Part 80: Returning Home
On the beach it was getting closer to sundown. The twilight was upon them, making everything look gray. Brendon and Seth were walking along the outerbanks of the jungle entrances, lighting torches. Anything to help the others find their way home. Martin did his best to get some rest, as he agreed to take first watch during the night. But every one was too busy worrying about the others to get some sleep.
Natasha paced around, holding her elbows. She had many different relations with many men in different cities. She enjoyed the chase. At that moment, a tear gently escaped her left eye. Had John changed her so much? Or was it simply that for she and him, the chase was simply still on? She admitted she enjoyed and it didn’t want it to end. Not like this.
Marita sat down, holding Yolanda’s hand. The Latina did her best not to cry but she couldn’t help it. Not only was she concerned about Tony’s well-fare, but Eddie’s a well. The older man had become her lover and that little boy was growing to be precious to her, almost as if he was her son. She remembered when Eddie asked her if she could call her Mommy and all that did was bring more tears. “Easy, Rita, easy,” Yolanda whispered, “They are coming back.”
“How?” she said, wiping her tears, “How do we know they are coming back?”
“Are you the one who’s faith is supposed to be the strongest?”
“I’ve already prayed. But now we have to wait. I . .I can’t wait, you know that.”
“Be strong, Marita, “her friend assured her, “I believe in John. I know he will bring them back. Besides, you got one hell of a man, you know that?”
“Tony?” she whimpered.
“Yeah, the blind doctor who seems to constantly pulls miracles out of his pockets. As long as he is out there, they have a chance to come home.”
Marita wiped her tears and smiled, “Yolanda.”
“Yeah?” she whispered.
“I love him.”
Yolanda smiled. Those were strong words she heard and Marita would have never said them unless she meant them. The black stewardess hoped that Tony made it back so her friend could tell him that face to face. Never had she seen her friend fall so hard for a man such as him. Then Yolanda heard something. She turned to her left and saw Seth waving to them. He was jumping up and down, laughing. He then pointed to the distance. The two stewardesses stood up and looked at the horizon.
Walking toward them was their group of friends; alive and safe.
The majority of the survivors ran toward them, laughing and cheering. Marita screamed for Tony and Eddie. The little boy didn’t hesitate; he let go of Tony’s hand and ran toward her. When they connected, the Latina scoped him up and held him. She kissed him on the cheek multiple times; happy he was alive. Shanna quickly embraced Mia, glad to see her friend. Mandy was in tears, holding onto to Taylor; afraid she had lost her best friend. John blinked; then found Natasha in his arms. She was embracing him heavily; all he did was pat her on the back to insure her he was indeed fine. Seth and Brendon were shaking Tony’s hand, congratulating them on making it back. Back near the camp, Cecil was smoking on his last cigarette. He looked in the distance, and couldn’t help but smirk at the fact the three friends had made it out of another dangerous moment in one piece. “I’ll be damned.” He chuckled.
Marita gently sat down Eddie and walked over to Tony. The blind doctor could smell her exotic scent coming toward him. She stood before him, trying not to get emotional. Tony just stood there, waiting for her to say something. She then punched him in the chest which he could easily take. “You . . .jerk.” she whimpered.
“Yes, I am.” He said, admitting it.
“You jerk,” she said, embracing him, “Don’t ever do that to me again.”
“I’ll try not to, honey.” He said, holding onto her.
“You could have been killed, Tony. There was no way we could have known what was going to happen.”
Marita then felt Eddie tugging on her shorts. “Don’t cry, Marita, “He laughed, “Tony came in, found us, beat up the bad guys and helped us escaped.”
Marita was uncertain if Eddie was lying. Then again, if he was, why would he make up such a story? The Latina looked to John who just shook his head, confirming the story. Then she turned back to Tony, wiping her cheeks. “Tony, you . .you really did that?” she asked.
“It was only four of them,” Tony shrugged.
“How . . .how did you do that?”
