Holiday In Cambodia

It wasn't a feeling that Mike had had in a very long time, but that didn't mean he didn't recognise it. He'd had enough nights on drugs in his late teens and early twenties to make him horribly aware of what a comedown felt like, and combining it with a splitting hang over didn't do anything to ease the discomfort.

For a long while, he couldn't open his eyes. He just groaned at the way every single muscle in his body felt as though it had turned to liquid, and was thankful for the small mercy that he had something soft beneath his head.

He could hear murmuring voices nearby, voices that were at once familiar to him. Tre. That was definitely Tre's voice. There was no mistaking it. But what was Tre doing in his hotel room? He didn't care enough to give it a second thought, and soon he could hear other voices, gradually raising in volume and pitch as they became increasingly irate. Soon, they were loud enough to drown out the sound of the waves crashing onto the beach, and it was at this point that Mike's brain told him to stop and focus. Phnom Penh was in the middle of the fucking country. It didn't have a beach. Mike opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was Lara, the Vietnamese Canadian they'd met in the bar the night before. She was sprawled out next to him on the sand, her jet-black hair covering her face, hugging her backpack to her chest. Beyond her he could see a small group standing together, but his vision was too blurry to make out who they were. Behind them, he could see the ocean. The ocean? He was on a beach. Which meant he had to be dreaming. That must be it. He was dreaming. Mike closed his eyes again.

Billie Joe's heart was pounding so hard he could hear it in his head. He put a hand up to his face as he paced the sand, listening to Jack and Rick arguing in front of him. Tre and Jason were at his side, stupefied expressions on their faces as they tried to cope with the aftermath of everything they'd put in their bodies the night before, and the realisation of where they were, all at the same time.

"How the fuck did you talk me into getting the night train, Jack?" Rick was complaining, "All my shit is still sitting in that fucking crapjoint in Phnom Penh, my fucking passport is in there! I have to go all the way back again, or I can't leave this country, let alone actually get home!"
"Okay, calm down." Jack reassured him, "Look, I have no idea. I have the vaguest of memories of last night, man, and I'm really sorry, okay? But I can't believe that I'm solely responsible for making a whole bunch of people get on a train."
"But-"
"We'll just have to go back to Phnom Penh and get out stuff from the guesthouse. It cuts into travel time, but-"
"For fuck's sake!" Billie Joe interjected, "Cut's into travel time?! You aren't fucking kidding! Me and the guys have to be on a plane to Hong Kong this afternoon! What the hell are we supposed to do?!"
"Get another flight?" Jack suggested.
"This is our other flight! We don't have time for this! People are expecting us! I can't believe I let myself get so fucking out of it... "
"Me either," said Tre, gloomily, holding his head as he sat down on the sand, "I feel like... there are no words to describe... the magnitude of how shit I feel... "
"What the hell were we smoking last night?" Billie Joe demanded, looking up from Tre to fix Jack with an accusing stare.
"I don't know," Jack replied, icily, "You're the one who smoked it. I kind of thought you were old enough to take care of yourself."
"He has a point, Bill," said Jason, "We fucked this up pretty good on our own."
"I just can't believe I don't remember anything!" Billie Joe groaned, kicking at the sand and sending a cloud of it towards Jack's feet, "I mean, shit, I thought my days of getting high and waking up on fucking beaches were over!"

As the others began to stir, the resulting commotion was interrupted by Amber, who was standing a few metres away, her hands on her hips as she looked out at the ocean, realisation suddenly hitting her.
She turned around, fear stirring in her stomach, not so much at the realisation itself as at the way she knew it was going to go down with the others.

"Guys... " she said tentatively.

It had no effect on the new arguments that had broken out with the awakening of Lara and Mia, who appeared to be blaming each other for no apparent reason. Mike had also woken up, and involved himself in a tense exchange with Jack, who everyone seemed to consider the main reason they were here.

"Guys!" she yelled.

