Castaways Ch. 08

Another scream of pain erupted as the spear hit bone and penetrated the back of the other AK-47 guy just to the left of a kidney. He dropped to his knees, reaching with one hand to feel for his wound. He grabbed the spear but it was too deep for him to remove himself and he howled in pain as he fell over to one side.

The leader and Two Pistols stared on in horror as their two lead men were down and wounded. John popped back up with a second spear and threw it at the leader. He was about thirty feet away though and jumped behind a boulder for protection. The spear stuck in the ground near where he had been. A hail of bullets erupted from Two Pistols just as John managed to duck back down. He could hear them whizzing by and others pounding off the rocks he had put in place.

"Stay down," John yelled to Em over the din.

They could hear Two Pistols yelling at them in excited Spanish. The leader was also saying something to Two Pistols. The other man hid behind a tree still clutching the rope tied to the startled girl. She was still back a little on the path in the open and in total shock at the happenings.

John had one more spear but reached for the bow and arrows instead. He kept low as more bullets streaked by overhead and hammered the rocks. Pieces of driftwood and palm fronds sprayed into the air like confetti as the bullets ripped apart some of John's defenses. He huddled behind the rock he had placed before him for another chance to look.

When the first wave of bullets died down, John popped up quickly. He didn't fire anything but instead quickly assessed where the remaining two were at. Over the moans of the two already down, he could hear the leader saying something to Two Pistols. John looked up again to see Two Pistols pull the girl to him and use her as a further human shield with the tree.

John put one of his arrows into the bow and prepared to take a shot at the leader again. However, when he waited a second and popped up he was greeted by a bullet whizzing by his head. He dropped back down just as several more smashed against his rock. Fortunately the rock was big enough and thick enough not to break apart. Splintering shards of rock though blew in a million directions as the bullets chiseled away at the protective rock.

When that wave of bullets died down, John got to his knees and fired at the leader. He aimed high as the bow was woefully inadequate for long range shots. His aim wasn't bad but the leader easily ducked behind his rock and the arrow careened off it harmlessly. John barely got back down before more bullets from Two Pistols further chiseled away at his rock.

John was beginning to think they were locked in a standoff until he heard more talking from the leader. He wished he understood Spanish and he asked Em if she did. She shook her head no. John saw fear etched in her eyes as they looked at each other briefly. He glanced back over the edge through the few pieces of remaining driftwood and fronds. He could see Two Pistols moving around to the left. He also noticed the leader was now closer behind a tree.

John realized their plan. The leader was after the trap impaled guy's AK-47. He was less than ten feet from it now but would have to dash into the open beneath the large boulder to get the rest of the way. John felt he could keep him back with a few decent shots but the other guy worried him more. Two Pistols was using the girl as a shield and moved from cover to cover around his left flank. If Two Pistols successfully got behind them they were doomed. He couldn't allow the prospect of having their retreat cut off. That was too much of a risk to Em to allow that to happen.

So far the battle had gone much as John hoped. His prayer for the trap had worked well enough to give him the element of surprise. With the two AK-47 guys down the odds were better but still woefully in the pirates favor. They obviously didn't care what happened to the girl with them and John had to protect Em at all costs. Besides that, surprise was now gone, their hiding place was known, and John wrestled mentally with the distinct possibility he might have to actually shoot at Two Pistols to stop him even with the girl in front of him. John had no desire to hurt the girl but he had to think of Em and their safety too. It was not a choice he relished making.

He peered over the edge again only to be met by more bullets whooshing through the air too close for comfort. The situation was rapidly deteriorating from the standoff he had hoped for. He had to do something as Two Pistols was making progress around the side and every time he looked up the leader was ready to lay down cover fire.

John popped up and down quickly. He drew fire like expected but this time when it died down he immediately popped up and fired an arrow at the tree where Two Pistols and the girl huddled. He tried to keep the arrow to the left side of the tree, opposite the side the girl was exposed on. In so doing he missed badly to the left offering little threat to Two Pistols, who soon after bolted to the next covering rock, dragging the girl along.