“Haven’t you heard?” Tony smirked, “I’m Daredevil.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------,
McKay grunted as he sat down, while Taylor cleaned his wound. Every time she would wipe the blood away, more would come out. He leaned down a bit and then lurched back up, blinking rapidly. “You all right, McKay?” John asked.
“Just . .feeling a little dizzy,” he whispered.
“You’re losing blood,” Tony whispered, “We are going to have to put pressure on that wound.”
“Bandaging it will make it okay?” asked a concerned Taylor.
“You tell me, Taylor,” the blind doctor responded, “What can you tell me about his wound?”
“It . .uh . .looks like it’s about two inches long, maybe 2 and half. Every time I wipe the blood away, more is coming out.”
“It’s not sealing,” McKay whispered, grunting from the loss of blood.
Tony then felt of his Australian’s friend shoulder. He maneuvered over to his wound and kneeled down. The doctor then removed the blindfold off his head and then leaned down. He was using his remaining eye to take a look at the wound. He could only use it at point blank range. After examining the wound, he leaned back and tied his blindfold back. “Is it deep, doc?” asked McKay.
Tony finished tying his blindfold, “It’s deep enough.”
“Will the bandage be enough?” John asked.
“We can use it to seal the wound but the true seal will come with the blood clotting the wound in 4 hours.” Tony said, sitting down in the sand, “The bad news is, due to the multiple airborne particles out here, McKay will then get an infection. He’ll basically have to go through what I went through.”
“But you have that medicine!” Taylor pointed out, “The antibiotics.”
“Unless the wound is sealed, it will only keep the infection at bay.” The blind doctor replied, “It won’t prevent it.”
McKay took a deep sigh, “Then I guess we know what needs to be done, don’t we, Tony?”
Tony shook his head, “You sure, McKay?”
“Well, I just occurred me, “ he chuckled, “It’ll probably hurt a hell of a lot less than what you went through.”
The doctor smiled, “Touché, my friend.”
“McKay, you’re . .going to burn the wound?” Taylor said in disbelief.
“The appropriate word is caulderize but yeah, we’re going to do it.”
“McKay, let me have one of those short swords you got from those Lost Boys,” Tony held out his hand.
McKay pulled one out of the sand and handed it to his blind friend. Tony held it aloft and felt of the blade end, noticing the smooth metal. “Yeah, this will do,” Tony said, standing up, “McKay, hang in there. It’ll be about another hour before this is hot enough. John? Lead me to a fire please.”
The Archer patted McKay on the shoulder, then stood up and took Tony’s arm; leading him back toward the medical tent. McKay gently leaned back, groaning. Mandy came over and sat down with her two friends. Taylor just smiled at her best friend then looked down at the resting Australian. She leaned down and gently kissed him softly on the lips. As she leaned back up, she stroked his stubble head. “That is the second time you’ve saved my life,” she grinned, “You’re either very brave or very stupid.”
“You’d be surprised how much those two are closely related,” McKay chuckled.
McKay then felt of the other sword and looked at. He was marveled at its streamline construction; as if the weapon was built to last. The hilt was made of solid plastic, as well as the end tip. As he shifted the weapon over, he then saw something engraved at the end of the blade toward the hilt. He leaned in closer and read it. “Legio Patria Nester.” He whispered.
“Wonder what that means.” Mandy said by instinct.
“It means The Legion is Our Country,” the Australian said without missing a beat.
“How did you know that?” asked Taylor.
“Oh, yeah.” He smiled, “You keep forgetting I used to be an English Teacher. Legio Patria Nester is the motto of the French Foreign Legion.”
“French?” the blonde pondered, “Those teenagers that had us in the jungle were speaking French.”
“Yeah, I know. The one that attacked me screamed Mourir. He was basically telling me to die.”
“You speak French, McKay?” Mandy asked, amazed.
“You bet. I read it too.”
“Why did you learn to speak French?” asked Taylor.
