Chapter Nine
Forbidden Fruit
I was tired, but I was on edge to, which helped hold back the weariness that I felt. We’d entered a thickly overgrown patch of jungle and the dense shade had grown oppressively dark. Soon we would be stopping. Stopping meant…….
I glanced ahead at Colt’s broad back and felt a shiver course throughout me.
Nervous anxiety threatened to overwhelm me. I couldn’t! I wouldn’t!
I had to find a way to escape. I’d be better off on my own then trapped as this man’s sensual playmate. He may think I was his Eve, but I wasn’t!
Now the question was how did one give a former Marine Sergeant the slip?
About the only thing that came to mind was hitting him over the head with a stick. However tempting that option was I disregarded it.
For starters I doubted I’d get close enough undetected to pull it off. Secondly I’d have to really hit him hard and doing so might kill him. I wasn’t a murderer.
All my self-reasoning left me back at square one as to what to do. Whatever it was I’d have to do it quick, as I doubted that he was going on much farther today before making camp.
Something bumped into my shoulder and idly I saw it was a branch heavy laden with fruit. Uneaten fruit.
It all came back to me then. I knew what this fruit was and better yet what it was capable of.
“Hey keep up there. We’ll be camping soon.”
My response came quickly and I only hoped that he didn’t think it was too quick, “I just thought we could augment our supplies with some of this fruit. I was going to pick some of them if it’s all right with you?”
I saw him squint in concentration at the fruit hanging by my head.
“You know what kind of fruit that is?” He asked uncertainly.
“Yeah I used to eat it all the time growing up.” The lying words came easily, but I was so going to hell!
He shrugged, “Pick it then. Good thinking Kim.”
He waited patiently while I picked several of the more ripe pieces of fruit. It was my greatest acting performance to date, pulling off my plan under his watchful gaze. I wasn’t yet sure if he was clueless about the fruit or if he knew what the fruit was and was just playing along to see how far I’d go.
I hurried up to where he was standing and it wasn’t much longer before we stopped and made camp. Now all I had to do was to get him to try the fruit without doing so myself.
Turns out it wasn’t a factor. Colt had no sooner made a fire and set up some comfortable looking beds out of branches and foliage from some nearby bushes that he relaxed back against a boulder and bit out a big chunk of one of the fruits that I had picked.
I glanced at the two beds mildly shocked. It wasn’t what I had been expecting of him to do. It almost made me feel sorry for what I had done.
Nervously I sat down opposite of him and fingered one of the fruits in my hand. The burden to speak was too great and I found myself biting my lip until blood ran.
He glanced over at me curiously, “What’s the matter with you? Aren’t you eating? You have to be hungry. These are quite good.” He said, as he tossed the pit of the fruit into the fire.
He’d eaten the whole thing!
Oh God I hoped he didn’t die!
Suddenly a facial muscle began to tick sporadically on his face and he put a hand to his stomach unsteadily. I let the fruit that I held fall from my fingers and roll into the fire.
Blinking rapidly he looked up from the fruit that was sizzling in the flames to me and I confessed, “I’m sorry, but I…… don’t want to be your woman.”
I stood up as emotional consternation played out across his features. His voice was slurred as he made a grab for my ankle, “You little…….” He never finished his thought as he passed out and fell forward.
His hand reaching for my ankle fell into the fire and with a gasp I jerked his hand free of the flames. The unpleasant odor of burnt hair stung my nose. Tears slipped free and ran down my face at the realization that in addition to knocking the man out into a hallucinogenic sleep that he may not come out of I’d also caused him bodily injury.
He’d made two beds!
This man had pulled me from a plane and then saved me from pirates!
His hand didn’t looked bad other than that it was now hairless unlike the rest of him. I was a wretched excuse of an individual to have treated another person like this!
“For pity sakes Kim he made two beds!” I screamed out in frustration at myself.
I had been scared and I had acted out of fear. Maybe I’d had a right to be afraid, but he’d done nothing to warrant what I had done to him.
I felt for his pulse. It was strong and racing. He was sweating like crazy!
Oh God he would kill me when he woke up!
If he woke up.
Colt was lying on his front and the gun he had was tucked into the waistband of his pants at the small of his back. I pulled the gun out and before I could give my consciousness a moment to decide otherwise I stood up and fled the scene.
I didn’t really have a plan other than to survive and find Koke.
It was a different feeling now as I ran out into the jungle. I didn’t feel safe anymore. The gun clutched in my hand gave me a measure of security, but my real security lay back there by the fire.
I was such a fool! My chances of surviving on my own were next to nothing now, but it was too late to go back now.
*****
Colt twitched and shook as he was held in the grip of a vision from the past that had crossed over into a nightmarish fantasy jacked on steroids.
