Scattered Pieces

Part 4

“Kevin?!” I called, my voice shaking. “What do I do?!” I had dropped to my knees next to Nick. He was still seizing and I felt the bridge straining to keep itself intact.

“Shit!” Came the reply.

“Well you’re a lot of help.” I muttered. We were about ten feet from the other side. I squinted in the darkness towards Kevin and he wasn’t moving either. When I looked back down at Nick, I saw that he was laying very still. “Come on honey, you gotta wake up. This thing is going to go any second.” I gently shook him. He only responded with a soft moan.

“Lizz, you’re just going to have to keep dragging him.” Kevin called, still not moving.

I groaned. “That idea doesn’t make me all that comfortable.”

“Try to move as carefully as you can. Go quick though.” He offered.

I stood up slowly, but almost immediately there was a harsh crack. I whipped my head around just to see about ten boards that made up the bridge floor go falling into the cavern. It was almost exactly between us. I sucked in a breath as the whole bridge swayed. All that was in the place of those boards was a huge black hole. Running along both sides of the bridge were two ropes that stretched across the bottom. The ropes on the bottom were (or weren’t) secured to the boards that served as the bridge floor. About four feet higher was another set of ropes that served as the handrails. More ropes were sort of interwoven to make a “wall” to keep people from falling off or I guess these rocks from rolling off.

“Careful!” Kevin called.

“I’m trying!” I hissed back. Again, I took Nick’s wrists and began pulling. We made it about halfway when there was another crack. I didn’t even need to see what was happening, I heard it. The floor of the bridge was collapsing. I knew I had to hurry because there was no way I could support my weight and Nick’s on those ropes if the floor collapsed.

I took another step and let out a short scream when my foot went through the board. I could feel myself falling, but grabbed a rope, stopping short with a grunt. From the waist up I was laying across the rest of the boards, my feet dangling. “Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod...” I breathed.

“Lizz?!” Kevin called anxiously. “Can you pull yourself up?”

“Do I have a choice?” I called back. With that I used every ounce of strength I had to hoist myself up and out of the hole. I leaned against Nick, breathing hard. “I’m okay, but we have another problem. How do I get Nick over this hole now?”

“Can you go around it?”

“No. It was only one board that broke, but it was the whole thing.” I explained.

“The only choice you have it to just go over the hole. If it’s only one board, its not big enough to fall through.” Kevin said reluctantly.

My eyes grew. Didn‘t I almost just fall through it? “And if more boards break?!”

“Lizz, pretty soon there will be a lot more than just one board missing in front of you.” He reasoned. To mark his words there was a bunch more cracks.

I took another deep breath, my heart pounding. I eyed the hole warily and kicked at it a few times before attempting to cross it. It didn’t budge so I began to pull Nick. I knew that if something happened and he went through, I would want to go right after him. Either we both made it, or neither one of us did. Amazingly enough we made it over the hole and we almost to the edge. The cracks of the boards and the crackling sounds of the ropes were almost constant now. As soon as we made it to the steady ground, my knees gave out and I wrapped my arms around Nick.

“I’m actually kinda glad you are out, cause if you would have seen how close we came to falling, you would have had a heart attack.” I whispered. Finally when the shock had let me move again, I crawled over to the edge again. “Kevin?”

“Got a problem here.” I heard the faint voice and my heart flip-flopped in my chest. It was hard to see with it being so dark, but it didn’t look like he had even moved.

“Kevin? Why aren’t you off the bridge?” I questioned.

“I didn’t want to move and risk it collapsing before you two got off.” He replied.

A knot formed in my throat. He risked himself so we could get off. “And what’s the problem?” I called, my voice quivering.

“There’s no more boards and the ropes on my side are about to break.” He said flatly. My eyes strained to see and sure enough, all that was left of the bridge was the both sets of ropes on either side. Kevin was clinging to the ropes on one side, not moving.

“Can you sort of inch your way back off the bridge?” I asked hopefully.

“I would if I could. The rope in front of me is about to snap. If I move, it will.” I heard the nervousness in Kevin’s voice and it made me even more scared for him.

“If you don’t move, it’s going to break anyway. You just got done telling me that!” I cried, a frantic note hitting my voice.

“I’m going to try to move.” Kevin said quietly.

I kept my eyes on him like a hawk. He didn’t was about 6 feet from the edge when a sickening crack was heard. I watched in horror as the rope that he was clinging to snapped and he started falling.

“KEVIN!” I screamed, racing to the edge of the ropes.

I could barely watch as he swung down and into the wall of the cliff. He hit hard, but somehow managed to hold on to the rope. The entire bridge seemed to sag a little with one whole side broken now. “Kevin! Say something!” I pleaded, fear wrapping around my heart. “I...can’t...hold on...” I heard a faint voice.

“God, Kevin, hang on please! I’m coming.” I yelled. I risked a glance back at Nick and sure enough he was still out of it. Damn it, now I wish he was awake. I carefully stepped onto the bottom rope and held tightly to the top one. My heart was racing and my breath was coming in short pants, but I forced myself to keep going.

“No! Lizz...it won’t...hold you!” Kevin gasped from the other side.

I ignored him and inched across the ropes, willing myself not to look down. Of course whenever you aren’t supposed to do something, isn’t that always the first thing you want to do? Bad, bad move. It almost completely made me panic, that black abyss below me. The panting turned into gasping. Kevin, think of Kevin. I shut my eyes and moved as carefully as I could. “I’m coming! You just hang on!” I yelled, my voice trembling.

“I...can’t.”

I winced at the sound of his voice. He must have hurt himself and it was probably taking everything he had to hold on. I prayed for strength for him and for me to not fall off and to get to him before it was too late.

“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!”

The voice made me jump and I nearly let go of the ropes. I whipped my head around to Kevin’s side of the bridge to see several men with torches. A mixture of fear and relief surged through me. “Please! Kevin’s below you! Help him!” I begged.

