Captured
~GCS~
AJ told me what happened.
He said that Kevin got the idea that AJ was making some kind of play for me and that he decided to ‘let Kevin think it’. Said Kevin was acting a little ‘squirrely’ and that he deserved it. Then he started ‘explaining’. Said he like me but not that way – not that it would be hard to like me that way but that he wasn’t completely brain-dead and had planned to live a few more years even if it was on a deserted island – not that it was exactly deserted – and that Kevin needed to ‘get on with it’ before he went completely nuts and they had to deal with two crazy men… Yep. One sentence.
Lord… There are too few people here for things to get so….so…dramatic. So now we have a little faux lover’s triangle going on – or lover’s rectangle if you want to throw in the fact that Kevin also seems to think that Brad still has his sights set on me – just to ‘get to’ Kevin, of course. What am I talking about? Kevin and I aren’t even lovers.
Obviously, he’s a pretty jealous man. I’m not sure if I feel flattered or outraged. Considering that he’s been so distant lately, I think I’m outraged. Still, he watches. He comes to the edge of the garden several times a day. Sometimes he’ll make a show about digging a little but, for the most part, the tilling is done. Usually, he just stands, looks around for a minute and moves on. Sometimes he’ll talk to Stuart for a bit. I always see him glance towards me and then he’ll go.
Then yesterday, Leigh Anne was in the field near me when Kevin made a brief appearance and then left.
“God Almighty! Why doesn’t he just tie a bell around your neck and get it over with!”
I didn’t know what she was talking about and guess I looked perplexed. She sighed and flopped down onto the dirt.
“Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed!” I shook my head. “He’s coming by here every damn hour to check on YOU, Glynnis! He came yesterday afternoon and you weren’t here. I wish you could have seen his face! He was trying to be cool but he was pissed – especially when nobody knew where you were. I heard him tell Stuart, ‘I told her not to go off alone!’ and then Stuart said, ‘Maybe she’s not alone…’. Well, I thought he was going to shit on the turnips! Then he looked around again and asked ‘Where’s AJ?’. Stuart shrugged and Kevin stomped away, mumbling something. God, he is such a control freak – even here…”
I was embarrassed a little. Could that be true? Is he trying to keep me fenced in? And that shit with AJ… Lord…
I wonder what Kevin would say if he knew I was making little side trips to the other side of the lagoon, trying to figure out what was going on with Brad’s ‘team’. I hadn’t seen or heard much and my little trips had been brief but I plan to go back after supper. There’s a full moon tonight. I heard some voices yesterday, deep in the trees. I also heard sounds of hammering or pounding, like working or building. Brad and some of his group have been scarce lately. Supposedly, they’ve been hunting but they haven’t brought much back to camp. I don’t think they’re spending much time hunting. I think they’re setting up some kind of satellite camp but I haven’t been able to get close enough to really see what’s going on and I don’t want to fuel a fire that might not really exist. Maybe I’ll be able to get close enough to see what’s going on tonight and then I’ll tell someone.
If we were a bigger group or if there was an abundance of supplies, I'd think ‘Let ‘em go!’ but neither is the case. There is safety in numbers – at least if everyone is working together – and getting food and shelter is easier if there are more people working on those goals to benefit all. Plus, there’s the unsettling discovery that some supplies have been ripped off which means somebody doesn’t want to share. Sharing is an essential fact of life here. Bottom line is that here we are, a relatively small group of survivors, who have been overcome by common human conditions in spite of uncommon circumstances. Even in small numbers we’re dealing with politics, emotional dramas, greed and competition that’s played on a backdrop of basic survival. Sophistication and ‘the greater good’ have been replaced by territorial claims and ‘survival of the fittest’. We have succumbed to the Law of the Jungle and it didn’t take all that long. Scary…
We actually got some rain today. Not much, but enough that we didn’t have to haul water. It was almost a vacation even though some of us got quite muddy. While some of the older women prepared food, I and a few others went to the lagoon to wash. We took a change of clothes with us. When we returned, the last meal of the day was ready. I wasn’t all that hungry and took a small portion before I looked for a place to sit. Kevin, Jamal and Stuart were engaged in some sort of conversation so I went and sat by myself away from the fire. I wanted to do a little thinking anyway – plot my course for tonight.
