Chapter 10

TEN

ELLIS

None of this is fine. I don’t know what universe this man lives in that he thinks any of this is fine. I’m starting to believe that he inhaled so many fumes when I used that entire can on his face that he’s now under the impression that we’re not fucked.

We walk for a while, about an hour of stumbling and tripping over shit we can’t see, while checking the phone for even a hint of a signal. The thorns snag at my clothes and the brush whips my hair back. I’m sweaty, dirty, and bloody. And I sort of regret using most of the single bottle of water I had to rinse Tavish’s eyes. He really didn’t deserve such kindness, did he? Although… I suppose he saved my life a few times, but would he have needed to save it if he hadn’t abducted me?

“You hear that?” he asks.

“All I can hear is my own desperation and the way my thoughts keep going, ‘I bet this is a dream. This has to be a dream.’”

“Nah, I could hear your desperation too, especially back there when you tripped and cussed and then apologized for being ‘irrational.’ But this is different. I think they’re on ATVs.”

I hesitate as that idea sinks in. “Are you saying there’s a trail we could have been going on?” I smack a branch back in annoyance, only to have it snap back and hit me right in the face. “Dammit.”

“Yeah, the trail’s over there; I thought you wanted to go this way for better cardio,” Tavish says.

“Are you serious?”

He laughs. “No, I can’t see shit out here. My weepy eyes haven’t helped, either. I haven’t cried this much since I watched Barbie .”

I eye the man who doesn’t seem to be making a joke. “Okay… so if those are ATVs… do you have a plan?”

Tavish checks the gun. “Yeah. I have a solid plan if there’s only one guy, since that’s the amount of ammunition I have left. Oh! Unless we line them up. But the firepower might not be enough depending on how deep the line is. Although… I’m always up for trying something new. You line them up, I’ll take the shot.” He mimes taking the shot and then mimes the blood splatter as I watch in horror.

The sounds of the ATVs are getting closer, so I decide I will simply lie down right here. I mean… if we can’t see anything, they can’t see anything. Right? That’s… hopefully how that works, right?

Once I’m on the ground, I see a log and shimmy my way over to it where I lie down flat, pleased with my hiding spot until Tavish lies down practically on top of me.

“What the fuck? Why do you always have to hide on top of me?”

“Makes sense, right? To take up the least amount of space, eh? We’re blending like this.”

“It doesn’t make sense! Go find your own log,” I hiss.

“If you don’t want to share, I will toss you over to them, and then sit tight as I watch them chase you down. I mean, really, they want you more than me.”

That doesn’t sound pleasant in the slightest. “At least move a little. You’re crushing me.”

“Fine, fine,” he says as he draws back before making the loudest fucking crinkling noise. “Your bag is stuck on my belt.”

“Shhh!” I hiss as I realize that the ATVs are silent.

“I hear ya, but I’m now in this weird ass-up position. I either need to go back down or away because my arm can’t support my weight this long,” he whispers. He starts to pull back, but the plastic bag makes a hell of a racket. “Why the fuck did you pick the loudest plastic bag you could find?”

“I was in a panic when grabbing medical supplies!” I quietly retort and quickly duck down as I see a flashlight sweep our area. Tavish sinks down on me, smashing me deeper into the dirt as I realize that this is fine. This way, when they shoot him, his body will hopefully slow down the bullet.

“If I die and you make it home, tell my mom and sister how much I love them,” I say.

He’s quiet as he pushes my head down. My stomach is in knots and despite bitching about him taking up my space, I feel weirdly safer with him here, even though he’s still squishing me. Yet the weight of his body makes me feel better.

“I can’t see shit out here,” a guy yells.

“It’s not like they can even get off the island. I say we wait until it’s light enough to see,” a woman says.

The ATVs start up again and within a few minutes, the sound of them grows farther and farther from us, sadly in the direction we’d been heading.

“I don’t have to tell your mom and sister anything; you can weep all over them when you see them,” Tavish says as he gets up. “And get rid of the loud-as-fuck plastic bag.”

