Floxham Island ~ Sinclair V-Log AZ267/M (21 page)

“They went by
themselves?” I exclaimed.

“Hell no, they
took Luggs and Dex with em just in case.”

“Okay thanks.
I’m looking forward to getting away from here.”

“I’ll bet you
are. They said that if they get in touch with the liner, they’re
gonna get the word out to the authorities so this place can be
cleaned up and sorted out by the proper people.”

“Good,” I
nodded. “Y’know I’ve been thinking about that and something
occurred to me. If the liner comes back today, or even tomorrow and
picks us up, you guys are gonna be stuck here by yourselves until
help gets here. I don’t like that Baz; I don’t like it at all.”

“Aww we’ll be
okay now the laser net is working again. Don’t worry about us
Sam.”

“Anything could
happen and who knows how long it’ll take for help to get here? I’m
gonna think on it for a while. I just have to take Kitt some
breakfast.”

Flark and the
blue eyed plank returned with Luggs and Dex and all were smiling so
I guessed they’d got some good news for us.

“We are now
within range of the Sally B,” Flark grinned, “so we told them
everything that’s happened here and asked them to call for an
emergency team to get here as quickly as possible.”

“That’s great,”
I nodded. “Any idea how long that’s likely to take?”

“Well,” he said
as he scratched his chin. “The Sally B should be here before
nightfall and they’ve asked me to send back everyone from the
liner. They will then return in the shuttle with the liner’s
security team to help out here until the emergency team
arrives.”

“Well I have to
stay here with Nembier, Kitt, and Eddy until someone from the
relevant authorities can take over responsibility for them. I have
to see the process through or Nembier won’t get a fair trial and
Kitt and Eddy could get away on a technicality if I don’t do my job
properly.”

“Captain,” Dex
said. “I’d like to stay and help if that’s okay. I’m useful here
and I want to help.”

“Me too,” Luggs
cut in. “If that’s okay Captain.”

“And me,” Cap
nodded.

“I agree guys,”
Flark replied. “We’re the best guns here and the Sally B’s security
team isn’t trained for this shit. They’re bouncers not soldiers.
Chip, I’ll send you back with Marta and the bodies of Meesha, Jena
and Ronjo. The rest of us are gonna hold out here. These guys here
need us, especially as we don’t know what’s lurking in the
accommodation sector and if the laser net should go down again, or
if Kitt and Eddy get free and go on the rampage, they’ll be
toast.”

“So we just
have to wait for nightfall and then we’ll have some more muscle
down here,” I said and Flark nodded. “Maybe they can help us build
a few bonfires?”

“I was
wondering whether we should do something,” Luggs said. “The stink
is beginning to creep inside here now.”

“And it’s
dangerous,” Dex added. “There’ll be germs and stuff. We could get
sick.”

“Yeah,” I
nodded. This had been bothering me ever since we arrived actually
but I hadn’t said anything because I wasn’t sure what to do. On the
one hand it seems a little unfeeling to just burn all those bodies
without some kind of proper service. They’re people after all;
husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sons y’know? On the other hand
the stink was getting unbearable and I was thinking about disease
too and that’s a real danger. We don’t want to be stuck here with
over four hundred sick people all shitting and puking everywhere.
“We have to deal with it and when the other guys get down here, I
reckon it should be our first job in the morning.”

“Agreed,” Flark
nodded. “When we go to check the comms later on this afternoon,
I’ll relay these decisions to Captain Hann and ask him to send the
guys down with suitable gear to help us out.”

“And I suppose
that if we’re gonna be here for a few more days, then we could
check out the accommodation sector,” Luggs said and Dex nodded.
“That’ll make the whole island finally clear of the creatures and
we could use some comfortable beds and more bathrooms. There’s room
enough for five hundred in that hotel alone. Everyone could have a
proper bed and access to a bathroom. If we have to stay here a few
more days, at least we’d be comfortable and I won’t have to suffer
Dex’s armpits.”

“There’s
nothing wrong with my armpits buddy,” Dex grinned as he lifted an
arm and sniffed, “but your farting is rank.” Luggs replied by
breaking wind loudly and everyone laughed.