“There really isn’t a story there, Luv,” McKay smiled, “Working toward an English degree requires a foreign language. I picked it for the hell of it.”
“Well, if those boys come back, at least now we’ll know what they are saying.”
“You have a point,” the Australian smiled at her.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------,
Mia was glad to be back at the beach and with her friends. She had just gotten finished telling them about what she had seen. Shanna was freaking out a little bit, worried she wouldn’t be able to sleep. Seth was curious about the nature of the teenagers and Brendon was interested in the leader called Alexander and his strange strength. “You said, this Alexander was able to throw the other boy like a rag doll?” Brendon asked.
“It was amazing!” Mia said, “It was like something out of a sci-fi movie, two superhuman titans fighting. Alexander clearly appeared to be the strongest one.”
Shanna held the red cloth that Mia gave her, “And they wore these around their mouths?”
“Yeah, like masks. I don’t know if it was a ceremonial thing or if possible, they know something about the jungle and are afraid to breathe it. If I could have spoken French, then I might have understood.”
“You believe we can trust these . . .teenagers in the Red Faction?” asked Seth.
“Clearly. They only had our best interests in mind. I even made friends with one of them; Marie.”
“Pretty name.” Shanna smiled.
“It was kinda weird though. They simply particularly afraid of Tony.”
“Why?” asked Brendon.
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because he was an adult? I don’t know.”
“Well, if it proves anything, it proves we ain’t alone.” Seth muttered, “We are going to have to keep that night-watch going.”
“Mia said there were no girls over 17 years old,” Brendon joked with him, “You said the one by the waterfall was 18 or 19.”
“So I’m a bad guess of age, so what?” he said, maneuvering to get to sleep, “She was all dirty and stuff anyway.”
The friends made a funny comment that Brendon and Seth never stop arguing. Seth mentioned the only reason he does it is cause Brendon is such a loud mouth. It was of course a joke, considering that of all of them, their Asian friend spoke the least.
The wind gently blew, making the torches by the jungle flicker. The oceans sang the people to sleep, while the bugs in the jungles chirped in an operatic tune.
Natasha paced around, holding her elbows. She had many different relations with many men in different cities. She enjoyed the chase. At that moment, a tear gently escaped her left eye. Had John changed her so much? Or was it simply that for she and him, the chase was simply still on? She admitted she enjoyed and it didn’t want it to end. Not like this.
Marita sat down, holding Yolanda’s hand. The Latina did her best not to cry but she couldn’t help it. Not only was she concerned about Tony’s well-fare, but Eddie’s a well. The older man had become her lover and that little boy was growing to be precious to her, almost as if he was her son. She remembered when Eddie asked her if she could call her Mommy and all that did was bring more tears. “Easy, Rita, easy,” Yolanda whispered, “They are coming back.”
“How?” she said, wiping her tears, “How do we know they are coming back?”
“Are you the one who’s faith is supposed to be the strongest?”
“I’ve already prayed. But now we have to wait. I . .I can’t wait, you know that.”
“Be strong, Marita, “her friend assured her, “I believe in John. I know he will bring them back. Besides, you got one hell of a man, you know that?”
“Tony?” she whimpered.
“Yeah, the blind doctor who seems to constantly pulls miracles out of his pockets. As long as he is out there, they have a chance to come home.”
Marita wiped her tears and smiled, “Yolanda.”
“Yeah?” she whispered.
“I love him.”
Yolanda smiled. Those were strong words she heard and Marita would have never said them unless she meant them. The black stewardess hoped that Tony made it back so her friend could tell him that face to face. Never had she seen her friend fall so hard for a man such as him. Then Yolanda heard something. She turned to her left and saw Seth waving to them. He was jumping up and down, laughing. He then pointed to the distance. The two stewardesses stood up and looked at the horizon.
Walking toward them was their group of friends; alive and safe.