The situation was growing desperate. He couldn't watch Two Pistols anymore and still keep the leader in his peripheral vision in case he bolted for the AK-47. He didn't want the leader to get that gun as they could then pin him down for longer periods of time as someone else moved.

John reloaded another arrow and this time was ready when Two Pistols bolted to the next tree. He insanely disregarded two shots whizzing by him and fired his arrow. He aimed for Two Pistol's head but the shot dropped low. It did manage to hit Two Pistols in the leg though just before he got to the next rock. John heard him scream in pain as the arrow pierced his leg. Then John felt searing hot pain as a bullet just grazed his right arm, tearing away some flesh and opening a wound. He managed to drop down just as a few more bullets pounded the rock and whooshed by.

Now it was Em screaming when she saw the blood on his hand as he instinctively covered his wounded arm. John said he was okay to Em even as he winched in pain. The next time he peeked up he was greeted by a hail of bullets from a different sounding gun. 'Fuck,' John thought aloud. The leader had retrieved the AK-47 while he was down. This was getting worse by the second. Another quick glance showed him that Two Pistols was standing again, ready to move. Obviously the arrow wound had not been enough to keep him down.

"We've got to go, Em!" John exclaimed only loud enough for her to hear.

"Okay."

"You first, then I'll follow," John declared.

"When?"

"Wait a second," John concluded.

He dared another look up but the same result was a barrage of bullets pinning him down. When they ended he yelled.

"Go!"

Em took off in a flash. She had been fast as a runner ever since he met her and the physical nature of their existence on the island had added to her overall strength and endurance. She jumped off the rock to the west, dropped the three feet to the sand, and took off through the heavy sand with surprising quickness.

Two Pistols had seen her go and yelled something to the leader. John lifted up and then fortunately dropped back down just as a wall of lead passed by. He took off at its conclusion, racing after Em, who was already nearly out of sight down the winding trail.

John got to the beach only to see Em half way across it to the raft. He could hear loud yelling in Spanish further behind him. He reasoned they had maybe a minute to get the raft launched out far enough to sea to not get sprayed with bullets. Not enough time really.

John raced on watching Em reach the raft. The smart girl had taken one of the knives with her and began working to cut the vine holding the raft. He had planned to do that but was glad she saved them the time. The high tide was somewhat battering the raft against the shoreline. That was good and bad. The raft would be easy to launch but they would have to fight hard to get out past the breakers. Once they did though, John had observed many times that on this side of the island the water currents strongly ran past the island. He felt if they could get out into those currents the raft would move somewhat rapidly away from the island.

He reached Em just as she muscled the knife through the vine. He grabbed the vine from her and yelled to get on board. She did as he took handholds and began pushing. He glanced back over his shoulder. Nothing yet.

"Get low," John yelled to Em. "Watch my back."

John fought hard to push the raft through the waves into deeper water. He wanted to go as far as he could push before he jumped on. He was in waist deep water when Em yelled.

"Here they come!"

"Fuck," John yelled back knowing this was way too close for comfort. The guns would easily have them in their sights and range.

He pushed as hard as he possibly could. They made it out beyond the breakers and John pushed one last time and jumped on. He grabbed the rudder and steered into the current. As he did, he glanced back. The leader was in front and running across the beach. Two Pistols hobbled behind him a little bit, pulling the girl along. They were still only thirty feet from the shore and the pirates were closing the gap too fast.

John held the rudder as he put his legs over the back of the raft. He kicked in the water as hard as he could, trying hard to propel them faster to deeper water. The current was taking them but too slowly for John's liking. He watched as the leader got to the shoreline and raised the AK-47. Only maybe fifty or sixty feet separated them from the leader.

The leader aimed but the AK-47 spit only two bullets when he pulled the trigger before running out of ammo. The two bullets hit the water right in front of John. If the gun hadn't been empty it would have been easy to run the fire right into him. The leader threw the AK-47 aside and drew his handguns just as Two Pistols arrived with the girl in tow. He already had one gun in hand and started firing. One shot buzzed by John, another hit the bamboo rudder post right next to him, and the third went under the raft before hitting the water. They were getting far too close and the raft was still only eighty feet away.

