Alien Safari

Chapter 8

"It's a yes or no question, remember?" Travis frowned at him.

The rest of the group took a step away from Arthur. Travis just kept staring at him, the whole time. Arthur frowned. "Just because I don't want to murder a group of potentially innocent beings doesn't mean anything negative!" He was shouting, now.

"Only one of them killed Douglas! Just one," Arthur pleaded.

"One was enough," Travis said.

Arthur sighed and didn't say anything for a while.

"What would've happened," Peter said, staring at Arthur with malice. He didn't even bother to hide his glare, or the way his brow furrowed, or how his crinkled mouth turned downwards in displeasure, "if we all committed to this, and you agreed, but Travis didn't go on that rant he just went on? Would you have backed out at a later point?" Peter asked.

Arthur sighed again. There still wasn't an answer.

"Larry?" Arthur asked. The man pushed his glasses up on his nose, but didn't reply.

"I guess... I'm not comfortable with it. I don't want to do it," he said, stating it more firmly the second time. Travis nodded. He paced around the clearing, thinking.

"If you won't be a part of it, at the very least, you won't interfere at all-- promise," Travis said. His voice was quiet, but there was a certain draw and demand to it. Travis was filthy and looked exhausted, but the glare he gave Arthur could only be described as murderous.

Do it.

"Of course! I just don't want any blood on my hands, that is, directly. I don't think I could handle it. I'll gather food and make tools and get water! I'll make pots for us, too." Arthur offered a nervous, shaky grin, but he didn't get any smiles in return.

"This is horrible," he said. "You know what you're doing is horrible. Why don't you stop?"

"Some things have to be done," Travis said. "We can argue and debate about the ethics and morals about it forever, but we don't have that kind of time, and even if we did, I still wouldn't. I think it has to be done. I feel that this needs to happen. I'm using my judgment to the best of my ability, even if it's just from my perspective," Travis admitted.

"It's not just from your perspective, though," Peter said. In the heat of the humid morning, Peter was sweating-- all of them were, it was impossible to get used to this level of wet heat that seemed to be ubiquitous in the jungle. "It's from my perspective, and Larry's, too. The only one who's really against this is Arthur."

"I'm not some sort of bleeding heart! I just think it's wrong! You can't bring Douglas back!" Arthur was a few steps away from the group now.

"Thanks for reminding me, but I already knew that." Travis did his best to hide the hurt in his voice, but it was difficult. "It's not about not being able to bring Douglas back. You're not even listening anymore," Travis said, scoffing at the heavyset man.

"Let's go," Travis said, turning his back on Arthur. He didn't hesitate and he didn't look back. "Arthur, just go back or go search for food or something, I don't know. Don't bother us and don't get in my way." Travis was cold and terse with his words now, and he was out of the clearing a few moments later. Peter and Larry stood there, before they started walking.

"W-wait! You're going to abandon me over this!?" Arthur's voice was cracking now, and he was breathing heavily, his face redder than a tomato. "This is some stupid mob-mentality crap! Just because you all agree that's it right doesn't mean it is! It's wrong! You're wrong!"