Libertad

2 - Marooned

I spluttered to life, my fingers digging into the gravelly sand below my palms. Light burst through my eyelids and I suddenly felt sharp pains all over my body. I let out a deep groan before rolling onto my back and struggling into an upright sitting position. A chunk of glass was embedded deeply into my arm and I grimaced at the sight of it. The adrenaline from fighting for my life in the middle of the ocean had seen me neglect the fact that I had been impaled when the glass box smashed. With two fingers, I plucked the tip of the shard and wiggled it ever so slightly. An involuntary screech of pain escaped my lungs and I loosened my grip, leaving the jagged edge in my body.

'Not good Rook.' Through gritted teeth, I coached myself while peeling off my torn waterproof poncho and tossed its now useless form across the beach. Hot sun blistered down and I had to raise an arm over my brow to take in my surroundings. The waters of the ocean were now calm and lapping softly against the sands. Behind me thick jungle bloomed with palm trees and ferns splaying outward as though trying to entice me in. I knew I had to try and find some shelter from the sun before it started to burn my skin. Using all of my remaining strength, I got to my feet and began to trudge towards the depths of the tropical forest. I was hoping that I could find something to numb the pain in my arm that would then allow me to remove the glass. Rooting around amongst the broad leaves, I tried to identify anything that looked like it could provide some sort of salve to the wound. Shifting a log I found a plump succulent looking plant beneath it. With delicate fingers, I dug into the soil and gentle uprooted it before plucking the leaves away. A thick gooey substance oozed out and dripped all over my fingers. I could feel my skin tingle beneath the slime and immediately started to rub it around the slit in my arm. Slowly but surely the pain ebbed away until I could feel nothing, not even a hard flick from my finger. Taking in a deep breath I held the top of the shard and eased it away from my flesh. A squelching sound made me cringe as blood oozed out of me and scattered onto the leaf litter beneath my boots.

'That's a nasty gash soldier.'

Whipping around, I pointed the sharp blood spattered blade towards the voice and snarled at the sight. Jacob Seed chuckled and raised his palms up.

'Easy tiger. I'm unarmed.' He started to approach me and I found my hackles rising as I scuttled backwards away from him.

'You better turn your ass around and leave me the fuck alone.' I growled at him, jabbing the glass in the air.

'Wow. Over ten years in the military but a piece of window, damn, that's really gonna scare me.' Jacob lunged and grabbed my wrist, twisting it aggressively. I howled out in pain and loosened my grip which saw my temporary weapon fall to the ground. He swiftly stamped on it causing it to shatter into small non-threatening pieces. His fingers remained pressed against my arm with an unrelenting pressure.

'Just fucking kill me Jacob if that's what you really want to do.' I met his eyes with a look of resolution only for him to smirk and yank me to my feet. I stumbled a little but Jacob held me upright.

'Unfortunately deputy you're more use to me alive right now.' Without saying another word, he started to pull me along with a sturdy grip. What was even weirder was that I wasn't exactly fighting against his order. I allowed him to pull me through the jungle with no protest. Perhaps a part of me still hungered for adventure; still longed to have some sort of tie to the Seeds even though they tortured me for so long. It sounded so stupid, like a crazy case of Stockholm syndrome but they had been a part of my life for a number of months. They were the only people I'd had such turbulent relationships with and it would appear that my mind longed for that unhealthy connection again no matter how hard I tried to curb the enthusiasm. Jacob brought us out onto another length of beach that looked almost identical to where I washed up except a sizeable glass coffin lay strewn in the surf. John's beaten up face glared from within and he threw his arms in despair as he saw me approaching.