One of the natives peered directly below to see Kevin struggling to hold on. He said something in his native tongue and immediately several others started to work on getting Kevin up. I clung to my spot in the middle of the ropes, above sheer nothingness. Finally after an eternity of waiting, they managed to pull Kevin up. I heard him cry out when they grabbed him and I knew for sure he was hurt. As soon as he was safe, I let my breath out.

“Slave, do as you were. Continue coming this way.” The one that appeared to be in charge yelled to me.

“I can’t! Nick is on the other side and he had a...he’s sick! I can’t leave him.” I cried, already moving away from them.

“If you do not obey, your punishment will be even more severe.” He threatened.

“Punishment?! For what? I had permission to come here.” I yelled back, aghast.

“Punishment for destroying the bridge. You are a woman, therefore the fault lies on you.” The native stated flatly.

I balked. “What?! Wasn’t this bridge built by men?! Furthermore, why would I break this bridge with my friends on it with me?!” I was incensed.

“Return to this side immediately!” He bellowed.

“I can’t leave Nick! Please, you have to understand! He can’t be left alone for however long it takes for you people to get to this side!” I pleaded, knowing either way I was screwed. Either way I was in for a punishment. As was Kevin probably for leaving his work. If I left Nick, who knows what could happen to him. If I stayed, the punishment would be worse, but at least I could make sure Nick would stay okay. Suddenly I became very aware of the small bottle in my pocket. Before leaving Brian’s hut I had made sure I had one dose of every pill that Nick needed in the smallest bottle. I knew what I had to do. I only had to face a very angry Nick when he would discover what I had done.

“I understand the consequences of my actions. I need to stay with Nick and I will take responsibility for that choice.” I said, hoping my voice wasn’t betraying my fear too much.

“Fine, stay in that place until we come for you. After you are disciplined along with the dark one, you will be returned to the medicine hut to take care of your charge. If the other slave is still sick, he will join you in the hut.” The native said, sternly.

I bristled. The other slave? They couldn’t even refer to Nick by name? Then again they hadn’t called me by name either. At least Kevin had gotten ‘the dark one.’ I watched as the torch lights faded. I could only see shadows and I couldn’t tell if they were carrying Kevin or if he was walking. I thought of the last thing the native had said, how I would be returned to the hut to ‘take care of my charge’. My heart sank. That had to mean Brian wasn’t doing better if Lelani was making me go back. She had said she didn’t want to watch him die so I had to be the one to be there. I felt sick and miserable and my stomach was clenched in anticipation for whatever they were going to do when they reached us. I had finally made it off the bridge, but was too heartsick to be happy about it.

I looked at Nick and he was still out. After a seizure like this, he would more than likely sleep for awhile and be weak for the next day or so. Tears sprung to my eyes and I curled up by his side and rested my head on his shoulder. I shut my eyes, praying till I fell asleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Get in here!” one of the men that was escorting Kevin stated gruffly, shoving him into the opening of the cave.

Kevin winced when the man’s hand made contact with his back. The punishment that he received was harsh but he never gave them the satisfaction of crying out when the torch seared the skin on his back. He took a few faltering steps into the cave and then collapsed onto the ground, overcome with the pain.

“Dammit! Kev? What the hell?” AJ’s voice rasped out in the darkness of the cave.

“Don’t touch me,” Kevin whimpered, his voice barely audible.

“What did they do?” Howie cried out.

“I was punished,” Kevin replied softly.

“Punished for what!?” both AJ and Howie asked in unison.

“Long story and it’s overwith,” came the short reply.

That was always Kevin, once it’s done, the matter is finished, closed for conversation. A light from one of the outside torches cast a orange toned glow into the cave, enabling AJ to get a little bit of a better look at Kevin’s back. His breath drew in quick when he saw the destinctive marks of large, angry looking blisters covering 1/4 of his back.

“Christ Kev, what the fuck did they do to you?” AJ mumbled.

*~*~*~*~*

Lizz sat up quickly when she felt poking at her back. She was shocked to see a group of natives had formed a circle around herself and Nick.

“Get up! You come with us now!”

Lizz cast a glance towards a sleeping Nick, who seemed to be oblivious to the situation at hand. “I can’t leave him, he’s still sick!”

“We will take care of him, you must come with us now!”

Lizz narrowed her eyes at the one she figured was the leader of the group. “You don’t get it! I told you I’m not leaving him!” She quickly placed her hand to where the native had backhanded her face.

“You insolent bitch! I told you to come with us or else!”

She decided that now wasn’t going to be the time to argue with the men, it would be a losing battle and they were slowly losing their patience. She was, however, afraid that they would leave Nick where he was at. Although he had gotten all the meds he needed to be taking, it would or could be hours before he would respond and he could possibly have another seizure in the mean time.

“Can we at least take Nick along?” Lizz pleaded.

Her answer was only the natives clucking back and forth in their native tongues. Suddenly, one man came forward. He reminded her of one of those Sumu wrestlers. He bent over and scooped Nick up and threw his lifeless body over a shoulder.

“Follow Tsu!” Came the order with a sharp shove on her back.

They walked down a narrow path that led away from the delapitated bridge, farther and farther away from the cavern’s edge. This was answering her question of how they were going to get back over to the other side since the bridge was out. The path took an unexpected turn when Lizz found them back at the cavern’s edge but instead of an “Indiana Jones Style Bridge” greeting them, they were met with a narrow, moss covered tree trunk.

“You gotta be kidding me,” she stated as she surveyed the dangerous predicament she found herself and Nick in.

*~*~*~*~*

Brian woke up suddenly, expecting to find himself in a hotel room. He looked around to get his bearings. “What kind of hotel is this?” he thought outloud.

As he started to lift his body up from the cot, he was overcome with a wave of dizziness and nausea. He decided to lay back down. “Nick?... Howie?....... someone?”

Lelani rushed into the hut when she heard Brian’s voice. “You’re awake!”

Brian narrowed his eyes as he looked at her, “Do I know you?”

The young woman shook her head. “No, but I’ve been trying to keep you from harm. What do you remember last?”

Brian thought for a moment. “I.. I guess.... I don’t know,” he sighed.

