Poison Paradise - Damned of the 2/19th

Going to Town

"I'm not saying that we should ignore it. That would be foolish," Renee said, barely stopping herself from saying "fucking stupid" instead. She looked at everyone else. "That means taking the baby into a training facility, a mockup town, that we know nothing about."

A monkey took that opportunity to howl, long and loud.

"Exactly," Renee said, looking at them. "I say, we send a handful of people to the town to scout it, get a good look at it, then come back and we debate on it before we all just run willy-nilly to a town that the military built for God knows what reason."

"I just thought of one," Don said quietly. Everyone turned and looked at him, noting that his face was pale. He turned to Sarah. "Are you sure that the soldier mentioned Bikini Atoll?"

Sarah nodded. "Positive. I thought it was kind of funny."

Don looked at Raincloud. "Are you thinking the same thing."

Raincloud had gone pale, nodding along with Don. "We might be in serious trouble," He looked around the clearing, at the riotous jungle. "We might be in more trouble than I ever imagined."

"From fucking what, hippy, some fucking monkeys?" Tommy sneered.

Don shook his head. "They might have been doing hazardous environment training. Like chemical weapons or radiation," Donshivered and rubbed his arms, which had suddenly broken out in goosebumps.

"I don't know. If that was true, the place would be nothing but barren rock," Raincloud said. "Radiation kills everything, and there's birds, monkeys, and lots of plantlife here."

Renee nodded, kneeling down next to the creek. "Anyone know if crawfish are native to these islands?"

"What?" Mike asked, moving toward her.

"There's more than a few crawfish shells in the bottom of the creek, I can see a couple frogs, and some little fish. The question is: Are they native to this island or did the military put them here?"

"What fucking difference does it make, Miss Business Degree?" Tommy snapped.

Renee shook her head. "In the immediate scheme of things? It doesn't."

Sarah watched as the blonde woman stood up, dusting her hands. "In the long term, it tells me a lot."

"Like what?" Tommy sneered as Renee turned around.

"Frogs and crawdads are fast breeding species, as are some fish, right?" Renee asked.

"Who gives a shit?" Tommy sneered.

Raincloud nodded. "Yeah, so?"

"If the island is flooded with radiation or chemicals, then there would be a high level of malformation due to mutagens in the water causing cascading mutated traits," She smiled. When she saw the blank looks she sighed. "They'll look weird."

That made everyone nod and Sarah hid a smile by picking up the baby, who was about to throw a hunk of fruit into the stream.

"What makes you the expert in all this stuff?" Tommy sneered, picking up a rock and throwing it into the jungle.

"Electives. My company has several all natural lines, and to lead my company, I need to understand what is useful and what is not," Renee shrugged. "A day spent without learning is a day in your life you have wasted."

"That sounds like a quote," Richard chuckled.

"My family. It's all we hear growing up," Renee said softly. She shook her head. "Who's staying with the baby."