Island Jumper: An Archipelago Series

by M H Ryan

  “Just Sherri?”

  “Benji is a…well, I’ll let her talk with you. She’ll do what she does when she feels she is ready,” Aubrey said. “Right, Benji?”

  What?

  I spun around, following Aubrey’s gaze. Benji was standing halfway behind a tree, watching us. As we made eye contact, she turned a deep shade of red.

  “I…I was just checking…” Benji said, stumbling over her words.

  She turned and walked quickly back toward camp.

  “She’s curious,” Aubrey said, adjusting her top.

  “She watched us?”

  “She might have heard me and thought I was in trouble,” Aubrey said. “Just give her some time. She’s different, but also one of the best people I’ve ever known.”

  “I know. She’s incredible,” I said. “We didn’t…this didn’t…offend her?”

  Aubrey laughed. “Jack, sometimes I wonder if you catch any clues at all.”

  I think I understood, but as the after-sex aura was wearing off, the reality of our situation was setting in, and I knew we had a ton of work to do.

  Aubrey and I headed back to camp, and when we got there, Sherri had a raised eyebrow as she stared at Aubrey and me. Benji had seemed to take an interest in the structure of shelter, pulling on ropes and adjusting blankets but never even looking back at us.

  “Welcome back,” Sherri said. “Everything come out okay?”

  Aubrey winked and plopped down next to Sherri on the sand. “You could say that, and…sorry for what I said earlier.”

  “I know you are.” Sherri hugged her. “I can smell him on you,” Sherri said. “Hey, Jack. You want to fetch some water with me?”

  “We have enough water for now,” I said, looking at the raft, thinking through the planned modifications.

  Aubrey and Sherri chuckled. “I told you,” Aubrey whispered to Sherri.

  I cleared my throat. “Aubrey is now on board with the rescue mission,” I said. “Before we go, I have some modifications I want to make to the raft. We also need more weapons. By noon, I think we can have it all complete and set sail toward the next island.”

  “We’re leaving today?” Aubrey said.

  “I want to get to the next island and back here before nightfall.”

  “Which island are we going to?” Sherri said.

  Oh yes, the island. I grabbed the telescope and jumped up on the platform next to Benji. I’d been looking at it through the night, and in the bright morning light, I had a much clearer image of the island. It didn’t have any trees, or anything else of consequence. Brown dirt covered most of it except for a dark smear near the top of the hill and something about halfway down the hill.

  “I think I see something,” I said.

  On the edge of the island, was a figure that could be a person…or maybe a pile of rocks. It wasn’t moving, though.

  I handed Benji the scope.

  “It might be a person,” she said, looking through the scope. “I don’t know, though.”

  Sherri and Aubrey got up on the platform and took turns looking. There was some debate about what it could be, and there was the obvious question of why it wasn’t moving if it was a person.

  Even the possibility that it could be a person shifted the girls into high gear, urging for actions to be taken.

  We stood in a circle on the platform, and I started to go over the plan and possible rescue mission.

  Chapter 13

  After explaining what we were going to do to the raft, we spent the next hour gathering the material from the forest and collecting it next to the raft. I had Benji and Aubrey make more weapons and arrows while Sherri and I worked on the raft.

  One thing I found out while working with Sherri is that her enthusiasm was infectious. The work didn’t feel like work, as we joked and had little competitions about who could tie off a spear to the raft faster, or who could get their outrigger fixed and secured first.

  All of it was in good fun. She wasn’t just a pretty face with a stupidly hot body, but a fun, competitive person. I was glad to get to know her better, and by the time we tied off the last spear to the raft, I was kind of bummed it was done. I’d definitely be finding more projects for us to work on, though.

  With the raft heavily fortified, the two of us moved it closer to the water with great care. I didn’t need anyone getting stabbed by our modifications.

  “Whoa,” Benji said, setting down a small pile of arrows near us. “That raft looks straight up Mad Max now.”