“You don’t remember anything at all?”

“Not until a few minutes ago, no.”

Again he tried to sit up, but the symptoms prevented him from doing so.

Lelani gently placed her hand on Brian’s shoulder. “Just lay down, you need to keep still.”

“Where am I? Where are the guys?”

Before Lelani could reply, Tsu came lumbering into the hut with Nick draped across his shoulder. With a quick sweep, Tsu knelt onto a mat and lowered Nick onto the floor. Brian stared at what was occurring with disbelief. “What’s wrong with him!?”

As he tried to get up from his bed, Lelani forcefully shoved him back down. “You need to lay still!”

Brian’s eyes shifted from Lelani’s face to Nicks. Suddenly, Lizz burst into the room, ushered by an angry looking native.

“Lizz!” Brian cried out. The native had a rough hold on her upper arm. Lizz struggled against his grip to get to Brian. “LET GO OF ME!” she shrieked.

Fighting the dizziness, Brian managed to get up and half-walk/half stumble towards Lizz. He literally fell into her arms, taking all the strength she had in her small body to keep Brian from falling to the floor.

*~*~*~*~*

“Brian!” I gasped as my knees buckled and we sank slowly to the dirt floor. I wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug.

“Nick?” He whispered.

“He had two seizures. I managed to get him to take his meds and hopefully now the natives will the see the importance of letting him take them when he needs to.” I explained quietly.

“And you?”

“I’m okay. They are letting me stay in here for awhile. That fat one said as soon as Nick is better, I will be joining him in whatever work they are making him do. I guess they figure that you will be in okay enough condition that I am not needed here.” I said with a trace of anger.

Brian turned his head up to me, confused.

“When you said you wanted to die,” I started, my voice catching, “Lelani couldn’t handle it so she said I was to stay here until you did. I guess now that you seem a little better they won’t let me stay much longer. How much do you remember?”

“Not much. A lot of nightmares.” He shuddered in my arms and I hugged him tighter.

I heard a snarl and when I glanced up, Lelani had fixed her cold gaze on me. I almost flinched at the hatred that flowed from her. She snapped something to Tsu and he walked over to us. Without a trace of gentleness he leaned down and grabbed Brian. He yelped, but could do nothing in the fat man’s iron grip.

“TSU!” Lelani barked.

Tsu turned, Brian still in his grip, and looked at Lelani. The look on his face shocked me. Surely a man of his size shouldn’t fear that little girl. But he did. Lelani spoke more angry words in her native tongue, gesturing back and forth between Brian and I. Tsu nodded and gently set Brian back down on his cot. Then he marched back over to me and grabbed my arm, yanking me up roughly. Evidently his roughness was supposed to be directed at me and not Brian.

“Time for your punishment!” He growled at me.

I felt the color drain from my face.

“No! Lelani?” Brian sat up quickly and grabbed her arm.

Lelani beamed at the attention. “It has to be done, Brian.”

“No, Lelani, please. Please don’t hurt her.” Brian pleaded, visibly distressed.

“Ok, alright, for now. Just stay calm please!” Lelani said anxiously. “She will be spared the reprimand for now. Just relax okay?”

Brian nodded and sank back onto his pillow. “Thank you.” He whispered.

Tsu made a disgusted noise and released me. Lelani walked over and stood directly in front of me. “Brian spared you for now, but don’t think you will be so lucky next time.” She hissed. “You will be allowed to stay in here for the remainder of the day, but tomorrow at sunrise you and the other slave will be sent back out to work.”

I nodded, keeping my head low. With that, Tsu and Lelani left.

Brian was fighting so hard to stay awake and losing the battle. I walked over and knelt down by his cot.

“Let it go, Bri.” I said softy, resting my hand on his forehead. It wasn’t as hot as it was last time I had felt it. His fever must have broken sometime during the night. That was a relief, maybe now he would start pulling out of this.

“Mmffph.” He mumbled, eyes falling shut.

I smiled. “Whatever you say dude.”

Satisfied that Brian seemed to at least to on the road to recovery finally, I scooted over to Nick. He was still asleep, but didn’t appear to be in any distress. Part of me wanted to wake him up, but of course I wouldn’t. He needed to rest as much as possible. I curled up on the dirt floor, but didn’t fall asleep. The sun was just starting to come up and I felt too wound up to sleep. That was how the rest of the day was spent. I eventually fell asleep, but of course that couldn’t last. Nick woke up several times during the day and each time seemed a little more alert than the last. Brian also seemed to be doing better when he woke up. The natives left us alone and as relieved as I was, I was also a little worried about it. They had let AJ come in once during the evening. He wouldn’t go into detail, but I know it had something to do with Kevin. Lelani was with him and gave him a cloth and a small jar of something. I tried to ask him what they had done to Kevin, before he could tell me, Lelani told him if he talked to me, we would both be punished. After that, the rest of the evening and night passed without event. I tried to stay awake so I could make keep an eye on things, but sleep finally won out.

~*~*~*~*~

“Get up slave!”

I jerked awake when I felt a rough kick in my side. Light streamed through the hut and I squinted.

“GET UP!”

I whipped my head over to see another native kicking at Nick. “Hey! Don’t do that!” I protested.

I struggled to my feet, my body stiff from sleeping on the dirt-packed ground. Nick opened his eyes, looking totally disoriented. Brian was also waking up.

“Wha--” Nick looked around. When it clicked where he was, he narrowed his eyes.

“The medicine woman has a job for you.” A burly native stated in a monotone voice.

He held out a leather bag, the size of a standard purse. I took it hesitantly. He stepped back and held open the flap that served as the door to the hut. Lelani stepped in, smiling coldly.

“Pay attention, both of you.” She commanded, holding a large leaf out for us to see. She nodded to the bag I held. “Open that.”

I held open the top, wondering where this was going. She held the leaf over it and snapped the thick stem. Then she took her fingers and pushed it down the stem, squeezing a milky liquid out of it. “You are to fill this bag. It is used to make one of my salves and I am nearly out.” She said simply.