"Stay down!" John yelled to Em.

"You too," she screamed back.

The leader opened fire as two more shots from Two Pistols' guns splintered the bamboo raft on one side of John. Suddenly John thought he heard more gunfire from elsewhere. Temporarily confused, he looked where the two pirates were now turning as bullets threw up spits of sand in the air around them.

"Holy shit," John yelled amazed.

"John," Em screamed noticing the new gun fired too and seeing why.

On the beach and running towards the pirates were what looked like five Navy or Coast Guardsmen. The one in front with a pistol looked like a Captain and he had four men with drawn assault rifles with him.

Two Pistols made the mistake of firing in their direction and a wall of bullets dropped him in seconds. The leader, seeing his mate fall, dropped his guns and raised his hands. Moments later he was surrounded by men in white. One went to the girl and untied her hands.

As John and Em watched the scene unfold, they heard a boat engine roaring louder. They turned to see a Zodiac with United States Coast Guard emblazoned on the front racing towards them. In it were three men, equally armed with assault rifles. They spun the craft to a stop in front of the raft. John got to his feet and threw them the vine they had used to moor the raft.

The rest of what proceeded next was beyond anything Em and John could have hoped for at that grave moment and over the last terrible hour. The Zodiac pulled them back to shore where the Captain and his men were handcuffing the pirate leader. One of the men was saying something to him in Spanish that sounded to John like they were reading him his rights as they arrested him. They got off the raft in the surf just as the Captain approached.

"Hi, I'm Captain Bennett, United States Coast Guard. Who might you be?"

"I'm John Morrison and this is Meredith. We've been stranded on this island for months," John offered.

"Are you the two our plane spotted?" the Captain asked.

"Yes," John replied.

"Well, you're lucky we're helping the French track these guys down. They pirated a French yacht several days ago near Martinique. We've been helping the French search these islands. Our search plane spotted you guys on one of their runs," the Captain informed.

Em noticed one of the guardsmen whisper to one of his mates who smiled. At first she didn't think anything of it, but then the thought dawned on her as to what they might be saying, as she listen to the Captain and John talk. Had word spread around of her unclad top when they were waving at the plane? From the stolen glances of the guardsmen and the smiles she assumed so. 'Oh well,' she mused, glad she now had a tank top and shorts on over her white bikini, even if it was somewhat wet and showing her richly tanned skin underneath. The outline of her white bikini top could be seen through the wet shirt.

"Is that so?" John queried in reply to the Captain.

"Yes, and that woman is the daughter of a wealthy Frenchman named Roberto Cure'. She was taken hostage from their yacht. Her name is Emily Cure'," the Captain stated.

"Poor girl," John responded.

Em looked over to see two of the guardsmen talking to her in English. She didn't seem to be responding as if she was in shock.

"What happened here that they were after you?" the Captain asked.

"They discovered our camp and raided it. We fought back and retreated here when we had to," John declared. "We had planned to leave the island on this raft soon anyway but were forced to use it to try to escape."

"I see," said the Captain. "Tell me, Mr. Morrison, the reports indicated there were four men. Do you know anything about the other two?"

"I'm afraid we had to wound them to get away," John said.

"Is that so? Can you show me?" the Captain asked.

"Sure, this way back to our camp," John said and started towards it.

John held Em's hand as they walked the trail back to camp. The Captain and his four men followed them bringing Emily Cure' along. The other three guardsmen were busy pulling away in the Zodiac with their prisoner handcuffed in the middle and a dead Two Pistols in the bottom of the boat.

John showed them an easier way around the rocks so they wouldn't have to climb. Pretty much the same way Two Pistols had tried to flank their position. He warned them to be cautious given one or both of the criminals might still be armed. The Captain held him and Em back as his men secured the camp. When they were allowed to enter, they saw that one of the men was dead and the other being attended to. More personnel from somewhere arrived with a medical team. Apparently they had been summoned by radio to this position.