I imagined that most of the low murmurs around me centered on the fact that Brad and several others had not yet come in to eat. In fact, no one had seen them. I avoided looking towards Kevin on the off chance that he might signal me to come sit near him. I didn’t want to do that – not because I was angry with him but because I wanted to slip away unnoticed when the meal was over and people began to clean up and put things away. I tried to stay focused on my bowl but couldn’t resist a few surreptitious glances. Near the end of the meal, our eyes did meet and I saw him begin to raise his hand towards me but I looked away quickly and pretended that I didn’t see his overture. I would talk with him tomorrow – or maybe later tonight – about what I had seen and heard but I didn’t want him to stop me now and I feared he might stay close, especially after ‘expressing’ his concern about my earlier disappearance.
After dinner, I followed Vivian and Apollonia towards their hut, talking a little on the way. I could feel Kevin’s eyes on me and wanted him to think that I was with other people but, as we approached a small bend in the trees, I told them ‘Goodnight’ and cut over towards the beach. I would head west and cut back up towards the lagoon. I had a gut feeling that I would find the missing group members past the inland water and into the trees.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~KSR~
I thought I made it clear that I didn’t like the idea of her going off all alone. I can’t swear that she is but she seems to disappear from time to time and no one seems to know what’s up. I hate that shit.
Some of us have been talkin’ a little and we agree that things
just don’t feel right around here. We don’t want to make a big deal
out of it ‘cause we don’t want to scare people. I don’t know that
there’s anything to be afraid of, really, but if Brad’s involved,
it tends to worry me some. This little ‘separatist’ movement just
makes no sense but, then again, Brad has made little sense to me since
we left
I’m just tense, that’s all. I don’t like not knowing what’s going on around me. On top of general concerns about ‘little’ things - like basic survival - we have to contend with petty spats, power plays and self-anointed kings. Along with all of this, I still feel bad about Glynnis. Maybe giving her space was a mistake. I miss her. I feel angry, frustrated and worried. AJ says I just need to get laid. Lord knows, that’s the damn truth… My dick and fist are gettin’ sick of each other. Trouble is, there's only one woman I want.
So, I decided to try and make some amends. You know, try to take the first step without forcing anything or coming on like gangbusters. I still had the little necklace I made from the shell I found on the beach. I’d been saving it for some tender moment but I was starting to doubt that moment would come if I didn’t make a move. So, I put the necklace in Glynn’s hut, where she sleeps. I laid it out all nice and then grabbed it back when I thought that she might not know where it came from. Guess I felt like I had to identify myself or something. I didn’t want her think that AJ or somebody else made it for her so I carved my initials into the pick surface with a sharp pebble and then put it back. Anyway, I thought it would be a nice icebreaker. She’d have to say something, wouldn’t she?
Later, it’s suppertime and I’m sitting at the fire, kinda waiting to see if she shows – and if she shows wearing my present. Shit. I wait and wait. When she finally shows up, she sits about as far away from me as she can get and she isn’t wearing the necklace. She won’t look at me. That’s it. I’ve had it!. Glynn and I are gonna be having a personal talk later even if I’m the only one doin’ the talkin’!
After a while, I see her get up and head out with Apollonia and Vivian. They’re going to the hut Jamal recently put up when he decided that they needed their own space. That’s okay. I’ll catch up with her later.
I never did see her come back. I figured I missed her while I was talkin’ so when the group – what was left of it anyway – broke up, I headed for her shack. I was a little nervous but I was a little pissed, too. I was more pissed when I saw that she wasn’t there. I noticed the necklace I made for her was laying right where I’d put it. It hadn’t been moved. That actually made me feel a little better. At least I hadn’t been totally dismissed. I still wanted to talk to her and get all of our business straight, so I headed back to Jamal’s.