The majority of the survivors ran toward them, laughing and cheering. Marita screamed for Tony and Eddie. The little boy didn’t hesitate; he let go of Tony’s hand and ran toward her. When they connected, the Latina scoped him up and held him. She kissed him on the cheek multiple times; happy he was alive. Shanna quickly embraced Mia, glad to see her friend. Mandy was in tears, holding onto to Taylor; afraid she had lost her best friend. John blinked; then found Natasha in his arms. She was embracing him heavily; all he did was pat her on the back to insure her he was indeed fine. Seth and Brendon were shaking Tony’s hand, congratulating them on making it back. Back near the camp, Cecil was smoking on his last cigarette. He looked in the distance, and couldn’t help but smirk at the fact the three friends had made it out of another dangerous moment in one piece. “I’ll be damned.” He chuckled.
Marita gently sat down Eddie and walked over to Tony. The blind doctor could smell her exotic scent coming toward him. She stood before him, trying not to get emotional. Tony just stood there, waiting for her to say something. She then punched him in the chest which he could easily take. “You . . .jerk.” she whimpered.
“Yes, I am.” He said, admitting it.
“You jerk,” she said, embracing him, “Don’t ever do that to me again.”
“I’ll try not to, honey.” He said, holding onto her.
“You could have been killed, Tony. There was no way we could have known what was going to happen.”
Marita then felt Eddie tugging on her shorts. “Don’t cry, Marita, “He laughed, “Tony came in, found us, beat up the bad guys and helped us escaped.”
Marita was uncertain if Eddie was lying. Then again, if he was, why would he make up such a story? The Latina looked to John who just shook his head, confirming the story. Then she turned back to Tony, wiping her cheeks. “Tony, you . .you really did that?” she asked.
“It was only four of them,” Tony shrugged.
“How . . .how did you do that?”
“Haven’t you heard?” Tony smirked, “I’m Daredevil.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------,
McKay grunted as he sat down, while Taylor cleaned his wound. Every time she would wipe the blood away, more would come out. He leaned down a bit and then lurched back up, blinking rapidly. “You all right, McKay?” John asked.
“Just . .feeling a little dizzy,” he whispered.
“You’re losing blood,” Tony whispered, “We are going to have to put pressure on that wound.”
“Bandaging it will make it okay?” asked a concerned Taylor.
“You tell me, Taylor,” the blind doctor responded, “What can you tell me about his wound?”
“It . .uh . .looks like it’s about two inches long, maybe 2 and half. Every time I wipe the blood away, more is coming out.”
“It’s not sealing,” McKay whispered, grunting from the loss of blood.
Tony then felt of his Australian’s friend shoulder. He maneuvered over to his wound and kneeled down. The doctor then removed the blindfold off his head and then leaned down. He was using his remaining eye to take a look at the wound. He could only use it at point blank range. After examining the wound, he leaned back and tied his blindfold back. “Is it deep, doc?” asked McKay.
Tony finished tying his blindfold, “It’s deep enough.”
“Will the bandage be enough?” John asked.
“We can use it to seal the wound but the true seal will come with the blood clotting the wound in 4 hours.” Tony said, sitting down in the sand, “The bad news is, due to the multiple airborne particles out here, McKay will then get an infection. He’ll basically have to go through what I went through.”
“But you have that medicine!” Taylor pointed out, “The antibiotics.”
“Unless the wound is sealed, it will only keep the infection at bay.” The blind doctor replied, “It won’t prevent it.”
McKay took a deep sigh, “Then I guess we know what needs to be done, don’t we, Tony?”
Tony shook his head, “You sure, McKay?”
“Well, I just occurred me, “ he chuckled, “It’ll probably hurt a hell of a lot less than what you went through.”
The doctor smiled, “Touché, my friend.”
“McKay, you’re . .going to burn the wound?” Taylor said in disbelief.
“The appropriate word is caulderize but yeah, we’re going to do it.”