I groaned. “You know how long that will take?!” I peered into the bottom of the bag and that leaf had barely left anything at all.

Lelani glared at me. “You will stay in the forest until it is filled. Do not worry, you won’t be alone.” She sneered at Nick. “He will join you along with the dark one.”

“Lelani, please! That could take forever. Nick isn’t in the condition to be on his feet in a forest all day!” Brian protested, sitting up.

Lelani’s pretty face twisted, almost as if in pain. “It is not your concern. You only need to worry about yourself and getting well.”

“It is my concern. This isn’t something that either one of them should be doing. And Kevin? I know he was punished. I can’t lay in here all day and get better when I will worry about them the whole time.” He argued.

Lelani bit her lip. “You will join them.”

“NO!” Nick and I both cried out at the same time.

“No, I have decided. Brian, you need to learn to appreciate how I have been taking care of you. I have nursed you back to health. Maybe if you are treated as a slave for a day, you will learn to appreciate me. You will join them for this day.” Lelani said. She turned away, visibly upset. “Do not return until it is full.” She said in an angry, choked voice.

“Lelani...” I said hesitantly. “Our meds. We need those before we can leave.”

She ignored me and left the hut. I glanced at a native and he just jerked his head at me. I grabbed the green backpack and started pulling out bottles as fast as I could. By now I was used to who took what so I put several doses of each med into a bottle and shoved it in my pocket. Then I passed the backpack to Nick so he could take his and then he passed it to Brian. The native stared at us impatiently, shaking his head.

“So we’re druggies, big deal.” I muttered.

“Lizz...” Brian only shook his head. We shuffled out of the hut, Nick steadying Brian at first. Even though the previous day had let both of them gain their strength, I could tell they were both going to have a tough time with this. I slung the leather bag over my shoulder and we all followed the natives out of the hut. I kept glancing behind me, knowing this was the first time in a few days that Brian had even been out of the hut. Nick looked exhausted, but was hiding it well, as he always did.

We stopped in front of the cave entrance that I had stayed in for awhile before. Kevin was laying on the floor of the cave, on his stomach. It was hard to see because of the shadows but it looked like something was wrong with his back. I glanced at Nick and he returned my concerned gaze. Brian went up to the bars.

“Kevin?” He called, distressed.

“Move!” The burly native barked, shoving Brian out of the way. Brian stumbled and nearly fell before Nick caught him.

“Ass.” He growled.

“What did they do to him?!” Brian cried.

The native rolled the rock away that stood in front of the bars. “Get out here slave.” He ordered.

Kevin grimaced and stood up slowly. AJ and Howie also stood up. Before they could even protest, they were interrupted.

“Both of you, back up. You don’t want to cause your friend any more harm do you?” The other shorter native directed to AJ and Howie.

Kevin turned and said something to them quietly. They both nodded and backed up like they had been told. As he turned I saw his back, the sun falling on it and giving me a perfect view. I gasped.

“Sonofabitch.” Nick swore.

I could immediately feel my heart start to pound as I knew Nick’s was. “No, Nick. It’ll only make it worse.”

Kevin joined us, glancing at each of us in turn, his gaze resting worriedly on his younger cousin. “Brian?”

“What happened?” Brian whispered, staring at Kevin’s blistered back.

“It looks worse than it is. What the hell is going on? Why are you up?” Kevin brushed off the concern, more worried about how pale Brian was. He turned to Nick. “You really don’t look much better.”

“Thanks.” Nick rolled his eyes. “I’m fine though.”

“’I’m fine though.’” I mimicked, smiling lightly at Nick.

“Shuddup.” He returned.

“Enough!” The native butted in. “You are to go through those trees. I caution you to not pick the wrong leaves. That will result in severe punishments.”

We nodded and filed off into the trees. As grim of a situation we were in, I still couldn’t help but notice the beauty of the forest. The sun was bright, but only shone through in patches through the tops of the trees. The ground was uneven and covered with more smaller plants and brightly colored flowers. It nearly too my breath away. Even in books I have never seen anything like it. My gaze fell onto Kevin’s back, who walked in front of the rest of us. The blisters were raw and looked really painful. Then realization hit me with a gasp.

“Lizz, what is it?” Brian looked at me worriedly.

“Th-that was the punishment I was supposed to get. Oh god, Brian, you stopped it. If you hadn’t said anything, they would have done that to me too.” I said, my voice shaky.

Nick stopped dead in his tracks. “Punishment? What the hell did I miss? You were supposed to get that too? What did you guys do?”

I sighed. “After your seizure, the bridge started to collapse.” I left out the part about him nearly falling off, knowing it would shake him up even more. “Kevin came to try to help and he ended up getting punished for not having permission to leave his work. They were going to punish me because they said the bridge breaking was my fault. Cause I’m a woman. And then it did collapse and Kevin almost...anyway they told me to go back to their side, but I said I was staying with you. So I was supposed to get an even worse punishment.”

Nick narrowed his eyes. I knew he knew that I was leaving things out, but fortunately chose to not press me about it. “And Brian got you out of it?”

“He begged Lelani to not do it.” I shuddered, thinking of how close I got to going through the same agony that Kevin was forced to endure. Then I shuddered again, hating that Kevin had to go through it. He was putting up a brave front, but I could tell he was in pain.

We walked for what seemed like forever before we found several huge tress that bore the leaves we needed. They looked relatively easy to climb with all the branches and limbs.

“This is insane. How the hell many leaves are we going to have to milk to get that white shit to fill up the bag?” Nick groaned, looking up.

“A lot. I’m going up.” Kevin stated flatly.

“No, Kevin!” Brian stepped in front of him. “You’re in enough pain as it is. I don’t think it’s a good idea that you do it.”

“Well are you going to?” Kevin returned, gesturing up.

Brian followed his gaze and visibly winced. “Uh...”

Kevin laughed softly. “Didn’t think so.”

“I’ll go.” Nick announced, pushing past both of them.

