Lost Island

Chapter 12: The Waiting Game

Four pairs of eyes inspected the waters of the ocean eagerly, all their patience drained, gone. They were all ready to bolt upright to their feet and leap aboard the ship that they were awaiting. They may have been told it'd be another few hours before their help was supposed to arrive but none could help but eye the waters anyway. The four of them were sick of the island, wanting nothing more than to be home and safe.

Levi felt the sand under his sitting form and it felt sickening familiar. The sun was hidden behind the puffy white clouds in the sky so the sand wasn't hot to the touch like it would be if for the sun.

The young man's eyes lowered from the ocean to the shoreline just in front of him, the coming and retreating water just barely missing his extended legs. And it came back and forth, back and forth on repeat, his eyes following the water each time.

He wiggled his toes around from inside his shoes and could feel particles of sand in them. He reached for his holey shoes that had gotten its share of damage throughout the "vacation" and yanked them off to clean it out. He might as well since he had nothing better to do.

It wasn't only his shoes that had gotten beaten up and holey, in fact all of his clothing was full of holes of all sizes. His shirt might not even be considered a shirt anymore and he pondered on whether to just take it off or not on numerous occasions, but eventually came to the conclusion that somewhat of a shirt was better than nothing. His pants thankfully weren't as bad, but still some small holes were present on its legs. The only other damage done to them was the blood from the snake bite that had given them a noticeable stain.

Levi gently tugged his pant leg upwards to take a look at the wound to make sure it didn't look infected and that it was healing. The last time he checked about two hours ago it looked to be just fine. He even showed the captain and the captain said likewise. After pulling it up this time, he found it to be taking on a blueish color, very lightly over the site. Levi's eyes widen at this knowing what the discoloration meant; it had gotten infected.

After a minute worth of thinking, he decided against telling anyone after it, including the captain. He'd be on a ship in no time, going the direction of home. Levi figured he'd be okay until he got back on the proper land of his home and would take care of it then. And only then because the thought of being home was all he could think about.

Levi took one last look at his leg before he tugged his jean leg back down.

It wasn't long until he attention was back to the waters and he let out a tired sigh at the lack of changes. He looked around to find that no one was watching the ocean anymore. Captain Drake and April were laying down on the sand looking to be trying to get some sleep, while Harry was sitting upright like Levi as he fiddled with his hands, his eyes directed on the shoreline but occasionally looking around for snakes.

"Are you okay?" Levi asked gently, looking at the red-haired man with attentive eyes.

"No, I'm sick of this," Harry mutter under his breath and Levi wasn't sure if he was supposed to hear him.

"Just think H, soon we'll all be on board a ship and heading home! Isn't that exciting?! H, this is what we've been waiting for for days!" Levi exclaimed, his own excitement spilling out of him.

Harry gave him a light smile. "Yeah," was all he said in response, and looked back at the shoreline as he hugged his legs to his chest with a frown.

Levi didn't understand why Harry wasn't more enthusiastic about this. "What's wrong? You don't exactly seem all that happy..." Levi pried.

"It's just that my family's probably really worried about me by now. I'll have to explain to everyone what happened and I'm not looking forward to it. I want to go home as soon as possible, but I'm certainly not looking forward to explaining everything and reliving it. Do you know what I mean?" Harry asked, his eyes suddenly lifting up from the shoreline and onto Levi.

"No, I don't. No one's awaiting my return. I have no family."

"Oh." Harry looked at Levi sympathetically. "Then what are you going to do when you finally get home?"

That's a hard question. Harry was asking what he'd do when he got back but Levi himself barely knew. Was he supposed to just continue living life as a crew member and act like nothing happened at all? "I'm gonna sit back and eat some popcorn," he said with a small chuckle, but then Levi's face turned serious. "I don't really know."

Harry nodded in understanding, then turned his attention back to the ocean with a frown. "We can visit from time to time. Just because I'm getting a different job doesn't mean we'll never see each other again. We can keep in contact, because I don't know about you but after all this I think of all of us as family."

"I don't!" Captain Drake grumbled, raising his hand briefly above the sand. "I don't." The captain sat upright after a long pause and said, "H, you quit just like that," and snapped his fingers together, "do ya'?"

"Well, I don't-" Harry started.

"Levi, does this mean you're quitting too?" Captain Drake demanded.

"I'm not sure, Captain."

"Now, from the very beginning I told you my expectations, crew, and it was a very short list. One of the very few things I told you to do is be loyal, remember? And you both quit on me-"

"I'm not sure yet, Captain," Levi repeated, interrupting him.

As Levi watched the captain in shock at the sudden rant, he made out his frown turn into a slight smirk.

Captain Drake gave a dismissive hand gesture. "I'm just messing with you. I understand if you both want to quit. This rescue mission was a complete fail and we lost a crew member. That hasn't happen in years. I'm remaining Captain after all this but you're welcome to resign if this is too much."

"This rescue mission was a complete fail and we lost a crew member." That sentence went on repeat in Levi's head at the mention of Paul. He missed him. He may not have ever told him face to face but he counted him as a brother; the brother he never had. A deep frown covered Levi's face when he remembered the feeling of looking back to find Paul face-down on the ground, blood spilling from his head. Dead. He'd never get to say goodbye.

"Levi. Levi?" a voice belonging to April said, interrupting him from his thoughts.

"What?" Levi asked, meeting her eyes. "Oh, no, I'm fine." He shook his head dismissively.

"Guys..! Where is the radio?!" April suddenly cried with worry as she began looking around with desperation. "Do any of you see it? Anyone?!"

Captain Drake cleared his throat noisily, facing her, his hand holding up the radio. "It's right here. Don't worry, we won't lose it that easily. I'll make sure to keep it in my grasp."

A series of slow footsteps prompted over to them suddenly through the sand, their guns held up and trained on Levi and the others steadily. When Levi saw them the first thing he realized when that they weren't happy or nervous. The two with guns stopped in front of everyone when they were a couple feet away.

Levi's eyes widen at the sight, unable to comprehend that once again this was happening; but at the same time he could. It's not like that were hiding in the first place, in fact they were in plain sight. Levi internally yelled at himself for not even thinking to look out for them. I should have known this wasn't over.

As he looked at them, a large angry frown on his face, Levi had to restrain himself not to yell at them. Because he wanted more than anything to give them a piece of his mind. Had they come so close to making it off this island for nothing?

"Starting now, you all our property. When we get you back in those cells, you'll wish you never left in the first place. We had provided you with food, water, shelter...but not this time. You'll slowly rot in the cell," one of them said with a chuckle, eyes trained on the three of them. He had friendly features, but the words he spoke gave Levi chills.

"Hey, what do you have in your hand there?" the woman questioned, nodding sharply at the radio in the captain's hand. "Whatever it is, I want it." She directed her gun on the captain, and said, "Toss it on the ground, old man. Give it here."