by Perrin Briar
“Sorry?” Liz said.
Rupert threw the tip of his ax at the ground, the tip striking the earth, embedded in a tree root there. He wiped an arm across his forehead and moved toward Liz.
“I asked how Bill’s doing now,” Rupert said.
“The same as usual,” Liz said.
Rupert picked up an iced tea and, keeping his eye on Liz the whole time, downed it. A good amount of it dribbled down his face, wetting his shirt. It strained against the muscular body underneath. Finished, he wiped his arm across his mouth.
“If there’s anything I can do, please just let me know,” Rupert said.
“I will,” Liz said. “I’d better get back to work.”
“Catch you later,” Rupert said.
Liz turned and headed away quickly. She had the insecure feeling of a pair of hungry eyes on a vulnerable female as she headed away. She daren’t look back for fear she might come across as a willful doe.
“Please Bill, wake up soon,” Liz said under her breath.
They were a family with a pair of wolves in their midst, just as she had always feared.
Liz returned to the kitchen and got to work preparing dinner. It was the only thing she could do that would keep her hands busy enough where they wouldn’t keep shaking. She stopped and put the knife down. She wrung her hands together and then clutched them close to her chest.
She had never felt this afraid before. She wished she hadn’t sent the boys away to continue with their usual tasks. She wished they were there with her now. But no, she thought. She was a woman. She could defend herself, if need be. No man could scare her in her own home. She wouldn’t allow it.
The sun was low over the horizon, and the boys hadn’t yet returned. They would come with wild game and a clutch of new vegetables they’d discovered around the island.
A head bobbed at the top of the ladder. Liz felt relieved. It would be one of the boys returning. She let her shoulders relax, but then they tensed up again as a larger shape than she expected ascended the ladder.
Rupert climbed the last few rungs to the top. He bent down and helped his friend Manuel up too. He might have been a good fighter, but he most certainly wasn’t a good climber. Liz couldn’t have felt more afraid.
“Phew!” Rupert said. “The climb up here is almost as hard as chopping wood all day!”
He moved to the wash bowl and splashed himself with water. Manuel stood by the kitchen counter, picking at the vegetables Liz had chopped. She wouldn’t normally have let anyone do that, certainly not Bill or the boys, but she didn’t want to risk setting Manuel off. He might react like the crazy banshee he had before.
Rupert dried his face on a piece of cloth and turned to face Liz. He wore a grin.
“What’s for dinner?” he said.
“Leftovers from yesterday, and salad,” Liz said.
She wasn’t much in the mood for cooking, and they had plenty of food leftover. It seemed a shame to waste it.
“Nothing hot?” Rupert said.
His eyes shone like diamonds in a dark cave, a cave known to house an extremely dangerous monster.
“Then again, I suppose there’s something plenty hot right here,” Rupert said, looking Liz up and down with a leering eye.
Manuel was still plucking at the cherry tomatoes, his eyes fixed on Liz, pinning her in place.
Liz backed away, toward the kitchen counter. Her backside met it, and she couldn’t move any further. The two men turned face-on to her.
Liz reached back, keeping her eyes on the two men, her hand scrambling for something, anything, she might use to attack them with.
“The boys will be back soon,” Liz said.
Her hand wrapped around something. She lifted it but did not bring it around for the men to see. The handle was light, the weight all at the opposite end. The ladle. No good. She reached again, this time finding something flat, with a round indentation. A spoon. No dice. She tried again, and this time found a knife.
Liz brought the knife up. No going back now, Liz thought. Even if Rupert had been joking about the ‘hot’ comment, he shouldn’t have made it to a woman who was by herself.
“Careful,” Rupert said. “You might cut someone with that.”
“Stay away from me!” Liz said.
Rupert held up his hands.
“No one’s going to hurt you,” he said. “I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding here.”
“There’s been no misunderstanding,” Liz said. “I know exactly what you intend on doing.”
There was a pause. Rupert’s body relaxed.
“Fine,” he said. “I didn’t figure you for a smart woman. But you’re right. There is something we want from you, and we’re going to take it whether you want to give it or not. We’ve eaten just about enough of your bland vegetables. We want something spicy. Maybe you can provide it without even having to do anything. It couldn’t be easier. I’ve seen the way you look at me. Now’s your chance to have what you’ve wanted ever since I arrived here.”
Hearing those words so starkly, boldly and directly spoken, was a hammer blow to Liz’s confidence.
“I don’t want anything from you,” Liz said.
She turned her head to the side.
“Help!” she shouted. “Help!”
Rupert smiled and shook his head.
“Who are you shouting for help from?” he said. “There’s no one here. No one can hear your screams. No one will come to help you. It’s just you and us for the next few hours. And what fun they’re going to be.”
Time, Liz thought. I need time. To stall them until the boys arrived. Together they might be able to take down Rupert. Manuel… She recalled the effort it had taken them all to just pin him to the ground. How much more effort would it take to defeat him? She didn’t know, but they would have to figure out a way. If they could prevent Rupert from saying the keyword, it might be enough to prevent Manuel from attacking at all.
“You did something to Bill, didn’t you?” Liz said.
