Page 39 of Beaches

“Trak, I need your help. We’re going to have major infestation if I don’t get their hair cut off with all this lice. Take them to the head and sit each man on the toilet. I’ve spread a plastic tarp to catch the falling hair. I’m going to spray this lice killer and then shave their heads. Once we have that shaved off, they’ll feel better, and we can start to clean them up a bit.”

Trak nodded, not questioning Cruz’s orders at all. He gently guided each man to the back, explaining what he was doing. They were more than happy to be rid of whatever hair they had. Carefully, he shaved each man’s head and face, then sent him to the shower with Noah to get them rinsed off. As each man emerged from the shower, they were given clean sweatpants and sweatshirts.

“Anyone we need to get to a hospital now, or can we take them all stateside?” asked Gaspar.

“I have two that might not make it, Gaspar,” said Cruz. “I’m not sure how they’ve made it this far. I think it’s something internal, but I can’t know for sure.”

“I can go sonic,” said Savannah, looking back at the two men.

“Will we still be stealth?” asked Gaspar.

“We’ll find out. We’ve never tested sonic with the stealth protection. What do you guys think?”

“I think it’s worth the risk,” said Cruz, looking at Gaspar. He nodded at his friend.

“Do it.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Alec, Noa, Lucia, Clay, Ethan, Rory, Max, Titus, Eli, Skull, Nine, and Zulu pushed along the jungle path on the small island. It was clear that there were people on the island, as the path had been worn and used.

Reaching a small clearing with a freshwater source, they stopped and looked around. The waterfall’s edge was peaceful and beautiful, and any other time would have been magical.

“Where are they?” whispered Clay.

“There,” said Lucia. “Behind the falls. There’s a cave.”

“I don’t want to scare them,” said Nine.

“I’ll do it,” said Lucia, slowly getting closer. Small, petite, and a female, she probably was the right choice to not instill fear in the men. “Hello? Is anyone in there? We’re not here to hurt you. My name is Lucia, and these are my friends. We’re here to take you all home. Please, if you can, come on out.”

They stood still, lowering their weapons, just waiting. They didn’t have the weapons because of the prisoners, but instead because they worried Kaplan’s men had beat them to the islands.

“I’m going to go in,” said Max.

“No, wait,” said Lucia, pulling back on his arm. “Wait.”

Max narrowed his gaze at the darkened entrance and saw what Lucia was seeing. A slight shimmer of movement behind the water, then three men walking out. Two men were actually walking, the third supported between them with only one leg.

“We won’t harm you,” she said softly. “These are good men. They’re all former military and now run a security agency. Are there more in the cave?”

“Yes,” nodded one of the men, practically falling forward.

Alec and Max rushed forward, lifting two men, the other still walking beside them. They lay them next to the water source, noticing that these men had shaved heads. Having heard on comms what the others saw they were surprised.

“Your heads are shaved,” frowned Clay.

“Couldn’t stand it,” said one of the men. “Of all the things we almost went crazy over, the hair was number one. We sharpened rocks to make blades. Hurt like hell, but it worked.”

Lucia watched as Ethan, Rory, Titus, Skull, and Zulu walked out with two men each. That made thirteen men on their island.

“Is this all?” asked Nine.

“All that’s alive,” said one of the men. “We haven’t had any delivery of food in months. We were relying on fish and any fruit on the island. After a while, it just wasn’t enough, and we weren’t strong enough to haul in the fish. We had almost fifty at one point.”

“Fifty?” frowned Eli.

“Yes, sir. We’re the last of them. Americans, Japanese, Germans, and Aussies. We’re it. All this, all this death and torture because we saw Kaplan and his brother doing shit they shouldn’t.”

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