Chapter Twelve : Thicker Than Water
This island was like an impossible itch. An itch that was deep inside your anatomy, underneath all the nerves and muscle. There was nothing to relieve it, it was like I was scratching the surface skin and hoping it would stop the sensation but all it did was frustrate me even more.
I hadn't slept more than a few hours. My eyes burned and my thoughts felt hollow. I had washed myself and got dressed, tying my shoes together before meeting Piper in the middle of the campsite. Yesterday, when I had gone to the stream, it was to understand more of the layout of the Island.
I'd say we all were underestimating just how big this piece of shit land was. There was a mountain range that I could barely make out deep inland and before it, bamboo groves that sheltered the caverns. The landscape held different shades of green and that meant different trees, which meant... we had a chance. If we could find a way to hunt inland as well as out in sea, then we at least had a shot at doing this with close to no knowledge.
"I need you to get a group and go fishing today," Piper said tying her hair up. "There are spear-looking like things with sharp ends in the store cupboards. Be careful."
"It's nice to know you care, Chief," I smirk. "Watch out, your nice side's starting to show."
I didn't let her answer because I walked up to the middle of the campsite and stood on a large boulder before cupping my hands around my mouth. "Alright, I need a group of about four or five people to go out and help me hunt. Today's fishing means you got to be able to handle a rod in your hand and actually catch something."
My voice boomed across the entire site and I saw as everyone started rounding where I stood. Piper had her palm on her forehead, rolling her eyes, but my attention went elsewhere.
Harvey was standing outside the boys bunker, pulling his shirt over his head. He had a fresh set of stickers around his temple and his hair was wet, dripping down onto his face. Because Cortland slept in the infirmary last night and took one mattress with him, I had a bed to myself and so did another guy. Harvey slept with a ginger kid that I couldn't remember the name of, but he looked like a fucking idiot. My lips turned and I forced my gaze back to the people in front of me.
It was mostly the guys that had their hands up but a couple girls did too. I picked the five people that I thought would have the best shot and jumped off my boulder, purposively ignoring the ginger kid when he raised his hand. Four boys and one girl followed me out to the bunkers in silence. When I passed Harvey, I looked him down and saw his cheeks heat as he frowned at me. "Morning, Princess. Get your beauty sleep?" I pushed past him and didn't hear him but I could have bet money that he swore at me. A smirk pulled at my lips.
Once we took the spears, the group followed me back down the trail and into the shoreline. Stepping on the beach, I threw my spear down into the sand and watched as they awaited instructions.
"Tell me your names again so I can call it out when you fuck up." I was bored already.
Nicholas, Miguel, Noah and the girl was called Tove.
"These are shark infested waters, that plus our inability to find a fucking raft on this island means we have to stick to the shallow areas surrounding the beach," I pointed out towards the ocean, showing the idiots. Look idiots, don't go past where you can't walk.
"If you know how to throw a javelin, use the same technique if you see a big fish in the distant water, but I'd suggest keeping to the ones that are closer to you." I squint to see that there are some boulders and rocks out in the sides of the shorelines now that the tide was low. "We can try going to the boulders there another day, but today let's see what we can do."
I look back at the wide eyes. Everyone seemed to be nervous except for Tove. Man, give me strength.
"I assume all of you can swim?" Tove turned to ask. Oh yeah, good point.
Everyone nodded and then we went out to sea.
Halfway through the process, Tove and I had caught fifteen medium sized fish between the two of us and Miguel had caught two. Nicholas looked like he was more scared of the fish than they were of him, but I'd switch him out tomorrow. Miguel had caught his third fish and was bringing it towards the banana leaf we had spread out in the island, when he stopped and turned around to us.
"Yo, how we going to cook these?" he asked.
I held the spear behind my shoulders and rotated my head to get some of the strains out from looking down the entire morning. The incredibly salty water was beginning to give me a migraine and I had about ten more minutes of energy left within me.
"I'm going to go take the fish to Harvey, he'll de-scale them and do whatever he wants and then we'll probably put it on a spit above the fire in the afternoon." Time felt like it went slower on this island. Like it had its own physical rules.
I heard Miguel snicker, "You think twinkle toes will know how to handle something that doesn't involve icing?"
I gritted my teeth. But he kept going, "I heard that one in every ten people are gay or something. I didn't think it would be that easy to spot the faggot."
I licked my bottom lip and smiled at Miguel. I handed my spear to Tove who took it without asking for an explanation. I waded out to where Miguel stood in the shallow water. I reached him and looked at his confused facial expression, then I punched him square in the eye.
His body stumbled and he fell back into the water, but I wasn't finished. I didn't know what I was doing or why I was even doing it. Maybe I had a lot of pent up frustration with this motherfucking island and all these idiots. But then I knelt down and punched him again.
This time, he wasn't in shock. He pushed back and took my neck in between his hands, strangling me, "What the fuck, dude?!" I heard Nicholas yell behind me. Everything just became red.
I felt Miguel swing up, I dodged but not in enough time because his knuckles caught my lower lip and I felt the pain as it split in two. Fuck yes. I wanted to scream at him to punch me again. Finally, something fucking different. Finally, something I knew.
We went like that for a long while and soon I felt Nicholas behind me pulling me off Miguel, but that was what stopped me. I heard Piper scream from the shoreline. I looked up and she was standing with a breathless Tove beside her.
"Kit!!" I heard her yell and I pushed off. I saw Piper run into the water towards me and push me back. I stumbled but held my ground. I saw the blood from my lip tinge the pale blue water beneath me and waited for the scolding. I deserved it, but fuck did that feel good.
"I swear to God, Kit," she screamed in both of our faces. "I don't even have to worry if we end up dying on this Island because of starvation or something trivial like that because you'll have killed everyone before we even see the sunset!"
I spit out a ball of blood in my mouth before reaching down and taking the now-dead fish that was floating in the water besides a very angry looking Miguel. I picked it up and walked towards the shore, ignoring all the bawls behind me.
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Lots of love,
Kitkat