The Island (Incomplete Novel)

The Island
Chapter 1: Discovery

He looked up to see a sand covered beach with a large tree line spanning the distance before him. He heard the sounds of crashing waves behind him along with the sounds of many tropical birds. As he attempted to rise to his feet he felt a sharp pain shoot up from his hip to his neck, a pain so intense it forced him to collapse back down. With all of his energy exhausted, he laid there for several minutes.
He started to crawl his way up the beach towards the tree line. Slowly, inch by inch he pulled himself along until finally he was able to roll on his back, and slide up against a small palm tree resting just a few feet from the tree line. He sat there for many minutes, until he slowly drifted off into sleep.
He woke several hours later, to find the sun just reaching its zenith. He attempted to stand once more, another sharp pain shot up his back, but this time he managed not to collapse to the ground. Slowly he walked, each step hurting less than the last, until finally it hurt no more to move around on his feet. Now he was faced with another problem, he felt dizzy and was in need of hydration.
He looked up and was rewarded with the sight of a coconut sitting just out of reach resting in place near the highest part of the palm tree. He raised his hand upwards in an attempt to reach the coconut, his only visible chance at survival, but still it remained beyond his reach. He sat there frustrated, to tired to even attempt to climb the tree. Then it hit him, if he could shake the tree hard enough the coconut would fall to the ground where he could then pick it up, and quench his thirst. He rose to his feet, dazed by the heat, and wrapped his hands around the base of the palm tree. Slowly he shook the tree, gradually picking up the pace, back and forth, back and forth, on and on it went for what seemed like an eternity until at last he heard the sound of a coconut plopping down into the sand.
He stopped shaking the palm and searched the ground for his prize, once he caught sight of the coconut he slowly bent over and picked it up with his right hand. It was a bit smaller than he had originally thought, and it fit perfectly into the palm of his hand. He looked around for something to break it open with, and sighted a sharp stone sitting near the tree line just fifteen feet away. He moved towards the stone, and with as much strength as he could muster he smashed the coconut into it.
As he turned the coconut over in his hands he spotted a thumb sized hole which had been caused by the collision with the stone, and by tipping it carefully in line with his mouth he managed to get the refreshing liquid within to pour into his mouth. Now with his thirst sated, he moved onto his next task... finding something to eat.
He decided that his best bet would be to move past the tree line, and search inside the denser jungle. As he neared the tree line something caught his attention. He managed to spot a plump, egg shaped, orange and red fruit, hanging from a tree about twenty feet in. As he neared the tree bearing the fruit he realized that the fruit gave off a distinct sweet smell. Once he reached the base of the tree he noticed that the trunk of the tree was much too wide for him to shake the fruit down as he had done with the coconut. So he started looking around for something to knock the fruit out of the tree with. After several minutes, he found a large stick which he could use to smack the fruit off the tree. He positioned himself under the fruit and with the stick in both hands, he prepared to strike. He leaned back, and smacked the stick against the branch that held the fruit with all the strength he had, and was rewarded with the sound of a dozen or so of the fruit hitting the ground.
He quickly dropped the stick to the ground, and started to collect as much of the fruit as possible. The fruit had a waxy feel and was very soft, and without thinking he sat down and ate as much of the fruit as his stomach could hold. With his whole supply gone, and with renewed energy, he set out to find more of the fruit. Once he had gathered a good supply he placed them in a small clearing, and covered them with a few branches. He had decided that he would use the clearing as some sort of a camp, but first he would need to build a shelter. He set out into the jungle once more and started to collect some bamboo stalks to use for his shelter. He made several trips back and forth, collecting the stalks until the sun had started to set, and he was forced to finally start building his shelter.



