she couldn‘t swim. Only the tide, and her life vest kept her headed toward the beach just ahead.
“Why don’t you jump? You’re heavier than all of us,” the lean, young blonde told him.
“Shut up, college boy. Or don’t you realize the only supplies we may have are going to be the ones in this chest,” he spat.
“We’re taking on quite a lot of water,” Henry pointed out as they edged ever nearer to shore.
“Row faster,” Simon howled.
Even as he shouted, the boat struck land, sending them all sprawling as Allen landed in the waist deep water with a splash. He howled in laughter, and finally stood up, climbing out of the water to join a sodden Jessica who was helping Samantha climb ashore out of the surf.
“People,” Henry called out a moment later, having gone ahead of them once he left the boat. “I do not think we’re alone.”
“What,” Simon demanded as he tugged at the rations’ locker. The size of a large ice chest, it was made of sturdy aluminum, and heavily weighted with its contents despite the fact he claimed it was almost empty. “What are you talking about now, old man,” he demanded as he levered the chest out of the canted lifeboat half filled with seawater by then.
“He’s right. Someone left this behind on purpose,” Jessica remarked as she studied the large piles of stones that formed an arrow pointing into the jungle before them. “But who?” “It don’t matter. It tells us we’re not alone, and there may be help here,” Henry informed them.
“Or it might be other stranded travelers,” Simon told them. “Or worse, there could be some kind of illegal activity going on that uses this place as a secret base.”
“You watch too many bad movies,” Allen snorted. “Who the hell would use an island this far out at sea, and so damned hard to get to for anything?” “Watch that lip, college boy,” Simon spat, his hand going again to the knife on his belt. “Or I’ll trim it for you.”
“That’s enough. We all have to stick together if we’re going to make it out of here. I suggest we set up a camp, and then do some exploring. Certainly, at least one of us should check out this arrow, and see where it leads,” Henry told them.
“Someone was definitely here,” Samantha told them, standing a few yards from the stone arrow. “Look.”
“Someone made a fire. And there’s a pile of fruit rinds. There was definitely someone here,” Jessica agreed.
“Anyone know how to track someone in the woods,” Allen grinned as he came over to look at the charred remains of the old fire.
Jessica rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah. I used to guide hunting parties back home in Dayton, Ohio all the time through the wilds of the mall.”
Samantha smiled weakly at her humor, but Simon was just glaring, still hovering near to the chest he seemed obsessed with. “Since I’m the one best dressed for such duty, I suppose I’ll try having a look,” Henry suggested as he dusted his trousers off as he rose from where he had been kneeling.
“You just do that, old man,” Simon smirked at the man in the evening slacks, ruined loafers, and a much worn white dress shirt. “Be sure to send any native girls you find our way.”
“Yeah, right,” Jessica muttered. “I’ll settle for a cell phone, or a man who knows what the hell to do out here,” she told the old man. “You just be careful out there, though.”
“Of course, my dear,” Henry agreed as he started off in the direction the arrow pointed.
“Jon, I heard something,” Tammy exclaimed as she looked up from where she was trying to catch a fish on the makeshift pole he had made for her.
“I did, too. Stay still. I’ll go have a look,” he told her. “The girls will be wanting fish tonight. They’re tired of tubers and fruit,” he grinned.
He scooped up the canteen he carried when exploring, and his makeshift spear, he had made using his old folding knife he had thankfully been carrying, and trotted into the jungle away from the clearing where Tammy was fishing. Not far behind them, they had found a large cavern that was perfect for their immediate needs. With the few tools he had salvaged from other wrecks he had found in the bay, he had been able to make their work a little easier.
Using a few tricks he had picked up, he had flushed the few boars out that had been staying there, and then began closing off the entrance to form their shelter. Meanwhile, they also had meat drying from the few boars he had hunted, wanting to smoke and preserve that precious meat against times when they might find things less plentiful. The hides he saved to cure for their clothing or blankets as they might have need. Dana had surprised him by showing them how to fashion and fire makeshift pots and saucers out of the river clay, and pretty soon they had some serviceable pots an dishes to cook and eat with. After months of hard, but satisfying work, things were starting to take shape.
And then he had heard the voice. A lone voice, but it was a strange one.
Leaving Tammy behind, he trotted through the forest, and found the man easily enough. He had been going in circles, and looked ready to drop. “Looks like you need help,” he called out as he approached, not wanting to alarm the haggard looking old man.
“Dear God,” the man exclaimed, and stared at him in genuine astonishment.
Jon could just imagine what the fellow though. He was clad only in the remnants of his jeans now, which made serviceable shorts, but just barely. He looked oddly familiar, but just then, he didn’t know where he might have seen the man before. Holding his spear at his side in a non-threatening manner, and being as dark as he was from the sun by now, the man likely thought he was a native.
“I’m here to help,” he told him. “I take it you’ve been stranded here, too?” “Yes,” he gasped, eagerly taking the canteen Jon held out to him to suck down a large swallow of cool water. “We just reached the island today. It seems we’ve been at sea forever.”
“What ship were you on,” he asked.
The man told him. It had not been his ship. Another ship had gone down. And in all this time, no one had even come by their island. He knew, because he often went to the beach to watch the sea, or kept his eye on the skies. They were well off the shipping lanes here, and it was apparent.
“You said we? Are there others with you,” he asked him as he watched the old man take smaller sips of the water now as his thirst was sated.
“Yes. Four others. Two men, and two women. We lost six along the way though. Bad luck, you know, and worse weather.”
“Yes, that was what put us here,” Jon told them, naming his ship.
“I heard of that one. Your ship went down two years ago,” the man told him. “No one was ever found despite the searches that lasted weeks. It was on all the news.”
“Two years,” Jon frowned. “But we’ve only been here about six months.”
“I hate to tell you, sir, but you are mistaken,” he told him. “Oh, and I’m Henry Johnson. CNN News, so I know what I’m talking about.”
“Johnson. I thought I recognized you,” Jon nodded. “Come on. We’ll go to the beach and find your people. It’ll be best if you all come up to our place. There is plenty of room for you, and we’ve food, and fresh water closer to the cave, than the beach.”
