Poison Paradise - Damned of the 2/19th

Mysteries in the Green

"These are the last of them, except for the clothes that Tom's laying on," Raincloud said.

"Asshole wouldn't even get off his ass to let us take the clothes," Emily snarled. "He's really getting on my nerves."

Don just shrugged. "He's young, he probably lost someone in the crash. He'll come around."

"I lost someone in the crash and you don't see me treating everyone like shit," Emily said. "I lost my husband of ten years," she said, her voice still tight and angry, "And I'm working, making sure we survive till we get rescued."

The silence, broken only by the knocking sound from further in the jungle, was heavy with regret and loss.

"We're going to explore a little. Does anyone want to come with me?" Sarah asked, standing up.

"I'll go," Raincloud smiled. "My shoulders ache from carrying the luggage, but I think I've got enough left in me to take the scenic tour."

Charlie stood up, dusting off her hands. "I'll go too."

Kevin nodded, stretching. "I could use a break."

Mike nodded, moving over to the others. "Lori, you want to come along?"

"No, I'll stay here with the baby," Lori said, watching the baby sit on one of the ferns and yell "NO!" at the top of her lungs.

"I'll stay with her," Emily said. "We should always be in groups of two, just for safety."

The others nodded at that.

"We'll break up into groups of two," Richard said. He looked at Mike. "Wanna partner up?"

Mike nodded. "Sure. Sounds good."

"I'll go with Don," Raincloud said. "We get along."

"I'll go with you two," Kevin said, pointing at Don. "Don't wanna be the odd man out."

Charlie moved next to Sarah, smiling at the younger woman. "Looks like it's me and you. Pick a direction."

Sarah pointed at where the mountain would be. Well, what had tried to be a mountain. The peak was only a few hundred feet up, covered in vegetation on the island side, and mostly bare on the ocean side.

"Let's go that way. It's a couple miles, but we should be able to hike there and back by dark," Sarah said.

Charlie nodded. "Good plan."

Sarah walked over and picked up one of the knives. "Me and Charlie will take this with us, just in case."

The others just nodded.

"Leave the other one here with us, please?" Emily asked.

"Just make sure the baby doesn't play with it. He really put an edge on them," Don said.

"I know not to let babies play with knives, Don," Lori said, her voice dry.

"Sorry," Don said. He turned to other two men. "Well, let's get moving. We'll head right, if you ladies don't mind heading straight."

"Sounds good," Charlie said, smiling.

The three groups left the clearing, Don, Kevin, and Raincloud heading toward the mountain, veering right; Charlie and Sarah heading straight toward where the mountain would be; with Mike and Richard heading in the opposite direction.

"What do you think we're going to find?" Mike asked the other man, wiping sweat off his brow.

Richard shrugged. "Probably nothing."