They turned around. Lara and Mia continued to bicker, but she decided to ignore them.
"We have a problem."
"Yeah, no shit!" Mike exclaimed, exasperated.
"I mean... " Amber sighed, "Look, it's slightly more problematic than we thought, okay? But I don't want anyone to panic... alright?"
"Who's fucking panicking?!" Billie Joe yelled, "And what are you talking about?"
Amber put her hand to her head and pointed out to sea.
"See that?"
Rick squinted along with the others.
"It's an island," he replied.
Amber shook her head.
"It isn't an island," she replied, "It's the mainland. This is the island."

In the silence that followed, Amber bit her lip, watching everyone's eyes flick from herself to the horizon and back again.
"No way," said Mike, eventually, holding up his hands. He raised his voice. "No fucking way!"
"I did not get on a boat last night," said Billie Joe.

His voice was firm, but Amber could see fearful uncertainty in his eyes.
"Did you get on a train?" she frowned at him, and he was silent, before his hands went to his hair and he sank down onto the sand.
"How in hell did we get on an island?" Jason demanded, standing up, "What kind of fucking idiot takes a bunch of people who are too fucking wasted to walk to an island and leaves them there?!"
"Whoever did it won't have cared what state we were in, as long as they got their money," said Maggie, without raising her head from her knees.
"Okay," said Jack, "Look, everyone just fucking chill for one moment!"
"I am not going to chill!" Billie Joe yelled, raising his head.
"Does anyone remember anything?" Jack asked, ignoring him, "Even where we decided we were going?"
"Ha Tien. On the Vietnam border."
Everyone turned to look at Mia as she spoke, and she shrugged.
"I don't know why that is in my mind."
"Ha Tien," said Jack, frantically, pulling a map out of his back pocket. Everyone crowded round it, with the band mates letting out loud curses when they saw how far they had come from Phnom Penh.

"Fuck," Jack muttered under his breath, looking from the map to the ocean and back again, "Fuck, fuck... "
"You know... I think I remember the boat," said Lara, groggily.
The others turned to look her way.
"You do?" Jack asked her, "What else can you remember? What else can anyone remember?"
"I think I can remember the train," said Rick, rubbing his forehead, "Or at least being at the train station. But I can't remember a boat."
"I remember fuck all," said Billie Joe, bitterly, and there were murmurs of agreement all round.

Jack took a seat on the sand, still studying the map, before reaching for his backpack and pulling out his guidebook. Billie Joe rolled his eyes.
"I can't fucking believe this," he muttered to Tre, who sat by his side.
"I don't think any of us can," said Tre, "But hey, I guess it's a story to tell. We haven't done anything this crazy in a while... "
"You always manage to find a silver lining, don't you, man?" said Billie Joe, cracking a smile for the first time.

Jack bit his lip as he closed his guidebook.
"Fuck," he whispered, but nobody heard him. They were all too caught up in talking about how the hell they were going to get back to Phnom Penh to hear him. He rubbed his tired eyes, and then stood up, leaving his map lying on the sand.
"Guys... " he said, holding up his hands, "Listen. I think we're in trouble."
The group looked up.
"You mean more so than we are now?" Jason asked.
Jack closed his eyes for a moment, then picked up the map again.
"Yes," he said, and then he sighed. "Okay, everybody look at this. We're here... Ha Tien... Okay?"

Everyone looked to where Jack's finger was pointing on the map.
"Right," said Jason.
"And we're on an island about... well, I'd say... ten miles out."
"No way," said Tre, firmly, "No way is that ten miles."
"Distances over water are bigger than you think," Amber told him.
Tre put his head back on his knees.

"Anyway," said Jack, "The islands to the West of Ha Tien, at that distance, are pretty minute. As far as I can tell, this one isn't even on the map. And it says in the book that there aren't many islands that the city has any major dealings with. Mainly, they're just nature reserves. There aren't any boats that go to these islands."
"Come the fuck on," said Rick, impatiently, "We didn't, like, apparate here... ."
"And I remember a boat," Lara reminded him, "Vaguely... "
"If you'd let me finish," said Jack, huffily, "Look... it says there are a number of small islands that tourists can't visit. They only get used for crop production, and by scientists maintaining wildlife, like counting species numbers and stuff. So, boats do go, but they only go weekly, and nobody is allowed to remain on the island in between."

