Scarlett Shaw

Day 42: The day I singlehandedly massacred an entire village of people

The light shines through the foliage overhead, casting down upon the lush green undergrowth as I roam about the jungle. 'Day forty-two on the island' I muse, not finding any particularly overwhelming emotion at the thought. I catch sight of a much needed distraction and crouch down between the shrubbery, quietly sighing in relief that I could focus on the matter at hand and nothing else.

Eyeing my prey, I place an arrow methodically against the bow, aiming straight to kill. Before my finger can move to release the shot, a shadow of movement from the corner of my eye registers and, still remaining in hunting mode, I whirl around to face it, instinctively pointing to shoot at my new target.

Poppy throws up her hands in defence, "Whoa! Careful Scarlett- not everything that moves is a threat."

"Why do I find that so surprising...?" I mutter, lowering the arrow to face the ground and turning my head to watch the animal scamper away through the forest. That doesn't sour my mood or anything. "To what do I owe the interruption?"

She averts her eyes almost guiltily; like the gears in her brain are taking a moment to try and tell me something difficult in a way I won't react dangerously to.

"What?"

"Don't freak out or... overreact but something's sort of, maybe, happened."

"Something's sort of, maybe, happened?" I tease, testing the water to see if it's serious. Her faces gives me the answer.

"What?" I demand. What else could possibly go wrong?

She sighs heavily, her shoulders drooping. "It's probably easier to show you than have to explain here, when you're... you know, armed" she reasons, beckoning me in her direction. Conceding, I fall into step, down the twisting path through the jungle that has been worn out from over-use.

The sun beats down onto the clearing as we walk out from under the cover of the canopy. The village is almost empty of people, and I grip my dagger for comfort once we steer in the direction of an all-too familiar shack.

Bracing myself, I throw open the door and enter the small hut. It's happening again. A sick sense of déjà vu settles in the pit of my stomach as they turn to face me when I enter, and I push my way past them to face the next corpse.

"Maizy!"

She's lying still, with her eyes open, but doesn't move an atom to answer. "Maizy?" I shake her slightly and poke her, trying to gauge a reaction. Bending down, I listen to the sound of her breathing and step back to attempt to critically assess any potential damage. I can't lose anyone else, especially not her. But not being a doctor and knowing very little on the subject, I come up blank. Time for a second opinion.

"What's going on?" I ask, whipping around to face the people delicately watching me.

"She's been like that for a while now, we don't know what's wrong. We found her out in the jungle like that earlier this morning."

"You don't -You found her this morning and didn't tell me?" my voice cracks slightly with thinly veiled contempt.

"She's just lying there! We don't know what's wrong" Farren exclaims.

"And you were off hunting again..." Perry mutters bitterly from the corner. I feel my eye twitch slightly, and attempt to reign in any self-control I may have left.

"Where are Femi and Oni? They're the... healers. They'll know" I say, voicing the first thought that comes to mind. Asking them for help really shows how far I've fallen, and how truly desperate I am.

"They left a few hours ago and cleared out most of the village. We don't know what's going on."

"You're one of them" spat out Perry, standing up to walk towards me "find out what the freaks are up to."

Since when am I one of THEM? I could now relate to Femi's back-and-forth mediation between her people and my own. How tedious. How absurd- that they would question or even suggest that my loyalty even thinly lies towards them. Poppy senses my disgust and immediately intervenes, attempting to placate my growing anger. Like always.

"What Perry meant to say was, they trust you- they like you! We just-"

"They just left earlier after looking at Maizy and they've been out in the woods ever since" Perry interrupts.

Impatient for answers, I move back to Maizy's bedside and lift up the thin sheet to try and find anything incriminating- revealing her legs. On one calf I'm met with the sight of faint, almost tinted green coloured flesh surrounding two small, barely recognisable, bite marks. It would be all-too easy to miss them if you weren't looking straight at that area.

"That... That wasn't there before!" stutters Farren, rushing up beside me to inspect the wound.

I nearly back-hand her, but instead storm out of the hut to find Femi and demand answers, nearly slipping and falling on my back when I'm met with an all-too familiar sight.

Funeral preparations.

People are emerging from the woods carrying piles of logs, sticks, and branches and laying them down so they grow to create the pyre. Femi had told me it was a tradition, to cleanse the soul after death.

Who died? Maizy is the only one in the infirmary.

Maizy is the only one in the infirmary.

Without a single thought, hardly knowing what I am doing, I knock the pile of wood out of the closest person's hands, screaming at them "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"

They all back away in fright at my rage, and I screech a repeat of the question, my hand darting to my dagger. Attempting to pacify me, they gesticulate wildly and shout rapidly in their ridiculous tongue, but my anger is uncontrollable now and I blindly lash out at everything in reach. With the dagger still held firmly in my grasp, I feel it make contact with a few people who hiss and scream in pain, backing away, though more replace them.

Eventually someone (or multiple someone's) manage to successfully grab and restrain me. They drag me towards an approaching Femi, and her totally calm, serene look has me on edge.

"What is going on?" I nearly shout, but reign in my anger, knowing it would get nowhere with this falsely genteel woman. Bloody tribal politics.

"We are preparing for the sacrifice and the purification of the village" she said. A sacrifice?

"What sacrifice?" My voice has a steel edge to it. Her eyes dart down to the dagger still clasped firmly in my hand, now coated in sticky and clotted black blood. Fuck.

The bustle and noise coming from the cabin I had left Maizy in breaks through the haze and I watch men from the village holding back my struggling friends, while two more men carry Maizy out on a collection of vines tied to make a stretcher.

My blood runs cold, and I'm rooted to the spot, absolutely petrified.

No.

I raise my dagger, readying to attack, when it's knocked from my hands by a snarling Femi, and the men tighten their painful grip on me. They restrain me while I scream and threat and lash around, trying to break loose and kill every single one of them. They all deserve to die. I will not let them kill Maizy. I can't.

It all happens so fast. My eyes stay with Maizy as she is lifted up and lain across the pyre. I kick and scream, struggling and trying to get to her. I can't. I can't just watch her die.

The men step back to allow Oni to walk up to it, holding the burning sticks that I know will cause the entire thing to ignite. I won't be able to stop it. Tears of resignation threaten to stream down my face, but I hold them back as I watch Femi walk up to me. A cruel and calculating smile plays on her lips, and her eyes are ablaze, looking down at me with animosity.

"Let the ceremony begin."

I let out a high-pitched scream of anguish that is mirrored by my fellow survivors as the fire spreads around Maizy's body instantaneously and it consumes us all beside her as one, watching in our helpless and habitual dolour.