“NO.” Kevin, Brian and I all said at once, quite emphatically. He turned and looked at us all with a wide-eyed expression.

“Nick, you could have a seizure. Then what, fall out of the tree?” I reasoned.

“Shit.”

“Yeah, I guess that leaves me. It’s no problem, really. I used to climb trees all the time.” I decided.

“No, Lizz. I have to be the responsible one here and I’m not about to let you go climbing up and falling out.” Kevin argued.

“Besides, you’re a klutz.” Nick added.

“Hey!” I protested. “Seriously, it makes the best sense for me to go.”

“I’m going and that’s it.” Kevin said sternly. With that he held out his hand for the bag. I reluctantly shrugged it off and handed it to him. He gave me a grim smile and started to climb.

“Careful.” Brian called nervously.

I held my breath as he climbed, knowing he was in considerable pain and frustrated with myself for not pressing it. It would have been better if I had gone up. A few minutes later he was perched on a thick branch about ten feet away from the trunk. He began pulling off leaves.

“Maybe it would be easier to drop the leaves and the bag and while you pull them off, we can start milking them.” Nick called up.

“Good idea.” Kevin called back. “Hold on, let me get to a better place. The leaves look a little thicker over there.” He inched his way out further across the branch. He was almost where he could reach some really good handfuls when his foot slid.

“Kevin!” I yelled at the same time Nick yelled out, “oh shit!” Brian only gasped. Kevin regained his balance, but the leather bag slipped off his shoulder and fell onto a branch just below him.

“Sonofabitch!” He yelled.

“Are you okay?” Brian yelled back.

“I’m fine, but the damn bag is out of reach and the branch it’s on won’t support my weight.” The frustration shone through Kevin’s voice.

“I’ll get it.” I said, moving towards the tree.

“No, dammit Lizz. I don’t want you to go up there.” Nick locked eyes with me.

“We don’t have a lot of choice. You might have a seizure and there’s no way Brian can go up there. That leaves me. Besides I’m small enough that the branch should hold me. We have no choice, we need the bag.” I reasoned. I squeezed his shoulder and started to climb. My tank top and shorts weren’t really the best for tree climbing, but I was fortunate enough to have on tennis shoes. Usually in hot weather I could only be seen in flip flops or barefoot. The tree was pretty easy to climb and I reached the branch that the bag was stuck on. My heart was going pretty good, but I made myself concentrate on the task at hand.

“Go slow Lizz.” Kevin coached from just above me.

I nodded, inching my way towards the bag. When I reached it, I slung it over my shoulder very carefully.

“Can you toss it up to me?” Kevin asked.

“Ha. And lose my balance? No thanks, I’ll bring it up.”

“Alright, be careful then.”

“You guys okay up there?” Nick called anxiously.

“Yup. Here, have some leaves.” I called, yanking a handful and letting them flutter to the ground.

I heard them both laugh and I grinned too. Slowly, but surely I made my way up the short distance to Kevin. I was more nervous than I let on, but I was okay as long as I kept a death grip on the thicker branches. “As long as I am up here, why don’t I help you?” I suggested.

“Lizz you never give up.” Kevin rolled his eyes at me.

“I learned it from Nick. Seriously, Kev, you are in a hella lot of pain and the faster we pull off those leaves, the sooner we can go back down.” I pointed out.

“Okay, but be careful.” He pointed a finger at me.

“Yessir.” I smiled. I busied myself yanking off leaves and dropping them.

Who knew how many it was going to take? There was only a few hours left before the sun started setting and we couldn’t go back until it was full. We’d probably get punished for taking too long anyway. After ten minutes of dropping leaves, I had tossed the bag down to Brian and Nick so they could start milking. Looking down made me dizzy, but I had to laugh at the pile of leaves that surrounded them as they sat, milking them.

A rustling sound caught my attention and I slowly turned.

“Oh god.” I whispered, panic filling my chest. A snake had lowered itself between Kevin and I. I had moved past him a bit ago so I was on the outside of the branch. It was thinner so it made sense that I went out further since I weighed less. The snake was huge. It had to have been almost six inches in diameter and who knew how long. I felt myself start to shake. There was nothing behind me and only a snake in front of me. It was almost equal distance between Kevin and I.

“Kevin. Don’t move.” I hissed.

“Wha-”

“Don’t move!“ I said again, afraid to agitate the snake. It was dangling between us, barely moving. “Oh god...”

~*~*~*~*~

”Shit,” Kevin breathed as his eyes caught the image of the big black snake dangling between the tree and himself and Lizz.

“Hey are you two on a coffee break up there or what?” I called out when I noticed no more leaves were dropping down. I smiled in spite of myself as I broke open another leaf. “Bri I know how we could fill that bag up faster!”

Brian glanced up when I spoke and his eyes grew wide for a second and then they just as quickly narrowed. “Nickolas! Don’t you even dare think about that!”

I shrugged my shoulders. “So we got ahold of some overly ripened leaves, who’s to know?”

Lizz stared at the snake that seemed to be content to stay where it was for the moment. She was growing a little impatient with the fact that Brian and Nick hadn’t looked up at them to see if they were doing okay. She looked up at Kevin and she could see that he was looking down at her but at the same time shaking his head - no doubt at Brian and Nick.

“Guys can you drop some more leaves?” I hollered as I broke open the forty millionth leave and dumped a teaspoonful of white liquid into the leather bag. “Coffee break is ova..... oh shit! Brian!”

I threw the bag down and jumped up to my feet when I saw the snake hanging in the tree between Kevin and Lizz. I quickly scanned the forest floor looking for anything to throw at the snake. My eyes fell on some coconuts and I ran over towards them.

As I scooped one up I quickly aimed for the fat snake and threw it as hard as I could. My heart sank as the coconut missed it’s target and I heard Kevin let out a yelp.

“Sonofabitch! Dammit Nick, let Brian throw it,” Kevin stated in an extremely stern voice.

I watched Brian aim and I also saw his lips moving.

“Good god Brian, just throw the damn coconut and say your prayers later!” I yelled.

