Extinction Island

by catt dahman

  “We’re not discussing. You’re leaving,” Tyrese said.

  Kelly scowled but walked to Stu, knowing if he touched her, the rest would skewer him. His face looked rough, but she could tell the water had helped. He and the water did well; it worked on him better than it did most. That was his misfortune, too, from what she heard.

  Using the fire light when Stu turned, Kelly saw stab wounds. Several were very deep. Had the water not helped him and sealed some of the injuries, he would have bled to death from any one of the wounds. She moved back and looked at the rest and said, “Water helped him some. As it is, he needs stitches and maybe cauterizing.”

  “He did it to himself,” Mattie yelled.

  “He couldn’t have stabbed himself in those places at these angles,” said Kelly

  “Helen, when you ran to me about Lorie, was there a lot of blood?” Stu asked.

  Helen nodded. “Yes, she was bleeding badly.”

  “In the water?

  Helen thought, There was a lot of blood, but things had happened so fast. “Yes, the water was pink,” she replied.

  “What did you see?”

  “I saw her torn up. I saw you between her legs….”

  “Doing what?” his voice had no anger but was only tired.

  “You were there naked.”

  “Was I doing something? Was I moving?”

  Helen closed her eyes. What did she see, and why did it matter after what he did to Lorie? “She was crying and saying no. You were between her legs and your hands were down there. You were between her legs, Stu.”

  “Did you see my dick?” He had to be blunt.

  “Yes!”

  “Then how was I raping her? You saw my hands splashing water up to where she was hurt. I didn’t do anything to her.”

  Alex moved closer, ready to kill Stu right then. “Who did? Lie. Lie so I can stab you in the heart.”

  Kelly held out a hand and added, “He has stab wounds. There has to be more to this. Hang on.”

  “Three kids. Wild. Tan, filthy long hair with feathers and spears, and one had a knife. They said it was their pool. I got that much, and then one said they should kill us and take us back. Do you know what the other said?” Stu laughed almost hysterically, wiping his face, and he repeated, ‘Yeah, good eatin’.”

  I popped one in the head, but he was thick skulled and didn’t budge. The other landed on my back; he had circled us, and he came at me, stabbing like a manic. I couldn’t get him off me. When I hit the pool, he stopped and climbed out, sure I would drown or bleed out. I was on the edge and lay there. I guess I looked dead, and he figured I was dying.”

  “Kids?” asked Lynn as he cocked his head.

  “Wild ones. Savages. I saw them hit Lorie in the face a few times, and then they took the bat I dropped, and oh shit, they hurt her. She was unconscious, but they did it. They…they didn’t just bite her. They tore off parts and ate them. They ate at her.”

  “My, God,” Helen whispered.

  “One said they should leave in case a bunch of us were around. The other laughed and said they would ask Joey? Joe? Someone about coming for all of us.”

  “Jody,” Mattie said, her face ashen.

  “Yeah, Jody.”

  Mattie looked up and responded, “He didn’t know that is my son’s name. I told the rest, but he wasn’t there to hear the story.”

  Alex lowered the spear and said, “Get him some rum or whatever we have.”

  Alcohol was another item that had survived the wreck, the best alcohol, and they had a lot, but Kelly had claimed it for medicine, days before. Joy brought the bottle and a cup. Stu drank some and sighed.

  “Get my stuff. He needs to be stitched and cleaned,” Kelly ordered.

  “You saw me between her legs, but I was trying to save her. I was bleeding like a stuck pig, Helen. And Scott, didn’t you wonder why I couldn’t fight back and just ended up taking the beating of my life?”

  “I guess,” Scott wasn’t convinced, but he felt there was a strong possibility he had made a mistake.

  “Two more things: one kid had a weird birthmark on his cheek. I saw that. It was like a half moon and dark red.”

  “Port wine birthmark...Ricky. I knew him. He is…was…he was with us before all of that.” said Mick as he paced. “Stu can’t have known about Jody and Ricky unless they were there. He described them perfectly…how they dress. He was stabbed. Did we make a mistake?”