Everyone was very quiet.
"Right," said Jason, "So basically, we aren't supposed to be here. That means someone will come back for us... right?"
"No, it means no one was supposed to take us here in the first place," Amber explained, wearily, covering her face, "It means we got a dodgy boat guy who just wanted to make some money off us... "

The group was quiet again, each trying to sift through this information and settle it in their minds, amongst the agony of their hangovers.
"Okay," said Jason, his voice hoarse as he spoke, fearful of the answer to the question he was about to ask, "Are you saying... that we're stuck here... until another boat comes by... in a week?"

Everyone turned to Jack, who dropped the map back onto the sand.
"Yeah, looks like it," he mumbled.

"What the fuck?!" Tre exploded.
"We can't be here a week!" Rick yelled, "You think that fucking shit pile guesthouse is going to keep hold of my stuff for a week? I don't think so!"
"And I have a flight to Koala Lumpur on Thursday," groaned Maggie.
"Oh my fuck," muttered Billie Joe, as he began to pace again.
Mike stood up.
"Look!" he shouted, "We are not staying on a fucking beach for a week! We have a fucking schedule to keep to! We have to find a way back. We don't have time for this! We have a tour schedule!"
"You have a tour schedule?" Jack yelled back, "Really? Well, fuck. Hold on everyone. Never mind we're stuck here without any food and water for a fucking week, never mind we have to survive in a tropical country without any shelter, the band have a schedule!"
"There must be another way," said Lara, desperately, as Mike glowered.
"Look at the map!" exclaimed Amber, throwing up her hand, "There is no other way!"

"No," said Tre, into his hands, "No, no... no."
"Get a fucking grip!" Jack yelled.
"Don't tell him to get a grip!" said Rick, angrily, "This is a pretty fucking depressing bombshell you've dropped, Jack."
"I've dropped?!"
"Well, I was fine last night until you gave me that herbal tea!" shouted Billie Joe.
"He didn't pour it down your throat with a funnel," Lara snapped.
"We have people expecting us in Hong Kong this afternoon!" Mike cried.
"Well, you definitely won't be there," Maggie responded, helpfully.

"Look!" yelled Jack, "It's one week! I survived in the Australian outback for three with absolutely nothing and I was fine! The only difficult part of this is going to be surviving the fucking Yanks-"
"Hey," Maggie protested.
"I didn't mean you," he amended, before looking back at the band, "I meant the other Yanks who I'm going to have to listen to whining about not having any damn shampoo and being more than a stone's throw from the nearest fucking Subway!"
As the other guys looked ready to launch themselves at Jack, Tre groaned.
"A Chicken Pizziola would go down real nice right now... "
Jason turned to him.
"Not helping our case, Tre."
Tre put his head back down.

"I can't fucking believe you!" Billie Joe yelled, "This isn't about fucking shampoo, asshole, this is about letting down thousands of people who want to see us!"
"Ooh well, lucky me," replied Jack, sarcastically, "I get to see you every fucking minute for a whole week!"
"Look, shut up!" Jason shouted, standing up and stepping between Jack and Billie Joe, "This is not helping!"
"Agreed," said Amber, folding her arms over her chest.

"What is going on?" asked Mia, suddenly speaking up, "I can't underst- speak slower!"
"Learn English faster!" Lara growled.
"Well, that was tolerant," said Maggie, disapprovingly, as she narrowed her eyes at Lara.

"Look!" Amber yelled, "We're stuck here! We're hurting, and we're hungry. Does anyone remember how we got here? No! So what's the point in fighting about it? Just, fuck, I can't cope with you guys right now!"

With that, Amber kicked at the sand, before storming off across it towards the trees that lined the beach. Jack yelled after her and, when she ignored him, cursed under his breath before running off after her into the trees.

For what seemed like a very long time, nobody said anything. Billie Joe continued silently pacing, his fingers tugging at his hair. Mike and Jason watched his converse kicking up the sand as they moved back and forth, while their minds tried frantically to work through their predicament. Tre kept his face pressed into his arms, his eyes closing as his hangover threatened to send him back into unconsciousness.

