I felt bad for Bower though, he was sweating and looked like he was overheating. I noticed he didn’t have his waterskin with him, so when he fell asleep, I left him a cracked coconut to drink.
Watching him drink the gift I left him warmed something in my chest. Helikedit. And I liked that feeling. It was the same thing I felt whenI left them all the fruit on the first morning, and when they found the waterskins. Or when I got them that wood to hold down their raft or when I helped them find the path.
Maybe that could be my new mission on this island. I could stay hidden, stay safe, and secretly, from the shadows, offer them help, so life here didn’t have to be as shitty for them as it had been for me.
I don’t know why I’m so intrigued by these three. I expected them to act like the last men that crashed on this island. But so far, they are the polar opposites. Even the way they talk to each other and help each other out is… kind. But I knew that could change the second a woman was brought into the mix. And I’m not about to put myself in danger by letting them see me.
Glancing down, I see King and West return and decide this is my chance to go grab them some more food. Quickly making my way through the trees, swinging on vines and jumping from branch to branch, I consider heading to my buddy, Cliff. Has enough time passed for Bob to lay more eggs? Hmm, probably not. And it was a lot of work and danger to climb up there for a low chance of reward.
Deciding fruit will have to do for now, I move closer to Brutus’s territory. The best plums were out there. I bet the guys would love those.
“Eep!” I stop on a wide branch and look back, seeing Mo-Mo swinging towards me.
“Mo-Mo! Hey buddy, where you been?” I ask as he drops to my shoulder, nuzzling my neck. I give him a little scratch behind his ear and hold out my fist as he gives me a fist bump.
“I’m gonna grab some plums, wanna come with me?”
“Eep!” he trills, jumping to a vine to swing forward. I follow along until we finally find the plums. Since this is the edge of boar territory, we have to be quiet and keep our guard up.
“Keep an eye open for the piggies for me, okay?” I whisper to Mo-Mo, making him grunt as I drop down to the ground in the middle of a few lush plum trees. It’s a far drop as the overhanging branch is about fifteen feet in the air, but I manage to do it without making any noise.
I make quick work of grabbing plums and dropping them in my bag. Three each should be a good amount, plus three for me and one for Mo-Mo. With my bag full, I carefully walk through the trees until I can reach a taller one I can actually climb, the plum trees being too thin to hold my weight.
I hear a soft rustling and silently turn in that direction, hiding behind a narrow tree. When two mid-sized boars come into view, I relax. It’s not Brutus, thank goodness. I stay quiet, not wanting them to know I’m here. I’d rather not be chased by any boar today, thank you very much.
“Eep!” I roll my eyes.Gee, thanks for the warning there slowpoke.
When the boar are out of sight, I quickly make my way to the closest climbing tree and hoist myself up. A rustling has me spinning and scanning the area.Nothing. I narrow my eyes and wait another minute, but when nothing happens, I continue climbing up to where Mo-Mo waits.
“Thanks for the help down there, Mo-Mo,” I say sarcastically, passing him a plum and taking one for myself. He just grunts before scarfing down his food. When he finishes, in an insanely fast twenty seconds, he snatches my half eaten one right from my hands.
“Hey! Buddy, what the crap shells are you doing? Didn’t I teach you any manners?” He has the audacity to blow a raspberry at me beforestuffing the whole plum in his mouth and jumping onto a nearby vine, swinging away, clearly done with this conversation.
“Rude,” I mumble, standing up and making my way back to camp. A few times I think I hear something below, but every time I look, I can’t see anything. It bothers me. I’m supposed to be the best hunter on this island.
When I finally get back to camp, the guys are missing, so I place the plums down by the firepit, where their stuff had been earlier. It’s all gone now, and I wonder what they’ve done with it.
Deciding I need to know what they’re up to, I head to the beach first. When that comes up empty, I head back towards the waterfall, being careful to stay high in the trees so I’m not seen if they suddenly appear on the path ahead.
Which is exactly what happens. But I hear their voices long before I see them. Why does just the sound of their murmurs relax me? Am I that starved for company?
Suddenly, they all start yelling in alarm, and I swing through the trees as fast as I can, worried about what’s happening. And when I see what’s got them upset, my eyes widen in fear.
Chapter twelve
Kingsley
“Do you think Steve’s watching us now?” I ask quietly as we all take a quick dip in the pond to cool down.
When Bower showed us the rock with Steve etched into it, we were surprised. And the more I think about it, the more confused I become. He didn’t take anything that we left there, he just added a rock to it. He even gave Bower a coconut that he'd open for him to drink from.
Steve’s becoming more and more of a mystery.
West’s eyes continually move through the trees, always watching. He lets out a puff of air before responding, “I don’t think so. I haven’t felt eyes on us for a while.” I nod, knowing what he meant. At camp it was like I could feel eyes on me, but it disappeared when we left, and hasn’t returned.
“Maybe he got tired of us,” Bower says before dunking his head under the water and scrubbing at his brown hair. He must be extra hot with it being so long.
“Maybe,” I mumble, climbing out of the pond and drying off with a spare shirt. As I get dressed, my eyes land on my Amiris, now caked in mud. My favorite sneakers,ruined. I wipe at them half-heartedly, but thecrisp white is long gone. I sigh and slip them on. They cost me a thousand bucks, but it wasn’t about the money. Wrecking shoes this nice just… hurt.