The Island (15 page)

“No,” Alex said, stepping between Chase and the rear of the truck. “I don’t think I’m comfortable with that.”

“With what?”

“With you having a gun. This is still a game. Remember why we’re all here. If you have that, then you have a huge advantage.”

“I’m taking it.” Chase said, stepping towards the back of the truck. Moses stepped in, standing beside Alex.

“He’s right,” the older man said. He still held his knife, forearm muscles bunching. “No one should have the gun. It’s too tempting.”

“So you just want to leave it here? We’re trying to survive for god’s sake.”

“You really think this is a team effort, don’t you?” Alex said, the grin transforming into a wince as his damaged lip protested the gesture. “You do know we’re not friends, not colleagues or a team. This is a game. The end result being that all but one of us has to die.”

“We made an agreement to stick together.”

“On an even playing field. If you get a gun, that changes the odds.” Alex also now had his hand on the top of his knife. Chase flicked his eyes to it, then back at Moses and Alex.

“That gun could save our lives.”

“It could end it too,” Moses said. “I don’t want to have to put a knife in your back while you sleep. I’d drop this if I were you.”

Chase shook his head. “This is crazy. Can you hear what you’re saying?”

“If this were a team game, I’d agree with you,” Alex said. “But the old man is right. We either go on with a level playing field, or we can make sure you don’t get it here and now and then he and I go on towards the end.”

“You’re threatening to kill me?” Chase said, taking a step back.

“Nobody said that,” Alex fired back.

“But you would. I get it. Fine, leave the fucking gun where it is. Let’s give Ryder every chance to pick us off on at a time from wherever the hell he’s hiding. If not him, one of the animals, the dinosaurs that are, unless you’ve missed it, thriving on The Island and could kill us at any time.”

They didn’t give him any response. They simply stood there, guarding the back of the truck from him. The point was made. If he tried to get the gun, they would kill him. “Fine. Let’s go, but together. I don’t want either of you two coming back to get it later.”

“No, that’s not going to happen. By the time we camp tonight, we will be miles away from here. No way any of us are coming back later and wasting another day. Besides, have you seen that sky? Looks like rain.”

Chase glanced in the direction they were going. Unlike the blue skies which they were currently under, ugly, tropical thunderheads were starting to build in the distance. It was likely they would see rain by the end of the day.

“Right, in that case we better go,” Chase grunted.

They walked in line, away from the truck and the handgun and towards the growing storm and whatever else waited for them ahead. As much as he was tempted, Chase didn’t look back at the truck. He knew the others were watching him now and had begun to understand that unless he started to play the game, he was likely to die.

FOUR

The rain came just after three in the afternoon. The heat of the day had started to dissipate, a fresh breeze bringing some much needed respite to their exhausted bodies. Their progress had been good. They had travelled around twelve miles, and were now in an area of open savannah. In the distance, a herd of triceratops were grazing in the long yellow grasses, the three horned beasts far enough away for the group to feel safe. The tension amongst them had been almost unbearable. They hadn’t spoken to each other for much of the journey, and when they did it was in either grunts or one word answers. As they had moved south, they had seen an increasing number of dinosaur species, but unsurprisingly, none that had paid them much attention. They seemed oblivious to their presence for the most part, which if anything made them more uneasy. It was when they were midway across the savannah plain, their shadows long since gone as the cloud cover had rolled in and darkened the day, that the rains arrived. It was akin to somebody switching on a warm shower. There had been at first a few large single drips, each leaving a stain the size of a coin on the arid ground, then it arrived, a deluge of biblical proportions. They did the best they could to keep themselves dry, but it was no good. The rain drove don with a furious urgency as dull rumbles of thunder heralded the coming storm.

Chase glanced over his shoulder. Moses was falling back again, limping along as fast as he could. He had found a stick from somewhere which he was using as a walking stick. He had produced an oversized hat from somewhere, which looked almost comical, the brim waterlogged and sagging around his ears.

Ahead of Chase, Alex had pulled some of his waterproof tent material out of his backpack and fashioned a poncho of sorts. It was a genius idea which he copied without apology, managing to keep his upper body for the most part dry. The dusty ground at their feet became a thick, sludgy mud which coated their boots and made their progress both slow and hard. Their old friend fatigue had started to make his presence known, and each heavy, mud-laden step seemed to take more and more of a toll.

Another hour passed, and the rain which had initially been a welcome and pleasurable respite from the heat had turned cold. Chase picked up his pace to catch up to Alex, falling in beside him. They walked in tandem for a while, neither speaking to the other.

“What is it, Riley?”

“We’ll need to stop soon. It’s getting dark.”

“I’m aware of that.” He turned and smiled, filling Chase with more of that unease which seemed to be ever present. He didn’t seem particularly tired, or concerned with the situation. Chase got the impression that he was enjoying every second of it. “Good luck lighting a fire in this. All the water in the world is being dumped on us at once, or so it seems.”

“We can’t stay out in this. We need to get dry.”

“I take it you have a suggestion?”

Chase nodded the way they were going. The terrain changed again, the flat savannah transforming into a craggy, hilly landscape.

“We might find a cave up there. Somewhere we can hole up and make a fire.”

“Maybe. But again, I don’t know what you intend to burn. Everything is pretty wet in case you didn’t notice.”

“We’ll also need food… I–”

Alex stopped and turned to Chase. “You don’t get it, do you?”

“What?”

“All this teamwork and survival stuff. Pretty soon it’s going to have to stop. Soon it’s going to come down to why we came here.”

“I know that,” Chase grunted.