“That will be a relief,” Henry told him. “Our….companion Simon Larson seems intent on doling out what few rations we have left with a tweezers, so to speak.”
“He was probably wise in that respect. Being lost at sea is no joke even in these days.”
“No, but he acted as if we were all about to run out of food, while he sat on a chest full of stores he let no one else touch. And I should warn you, he’s a big fellow that likes to threaten your life ever few minutes.”
“One of those kind, is he,” Jon smiled thinly. “I’ve met them before,” he said as he let Henry take the lead back to the beach once he pointed out the proper path.
“You look a bit familiar to me, too, you know,” he told Jon as they walked along. “Should I know you, sir?” “I doubt it. I was just a regular guy. Jon Walker, by the way.”
“Walker, that’s it. The Marine Corps specialist who saved the president from assassins just over two years ago. Right before you….disappeared.”
“You really mean it, don’t you? It’s been two years since our ship went down?” Henry nodded.
“And no one survived,” he asked.
“Not a soul was ever found. Well, until now, if it counts,” the man smiled ruefully.
“Well, that’s not going to set well with my friends. “Will Carter’s daughters are with me, and they’ve been hoping their parents made it to safety.”
“The Will Carter,” Henry asked. “I remember those girls. Real beauties.”
“For children,” Jon added, though he realized they were hardly children now.
“Is anyone else with you,” Henry asked, changing the subject.
“Dana Shelby,” Jon told him. “We’re it. The rest of those with us died at sea before we got this far.”
Henry sighed. “Dana Shelby. My God, I’m sitting on the story of a lifetime here, and I have no way to report it,” he laughed thinly.
“At least we’re alive.”
“Very true, Mr. Walker….Ah, but it’s Sgt. Walker, isn’t it.”
“Do me a favor, Henry,” he asked him.
“Yes?”
“Let’s not tell the girls about this two year thing? It’s been hard enough on them as it is.”
“I quite understand. I’m sure the others would go along with that, too. Well, aside from Simon. The devil seems tame compared to that one. He seems to take joy in the suffering of others. And I should warn you, he feels he’s entitled to whatever he wants.
“Food, water, or women. He’s tried to take advantage of Ms. Parker several times during our journey. Fortunately, she seems more than a match for him so far.”
“I see. Well, he can behave around me, or he’ll find himself put back out to sea on a toothpick for a raft,” he growled.
“Oh, I’d like to see that,” Henry clapped as they came within range of hearing the others. And overheard a very vehement argument.
“I said no,” Simon spat, glaring down at the young man he had knocked flat with a hard fist. “What part of that don’t you get?” “We need water, damn you,” Allen hissed, wiping a bloody lip as the two women stood nearby, not moving.
“There’s nothing in here that concerns you,” Simon spat, drawing his knife this time without hesitation. “Nothing.”
“Well,” a strange voice drawled. “Doesn’t that just make you look rather suspicious?” All eyes turned to face the newcomer who was a dark silhouette against the tree line until he moved. Then Henry moved from behind him, and Jessica called out to him, running to his side. “Henry,” she exclaimed. “Thank God, Simon’s gone nuts. He won’t even let us have water now.”
“We have to ration what we have,” the big man began, glaring at Jon with unfriendly eyes. “And who the hell are you supposed to be? Robinson Crusoe, or his fag Friday?”
“I’m partial to Mondays myself. I’ve really missed football,” Jon drawled as he strolled right up to the bigger man, looking up at him with disdain.
“A real smart ass, aren’t you? Well, I don’t know who you are, or where you came from, but I’m in charge here, and what I say goes,” Simon spat as he lifted the knife menacingly.
Jessica and Samantha both cried out as Simon made a feint with the blade to emphasize his point. Only Jon didn’t move. His spear, however, did. It rose and spun around in a half circle, smashing down across Simon’s thick wrist before he spun the shaft about again, and slammed the butt over Simon’s head. The man dropped the knife, and was rendered unconscious in the same instant.
“I think I’ll just take this, for safe keeping,” Jon grinned as he picked up the fallen knife and pulled the sheath from Simon’s belt before strapping it around his own leaner waist.
“Well, Henry, you summed that one up well enough. Shall we see what he was so intent upon hording?” “There’s enough in here to last weeks,” Allen groaned, staring at the cans and bottles in the chest that Jon tugged open. Beside them, packages of dry food were stuffed into every spare space.
“That’s not all,” he said gravely, pulling out a small, aluminum foil-wrapped bundle. Beneath it were other similar bundles. He planted his spear in the sand as he used his own folding knife he pulled out to slice a hole in the stiff square as the women grabbed bottles of water, downing them with genuine thirst. Allen, like Henry, was too intent upon his actions to take their own share.
“Drugs,” Jon spat, tasting the bitter, white powder.
“That explains a lot,” Allen sighed as he reached for a bottle of water, and handed one to Henry.
“Say, not that we’re not grateful, and all,” the redhead Henry had described to him as Jessica Parker spoke up then. “But who the hell are you, and where did you come from?” “Jon Walker, ma’am,” he nodded.
“Sgt. Jon Carter,” Henry told them as the others stared.
“That Marine war hero,” Samantha exclaimed. “But you disappeared….”
“I’ve heard,” Jon told her. “And there are others with me. Three women who don’t need to know about the time lapse just yet, if you don’t mind.”
“Time lapse,” Allen echoed.
“Jon is quite certain they’ve only been here six months, Mr. Elliot,” Henry told him.
“You’re kidding,” Allen asked, looking at Jon who was pulling the heavy bricks of cocaine out of the chest.
“I wish I were,” he told him. “And I can assure you, I’m not delusional. Ms. Shelby and I have carefully marked the time, and we’ve only counted out a bit over six months since we were washed up here.”
“Shelby,” Jessica asked.
“Dana Shelby is here,” Henry grinned at her. “And so are William Carter’s twin daughters.”
“You really picked your paradise,” Allen grinned as he gulped down another bottle of water. Jon said nothing as he closed the chest once more, having made a small mound of the silvered bricks.
