Get Off (The Island Fic)

Chapter Seven

The daylight sifted through the canopy of the tropical trees, stretching high above Mercer's head.

Their eyes flicked between the sky peaking through the branches, and a scrap of paper in their hands. They felt like they'd go properly insane if they didn't get to draw something, but with their laptop not making it out of the crash, they just didn't have the materials. Until, of course, April kindly supplied them with the back of the name checklist she'd created when they were still on the beach. The indentations from the writing on the other side created a difficult surface, and the deep grooves left from Jimmy's (outdatedly) crossed out name jutted out, interrupting the flimsy beginnings of a sketch they'd laid down. Their hands smoothed over the bumps, grazing the texture as they thought.

It had to be around their sixth day on the island, and they were slowly breaking into the stores of edible-looking plants they'd scavenged. 'Safe' food had dwindled, with a small backup portion tucked away just in case, and the survivors were still investigating ways to start controlled fires. Cooking food and boiling water would make it marginally less deadly to consume, and even a marginal amount was worth it if it meant living on just a little bit longer.

Trialling which plants were ok and which weren't was trifling, to say the least. Lexie, Millicent, and Brayden had all fallen ill with varying issues, but because they were allowed to test several of the plants at once, nobody was able to tick off anything they ate as non-toxic. Kelsie had been furiously tending to the sick, and April helped when she was around, but her presence got rarer and rarer over the course of the last day and a half.

The sound of footsteps crunching through dead foliage crept between the trunks of trees. Mercer looked up from their sketch, to find Eli trudging his way through the forest.

"Brayden's getting worse." He said, plopping down next to them.

"Oh." They replied, not looking up from the paper. Their voice was blank, face unchanging, but Eli could still extrapolate their concern.

"Kelsie is doing her best to keep his temperature down, but it's getting weirdly humid. She says he might not get better for a long time."

The taller teen's eyebrows twitched down, and the corners of their mouth wavered. They took a deep breath.

"And what about Lexie and Millicent?"

"Lexie's getting a bit better, Millicent hasn't gotten better but she's not doing worse either."

"... Okay."

Hopefully they made a smooth recovery.

Hopefully.

***

Jimmy tore through the forest, turning up rocks, leafing through ivy, looking for this mystery man. April gave him a mission. A mission! A special job all for him. He knew he was better than everyone else on the island, but this task being assigned to little old him took it to another level. At first they would send a person or two to watch him while he was out there, but after he'd managed to sneak off so many times, they just gave up.

He called out every now and then, a simple "HELLOOOOOO?!" shouted into the void of the jungle. The sun was high in the sky, but being so far from the creek and so deep into the dense greenery offered little background noise. The light was dimming as he ventured further in.

A metallic grating noise echoed behind him and he whirled around, spotting the form of a person. Silver buckles and plastic clasps glinted in the light, and the shine of the barrel of a rifle stung his eyes. A wide-brimmed hat plunged the the stranger's face into shadow, but when he spoke, Jimmy knew he'd heard that voice before.

"Jimmy."

"Are you the man in the forest?"

He clambered forwards, stepping over low vines and bushes.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Haha, you are the man in the forest! I literally just said that." Jimmy cocked his head, clueless grin forming across his face. "April sent me to find you. You're really good at hiding!" He continued.

"I've been following you for hours."

"Oh."

The teen fidgeted, feeling suddenly uneasy. He knew this person from the same place he knew everyone else - he could tell that much - but it particularly frustrated him that he couldn't remember this one's name.

"Wasn't it fun to go on a mission, Jimmy?"

He nodded hesitantly.

"I have a mission, too."

He must be special... Jimmy thought, shoulders relaxing slightly.

"April was meant to be helping me with my mission, but I fear she might quit soon. Quitters can't be trusted." The man dictated. He nodded more surely this time.

"I need you to help me get rid of her, Jimmy. Will you do that?"

"... Yes. I'll help you with this new mission."

The flicker of a sinister smile peeked out from under the hat's shadow.

"Good."

***

The beast plodged through the forest.

A few paces ahead, Jimmy marched, maintaining the goofiest and most incorrect form possible. He chatted idly as they moved, hoping to cover the whole trip before nightfall but still walking slow enough to maintain a rather one-sided conversation with the monster.

" Do you think I'll really have to kill April?"

"Hgrrrrrrr." It growled back.

"Hahah, yeah, I don't know if I trust the hat man either. But, he has a mission, and now I have a mission, so I guess we're both better than everyone."

"..."

"Sorry buddy. Everyone includes you, too!"

"Grrrrrrrnf."

"When we get there, you're going to have to wait for my cue to attack -"

The beast stopped in it's tracks, but Jimmy was too absorbed in what he was saying to register it. He kept walking and talking, while a silent sniper watched from a tree, metres behind.

He took aim carefully, but not carefully enough.

The bullet pierced Jimmy's thigh, sending him toppling down. Rats. He was aiming for the lower back. The monster startled at the gunshot, lumbering out of the area. It clearly didn't want to stick around for the rest of the kill.

Before he could ready himself, voices filled the space ahead.

A very frazzled Mercer and Eli tore through the underbrush, quickly spotting Jimmy clutching his leg on the ground. The two panicked a little about how to transport him back to the camp, eventually deciding that slinging his arms around their shoulders would be the easiest way to do it. The wounded teen groaned in pain as he was lifted up, blood streaming down his leg. The three began the hobble back to safety, and the silent watcher lamented a missed opportunity.