7.
Roland spent the night laying in dampness. Surrounding shrubbery made for somewhat of a hiding spot. Any intruders would not be likely to see him unless they came right up upon him. He awoke in a cold sweat, wet, and shivering. From how the dressing looked it was not difficult to see that his left arm was clearly infected.
For at this moment there was more than just blood seeping through, there was plenty of yellow too, whatever that yellow is. If all this wasn't bad enough, then things were about to get a whole lot worse. Yeah, not only did Roland wake in the condition he finds himself in, but he was about to experience something with which he would not know what to make of or how to react to.
There was no time to reflect on the events of the previous day, for as he was laying still on the ground, a voice told Roland to get up. Roland heard the voice before he could see who it belonged to. The owner of the voice soon came right up to and stood over Roland, looking down at him.
'I said get up; did you not hear me?'
'What the hell?' asked Roland realizing that he was not dreaming.
It wasn't what this man was saying that was in any way strange, rather it was more who this fellow was that had Roland believing that he must be doing worse than how he actually felt. For the man who was telling Roland to get up is someone who should be dead, and in fact, is actually dead.
'What is wrong with you? Are you just going to lay there and die?' asked this dead man who actually didn't seem very dead at all.
'Ok, ok I am getting up, but what is going on? How the hell are you here?'
'That does not really matter right now.'
Roland had come across this man once before and this is how Roland knows that the man in his company should actually be dead as when Roland had come across this man the first time round, that man had ended up becoming a snack for three wolves.
Needing to eat and most definitely needing to do something about his arm, Roland thought that the last thing that he would need was to be hallucinating. His dead friend, who looked very healthy for a guy who had been eaten by wolves, pointed towards a rising.
'See that hill, over there?'
'Yeah, what about it?'
'Well, remember the advantages you were promised? Just over that hill, you will find all that you need.'
Roland began to walk towards that hill, he stopped and turned to ask his friend as to just what exactly he would find on the far side of the hill but didn't manage to get a word out. Je half expected this, as for when Roland had turned there was no sign of that other man. He was gone. Roland began to wonder as to if that man had actually even been there at all. If he hadn't then is there anything up ahead? Only one way to find out.
Having made his way over that hill, Roland was surprised to find that waiting on him was a feast of freshly prepared food as well as a change of clothing, a change of dressing for his arm and medication to treat the infection. How is this possible? Though it, of course, clicks. Roland took a long look around. Cameras were following his every move, and indeed, he expected that. There was no sign of any movement anywhere other than his own or that of the cameras.
Roland ate, changed what he was wearing, re-dressed his arm then ate some more. He hadn't heard anyone approach but when he turned away from the food, Roland was surprised to see another man who is also supposedly ... dead. Roland adopts a stance in preparation of a fight.
'Hey, hey there big man, slow down there. I am not here to fight you.'
'What is going on here? You are the second dead man I have come across today.'
'I am your first kill too and don't forget that. Do not worry though; I have no need for any kind of revenge. That is not why I am here.'
'Why are you here?'
From what the cameras picked up, it appeared that Roland was indeed talking to himself, obviously enough Roland was not aware of what the camera's picked up, but even if he was, there would have to be something more to what was happening. Despite of what he may or may not be aware of, he would however receive a response to the question he had just asked.
'I have something to show you.'
Roland was as much intrigued as he was confused watching apparently the second living dead man, he had seen in a matter of only a few minutes, walk up ahead of him. The man stopped and signalled for Roland to come join him. The two men stood together upon a precipice. Pointing way down below, the man would give Roland some news and leave it to him to decide what he wanted to do with that information.
'The last man standing in between you and victory is down there. Claude is elsewhere on the Island but not officially part of this year's event. You are not required to kill him. Do what you will, but what you must do, is get off this island. Couple more days here and you won't need someone to kill you; the island will do that for you.'
The last man? So soon? Is Roland more ill than he believes himself to be? Surely, he is not on this island long enough for it to already be down to him and one other? Had he been unconscious longer than he believed he had been? And of course, there is this Claude fellow. How wise is it to attempt taking him on, especially if Roland cannot be one hundred percent that Claude is responsible for Rachel's death?
Just like what had happened with the first dead man, Roland turned and was about to ask a question only to find that this second dead man had gone, leaving Roland to be alone once again and that is of course if he indeed had any company to begin with. What the last guy had told him was something which ended being something true. Can he accept what he had been informed as also being something true?
Feeling somewhat better than how he felt upon awakening Roland figured that it would be in his best interest to kill the final participant standing between himself and becoming the island's newest victor before deciding what to do next. He still seriously wants to find and destroy Claude. If he is ill, no medication can sort him out in a very short amount of time. He'll surely need rest and days of taking medication.
Anyhow, it was well into the afternoon when Roland began to make his way towards where he had been told the final participant, other than himself, would be. The sun had made an unwelcome appearance. The lack of any breeze along with the current level of intense heat caused Roland to sweat profusely. Yeah, he knew he was not in the vicinity of being anywhere near one hundred per cent so the quicker he could locate his target and make the kill, the better.
On a number of occasions, while following the path he had been shown, Roland noticed sudden and swift movement through the shrubbery either side of him. Because of all that shrubbery along with everything else that surrounded him, Roland couldn't quite make out what it was that could be making those movements. Whatever it was, there was obviously more than one, but more than one of what? Creatures perhaps?
The Realization of exactly just what the more than one was, came to Roland at the same moment as well, ... well the moment they appeared. Having stood up, and now standing either side of Roland, and still in among the shrubbery, were the Catelli brothers. Marcus stood to the left of Roland while Fabio stood to the right. Roland had killed Fabio breaking his back, and Marcus had his throat slashed by Rachel, yet here they stood both ... looking perfectly fine and healthy.
'What do you guys want?'
'That is not very nice now, is it?' spoke Fabio.
'Not very nice at all' said Marcus, 'especially since we have found something with which you may be interested in laying a claim to.'
Marcus had caught Roland's attention.
'What could either of you two morons have that would interest me?'
Fabio held out a cross bow while Marcus held out a satchel of arrows.
'Nice' Roland said smiling. The two brothers smiled too.