“What are you going to do with that…stuff,” Samantha asked him as he picked up the first brick.
“I’m going to watch it sink,” he smiled tightly, and hurled the first block of drugs into the ocean. It sank like a stone. As did the next, and the next. Soon, they were all throwing the narcotics that Simon had deemed more important than their lives into the sea. Jon was throwing the last brick into the sea when Simon groaned, and sat up where he had fallen.
“Hey,” he yelled. “Are you crazy?” Jon turned around and stared at him with cold, dark eyes. “Absolutely, one-hundred percent insane,” he assured the big man. “So don’t fuck with me, boy. From now on, you answer to me. You listen to every word I say, and you will do exactly as I say, or I will barbecue your ass in a heartbeat.
“Am I understood?” Simon only stared at him.
“I’d say yes, Simon,” Henry advised him. “Marines are not people you want to get pissed off at you.”
“Marines,” Simon gaped, staring at the half naked man standing in front of him. “You’re a Marine?”
“Until Uncle Sam discharges me, I am,” he told him. “And since I’ve not heard from anyone in the Corps in a while, I consider myself still on active duty, and bound to uphold and protect the rights and privileges of America, and her citizens.
“Wherever they might be found.
“Clear? “Clear,” Simon rasped, looking out at the choppy water of the small bay. “Did you throw it all out there?”
“Every deadly ounce,” Jon nodded with a dry smirk.
“That was worth two and a half a million dollars,” he groaned.
“That was slow death for undeserving people,” Jon contradicted him. “Screw with me, and I’ll throw you out there next.
“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do next,” he told them as he turned to glance around him at all of the new castaways. “Let’s pull that boat of yours up here where the tide won’t take it. That’ll add visibility to our signal if anyone ever comes across this heap of rock and sand some day,” he said with a sidelong glance at Henry.
“Then, we’ll head up to our place, and you can all settle in, and introduce yourselves to the girls. Just say nothing about the time we’ve been marooned. As I said, the girls don’t know. For now, it’s best they not have to know.”
“What are you talking about,” Simon demanded as Jon prodded him toward the boat with the others with his spear.
“He’s talking about his ship, Simon,” Henry told him. He named the ship, and Simon glanced at him.
“Are you nuts, that boat went down miles from here, and years ago. No way you could have…..?” “Help pull the lifeboat up, Simon,” Jon ordered him, standing back to watch him. Simon glared, but moved reluctantly to obey. Jon guessed the man had been waiting for him to help Allen and Henry, and leave himself open to a coward’s attack. Jon was not that great a fool.
“And, Simon, if you tell the girls how long we’ve really been here, or about their parents missing, I’ll personally cut your tongue out. And that is not a threat,” he told the man.
“Girls,” was all Simon asked as he shoved at the boat while Henry and Allen tugged from the bow.
“I told you,” Henry advised him. “Thinks with his groin, that one.”
“That could be removed, too,” Jessica suggested sweetly as she watched the men heave the boat over to lay upside down beside the arrow of stones.
“An interesting suggestion,” Jon agreed with a nod her way.
“Ms. Parker is an ardent feminist, sergeant,” Henry chuckled.
“Sergeant,” Simon frowned.
“Sgt. Jon Walker,” Henry told him.
“I’ve heard of you,” Simon spat. “You’re the anti-terrorist guy who saved the president a couple of years ago.”
“I’m just a soldier who was doing his duty,” Jon said as they headed toward where the chest had been left. “Now, pick up one end of that chest you’re so fond of, and let’s go, he said as he nodded for Allen to take the other end.
“Ladies, gather those empty bottles. We can use them to store water if we get rained in sometime.”
“There’s water on the island. Fresh water,” Jessica asked as she scrambled to grab the bottles.
“Plenty. And food. We’ll survive. We all will. We may just have to consider an alternative means of getting off this island if we’re going to be rescued. Because we’re obviously not going to be found anytime soon.”
“It does seem unlikely,” Henry agreed as he walked beside Jon as he led the way into the jungle.
“Ouch,” Jessica complained, having twisted an ankle when she tried to run forward to catch Simon and Allen so she could drop the empty bottles she had salvaged into the chest.
“Better take those off,” Jon suggested as he spotted the heels she wore once more after reaching shore. “Your feet will toughen up soon enough.”
“You are kidding,” she groaned, looking down at her sunburned feet at the end of her sunburned legs.
“Not at all. We all go barefoot. It’s not as if we need shoes.”
“So, my boy,” Henry asked, “Just what is this island like? Anything on it save ourselves?” “Well, I’ve found evidence that others have been marooned before us. Some were long dead, judging by the wrecks I spotted in the bay when I dove down to salvage our lifeboat’s gear. But the odd thing is, I haven’t found a single trace of bones, or other shelters.”
“Well, if it was that long ago….”
“True, but if someone had stranded here, they couldn’t have buried themselves. So where did their bodies go?” “Maybe they got off the island,” Jessica suggested as she struggled along in her heels behind them now.
“I saw some pretty old wrecks into the bay. And oddly enough, quite a few looked very old. Only they weren’t completely rotted, as you would expect. That’s another oddity, now that I think about it.”
“Considering the time discrepancy you’ve mentioned, I’d say this is a most confounding puzzle,” Henry commented as Simon just snorted his opinion.
“Jonnie,” a black woman in a very short loincloth made of the remnants of her skirt called out as she came trotting down the path to join them. “Wow, you did find someone, didn’t you,” she stopped and grinned as she studied the newcomers. “Are we saved,” she asked anxiously.
“More like they found us. Only they’re as stranded as we are, Dana,” he told her as Simon had to tear his eyes off the lovely, black woman who fell in beside Jon and Henry. “But they brought us some fresh food to add to our stores, too, so we should be doing pretty well with what we have stocked by now.”
“Good. Pam and Tammy are skinning the fish now. I just came to see what you had found when Tammy told me you two heard something.”
“Henry here got lost trying to follow our arrow,” he grinned at the older man.
