Page 8 of Double Dragon

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My feet trudged against the sand and I had to mop sweat off my brow. I unbuttoned my beige shirt to allow my skin to breathe and looked longingly at the water. My throat was parched, and it seemed cruel that saltwater would only do me harm. Hopefully there would be a freshwater stream nearby that I could use to refresh myself, or perhaps even a creek in one of the coves. The mountains surely had caverns in which I could rest and use as shelter. I would have to keep a close eye out for any predators, and fashioning a weapon would have to be high on my list of priorities as well. I had survived a plane crash, I wasn’t about to die during my first night on the island.

It was ironic how things turned out sometimes, how dreams of youth became nightmares of adulthood. When I was younger, I was enthralled by stories like Robinson Crusoe and the Swiss Family Robinson. I loved the romanticism of being alone on a deserted island with nothing but your own wits to help you survive, to live without rules and without burdens, to be free to do whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted. Of course, as a child I was more attracted to the romantic ideal of the situation and as I grew older, I became more aware of the practical reality. There were many flaws with modern society but it had its perks too, like healthcare, education, and the wealth of knowledge the internet provided. I was alone, and that meant I only had my own skills. Fortunately, I had been taught by my parents, so I was better equipped than most to thrive in this situation, but it didn’t give me much hope for my long term prospects. I didn’t like the thought of living my entire life on Dragon Island. What about Bobby?

I looked out to see and my thoughts were interrupted by a bobbing sight. I ran out until the water came up to my waist and hauled the body to shore, turning it around to see the face of Vincent. I practically threw him on the sand and pumped my hands against his chest, breathing into his mouth to try and get him to cough up water. For a moment, I thought it had been too long, that the sea had claimed another soul, but then he coughed and spluttered, and his body convulsed. He opened his eyes and laughed, and then rested against the sand. I clapped my hands and a wave of relief washed over me. Going through this with someone else was far preferable than going through it alone.

“That was one hell of a storm,” Vincent said and then, as if he was just noticing the change in the weather, looked as confused as I must have done when I regained consciousness. “What the hell is this? Are we in the same place?”

“Welcome to Dragon Island,” I said dryly. “I have no idea what that’s about. I guess there must be something unusual with the eddies or electro-magnetism. There was a reason why the satellite imagery never gave a clear picture of the place after all.”

“How very technical of you,” he said, wincing a little as he too inspected his body for scrapes and bruises.

“I never really paid much attention to that part. It took some of the romance out of the adventure,” I said. It was true. I wasn’t a snob and didn’t like to turn up my nose at progress, but it was one thing to map a location and quite another to explore it, to tread the same path as had been walked by people before you, to breathe in the same air and see what they saw. There was a school of thought that, eventually, it would be unnecessary to actually visit a site. It could all be mapped by computers and then uploaded to a virtual reality head set and the exploration could continue without putting anyone at risk. The last part I could certainly see the benefit of, especially after what I had just been through, but the rest of it? Not for me; I didn’t want to live in a world where nobody ever did anything, where all the greatest accomplishments were achieved from the comfort of an office.

“It makes the place all the more intriguing though, doesn’t it?” I said.

“You got that right. I can see why you and your parents were so interested in it.”

I gazed out to the water, hoping to see another body bobbing up, but it was completely still. “Did you see any of the others out there?”

“No…the last thing I saw was Duncan being sucked out of the plane. I heard his scream. He reached out to me, but he was out of my reach. The plane went down in freefall and I knew I had to jump. I prayed I’d hit the water rather than a rock. I assumed you had done the same.”

“Thomas and William?”

“No idea,” Vincent said.

“Damn.” There was little more that could be said. Although I hadn’t warmed up to either of them, I didn’t like to think they were dead. I dusted myself off and picked myself up and held out a hand for Vincent to take, which he did, clasping it tightly. “We can’t sit around all day. We need to explore and make a camp.”