  Stu took a deep, painful breath and replied, “Yeah, a big one. I didn’t kill Lorie. They did and almost killed me. And you came close to finishing me. The pool does heal, but it is dangerous, too. It kept me alive, and I got out and brought the stuff on the sled. I am stronger than ever, but the knife, it doesn’t care; it takes blood,” he said as he hissed as Kelly cleaned his wounds.

  “You said two things,” Scott said.

  “Oh, the one boy, he carried a staff. On it carefully tied was a human skull. They hunt people. He was the one who did that to Lorie. Ate parts of her.”

  Mattie’s jaw dropped. “What? What are you saying?

  Marshal Lynn put a hand on her shoulder and said, “You didn’t listen carefully to Stu. The children. They are cannibals, Mattie. They hunt people. They will be hunting us.”

  The rain began to pour in sheets, and everyone scattered. Kelly helped Stu to the wreckage that was better than ever because of Vera’s work on palm fronds.

  Scott reached out and caught Stu as he stumbled.

  Stu looked at him blankly. “Oh.”

  “I screwed up; I’m sorry. I can’t say anything else except that I believed in my heart it was the right reaction. I made a mistake,” said Scott.

  Helen, looking tired, said, “I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry.”

  “Me, too,” Stu said.

  “I don’t know how to make it better,” Helen said. Alex put an arm around her and nodded. He felt badly.

  Stu was about to collapse and was trying to get where Kelly wanted him so she could work. Poor Kelly, always stitching and trying to save people even if they didn’t want it.

  Tom had been resting and got the news from Joy, both the before story and the after story. He sighed and said, “Stu, always a mess. He can’t get anything right.”

  “I still don’t trust him,” Joy whispered.

  “Good. Don’t. Even if that’s true, he’s done bad things. I can feel it. Badness is rolling off him; you can almost see it,” said Tom.

  “Some are whispering that they believe him but think he was abusing Lorie before, maybe….” Tom stopped talking as Kelly settled Stu close by in the medical area on the bottom deck.

  As Stu took another long gulp of rum, he lay on the bed so Kelly could work, using the candle she had as light. It was fine because in one bundle were more candles. Everyone would be pleased to see what he dragged back. He had told the truth. Most of it. What people suspected was true. Lorie was sexed out, and he wasn’t. He forced her. He guessed it was rape, but what did that matter since he had also murdered Lilly by pulling her in front of him. And there was the other one, Andrea. She had to die before her story was told and caused him trouble.

  And there had been the paralyzed boy that was too far gone to save and needed a merciful angel that could release him. Amanda and Durango, Tom and Vera, they had come close to being released.

  Sure, he was an accidental killer, and he was a murderer, and he was an angel of death, but he didn’t mean to be those things. He just was. Someone had to be strong. Someone had to survive. They needed him. Even if they didn’t understand, they needed him, and he had to do whatever it took to be there.

  He didn’t quite know about his actions with Lorie. They were cloudy in his head.

  Scott was still saying he didn’t know what to say or do, and Helen was saying she was worried about the savage children.

  Tyrese repeated Helen, “I don’t know what to do to make this better.”

  Stu raised his head, managed a chuckle, and said, �
�Oh, I do. I’ll lead this one. Before they come to get us and eat us, bastard cannibals, we’re going to do what you said, Tyrese. As soon as I am okay, we are going for them.”

  “Yeah,” Tyrese and Marshal Lynn said it at the same time, “all of them.”

  Stu grinned and said, “We’re gonna clean all out of them. We’re going hunting for cannibals. Hey, damn, Kelly, that hurts!” He began to squirm and yelp.

  “We’ll get them, Stu,” Scott said. He couldn’t think of what else to say to fix this.

  Stu raised his voice as Kelly cleaned and stitched and yelled, “Gonna kill them all for Lorie!”