Smoke, lots of smoke.
Blood on the walls.
His buddies all blown apart.
Dead sightless eyes.
“Why weren’t you here with us Colt? You could’ve gone with us. It would’ve all been over. See you in hell soon. You know that’s where we are. You remember don’t you? It was your order that called in the artillery strike. It was you that killed all these people. You’re going to hell. Can’t you see all those you killed watching you? You deserve to die. There’s nothing good about you. You’re going to die. We hate you because you’re still alive. Should’ve been here with us. We were a team, but now you’re alone. Traitor to everything. Just die. We’ll keep the fire hot just for you. See you soon bro. See you soon. You’re gonna burn!”
“No!!!” Colt screamed into the ground even as his fingers dug into it as he tried to pull himself free of the nightmarish realm he had been falling through.
He raised his head blearily and looked around. The little witch who’d poisoned him was gone.
The fire was dead, which meant that hours had gone by.
Oh God his head hurt and nothing seemed to be working quite right. He fumbled for his gun, but it was gone. She’d taken it of course, but she hadn’t taken the pack. The stupid little fool!
He pushed himself upright on the ground and looked at his hand. He almost swore, but bit it back. His hand stung, but it was otherwise fine.
He got to his feet and reeled about drunkenly for a moment. It didn’t take him long to see the way that she’d gone. She’d only continued in her foolishness in heading off in the direction that she had chosen. She’d headed down into a valley.
Colt hadn’t told her, but there were monsters on this island. Monsters that likely ate meat. As long as they stayed in the rough terrain along the ridge lines they weren’t likely to run into anything, but down in the sheltered valleys would be a different story.
She may have his gun, but he still had the flare gun and the pack. She’d made her own bed and she could sleep in it for good for all he cared.
Colt slung the pack on and headed out across the ridge. Part of the hallucinogenic episode of a nightmare gone too far came up into his mind’s eye with blaring intensity, “There’s nothing good about you Colt!”
Colt stopped as he gritted his teeth before issuing a tight response, “Yes there is and I’m going to prove it to you!”
Colt turned back and headed down into the valley following along after the wide trail that Kim had made. The least he could do was bury what was left of her, but if he found her alive, well then, it would be a different story altogether.
*****
I didn’t breathe. I didn’t so much as blink as I stayed still in the under foliage. My life depended on remaining unnoticed of that I was sure.
The source of my angst shifted its stance heavily and eyed my location again closely for a moment before it lumbered off in the opposite direction from me. Slowly air leaked back into my lungs. My fist rose to my mouth and I pressed my mouth against it hard to try to hold in a sob.
Dinosaurs! Seriously!
This place was hell!!!
Something occurred to me then. I wasn’t going to make it off this island alone and it was with bitter self-realization that I came to that conclusion.
I wiped at a few tears as I said, “Okay God I’m going to stop fighting You. You’ve made it very clear where I’ve gone wrong. Very clear.”
I slipped free of the grove of bamboo and started back the way I had come, “Oh God don’t let him kill me!”
A snarling growl abruptly stopped me dead in my tracks as all thought of the man I had drugged fled from me. I brought the gun up to take aim on the thing that looked like a mutant dog on steroids. There was more than one of them.
Two others of the strange beasts closed in on either side of me and my finger tightened on the trigger. A roar off in the distance stilled the motion of my finger. If I fired the gun that monster that had just passed me up might be back. On the other hand if I didn’t pull the trigger I might become a chew toy.
The large mutant looking hounds glanced back to me from the direction of the distant roar and their snarls of interest resumed. I had no choice. I pulled the trigger.
At least I would’ve pulled the trigger if I hadn’t had to duck out of the way as one of the hounds from the side lunged for me. In the process of evading the snapping jaws I stumbled and fell. The gun went off.
The percussion of the shot was loud and the hounds instead of diving in for a bite shied off a bit from me. I stumbled back up to my feet clutching the pistol. I bit my lip hard in anxiety. I’d lost my glasses!
I slowly twisted about trying to focus on the blurry shapes that circled around me. I couldn’t really discern the bodies of the hounds clear enough to get a shot or I would’ve taken it.
They were getting braver again and I saw a fast-moving blur off to my right and I fired the pistol. I missed it, but at least the hound broke off from the attack.
I only had four bullets left and I couldn’t see anything!
I’d never been so helpless in my life since the time as a kid when my uncle had extinguished his cigarettes on me, if I hadn’t pleased him well enough.
My uncle had been a piece of living crud. So had my two cousins, who used to beat Koke up, when he stood up for me and asked for more food, because we were hardly ever given any.
My uncle had always sneered at our request for food and thrown us out of the house for a few days. It had been one of those times when we’d been thrown out that we were picked up and taken to the orphanage.