"You're quite resourceful, Mr. Morrison," the Captain said as he watched some of his men carry off the dead man. "That booby trap that got that poor fellow was pretty nasty."

"It saved our lives, Captain."

"Indeed, I believe it did, Mr. Morrison. These guys were pretty ruthless. The French are somewhat surprised they left the people on the yacht alive to tell. They only assume the leader wanted to ransom the girl and needed her family alive to do it."

My gosh," John offered.

"Please tell me, Mr. Morrison, how you both came to be on this island and everything you saw once those guys landed here," the Captain asked sitting on one of the nearby rocks with two of his men standing nearby listening.

John related the complete story of their crash landing. The only things he left out were the killing of the three drug runners and the hundred thousand dollars they found in the suitcase. The Captain and his men walked with John and Em to the beach to check out the plane wreckage and the graves.

"I'm sorry for your loss," the Captain said to Em referring to her mother as they stood by the grave.

"Thank you, Captain," Em replied, still deeply troubled by her mother's death.

John replaced the old woman's grave mark before they headed back to camp.

"I'll arrange for proper burial arrangements," the Captain stated as they walked back.

"I'd appreciate that, Captain," Em declared.

"You both survived all this time on this island alone?" the Captain queried on the walk back.

"Yes," Em and John both said.

"You're two amazing people," Captain Bennett stated.

"Thanks, Captain," John responded.

"It was mostly John's doing," Em stated, glowing with pride for him and herself too.

"Like I said, Mr. Morrison, you are quite the resourceful guy. I'd like to hear more of that tale as we steam back to Martinique where Ms. Cure' folks await," he proclaimed.

"Gladly, Captain."

"I promise not to steal your story. I think you have the makings of a book deal here," the Captain said jokingly.

"We'll just be happy to be home," John declared amused, "but I am a writer."

"Please send me a signed copy," Captain Bennett asked jokingly.

"For your help today, anything, Captain," John agreed and they all laughed.

"By the way, we can call whatever relatives you both need when we are back on board to tell them you're safe."

"Thanks, Captain," John said but Em remained silent.

Once back in the camp, John continued with the rest of the story of how they saw the pirates land and unload bags of stuff. He described how they carried them into the island and buried them. After that he described how they made a campfire, drank, and mistreated the woman.

"In what way did they mistreat her?" the Captain pressed.

John told what he had seen exactly. He had not told Em that full story and she gasped aloud as he did now. The Captain listened intently.

"Can you show me where all this happened and where they buried those bags, Mr. Morrison?"

"Yes, sir," John replied, "And call me John please."

"Miss, my men will take you to our ship. Why don't you pack whatever you want to take from the island while John and I are gone?"

"Yes, Captain," Em answered.

As the officer and John were about to leave with four of his men, two with shovels, Em spoke up. She noticed Emily Cure' sitting forlornly on a rock with two male medical staff trying to speak to her in English.

"Captain, I know some French. Could I help with Ms. Cure'?"

"Oh, please do, Meredith. My men say she is in shock or the language is a barrier. If you could help us ascertain her physical state that would be great. Also, if she offers up to you anything on her capture that would be appreciated too," the Captain replied.

The men moved off and Em sat down next to Emily. They were nearly the same age and she put her arm around the troubled girl. They had practically the same name. Emily was dirty and could have used a bath. The ripped tails of her shirt were tied together hiding her breasts barely. Her wrists had rope burns from being tied.

"Bon jour," Em said in French.

Emily didn't respond but started shaking in Em's arms. She just stared at the ground. Em held her tightly without saying anything more for a long time. The shaking finally stopped and Emily began to cry. Em just continued to hold her and let her cry.

Em started to whisper to Emily, "It's okay, you're safe now." At least she hoped that's what she said as her high school French was rusty.

After a long time Emily mumbled something in French. Em thought she said, "Where am I?"

Em couldn't remember the word for island so she said, "Tiny beach land," hoping Emily would understand.

She seemed to and responded with the proper word for island. Em replied, "Oui."

"Who are you?" Emily asked.

"Meredith. People call me Em. John and I crash landed on this island," Em said trying to make her understand they both shared hardship.