Lost Island

Chapter 2: The Day After

Levi watched the wooden hut expectantly. He was drumming a comforting thumb on his temple to lessen the mean headache that was dominating his features.

Any moment now the senior Captain Drake would ring the bell that sat in front of his own desk. That's how they knew it was time to come inside. If they came in before the bell they best have end-of-the-world news if they didn't want to come out shaking. That's Captain Drake. His rules must be obeyed.

Levi's heachache continued, not subsiding in the slightest. Maybe he shouldn't have gone to the docks today. Maybe it was a bad idea. He certainly wasn't looking forward to explaining to the captain why he was covered in bruises and he guessed the rest of the day could very well be filled with many headaches. But it was too late now. He was there and he wasn't leaving.

His side was suddenly filled without any warning and he flinched, his shoulders shooting upward accusingly. The person beside him had taken a step back at his movement.

It was a man with long, shoulder length red hair looking to be in his twenties. A light mustache was beginning on his any-but threatening features. His brown eyes were wide and alert, his lips struggling to come up with any words. Levi had never seen him before.

"What happened to you?" the man couldn't help but ask.

Levi looked at him for a moment, thinking up an answer. He pondered his eyes upon the hut, hoping to be saved by the bell, but it didn't ring. "I fell down the stairs." His voice gave his lie away with all the shakiness and his face didn't match his answer either; Levi was a bad liar.

The man didn't look convinced but let it go anyway. "Hey...I'm new. Do we go in there?" the man asked, nodded at Captain Drake's hut. "I saw you eyeing it."

"Yeah. But only when we hear the bell." Levi looked at him after a moment and realized he should introduce himself. "I'm Levi Peters," he said, offering a hand in which was accepted by a shy one. "Who are you?"
"Harry Shaw," he answered, shaking his hand with a small smile on his face. "What about him?" Harry gave a nod Paul's direction. Looking over, Levi was given a pair of tense eyes by Paul who stood close by.

Levi tested the dock, producing a series of creaks as he looked at the ground. "Paul Rodgers," he said finally, looking back at the hut. He expected to hear the bell any moment now. Any moment now.

Levi put the pieces together easily. Harry was Jonathan's replacement.

Ding-a-ling. Ding-a-ling. Levi started for the hut, Harry joining this side, and a pair of steps behind him belonging to Paul.

Levi swung the door wide open for the coming members. As he stepped inside he braced himself for a series of questions by the captain about his face.

Captain Drake was occupied in his seat and his feet were covering half of his desk, leaving the other half for his paperwork. He held his usual deep frown on his slightly wrinkled face and his gray hair was padded with sweat from the day's heavy heat.

"Alright," he began, removing his feet off the desk and overviewed the three crew members. From Paul, to Harry, and then to Levi. The captain's eyes widen in surprise, clearing needing some decent and convincing answer to tame his expression. "Levi," he said in a stern voice, and waved his hands in a questioning manner. "W...what happened?"

Levi's heartbeat hitched up a notch when all eyes went on him. He looked at them nervously and attempted to look at the captain with a sincere expression. "I fell down the stairs."

Captain Drake nodded, unbelievingly. "I need to get to the mission, so if you don't mind I'd like an honest answer." He breathed, before saying," I need an honest crew."

"I got into a fight," he admitted finally. He took a glimpse at Paul. Betrayal was on his face.

Captain Drake looked at Levi for a moment, before getting back to the mission. He could always seem to catch a lie. But anyone could determine if Levi was telling the truth or not because he was terrible at it.

"I was radioed by survivors who were involved in a rough plane crash that landed on an island. They say it's a pretty large piece of land. There's only three survivors that they know of, the crash killing about two hundred people." The captain caught the jaw drop of the red-haired man. "Harry, right?" he said.

Harry confirmed his question with a nod, along with, "Yes, captain."

"You must know," he began, "Jonathan was a good man. You have big shoes to fill, Shaw."

"I won't disappoint you, Captain," he insisted and watched the captain dismiss his eyes from him.

"Alright, well, they claim of there being snakes on the island. That the snakes took it over, that they're everywhere and one claimed they were Burmese Pythons," Captain Drake vocaled, rising from his seat and walked over to the wooden door.

"Snakes? Great," Paul commented sarcastically.

He opened it, revealing the overly heated outside and the tame-looking blue sea. A few fluffy clouds sat high in the sky. One of the many docks lead them to their ship.

Levi trailed behind the captain and the crew with draggy steps, feeling a headache beginning to start up again. This would be the second one that day and it wasn't even noon. He held his hand on his sweaty temple. He hoped this wasn't going to be the theme that day.

The headache dimmed down a little by the time they reached the end of the dock.

Wooden steps were provided to get on board the yacht. Captain Drake walked up first, then Harry, Paul, and then Levi.

"Welcome aboard Peyton, Harry," Captain Drake announced, turning towards his crew. Peyton. The name rung in Levi's head. That was the name the captain had given the ship after his wife's death nearly two years ago. No one had dared to ask how she had died, fearing the reaction to such a question would go badly.

"Okay," Captain Drake spoke up again, earning everyone's attention, "so I stocked us up with enough food and water to make the trip and to get back. It's stored away downstairs." He looked around the yacht, breathing deeply. "Levi, begin watching the seas with 'em binoculars. Paul," he said, making a sharp nod at one of the two cannons that were established on a side of the ship, the other on the other side.

As Levi strode toward the high flagpole he heard, "Harry, come on. Let's have a look 'round the place, yeah?" That was the captain.

Levi soaked his hands into the net and dug his feet on it, and began climbing up. This was the perfect job for him because he was great at climbing. He had a tendency of climbing in tall trees for fun and he would just sit there for a while, enjoying the nature.

High up, he held his binoculars with a hand and was prepared to be this way for a couple hours. Whenever his body cried out, he'd just re-adjust himself.

A couple minutes later he saw Harry and Captain Drake come up the steps that lead to the downstairs. Now they could get moving.

When Harry looked back and forth for a few moments, eyeing the two cannons, a voice of irritation spoke up. "Use your compass, H. We oughta get going." That was Captain Drake.