Now I was worried. She wasn’t there and hadn’t really been there. She’d told Vivian that she was tired and was going to bed. She’d left them then and they thought she was coming back to our place. I mean, her place…
I looked. I couldn’t find her and I didn’t know what to do. She was probably close by. Maybe she’d just gone someplace to be alone for a little while. You know, so she could think. I hoped that would be a good thing. I should just wait. She has to come back sooner or later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~GCS~
I decided to head towards the clearing where we’d seen the other smaller buildings and huts soon after we got here. I stayed low and felt fairly well hidden. Despite the full moon, the tropical growth was thick and lush and it was easy to stay in the shadows. As I approached the clearing. I began to hear voices again. They were here – our missing group members. After some maneuvering, I crouched into a position where I could observe fairly easily. They had a big fire going and had made some kind of spit. I could smell pork.
I could also see huts – some of them quite elaborate – as well as some of the tools we had missed scattered nearby. I counted twenty-one people, including Brad’s friends and the English women. I couldn’t make out what they were saying as they sat around the fire but they seemed quite serious and I had the feeling that they were plotting or planning something. I didn’t see Brad but I guessed he was nearby. In fact, he was nearer than I thought.
After about tweny minutes, I began to back away, anxious to let Kevin know about what I had seen. That’s when I was scared out of my skin by the sound of a wild howl coming from behind – the sound of a rabid wolf preparing to charge.
All eyes around the campfire jerked in my direction and people began to jump up from their seated positions. That’s when I felt a large hand grab my upper arm and jerk me to my feet. It was Brad. He was hurting me.
“Well, well, well…. Look who came over to our side…” His grin bordered on lunacy as he began to literally drag me behind him toward the camp. It was then that I saw that he was carrying a rifle in his other hand and waving it as if he had just won some kind of victory.
The Picture Clears
~KSR~
I wasn’t sure what time it was but I knew it was late. Very late. Too late. Normally, I would have been in a deep sleep by now but I was worried. I wasn’t the only one. I could see AJ and Jamal poking at the fire down below. They should have been asleep, too, but I guess I sort of ruined that for them. After I went to Jamal’s shack looking for Glynn, I came back here and waited. My concern must have been obvious because about an hour later, Jamal came to my place and checked to see if she had returned. Nosy AJ must have seen him and started asking questions when he saw Jamal head back across the camp.
I sat in the shadows, waiting. I didn’t know what else to do. Even though it was a full moon, little light came through the trees. I had already walked the beach looking and calling for her but didn’t see or hear anything. Glynnis wasn’t one to hide or play games. If she had just wanted some time alone, she would have probably been sitting near the waves, in plain view. I was angry. I was frustrated. I was afraid….
I watched AJ and Jamal for a while and then I heard a rustling in the tall grasses beside Glynn’s hut. I jumped at the sound, thinking it was a wild pig or some kind of nocturnal animal, but this was no aminal. It was a man. The figure broke through the grass and scurried down the incline to the supply house. I guess he hadn’t seen me sitting nearby.
When he reached the clearing, Jamal and AJ jumped, too, statled
by his sudden appearance. The man began banging on the supply house
door, calling for Les. In the light of the moon and the fire, I could
see that it was
“I don’t know what to do!”
“Calm down!” Les yelled, grabbing
I stood back a little not wanting to ask because I think I already
knew the answer. I actually felt physically weak, like my legs wouldn’t
hold me. I decided to let Les do the talking. At least I decided to
let him start. After a minute or two, Les began to gently prod him
and
“Where have you been,
“It’s not me!” he spat. It’s Brad. You just don’t know. Don’t know…”
“Know what?” Les asked. “Where is Brad?”
“Back at our camp.”
Jamal took a step forward. “Your camp?”, he frowned. “We wondered about that. Some of you have been missing for a while. You been stealing stuff, too?”
“It was Brad!”,
AJ snorted. “No shit, man! Like we couldn’t tell he was a crazy motherfu-“
“Hold up, AJ!” I cut in.
I wish I could explain the look that passed over his face when
he jerked his head towards me and swallowed, but I can’t. I tried
not to push.
“Yes! No! Not really. Not exactly! God – I don’t know what to do…”
I don’t remember grabbing Gary and pushing him up against the supply house. I don’t remember screaming at him but I must have been yelling my ass off ‘cause by the time Jamal stepped between us and broke us apart, about half a dozen people had gathered around us. I was literally seeing red. His answer – if you want to call it an answer – and the look on his face was enough to tell me that he knew something about Glynn’s whereabouts and that it wasn’t good. Gary began to spit and stutter. I was vaguely aware that Brian was now sanding beside me, holding on to my forearm. I had puffed up like a lizard waiting to attack. It was hard to breathe.