I cast a look over at Lizz after I yelled and I knew that sort of bugged her that I would yell at Brian for praying but sometimes that got on my nerves and I couldn’t help it. I mean, I admire the guy for his deep faith and stuff, but judas, sometimes it was a pain in the neck at the wrong time.

It seemed to be a sheer miracle when the coconut not only made contact with the snake, it hit the creature directly in the head and it dropped to the forest floor instantly.

“You got it Bri!” I yelled triumphantly. Brian seemed pleased with trace of pure panic still etched in his face.

Lizz and Kevin quickly scaled down the tree and hurried over to the spot where Brian and I stood.

“That really sucked, didn’t it?” I asked, trying to break the ice as I wiped my face off with the bottom of Brian’s shirt.

“Do you mind Nick? My shirt isn’t a handi wipe here!” Brian scowled as he looked at the wetness on the bottom of the shirt where I wiped my face off.

“Well we better get back to filling that bag if we’re ever gonna get out of here,” Lizz remarked as she walked over towards the piles of leaves. “Where’s the bag at?”

I narrowed my eyes as I searched for the black bag to be laying down in the midst of green. “Hey here it is. Oh shit.”

“What?” the trio asked as I bent over to pick the bag up.

“I um, well I knocked the bag over when I jumped up when I saw the snake.” I turned the bag over for the dramatic emphasis. “It’s all gone.”

Kevin grabbed for the bag. “It’s gone? You mean to tell me at least six hours of hard labor went into the ground?”

“Kev, I’m sorry,” I apologized.

“We’re never gonna get the hell out of here---”

“Okay,” I started out as I threw my hands up in the air. “I did it intentionally, I wanted to spill it cause I fuckin love to be here in this damned forest.”

“Guys, stop it!” Lizz cried out.

“Well, what do you suggest when fat boy wakes up and wants to know why our bag is empty?” Kevin spat.

“We don’t,” Brian replied quietly.

“We don’t? What do you mean we don’t?” I questioned.

“I have a plan.”

~*~*~*~*~

AJ watched from his vantage point in a dark corner of the cave as a young native girl stood outside the bars. He glanced over at Howie and was a little disappointed to see that he still was curled up, asleep over in another corner of the cave, his arm tucked under his head.

“Psst, hey, darlin, what’s your name?” AJ quiried, trying to turn his charm on full force, quietly approaching the bars.

The girl looked quickly to her right and then to her left before she turned to face the voice that questioned her. “My name is Sasha.”

AJ cocked his head to one side. “Sasha? That’s not a very native sounding name. How did you get that name, oh and it’s pretty by the way.”

“I was the product of an improper breeding and because of my red hair, the colony said I was an abnormal bred so the donor was able to name me instead of the woman that was said to be my mother, the fair skinned, red haired girl replied.

“God, that sounds so awful,” AJ stated. “You aren’t abnormal, you’re a very pretty young woman.”

Sasha blushed. “Oh thank you, but I’ve been told otherwise.”

There was a few moments of akward silence, only the sounds of a crackling campfire pierced the stillness of the night.

“How old are you?” AJ asked.

“I’m eighteen. How old are you?”

AJ softly chuckled at the question. “Too old, old enough to know better.”

Sasha smiled. “No, really how old are you?”

“I’m twenty-three.”

She peered into the cave and looked at Howie sleeping on the dirt floor. “How old is that one?”

“Man, he’s really old. He’s twenty-seven.”

“What about the dark one in your company? How old is he? He seems to be your leader,” Sasha pressed.

“Oh let’s not talk about Kevin, let’s talk about us,” AJ tried to change the subject.

“I really want to know because I was told I am to begin breeding with the dark one. They think he would make pretty babies with me.”

AJ’s mouth dropped open at the innocence of her remark.

“What’s wrong? You seem to be upset about this. Don’t be, it is my duty. I am to breed to produce a strong, hardy stock of more slaves. It is my job.”

“Why the hell was Kevin picked to breed and why didn’t they even pick me?” AJ questioned.

“AJ, for crying out loud, would you just let it go? Man!” Howie yelled as he stood to his feet.

“No, I’m not letting it go, I really want to know!” AJ persisted.

“Well, if you need to know, it’s your build. You are not very muscular and we need strong slaves. We feel that you would only produce girls and they are weak stock.”

Howie couldn’t stifle the laugh that caught in his throat.

“Hey, you weren’t picked either smart one!”

As Howie opened his mouth to respond, a shout in the native language caused himself, AJ and Sasha to freeze in their positions. Suddenly an unusual noise escaped into the air and a cry escaped Sasha’s lips before she slumped to the ground.


updated: 8-9-01

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Go on.” I encouraged, anxious to distract Nick and Kevin from glaring at each other.

“We escape.” Brian said simply.

I know my jaw dropped and Nick blurted, “what?!”

“And where exactly are we going to go?” Kevin gestured around him.

“Yeah, in case you hadn’t noticed, we are on an island.” Nick added, crossing his arms.

Brian sighed. “They won’t be looking for us any time soon. They have to know that it is going to take forever to fill up this entire bag. We can use that time to disappear into the forest.”

“What about Howie and AJ?” Kevin asked. “How are we going to set them loose?”

“Wait! That cave had a hole on the top. When Howie and I went exploring we came to a place that was walled up by boulders. Straight up was an opening. We could try to sneak them out through there.” I burst out, starting to get excited.

“That might work...” Nick said slowly, thinking. “But say we get all get away, then what?”

“We won’t have much time, but I remember Lelani saying something about an island nearby. Sometimes they go there to get other resources. I don’t think it’s inhabited.” Brian told us.

“We could steal one of their boats!” I exclaimed.

“Whoa whoa whoa. This is way too risky.” Kevin shook his head.

“Kev, staying here is going to get us killed. If we can get to the other island, we might actually have a chance.” Brian said quietly.

Kevin sighed in resignation. “I hate to say it, but I think you’re right.”

