Part 59: Bullets and Breath

The majority of the core group sat in the main tent. John had just gotten finished telling the story of what they found out in the jungle. Tony listened carefully to every detail he mentioned. What disturbed him the most was the fact that the dead man was blindfolded. It was too similar to his own predicament. Marita was highly disturbed over the fact that the body looked like it was dead for more than twenty years. McKay rubbed his stubble on his head, not sure what to make of any of this. John rubbed his eyebrow and then asked, “Did you guys hear anything last night?”

“Hear what?” asked McKay.

“Anything that sounded like explosions or thunder?”

“No, we didn’t hear anything like that,” Tony said.

“You thought you heard explosions?” asked Marita.

“It was hard to tell,” Mia whispered, “It sounded like loud pops, almost like fireworks. But we didn’t see anything.”

“Maybe it was thunder then.” McKay said.

“Yeah, maybe,” John rubbed his chin, still not convinced.

John then pointed to Mia’s backpack. She took the suggestion and reached over, getting it. She was aware of what the archer wanted. The young woman opened her backpack and pulled the gun wrapped in a dark shirt. She handed it to John. “One more thing,” he said to his crew, “The corpse was armed.”

“Armed?” McKay said, leaning up.

“Here, Tony, “John said, placing the gun in his lap, “You’re the military man, so I know you’d know how to use it.”

Tony felt of the item in his lap. He then began to unwrap the shirt and felt of the gun before him. He held it up and immediately made sure it was on safety. Marita gasped, never even seeing a gun close up like that. Tony then pulled out the clip and disengaged the bullet inside the barrel. He set the gun to the side and began to click out each bullet, counting them as he went. “Hmm. Eleven rounds,” the blind doctor whispered, “This gun was fully loaded.”

“Yeah,” John sighed.

“Why would a dead man have a fully loaded gun?” asked McKay.

“We’ll never know cause he’s dead, “ Tony then began to reload the clip, one bullet at a time.

“This island creeps me out more and more,” Marita whispered, rubbing her forehead.

Tony then began to dissemble the gun. He took all the slides and bolts out with the skill of a mechanic. He then felt alongside the inner bolt of the gun. “This feels slightly rusted.” He commented.

“Considering how long it’s been out there, probably true,” John pointed out.

“I can probably clean it off with something and get it working again.”

“How the hell are you taking that apart anyway, mate?” McKay said, amazed by his skill.

Tony smirked, “One of the basics you learn in training is now to assemble and dissemble guns. In the advanced classes, you learn how to do it one handed or even . . blind.”

“Whoa,” Mia whispered, “Talk about irony.”

“Indeed.” Tony laughed.

“Well, watching him take that thing apart convinces me. Tony is the best man to handle the gun.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Marita protested, “Why does Tony need a gun?”

“Think about, luv,” McKay said, agreeing with John, “We’ve seen boars, polar bears and things about this island that are beyond weird. John is the only one with an offensive weapon. Now Tony has one. Plus, John is right. Obviously he knows how to work it.”

“Yes, I understand that but he’s . . .he’s . . .”

“Blind?” Tony said, turning his head toward her, “Marita, I care you for deeply. But you are gonna have to trust me. You need to trust me like John and McKay do. I already know now they will be my friends for life, you know why?”

“Why, Tony?” she sniffed.

“Even though I am blind, they don’t treat me as such. We are all on equal ground. For that, they have earned my friendship and respect. Now, please. I can use this weapon but I can’t see. Can I trust on you to be with me, when in the event I need to shoot something, you can tell me where to shoot?”

Marita sniffed. She was upset but she knew Tony wasn’t that mad at her. He just didn’t want to be treated like a cripple. “You can trust me, Tony.” She cried.

“Thank you, sweetie,” he said, taking her hand and kissing it.

“It’s settled then,” McKay replied, “is there anybody on this beach that might argue Tony is not the right choice to carry the gun?”

“Cecil would be my first guess,” John quickly mentioned.

“Don’t worry about that sixty year old turd. I’ll deal with him.” The Australian pointed out.

“Thank you for telling us about this, John,” Tony said, assembling the gun and wrapping it backup, “Now you and Mia should probably get some rest.”

“Yeah, I wanted to check on Shanna and the others.” Mia smiled.

Mia turned around and gently touched John’s shoulder, stepping over the luggage they were sitting on and walking out of the tent. John turned to watch her leave and when he turned back around, he found McKay grinning. The Australian was obviously getting ideas about John and Mia. He enjoyed playing with John about it, cause the archer was harassing him about female companionship not a few days ago. McKay raised his eyebrows twice in a fluid motion. John replied by sticking his tongue out at him.

After their mutual chuckle, John got up and walked deeper into the tent. He found his sleeping area and collapsed, eager to take a nap.


Mia arrived at her little encampment where her three good friends were resting. Brendon was in his familiar mediation stance. Shanna was working on her tan, wearing nothing but a light brown Henley t-shirt and her dark blue panties. Seth was reading the Time Magazine he found plus his tape player was singing the tune of David Bowie’s Modern Love. “Hey, guys,” Mia smiled.

“Hey, Mia,” Seth smiled, putting down his magazine, “Get done with your debriefing of the Colonels?”

“Very funny, Seth,” she said, sitting down her in spot.

“Is it true, Mia?” Shanna asked, “Did you and John find a dead body?”

“Fraid so. Judging by the decomposition of his body, we took a guess that he had been dead for over twenty years or more.”

“Interesting.” Brendon whispered.

“I seriously wished we knew where we are, “ Seth mentioned, “Then maybe some of this might make sense.”

“Anyway, on a brighter note, we found one more suitcase. I brought each of you presents, donated by a Mr. Arzt.”

“Presents?” laughed Shanna.

“For Seth and Brendon, two pair of new shirts.” Mia handed them out from her backpack.

“Thanks, Mia,” Seth said, taking the shirt and holding it up to his chest, “Hmm. This guy was bigger than me but hey, who gives a crap?”

“Indeed. We can still use them. Thank you, Mia,” Brendon mentioned.

“And for you, Shanna, a little bit of mobility.” The Lakota girl giggled as she handed her redheaded friend two pair of boxer shorts.

“Hey, wait a minute, why does SHE get the boxer shorts?” Seth pointed out.

“Because to you they are boxer shorts, “Shanna stood up, putting on the dark blue garment, “But for me, they are just shorts. Thanks, Mia.”

“And for everybody, it seemed this guy had an obsession about a particular treat.” Mia said, dipping both hands into her backpack.

“What treat?” asked Seth.

Mia then held up her hands, filled with small boxes of Cool Rush Trident White. “GUM!” Shanna screamed.

Each of her friends took one box, despite the fact that Mia had over twenty. Seth popped out two of the little pieces of gum and immediately started chewing them. He moaned in delight as he felt on his back. Shanna had to pop in three capsules into her mouth. Brendon gently chewed his, with a big smile on his face. “Oh, man, I am tempted to eat this stuff.” Seth moaned.

“I know what you mean, “ Shanna said, hugging Mia, “Oh, my mouth already feels clean. Thank you, Mia. You are the best.”

“Nothing is too good for my friends.” She smiled.

The group of friends enjoyed their gum tasting as they talked and laughed. Brendon mentioned it was indeed an obsession for this Mr. Arzt to have such a large stack of gum. Seth said the man was probably some kinda Casanova, and he wanted to make sure he had fresh breath when he picked up the ladies.

It brought an uproar to the little crew of friends.