Suddenly, the silence was punctuated by the sound of Maggie beginning to cry.
"Hey, come on," said Lara, reassuringly, as Rick put an arm around her, "Don't cry Maggie, we're going to be fine."
"Yeah," Rick agreed, hugging her closer, "I mean, I thought you were a tough backpacking chick. You can cope with a week on a beach."
"Without food and water?"
"Well," sighed Lara, "We'll figure something out... Jack and Amber... they know what they're doing."
"I just can't cope with all the yelling," said Maggie, quietly, wiping her eyes, "I hate arguing... "

Lara looked pointedly at Billie Joe, and he let out a sigh as he sat down on the sand, putting his head in his hands.
"I'm sorry, Maggie," he said, quietly, "I'm just finding this hard to deal with. We all are. We aren't used to this lifestyle like you guys are. We're just... thrown in at the deep end."
"But Amber was right," said Mike, "The arguing is only making it worse. Every single one of us is responsible for being here. Nobody got forced into this."
"I feel like such a fucking idiot," said Jason, rubbing his hand over his face.
"We're all fucking idiots," said Maggie, taking a breath as she composed herself again.

Billie Joe reached out and touched her knee.
"You okay?"
She nodded, firmly.
"Yeah," she said, "I'm fine."
"We should really be thankful that everyone's fine," said Rick, drawing in the sand with his finger, "The state we were in, anything could have happened to us. We could have woken up floating on a boat in the ocean."
"That's true," said Lara, with a small smile, "I guess there's always a worse option."
"It's just... we have people expecting us in Hong Kong," said Mike, "It's okay for you guys, you're free to go where the hell you like, but we have people expecting us to step off a plane tonight, and when we don't... "
"Adrienne's gonna throw a fucking mental," said Billie Joe, his head dropping onto his knees. Off Rick's raised eyebrow, he explained. "My wife. She's gonna be worried sick when the crew tell her we didn't show. And if she doesn't hear from me for a week... "
He closed his eyes and let out a sigh.
"Well," he continued, "If it were the other way around, I'd be going crazy with worrying about her. I hate to put her and the kids through that."
Mike put an arm around Billie Joe's shoulders.
"She'll be worried sick," he agreed, "But you know Adie. She's tough and she'll be able to hold things together. And in a week's time, you will be stepping off a plane, and no one will have come to any harm."
Billie Joe nodded silently, looking back down at the sand.

Silence fell over the group once again, each one lost in their thoughts, and it wasn't long before they heard the sound of approaching voices and looked up to see Jack and Amber coming out of the trees hand in hand. There was a low murmur of greeting as they approached, and Amber spoke up.

"Sorry," she said, "I just feel like shit, and when I feel like shit, I'm not the most patient of people."
"She isn't the most patient of people, full stop," said Jack, squeezing Amber's hand as he offered her the slightest of smirks.
"Anyway," she said, letting out a sigh, "Jack and I walked to the other side of the island. It's bigger than I thought."
"How big?" Mia asked, looking up from picking at her nail varnish.
"I'd say... about three square miles or so," she replied, "And on the other side of those rocks is a small rice plantation."
"Any sign of life?" Mike asked, hopefully.
"Only if you count a few monkeys," she replied, ruefully, "But the rice at least gives us something to live off."
"We can't just take it," said Jason, "I mean... isn't that somebody's living?"
"It's that or starve," Jack shrugged, crossing his arms, "And there's heaps. No one's going to know."
Billie Joe sighed, still finding it hard to believe what was happening.
"Alright," he nodded, "So what do we do now?"

Amber surveyed the miserable-looking group. Rick and Lara were still huddled around Maggie, and Tre looked like shit. He hadn't even lifted his head since she'd come back over to the beach.
"Okay," she sighed, "There's every chance a boat will come... at any time... but we have to be prepared to be here for a while. At least a week, right? And that means we're going to have to pull together. Guys... I know you're pissed off, and its crap that you're missing your flight, and I'm sorry we got you into this mess but... it sucks for everyone, okay?"
The guys mumbled an agreement, and Amber continued.
"I know heaps about survival, but I can tell already that the hardest part of this is going to be coping with each other. And staying here a week is going to be fucking shit but it's survivable. But doing it with you lot screaming at each other... that isn't."
Jack looked down at his feet. So did everybody else.
"So," said Amber, "What does everyone have with them? Does anyone have a mobile phone?"
"I told everyone to leave theirs at the guesthouse," said Jack, regretfully, "I thought they'd get half-inched if we took them out in Phnom Penh."
"I have mine," said Billie Joe, pulling his from his pocket, "But I already checked, and I don't have reception."
"Nothing?"
"Nope, crap-all."
"Pass it here," said Jack, holding out his hand, "I'll see what I can do."

