The Island's Captives

Chapter Forty-Four: Carpe Diem

Amelia Garcia

Despite what Peter had told us some time ago, no one was yet to leave Carthage to head over to the other side of the island. It seemed as though everyone lived in their thoughts, silence and frustration replacing the conversation and joy that existed before Wilson and Peter's fight.

I felt a dull pain in my heart as I thought of my former friend. Since that traumatic day I had felt a changing in myself, in my emotions and heart. Nights of thought and meditation had followed, leaving me emotionally and physically tired. All feelings had cooled, so that I no longer even felt a giddy joy at Peter's presence. He seemed to notice this and, at first, acted confused and tried to revive my interest. This stopped after a couple days, Alex giving his quiet gratitude to me in small smiles each time I kept my distance from his best friend. I supposed he thought it was in Peter's best interest to not be involved with any girl for the moment and I, after all my thinking, agreed.

I wasn't entirely sure what everyone else's thoughts consisted of, but they didn't seem to be positive ones. Ludwig especially was more moody and irritable than before, and this was starting to affect Izzy, who spent more and more time with him. Ronny alone tried to make things less quiet and serious, but his jokes and humor didn't cheer anyone. To show appreciation I stuck around him more than the others, but we had little to say to each other. Most of the time I think we just remembered how at one time Wilson was with us, and how fun it had been for that short time.

There came a day when I finally made up my mind. If no one was going to try to fix things, then I would. I was nervous about meeting Wilson again, and possibly arguing with Fawkes and Daniel, but I thought I had the best chance of calming them than anyone else.

It was midday when I made my way down the path to the beach. I hoped no one would notice or give much thought to my absence till I was out of sight. With everyone quiet and keeping to themselves, though, it was pretty easy. Well, this is definitely the easy part. I know it won't be so when I meet Wilson, Fawkes, and Daniel.

I thought again over what I was doing, but I had spent too much time preparing myself for this to back out now. Even though that 'preparing' had mostly been just encouraging myself to go to the other side, rather than thinking about what I would say to them. I decided I could apologize on behalf of everyone of Carthage, and see if they were willing to forgive and forget. Agree to whatever demands they might have, so long as no one was hurt—or killed. I sighed, and almost turned back to return to Carthage. A low rumble caught my attention and I looked up to see some dark clouds gathering. Of course, a storm.

It wasn't raining yet, so I knew I still had time to go to Fawkes' place. Eventually, pulling together all my inner strength, I continued on my way.

I was only about halfway there when it began to rain, heavily. Knowing there was still some distance ago, I headed into the trees for shelter. I had to go several yards in before I found a somewhat shady spot from the rain, but my spirits were already low. I should've just gone back to Carthage... this was a stupid idea.

How much time passed I couldn't be sure of, it seemed to drag on for hours. Suddenly I saw a light, or at least I was certain I did. It came from the beach, so I left my shaded spot and headed toward where I had seen it. Perhaps it was the others, though I couldn't remember there being a flashlight among the boxes. Certainly not one so bright.