Academy Island

Blood

Afternoon sun warmed over my shoulders and neck, keeping the shivers at bay. I'd been set just outside the hut I'd been bathed in, set on top of another large cloth that indented under my knees into soft sand. The doctor had patted me on my head and left me with Punky, who had bent me forward so he could brush my hair out and let the sun 'brighten it'. He'd been quiet as he pulled my hair forward to hang over my face, making my face cold with the trapped moisture. I listened to the occasional call of a sad bird talking to what sounded like an angry monkey while the brush rustled through my hair. He parted it again, sectioning out another bit so he could run it through the sunshine. I was almost dry, clean and soaking up all the warmth the sun was offering. Delicious. I put a hand out and ran it over the outside wall of the hut, the tawny blades of grass ticklish and smooth when you felt them all together like that, each one springing back from the compression back into the sun once past the edge of my palm. What they had managed to accomplish in the time they'd been here was impressive, huts, food, daily needs. My attempts at survival seemed laughable now.

"When did you last eat?"

Eh, eating. The thought had me crinkling up my nose. I couldn't taste the aftereffects of the mango anymore, but I could remember them in vivid detail. My stomach did a little wave, reminding me that it wasn't ready to accept any new offerings just yet.

"This morning. But I'm not hungry right now."

He grunted and finally brushed my hair back out of my face, his eyes on the long lock he was still brushing behind my ear. "Right. I'll go make sure Luke gets you something to fill up on. Stay. I will be a grumpy fuck if I catch you wandering around on those feet."

He unfolded himself from squatting in front of me and stretched, yawning. He took his brush and flipped it in his hand, taking a moment to brush my hair every which way again. I held still against the strokes, closing one eye and looking up at him through my blonde strands.

"Well, you look a sight better than you did in the lagoon last night. Everyone is going to hate me."

Those words somehow disjointed me. I had scared him so bad and I hadn't even said I was sorry yet. He turned to leave, placing the brush in my hand first with orders to keep brushing my hair in his absence. I stared at the polished wood with dark, stiff bristles and called after him, talking to his back.

"I didn't mean to scare you. It was an accident."

He laughed softly to himself, his steps still moving away. "Just don't 'accidentally' wander off. I'll be right back."

I lifted my head to watch him go, listening to the camp sounds around me to see where everybody else was. I wondered where the man in green, Kota was. He hadn't returned yet as far as I could tell, Silas either. I'd feel more comfortable knowing the whereabouts of them all. Punky called out from the middle of the camp, yelling out Luke's name with his deep voice. I listened for his reply, picking out the sounds of two men talking in a hut nearby, the ringing of a palm tree being cut down by the lagoon, an animal crashing through leaves in the jungle ahead. But there was something...

I turned my eyes to the side, sure there was someone creeping up on my left from the way the back of my neck was bristling. If I listened close enough, I could hear them breathing and the sand shushing down to fill in the footprints they left behind.

"I know you're there. I can hear you."

The chuckling confirmed it. I twisted back and found Luke, smiling as he rose up from a crouch, walking up to me normally now that I had caught him. He had the lumpy burlap sack he'd given me in his hand, lifting the hanging bulk of it up to emphasize his purpose.