5.
Roland couldn't help but wonder that if it does come down to it, would he be able to take care of this Rachel person, as in take her life if it came down to it? He had come to the aid of a stranger; his actions could ultimately result in his own demise, and he did not want to think of this nor did he want to think of possibly ending her life if such a thing were to become necessary.
Isn't all this a bit all out there? Just the basis of it all. It is crazy, such a ridiculous concept, but Human Nature is Human Nature, and this is just one facet of it. Such a thing as all which exists on this island shouldn't exist but it does and no matter if Roland could have known or not as to if he would actually get here, the fact is that he is right here, right now. It is best to just get on with it.
And with the thoughts of this Rachel person, he didn't want to end her but maybe he would have to. In reality, she has done him no wrong, such things don't matter here. For right now, he had other things to consider. There is an island to survive, and Roland needed to get Rachel out of his head, at least for the time being, and of course, doing that would not be so easy. Even though the two had barely spoken and the whole incident only lasted a couple of minutes, she had made quite the impression.
Hours pass without incident until from out of the thicket of forestry off to one side, there comes a man running out into the open space where Roland had come to be. In a hurry and not paying attention to his surroundings ... this smaller man collides with Roland's girth before falling to the ground. Colliding with Roland was and is just as good as colliding with a tree with the exception the trees don't move.
Looking at this much smaller man lying on the ground Roland asks, 'what the hell?'
The floored, bruised, and battered man, while raising one arm towards Roland, attempts to back up to move away from him and while clearly being out of breath tries to speak. '... Please ... they are ... coming ... they are behind me ...'
'Who are?'
There was hurried movement coming from the same direction the small, battered man had come from. A wolf like canine soon appeared and pounced, moving in the direction of Roland's head. It is unlike any wolf or canine Roland has ever heard of or seen. When it got close enough, this creature, Roland, simply and unbelievably, hit the canine in its own head just as if he was swatting a fly away. The wolf, if that is what this creature is, whimpered upon landing and it quickly got back up. It soon became clear and obvious that this wolf like animal was not alone.
Within a matter of seconds, the two men were being circled by seven wolves. Odd as it is, these animals did not look like any wolf that Roland has ever seen or known of in the past, but then again what does Roland Know. He may be young, and an animal in his own right but these things. ... If such a notion were to take him, he could consider that these creatures were or are some sort of hybrid specifically created to be right where there currently are. Still, Roland got away from one without problem. Right now, however, was definitely not a moment to be having notions of any kind.
Roland looked around slowly with no idea of what he was going to do or even as to what he could do. The other man feared the worst, as far as he knew, there was nothing that could be done. He was about to die, and he had almost given up to the fact that he already was a dead man. Maybe it was because he had shown fear or maybe it was something else entirely but whatever it was, the wolves appeared to take up a position where they were ready to go for him first.
For only a matter of seconds, Roland and his new acquaintance stood back-to-back until the other fellow moved forwards and into a clearing on his own. With one pounce, the man had been taken down and pretty soon he was being devoured by three of these animals.
A sizeable gap had now opened within the circle that the wolves had created, so Roland took the opportunity to make a run for it, heading in through the thick forestry. For a man his size he moved well. His momentum once again carried him, this time through the undergrowth and thin branches that confronted him. However, the wolves were coming, and they were moving faster and with much more ease than Roland.
With another pounce in Roland's direction, one wolf crashed and burned, meeting a tree head as Roland's sudden change in direction took him out of the line of fire. Another wolf gained quickly; when this one would be ready to pounce ... it surely wouldn't miss. Roland kept moving; he could hear the movement behind him. That rushing movement sound soon altered, becoming the sound of death, an alternate whoosh sounded out followed by a tumble along with a whimper.
Roland turned his head to one side; he wanted to see what had just happened though he kept on moving instead. One of the following wolves was down, two with an intervening tree, others were still coming. Yeah, there were other wolves, and they could very well still be coming, no matter if Roland could tell where they may be positioned. Tiring quickly now, Roland didn't know how long he could keep the pace up. He was breathing heavily and sweating quite profusely, and he just had to stop as he came to another opening.
With one hand outstretched leaning against a tree and the other placed over a knee, a bent over Roland struggled to stay on his feet. Before he could look to see if there were indeed any wolves nearby; Roland would notice a bare-chested muscular man standing about forty feet or so away from and in front of him. This man was holding a long piece of metal. Not only did Roland notice this man, but he also recognized him.
Before long, this bare-chested man would come running towards Roland holding the piece of metal over his right shoulder with both hands just as if he was holding a baseball bat. Roland, in his current weakened state, dropped to the ground raising both his hands over his head in anticipation of being hit and he soon became more than surprised when he discovered that this did not happen.
Instead of hitting Roland, the man clonked an oncoming wolf clean on the head instantly killing it. He stepped back, looked Roland directly in the eyes and made a quick departure. There can only be one reason why this man would aid anyone else, and Roland is sure of this. No time to contemplate anything now. Roland's visitor has gone and someone else is approaching.
From behind Roland, Rachel would arrive carrying a bow in her right hand along with having a satchel of arrows strapped to her back. Her arrival surprised him and upon sight of the bow and arrows, Roland dropped to the ground once more, this time with the anticipation that his earlier good deed had come back to bite him in the ass.
'Relax ...' she told him completely understanding his reaction, 'I am here to repay a debt. As for killing you, ... well, I may just have to leave that until next time.'
Rachael smiled and couldn't help but giggled slightly as Roland at this moment only just realized that the wolf which had suddenly fallen, well that was due to Rachel. She had caught it with an arrow.
'We are even now' she continued.
Changing subjects Rachel asked, 'so who was that?' referring to the bare-chested man who had run off moments ago.
'You don't know who that is?'
'No, should I?'
'And you don't know the history of this thing, do you?'
Rachel explained the circumstances that brought her to the island and Roland told her of its history along with his own story. Claude Raymonde was the sole survivor and therefore the winner of the 'Animal' show from the year prior. Roland couldn't recall seeing Claude before making an arrival on the island.
'So, is he part of this year's competition?' asked Rachel.
'I don't know, as far as I know no previous winner has ever been invited back for a second spin on the island.'
'Then, he must have stayed here, maybe he never actually left the island.'
'That could be possible, maybe.'
Roland's thoughts began to wander, and then he began to think out loud.
'You know, out here on the island everyone kills each other, but last year at least half of all the kills were attributed to Claude, that sort of thing is unheard of, for any one person to take out half of the competition. Each year when this show comes to an end, whoever wins is returned to normality, given a new identity and life goes on. You can't go around in regular life killing at will, so maybe Claude did stay and maybe he is not done killing.'
'Perfect' spoke Rachel as she raised her arms and rolled her eyes.