“I don’t know how he gets around either,” Dana told the man with a wide grin, completely unselfconscious of her virtual nudity. “I guess it’s his Apache blood. He’s more at home here than any of us.”
“Not half bad for a nigger, is she,” Simon grinned back at Allen.
Allen just glared at him. “That’s just rude, man.”
“You reckon he’s been tapping that,” Simon snickered. “I sure would.”
“Uh, forgive me for asking,” Jessica spoke up. “But….you’re supposed to be Dana Shelby, right?” “Yes,” the woman smiled at the redhead. “I guess I haven’t been forgotten yet after all,” she told Jon.
“Well, uhm, Dana,” Jessica spoke up. “I thought you were twenty-nine when you disappeared.”
“I am twenty-nine,” she nodded. “Though I’m closer to thirty by now, I’m sure.”
“Then why do you look barely twenty,” Jessica asked.
“You know, she’s right,” Henry remarked, looking over at Dana, and studying her in earnest. “You do look remarkably young for a thirty-year old woman, Ms. Shelby.”
“Good living,” Dana smiled, though she glanced at Jon with a slight frown.
“To the right,” Jon shouted, and trotted forward at that point to take the lead as Simon was winding off to the wrong side of the path, as Henry had done when he had come this way.
“Follow the path to the right. It’ll take you directly to our cave.”
“Regular Flintstones, huh,” Simon taunted him.
Allen rolled his eyes.
And then they reached the clearing in front of the tall mountains that began in the foothills just past a sparkling, silver sliver of a river. Near one of the dark notches in the rock was a pair of blonde nymphs that were working over a spit roasting fish whose aroma just reached them as they entered the glade.
“Good God,” Allen exclaimed. “It’s paradise, for certain.”
“Got that one right,” Simon all but drooled as he stared at golden -skinned, virtually naked twins in front of him, his steps speeding as he headed unerringly toward the pair who were clad as Dana in simple loincloths made of their former garments.
“Down, boy,” Jon growled as he kept pace, shooting a warning glance at the man. “Remember who’s in charge,” he bit out a terse warning.
“Jon,” both girls looked up to greet him, then stared in genuine amazement at the newcomers. “You found someone? Are we rescued,” Tammy asked as Dana had, her blue eyes lit with excitement.
“Afraid not, girls,” he told them. “These people were washed up on shore the same as we were.”
“Well,” Pam sighed. “At least we have company. We will have something new to talk about for a change,” she beamed optimistically. “Small talk around here can get really dull after a few weeks,” she told the lean, handsome blonde man in a torn sweater-vest, and faded jeans.
“I can imagine,” he smiled as he set his end of the aluminum chest down after Simon just dropped his without warning.
“So,” Simon asked, looking around at the makeshift wall, and the door of woven leaves that marked their cave home. “What do you guys do for fun around here?”
“Swim,” Pam grinned.
“Fish,” Tammy spoke more quietly, not meeting anyone’s eyes.
“I make pottery,” Dana came up to stare down at the roasting fish to add her contribution.
All eyes went to Jon.
“I watch,” he said blandly. Simon was the only one who glared back at him.
“I’m not sure I trust that Simon character,” Dana told Jon as he held her in his left arm close to his side that night after dinner had been cleared away, and the newcomers had been settled into the back of the cave.
“He’s a bad one,” he agreed, and gave her a short summary of what Henry had told him even before he had met the man.
“Oh, great. We at least had peace and quiet here, and now we’ve got the worst of the worst among us.”
“He’ll learn to fit in. Or we’ll send him to make his own way,” Jon told her with a kiss to her cheek.
“I’d like to see that. He doesn’t look like he could figure out how to do anything on his own.”
“Which is why he’ll behave. I’ve already told him the rules.”
“You told him we belong to you,” she giggled, and snuggled closer.
“He got the message,” Jon nodded. “If I have to, I won’t hesitate to get rid of him. Our lives depend on cooperation. We can’t be divided by petty concerns, and power plays now.”
“Hey, what’s wrong,” Dana asked him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she looked up into his eyes.
“Something Henry said.”
“About my new lease on life,” she asked teasingly.
“No. Before them. I told you about the wreckage of the boats I found in the bay.”
“Yeah,” she nodded. “You said some of them looked like they had been there for more than just a few years.”
“Well, Henry told me something a little….disturbing. Something that may concern us.”
“What is it, Jonnie,” she asked.
“I’m not ready to share this with the twins, but….he said our ship went down two years ago.”
“Two….? That’s impossible,” she exclaimed. “We….”
“I know. I know. To us, we’ve only experienced six months. We’ve marked every day since we left the beach, and we counted those first two days easily enough. But they all agreed. Our ship went down two years ago, and everyone was lost. No one was ever found.”
“Oh. Oh, no,” she murmured. “The girls…..”
“Yeah. That’s another reason I preferred to keep it quiet for now. Not that I trust Simon. He’s sure to open his mouth eventually, just to piss us off. He’s that kind. But I wanted to talk to you first. See what your thoughts were on the subject.”
“I don’t know, Jonnie,” she told him earnestly, looking up at the sky through the few trees that grew this close to the mountain. “This is starting to sound like one of those bad scifi set-ups in some of the old movies.
“Weird island existing outside time, and people getting younger while time flies by them. I mean…. That’s….That’s not really possible, is it,” she asked with a worried frown.
“I only noticed it when the others mentioned it. You and I both regained a lot of our youth and energy, while the twins remained the same. That is, they haven’t really been aging at all. And teenagers their age should change. Even after six months. Especially after two years.”
“This is weird,” Dana sighed, hugging him again, her gaze dropping to his eyes. “I think I liked going on in ignorance better.”
“It may not be an option any longer. Not with Simon around.
“Still, the more we know, the better we can….understand our circumstances.”
“You know, you do look younger than forty now that I think about it,” she told him abruptly. “Why haven’t I noticed that before?” “I don’t know,” he admitted honesty. “Maybe whatever is…doing this….also blinds us to its influences.”
“What do you think it could be?”
“I don’t know. I’ve checked over every inch of this island, and everything…..”