Chapter 2: Revelations

He looked at his newly built shelter and gave out a sigh of relief. So I have made it through the first day. Not bad. Not bad at all. I have food, a few more coconuts and a shelter. Done for the day, he decided to lie down in the bed he had fashioned of a few soft leaves he had pulled from a nearby tree. Confident that he had all he would need for the next day, he dozed off and fell asleep.
He awoke the next morning to what sounded like a soft hiss, alarmed he rose from his leaf bed and grabbed a bamboo stalk he had sharpened on a stone. As he walked away from his shelter he saw a slight movement over by his pile of fruits, which he had identified as mangoes
Cautiously he approached the area the noise had originated from, as he drew closer he caught a flash of green to his left, from the corner of his eye. Purely on instinct he swung the bamboo stalk in the direction of the flash, and was rewarded with a loud thud, and the sight of a nearby bush rustling. He slowly closed in on the bush, and once he was within reach of the closest branch he gently pushed it aside with the stalk. As he peeked his head down to check what it was he hit, he saw a bright green snake, which was about 3 ½ feet long and had definitive, built muscles, which showed it probably attacked its prey the same way it attacked him. The snake laid there, un-moving, the leaves next to it slightly red with its blood. Well, I guess I should put my stash in a safer place. He did a quick check through his stash of mangoes, and was glad to have not found any more snakes in his food supply.
He, moved over to his shelter, and used the bamboo stalk to make a small pit, about 2 feet away from the foot of his leaf bed, and quickly moved the mangoes, from their previous spot, into the pit. Once all the mangoes were in the pit, he grabbed a few branches off some of the nearby trees, and placed them over the mouth of the pit. He stood there, trying to figure out what was missing.
“I need something to reinforce it.” He whispered to himself.
He got down onto his knees, and started scooping up dirt from the pile he made while digging the pit. He then placed some of the dirt along the edges of the pit, where the thicker ends of the branches met the ground, once he had enough dirt to strengthen the protection the branches provided to his food, he laid down in his shelter, and decided to rest for a while. As he lay there, his mind drifted off into thought, and then he realized something… He did not know why he was here, or who he even was.
Who am I? Where am I? What is this place? How did I get here? Am I here alone? Am I in danger?
He started to ask himself all these questions, but could not come up with any answers. He sat there, hours passed, but still he could not come up with an answer to any of these questions. I should get back to work, night will fall soon, and I still need to collect wood, so I can make a fire to scare off any predators, there is bound to be more dangerous things here than snakes.
He rose from his bed, and stepped outside, then went about gathering twigs for tinder. Once he had a large pile of twigs he started breaking more branches off trees, and set them in a pile, next to the twigs. He then grabbed two small stones, and set them aside. He grabbed some of the twigs and dry leaves, and set them down in the middle of the clearing, then set some of the branches on the ground next to them. He picked up the stones and started scraping them against each other, until finally he managed to get a spark to land in the pile of twigs and leaves, starting his fire. He gently blew on the fire, until it grew larger, and encompassed most of the twigs and leaves, once the fire reached a large enough size, he threw a few branches onto it, he continued doing so, until the fire was at a satisfying size.
Confident that his fire was large, and bright enough to scare off predators, he went back to his bamboo shelter, and fell asleep for the night.



Chapter 3: The Hitman

(2 Years Earlier)

Wham! Marcus felt a third punch slam into his face, he could hear the chuckles of two men standing a few feet behind him. He spat, expelling a few drops of blood from his mouth, and shook his head slightly in an attempt to shake off the beating he was receiving. The smell of strong alcohol filled his nostrils, James was drinking again it seemed. James only consumed alcohol when he was worried, something must have been going on that concerned either him or the mafia. The fourth punch hit him square in the nose, causing a steady flow of blood to start flowing onto his shirt.
“We know you had something to do with it Marcus, don’t try to hide it!” sounded James’s familiar voice in Marcus’s right side ear.
“I don’t know what you are talking about! I had something to do with what?” exclaimed Marcus, fearing a fifth punch to the face.
This was usual behavior from James, something would go wrong with a job, he would get drunk, and then find the nearest lower class man and accuse him of screwing things up… it just happened that most of the time, that person was Marcus.
“You leaked the plan to the Feds! They now know that we are planning a hit on Walter Voran, and are now making it nearly impossible to get anywhere near him!” barked James as he slammed his fist once more into Marcus’s face.
“It wasn't me! It was Jace!” yelled Marcus in agony.
“Are you accusing Special Agent Jace Michaels of leaking the plan?” asked James in a cold tone that made Marcus shift uncomfortably in his chair.
“Sir I… I um… I have reason to believe that Michaels has been in contact with a freelancer who has been known to have secure ways of contacting the Feds…” stammered Marcus frantically.
“Thank you Marcus, but why didn't you inform me of this immediately after discovering this troubling fact?” asked James.
“I didn't think much of it at the time sir.” replied Marcus.
James gave Marcus a cold stare for several moments before calling over one of the men from behind Marcus. James whispered into the mans ear, and put out his hand. The man reached down to his holster and handed James a .44 Colt. James checked to see that the firearm was loaded then moved directly in front of Marcus.
“Well you see Marcus... right now I don’t think much of you” stated James in a calm gentle tone, which was followed by a single gunshot and the sound of Marcus’s body slumping down in the chair.



