Part 25: Back at the Beach

John and McKay emerged from the woods. They felt slightly defeated. They spend hours in the jungle and no sign of a reliable water supply. No waterfall, no late, no river, nothing. All they found was a pile of feces that was such a big pile, there was no way it could have been left by a boar. That was what concerned them the most.

The two friends walked along the tree line of the forest toward their little encampment. Walking past the rock formation, John held his nose as it was the place they burned the bodies. McKay saw the smoldering remains. Luckily the fire had gotten hot enough to leave barely a trace. It would have been difficult to try and burn them again.

Then ahead of them, Yolanda, Marita and Eddie emerged from the woods. Each of them were carrying something, either a suitcase or a handful of more coconuts. McKay sighed. “Excuse me, luv?” he called to them, “I don’t suppose you found a freeze dried hamburger or something, did ya?”

“Fraid not, mate,” Yolanda smirk.

“Glory be, I am sick of coconuts.” The Australian sighed.

“Did you guys find any water?” asked Marita.

“Nope. We thought we were getting close but the more we looked, the more tired we got. The jungle has a ton of humidity in there.”

“Yeah. Makes me miss the outback. At least it’s dry.” McKay huffed.
“Eddie saw something strange out there. I want to tell Tony about it.” Marita said.

“What? What did he see?” asked John.

“Hold on, John. We’ll get to Tony and tell everybody.”

“Hey, where is Tony?” asked Yolanda.

John looked ahead. His friend was missing. The little camp was still there, and the fire was slowly dying. When the friends arrived, McKay immediately grabbed some dry brush to keep it going. John tilted up the small tent to find it empty. He looked around and also noticed something weird. “His cane is missing.” John mentioned to the others.

“Maybe Tony went for a walk.” Eddie said, putting down his coconuts.

“I suppose that is healthy. I did notice a bent of resentment from having one of us lead him around.” Marita mentioned.

“What do you expect?” McKay said, sitting down, “I know I’d be pissed if I was able to see and then went blind. Never having to rely on anyone before now.”

“Still, he shouldn’t be walking alone right now. He’s not familiar with the beach yet.” John sounded worried.

“Easy up, John. You’re not his keeper.”

“It’s not that, it’s just . . .wait, there he is.” John saw him.
John saw his blind friend in the distance. Tony was stomping down the beach toward the water. The archer took another look at his friend. Something was wrong. He wasn’t wearing a red shirt before. Then he realized the shirt wasn’t red, but something red was on him. It looked like blood. The others then saw Tony as he continued down the beach. He accidentally collided with someone, only to shove them out of the way. A few people stared at him, also noticing the blood. Tony then dropped his cane and began to rip off his shirt. “What the bloody hell is he doing?” asked McKay.

The blind man stumbled into the water and began to soak up the salt water into his torn shirt. He started to vigorously scrub his arms. John decided to not wait any further, he began to run down the beach to his friend. The other’s quickly followed.

Tony continued to scrub his arms, feeling of them between the washing. John arrived at the beach and stopped. “Tony, are you all right?” he asked.

“Is it off of me?” he asked.

“What?” John stammered.

“The blood! Is it off of me?”

“Tony, are you hurt?” the archer asked.

Tony just grunted, not wanting to answer questions. He continued scrubbing. The others were concerned. What had happened to their blind friend? John kneeled down beside him, “Tony, let’s get you back to camp.”

“If the blood is still on me, I’m not leaving.” He told him.

Marita kneeled down beside him, “Tony, you must come back to camp. You’re in shock.”

“I AM NOT IN SHOCK!” Tony screamed, “I am a doctor. I know what being in shock is! I just want that filthy redneck’s blood off of me!”

“Redneck?” McKay blinked, “You mean Poteet?”

“Tony, where is Poteet? This is his blood?” asked Marita.

Tony didn’t answer. He kept washing the blood off of his arms.

“Tony, where is Poteet?” asked John.

“HE’S DEAD!” Tony screamed, right into the archer’s face.

Marita was shocked to hear that. John was confused. He knew Tony was blind. He saw the wound himself. Was he capable of killing a man two foot taller than him? John wasn’t sure what to believe. Marita then stopped Tony from his washing. “Tony, please, come back to the camp with us.”

“I am not leaving until I am free of that lowlife.” He said, continuing to wash.

“Tony,” McKay grunted.

“LEAVE ME ALONE, MCKAY!” Tony screamed.

“You’re scaring Eddie.”

The blind doctor finally stopped his washing. He slowly turned around. He could feel Eddie was near him. Eddie looked at the man he called friend. He was crying and trying to hold in his mucus in his nose. After he sniffed, Tony exhaled and calmed down. “Eddie, don’t be scared,” the blind man whispered, “I am just . . .upset.”

“Mr. Tony, did you kill that man?” The little boy asked.

“No, I did not. I give you my word.”

“Then how did his blood get on you?”

“He was already hurt. He grabbed me and tried to use me to save himself. But in the end it didn’t matter.”

“Tony, what are you saying?” Marita said, “Who killed Poteet?”

“Not who. What.” Tony sighed, “That monster made another appearance.”

“The Polliwog killed him?” Eddie gasped.

“Ate him is more like it.” The blind doctor sighed.

“All right, that’s it,” John said, snatching the torn shirt, “Lets get this blood off of him and get him back to the camp.”

“I am telling the truth, John,” Tony grunted.

“I know you are, “ John said, washing his friend’s arm, “And that what scares the hell out of me.”