“Yes,” Rupert said. “It’s amazing what a few drops of Jim’s medicine will do to a man, isn’t it?”
“How?” Liz said. “When?”
“Several times, over the course of the past few days,” Rupert said. “A little in his water here, a little on his food there, and then finally the large dose in his champagne. I’m not a fancy doctor, so didn’t know the correct dosage, but I knew eventually he’d feel the effects. It was only after how much I saw Jack make up to knock Manuel out that I understood the dosage required.”
“Is anything you told us true?” Liz said.
“The truth is in the eye of the beholder,” Rupert said.
“There aren’t really settlements and communities popping up all over the world, are there?” Liz said.
“Oh, there are,” Rupert said. “Not that you’ll get to experience them much. Every time a community pops up, Ching Shih was there, ready to tear it to pieces and harvest it, taking what she needed. She never killed many people. Only enough to make her point. You don’t want to go about killing too many of the drones. Beat people enough and eventually they bend to your will. They begin to believe they are doing what they should be doing—serving you.
“You see, a community is much like a beehive. The worker bees head out into the world, going about their lives and gathering all the resources they need to survive. Food, water, weapons, defenses, you name it. Everything you have here. The only reason the captain didn’t pick up on your existence here is because you’re so small, but you can guarantee she and her men would have reaped what they could from your stores if they had.”
“Who are you really?” Liz said.
“You don’t believe I work in security?” Rupert said.
He tutted.
“People never believe anything these days, do they?” he said. “Fine. No, I didn’t work in installing security systems. Then how do I know so much about security devices? I hear you ask. I thought I’d given myself away wh
en I stole the food and medicine from you. I had disclosed my skills to you, but you were too blinded to see them for what they were.”
“Who are you?” Liz said.
“I did work in the security industry,” Rupert said. “But not from the side you assumed.”
“You’re a thief?” Liz said.
“One of the best, naturally,” Rupert said. “I was in Japan checking out the latest devices and developments in the security world when the Incident kicked off. It’s always best to stay a step ahead of technology. Especially in my profession. Alas, a world such as this has little need for a man with such subtle skills as my own.
“Suddenly, a mindless moron like Manuel had a much better chance of survival than myself. It’s infuriating someone so dense could have such a large advantage over the rest of us. But I learned to use him, to manipulate him. He is as good as me now, if less handsome and slower on the uptake.
“Bill was desperate to grow the island, to make it a better place for all of you. A good goal, to be sure. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that. But when you desperately want something so much, with every fiber of your being, it can blind you to the truth of your situation. You ignore the things that are telling you not to take action, telling you not to do what you would usually take every note of.
“In my profession, you get to know the kind of people you ought to mark and those you should steer clear of. In truth, I would never have confronted you if I didn’t have to. But here you were. There are some people whose eyes you can’t pull the wool over. It’s not even about intelligence or level of education. I’ve scammed plenty of professors in the past. Even a politician once. But I never fooled you, did I, Liz? You saw through me and you wouldn’t have had anything to do with me if you had any choice.”
“Yes,” Liz said.
“You were foiled by the situation in which we find ourselves,” Rupert said. “But you weren’t having a word of it, were you?”
“And the natives?” Liz said.
“Oh, they were guilty of attempting to kill us all right,” Rupert said. “But their motives weren’t entirely unfounded. You see, I tried to do to them what I’m trying to do to you now. I took the chief’s daughter hostage. We disappeared into the jungle and took advantage of our little hostage. She was great fun. I love it when they struggle. Perhaps you’ll be the same.”
“You’re a monster,” Liz said.
Rupert bowed.
“Guilty as charged,” he said.
Rupert took off his jacket and shrugged off his braces.
“Now, stop wasting time,” he said. “We’ve got things to do. Trust me. Just go with the flow. You might find you’ll enjoy it more.”
“You touch me, I’ll cut you,” Liz said, waving her knife.
“I like a girl who knows how to fight,” Rupert said. “But I’m afraid you’re outmanned.”
“The boys will be back soon,” Liz said.
“Then we’d better hurry,” Rupert said. “I’m sure you’d prefer for them not to see what’s about to happen to you.”
Rupert raised his hands out like he was going to stalk someone. He approached Liz on one side, Manuel on the other. She swiped at them when they got too close. She could not defend herself well from both directions.
She moved for the corner of the table. They could only come at her from one direction there. She swiped at chest height, the knife making a whiz noise as it sliced through the air.
She would wear them down, cut them, she decided, so they bled and couldn’t use their arms properly. Then she could cut them more, going for their necks and internal organs. In the old world, she could never have done something like this. But she had beaten, stabbed and pulverized undead bodies, and she wasn’t about to stop now. She was about to graduate onto real, living bodies.
She slashed, and caught Manuel’s forearm. He hissed through his teeth and leapt back, bending his neck down to peer at the inflicted wound. It was an opening, one Liz should have exploited, except she couldn’t. Rupert was already heading toward her, ready to attack, expecting her to make the obvious move.
