by Kelli Walker
“Looks like it.”
Shit. No wonder there were no helicopters in the damn sky.
The thick formation of clouds began to swirl and grow in front of my eyes. It was still off in the distance, but explained the lack of flight above us. And with its trajectory heading straight for Montserrat, it meant another night on the island with wind and rain and thunder. Another storm to trap us in our tracks.
Another storm to keep us on the island.
I heard footsteps receding behind me and I whipped around. I watched Val venture to the edge of the forest. I took a few steps towards her before the cold wet sand gave way to the hot, itchy kind, and I hissed in pain.
“Stay put. I’m not going in,” she said.
And for once, I didn’t mind the advice she gave me. I watched her closely as she clenched her machete, using it to bend some of the brush back. I slipped my socks back onto my feet before I continued to walk, sucking down the pain as my blisters began to pop against the heat. Fluid filled my socks and I grunted with each step. I saw Val shake her head as I met her in the shade, the heat of the sun finally off my shoulders.
“I think you get off on not listening,” she said.
I decided to keep my comments at bay as a grin slid across my face.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Looking for a stick.”
“Any stick?”
“A decent-sized stick I can use to hunt.”
“Why not the machete in your hand?” I asked.
“Because I don’t think I’ll catch any fish chopping at them with a blunt knife.”
I looked around the forest’s edge before I stopped one that looked perfect. Long, thick, and seemingly straight, I bent down to pick it up. I whipped it around into Val’s view, beaming with a smile as her eyes panned over to me.
“Proud of yourself, huh?” she asked.
“Very,” I said.
“This is a good stick. I could’ve found better, though.”
“Oh, I’m sure you could have. Now, show me what you’re about to do with this thing.”
“You want to see what I’m doing with it?” she asked.
“Will you show me?”
She furrowed her brow at me before she sat down, then patted the sand next to her. I got off my feet and reached for my socks, but she wrapped her arm around my wrist. Just that simple touch sent my cock throbbing and the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. My eyes whipped over to hers and I saw the sternness of her features before she pulled my hand away from my socks.
“Leave the fluid barrier. It’s uncomfortable now, but the second you take it off you’ll be miserable. Please, this once, just listen.”
The way she said ‘please’, it gave me pause. Her voice softened and her eyes grew tender. And for a moment, I saw the real woman Val was. The one that didn’t have a chip on her shoulder and the one that didn’t have something to prove. I saw the glimmer of the woman that worried for me. That worried for our predicament. That really was here to help me despite the incessant arguing we had done.
“Okay. I won’t take them off,” I said.
“The key to hunting fish with something like this is a two-or-three pronged edge. Since this stick is a little slimmer and denser, I’m going with a two-pronged end,” she said.
“Is the three-pronged end better?”
“Not necessarily. If you’re hunting bigger fish, sure. Simply because the organs are spaced farther apart. Hunting fish like this is only fifty percent the instrument you use.”
“And the other fifty percent?”
I watched her slide the machete across the bark, making precise movements and shedding the wood away. It fell in curls that reminded me of the blonde fury of her hair, and I watched her steady movements. Her unwavering hand. The concentration behind her eyes. She seemed at peace with the motions. The constant repetitive movement that slowly changed the surface she was working on.
I enjoyed watching her work.
“The other fifty percent is the hunter,” she said. “Hunting fish requires stealth and grace.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing you’re the hunter,” I said.
And for the second time in under thirty minutes, she graced me with her giggle.
Valencia
I looked over at the clouds slowly creeping towards us from Antigua and Barbuda. I couldn’t believe another damn storm was about to trap us here again. I turned my attention back to the ocean. Back to the water I was standing in. My jeans were rolled up over my knees and I took my shirt off to blend in a little more with the sunny surroundings. Though I felt my back heating up quicker than I wanted it to.
I breathed in time with the motion of the waves to reduce the movement things saw of my body from underneath the water. Spearing fish to eat this way required stealth and patience. But I had to find us something to eat quickly. We still had shelter to seek out because we definitely didn’t have enough time to build it. And in some respects, shelter was more important.
Chill would set in again and that alone would kill us before morning.
We needed shelter and fire, to keep warm and to cook what I was about to catch. And in my mind, if I only caught one fish, that fish went to Silas. I could go without food way longer than he’d be able to. And if he collapsed on me, we were in trouble. At least he could carry me if I struggled. But turning that scenario around would never work.
Even I could admit that.
Motion under the water caught my eye and I slowly turned my head. A stingray that had buried itself into the sand moved, kicking up the soot at the bottom of the ocean floor. I slowly moved my stick, timing my movements as its eyes moved around. I had to be very careful with one this size. It’s striking distance alone would take me out if I didn’t nail it precisely where I needed to. I felt Silas watching me from the shaded shoreline and I prayed he didn’t come near us. Disturbing a stingray of this size posed a very serious threat. One I wasn’t equipped to handle.
