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Chapter 20: The others in Goshem! part 2

Tinashe was helpless against the tides and was going manic from the fear of death. Everything happened so fast and he didn't really have time to prepare. As he lamented his peril, the mandigo man with adequate swimming skills, got a hold of him and tugged him. Tinashe felt like he had been yanked by something strong, a manly grip that helped him out of a disastrous situation. John flowed with him until they reached a log that was lodged against land and a rock. He injected his free hand into the flesh of that log and used it to anchor themselves. John who could now see eye to eye with the distraught Tinashe, began assure him that he was going to be okay. Tinashe realized that this man was protecting him, but still felt stifled by the ordeal. The entire rainfall lasted for over 6 hours until it subsided into drizzle. John took this opportunity to swim towards a location with higher ground. Once, he had done so, the two of them began to talk.

"That was a close one. I am sorry I scared you off. Are you okay?" asked John, who was dragging the young man's body.

"Thank you, shit. I don't want to experience that again." he said, panting and coughing at the same time.

"Yeah. It would have been a shame to lose you so soon. You are the first person I have seen on this damn island." he said as they climbed over a trench like path.

"Yeah, thank you man. I am not much of a swimmer. What's your name, um, sir?" he said, getting the full scope of the man's body.

"Call me John, and from what I can see from your life bar hovering over you, you're Tinashe Mahando, right?" he said, darting his eyes at the name highlighted on top of his visible life bar. Tinashe also noticed John's bar and then said, "Yeah, that's about right. I can see it, it's pretty crazy that I can see that life bar."

"Yeah, I initially thought that this was the first stage of hell or something, some diabolical battle royal where 1000 people kill each other before proceeding to the epic finale of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Well, I honestly thought I would be in hell, but I am on a tropical paradise with typhoon like weather conditions reminiscing the movie 'Cast Away' by Tom Hanks. Weird right?" he said, as if engrossed in the art of delivering lines for a scripted monologue.

"Yeah, I have seen Cast Away." said Tinashe, who didn't know what to say about all the hints to hell in John's statement.

"Well Cast Away is a good film, I reckon the writing could have been tighter at certain points in the script. Well, I did find solace in having coconuts with faces all stacked up at my base as an alternative for people, but now that I have found someone, I won't have to participate in the act of mental degeneration." he said, grabbing a hold of a branch as he climbed up.

"You kept coconuts with faces? Um?" he asked, totally bewildered.

"Well don't think too much about it.Anyways how did you get here?" he asked, trying to dissuade him from thinking he was crazy.

"Get here?" he asked, confused by the context of the question.

"Yes here on the island. Tell me what you remember before and after you got here. The devil's in the details so make sure to give me everything." he said, holding him by the shoulder and looking into the boy's eyes. Tinashe told him everything concerning his death due to suicide via euthanasia in his past life and where he woke. John nodded and even had moments where he would stare with much interest. The fixation was so intense that Tinashe began to feel uncomfortable. John then went on to say, "So maybe this could be a purgatory for those who committed suicide with a rather sick twist of all the 1000 facing off against each other."

"What makes you think everyone is supposed to face off, why are you drawing such conclusions?" he asked, worried that he was making dangerous inferences.