  Since we pretty much solved the stability problems with the outriggers, I decided to create a defensive line around the raft. Basically, I took the spears and attached them to the bottom of the raft, fanning them out in all direction. I’d love to see a shark or croc try to get onto our raft now. They’ll be skewered by the pokey sticks.

  The raft looked rather deadly now, sort of like it belonged in this violent place.

  “Damn,” Aubrey said, setting down a handful of spears next to the raft. “Nothing is messing with us on that thing.”

  “Let’s get our stuff and head out,” I said, glancing up at the sun.

  We’d worked hard and made it before the sun hit high noon. Good, we could get to this other island and back in time. Hopefully with another member added to our party. I took a quick look at the object in question on the other island. It hadn’t moved, and I still couldn’t make out what it was. Maybe as we got closer, we could figure it out.

  With the supply bags secured to the raft and enough water to last us days, we pushed the raft into the shallow waters. Once it reached buoyancy, I stabilized it, making sure the spears didn’t stab the girls as I helped them get on board. Then Sherri and Benji pulled me up onto the raft.

  I took a deep breath and balanced myself on the back of the raft. The waters had been calm since we landed on this island, but that didn’t mean shit. The ocean could turn quickly, and what was below the waters held our nightmares.

  Sherri and Aubrey were on the two sides of the raft, between the outriggers, with their paddles in the water, waiting for my signal.

  With the long pole in my hand, I stabbed the shallow water, hitting the sandy bottom quickly. I pushed on the pole, sending the raft into the gentle waves rolling into the shore. The girls paddled in hard, even strokes with each other, and we pushed the boat through the waves. Benji stood at the front of the boat with her bow in hand. At her waist hung the telescope, tied to a belt she’d made from rope. We’d all have eyes on the sea, but she’d most likely get the first shot off.

  “Bigger wave,” Benji said kneeling down.

  We all did the same, but we kept pushing the raft forward. The small wave rolled over the front of the raft, and the water slid between the bamboo slats. After a few more pushes, we were out to the calmer waters beyond the small waves.

  This would be the shark’s waters. It wasn’t really a matter of whether we’d see a shark but rather how long it would take for one to find us.

  “You feel anything out there?” Benji asked.

  I took a slow breath and closed my eyes, trying to sense the creatures in the water. They came at me with the static I knew well. Nothing popped out at me as dangerous, but I had no idea how far my sixth sense worked or how deep. Hell, I was still under the definite suspicion that it could be just in my head.

  “Nothing dangerous,” I said. “But, keep pushing hard. The quicker we get there, the safer we’ll be.”

  Over the next ten minutes, we made good time moving across the water. With the modifications to the raft, I felt better about our situation. I doubted a shark would be able to just come up and take a bite out of our raft without severe damage to itself now. At that same time, the water got deeper, and it’s hard to explain, but it felt warmer, as if something was coming.

  “There, see it,” Benji said, pointing out front.

  I spotted it—we all did—and it was directly between us and the next island: a dorsal fin cutting through the water. It wasn’t much bigg
er than the one we had encountered before, but it seemed to move faster and with greater bursts of speed.

  “Another one,” Benji said.

  “Shit,” Sherri said. “I think those are mako sharks. They’re fast as hell.”

  “Fuck them, so are we,” Aubrey said and paddled harder.

  We were a ways out from our island now, and our brown destination island was about the same distance. A point of no return. Whatever happened, we’d deal with it.

  “We got crocs!” Benji said, pulling back her bow, arrow nocked, and following something in the water near us. “Lots of them.”

  I pushed the pole hard and pulled it back out, waiting to see if I needed to strike one of the crocs. The first one passed right by us in a hurry. A few seconds later, a whole group of them, maybe a dozen or more, swam right by us, some even moving under the raft. None seemed to be interested in us, barely glancing our way. They were emitting fear, or at least a motivation to get away from something.

  “They’re running from something,” I said.

  That’s when the bottom of the boat pushed up, and we were lifted up off the sea, a foot into the air.

