Academy Island

Caveman

Mr. Blackbourne POV (a.k.a. Mr. Shark)

I shared a glance with the blurry form of Mr. Lee and frowned. What I could see of the girl was petite, fragile looking, like a frightened, injured bird, wild as if she smelled death in the air. She was still unsure about us, I could tell by the way she took Sean's hand, hesitant. It was a start at least. I pinched the bridge of my nose, another headache lodging itself behind my eyes as I strained to see in the limited morning light. It had been a long night, traipsing through jungle behind North with my hand on his shoulder, praying whatever the reason behind the red flare wasn't as bad as I feared.

Another look at the smudged outline of her figure, and I was wondering if it would have been better if someone had broken an arm.

I hoped she was hideously ugly. Judging by the way the boys were clamoring around her, that hope was probably in vain. Of course, she was new, so perhaps their attentions were based on that. I squinted at the blonde blob that was her head, then over to Mr. Lee who had sidled up beside me to watch as North went caveman and threw the little bird over his shoulder. He sighed and shook his head, finally wrenching his attention away to look at me. I nodded sharply as North stomped back towards camp with her protests unheeded, the rest following like sheep to the slaughter.

We were so dead.

A female. Just one, on an island with nothing but too long denied hormones and the added survival instincts that would push for us to procreate. She was going to tear us apart. I worried how I would keep the lid on nine pressure cookers all at once without this ending in a disaster. Impossible, but I had to try, the alternative of letting her go off on her own unacceptable. Sean appeared beside us as we all watched the group following the little heart breaker down the slope, several of them laughing at something she said as they returned to camp. I spoke low to Sean and Kota so only they would hear.

"Emergency family meeting when we get back. No absentees."

They both nodded grimly, even Sean matching the gravity of the situation rather than cracking a joke. I reached out to nab Sean by the shoulder as we began walking slowly back behind the others, held up by my frustrating handicap so that we were falling behind the group.

Sean was fidgeting, damn him. I could already see, clear as day, that he had zeroed in on her like a kamikaze pilot with nothing to lose.

The sooner we had that emergency meeting the better.

Sang POV

The men gave a collective sigh of relief once I think they saw I wasn't going to bolt. It was unsettling, I didn't understand their worry at all.

"All right, sweetheart. Up you go!"

The doctor offered his back to me. Not again. I held my staff up to him, showing off it's obvious use and my intention to use it. The men began gathering around me, North being nearest me scoffed and grabbed at it's end.

I widened my eyes at his trespassing hand and pulled at it, readying myself to do the unthinkable and hit him on the shins once I had it back. His dark eyes found mine, stubborn, unwilling to let go.

"You can't walk on feet like that. I won't let you."
I felt the tears beginning, and that just made me madder. I gritted my teeth against his much stronger pull and tugged, unsuccessfully, my feet losing their foothold and scraping dirt. I couldn't even move the lug an inch. My cheeks went hot. He wasn't going to best me, right after I had told them I wanted to hold my own. I tried to make my face fierce. Gritted my teeth and everything.

"Barbarian, let go. I can walk."

There were repressed chuckles, I know there were, no matter how each of them tried to hide it. He took one pointed glance down towards my feet and pulled me off balance towards himself, tucking his shoulder into my waist so he could heft me up like a sack. I oofed through the protests some of the others pelted him with and pressed my hand against the dip of his back, lifting my upper half so I could be somewhat upright and raised my stick so I could hit him on the...

I got an eyeful of his derriere and paused. He was already walking with me, the occasional jostle jamming his shoulder into my still tender stomach. I'd never hit anyone before, let alone with a stick, and I found I just couldn't do it. Even if he was being obstinate, he was trying to keep me off my feet. Such a caveman. I grumbled and let the staff drag on the ground behind him, making a scraping noise as it bounced and jittered over rocks. He grunted and bounced me to get my attention.

"Quit that. You're making too much noise."

I squinted back at him. My rebellious side didn't care. I pouted and let the staff continue it's noisy addition to the morning's sounds, swirling it purposefully into the path of the biggest rocks so it would bounce louder and harder. Luke hooted out loud as the others chuckled and leaned forward so he could see my face, his amusement somehow making his grin that much more appealing.

"She doesn't care North."

North grunted and hefted me up better. I looked Luke in the eye, still dragging my stick, and stared longer than I should have. His blond hair was undone, mussed as if he'd been sleeping and hadn't had time to put it in order. All of them looked in various stages of hurried dressing. That was my fault. I'd messed up their whole morning. I sighed and resolved myself to the way he was carrying me, adjusting my weight so that my middle wasn't pressed so hard into his shoulder. It wouldn't be too much longer I hoped. My stomach was just getting better. Vines and branches brushed and bumped against my bottom as we headed back to camp. I was beginning to think he was purposefully walking through things when he suddenly halted with the whole group of them, all of them gaping at their clearing.

I twisted and lifted myself so I could see what everyone was staring at.

Debris littered the ground between the huts, scattered like so much abandoned trash. My eyes skitted from one thing to the next, taking in that every item seemed like it was used and discarded or just simply displaced and tipped over. My eye caught the edges of alarmingly large three toed tracks running in scattered arcs through the area, testimony against whatever animal had run rampant. Several of the guys groaned, and Gabriel swore before throwing his hat down on the ground.

"God damn emus! How do they always know when we're not all here!"