The stingray continued to sift itself underneath the sand, and I grinned at the efforts. But I was waiting for that telltale sign. When they got comfortable, then plunged their stingers into the sand. Like someone would plunge a stick into the dirt to keep it in place. I held my breath, my eyes traveling along its massive tail until I found the sharp, poisonous rod at the end.
And I drew in a deep breath when its stinger dug into the sand.
I jammed the two-pronged stick into the water and sighed with relief. The stingray darted around and blood filled the water, forcing my eyes closed. I slowly pushed the animal away from my body as the stinger flapped around. Positioning itself to strike and wafting water against my legs.
“Thank you, Earth, for the resources you have blessed me with. You have kept me alive this long. Thank you for the opportunity to keep going.”
In one fell swoop, I rose the stingray into the air. Carrying it on my pitchfork, I made my way back to land as Silas pulled himself up from the sand. Even I could see the shock in his eyes. I got to the shoreline and reached down for my backpack, filled with the clothes I had taken off.
“That’s a massive stingray. Want me to carry it?” he asked.
I looked up and watched him approach, taking in his glistening form. The sun did wonders for his skin. Tanned. Taut. Shining with sweat. Beads dripped down the divot in his chest and wandered along the strength of his abs. Lines that made my tongue pulse disappeared beyond the belt of his pants. But it was the smoothness of his skin that caught my attention. The way his muscles effortlessly pebbled into the next. Unabashed. Untainted with imperfections.
Something I’d never have.
“Come on. We need to settle for the night,” I said.
“Let me carry the stingray. You hunted, I carry.”
“That your version of ‘you cook, I clean’?” I asked.
“When we’re out here, sure. Once we get back, you’ll be the one cleaning.”
“You cook?”
“I
get around in the kitchen.”
I looked up and took in his smug grin. He really was a charmer. I handed him the stick and he slung it over his shoulder, the stingray sitting nicely on the end. I still struggled with hunting sometimes. Killing other animals in order to feed myself. I understood that part of nature. I got that it was natural. But with all of the things I had been put through, taking any sort of a life hit a nerve with me I’d never be able to shake.
I pulled my shirt out of my bag and slid it back over my body. Then, we started back into the woods. We hiked forward until the sound of running water hit our ears, then we traveled along the edge of the brook. We needed to stay by a freshwater source. That much was imperative. We walked the creek bed that ran practically parallel to the ocean until the thunder overhead was audible in the distance.
“What are we looking for? I can help,” Silas said.
“Any entrance that might look like a cave,” I said.
“What if we diverted from the water source a bit.”
“I don’t want to be out of its sight. We’ll need the freshwater.”
“What I’m looking at isn’t out of its sight.”
Silas pointed and I followed his finger. Up on a little hill that would protect us from the rising waters looked to be yet another cave. Carved from the molten rock that flowed down from the volcano all those years ago. I held out my hand to Silas, telling him to stay put. That was prime hunting ground for other predators that might be on the island. Montserrat wasn’t known for its massive predators, but it was known for its poisonous spiders and rabies-infected bats.
I climbed up the hill and dug out my flashlight before I turned it on to inspect the cave.
The roof of it looked like a home for bats. Plenty of spaces for them to cling to and sleep during the day. But, I didn’t see any actual bats. Nor were there bat droppings on the floor of the cave. I walked into the cavernous space and was impressed with how big it was. Silas would be able to stand upright in the thing and both of us would be able to spread out in order to sleep.
I walked back to the mouth of the cave and waved to Silas, then watched as he started up the hill.
“We’ll need logs for the fire for tonight, but if we build it back into the cave we won’t need as much of it, right? Since the water won’t penetrate the ceiling?”
“Not exactly. This is volcanic rock and it's a naturally porous substance once it cools. That’s what’s filtering the water in the brook down there. But, while you’re gathering wood I can reinforce the top of this with leaves to prevent leaking during the night tonight. If we make a fire now, I can use the smoke coming out of the top to spot any bit leaks I need to seal. This was a good spot, Silas.”
“Thanks.”
He propped the stingray against the wall of the cave, then ventured out of the cave. And I couldn’t keep myself from watching his muscles roll underneath the skin of his back. Every time I looked at the man, electricity zapped through my body. Images from the prior night bombarded my mind. But I had to focus. I had to keep my head in this game. We were nowhere near out of the woods yet, both metaphorically and figuratively.
I dug the rest of the twigs out of my backpack and arranged them in a teepee. As Silas brought logs into the cave I stacked them up, then dug around for the battery and the steel wool. He continued to drop massive logs at my side, huffing and grunting with his work efforts.
I stole glances of him every once in a while, taking in his sweating muscles.
He was primal. Strong. Soaked with an ancient biological function to his body that caught my stare every time he came into the cave. Heat pooled between my legs as I matched the ends of the steel wool to the battery. The hairs on my arms stood on end as Silas hovered over me, watching the fire slowly grow to life. He crouched down beside me and I felt his breath on my cheek. The smallest sensation that sent my vision tunneling and my heart thudding heavily against my chest.
It was as if he had dragged me back to his cave, ready to do with me what he wished.
“I’ll feed the fire. You go look at the smoke,” he said.