  Chapter 14: Day Twelve

  In the four days after the trip to the plane and the loss of Lorie, teams went back and forth without incident and brought back the crates and bundles from the cargo hold, cheering everyone. They had everything the resort had asked to be shipped. There were sheets and blankets, and shower curtains, dishes and cooking utensils, a whole box of randomly sharpened knives, boxes and boxes of candles, cleaning supplies, tarps, towels by the hundreds, bags of personal hygiene items, and even medical kits, along with crisp white napkins that Kelly immediately claimed for medical purposes. The resort needed all of those items to restock.

  They didn’t need the other things the teams found such as electrical appliances or anything else electrical.

  But one of the two best things they found and brought back was something the resort manager had ordered: archery sets for guests to learn to play. Marshal Lynn was thrilled. All that time, the sets had been underneath them. It made Lynn embarrassed and angry, but also glad. Had they found it sooner, Jim and the kids would have taken more than half to the caves.

  Alex was designated as a hero.

  The other best thing they found were crates of liquor and food: dried beans, rice, canned vegetables, tinned meats, seasonings, and random other foods that the resort needed. Joe said that with fish and an occasional dinosaur, they could live three years on this food.

  Alex said maybe there would be more in the old airplane when they had time to go and look into the hold. He looked forward to that.

  Vera walked around with a limp, Durango talked more and worked at learning to speak more clearly, and while his spirit was lessened, he was good as a guard. Vera liked to stand guard with him, and she practiced with the bow and arrows every day, determined to learn to be a great guard and an archer, like some ancient super hero.

  Tom didn’t talk to Kelly except when he had to; otherwise, he stayed close to Joy. Slowly, he began to walk around and try to do things with his one arm. Though he was often frustrated, he kept trying. He didn’t forgive what was done to him and blamed Kelly in full, but he did want to live.

  Amanda was still in bad shape, so Kelly wrapped Amanda’s body like a mummy, and despite the pain, Kelly had her try to stretch to keep mobility.

  The creatures were staying away although sometimes they saw flashes of Big Brown wandering through the trees and looking out at the beach to the humans. He hadn’t come close yet, but he stalked them. His presence kept the troodons away, so it was a trade-off.

  It was a few days later that a storm boiled up during the day, and it looked just like the one the survivors had seen, both those on the yacht and those in the airplane. Clouds turned deep purple, the air became yellow as urine and smelled just as bitter and briny, and the waves came in tall and fast, breaking on the rocks.

  All dug quickly in the sand, digging with their hands or using the tools they had found in the crates. They dug hard and for a long time. They hoped the trench and the piled up trees would keep the wreckage section of their yacht-home safe. They worried.

  Most of the big waves broke way down the beach where they could see them, but where they felt it was far safer.

  Thunder echoed and exploded, lightning split the sky, making the black and purple clouds show their fury, and rain fell hard, battering the survivors who hid in the wreckage. They stayed partially dry, but mostly only wished it away.

  In a little while, everything was quieter: the wind settled, and the rain stopped; all the buckets were full of the fresh water and were running over.

  “What’s that?” Alex stared hard, willing himself to see more clearly, “Is it…is that a ship?”

  “A yacht smaller than ours,” Stu said. He was irritated that the storm and his injuries kept him from being out there looking for the sons of bitches who killed Lorie. Cannibals.

  “It’s intact.”

  “It’s on its side,” Stu corrected Alex, “and look at that wave. Think we came in on one like it?”

  The wave was dark and large. If it hit the wreck, they’d all be swept away, lose everything, and probably die. Helen had handed out all the life jackets to as many as would take them.

  She watched.

  The yacht angled away from them. It wouldn’t crash on them thankfully, but it carried the boat high and moved fast.

  “There it goes,” Stu called.

  The wave ran out of room and had already risen all it could, so it hit the rocks and sand and crashed, dashing away its power and fury. The yacht slammed onto the rocks and beach like a tossed toy.

  The group watched.