“Jonnie?” “I just realized,” he said, looking up.
“What? What is it?” “I never climbed this mountain. I’ve scoured every inch of this island, and even swam around the sea just offshore, but…..I’ve never thought to climb that mountain.”
“Well, why would you,” she asked.
“It’s the only mountain on the island. The only peak to be seen for who knows how far out. I could at least have gotten a good look around the island, and what was around us.
“That’s not like me to overlook something so basic,” he frowned, shaking his head. “Not like me at all.”
“What are you going to do,” she asked.
“I’m going to climb that mountain,” he told her firmly, and stared up at the dark silhouette overhead.
“Why does that scare me,” she asked him.
“The unknown always scares people. Don’t worry, it’ll take time to prepare. I’m not going to just charge blindly up those slopes.
“And then, there’s Simon to consider. I’m not sure I can just leave him behind to torment you, and the others. No. He’d better go with me. Like it or not.”
“Oh, he won’t like it,” she told him, sighing as she lay her head on his shoulder. “I can already tell that much about him.”
He chuckled as he cupped her chin, and kissed her. “You know something else I just thought about?” “What’s that, sugar,” Dana asked.
“Considering how often we’ve made love, six months or two years, how is it you haven’t gotten pregnant yet?” She blinked. “Well, damned if I know,” she blurted out laughing.
“Let’s find out,” he grinned, and pushed her back on the soft earth as he covered her with his body as their familiar frames mated, and she moaned at the feel of him sliding into her warm sex.
“Let’s,” she agreed, giggling softly as he sealed her lips with his own.
“I knew it,” a harsh voice murmured as cold, dark eyes watched them from out of the darkness surrounding them. “Fucking knew it.”
“Come on,” Jon shouted down at Simon while bracing himself to hold the man’s weight on the end of the rope that joined them.
They were almost to the crest of the high mountain peak he had chosen to climb simply because it was the highest point on the island as far as he could tell. Only so far, Simon had been more hindrance than help. His bulky, muscular body was all show, and no go. Crafted by weekend workouts and casual fitness centers, he had no real endurance. He wouldn’t have lasted a day in boot.
“It’s not far now,” he shouted as the man gathered himself to lunge for the next handhold Jon had prepared for him. Not really that hard for someone used to free-climbing the Rockies, but Simon was a real anchor just now, but he had not wanted to leave him behind. The potential for trouble had been too great.
“Remind me….again,” Simon panted as he scrambled up onto the wide ledge where Jon stood, and dropped in an ungainly sprawl. “Why the….hell….we’re doing this,” he demanded.
“To get a better overview of the island, for one,” Jon told him as he squatted beside the man, holding out the canteen.
Simon took a gulp of the water, but Jon barely sipped any at all. If he had left it up to the man, he would have drank their entire ration in the first hour. Putting the canteen back into his pack which he once more shouldered, he grinned. “Besides, it’s also a good place to set up another signal,” he added, reminding the big man of the makeshift emergency flag they had fashioned of the available cloth from the group’s clothing.
“Right. Right. So why didn’t you just climb up here by yourself, Tarzan,” Simon complained as he slowly got his wind back. “It’s pretty damn obvious you get off on this survival crap.”
Jon just chuckled. “I grew up in the mountains. I suppose they are second home to me. But then the Corps trained me to adapt to anything. And I do mean anything.”
“Well, whoop-de-doo, ain’t you special. I grew up on the streets, and the only training I got was at Juvie.”
“No one’s fault but your own,” Jon told him as he looked up. “I wasn’t about to leave you behind to start more trouble, though. Still, I think we’re almost to the crest of the peak. If I’m right, it looks like….like…..”
“What the hell is that,” Simon asked as he followed Jon’s gaze.
“It looks like steps,” he remarked, still staring at the change in the mountain’s topography not far over their heads.
“You’re telling me someone carved steps into this damn mountain? This is getting weirder than shit, Walker,” he told Jon curtly.
“You don’t know the half of it,” Jon muttered as he put his canteen back into the pack he was carrying. He had only taken a short sip after he had handed it to Simon, cautioning him not to drink too much. The water had to last them until they got back down the mountain, too.
“I think I do,” Simon finally grunted as he handed the canteen back, still breathing pretty hard. “I heard Al and Henry talking last night. They said you’ve noticed some weird shit since being here. Then there’s the fact you, and that nigger bitch….”
“Dana,” Jon scowled.
“Whatever. You’re both younger than you should be.”
“Yeah. I realize that now.”
“Then there’s that time thing, with you guys thinking you only been here a few months….”
“We’ve checked our marks twice. We measured out exactly six months, and three days.”
“But even I know you’ve been here over two years.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“And you been porking that….gal all this time? You doing the twins, too?” Jon glared at him. “You know, you can be almost likable at times, until you decide to be a jerk.”
“Yeah. My first wife used to say the same thing, till I got rid of her,” he smirked.
“I’m surprised she didn’t get rid of you first.”
“Hey, she knew she had a good thing. I was making millions out there, G.I. Joe. Millions.”
“Then why did she leave at all?” “Who said she left. I had to skrag her. She got greedy, and cost me some major contacts, as well as some cold, hard cash.”
Jon stared at the big man in disgust. “Let me guess, if your companions had gotten in the way, they would have been….skragged, too?” “Shit happens,” Simon shrugged. “Besides, people die all the time. I was just speeding along a few worthless specimens that weren’t doing much for the planet anyway.”
“And what are you doing for the planet, Simon,” Jon asked as he stood up, pulling the pack back onto his shoulders as he eyed the best way up from the ledge.
“I help people feel good,” he grinned as he reluctantly climbed to his feet.
“You poison them,” Jon spat. “But we’re not here to argue. We need to get up to the top of this mountain.”
“I don’t know why. We could have done just as well just staying down there with the others.”
“One signal on the beach may or may not be noticed. Apparently we’ve not had much luck with it considering your stories about the time we’ve been here. Hopefully, we can not only get a good look at the entire island up here, but set up a signal on the peak that will be more visible to anyone passing by.”