“Huh?”
“The smoke? Through the holes, if there are any?”
I felt my mind growing hazy as I stared into his eyes. His piercing green eyes and his jet black hair that glowed with the fire growing in front of us. I studied his strong jawline and the pout of his lower lip. I licked my lips as my eyes traveled along his neck.
Was this what women felt like before being claimed by a man? Lightheaded and dizzy and… hot?
“Val?”
“Yes? Sorry. Um, the smoke. Yeah. Just keep feeding the fire one log at a time, though this should be enough.”
I stood to my feet and quickly made my way out of the cave. I needed space between us. I needed to not smell the musky scent of his body.
I climbed onto the top of the cave and waited for the smoke to permeate the top. I saw it venturing out of the mouth of the cave, but very little of it seeped from the roof. I slid down and started grabbing leaves, then searched around for a tree that might’ve been secreting a sap of some sort. I had to be careful and make sure the sap didn’t have a foul odor, because if it did one touch of that thing would break out the coated area in a raised, itchy rash.
Other than that, I could use the sap from the tree to stick the leaves to the roof, and the waterproof substance would hopefully withstand at least some of the rain about to drop down on us.
After patching the roof and feeling confident in my work, I slid back down and made my way into the cave. I was hit with a heat that made me smile. A heat that would get us through the night. I reached for the stingray Silas leaned against the wall and went to go find him on the other side of the fire, but when I got there I didn’t see him.
“Silas?”
I furrowed my brow as nothing but the sound of crackling fire filled my ears.
“Silas?”
My heart rate began to quicken and my knees grew weak.
“Silas!”
“What!? Yes. Sorry. I went down to the river to get some water. You should do the same. Those clouds are approaching very quickly,” he said.
“You never leave a fire unattended. Ever.”
“It wasn’t. You were on the roof.”
“You never. Leave a fire. Unattended.”
“Sorry,” he said as he held up his hands.
But I was simply relieved that he was okay.
“Once I skin and debone this stingray, I’ll go get some water,” I said.
“Or you could show me how to do it so you can go get some now. Seriously. Those clouds are close.”
“I can’t show you how to do something like that once and then you just do it.”
“You forget I know my way around a kitchen.”
“Are we talking ‘noodles and jarred sauce’ kitchen or ‘I can fillet a salmon after catching it myself’ kitchen?”
“I mean, I’ve never caught it myself, but I’ve filleted it before?”
I narrowed my eyes at him before I peered over his shoulder. He was right. The sun began to dim and the approaching storm shot lightning off in the distance. This would be my only opportunity to get water before the storm unleashed its rain upon us.
“Don’t worry. I can skin it when I get back,” I said.
“Val, let me help out.”
“You’ve been a big enough help. You found this place, you went in search of logs, you got yourself some water so you won’t fall out on me. You’ve done enough.”
“Then I’m helping you with this damn thing once you get back.”
“Fine. That’s fine. I’ll be right back, okay? And don’t touch it! If we play our cards right, that meat will get us a very long time on this island.”
“I won’t touch it without you,” he said.
For some reason, his words warmed me. He’d really wait for me like that? After combatting me in so many things along the way? I shook my head as I strode out of the cave. I needed to snap out of it.
This wasn’t some fairytale. No handsome prince was waiting for me on anything. Or anywhere. Or whatever the hell my dreamy mind thought was going on. The thunder rumbling closer and closer brought me back to reality. I wasn’t in some romantic fairytale with a handsome prince and a pretty dress. I was stuck on an island with a brutish man, nothing to keep us safe, and no map to find our way out.
I skidded down the hell towards the water and practically flung myself at it. I kept my eyes trained on the rays of the sun as they slowly subsided. I gulped down water as quickly as I could, my eyes keeping trained on the horizon.
And when I heard the sound of rain falling in the distance, I rose up and dashed back up the hillside.
Silas
Thunder clapped and lightning struck as I sat near the fire we had built. Our second night on this god-forsaken island and we were trapped in a cave with twenty five pounds of stingray meat, a sorry excuse for a fire, and the world crashing down around us. I couldn’t believe I had gotten myself into a situation like this. Stuck in some grimy cave with water dripping on my head and threatening to scorch out the rest of our fire.
No matter what we did, we couldn’t keep the flames up.
“The good thing about the small flames is the increased smoke.”
“What?” I asked.
“The smoke. Rain drives creatures in, but smoke keeps them out. So we can sleep tonight without the risk of getting eaten by anything,” Val said.
“Great,” I said flatly.
But, she was right. The only thing that saved our asses was being able to spread out and sleep without worry. The first cave was small. Smaller than the half-bath in the downstairs of my fucking house. We had been cramped and struggling for room, neither of us getting much sleep. But tonight was different.
At least the two of us got a few hours of rest.
The claps of thunder woke me up, but aside from that I managed to get some rest. The fire eventually sizzled out, filling the cave with smoke that kept the creatures out. But if I slept close enough to it, the warmth was exactly what I needed. I didn’t shiver once all night, and it felt nice.