  “Hang on!” I got to my hands and knees and held onto my pole.

  We crashed back down against the water. Aubrey stumbled back, heading off the edge of the raft. I grabbed her arm and yanked her back, nearly tossing her onto the floor of the raft.

  “What was that?” Sherri said, holding a spear.

  “A shark most likely,” Benji said, with bow in hand.

  “A big one,” I said, scanning the waters for it. “It’s hungry and right under us.”

  Whatever it was, it wasn’t showing itself, so I turned to put my pole back in the water. That’s when the beast decided to make a showing. Its massive dorsal fin popped up right behind our raft. The fin jutted four feet out of the water and tapered back to the point near the top. The white and gray on it was distinctive. I hadn’t seen this type of shark before, or one of its size.

  “It’s hunting the crocs, I bet,” Sherri said. “Looks like another mako, but a huge one, maybe a male.”

  “Keep moving,” I said and pushed the pole back in the water as the girls went back to paddling.

  A croc swam close to the shark, and in one quick motion, the shark came out of the water, rotated to the side, and clamped its mouth down on the croc. The croc’s bones disintegrated under the massive jaws, and the water splashed red. The shark shook the croc in its mouth and flung it out, sending it flying in the air for about ten feet before it hit the water.

  Two smaller sharks descended on the dead croc and pulled, yanked, and tore it apart in a few seconds.

  “Holy shit!” Sherri said, eyes wide. “These sharks are crazy.”

  “No kidding,” Benji said.

  “If they get close, hit them, but otherwise, let’s just hope they stick to crocs,” I said as I pushed the raft.

  “We’ve got more sharks inbound,” Benji yelled.

  Out in front of the raft were more sharks, some near the surface and more under the water, swimming like dark shadows toward us. They were smaller, like the two that tore apart the croc, but they were fast.

  “Keep paddling!” I ordered. We were more than halfway there.

  "Easy there, big boy," I said, holding out one hand. “You just stay back there, and we won’t have any problems, okay?”

  The shark rose up from the water enough to make eye contact with me. I froze, staring at it. There seemed to be intelligence in that eye. We had this connection, for a moment, or maybe these damn islands were just getting to me. But I had the feeling that the big guy wasn’t going to attack us. Not yet, at least. It dipped back under the water and stayed back far enough that we couldn’t get a spear off on it. It just kept pace with us, and every few minutes it would lift up and make eye contact with me again. It seemed curious, in a way, and the more it did it, the creepier it got.

  This shark wasn’t angry. It seemed patient, as if it knew it could crush us at any second, but for now, it would spare us.

  I slid the pole back into the water, grabbing it as it impacted the bottom. The water was much deeper now, a good twenty feet deep. The big boy slowly moved toward us in a zigzag pattern, getting inches closer with each turn. Its motions became quicker, and its tail splashed out with a swipe. It moved up and made eye contact again, but this time I felt a heat building in its gaze. Something was pissing it off.

  “Sherri, get to the front of the boat. Aubrey, get back here with me so we can counterbalance this thing. I think this shark is looking to try something,” I said.

  Sherri followed my instructions and moved to the front of the raft next to Benji. She kneeled next to Benji and kept paddling at the front of the boat, moving us toward the next island. Aubrey, on the other hand, moved to the back of the boat with me, a large spear in her hand.

  “Aubrey, get ready. If that thing gets close enough, we’re going to stab it together,” I said.

  Aubrey nodded and gripped the spear tightly. She looked fierce, holding that spear just over her shoulder. I pulled my long pole out of the water and held it out. It’d be the first thing it hit. I had sharpened the end of the pole to act as a spear, just in case, though I'm sure it was dull after shoving it into the sands a few hundred times along our trip. That’s when I heard Benji scream.

  “Pokey’s back!” Benji said.