“Right,” Simon sighed as he watched Jon test the handhold he was using to climb up off the wide ledge where they rested. “But why couldn’t you have done this alone. I’m not damned mountain goat.”
“Three reasons, big man,” Jon grinned down at him as he heaved himself up after finding new purchase.
“One, I couldn’t trust leaving you alone with the others. Two, you never climb alone if you’re smart. That being the case, you were also the strongest one among us, and the best choice for help if something happens up here.”
“And if something happens to me,” Simon asked.
“Then I’m your best choice. I rather doubt the boy, or the old man would have been much use to either of us up here.”
“You got that right in one,” Simon snorted as he began climbing up after Jon once he marked the first handholds the man used.
“So, let’s get up there, and find out just what is there to see,” Jon told him as they continued climbing.
“Nag, nag, nag. You’ll make someone a good wife someday,” he accused Jon as he heaved himself up, already starting to pant again as he began the next stage of their long climb.
“Cheer up, we’re almost to the top, and then it’s all downhill.”
“That’s not funny,” Simon protested as Jon pulled himself up onto what he had taken to be steps. And as he stood up on the first wide, flat indentation in the rock wall of the mountainside, he realized that was just what it was. A step. And just a few feet up were others. A regular series of steps leading right up to the very top of the peak they were climbing.
“Weird,” he murmured as Simon reached his side. “Weirder, and weirder,” he murmured as he looked up the sloping steps that led to the crest of the peak.
“You first,” Simon rasped, still sucking for air as he cradled a bloody right hand he had badly scratched on the last handhold.
“Here,” Jon told him, holding out a precious scrap of cloth from his old shirt. “Wrap that in this. You don’t want to get it infected. No penicillin on this island.”
“Ugh,” Simon shuddered. “I hate shots anyway.”
“Odd sentiment for a drug dealer,” Jon remarked as he took the first step, stretching to reach it since they were widely spaced.
“Hey, I only sold. I never used.”
“Of course,” Jon nodded as he looked back. “Well, let’s go find out what’s at the top.”
“Just hope it ain’t nothing too weird.”
“Right,” Jon smirked dryly as he turned his gaze up as he climbed the steps.
“Okay, it just got weird again,” Simon remarked as he looked at the surface of the very small plateau just beyond the last step.
“Definitely,” Jon agreed as he knelt beside the edge of the small, flat surface that looked just large enough for two or three people to stand on. Other than that, the mountain sloped down on all sides, with the steps only on their side.
“So, where’s the volcano, or whatever you expected,” Simon asked as Jon tapped on the surface, finding it smooth, hard rock.
“It could be right under us. It’s possible that lava plugged the cone, and this is just a cork of sorts left behind after it cooled.”
“It don’t look like lava.”
Jon looked up at him over his shoulder.
“Hey, I’ve been to Hawaii.”
“Right,” Jon grimaced. “Well, you’re right. This doesn’t look like any kind of lava I’ve ever seen either. It looks like….well, someone sliced the top of the mountain off to form a smooth platform. But….why?” “Why carve steps that only go a few feet down,” Simon shrugged. “Who knows? Who cares? The point is, what now?” “Well, I’ll plant our signal flag anyway,” he told Simon as he dropped the pack and pulled out the scavenged cloth from their party to form an emergency signal flag to place at the top of the peak. He pulled out four heavy stones, and the makeshift pegs he had salvaged from a few of the wrecks in the bay, too. Those would help him secure the flag so it wouldn’t blow away in the first good wind.
“So….You’re going to step out there on that?” “It seems solid,” Jon nodded as he scooped up the flag, pegs, and stones. “And you can stay here and anchor me if the rock does give way,” he added.
“My life’s ambition,” Simon grumbled as he moved to brace himself as Jon took a tentative step out onto the smooth surface. “To be an anchor.
“What the fuck,” he yelled in the next instant.
“What’s wrong,” Jon turned back to ask him.
Only Simon wasn’t there any longer.
Nor was the island view he expected to see.
“Oh…my…God,” he gasped, staring around in him awe as he took in the bizarre view that filled his senses.
As far as he could see there was a vast, molten ocean that sent flames high into the sky. Jagged, craggy peaks rose up out of the sea all around him, and his was just one of those peaks that jutted high into the fiery skies that covered the flaming oceans. Even as he stood there, studying the horrific view, the distant cries of souls in agony reached his ears, and he became aware of darker shapes moving all around him. Then something moved behind him, and he turned to stare at a huge, nearly twenty foot tall being in dull, gray robes that seemed to be standing on air as he looked down at him with wide, silvery eyes and a faint smile.
“My God,” he rasped again.
“Not quite,” the being replied with an almost musical voice.
“What….What is this place?” The being smiled. “I cannot say. That would be telling, and that violates the rules.”
“Rules,” Jon echoed, his minor burden having dropped from his hands as he stared up at the robed being in genuine awe. “What rules?” “I cannot say,” the being informed him as his smile stretched just a little more.
“What….What can you tell me,” Jon asked suspiciously.
“Only that you were not expected. You shouldn’t have reached this point for….oh, a few years yet, by your reckoning.”
“Sorry to have disturbed your calendar,” Jon remarked. “How about something a little more helpful?” The being laughed. It was a low, lyrical sound, and filled him with foreboding.
“Always the practical little man, aren’t you Jon David Nightwalker.”
“You know who I am?” “I know all those in my care,” the being informed him. “What I could tell you of your paramour, and those that now accompany you might just astound you.”
“I’m more interested in why we’re here, and how we get out.”
“Against the rules,” the being smiled again, waving a finger as if he had been naughty.
“Are we….dead? Is this….hell?” The being’s laughter echoed over the peaks, and for just a moment, the sounds of agony that filled the air like background noise faded just a bit. “Sorry. I forgot that while you are Apache, you were raised by fundamentalists.”
“So, what can you tell me about me,” he asked. “Can you say anything that isn’t against the rules?” “Not a word about yourself.”
“Not about…myself.