“I might… need it for something,” I object as I take out what I need and start sticking it in my pockets. Then I ball up the plastic bag and stuff it in my back pocket.

With nothing left to do, we start walking again.

I like to believe I’m in pretty good shape, but as light creeps up over the horizon and brightens up the island, I start to wonder if that’s all a lie.

I’m hungry after having not eaten anything since lunch the day before, and thirsty since I’d only brought one bottle of water that we used most of to flush Tavish’s eyes out. The two of us had taken sips of it throughout the night, but now it’s getting pretty low, and I’m prepared to fight this man for the rest of it even though I’m well aware I would lose.

“Your phone’s still not working?” I ask.

“Nope. On the plus side, I think I see the ocean,” he says as he nods ahead.

I squint a little and realize that he might actually be right. I trudge forward until we reach the beach, though I’m not sure what that accomplishes. The water is a beautiful blue with soft rolling waves.

If I weren’t in the middle of being chased, threatened, and possibly dying, it’d be beautiful.

“What do you think about slaughtering everyone on the island and then vacationing here for a bit?” Tavish asks.

“I think that sounds horrifically morbid!”

He looks confused. “It does? They’re bad people.”

“So they should go to prison!”

“Naaaaah. The weasel made that mistake and now he’s got some guy haunting him from prison,” he says. “I’m not a weasel, so I’d never make such a foolish mistake.”

I ignore him and wander across the beach, my shoes sinking into sand as I look around for anything of use. There are no boats, nothing at all, and when Tavish tosses his phone back into his pocket, it becomes quite clear we’re still too close to the jammer.

Tavish sits down in the sand and fumbles for a bit as I pace while trying to think. “I guess since we’ve apparently reached the far point of the island, we should start moving along the shore, right? We don’t know what we might come across going the other way. Hell, depending on how wide the island is, it might put us far enough away that we can get out of the zone of the jammer. We also have the chance of coming across boats the closer we are to the mansion. Are you listening?”

“I’m listenin’,” he mutters as I look down to see that he’s more focused on the sand dick he’s in the process of building. “It’s a penis!”

I stare at the man and wonder how he’s made it to this age without being murdered. “Why?”

“You want some boobs? I can make you some boobs if you’re a boob man.”

“That’s not the issue.”

“It isn’t? You sure?” he asks as he starts giving the dick boobs, as though that’s what I’d wanted.

I’m really going to die here, aren’t I? Is there even anything I can do to get myself out of this bullshit?

I sink down right in the sand.

“You worshiping the sand dick now or something?”

I sink down onto my side as I realize that I can’t do this. I can’t do any of this. How the hell did I really expect I was going to get my ass off this island? I’m not some action movie hero. I suck at life. I’m the kind of guy who feels like going to the bar to meet people sounds like a lot of work and a lot of socializing. And now… now I’ve shot some guy’s finger off and am going to die right here.

“How’s that pity party of one going?” Tavish asks as he balances his vase between the boobs.

“Phenomenally.”

He leans back and stares at me. “You’re just going to give up?”

“No, I’m just… thinking about how nothing I do is going to save any of us.”

“You really think that?”

“Kind of,” I mutter.

Tavish laughs and starts shaping the breasts with more vigor. “We might die here; I’m not going to lie to you. If you’re already positive you’re going to die, then that’s your answer. But if you put your mind to it, you’ll be surprised what you can accomplish.”

“I’m not made for this type of stuff.”

“Not many people wake up one day and go, ‘You know what? I want to start hunting people down and putting my life at risk while doing it.’ Nah, we all end up getting in this situation one way or another. But what divides those of us who make it and those of us who don’t is that we kept fighting. When life turned to shit around us, we stood up and we faced it. So are you going to face it or give up?”

“All I can face right now is your giant penis and boobs,” I mumble.

“Eh, it’s a start,” he says as he snatches up his vase. “Let’s go. I mean, you can stay here if you want, but I’m heading out.”

“No, no, I’m coming,” I respond, refusing to be left behind.

Pushing myself to my feet, I hurry after him.

He heads back for the trees to give us some cover, and we start walking.

“Were you dragged into this life?” I ask.

