Unfit For Survival (Ark Fanfic.)

POV Swap: Benedetto Meeting Isabella

I hated the cursed island I found myself on. There was nothing redeemable about it that I could find. God was punishing me by placing me on it and I couldn't figure out why. I was a good man. I loved my family. I worked hard. I did all my mother asked of me and I was sentenced to Hell for crimes that I did not commit. 

Death would be preferable than allowing myself to waste away here.

It was a thought I often had. Away from my family and no way to return to them, I had no purpose. There was nothing for me here where I myself was nothing. 

The jungle I strode through was quiet as it typically was. I did not travel the island much and did not know my way around it but being alone in it now made it written in stone that I would not wander. I could not until I repented for what I did. But to do that, I needed to know what my sin was. 

I was familiar with the sounds in the area that I was but one caught my attention: a loud splash. It was different than the small ones that the island's strange beasts made. Perhaps it was the source of my death beckoning me to it. With that small hope forming an ember of fire in my heart, I readily approached the area that the sound came from. 

It wasn't a demon though. No. It was a young woman. Her movements were frantic as she flailed in the river down the hill from where I stood hidden in the shadows of the trees.  

"You can not run for long on your own, woman. Understand that. I will not be so kind when I find you." A voice I had heard before called to her from the small cliff she had obviously jumped from. It belonged to Friedrich, leader of one of the tribes that populated the island. I had a deep hatred for him and those in association with him. If there was one good thing about my situation, it was that he was in hell with me. 

The woman did not respond to him as she removed herself from the water. Had she only looked to the side then she would have spotted me but she didn't. In her hand was a canteen and a crude looking spear. She was trembling, either from the cold water or fear. But she didn't collapse like the weak woman she seemed like. Staying on her feet, she began running up the hill I had just descended. There was something about how she was attempting to hide her own fear from herself instead of being open with it that intrigued me. 

So I followed her. And I realized something by doing so. She was ignorant to the dangers she was around. A man with a knife was following her -me- and she was none the wiser. I found myself uncharacteristically angered by that. I knew I could not say anything to her about it because I resolved myself to never again allowing myself to get close to anyone in this cursed place. But I would watch her to ensure she left my area.

She tripped. A lot. She seemed very unfamiliar with traversing through nature. I had grown used to it during my time and had no issue with moving up the hill again. I smiled despite my feelings about the island when I saw her continuously rise back to her feet when she tripped over nothing. She was amusing to me. Why had she been sentenced to this hell?

Upon reaching the top of the hill, the young woman finally allowed herself to fall on the ground where she began drinking the water from her canteen in desperation. I was content enough to let her catch her breath until she moved on but that wasn't an option the moment a fat chicken decided to get itself stuck in the bush near me. Without knowing why, I ducked down behind the same bush as the stupid bird. I did not want the woman to see me because I wanted nothing to do with her. Having someone close to you on the island only meant that you had someone to lose. And I had lost enough already. 

"Get away! Please just leave me alone! Please please please! I'm begging you to not hurt me! Please!" She began shrieking in a high pitched tone that hurt my ears and echoed throughout the entire area. Her hands were reaching towards the weak spear that began slowly rolling away from her down the slope of the hill. When she internally decided that it might be too dangerous to go after it, she resigned herself to crying and screaming next to a large rock. Because I knew what it was that she was fearing, I couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the tears streaming down her face. Something I felt bad about.