The rest of
that day felt a little flat for me. You’d think we would’ve enjoyed
a whole day without having to worry about creatures or mystery
slashers but I suppose having spent the past couple of days in such
a high stress situation, we all fell a bit flat once we had nothing
to do. Some people thrive on stress and others just drift I guess
and I’ll admit now that as the day wore on, I was looking forward
to the big clean up the next day. One thing was playing on my mind
though; I wondered what I should do about Nembier. He was still in
custody but having to keep a watch team on him twenty four hours a
day was a drag, for him as well as us so I asked him if he’d rather
go into a cell down below or remain here with a watch team.

“It’s up to
you,” I said. “If you’d rather stay as you are then you can stay
here. If you’d rather be in a cell then you can have that. It’s
your choice buddy, I’m not gonna force it on you.”

“I’d like to
stay here if that’s okay but maybe take the cell during the night?
A bed to sleep in would be real nice, the floor in here is mighty
hard and I’m not a young man anymore.”

“Sure thing,” I
nodded. “No problem at all.” The watch team guys were happy with it
too as it meant they wouldn’t have to stay up all night anymore so
everyone was happy. At the end of the day, even if Nembier did
escape, where the fuck is he gonna go? We spent the rest of the day
doing something I’m almost embarrassed to admit to but it was fun.
We put on an impromptu concert and anyone who had any kind of an
entertaining talent got up and did a turn. It was amazing to see
the variety of talent we had too, from singers and dancers to
magicians, poets and one huge guy stripped down to his underwear
and gave us the most awesome show of the whole day. He stood on his
hands, on one hand, balanced on his head and spun around and
twisted his body around while only balancing on his hands; it was
awesome. There was one guy who was a terrible comedian and had us
laughing so hard we cried because he was so bad. Another guy acted
parts from famous vidicom movies, only he kept getting the lines
wrong and it was funnier than the comedian’s jokes. We then did
this story thing that someone suggested and at first I groaned but
actually it turned out to be fun and had us all using our brains as
well as our creativity. One guy started off by making up the first
few lines of a story, then the next guy carried the story on for
another few lines, then a third guy carried on and so on. When the
time came for the group to head out to the shuttle I knew some real
connections had been made between folks and I was sure some
friendships made during that experience would last for years to
come and it pleased me to know that something really good could
come from something so awful.

“Okay guys,”
Flark announced. “It’s time we got out to the shuttle. Can we have
some volunteers to carry Meesha, Jena and Ronjo’s bodies? A hundred
guys stood immediately and I smiled as I realised just how deep
those connections we’d all made during the past couple of days had
gone. The blue eyed plank and Marta said their goodbyes and she
even gave me a kiss on the cheek and made me blush. I shook hands
with Chip and realised he probably didn’t deserve the nickname I’d
given him.

“I haven’t been
much help around here Sam,” he smiled, “but I want to thank you for
everything you’ve done.”

“Hey you did
your bit buddy,” I replied truthfully. “You kept the place going
while we were away at the lab and no one has complained about how
you ran things. Not to me anyway. I’ll buy you a drink when I get
back up there okay?”

We set off to
the shuttle to see Chip, Marta and the bodies of Meesha, Jena and
Ronjo back to the liner and to wait for the security guys to
arrive. The journey went without incident and we loaded the bodies
onto the shuttle and watched as it lifted off and into the sky. We
expected it to return in around an hour, so we settled down to wait
it out. Suddenly we all heard a crash from one of the stores
buildings a hundred yards to our left and all guns were immediately
alert. Another crash, followed by a thud and then the hairy guy
Adam appeared with Eve and the newborn Floxy, their arms laden with
food. Dex laughed and everyone lowered their guns, whilst the
volunteers who’d carried the bodies and not met him before,
exclaimed in shock. The three saw us and Adam grunted in that way
I’d come to think of as recognition, so I raised a hand and smiled
at him and they approached us cautiously.

