Island Of The Cryptids

19

"What does your throat feel like?" Kaeli questioned. Hadden tried to swallow, only to be stopped by his crippling pain.

"It's like someone poured bleach down there," he explained. "It burns, but it's so moist that it doesn't feel dry."

"Well obviously, if it's moist it can't be dry."

"Not the point," Hadden retorted. "It's just that there's so much saliva in my mouth and I can't swallow it." As if to prove his point, he drooled a bubbling glob of spit out of the corner of his mouth.

"I feel sick," he said. "I think I'm gonna puke."

"I've got a garbage can," Kaeli quickly responded, handing him the trash can that was inside the cockpit. Hadden heaved then blew a sticky liquid into the trashcan that could only be heard. He set it down and Kaeli returned it to its place.

Kaeli knew how to handle medical situations well. Her colleagues often mused that she had two personalities; one for home, and one for nursing. She could snap between the two of them at a moment's notice when the time required her. It calmed her down, being in frantic situations, ironically. She felt at peace doing her work, and she was good at it.

"You need to rest," she said, and Hadden nodded weakly in agreement. His skin was pale, chalky to the touch. It almost chafed against his clothes, and his luscious blonde hair was wilting.

"I'll set up a bed for you in the back," she told him. Once she was done rolling out some fuzzy blankets and a survival pillow, he laid down on the mat towards the back corner of the plane and rest there. Kaeli sipped her wine.

"Whoever's in there you better be ready! We have wounded!" Carlin shouted into the door. Kaeli quickly veered to face the entrance, and she was back in nursing mode.

"What's the problem?" she asked, but the answer came to her when she saw the deformed Tucker carted in between a blood soaked Jake and Carlin.

"I'll get the morphine," Carlin said, and left Tucker in Jake's arms to go fetch his carry on bag.

"Put him down in the cockpit with this mat," Kaeli instructed Jake. "What's wrong with him?"

Jake was shaking uncontrollably. He gently set Tucker down and turned to Kaeli.

"We were attacked by something, I have no clue what. It broke his leg really badly, and he's bleeding from everywhere. He may also have sustained head trauma I don't know-"

"I've got it, just help me apply the bandages," she said.

Carlin stormed down the aisle, a bag in hand.

"I have some medical training, let me in," he ordered.

"Well I'm a nurse, let me do it," Kaeli said upfront. Carlin conceded and handed her a bag.

"This is a basic army first aid kit, complete with painkillers and surgical instruments."

"How'd you get this past security?" Jake asked, now crouched over Tucker. Carlin just stared at him. Kaeli unzipped the bag, and pulled out a clear white bottle and a syringe. She handed it to Carlin.

"I need you to load forty MG's into that syringe. Be careful, one air bubble will flatline him."

"I'm aware," Carlin responded as he punctured the rubber nipple of the bottle with the needle. He carefully extracted the serum and handed it to Kaeli, who injected it into Tucker. Tucker's face flushed with enlightenment and he moaned. Jake was busy carefully wrapping gauze around the wounds.

"What's going on?" asked a voice from the doorway. Kaeli turned. It was Manuel.

"We were attacked," Carlin told him. "Tucker's hurt. Bad. Just sit tight and I'll get the situation under control."

"Oh no..." Manuel whimpered.

"Did you find the body?" Kaeli asked Manuel, getting a rise out of Carlin.

"No I didn't-"

"What body?" Manuel looked at Carlin.

"The captain got attacked, too. He died from his injuries, and something took his body." Carlin cursed. Everything had settled down.

"He's not feeling any pain, and his wounds are almost bandaged up," Kaeli said. Carlin came over to her.

"You think he can fly?"

"No way," Tucker said. "I'm as high as a kite." His voice sounded loopy and delusional.

"Well we're stuck here," Carlin yelled. "With no pilot, no way of getting out, two people dead, and a good for nothing plane!" Tucker giggled.

"Even if I could, the captain had the remote to shut the back hatch. I don't know where that is." He leaned backwards as Jake tightened a strap around his broken leg for his splint.

"We have a lot of work to do," Carlin muttered. He spat into the trash can. Then he stopped, and picked it up.

"What's this in here?" Carlin asked, a hint of nervousness backing his voice. Kaeli stood up.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I do know that he vomited in it." Carlin swirled around to face Hadden. He stomped down the aisle towards the makeshift bed.

"You," he said, tapping Hadden's shoulder. "Get up." Hadden tried to move, but his legs restricted him. "I SAID GET UP!" Carlin yelled, pulling Tucker's discarded pistol out of his pocket. Kaeli gasped. Hadden threw his hands up and climbed to his feet.

"Why are you doing this?" Hadden asked. Carlin ushered him in front of him into the aisle.

"Because," said Carlin. "This island has been through biological weapons testing and you are contaminated. We need to evict you from this plane to make sure you don't give it to anybody else."

"You can't do that!" cried Jake.

"It's either we get rid of him, or we all get infected with some diabolical disease!" Carlin shoved Hadden down the ramp. He followed suit and turned to face Kaeli, Manuel, and Jake.

"Stay here and keep an eye on Tucker. I'll be back." The group made a face at Carlin as Hadden whimpered. The two of them set off into the night down the runway, right back where Hadden had came from.

"Who gives you the right to do this?" Hadden asked as they walked down the runway. He now had a angry gruffness to his voice, as he stifled a cough that inflated his cheeks.

"I give myself the right," Carlin said once they were out of earshot. "I've been in situations far worse than this. Seen people die in a lot worse ways. It's my job to protect these people, and you are a threat."

"They can handle themselves," Hadden coughed.

"Bullshit," Carlin said. "Most people when faced with danger curl up into a ball and pout about it. They need a strong leader to get them through the rough patches. They need someone who's not afraid to get their hands dirty or make big decisions."

"You can't do this."

"Watch me."

They were at the end of the runway now. The rain had lessened quite a bit. Hadden stared out into the blackness, into the field. He wondered if the thing he saw was still out there. He uttered a very booming cough that flung spit from his mouth. Carlin recoiled.

"Please sir, I'd do anything to not have to go back out there again..." Carlin waited for him to continue. He saw watery tears tremble in Hadden's eyes.

"Then you can wait here until sunrise, when we figure out a way to get off this rock," Carlin said surely. He turned around and began the walk back. Almost two hundred yards left on the runway. The light of the plane looked somewhat like a small star in the middle of a black sky.