“McKay, let me have one of those short swords you got from those Lost Boys,” Tony held out his hand.
McKay pulled one out of the sand and handed it to his blind friend. Tony held it aloft and felt of the blade end, noticing the smooth metal. “Yeah, this will do,” Tony said, standing up, “McKay, hang in there. It’ll be about another hour before this is hot enough. John? Lead me to a fire please.”
The Archer patted McKay on the shoulder, then stood up and took Tony’s arm; leading him back toward the medical tent. McKay gently leaned back, groaning. Mandy came over and sat down with her two friends. Taylor just smiled at her best friend then looked down at the resting Australian. She leaned down and gently kissed him softly on the lips. As she leaned back up, she stroked his stubble head. “That is the second time you’ve saved my life,” she grinned, “You’re either very brave or very stupid.”
“You’d be surprised how much those two are closely related,” McKay chuckled.
McKay then felt of the other sword and looked at. He was marveled at its streamline construction; as if the weapon was built to last. The hilt was made of solid plastic, as well as the end tip. As he shifted the weapon over, he then saw something engraved at the end of the blade toward the hilt. He leaned in closer and read it. “Legio Patria Nester.” He whispered.
“Wonder what that means.” Mandy said by instinct.
“It means The Legion is Our Country,” the Australian said without missing a beat.
“How did you know that?” asked Taylor.
“Oh, yeah.” He smiled, “You keep forgetting I used to be an English Teacher. Legio Patria Nester is the motto of the French Foreign Legion.”
“French?” the blonde pondered, “Those teenagers that had us in the jungle were speaking French.”
“Yeah, I know. The one that attacked me screamed Mourir. He was basically telling me to die.”
“You speak French, McKay?” Mandy asked, amazed.
“You bet. I read it too.”
“Why did you learn to speak French?” asked Taylor.
“There really isn’t a story there, Luv,” McKay smiled, “Working toward an English degree requires a foreign language. I picked it for the hell of it.”
“Well, if those boys come back, at least now we’ll know what they are saying.”
“You have a point,” the Australian smiled at her.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------,
Mia was glad to be back at the beach and with her friends. She had just gotten finished telling them about what she had seen. Shanna was freaking out a little bit, worried she wouldn’t be able to sleep. Seth was curious about the nature of the teenagers and Brendon was interested in the leader called Alexander and his strange strength. “You said, this Alexander was able to throw the other boy like a rag doll?” Brendon asked.
“It was amazing!” Mia said, “It was like something out of a sci-fi movie, two superhuman titans fighting. Alexander clearly appeared to be the strongest one.”
Shanna held the red cloth that Mia gave her, “And they wore these around their mouths?”
“Yeah, like masks. I don’t know if it was a ceremonial thing or if possible, they know something about the jungle and are afraid to breathe it. If I could have spoken French, then I might have understood.”
“You believe we can trust these . . .teenagers in the Red Faction?” asked Seth.
“Clearly. They only had our best interests in mind. I even made friends with one of them; Marie.”
“Pretty name.” Shanna smiled.
“It was kinda weird though. They simply particularly afraid of Tony.”
“Why?” asked Brendon.
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because he was an adult? I don’t know.”
“Well, if it proves anything, it proves we ain’t alone.” Seth muttered, “We are going to have to keep that night-watch going.”
“Mia said there were no girls over 17 years old,” Brendon joked with him, “You said the one by the waterfall was 18 or 19.”
“So I’m a bad guess of age, so what?” he said, maneuvering to get to sleep, “She was all dirty and stuff anyway.”
The friends made a funny comment that Brendon and Seth never stop arguing. Seth mentioned the only reason he does it is cause Brendon is such a loud mouth. It was of course a joke, considering that of all of them, their Asian friend spoke the least.
The wind gently blew, making the torches by the jungle flicker. The oceans sang the people to sleep, while the bugs in the jungles chirped in an operatic tune.
posted by Jason | 6:55 AM
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