Vincent hobbled along after me. I walked slowly, both so that he could keep up and to conserve energy. It pained me to think that so many supplies had gone down with the plane. I considered swimming out to try and dive down and retrieve anything, but quickly dismissed the idea. There was no telling how deep the surface was out there, and the crates had been strapped tightly. If I was going to release them, I’d need to stay down there for a long time, and even then I didn’t know which crates were which.

“Do you think anyone is going to find us?” Vincent asked. I’d been afraid to ask it myself.

“Hopefully. When we don’t check in like we’re supposed to it’s going to raise suspicion, and eventually they’ll send a search party. We’d better hope that storm dies down before they do though, otherwise they’ll just have the same problem we did.”

“It’s a damn shame we don’t have a satellite phone, although I doubt that would actually help given the strange circumstances. I don’t want to be the one saying this, but given what’s happened can we be sure the island isn’t cursed?”

I looked at him and I wished that I could have dismissed the statement outright, but I couldn’t. There were too many strange things going on and I wasn’t arrogant enough to think that I had all the answers.

“Right now, I don’t think we can rule anything out. We’ll just have to go careful and make sure that we keep an eye out for anything dangerous. Let’s walk along the beach and see if we can find a cave to make shelter.”

My heart hammered against my chest and my head throbbed. I squinted against the glare of the sun and tried to focus on the task at hand, but I was unable to. A small thought started, just a nugget that swelled and grew until I couldn’t resist thinking about it; the thought that perhaps if I had survived my parents had too. Their bodies had never been found. It seemed impossible, and yet it was impossible that I had survived. Perhaps they were on this island after all these years. Suddenly I had a new mission, not that I told this to Vincent because I knew he’d think I was only being sentimental.

We walked around the beach. I still gazed towards the water in the hope that I would see sign of the others, but it was as still as if nobody had been there at all. The plane had been fully pulled down into the watery depths and the only sign that anything was amiss was the odd bit of wreckage that floated on the surface of the water. Behind us we left a trail of footprints, and it reminded me of the marks of technology that formed a web across the natural landscape.

Man had arrived, and usually that meant doom for the natural world, but Dragon Island seemed more formidable than the rest of the world.

7

We eventually found a small cave that offered shelter from the sun. The temperature instantly dropped, and I was glad of the relief. There was a small pool in the middle of the cave that led out to the wider sea. I went down and dipped my finger in, bringing it to my mouth and winced as the water hit my tongue. Sadly, it was still salty. The area was sandy and rocky, and far less comfortable than the beach, but it would do well in case the storm reared its ugly head again and decided it wanted to ruin this side of paradise.

Vincent sank down and breathed a sigh of relief. His face was red and he seemed to be happy to be off his feet. He opened his shirt; parts of it were torn anyway, and there was a gash down his side. It wasn’t bleeding, but if it wasn’t treated there was a risk of it getting infected and turning nasty. It needed to be cleaned, and saltwater wasn’t a good idea for that either. I sat down beside him.

“We’re in a bit of a pickle,” I said.

“You can say that again. Makes me wonder how other people do it. Still, at least we’re alive, and we’ll find a way out of this.”

“I admire your confidence.” A noise caught my attention. I peered towards the pool and noticed a red crab scuttling sideways towards a rock, disappearing into a dark hole. “So far the wildlife seems normal enough.” Vincent offered a weak laugh. I remembered my parents telling me stories about times they had been stranded. They spoke about them as if they were grand adventures and tests of their willpower, but now I assumed that they had embellished the truth and left out some of the more harrowing aspects of being lost in the wilderness. I tried to remember what they always taught me though, and that was to remain focused and logical. Vincent wasn’t in much of a state to explore. His body had been battered and his spirit seemed tired.

“I’m going to go and explore the jungle to see if I can get us any fresh water. Is there anything I can do to help you feel better?”


Tags: Lilly Wilder Paranormal