“Kind of,” he says and leaves it at that, so I don’t push more. Maybe he doesn’t want to tell me too much so when I go to the police, I have less on everyone.

“Do you know how far we are off the mainland?”

“I do not. I… probably should have paid better attention instead of playing games with you, but I didn’t expect someone to fuck me over. I guess I’ve gotten lax lately.”

“Like… is that so surprising?”

He shrugs. “Who would fuck over the Great Tavish? Wouldn’t they know I’d fuck them over in return?”

This man clearly has no confidence issues.

“Like right now, they think I’m dumb enough not to realize they’re following us.”

“They’re following us?” I hiss as I look all around before I realize how suspicious that’s making me appear. Then I duck my head and look to him for guidance.

“Yeah. I’m trying to debate how I should do this. Like do I knock you to the ground and run?”

“Excuse me, what?”

He laughs and gives me a wave. “I’m joking, I’m joking. Honestly, I’m all out of ideas. I still like my plan to line them all up in a row and take a shot.”

Something Tavish notices makes him stop walking and lean against a tree. He stands there for a moment as I realize what I’m about to be faced with. No matter what we do… they want me alive… but they want him dead.

I mean, obviously, I’m pissed at him for bringing me here, but I can’t just watch him get shot and killed. Maybe we aren’t buddies, but the idea of doing all of this alone seems significantly scarier than with him by my side. Can I even do this alone? Anxiety stirs in the pit of my stomach.

“How many people have you noticed?” I ask.

“Oh, about eight or so.”

“I’ll… distract them. You find a way off this island and then get me back, okay?” I say, even though my brain is going, “What the fuck are you talking about? Why would you put yourself at risk when you could just lie down and hope he somehow miraculously wins like all the good guys do in the movies?” But this isn’t like the movies.

“No, don’t be foolish.”

I shake my head, determined. “Either you die here and I get taken or I distract them and you find a way out. But you have to promise me you’ll get me out too. That you won’t just leave me here,” I say, knowing I’m putting a lot of trust in this man. Why would he bother coming back for me if he finds a way to save himself?

“I can’t guarantee I’ll get you out. I mean, my current luck is pretty shit. And I have one gun with damn near no ammo.”

But if I don’t do this, he gets shot and that’s the end. If he’s at least out here… I’ll know that there’s hope, right?

“I’ll get a phone. Give me their number, quickly,” I say.

Tavish pulls out his phone and I watch him put the passcode in before taking it so I can memorize the number he wants me to contact. But before I get anywhere near the stage of memorizing anything, he shoves my head down as I hear a gunshot. Panic tears through me as I stumble and slam into a tree. Then I take off running, knowing it’s now or never.

“You better fucking come get me,” I yell. “You better not let me die out here. Please don’t let me die out here.”

“I’ll give it a valiant effort,” he calls.

Someone grabs for me, and I slam an elbow right into their face before rushing out into the sand. There’s no cover out here, but my intention is just to draw them away from Tavish before I’m caught.

I hear the ATVs a moment before I see them spitting up sand as they reach me. I lunge into the ocean and just start running against the waves. They can’t follow me into the water from their ATVs, so they’re forced to get off. Quickly, I dive into the water, confident I’m getting my ass away from them, or at the very least, irritating them. While I did swim competitively in high school, I never expected I’d have to rely on that talent here.

The water stings my cuts as the fuckers seem to realize that I’m getting some good distance on them and they might need more help than they’d planned.

I don’t want to go too far out into the ocean, I’m afraid that my exhausted body might cause me to drown, but I don’t want to make it too easy for them to reach me.

“What the fuck is he? A fish?” the guy I’d stolen the phone from says as I realize I still have Tavish’s phone in my hand. I clutch it tightly, knowing that I can’t lose it or break it, just in case I manage to get the jammer down… however that works.

As though I have a fraction of an idea about what a jammer fucking looks like!

Now they’re all in the water, struggling to catch up with me as someone whips something at me. I don’t know what it is so I jerk back, but in doing so, the phone slips from my hand. I quickly dive down into the water and grab the phone as it slowly floats down. Then I stuff both phones into my underwear as I come up to the surface, just in case someone chooses to pat me down again.