“I see. But those earlier words weren’t idle gossip. You can tell me about the others?” “Of course. What would you like to know?” “Why are they here?” “Clever,” the being smiled again. “But that’s against the rules. I can tell you about them. Not what brought them to….my domain.”
“All right. Tell me about them.”
“About whom?” “All of them,” Jon replied, feeling bolder since the being had yet to move, and was making no overt attempts to harm him.
“Shall I begin with your paramour?” “If you like,” Jon nodded curtly.
“She’s a thief. Her true name is Danielle Walters. She got into entertainment by accident, but continues to play a role only to gain access to places she might not otherwise be welcome. And then only to scout them for her later return in her true role. She has stolen millions over the years, and recently stole the only known copy of a rare manuscript that is worth billions.”
“But she’s a known actress.”
“What better place to hide, than by playing yet another role to cover her true identity.”
“And the twins?”
“They are who they say they are. The daughters of William Carter. Pamela and Tammy. Pamela is far from innocent though. She recently murdered her father, who she caught raping her twin, just as he had been raping her for months.”
Jon said nothing as he stared up at the being.
“Do you wish me to go on?” “Why not,” he spat irritably. Did this being have nothing good to say about any of them?
“Samantha White, the young mother who recently lost her child while still at sea. She’s also a murderess, and a cannibal. She murdered her young husband, then cut him into pieces that she has been eating for most of the past year. Even feeding his body to her dogs, or visitors, who thought they were being served beef.”
Jon grimaced at that.
“Jessica Parker is a prostitute. She favors women, but has been known to rob them, blackmail them, even force other women into her own vocation if she decides they are potentially profitable. She has destroyed almost as many lives as Henry Johnson.”
“The reporter?” “The pedophile. He does not discriminate according to gender. He abducts males or females, the younger the better in his mind, and then he rapes them. Sometimes he kills them. Sometimes he sells them to others of his kind.”
“Dear God,” Jon rasped, feeling the horror of the acts burden him like great weights.
“Then there is the young man. Allen Hart. A college student with overly lewd thoughts. He drugs girls he dates, films them in various acts, and blackmails them into engaging in future perversions for profit. His, of course.
“Recently, he gave a victim too much of his drug. He killed her. He filmed her death as impassively as he filmed the earlier rapes. He boasts to his companions in his venture that he made more on that one film than on all the others combined.”
“And Simon?” “A simpler man. He has murdered two wives, sells drugs to any who will buy them, and has been known to rape and murder men or women depending upon his mood. More than one of his companions have mysteriously vanished over the years, but he is completely without conscience, and has never been caught.”
“Is there nothing good about these people,” Jon asked the being who simply studied him in silence now. “Nothing that…redeems them?”
“An interesting choice of words.”
“Well,” he pressed.
“You tell me.”
“How can I? I don’t even know them?” “You know at least three of them. You have lived beside them for quite some time now.”
Jon frowned as he looked around the hellish environment that surrounded him. “You never said anything about Tammy, other than she was raped.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“So, if this is some kind of…purgatory…..why is she here?” “I can’t tell you,” the being smiled again. “The rules.”
“All right, what would you tell someone about me,” he asked.
The being smiled, wagging his finger again.
“There has to be some reason to all this,” he protested.
“Of course. And it is for you, and the others, to find. That is your purpose here. And that is more than I should have told you so soon,” the being advised him as the robe rustled, and Jon realized it wasn’t just cloth. The folds of multiple wings suddenly opened, and the color he took as gray turned brilliant silver, and Jon yelled in astonishment as the being flapped those massive wings, and drove him to his knees as he rose into the fiery sky, and promptly vanished.
“Hey, what the hell are you doing,” Simon demanded as Jon turned and found himself kneeling on the smooth rock, just a few feet from where the big man stood.
“I’m….not sure,” Jon admitted as he stared at the man who seemed completely unaware of all that had just happened.
“Well, come on. It’s getting late, and I don’t want to end up staying here all night.”
“Right,” Jon nodded as he reached for the fallen puddle of cloth, and smoothed it out before hammering in the pegs he had brought with one of the stones. He then weighted down the cloth with the stones, even though he doubted anyone would ever see it.
Anyone human.
He wasn’t sure what had happened, but as he joined Simon, he couldn’t help but look back.
“You okay,” Simon asked him with a frown.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m…fine,” Jon nodded.
“What the hell was going on there? You stepped onto that rock, then zoned out for over ten minutes. And I couldn’t get your attention. It was like a wall suddenly rose between us. I couldn’t even pull the rope. It was all freaking weird.”
“I….It was nothing,” Jon shook his head. “Nothing,” he stressed as he looked down the stairs. “Come on, let’s get down before it does get dark.”
“Wait a second,” Simon grinned as he looked back at the small plateau. “What was it you saw?”
“Nothing you’d want to see,” Jon told him.
“Well, that makes me all the more curious,” Simon laughed darkly as he took a step backwards. “Because if it’s that good you don’t want to share, I just have to….”
“Simon, no,” Jon cried, lunging to instinctively stop him from taking that fateful step.
“What the fuck,” Simon rasped, staring around him in horror as Jon found himself standing next to the man in the middle of the hellish vista he had just left behind just moments ago. “What the hell is going on here,” he demanded as a suspicious dampness covered Simon’s fly.
“Judgment,” a too-familiar voice replied as Jon turned with Simon to look up at the being he had just seen fly up, and vanish into the fiery skies a moment ago.
“Who the fuck are you,” Simon spat, trying to cover his terror as he presented his best tough man façade.
The being’s face seemed to be expressing a deep sadness now as Jon looked up at him. “Simon, don’t,” he cautioned him as the being sighed long and deep. “I asked you before, Jon David Nightwalker. Is there anything good you have found in this man?” “I….I don’t know him that well,” Jon admitted. “But….From what I have seen….
“No. There is nothing to redeem him.”
“So be it,” the tall being sighed again as Jon stared in horror as he realized the words had come from him without his bidding. It was as if even trying to deceive the being had never been an option.
“Judgment,” the being drawled as a shrill cry filled the air even as Simon gave a shriek of horror as he held up his hands.
