Dream Again

Day 216

It's taken a lot of arguing and wearing down, and finaly, Luke has us spying on the Society. River was against it as it is dangerous. I was against it because I really genuinely assuming they've resorted to cannibalism by now and I really don't want to see that.
it's worse than that.
"Huh. And I'd have thought they'd resorted to cannibalism by now," I say, staring down at the beach.
"We don't know that they haven't that looks close to cannibalism," River mutters.
"Why are they locking them up?" Luke asks.
Down below us the beach is—so much more sparsely populated than it previously was. There's less than fifty people left, and over half of those are trapped in at relatively sophisticated cage, bound hand and foot with dried vines.
"You misbehave, you get to be bait," I mutter. It took finding three bodies for Luke to drag us here. Yes of course we buried them well.
"And Max is in charge, how unsurprising," River says, leaning against me as we watch. Max is, sure enough, walking the beach, supervising the other's work drying fish, arrow and quiver on his back he seems to have retained most of his arrows. Finally shot a boar it looks like. He's wearing boar skin.
"Right, let's go," i say, patting their backs.
"We have to help them," Luke says.
"No 'we' don't. There's three of us and he has the Gatling gun of hte Middle Ages on his back. No," I say.
"Argue, back at camp, come on," River syas, taking both of our arms.
She's right but we don'T admit it.
We let her march us all the way back to camp before renewing the discussion.
"In the interest of staying alive, we are letting that situation—go," I say, gesturing in the direction of the South Beach.
"No, 'we' are not," Luke also gestures towards the south beach, "They're killing them!"
"Is it macbre to say they'd die anyway?" I ask, dryly.
"I'm with Luke we can't just—let them die," River says, sighing a little.
"What is he even doing? Eating them?" Luke asks.
"Or using them as bait for the monster he really wants to try to shoot," I say, dryly, "Look I'm not saying it's not our problem I'm saying we wold get killed doing it."
"I don't actually know what to do to help them, no," River agrees.
"Whose side are you on?" Luke asks, exasperated.
"Oh neither I'm just arguing we haven't had a good fight in weeks," River says.
We both stare at her.
"What? You two would do the same thing! And it's equally soothing to argue with both of you," she says, holding up her hands.
"We can't just leave them there like that," Luke says, "We're no better than Max is if we just stand by knowing that that was happening."
" 'Bad men need nothing more than good men's indifference' John Stuart Mill might be a bit abridged though," I say,rubbing my face.
"So you agree," Luke says, suspicious.
"In theory not in practice," I caution, "I don't actually know of anything we physically can do so that's an issue.
"We should try to do something, in all seriousness, Luke is right, we do have to help them," River says.
"I'm not risking either, both that is, of you, on a plan that may not work, a plan that's entirely hampered by the fact that none of us can actually leave the island so there's a limit to how far we can run," I say.
"He's right, not only do we not have a plan we don't have anywhere to go if and when we did get them free," River says.
Luke looks between our faces, "You don't really believe that. You're good you want to help them."
"Look if there was something we could do that'd actually work I'd do it. I'm not fond of hte odds, nor what I'd have to gamble," I say.
"I know my dad asked you to protect me. But believe me he wouldn't want me to live to be a coward. My dad was the first person to do the right thing—always," Luke's voice trembles, "He would never let something like that go on when there was ever something he could do to stop it. You're right we are the good people. So it's our duty to stand up to evil not hide from it. I'm not denying we could get hurt. What I'm saying is that's the risk we take, to be on the right side of history. I wouldn't be able to face my father again in heaven, or my own reflection—if I didn't do everything I could."
River and I look at each other, sighing a little. We both know he's right.
"It's my decision, not yours," Luke says, "I'm endangering myself yes because it's to do what's right."
"Then we'd best get going then," I say.
"Really?" Luke asks, hopefully, bouncing a little.
"Provisionally," I say, holding up my hands, "First we need to know exactly what is going on, their movements, everything, including who's absolutely on Max's side."
"Let's do it then," River says.
"You're in?" I frown at her, "you're sure?"
"Yeah, not doing much else anyway," she half smiles.
"Yes!" Luke jumps up and down, "What's the plan?"
"Reconnaissance first. We don't actually know what we're up against," I say, "Then we can formulate a rescue."