The Island

I tried to shake off the memories from the day before, tried to rub the image of Devin walking to his death out of my weary eyes but to no avail. Our group was shrinking, very quickly. Just Brian, Alec, Carrie, Tiffany, Derek, Cole, Me, and Kyle were left. Eight teenagers facing the untamed savagery of this despicable island. We went about doing our daily chores, relying on each other to stay sane but we were barely holding it together, and everybody knew it. Brian carried the guilt for Devin every day and it weighed heavily on his shoulders. It seemed to have undone him. Alec went hunting more and more often, and for increasing periods of time. He sometimes would linger by Brittany’s grave and weep for minutes, maybe an hour depending on the day. Cole and Kyle became closer than ever.

Every once in a while we would have another bonfire and share more stories of happier times and laugh together. Tiffany and Derek became absolutely inseparable and talked all the time.
Carrie broke down though when she got her period. Obviously there were no pads or tampons on the island, nor was there Midol so for about 5 days I sat with Carrie waist deep in the ocean, holding her hand while she bled out into the sea. When the cramps became excruciating on day 3 I heated a rag for her to lay on her abdomen. She writhed and cried in pain. None of the guys dared to come near us, not even Kyle. But because of this it gave Carrie and me a lot of time to talk and bond. I made her laugh to try and distract her from the pain and most of the time it worked. At first she was embarrassed but that passed quickly. After maybe a week or so things returned to normal, or rather as normal as it would get. That wouldn’t last for long though I thought as I fell asleep.

Devin was leaning over me, or rather his corpse. His skin had yellowed and rotted away in places. Tattered eyelids did little to protect his bloodshot eyes. His dark purple, bleeding lips were just a foot away from my face as he spoke “You horrible monster! You made me this way! Look at what you’ve done to me!” Tiny blood splatters flew onto my face from his horrid mouth. Suddenly his body convulsed and his head snapped back as a blood curdling shriek of agony escaped him. I ran away as fast as my rubbery legs would carry me until I tripped and fell face first into the sandy beach of the island. When I looked up he towered over me. I screamed as he pulled me up by my hair. I looked into his eyes as he brought up the other hand to caress my cheek. His long, blackened fingernails scratched my face. “I hope you’re happy.” Was all he said to me. He raised his knife above my head and I screamed.

I sat upright and screamed. It was just a dream, but it had seemed so real. Not seconds later I felt Kyle's arms around me as he whispered into my hair “Everything’s alright, it was just a nightmare. I’m here, you’re safe.” As he rocked me back and forth I heard something in the distance. A whirring sound, almost like a helicopter. A helicopter… wait a second, oh my God! “Kyle!” I screamed “A helicopter Kyle there's a helicopter coming! We’re saved!” I ran over to Brian and nearly fell on top of him I was so excited “Brian wake up there's a helicopter!” He jumped up and went to wake the others as I lit a fire. It was tiny though so we all helped to add to it. Wood, sticks, leaves; anything we could find that would burn. The flames grew to be almost as tall as me and threw glowing embers all over the dark beach. Finally the helicopter came into view. Everyone was jumping and screaming at the top of their lungs, waving their arms in the air, pretty much anything they could do to get attention.

All eyes were on the helicopter as it flew right over us and to everyone's distress, flew right past us. We watched in silence as the lights shrank into the blackness of the night, all thinking that maybe it would circle back around when the pilot realized that he had flown right past us. As the sound from the chopping blades faded people began to lose it. We all screamed and sobbed and stayed awake for hours, clinging to hope that was long gone. Eventually people began to pass out on the beach from exhaustion and I lay down, wondering if we would ever escape this wretched place. I stared at the stars and for the first time in a while thought of home, my own bed with soft blankets and fluffy pillows. What would happen to all of us if we went home right now? Would we go to counseling, therapy, maybe rehab? How could we ever return to school or face our peers again? And Kyle, what would he do? Would we stay together or drift apart? I looked over at his sleeping form; he looked so peaceful, as if all of the pain he had gone through had never happened. I wondered what I looked like when I sleep, probably hilarious. I smiled as I drifted in and out of sleep for a while.

In a way I suppose, the helicopter overlooking us helped us. Everyone now seemed to accept the fact that we would be on the island for a long time. We embraced our imminent deaths with a smile because we didn’t have any other options. Rather than walk, we bounced as we did our daily chores. I became more affectionate with Kyle but I didn’t kiss him, not once. I pondered this as I lay on the beach falling asleep