Billie Joe began to pass it forward, then hesitated.
"Wait, what are you going to do to it?"
Jack rolled his eyes.
"Cut it into smaller pieces and see if it works better."
"Is it possible for British people to answer a question without sarcasm?" Rick asked.
"No," Jack smirked, as Billie Joe tossed him his phone, "We have a physical abnormality that prevents us from being sincere."
Rick rolled his eyes, as Jack ambled off down the beach, before attempting to climb onto the rocks at the far end, to get the phone higher into the air.

"Okay," said Amber, taking charge again, "I don't know if there's a freshwater supply around here, so who has any with them?"
"I've got heaps," said Maggie, producing a bottle of water from her backpack, with Rick, Lara and Mia doing the same thing.
"Great," said Amber, "Jack and I have some too, we'll share it out later."
"Share it out?" Mia frowned, "There is ten of us. If we share it out, there will only be a very tiny amount each."
"But if we don't, the others will probably die from dehydration," Lara argued, "Sound fair to you?"
Mia scowled.
"It is a hot country," she responded, "If they were too stupid to carry water, that is their fault."
"Oh, for fuck's sake," said Amber, crossly, "Mia, if you don't want to share it, that's your call, just don't expect anyone else to share anything with you."
Mia scowled a bit more, and took a sip of her water.

Amber sighed in frustration, and wished she didn't always slide into the role of leader. Looking up, her heart jumped into her throat at the sight of Jack, who was now about fifteen feet up a sugar palm, waving Billie Joe's phone around in the air.
"Still fuck all!" he yelled, "I'm coming down!"
"Okay!" she called back, nervously, "Jack, just be careful how you-"

Before she had finished her sentence, he had jumped, and she rolled her eyes as he picked himself up off the sand, trying to disguise his limp as he rejoined the group and tossed Billie Joe his phone back.

"Look," said Lara, biting her lip, "I just thought of something else. You guys didn't know you were coming here so... have you been vaccinated?"
This caused Tre to raise his head.
"Against what?"
"Um.. Hepatitis... tuberculosis... typhoid... uh, rabies... yellow fever?"
"No," said Mike, putting a hand to his forehead, "No, no, no. I didn't plan on being exposed to fucking yellow fever in a concert arena in Hong Kong."
"What about malaria?" Jason asked, fearfully, "Is there malaria here?"
"Yeah," said Maggie, "But I stocked up on malaria pills when I was in Bangkok, and there should be enough to go round. I have repellent too. If you don't get bitten... you'll be okay. But you guys... you're gonna have to be careful."
Jason nodded, as Tre lowered his head again.
"Rabies..." he muttered, "I can't fuckin' believe this..."

It took a long time for the hangovers to ease up and the comedowns to wear off, and the bickering amongst the group continued throughout the afternoon until they did. Rick eventually managed to reason with Mia as they divided up their stuff, before Jack, Jason and Lara headed off into the trees to forage in the rice plantation.

The fact that Lara was continuing to ignore Jason didn't make the job any easier, and Jason found himself getting increasingly angry at the way she avoided his questions, and the way her attention didn't stray from Jack on the walk through the forest. He watched them through the leaves as he ripped up the rice plants harder than was probably necessary, his mind reeling.

He was used to fans ignoring him, and was never bitter about it. It was no surprise that, when Billie Joe, Mike and Tre were around, he would fade into the background. It was their band, after all. Most of their fans probably didn't know who he was, and why should they?

But this wasn't some backstage meet and greet. This wasn't about the band now. He was stuck in a foreign country with this girl. This was personal, and it was just fucking rude. Jason let out a hard breath of frustration was he filled up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. Sometimes getting involved with a band like Green Day seemed like much more trouble than it was worth.