We’d been seven at the time and for as long as I lived, which wouldn’t be much longer, I would never forget the missionary who had placed a bowl of rice in my hands and asked for nothing in return. Up to that point I’d had a picture of what men were like.
They were loud, bad tempered and liked to be pleasured. The missionary and his wife had completely altered what I knew of life.
Sheltered in the city I’d forgotten what it was like to be without security once again. Without a safety net of protection there was very little separating the me of the present from the girl of the past.
One word came to my lips, “Colt?”
He wasn’t my uncle. He’d made two beds, when he could have done anything that he’d wanted to me.
Yes, he was dangerous. Yes, he was the opposite of anything I’d ever considered in a relationship, but he was security and I had no more pride left in me.
“Colt!” I screamed out as the snarls grew louder again.
“I wondered how long it would take you.” Came a voice from the jungle.
The words were said coldly, but relief shot through me at the sound of Colt’s voice anyway.
Everything would be okay now. I didn’t know why, but I just knew that it would be.
There was a pained yip and then the corresponding death cry of one of my savage tormentors. Its cries were closely followed by another’s and with a yip of fright I heard the other one take off through the heavy understory growth.
My hands holding the pistol had fallen and numbly I let the pistol slip from my grasp. My ordeal wasn’t over by any means.
I had a very angry male on the prowl and I was as helpless against him as I had been with my other tormentors. He had reason to be angry and I didn’t fault him for it. If he’d been my uncle I could even now have expected the hard backhanded slap that would’ve knocked me off my feet followed by the hard kicks given to my stomach and back by my cousins.
Colt wasn’t my uncle though and mad as I knew that he was I also knew that he’d never hit me.
How did I know that?
I just did somehow.
If I knew that, then, why was I so afraid?
I knew the answer to that too. Things had just changed radically. I’d essentially just made myself his, when I’d called out to him for help.
Despite what I’d done to him he’d come back for me and as a reward I was his. It was scary and thrilling all at the same time.
All the veneer of society had been stripped away and the truth was that I really was Eve to his Adam if he deemed it so.
Did he still want me though or had he come back out of noble ideals alone? He was a far nobler person than I was if that was the case.
I hugged myself with my arms and involuntarily shivered as I saw the blurry outline of my rescuer come closer. Fittingly he’d dispatched my attackers with a spear made out of a pole with a knife blade strapped to the end of it. This man was truly in his element here in this violent sunken world, even as I was out of mine.
He stooped down in front of me and retrieved the gun and something else, which I took to be my glasses. I refrained from asking for them back even though I desperately needed and wanted the clarity of sight that they afforded me.
He was the one calling the shots now. Vaguely I saw him slip the pistol into his waistband and then I saw him fold my glasses and stick them in a pocket.
So he was going to punish me with near blindness. I swallowed any objections away that I had to his actions though. I got the impression that I should just keep quiet right now.
His hands engulfed my upper arms and he almost pulled me off my feet as he brought me up onto tiptoe to stare point-blank into my eyes. His grip on my arms hurt, but again I remained silent of any protest.
This close to his face I could see every detail of it clearly. Up close I could see fine and he was very close.
He held me so close that I was firmly pressed up against him as our silent staring match continued unabated. The physical contact with him sent a thrill of awareness through me the likes of which I had never experienced before. I swallowed reflexively as I did my best to meet his steely gaze even as I felt my perceptions of almost everything changing.
“If you ever……”His words trailed off even as his face expressed the emotion of the words left unsaid.
I quickly nodded my head in acceptance of the fact that I was never going to double cross this man again.
In full conciliatory style I said, “I’m sorry!” This man could have been eaten while he lay down and out cold and yet he’d saved me from being eaten instead.
His eyes gazed deeply into mine and some part of my acceptance of him as my headship must’ve shown through as he let me settle down to my feet. He was still angry, but he wanted something more from me than just to take out his vengeance.
I had important information to relay to him and I awkwardly spilled it out in my need to end the silence, “There’s a dinosaur not far from here. It might be coming back here because of the shots!”
His big hands released me as he said, “Plant eater. Harmless to us unless we get in its way. We need to get back to the ridgeline though before something else does show up. Make sure you keep up with me, because I’m not coming back for you again!”
I did my best to follow him, but I was tripping over almost everything. He stopped with a disgruntled sigh and handed me back my glasses, “Here take these!” He said roughly.
“Thank you!” I said offering up my apology for really everything once again.
All I got was a grunt in response, but it was a start to communication. I followed along after him panting heavily in his wake as he attacked the ridge as if he was taking his aggression meant for me out on the trail leading upward. I was very grateful for that.