by catt dahman
“Wha….” Tom’s head snapped around. What was happening?
Joe grabbed Tom’s injured arm and held it down with his knees, causing terrible pain. Tom yelped. He knew as Kelly and Helen leaned over him. “No, Oh, hell, no. I’ll kill you fuckers, no. Please, no.” He sobbed between threats.
Tyrese grabbed the mini-machete, didn’t hesitate, swung it up, and slammed it down onto Tom’s arm, right below the shoulder where the flesh was healthy. All of it went as planned. Everyone had done as Kelly demanded.
Tom roared.
Tyrese was strong, but the circumstances were poor, and he had to hit the arm two more times to sever it. Each time, he felt sick and wanted to stop and scream, but he was given a job, and he would see it done. He was chosen because he was very strong, and this was his chore; he had to finish.
“Move him, now,” Kelly said.
Scott and Stu yanked Tom closer to the fire where Joe had arranged red coals for this purpose.
Tom’s eyes rolled back as he screamed, and he stopped making noise and just jerked wildly, but they held his stump to the coals until it was black and crisp. There were pops and soft plinks as the stump seared.
“Okay, move him back,” said Kelly, and with Helen’s help, she checked to be sure the bleeding was stopped. If it wasn’t, they’d have to use a hot blade like they had used on Amanda. Kelly felt that she and Joe were cooking their friends and almost giggled.
“Kelly,” Helen said, “come on.” She saw Kelly beginning to lose her composure. ‘Don’t make me slap you. Get it together.”
“She does slap,” Joy hissed.
Kelly nodded.
They bathed the stump, and Kelly saw that the bleeding was only slight. She hoped she had gotten the poisoned arm off before it killed Tom, and she saw that there were no streaks that far up. After slathering it in cream, Kelly and Helen wrapped the stump. Tom received the last hidden doses of antibiotics; Kelly had two more vials, and both would be his.
Some worked to bury the captain and Lisa at sea like they had buried others, while others stood guard. Someone removed the severed arm.
Joe, Sue, and Davey worked to carve the dinosaur into steaks, and Vera, Joy, and Pamela wrapped them carefully and worked quietly.
Helen straightened and organized the camp. She liked the time alone to think as she worked. When the captain was incapacitated, Fish and Amanda took over because they were crew. Fish was dead, and Amanda was in bad shape; she could be dismissed. Durango, the owner of the boat, was unwell and didn’t feel as if he would ever recover. Brain injury. That left the leadership to Tom, the oldest of the sons. He was lying somewhere between life and death and couldn’t be looked at to lead them.
In a perfect world, they would need no leader and would function as a hive, working together and surviving, but they weren’t bees. She giggled to herself. And stopped. Had anyone noticed? No. She could go back to her thinking.
Who was next in line? Technically, it was Stu. He had been easier to deal with lately and was very strong when needed. He was a ready, brave fighter, smart, and a tireless worker, but what would happen to him and his big ego if he were put in as the group leader?
Who else?
Kelly was a good leader, but she was far too busy. People would not follow her since her mind was on saving the wounded. Not Davey, or Vaughn, or Joe. They weren’t the types. Pamela, Vera, Joy, and Connie were noes.
Sue was strong, but she wasn’t tough enough, not quite. She could in a pinch, maybe. That left four possibilities: Scott, Alex, Tyrese, and her. Of them, who could stand up to Stu and take his rightful leadership? She couldn’t because she was a female, and he was a sexist.
Alex was the smartest, but he was a weaker fighter. Scott was smart and brave, but he held back. Tyrese was brave, self-assured, and a fighter.
Helen decided she would speak to the others and see if they would push for Tyrese to lead. It was only logical.
After the camp was clean, the men hacked up the dinosaur carcass and floated it far away. They were terrified of being attacked as the sun began sinking, but nothing happened, and the scene of the battle was soon cleaned away. Each person was exhausted past anything he could imagine, and Davey gave them a lot of water and coconut water.