With less than two hours till it got dark, we weighed our options and planned our escape. Our biggest obstacle was getting our meds. Brian wouldn’t last very long without his considering he wasn’t back to his usual self yet. Nick wouldn’t be able to go long without a seizure and there was no telling how long I could go. The longer I went, the sicker I could get and the bigger chance my body would start rejecting organs. The other problem was the possibility of getting caught and the consequences that would bring. Kevin was laying that out for us when we heard a noise in the distance. It was followed by several more.

“Shit, it’s them!” Nick hissed.

“What do we do?” I whispered, fear seizing me.

“If we try to run, they’ll hear us. If we stay here, we’re gonna get our asses busted.” Kevin said quietly.

“I say we make a run for it.”

I looked at Brian in shock. I never knew him to fly by the seat of his pants. That was something more along the lines of what Nick or I would say. In fact, I agreed with him. “Brian’s right. I’m not looking forward to another punishment for not having the stupid milky shit.” I said quickly.

Brian shot his head around to me. “What do you mean ‘another punishment’?” He said, his eyes wide.

“Later! Let’s go!” Nick interrupted, grabbing my hand and pulling me after him.

“Split up!” Kevin said in a harsh whisper. We’ll meet back here as soon as we can.” He took off with Brian in the opposite direction that Nick and I were running.

“Come on Lizz!” Nick gripped my hand, keeping me with him. I focused all my concentration on not tripping over anything in my path. The forest was pretty dense and I wasn’t the most graceful person on the planet.

The natives started yelling when they got close enough to see that we were trying to escape. Fear-fueled adrenaline made me increase my speed, but we didn’t get more than ten feet before there was a sick sounding thwack behind us.

“Kevin!” Brian’s horror filled voice rang out. Another thwack and a pain-filled scream from Brian.

Nick and I both skidded to a stop calling out for our friends.

“STOP!” Natives roared from behind us. I barely saw one of them raise his arm and pull his other one back before a force crashed into me.

“Lizz!” Nick cried as he knocked us both to the ground. My head hit hard and it knocked the wind out of me. Nick was half on top of me, covering my body.

“Put it down, we surrender. Please. We won’t try anything, please.” Nick was saying to the natives that stood a short distance from us. It was then I realized that he was trying to shield me from whatever the natives were aiming at us. Gasping, I tried to sit up.

“Stay down, Lizz.” Nick whispered.

I didn’t argue, but sank back onto the ground, my head ringing. The natives didn’t say anything, only gestured for us to follow them. I guess they knew we weren’t going to try anything else seeing as how they just nailed half of our escape party. Nick stood up slowly and gently pulled me up.

“What did they do to Kevin and Brian?” I whimpered, scared to death of what had happened to them and what was going to happen to us.

“I don’t know. Shit.” Nick swore. He glanced down at me. “Are you okay? I;m sorry for flattening you like that.”

I managed a weak smile. “I’m sure that’s better than whatever was going to hit me.”

“I swear, they better be okay or I am going to fucking kill them!” Nick growled.

I nodded, regretting it when it made my head ring some more. I gasped when we got closer to the other half of the natives. Kevin was laying prone on the ground and Brian was kneeling beside him, his hand on the back of Kevin’s head. There was blood on Brian’s hands and some on the ground underneath Kevin. When we got closer I saw more blood on Brian’s shirt near his heart.

“Oh my god.” Nick gasped, running towards them and dropping down on the other side of Kevin. I was right behind him.

“You bastards! You killed him!” I cried, glaring up at the natives. Tears filled my eyes and my a lump formed in my throat.

“He isn’t dead, slave.” One of the natives said, his tone almost bored sounding.

I looked down at Kevin and sure enough, his chest was rising and falling steadily. I looked up at Brian.

“It was a sling shot. It hit him in the back of the head.” Brian said, wincing as he spoke.

“Oh god, you were hit too.” Nick exclaimed, reaching his hand out towards the blood that was seeping through Brian’s shirt. Without warning he jumped up and whirled around. “You fucking asshole!” He spat at the one holding the sling shot.

“NO!” I cried, grabbing Nick’s arm before he could lunge at the native. “Don’t!”

The native only shrugged. “Be glad I showed mercy. Any harder and it would have been instant death.”

~*~*~*~*~

“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” AJ screamed at that native.

Howie didn’t say anything, but could only stare at what caused the young girl’s collapse. AJ followed Howie’s gaze to a small pebble that lay near the bars. It shined with the fresh blood and his stomach flip-flopped.

“What the fuck?! Answer me!” AJ bellowed.

The native ignored AJ and spoke to another native that had appeared by his side. “Dispose of the body.” He said coldly.

“No.” AJ gasped, feeling like he had been punched.

“She’s dead?!” Howie cried, disbelieving.

The native smiled and walked up the bars that imprisoned the two young men. “Women are nothing, but objects to do with what we please. If one displeases a man, he may take her life. This slave was too free with her tongue and paid for it with her life.” He said simply before walking off.

Howie couldn’t help but think of how easily Lizz could land herself the same fate if she wasn’t more careful. They had made her a slave and had made it pretty clear they weren’t too fond of her. On top of it all, she had a smart mouth. He glanced at AJ and his heart dropped. AJ looked stricken.

“It wasn’t your fault man.” Howie said softly.

“Yes it was. If I hadn’t tried to get her to talk to me, she wouldn’t have gotten into trouble. God, they-they...” He choked up, unable to finish the sentence.

Howie couldn’t say anything to comfort his friend, only put an arm around his shoulder in a half hug.

~*~*~*~*~

The first thing I noticed when we reached the camp was that everyone seemed to be in really good spirits. It almost mocked my despair. There was almost an excited buzz about the place and I wanted to ask what was going on, but I didn’t dare. Brian and Kevin were taken to the infirmary and I was led to a different hut. My stomach was in knots. The natives that were escorting me tapped on the flap of the hut. Seconds later an older woman slid stuck her head through. They exchanged some words and then the native glared down at me.

“You obey or die.”