Chapter 4: Memories

He awoke to the pit pat of rain hitting leaves, he was cold and miserable, his fire was long since extinguished and the rain had completely soaked his clothes. He rose from his bamboo shelter to check on his food supply, and was relieved to find that the storage pit he made had managed to hold out despite the weather.
He spotted a bright flash in the sky, followed a few moments later by a loud, crackling roar of thunder. Right on cue the rainfall intensified to the point where he could barely see what was in front of him.
He quickly turned around and sprinted in the direction of his shelter. He was nearly halfway there when he lost his footing on the loose, wet ground. He shifted his weight to his right side, in an attempt to break his fall using his shoulder, but it did him no good as his head smacked viciously against the side of a tree. He felt a sharp pain which quickly intensified before he blacked out.
He woke, cold, drenched, and with no idea how long he had been unconscious. He felt a painful throbbing on the side of his head, and felt dry blood cracking as he pulled himself into a sitting position against the tree.
The sky had cleared, the sun was quickly setting, but there was still a damp, heavy feeling in the air. It seemed like the storm had passed.
He was too tired to even try and stand, so he decided to stay where he was. He felt dizzy, but was unsure as to whether it was due to the head trauma or the fact that he had not eaten all day.
"I suppose it really doesn't matter," he thought out loud.
He felt his eyelids begin to grow heavy, but he dared not sleep. If he had a concussion that was the last thing he wanted to do.
The sun was passing below the horizon now, but still the dizziness and pain showed no sign of letting up. He decided to take this time to try and remember who he was and how he got on the island, it was going to be a long night anyway.



Chapter 5: The Chase

It was a regular Sunday night for Jace, he would sit back, relax, have a beer, and watch football. He wasn't a huge fan of the sport, he enjoyed watching it, but mainly because it was the only good thing that aired on Sunday nights.
Jace lived in a good sized two story home in the outskirts of San Jose. He liked it there, it was a nice, quiet neighbourhood where no one really asked any questions. Sure it was expensive, but the mafia took care of the financial needs of its special agents.
Jace reached down and grabbed another "cold one" from the mini refrigerator beside his recliner, and popped it open. It was almost halftime, and things didn't look good for his team. He took a large drink from his beer, the ice cold alcohol causing both a chill to race down his spine, and a warm tingling sensation to spread throughout his body. He moved to set his beer down on the small, oakwood coffee table in front of him, but paused once he realized there was no more room left on the table due to the cluttered collection of empty bottles.
Jace stood up and set his beer down on the mini refrigerator. He began walking into the kitchen to grab a few empty beer cases, but was stopped by a rapid knocking on his front door. He headed back to his T.V. and turned down the volume before going to answer the door.
He was halfway to the front door when it suddenly and violently burst open. James walked in, followed by two other men, of which Jace didn't recognize.
"What are you d-" Jace began to ask, but stopped as James pulled out a Glock 17.
Jace dived back into the living room, putting a wall between him and James. Jace pulled himself up and sprinted into the kitchen, hoping to reach his own gun before James could catch up to him. Frantically he pulled open drawer after drawer, until finally he found his GP35. He turned around to see the two men enter the kitchen. Jace quickly ducked behind the "island" counter in the middle of the kitchen. He held his breath, time felt as though it was standing still, he could hear his heart beating rapidly against the dull sound of the T.V. in the next room. He heard the two men talking, but he couldn't make out the words, he assumed they didn't know he was in the kitchen. The T.V. went silent, he guessed that James turned it off.
A light turned on in the adjacent room, casting a shadow of the two men standing in the doorway, by Jace's feet. Jace saw one of the men tap the others shoulder and raise his arm, pointing to what he could only guess was the kitchen window. Jace looked up towards the kitchen window, and saw that it was open. He heard one of the men call James into the room.
"Maybe he climbed out the window," Jace heard one of the men say.
"Don't be stupid, Jace is smart. He wouldn't risk climbing out the window if he knew we were right behind him, he would stay and take us out one by one. He would hide and strike when the time is right." this time it was the familiar voice of James speaking.
Jace suddenly got an idea, he reached into his pocket and fished out his car keys. He had a button attached to his keys that he could use to open his garage door, which was old and made a loud rattling noise. Jace pushed the button, and his garage door began to open. James and the two men picked up on the sound, and quickly left the kitchen, obviously making their way to the garage. Jace stood up, and moved over to the window, he quickly climbed out, and ran to James's car, which was parked on the curb just a few feet away. Jace grabbed the handle of the driver side door and pulled it open. The keys were still in the car, James must have been preparing for a quick getaway.
Jace closed the door and started the ignition. He knew that he shouldn't be driving, he had drank three beers in the past hour and a half, but he didn't really have a choice.