A small storm was coming, and they stowed everything away, getting ready. They’d all have to sleep in the wreck and hope the fire stayed going and kept the monsters away.
At first, everyone, except Davey and Vera who had tried the dinosaur steaks, was hesitant to try the huge slabs of meat. The char on them made them glance at Amanda and Tom and turn their stomachs a little. One by one they tried the meat, finding it tender and delicious. It filled their stomachs fully, something soups and stews and crab legs never did. There were squids, eel, and the carrot-coconut dish that Joe had made. They ate past being full, so much that they stuffed themselves, but they needed the calories after everything they had been through. Only Connie refused the main course; she would eat only the eel.
“I’ll smoke the rest in the morning after we have had more to eat,” Joe said. He helped set up buckets for rainwater.
In the wreckage, some slept close together, and some went off alone or in pairs. Some snickered as Joy slept alone. She was strangely quiet.
Stu and Tyrese stayed near the entrance with Joe, weapons close at hand.
Helen, under blankets with Scott, reached up and kissed him and asked, ‘Is that okay?” He kissed her back so thoroughly that it was clear it was more than okay. Still nervous, scared, and worried, they clung to one another, and in their corner and as quietly as possible with slow movements, Scott lost his shyness and explored Helen’s body gently, making her bite her lips often. They made love several times until they were tired and satiated physically and emotionally.
“Helen.”
“Umm?” She looked into his pretty green eyes and wished they could stay this way.
“You don’t have to say anything, but I need to. I…I love you. I think I have for a while now.”
She smiled and replied, “I love you, too. It scares me because I am far more worried about your staying safe. I can’t lose you now that I found you.”
“I know. I will worry about you all the time. But I’ll protect you. It’s real; I really love you.”
She lay her head on his shoulder and said, “It’s all I need.”
Their conversation balanced another one across the wreckage as Tom awoke and spoke to Kelly. His voice was weak and dull as he said, “I told you no. I begged.”
“I had no choice. I had to save your life.”
“You saw the captain with one arm, die. I said no. I meant no.”
“It wasn’t your choice anymore. I saved you.”
Tom let the tears flow. With the memory of the pure torture and pain, he preferred to be dead. He wanted to die. He ate the pills Kelly gave him and drank the water. He didn’t care to argue. “I was going to propose at the end of the cruise. I was going to ask for you to marry me.”
“That’s sweet.” Kelly thought of that and how romantic it would have been. She would have said yes, and they would have planned a huge ceremony, been married, had a few children, and either lived happily ever after or divorced after a few years, just like Tom’s parents. The idea was beautiful even if it were all over.
“I’m not sure I know you. I don’t know if I can or want to get to know who you are. You’ve changed. You don’t have the same smile.”
Kelly thought that over. “I don’t feel much like smiling lately. Okay. I think you’re right. I’m not sure who I am, either. It’s okay.”
“I’m angry with you. I’m not sure I hate you, but I don’t like you, Kelly.”
“Okay,” She gulped away the pain of hearing that, but it was about to get worse.
“You are too set in your own ways of thinking and can’t hear anyone else speaking or accept other ideas. It isn’t pretty, Kelly. I need something. Someone’s got to stay by me and make sure I’m okay, right?�
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“I’m here.”
“Yeah. I don’t want to see you or talk to you. Maybe not for a while. Can you send Joy?”
“Joy?” asked Kelly who felt as if she were slapped.
“Thank you. Yes, Joy,” said Tom, enjoying the stinging barb he dealt Kelly.
Kelly got up and took her covers. She went over and saw Joy was awake. “Trade places. I want this place alone, and Tom is asking for you. He’s not fond of me right now.”
“Okay. You did take off his arm.”
“To save his life!”
“Well, yeah but….”
Kelly narrowed her tired eyes and asked, “Would you have let him die?”
“I guess. I wouldn’t have taken off his arm, though. That was…well…it’s over, but it wasn’t right since he told you no.”
Kelly motioned her away and said, “Go. Go sit with him. He needs sips of water, and if he bleeds again, come wake me.” Kelly rolled into her covers and cried until she fell asleep. Her latest choices were bad; in fact, all of them were bad.