I nodded, my heart fluttering. What the hell was going on?? The older woman ushered me into the hut. Inside were several more women. Two of them were old enough to be my mother and three more couldn’t have been much older than me. I was shocked to see that one of them had light skin like me. Her hair was a little redder than mine used to be. She gave me a sympathetic smile. I tried to return it, but I was getting more and more nervous.

“Tonight is the night of the games!” One of the women told me, smiling broadly. She looked like she was in charge.

“You and your friends almost guarantee an interesting show.” Another added. They started talking in their native tongues and I glanced at the white girl, my face questioning.

“Your friends will fight.” She said quietly.

I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Great beasts.” She leaned forward. “It is very dangerous. Everyone will gather in a great circle. Your friends will be inside a big ring of torches. They will have to fight for their lives.” She said quietly.

I gasped. “Oh my god. No...”

“They will tell you to distract the beasts, you must not. You will die as well.” She whispered.

I shook my head in disbelief. “What can I do? You have to help me!”

“I’m sorry, I can’t do anything.” She said sorrowfully. “They could hurt me or my sister, Sasha.”

I nodded, understanding.

“Your bath.” One of the older woman interrupted. I glanced at the large metal tub, steam rising from it. It almost looked like something you would see out of a western movie. “It is heated.”

I wanted to run screaming from the hut, but that would only get me and possibly the others in trouble. I would have to come up with something. I had to do what I could to keep whatever these “beasts” were away from the guys. Even if that meant I would die.

Self-consciously I peeled my clothes off and sat down in the tub. I had to admit, the hot water felt really good on my sore and aching body. Two of the young natives started to bathe me and I protested. They ignored me so I just sat there until they were done. They gave me a large cloth to dry off with. The woman in charge smiled as she held she gestured to the small table behind me. My eyes grew wide.

“Ohhh no, you aren’t getting me in that!” I balked, drawing my makeshift towel closer around my body. I couldn’t believe this little “outfit” that was laid out for me. I didn’t even own a skirt that was as tiny as the piece of fabric that was as tiny as this one. The shirt was beautiful, I had to admit. The material had to have come from some animal and had been dyed a deep turquoise. Although, it too, was a little skimpy for my tastes. “What the heck?!” I demanded.

“Distraction.” The woman said as if that were an explanation.

“What, these beasts are supposed to see me in this and suddenly stop attacking my friends?!” I cried indignantly.

“No, that is for the men to admire.” She explained, smiling. My heart dropped and I felt even more uneasy. “The cape is to distract the beasts.” She pulled a folded cape from a cupboard and my jaw nearly hit the floor. It was even prettier than the shirt-thing. Like the shirt, it was made out of the skin on some animal. It was almost like soft leather and dyed in a swirl of bright bold colors. I supposed, to be able to get the attention of whatever animals were going to be in this ring. As quickly as I could, I put the clothes on and one of the natives put the cape around me. Next, to my surprise, they sat me down and took out a bunch of tiny little pots filled with more colors. They started expertly putting it on my face while another started to mess with my hair. Not but ten minutes later they put a piece of a broken mirror in front of my face. I gasped. I figured whatever they were doing to me was going to make me look like a freak show, but it actually looked really neat. Like make up, only more ornate. My smile was short lived when the head woman ushered me out of door of the hut. I looked around, shocked that the place was totally deserted.

“Where is everyone?” I asked her.

“Waiting.” She smiled at me.

My stomach tensed back up as I was led a different direction than I had ever been. The closer we got to our destination, the louder it got. I almost felt like I was going to be sick. The other natives that accompanied us were chattering excitedly in their native tongue. The only one that was quiet was the light-skinned girl I had talked to. Finally we reached the entrance of a cave and I looked questioningly at the old woman. This wasn’t what I had expected.

“You are to follow the path of the cave. It will go in a steep slope downhill and go back up. You will be at the side of the ring. They will release the beasts and you are free to try to save yourself or your friends. I will tell you a secret, you will want to please your crowd.” The woman stared deep into my eyes as she said this.

I nodded, my heart pounding. I started to walk towards the cave entrance, but stopped when I heard a soft “wait.” It was the red-haired girl. “Here.” She said softly, before turning and rushing to catch up with the rest of the women. I looked down at what she pressed into my hand.

A slingshot.

I said a quick prayer of thanks, putting it in my waistband and hoping this small weapon could give me a little bit of an edge. The cave was lit by torches along the walls and I hurried through it. The sun was just starting to go down and the sky was a splash of reds, oranges, and purples. It made the cave full of shadows. When I reached the end, a huge piece of cloth covered the opening. I said a quick prayer again before stepping through the curtain. I could almost see Nick shaking his head at me.

I was greeted with a large roar of approval and I instinctively stepped back, stunned by what I saw. I had come up through the side of the ring and it was freakin huge. A tight circle of torches made sure that no one could get out, animals included. All around the ring, it was almost like an arena. Cleary it was something that slaves had built. There were about six giant steps all on top of each other completely surrounding the ring. They were huge and the natives were packed like sardines to watch their entertainment. The noise grew louder and I unconsciously pulled the cape tighter around my body. My gaze traveled to the rest of the ring and on the opposite side, all five guys stood. I could make out a white bandage around Kevin’s head and Brian had a different shirt on. It looked like one a native would wear so I hoped that meant they fixed him up too. Then I noticed something else and my heart sank.

They had no weapons.

I wanted to run to them, but I had a feeling that the heavy piece of black cloth that was stretched across the ground was something significant. It was almost directly between us and I was surprised that I didn’t hear the noises that were coming from it before. The crowd must have drowned it out. A rope stretched across the ground, one end on the cloth, the other in the hands of a native. He yelled something out and the crowed roared back in approval. The man yanked the rope and the cloth gave way to a huge pit. The growling grew louder and my knees started to feel weak. Under the cape, I rested my hand on my small weapon and took a shaky step forward. A bunch of cheers followed and I took a deep breath. My whole body was trembling, but I was going to do everything in my power to keep these beasts from hurting my friends. Even if that meant I was going to become dinner for one of them. Any moment now they were going to come out of that pit and unleash their hell.

***

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