salute [james conrad] 1

Chapter 17

The sun rises behind the mountains, starting to illuminate the torn up boat which they are currently on.

Both Charlotte, Mason and James stare in front of them at Hank, who is leaning over a pile of rocks, one hand laying softly over them.

He turns to look at the three of them, patting the rocks.

"This man's name was Gunpei Ikari" He says, looking at the sword that is stuck between the rocks.

Charlotte shifts on her feet, looping one of her thumbs on her pant pocket as she stares at Hank.

"But you take away the uniforms... and the war... He became my brother" He admires, staring with sad eyes at the tumb.

"And we swore we'd never leave eachother behind" At this, his voice breaks, and Charlotte sees a hint of what might be a tear glistening in his eye.

Charlotte blinks, sadness overcoming her as she thinks back to Tyler, whom she had to leave behind as well.

Hank stands up, gaining her attention, and sighs, looking at the three of them with pure determination.

"Let's get off this Island" He says, as he grabs the sword, and raises it up, sliding it into his back.

_____

The team rushes to finish the last details of the boat, Charlotte helping James with the last touches, while Mason works on the outside of the boat, trying to pin down anything she can find.

Silvko tightens screws in the motor hole, while Nieves tries to start the engine.

He flips the switch, causing the motor to drown and let out a large ammount of smoke.

From inside the hole, Silvko yells.

"Ow! Not yet!" He yells at Nieves, looking out the hole and at him with anger before piling out of the hole.

James stands up straight, looking at Charlotte.

"Prime the lines" He says. Charlotte nods, turning back and looking at Hank, who also seemed to hear his instruction.

Both of them pile out of the boat, shifting the necessary levers to try and make it work.

"Let's go!" James then yells at everybody.

Charlotte watches Mason, who is struggling to shift the lever, and goes over to help her.

The both of them strain against the lever, panting for breath as she hears the Motor struggle to come to life, and then die down.

"Third time's the charm. Here we go. Here we go!" She hears Silvko yell, and she takes it as her cue to start pushing again.

She pushes, her hands aching as she growls in tired ness.

There's a moment of hesitation, and then she hears Silvko yell in victory.

"Yes!" He shouts, earning a smile from Charlotte as she stands up, climbing into the boat after Mason.

All of them laugh, high fiving each other as they laugh and cheer. 

James and Charlotte make eye contact, and she rushes over to him in the heat of the moment, hugging him with all her might.

She pulls away, laughing with him. Then starting to look around her, chuckling, she steps back, sharing laughs with the other team mates.

But it all dies down as she sees the tribe, which are all staring at them, stand on the edge of the deck, silent.