Hard sheets of rain fell, and thunder rolled ominously, yet there was little wind. It was a mild thunderstorm, but it reminded them of the bad storm that ruined the boat and sent them to this hell-on-earth. Hearing the thunder, several shivered and shook with dread. Bad memories might never be erased; certainly, they couldn’t as long as they were castaways on an island covered in monsters.
While most slept and the early risers began the work of starting the fire blazing and setting the camp back to rights, a figure slipped next to Stanley and ran a razor across his throat and stepped out of the blood pool. The figure walked close to Amanda, but she mumbled in her sleep and was passed over for death. Vera was better and hardly given a glance. The figure studied Pamela but let her live. Durango Jones was last. The killer planned to slice Durango’s throat and let him go on, but more people were awakening.
The chance was lost. For this night.
The sun was rising on a new day.
Chapter 8: Day Four
Kelly, Helen, Tyrese, and Scott prepared Stanley’s body and the others sent him into the sea for a burial. Kelly asked them not to share the cause of death, but it was clear someone cut his throat. Maybe it was a merciful action. Maybe it was selfish in killing the weakest link. It was impossible to know.
The four of them looked at everyone suspiciously, and even the four looked at one another the same way. Anyone could be the killer. There had been forty aboard the boat several days ago, watching the yellow and purple storm roll in. Now, they were down to seventeen with two in bad shape and three in serious condition. The odds were getting poorer.
Kelly was hoping that the three she chose to trust were the right ones to believe in. She figured they wondered the same about her. She had cooked Amanda’s back and cut off Tom’s arm. She was like an angel of torture, and how close to that was an angel of mercy? In her mind, they were far apart.
“We have plenty of water. No need to scout, right?” Kelly asked.
Helen pushed a little and asked, “What do you think, T?”
Tyrese said, “I would like to check some other trails and mull over the events that were written about in the diary.”
Helen waved the diary in the air. As they ate, she summarized the story, “There was a storm. The plane crashed in the trees, and about a fifth of the passengers were killed outright or died shortly thereafter of injuries. After that, they met the dinosaurs; they called them Shorty, Stinky, Fat Purple, Big Teeth, and Little Chickens although sometimes they used the real, scientific names. It was a man who wrote that part. His name was Jim. He says that compys are really delicious, better than meat eaters.
“See?” Connie said with a sniff, “the eel was lovely.”
“Thank you, Miss Connie,” Joe grinned.
“Anyway, they had food and water, and they lived in the wreckage, just like we do. Some decided that was wrong and that if they were stuck there, they could do better. That’s when about three-fourths packed their share and went to live in the caves. They stayed in touch. For some reason, half of the cave group: teens, pre-teens, and children all the way down to six years old became dissatisfied within a week. They grabbed their supplies and left, sneaking out one night. The parents tried to get them back, but the group of young people threatened the parents and refused.”
“Lord of the Flies?” Tyrese quipped.
“I know. Get this. The parents thought the pool of water that the kids swam in and drank from was the cause of the problems with the young people. The parents said the water tasted horrible, but the kids drank it. Jim surmised that natural steroids or something else were in the water because the kids started growing faster, and breasts were developing on the six-year-old girl, and they were getting aggressive and were always hungry. He said that explained why the dinosaurs were overly muscular and aggressive as well. That’s his theory.”
Alex shrugged and said, “Or dinos are just aggressive in general?”
“True. What happened after that?” Sue asked.
“They didn’t know where most of the kids went to live, but some wanted their babies back, so there were fights. Some went to search and never returned. The rest stayed, and they had less and less contact with the people in the plane. They seemed to be having more attacks from dinosaurs, and it ended with Jim’s saying that seven of them, a third even after the kids left, were going to kill the Utahraptor’s leaders if they could. They would be back.”
“Is that all?”
“That’s it. It sounds as if they had internal problems and kid problems….well…and dinosaur problems.”