“Brad needs m-medicine!” Gary stammered. “You don’t understand…”
“Then make us understand,” Les said calmly. “ Is Brad sick? Where does Glynnis fit into this?”
I felt Brian tighten his grip on my arm as Gary pushed his fingers through his hair. After a moment, he started talking. It was all I could do to keep my mouth shut and let him finish…
“I’m not sure where to begin…”, Gary murmured. He paused for a moment and then began to spill his guts. “Brad can be an ass but he wasn’t always like that. At least he was never this bad. He has mental problems – lots of them. Some have diagnosed with as having some sort of ego or personality disorder where he has illusions of grandeur. One doctor said that he was seriously bi-polar only, instead of being really happy or depressed, he was megalomaniacal or angry. He’s been described as neurotic, psychotic and even schizophrenic…”
“Why isn’t he in a hospital?” Les asked him.
“He was for a little while, back when he was in college. He’s so fuckin’ smart and the family has serious money. Brad was their ‘Golden Boy’. Doctors finally decided to give him medication in the hopes that some of his problems – and symptoms – could be controlled, and they were successful.”
Les' brows lowered. “And he’s had no medication to take…”
“Right,” Gary nodded. “Not since the crash. It was lost. I’ve been trying to stay close – to keep my eye on him and run interference – but things have gotten out of hand. He’s gotten paranoid. That’s why he decided that we should break away. I think he convinced himself that some of you were out to kill him, or at least put him down which is almost the same thing in his mind. He will not be ignored and he will not be a ‘follower’. When he gets….gets….like this, he is the king and nothing less.” He glanced in my direction and licked his lips. “Kevin was a threat to him because he viewed Kevin as a pretender to the throne…”
“I’m not trying to run this fuckin’ camp!” I shouted. “Jesus Christ! We’re all just trying to survive here!”
“I know, I know…” Gary answered. “But, like I said, Brad gets very paranoid and he’s also very smart. He spins things the way his brain tells him to and he’s a great talker. He doesn’t tolerate different ideas or opinions well. Takes them very personally, like another opinion is an attack on his manhood or something.”
“What kind of medication was he taking?” Les cut in.
“Lithium…”
“Shit….”
This was all very well and good, getting insight into Brad’s diminished mental capacity and all, but the question on my mind hadn’t been answered.
“Where the fuck is Glynn?” I blurted.
Once again, Gary’s tongue moved across his lower lip. Not a good sign.
“She’s at our camp,” he said softly – almost apologetically. “She was hiding the bushes near our perimeter when Brad found her and hauled her into camp. This was an hour or so ago. When I snuck out, she was tied to his wrist…”
Christ… I couldn’t catch my breath. I didn’t want to ask but I had to.
“Has he….hurt….her?”
“Her arm is probably bruised up. He was holding on pretty tight when he hauled her in and she fought him when he tied her…”
“Anything else?”
The sound of my own voice surprised me. I wasn’t screeching. I sounded calm when I asked the question. But I was anything but calm. The drift of my question was implicit and Gary knew that. I saw him take a step back and wondered what my face must have looked like. I’ve never wanted to hurt anyone before, not that I hadn’t been in my share of scrapes, but now I wanted to hurt Brad. I wanted to do more than hurt him. I could actually visualize my hands around his neck and my thumbs pressing into his throat. Brian’s nails were digging into my skin. Gary’s reply offered no comfort.
“I don’t know,” he whispered.
I fought the urge to actually howl. At that moment, any semblance of civilized man had left me. The picture was, in my mind, astoundingly simple: The enemy had stolen my woman.
Then Les asked a simple question. “Why didn’t you tell us about this before, Gary?”
Gary shuffled uncomfortably. “I don’t know. I thought that if I stayed close, kept my eye on him, that I could keep him reasonable. I didn’t want him to get hurt or locked down or anything…”
“Because he’s your friend and friends are loyal, right?”
“No…” Gary whispered as his eyes filled with tears, “…because he’s my big brother…”
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