Liz spun around, blade up. Too high. Rupert ducked with a slight movement of his head, and it was clear to Liz then that Rupert was used to these kinds of fights. She stopped her hand and brought it back down, moving in a diagonal direction. Rupert moved to the side, like a dancer, and then spun round as Liz brought the knife up again.
He was toying with her.
Liz’s anger flared. She hated feeling like a weak victim. But then she decided to run with it. If he wanted to waste time, then so be it. If the boys could come back soon, they would outnumber the men. They might have a chance of beating them. And if this was their plan for Liz, she dreaded to think what their plan might be for the boys and Bill, now he was sick.
But Rupert had evidently had enough of the games, and seized Liz’s arm. He twisted her wrist, and the blade fell from Liz’s hand and clattered to the floor. It was a broken sound, matching the broken look in Liz’s eye.
Rupert grinned.
“Hold it right there,” a voice said.
Rupert spun round, twisting Liz’s arm further, and wrapped his hand around her throat.
The scene, bizarre now it had an audience, stopped and turned to see Bill standing at the door to the bedroom, shirtless, just wearing his pants. He was pale and unsteady, leaning hard against the doorframe. But in his hand was the real focus of attention.
The pistol.
“Take it easy there, partner,” Rupert said.
“Let my wife go,” Bill said.
His eyelids were opening and closing, the pistol drooping, losing his target. If Rupert and Manuel could hold out long enough, they could just wait for Bill to pass unconscious again.
“You should have been worried someone would come and take this place from you,” Rupert said, edging forward.
“We were happy to share everything we have with you,” Bill said. “But you always want more, more, more.”
“People always want more,” Rupert said. “That’s how we got into this mess. You see, that’s your problem, Bill. You’re still civilized. But we’re not living in a civilized world any longer. If we ever did. You’re an honorable man. It may well be the end of you.”
Bill pulled the hammer back on his pistol, the very same pistol Rupert had given him the day before. Bill had been afraid it might have been used to inflict harm. Instead, it was going to be used for good.
“You don’t honestly think that gun actually works, do you?” Rupert said. “I planted it in my pants. I knew you would see it and question me. And I needed you to trust me. So, I used my jammed gun. The one that doesn’t work.”
Bill lowered the pistol to Rupert’s leg. He didn’t want to kill the man, only wound him. He pulled the trigger.
Clack.
Bill pulled the trigger again and again.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
Bill’s shoulders sagged. The trust he had put in Rupert had backfired and now his family was in danger.
“Now, this is a working pistol,” Rupert said, pulling a gun from his pants and aiming it at Bill.
“You had another one?” Bill said.
“Obviously,” Rupert said. “But only one that works. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go into your bedroom with Mrs. Flower. I’ve got an itch I just have to scratch. After that, it’ll be Manuel’s turn.”
“Please,” Bill said. “Don’t do this.”
“Ever since I laid eyes on her, I wanted her,” Rupert said. “I can’t tell you how hard it was keeping my eyes off her shapely rump this whole time. Now, I won’t have to.”
A single leaf fluttered before Rupert’s eyes, pirouetting past his nose, and gently settling on his boot. Rupert eyed the leaf before arching his neck up to see what dislodged the leaf to fall in the first place.
A short figure stood in the canopy.
“Evening all,” Jack said.
Before anyone could react, Jack dumped a bag
of fresh coconuts on the scene below. Liz was ready for the distraction and used it to twist free.
The coconuts slammed into the metal pots and pans, making a tremendous racket. Manuel bellowed, and held his hands over his ears.
“Noise!” Bill said, in his rasping voice. “Make lots of noise!”
Liz didn’t question him, and hastily grabbed a saucepan and wok from the table, and banged them together.
Clang clang clang clang clang!
The sound was deafening. The boys on the ground were howling at the top of their lungs, shouting and making a great racket.
Rupert screamed and shouted, “Kill! Go! Kill them all! Kill them! Go!”
But Manuel still had his hands over his ears and was screaming too. He couldn’t hear himself think, never mind what Rupert was saying. But their plan wasn’t going to last forever. The best thing they could hope for right then was to just get out of there.
Liz dashed for Bill. She grabbed him and was about to jump for the winch when she heard a frightening click.
Rupert had pulled the hammer back on his working pistol. The gun was aimed directly at her and Bill.
“I’d wager your corpse will be just as much fun,” Rupert said.
The tree bough above them creaked. Rupert turned to see what had caused it. For the second time, Jack surprised him as he hurtled from the darkness and smashed into Rupert, sending him reeling backwards.
He hit the handrail and sailed through it. It had slowed his reverse movement. He flailed his arms, right on the edge of the platform. He was going to fall. He reached out and grabbed the only stable thing at hand: Manuel.
But Manuel wasn’t as stable as he had hoped, and they both fell over the side.
Chapter Twenty-Three
BILL COLLAPSED again, weakened by his recent exertion. Liz and Jack helped him back into bed. Ernest climbed the ladder and joined them.
“Where are others?” Liz said. “Where’s Francis?”
“We left him on the edge of the clearing,” Ernest said. “We thought it would be safer there for him. Fritz went to get him now.”
Jack peered over the side where the two men had fallen.
“Jack!” Liz said. “Keep away from the edge! They have a gun!”