“If that water is real, it isn’t a magic fountain but some water that lies in pools where there are minerals and mosses that water leeches out. You can get enzymes, steroid-like stuff, just weird chemicals, but I want a big bottle of it,” Kelly said. Davey and Alex nodded.
“Why?” Helen asked.
“We have nothing to lose. If it’s real, it could help Tom, Amanda, and maybe Durango. It’s worth a shot. Don’t call it a fairy tale. It may be simple science...rocks and chemicals…very normal stuff that can help,” said Kelly, hoping they would agree.
“Places that are called magical usually are only filled with common nutrients or things our bodies need,” Alex said. “If people with leg cramps found a pool of water rich in quinine and potassium, they would think it was a miracle; those things simply stop leg pain. Logical.”
Helen turned to Tyrese and asked, “Who is going on this trip?”
“You, Scott, Alex, me,” said Tyrese and then paused, “Kelly, you hold tough. Joe and Stu? You have it okay?”
“I have it,” Stu called. He hoped that was true. In his head, he decided that they would be very careful and fight if needed, but no one was going to die on his watch. Then, he wondered about Stanley. He turned to Kelly and asked, “What happened to Stan? Really?”
She sighed and said, “Really, a big bad monster stomped him. He died. That’s all.” She watched the others leave, hoping the pool of water was there and could be located. It might help.
The other four left with the sled and went to the familiar trail. Helen gave what she thought were directions to where the mysterious water would be. It wasn’t far from the cave and was on the way to where the plane might be.
Alex laughed as soon as he saw the pool and knew this was the one. “I think maybe there are rocks and soil full of steroids and under the water, but look at that? Suma trees and their roots go down into the pool. They are loaded with steroids. See those beans?”
“Can we eat them?”
Alex laughed and said, “We’ll pick every one right now so we get them in our packs safely. Fava beans. They contain steroids, too. This pool must be thick with them.” Shockingly, Alex, with no embarrassment, stripped down and went into the pool, a pretty sky blue if the pool had been clear, but it was almost a foggy, white-blue. He didn’t yell or complain but moved around and said, “It feels wonderful.” After bathing
in the sea water, he added, “This is nice, and it feels soothing.” He took a gulp, scaring them. “Not great. Not bad.” He gulped a few more times and began gathering fava beans for his bag.
“Come on,” said Scott as he helped undress Helen who blushed furiously, but she followed him in and found the water delicious-feeling. She filled a bottle for Kelly and then picked beans. “So it’s natural?”
“Very, I think it may be extremely condensed, and there may be other things in this pool, but it isn’t so weird to find, not as weird as discovering dinosaurs on an island,” Alex said, “and it’s unexpected, yes, but we are due a miracle.”
Tyrese gave in and joined them. In a few minutes, he laughed and said, “Am crazy, but I swear my cuts and scrapes feel better, and my broken fingers aren’t aching. Power of suggestion.”
Helen looked over and said, “T, your scrapes do look better. No kidding. Is that possible?”
Alex shook his head and answered, “Nope, not possible, not that fast. But since when are dinosaurs possible?”
“They aren’t,” said Helen.
“Exactly. We can pretend all we want, but face it, no island in a busy part of the sea is going to be undiscovered. If we were somewhere else…maybe…but come on, this place would have been found. Besides that, our boat wrecked. People know. Don’t you think people are searching? But we’ve never seen a plane looking for us,” Alex said.
“What does that mean?” Scott asked.
“We don’t talk about it, but we know. This isn’t right. We would have been found, or at least, we would have seen airplanes over head. Nothing. There is no way this place can be here, yet it is. I thought maybe we died, and this was a dream I was having, but I don’t think so,” said Alex.
“Unless we’re having the same dream,” said Helen who laughed and then asked, “but am I in yours or are you in mine?”
Alex agreed, “Exactly, Helen. It’s real, but it isn’t right. It’s impossible. On the other hand, some real rules apply. There are dinosaurs, and they can kill, but they can also be killed. This pool makes sense, somewhat on a scientific level, but what are the chances it would be here and be found so easily?”