Jon turned to stare at the man, and saw his body seemed covered in sweat. Only the sweat was made up of beads of his own melting flesh dripping down his dissolving body. Before the horrific ending could be played out before him, a black, beastlike thing flew down from the sky, emitting another of those eerie shrieks as it sank cruel talons into Simon’s still meaty shoulders. Simon screamed again, wriggling like a gruesome human worm at the end of a bird’s cruel talons. He screamed shrilly, begging for help or mercy that was not forthcoming as he was carried away by the beast with leathery, bat-like wings. Jon couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from the macabre sight as Simon was carried out over the flaming ocean, and dropped into the boiling seas that betrayed hardly a ripple at his surely fatal plunge into their depths.
For a long moment, the man’s screams echoed over the jagged peak, and then the cries faded into the cacophony of misery that seemed to fill the air around him. He turned back to the being, and stared up at the being still hovering over him. “Why?” “He was judged. He did not have to come so soon. He might have found his own path to redemption had he not. But he chose to face this moment, and must abide by its consequences.”
Jon could only give a wordless groan of misery as he felt the man’s pain in his own soul.
“In time, you will bring each to them to me,” the being advised him.
“Now you tell me,” he cried out.
“Now your eyes are opened. The rules allow you this piece of knowledge.”
“And if I don’t,” he spat.
“You will,” the being told him blandly, the sadness still fixed in place. “And you will be unable to warn them until they are here. But you will bring them each in turn, all the same.”
Jon swore impotently as he looked down at his own feet. “And what of me? Who brings me?” The sad visage stretched a sad smile. “You brought yourself.”
Jon frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“It is not time to understand all. Just in part. In time, you will understand enough. Now, go. Your time here is done.”
And just that quick, Jon found himself standing alone on the mountaintop. He stared down at the rope still tied to his waist. The other end was fashioned in a half loop, but it was burned to a near brittle loop of scorched hemp. There was, naturally, no trace of Simon.
He paused to look out over the island. It looked calm. As calm and tranquil as the sea that stretched out around him. The sun was on setting out at the western horizon, casting colors across the placid surface. Many of those colors were shades of crimson. In his mind, he could still see flames leaping from the boiling waters, or whatever it was that actually filled the ocean.
He left the plateau, coiled his rope, and tucked it into his pack. Pulling out his canteen, he took a long sip to quench the parched feeling that suddenly filled his throat. He had brought himself? That was what the being had said.
And was this his punishment? His judgment? To carry each of those people up here to face….what? Hell?
He shook his head as he capped the canteen. He looked at it as he turned it over in his hand. Was it even real? Was the water real? Was any of this real? He frowned. Which was the real world? Or was there a real world? Damn, he should have paid more attention to his foster parents when they had warned him all about the horrors of hell and damnation. Maybe they would have known how to explain this?
He looked out into the darkness surrounding him as the sun set, and pulled on the pack. Unlike Simon, he didn’t feel hampered by darkness. He could move as easily in the familiar comfort of night as he could in daylight. He started down the steps, visualizing his climb down as he pondered what to tell them of Simon’s disappearance. He shuddered despite himself as he recalled the look of absolute fear and agony on the big man’s face as he was carried off to whatever awaited him.
He just couldn’t imagine willingly bringing anyone else to such a fate.
Yet the being had said he would. That he had no choice.
He thought of Dana. Danielle. A thief? It seemed to boggle his imagination. The gentle, competent woman who helped him all this time seemed less than perfect. He had helped him with the twins when they had first seemed too helpless to even manage to care for themselves at the time. At times, Tammy had seemed to just go to pieces while Pam just stared at her as if seeing nothing. Feeling nothing. Was it a result of what they had done? What they had suffered? Surely that crime could be considered self defense? And if they stood there, and that being asked him, what words would be torn from him?
He swallowed hard. Ruthlessly shoving such thoughts from his mind, he continued downward after passing the lower steps, and descended to the wide ledge he and Simon had rested on earlier that day. Continuing past it, he climbed down with a relentless effort that ignored all hint of fatigue, thirst, or hunger. He simply climbed.
And then he was at the base of the cliff, and standing near the foot of the falls where the river began. He looked hard at the river, remembering the molten flow of liquid rock he had seen there atop that craggy peak sometime earlier that day. He could have said hours ago, but he wasn’t sure of time any longer. He simply knew he had been atop the peak, and now he wasn’t. He stared at the flowing river, cool and clear, and for a time it seemed like that was all it was.
And then he felt a shiver edge his spine as he suddenly had a brief resurgence of his earlier vision, seeing only the molten river before him, and nothing more. God knew what those things were below the surface, but he knew without a doubt, they were not fish.
He turned and started for camp, ignoring the stygian darkness around him as he still sensed, even if he didn’t hear, the cries of the agonized about him hidden only by a thin veil of illusion that seemed to blanket the island. Or just his senses. He wasn’t sure which.
He reached camp just before dawn, and stood in the clearing, staring at the rocky knoll where their cavern was located. He looked past the makeshift shelters, and the few bodies of those sleeping outside under the clear, tropical sky. Henry and Allen. The women were all inside.
He stared at the pair, remembering the charges the being levied against them, and felt his jaw tighten as he thought of the women. He had taken Simon with him to protect them from him. Now, it seemed, they might have been in equal danger from any of these men. Or one of the women, he thought grimly as he recalled the charges leveled against Jessica. And even the melancholy Samantha.
He stood there, the sun rising behind him, as he waited and watched. Just then, he couldn’t make himself move. He didn’t want to see any of them. Didn’t want to be responsible. He knew only that the being had spoken the truth. And now these people’s fates, perhaps their very souls, were in his hands. If he found nothing to redeem them, what would happen? If he felt they were worthy of redemption, what would happen? He just didn’t know. The little he had discovered so far was too horrible to bear. And yet he knew….just knew….he couldn’t share his burdens. Didn’t want to answer questions he might not be able to answer about Simon, or their ill-fated climb.
And that only added to his own burdens just then.
Suddenly, he did not feel confident, or capable. He felt very small, and very alone. Very alone.