The instant I break through the surface, I feel hands on me, making me jerk back.

“Come on now, don’t make this harder than it has to be!” the larger of Arthur’s two main guards yells as he grabs for me again.

With him holding on to my shirt and knowing that I have little chance of getting away from him, I decide to leap onto him.

“What the fuck?” he yells as I clamber up his body before I push his head under the water and try to ride on his back for a moment of reprieve.

“Why the hell would you take on this job? Like did you wake up and decide to be an asshole?” I cry as he fights for air. He’s smacking at me but my weight pushing him under disrupts his precision when reaching for me.

“Calm down,” a woman says as she nears us. “Just come with us or I’ll shoot you.”

“How is that supposed to make me calm? ”

“Good question,” she replies. “But not coming with us will hurt a whole lot more.”

The guy I’m riding on tries to go under the water to get rid of me, but I’m a master at holding my breath and have no issue with any of it. When he comes back up, I’m now riding his shoulders. I squeeze as tightly as I can with my thighs before jabbing him right in the eyes.

“Christ!” he yells. “Danielle, get him off!”

“I don’t want to be jabbed in the eyes. My eyes are one of my best features,” she says as she just floats and watches. “He’ll tire himself out before long.”

“Yeah, after I’m dead!” the guy shouts as he flounders some more.

“Eh.” Clearly, she doesn’t care.

“Come at me… bitch,” I toss out. I’ve never called a woman such a bad name in my life and immediately feel horrible. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. I don’t know why I said that.”

“God, you’re so cute,” she says. “It almost makes me feel guilty for this.”

She pulls out a can of mace and sprays it right at me. I flip myself back under the water and the man I’m riding gets the brunt of it.

He doesn’t even have the breath to complain. He just immediately starts coughing and sneezing and drowning a little as I push away from him to get away from the horrible fumes and slam right into the chest of another man.

“Come along,” he orders as his hand latches around my arm like a vise. He starts hauling me back toward the shore as I try to decide how hard it’d be to get her to mace this one too.

“Does anyone else find Terry’s cries irritating?” the woman named Danielle asks as she tags along.

“You were the one who sprayed him in the face,” the guy says as he casually drags me after him. It doesn’t matter how much I twist, fight, or flail, I feel like a toddler being dragged away from the toy section.

“I would never do that,” she says as we reach the shore that I’m pulled across. Surely Tavish had plenty of time to get free during all of this.

“I really think you guys should let me go. That’d be the good thing to do. You can both still be good people,” I assure them.

“Are you sure this is the right kid?” Danielle asks.

“Right? The whole thing is suspicious,” the guy dragging me over to an ATV says.

“I can help you become better people!”

“It’s kind of hilarious,” Danielle comments as I’m tossed onto the back of an ATV.

“Should we tie him to it?”

“I’ll just tase him if he falls off,” she says as she picks up a taser off a different ATV and gives the button a push to demonstrate what she could do to me. “I thought about tasing him in the water, but there was a little voice in the back of my mind that reminded me that electricity and water don’t mix and that I didn’t quite know what it would do. I can try it on Terry, though, if you want.”

“I don’t know, I’m pretty curious now. It’d be like one of those science experiments we’d do in grade school.”

“What kind of school did you two go to?” I ask, glad for my public schooling.

The guy climbs onto the ATV in front of me and tells me to hang on, but am I really supposed to just bear-hug the enemy?

The ATV takes off so fast my head is snapped back, and I’m left scrambling to hold on to the man as the woman comes in behind me with her taser ready. Isn’t there anyone nice on this island? Someone who will take pity on me? Someone who will be like “You definitely don’t deserve to be here; we should get you home—and here, have this million dollars as an apology”?

What a mess.

At least I still have the phones that I’m sitting on as the ATV takes me away from Tavish and back toward the mansion. Like… my balls are smashed up against them, which I feel like Tavish deserves after all he’s put me through. I can only hope that I can figure out a way to get at least one of them to work.