  I looked over my shoulder to see the shark she was talking about. It still had an arrow stuck into its dorsal fin. Its mouth was streaked with blood, probably from the spear I shoved in it. A mortal wound, I had thought, but I was clearly wrong. That shark was tough as hell. If one shark ever needed revenge, it’d be this one. Hot waves of anger rolled off of it in bursts.

  I kept an eye on Pokey, as Benji called it, and it swam around us in a large circle, getting all the way to the back of the raft, next to the big boy. They kept a good twenty feet apart, obviously leery of each other. Pokey was smaller than this other big mako, but either of them could easily kill us. Once a shark got past ten feet long, did it really matter?

  “Is that the same shark you and Benji dealt with?” Aubrey asked. “I thought you killed it.”

  “So did I,” I said. “It looks like it’s not ready to give up, either.”

  “It looks pissed off,” Aubrey said.

  “It is,” I said.

  “If it moves out of the water, I’m killing it for sure this time,” Benji said.

  As if on command, Pokey moved closer. I sucked in a breath and raised my pole.

  “Come on, you bastard,” I said.

  It moved closer, seeming to take its time, and just when I was in striking distance to it, it dipped and went under water.

  “Shit!” I said, searching for it in the deeper waters.

  I studied the water, but the darker blobs played with my vision. I could almost feel it under us, even if I couldn’t see it. I wanted it to show itself. I wanted to kill it before it hurt one of us.

  Then I saw it, a dark blob in the deep water, and with every passing moment, it became terrifyingly clear. It carved through the water, mouth open, straight up at us. Before I could react, it launched out of the water just feet behind our boat, unfortunately missing the spears. It generated a wave of water as it launched itself up.

  The water crashed over the raft.

  Aubrey and I fell to our knees to keep from getting pushed into the water by the wave. I watched the shark and the angle it had leaped in. Pokey was heading right for us, coming down squarely on our raft. It wasn’t trying to bite or eat us at this point; it looked like it was just trying to use its body mass to smash us and our raft. I jammed the base of my spear into the raft, with the tip pointed out and braced myself.

  The mighty shark came down, and I gripped the spear with everything I had as the shark landed on the spear tip. Pokey went right through the spear and slid down the wooden shaft. I jumped back, falling on my ass as the shark’s body hit the back of the raft, causing my end to
sink down and the other side to shoot up. Sherri and Benji held onto the front, laying down. Aubrey slid off the back, but I grabbed her by her hand and pulled her back onto the raft.

  Pokey the shark, who was skewered like a kebab, twitched a few times before an arrow pierced just below its eye, and then another followed a second later. The shark slid off the back of the raft and into the ocean, allowing the front of the raft to drop back down into the water. I ran to the back and grabbed a spear, looking to get in another stab, but it was gone. Only a foaming surface and hints of blood swirling in the water remained.

  I spun around to check the girls. “Are you guys okay?” I asked.

  They looked scared but appeared unhurt.

  “Let’s get back to paddling,” I said.

  They moved without hesitation, jumping back to their spots and grabbing their tools. Benji muttered about getting more shots off on Pokey, but if that shark were still alive, I’d be shocked. It had a spear going through its entire body and a pin cushion face.

  “You did awesome, Benji, you all did—but we aren’t in the clear yet. We need to make it to the island.”

  I inspected the raft, and to my surprise, it had held up to the shark attack. Sure, it felt looser now, and the back end would need some tightening and more rope to secure it together, but overall it was still seaworthy.

  I looked back at the big boy mako shark following us, still about thirty feet back. It wasn’t bobbing back up now, and I knew it was angry. It had witnessed the defeat of its friend. I just hoped the other sharks saw the incident as a deterrent and kept their distance.

  The two smaller makos and the big mako kept behind us or moved to the sides over the next ten minutes. They were a trio menace, keeping most of my attention as I kept pushing us toward the island. Crap, the island. I realized we were close to it now. It was a tiny island, maybe twice the size of the one I woke on.

  Getting closer, it became evident something was amiss on the island. The ocean breeze brought with it a smell of rotten eggs.

  “Gross,” Aubrey said as she paddled.