The Island's Captives

Chapter Forty-One: At One's Wits End

Alexander Roman

"Even if it's my dying act...I'll prove it Pete!"
The words seemed to echo in my ears long after Wilson left Peter and I shocked-still on the beach. We had eventually snapped out of it and made the return back to the Carthage, but in silence. I didn't know what to say to Peter, and he seemed too emotionally distressed to even realize I was still with him. I had a good idea of what was going on in his mind, and I knew if I were in his place I probably wouldn't sleep for a week from all the stress. But knowing him, I was sure he would recover quickly. Peter wasn't one to remain in one spot for long.

When we reached the houses I saw Izzy and Amy were sitting by the volleyball area. Izzy was chatting in her usual girly manner, while Amy listened patiently as she tended to do.

Amy: the girl who was behind the latest of Peter's problems. It seemed strange to me that such a simple, quiet, and rather unremarkable person could have caused such trouble, but then it wasn't her fault. It was just unfortunate that one of the boys who had come to like her was extremely jealous and arrogant.

I looked at Peter, wondering how he felt about everything that had happened. He glanced over at Amy, but then quickly away, as though afraid. I was about to ask him what he was thinking when I heard Ronny running toward us.

"Guys! Where's Wilson? He didn't come?" I shook my head. "Oh...well I guess that's a good thing."

I was startled by that for a moment, did he forget that Wilson just killed Menelik? But then I remembered they had been friends, so Ronny probably still thought of him as one.
Ronny said, "Ludwig's still really sad about it all. Enkidu is with him now. What do we do?" I felt a bit of pain in my chest when I saw tears in his eyes, which he quickly wiped away. He took a deep breath and looked up at us, the tears coming back. "Guys...I wanna go home. It's awful here. At first it was nice and fun, but now everyone is mad and sad and trying to kill each other. Fawkes and them will soon have Wilson and that'll just make things worse. I'm sure they'll come back, and who knows how crazy they'll be by then?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but couldn't think of anything comforting and kept quiet. I looked over at Peter, hoping he could calm Ronny's nerves... and mine as well.

"I know," Peter said, "I do too. I-I wish I knew what to do to make things better." He cleared his throat, trying to keep himself from crying, and suddenly kicked some of the loose rocks on the ground. "This is all just so stupid! Why are we here? Don't they see we are going mad, that we need help?"

Peter sat down and we joined him, although it would have been more comfortable to go inside and sit on the couch. I wasn't about to bring that up, though, for I could see how troubled both Peter and Ronny were.

After some time Peter said, "I think, maybe, we should just keep quiet. Give ourselves some time to think through everything that's happened, in a calm way that is. No plans of revenge or attacking Fawkes' group or anything like that. Just, just come to grips with the fact that we are here on this island and may stay here forever, stuck with the same people. So...we might as well try to make peace with that."

"I'm not sure that makes me feel any better," Ronny said, "But I guess it's all we can do." Peter nodded.

Thinking about Wilson, I said, "But what about the other group? They don't seem like the type to sit around and do nothing, especially once Wilson gets over there."

"Well, we will handle that when it happens," Peter said. He was quiet for a moment but then said, "When I was over there, with them, I realized that, while they are definitely more crazy than us, they aren't all that bad. Daniel is the only one, aside from Wilson, who really seems to have a thing for hurting others and being mean. Alan, well, he's quiet and I doubt he would prefer violence to peace. And Fawkes, it's funny to say but I think he would also rather us all be friends instead of at each other's throats. He's bossy and likes to push people around, but I don't think he's exactly mean like Daniel and Wilson are. So, I guess I'm hoping that even if Wilson goes over there and tries to rile everyone up, Fawkes and Alan will be able to keep him and Daniel from doing anything. The girls other there didn't seem much interested in fighting either, so that puts two against four."

"Don't forget Rose," Ronny said. Peter shrugged.

"I don't know whose side she would be on, but even if she was with Daniel and Wilson they would still be outnumbered. And even if I'm wrong and Fawkes does decide to attack us again, we can prepare ourselves."

"To do what, fight?" I said.

Peter shook his head. "No, to run away. Maybe if they had Carthage they would be less angry with us. We can tell them we aren't interested in fighting and will give them whatever they want."

"And go live in the forest?" Ronny said, obviously shocked. "Pete, where will we find food and water?"

"Where do we find them now Ronny?" I said, rolling my eyes.

"Uh...oh yeah, in the forest. But still, I like my bed. I don't wanna sleep on the dirt."

"Well I'm hoping it doesn't come to that," Peter said, "I'm just saying we should be willing to do whatever to make them happy and finally find peace with each other."

"Oh, okay I gotcha," Ronny said. He looked over at the house where Enkidu and Ludwig were. "What about Ludwig? He was best friends with Menelik, what if he decides he wants to fight them?"

"We will just have to get him to see the reason for our staying quiet," Peter said. "That nothing good will come of us fighting each other."

I nodded and said, "Okay then, we will just wait and see what happens."

"Yes," Peter said, "And if, let's say, a week goes by without any sign of the other group, we will decide what to do next. For now, we keep to ourselves."