  In a few minutes, they saw the upper half of a man’s bloody body, and he rolled to his back, seemingly unaware of the other wreck and of those who watched. The man yelled loudly to the people who were in the wreckage, loud enough that everyone could hear him, “Just hang on. Help will be here soon. Wait for the ambulances.”

  Vera snickered.

  “Oh, my dear, God. It’s got to be a coincidence, right? Is it just a weird coincidence, Stu? Tell me that isn’t her,” said Scott.

  Stu frowned, wondering what in the hell was wrong with Scott. Her who? What was a her? He saw only a newer, sleek craft, a smaller yacht that was a pretty shade of blue, and was that a name? The boat had a name, of course.

  Stu blinked.

  “Coincidence?” Scott asked, “because it isn’t possible at all. There’s a reasonable answer, right?”

  In a daze, Stu began walking over to the yacht, his face pale and far more terrified than he had ever looked before. No dinosaur had caused this type of sheer horror on his face.

  A few followed him: Alex, Helen, Tyrese, Tom, Mick, Kelly, and Davey.

  “Oh thank, God. You’re here to help? We’re wrecked; we….” The bloody man sat up on the sand, his head and arm bleeding badly.

  “Who are you?

  “I’m John Littleton. I own this boat….”

  “Where did you come from?”

  “Florida. Daytona Beach. Look, we need help….”

  Stu still stared like a white wax figure and asked, “What’s the date?”

  Littleton told them; he was five years off on his date.

  “He’s hit his head,” Kelly said.

  “No. What’s your boat’s name?” Stu asked, but they could see the first part of the name right above the torn metal, and the second name was partially legible. Stu needed to hear it.

  Alex gulped. Scott grabbed Helen’s hand.

  Mick began breathing hard, almost hyperventilating and said, “Coincidence. Please.”

  A yacht that vanished five years before and that now was lying, in the graveyard of boats down the beach had the same name, was from the same place, was lost on the date the man said, and was owned by John Littleton. It was the same one.

  “The name?” Stu asked again. His head began to spin. “The name, the name, the name. What is the damned name?”

  The man leaned away in fear and answered, scared of these strange people. He told them, “It’s my boat, named after my daughter.”

  “Yeah,” Stu urged, “I know.”

  “It’s the Violet Marie .”

  Chapter 15: Again and Again and Again.

  “What does it mean?” Helen asked.

  Stu swallowed hard and said, “I think in five years, give or take a few years since we don’t know….” He stopped an hysterical lau
gh from boiling up and out. Everyone looked at him with sheer terror, “I guess we’re gonna wash up here again, and so it will all begin again….”

  “All of us? The same?” asked Alex as he thought hard.

  “Or maybe those who died, I dunno; won’t we have stories to tell ourselves? Avoid the troodons that will rush from the trees and come rip you apart or the others, I dunno. We have to do it all again, and it’s another us….” Stu faded to laughing so hard he sat down and pounded at the sand.

  “Violet Marie,” Alex muttered, “again. Time loop. The dinos went extinct and came back. How do we know this is our first time?” Alex demanded. What if this is the second or tenth or fiftieth time we’ve looped?”

  “Stop,” said Kelly as she knelt and checked the man. He was confused, “stop saying that.”

  Stu lay back and laughed harder, scaring everyone, but Alex could identify. He felt as if he were going mad, as well. “I could be Alex 2 or 3.”

  “Stop!” Kelly screamed, “just stop. All of you are going nuts. So stop, and help me.”

  The man had a hand over a badly bleeding gash on his arm, and blood was staining the sand. “There are others; they need help. I feel…I feel like I’m dying.”

  Stu sat up, sobered, and leaned forward, his eyes dark and wicked-looking. He was more afraid than he had ever been, and his heart could barely stand its own uncontrolled, thumping pace. Stu’s voice was quiet, making his response far more bloodcurdling. He told the man and those around, “Don’t worry if you die. See on Extinction Island, you come back. Over and over and over.”

  “Huh?”

  “You’ll see. Welcome to hell.”

  (Fort Worth: 2014)