“Hey buddy, how
are ya huh?” I smiled and he grunted quietly in response. It was
good to see them both healthy and happy and I smiled as I looked at
Eve. “You’re looking fully recovered now hunny; I’m glad to see you
up and around and fit again.” Finally I looked at little Floxy and
despite myself, my heart gave a little flip and I couldn’t help but
grin. “Aww she’s gorgeous,” I said as I stood on tiptoe trying to
see her as she snuggled into Eve’s chest. Without warning Eve
walked towards me until she was just a couple of feet in front of
me. She reached out and let her hand come to rest on my shoulder
and man that choked me up. Not able to resist, I touched little
Floxy and she wriggled and yawned. “Hello beautiful,” I said as I
tickled her chin.

“Hello papa,”
Luggs said from behind me in a squeaky high pitched voice that sent
everyone off into guffaws of laughter.

Adam grunted
softly and looked into my eyes and something passed between us. A
moment that I can’t really describe adequately but it was almost as
if he was saying, “well buddy, maybe we’re not so ashamed of how
you’ve evolved after all,” and I was really happy to know that.
Goose pimples rose on my arms as I looked into his huge grey eyes
and again saw myself looking back at me, but this time what stared
back at me was a friend. The pair and their newborn wandered off
and I went back to endure the taunts of the guys while we waited
for the shuttle to return.

The shuttle
arrived and fifteen hefty security guys with protective bio hazard
suits, breather units and laser rifles joined us. They unloaded
crates of spare suits, breather units and cremblocks, which would
ensure the bodies burned quickly at a high temperature. By this
time the afternoon shadows were lengthening so we made our way
smartly back to the Admin block. On the way the guys got their
first look at the task that awaited them in the morning and all
were more than a little shocked at the number and state of the
bodies. A couple vomited on the way, due to the smell and I groaned
inwardly and shot a look at Dex who rolled his eyes and shook his
head in response. Luggs tried to suppress a grin and almost
triumphed. While the new arrivals were settling in and getting
themselves a drink and something to eat, I went to the cells to
check on Kitt and Eddy.

“You okay
Kitt?” I asked as I approached the cell to find him doing press ups
on the floor.

“Apart from
bored out of my skull yeah,” he replied and stood up, breathing
hard.

“Sorry about
that,” I shrugged. I didn’t quite know how to reply; I felt sorry
for him being locked up all the time and I know I’d go out of my
brain if I lost my freedom.

“It’s not for
you to apologise Sam,” he sighed and sat on his bunk. “It’s just
that there’s absolutely nothing to do and no one to talk to. Could
you perhaps try and find a vidicom unit somewhere. There must be
something in one of the offices.”

“We’re going to
check out the accommodation sector tomorrow, just to make sure
there are no creatures lurking there so if I come across any I’ll
bring you one.”

“Thank you,
that would make it more bearable.”

“No problem.
Now I’ll rustle you both up some food and get you some clean
overalls so you can have a wash and change okay? Oh by the way,
Nembier will be spending the night in a cell too so you’ll have
someone to talk to at least until he falls asleep.”

“He is?” Kitt
frowned.

“Yeah, I gave
him the choice and he said he’d like a bed rather than the floor
for the night time so he’ll be spending the nights down here with
you. Is that a problem?”

“No, not at
all.”

“Okay great.
Oh, and umm, now the laser net is up and working again, the
security vidicom in here is working now too so everything you all
say and do is being recorded okay? It’s my duty to tell you that
and I’m sorry I forgot when you first came down here.” He nodded
and I returned to the canteen and arranged for food and a change of
clothes for them both and instructed the guys who volunteered to
take it down, that on no circumstances were they to approach the
cells other than by the safety drawers. Being seasoned inmates
themselves they didn’t need telling twice. It was a surprise to me
that Nembier had opted for a cell at night and I wondered if he
would be okay with sharing the cell block with Kitt and Eddy but he
was fine about it and even expressed the desire to talk to Kitt to
try and understand why everything happened the way it did. He was
after some sort of personal closure I guess and I can’t blame the
guy; I wanted to understand the whole thing too. That’s why I asked
Kitt to explain so I can’t blame Nembier for wanting to know. When
folks started drifting off to their chosen sleeping places, I
escorted Nembier down to the cells and let him pick which one he
wanted and to my surprise, he chose the one next door to Kitt.
There was an uncomfortable moment of silence as I brought Nembier
down and they looked into each other’s eyes. Finally Kitt broke the
spell by nodding and giving an embarrassed smile. Nembier nodded
back and I installed him within the cell.