“Then please, for the love of god, stop trying to be my friend. Stop trying to lead this little expedition. It’s going to be hard enough for you to do what you have to as it is without attaching yourself to me or the old man.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re not as smart as you think you are, Riley. I’ve got you all figured out. I know as well as you do that when the time comes, you won’t have the guts to kill someone. You came here thinking you could do it, but when it comes down to it, you’re too nice. Too much like the rest of society. You play by the rules. I came here thinking I was the only one who understood what it would take to win this. I was wrong about that because Ryder seems to get it too. But you…” He shook his head. “You don’t see it. It’s going to hit you hard when the time comes and it’s down to either you or someone else. Something tells me you’ll roll over and die just like the old man back there. But then again, I was wrong about Ryder, so who knows. Just stop trying to be the voice of reason. This isn’t your show. This isn’t your team and you don’t have any sway or influence over me. We’ll stop when there is a place to stop. If we can find food, we’ll eat. If not, we won’t. If we can light a fire, we’ll be warm. If not, we’ll be cold and maybe the old man will die. Just leave me alone, Riley. I’m done with you.”

Alex walked away, leaving Chase standing there in shock and unsure how to react. Eventually, he started to walk again, hands thrust in his pockets against the cold and trying to ignore how true Alex’s words had been.

FIVE

The hilly area was dangerous. In dry conditions it would have been no more difficult than any other terrain they had encountered. With the deluge, it had become a mud bath of sorts. They slipped and scrambled as they climbed higher, all the time the storm raged, the combination of driving rain and thunder proving just how potent a force Mother Nature was and how insignificant they were in the bigger picture. As they climbed higher, the ground underfoot became more solid, the loose mud giving way to solid rock. They found what they were looking for around two thirds of the way up the hill. It wasn’t a cave, the rock didn’t cut back deeply enough. Instead, they saw a jutting slab of rock with a deep recessed hollow underneath. It was almost perfect. Sheltered from the elements and dry, it also gave a spectacular view of the valley they had just crossed, which stretched away into the distance.

They were too wet and exhausted to do anything at first but rest, sitting in a line with their backs to the wall, watching the fury of the rain as it continued to drive down. It was so intense it was almost like they were sitting under a waterfall.

Alex had taken off his backpack and was removing some things from it. Chase watched, their conversation still fresh in his mind. Alex had branches in the bottom of his bag, along with dry grasses and a slab of the dinosaur meat from the previous day’s meal. He glanced over at Chase, flashing a warm smile.

“Good job one of us prepared for the rain. You want to give me a hand with this? The old man looks in a bad way.”

It was as if their argument had never happened. For a moment, Chase considered questioning it, but then he glanced at Moses and saw that Alex was right. He had deteriorated further. His breathing was a wet wheeze, and he trembled all over, his sodden clothes sticking to his body. His eyes were glassy and staring into the distance, not focused on anything other than the death he knew was on its way. Either hypothermia or pneumonia, whichever it was, Moses didn’t look like he would last much longer.

Chase decided it was better to just work and keep quiet, so he helped Alex to construct the fire, his eyes drifting every few seconds towards the dinosaur meat. He was ravenous.

“It always pays to keep some dry wood and tinder in the bottom of your bag,” Alex said, smiling again. “I remember from this TV show I used to watch about this guy who puts himself in the wilderness and has to survive. He was named after a bear. English guy. He was good.”

Chase nodded and said nothing, still confused about the sudden shift in personality.

“We’ll get this lit, warm this place up. It’s been a long day.”

They managed to get the fire lit. Chase never ceased to be surprised about how something so simple could boost morale so completely. The cold seemed to have seeped through to the bone. He sat in front of the fire, letting its warmth radiate through him. Alex sat opposite, turning the meat which sizzled as it cooked. He had a wistful, half-smile on his face. He looked content.

Even with the warmth from the fire, Moses was getting worse. He lay on his side, shivering by the fire, mumbling semi incoherently. Chase wondered if Alex could smell it too. It was the smell of pending death.

“This reminds me of when I was a boy,” Alex said, his voice echoing around the small space. “My father used to take me camping. We’d go out into the woods in Oregon and hunt deer. If we caught one, we’d cook it over a fire just like this.”

Chase didn’t say anything. He watched the younger man across the flames as the rain continued to pummel the earth. Alex went on.

“One day, we caught this big buck. I shot it, but I was young, and it wasn’t a clean kill. We found it on its side in the snow. It’s a strange sight you know, that contrast of red on white. The blood was thawing the snow around the deer, still warm, still hot, you know? Anyway, it was lying there on its side, just panting and waiting to die. It had this look in its eyes, a look that said it didn’t understand what was happening to it. I pointed the gun at it, intending to finish it off, but I couldn’t do it. I just stood there and watched as its breathing got more and more shallow and eventually stopped.”

“Did you still eat it?” Chase asked.

“Of course. No point killing it otherwise. It was the best venison I’ve ever tasted. I’ve often wondered if the fact that it was afraid at the end made it taste better. You ever heard that? How the way an animal is treated in life can change the way the meat tastes?”

“No, I can’t say I have,” Chase muttered.

“There is a brand of beef where the farmers massage the cows every day until they are taken to the slaughterhouse. Apparently, it makes the meat taste nicer. I often wondered if the way something feels before it dies has the same effect.”

“I can’t say I’ve ever thought about it,” Chase muttered.

Alex shrugged. “Just one of those weird memories I guess.”

He removed the meat from the makeshift skewer, and cut it into three pieces. “This is the last of it. We’ll need to get more if we want to eat tomorrow. Pass me your knife.”

Chase handed the weapon over the fire, aware that he had just unarmed himself in front of a rival. Alex, however, didn’t seem to realise. He skewered the dinosaur meat onto the knife and handed it back to Chase. He broke the skewer stick in half and stabbed it through the other piece of meat, and also passed it over to Chase. “For the old man,” he said.