“I can’t believe my luck…” Jake uttered.

“You act like I’m not even here man,” retorted Jose, secretly.

They both had survived the same shipwreck. Walking out of the cold salty water of the ocean, in a good condition after seven hours of doing the breaststroke to an island unknown to them, the two boys sat leaning against a tree. Taking a nice rest after their journey from the “Queen”, they stared out to where the ship once was.

“Do you think anyone else survived?” asked Jake.

Jose shrugged and took a few glances at his surroundings. The scenery was so beautiful that it almost seemed unreal. Like this place was made to simulate a beautiful exotic island. The sand was so soft and clean. The air was so clean and refreshing. The trees were tall and full. Everything looked so perfect and wonderful. The sounds of the animals, which were in what seemed to be a jungle, made it feel so natural and peaceful.

“I’m hungry. Where am I going to get food? How will I survive?” Jake began complaining about his safety and survival.

Jose soon grew very irate with his pampered whining. He stood up and brushed off the sand from his behind. “This could be a tourist island with all that new artificial crap; this is probably a known island.”

Jake ignored his statement and continued to rant on and on about himself and how he knew how to signal for help.


Jose ignored everything he said and disappeared into the jungle. He was still very tired from the swim but was very confident that there was a hotel or some place he could stay at.

A little after he had left he heard Jake calling for him. “Wait up! You shouldn’t leave people like that. What if some natives had come?”

The boys stumbled over overgrown tree roots as they continued to go deeper into the jungle. Pushing branches and a few vines out of their way, Jose saw a figure passing to the left of him. He quickly followed it.

“Not so fast man. I’m still tired!” Jake complained as he matched Jose’s pace.

They continued to pursue the figure until suddenly Jose stopped, making Jake almost tumble.

“Why’d we stop so suddenly?” Jake asked, regaining his composition.

“I lost them. I don’t see them anymore,” Jose explained as he took a seat on a root.

Jake sat down also. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to get a little more energy. “How do you have so much energy?”

“I don’t. I’m just as tired as you,” Jose responded, leaning back onto the tree.

“Then why are we out here? We could’ve stayed at the beach,” Jake asked him leaning over his knees.

Jose shrugged it off, not feeling like talking. There was a long silence between them. They listened to the noises and watched everything around them. Jake seemed to be in a paranoid state, looking around frantically.

“This reminds me of that movie I saw!” Jake exclaimed breaking the silence between them.

Jose ignored him again as he looked for any signs of the figure that he had seen. All he saw was trees, vines, and a snake. It was a very unusual snake. Anytime he had seen a snake before they always had one head not three. In addition, the orange stripes and small purple dots on its black glossy body were not like any snake he had seen before.

He stared at the three-headed snake for a while before one of its heads snapped over and stared back at him. Surprised by this he almost jumped. Nevertheless, he stayed put on the root he was sitting on. He stared back at the snake, looking straight into its golden eyes. Then he slowly began to inch forward off the root and walk towards the snake in a trance. The snakes other two heads turned and stared at him pulling him, into a deeper trance. The snake started to grow larger and larger until it was much bigger than Jose was. He now stood right in front of the humongous three headed-snakes.

Jake fell over after seeing the snake, and stumbled back from it. He tripped over himself so much that he soon gave up and just leaned against a tree, stunned at what he was seeing.

The hissing of the snake’s heads brought Jose back from the trance. His vision was blurry so he did not see the monstrous snake in front of him at first. He rubbed his eyes clearing up his vision. He looked up at the King Kong like snake. He tired to run but he could not seem to get his legs to budge. He tired calling for Jake but he seemed to have lost his voice also.

Jake was watching the scene terrified, wondering how they were going to get out of this situation. He slowly stood up, using all his willpower. His body was trembling with terror as he turned around and made a sprint for his life.

“Run Jose!” he yelled back.

One of the snake’s heads slithered away to follow Jake. The other two of the snake’s heads began to attack Jose together at once. He finally gained control of his legs and ran out of the way. He watched the snake’s heads collide with the ground. There was a shriek and a thump coming from the direction Jake had ran.

‘What in the world is going on?’ Jose thought hearing Jake’s scream.

One of the snake’s heads rammed its body into Jose pinning him against a tree. The other head charged at Jose hastily. He squirmed under the weight of the snake that held him pinned against the tree.
As the snake got closer, it opened its jaws showing him its enormous fangs dripping with venom. He closed his eyes and prepared himself for the pain he was about to experience.

He felt hot air on his body. He opened an eye to see the inside of the snake’s mouth a few feet away from him. The both of the snakes collapsed. Jose fell to the ground. He pushed himself to a sitting position and looked around.

“What just happened?” he asked himself as he looked around.

“Well I believe that this snake has been slain,” replied an unknown voice.

Jose looked around for the voice frantically. He stood up supported by the tree and tired to get a better look around. “Where are you?”

Someone jumped down from a tree. The person was short so he thought it might be a little kid. The person began to walk toward him. “Hey kid. Can you take me to your village or where ever?”

The person ran out of the shade and shouted, “I am no child!”

He looked at the person he now could see was a girl. She was at least 5’ 3”; she had short messy black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. She had a caramel skin color. Her clothes were torn and stained. She had scares all over her body.

He shook his head and looked around. “Where’s the person that helped me?”

“I helped you!” she told him as she got angrier.

Jose laughed, “You couldn’t help me! You’re just a little girl!”

“Go get someone else to help ya then ‘cause I’ve just decided not to!” she stormed off behind some trees.


“Hey wait!” he climbed over the corpse of the snake and went in the direction she had gone in. He didn’t see her anywhere so he gave up and leaned against a tree.

‘I wonder what happened to Jake,’ he thought before closing his eyes and falling asleep.


Jose awoke to people talking around him. He opened his eyes to see Jake kneeling next to him. He sat up and looked around. He was inside a hut made out of wood, mud, and animal skin.

“Where am I?” he asked Jake.

“We’re inside a hut! That some nice ladies have let us use,” he told him. “They came from a shipwreck too!”

Jose looked at the opening of the hut to see a girl around 5’ 6”, wearing a dress and she had long brown hair. She walked over to Jose and knelt down next to him.

“Hello. My name’s Clare. What’s your’s?” she asked politely.

“Jose. Nice to meet you Clare. And thanks for helping us,” he stood up and brushed the dirt off him.

“Would you like to meet the rest?” she asked as she stood up and headed out of the opening.

Jose nodded and followed her out along with Jake. When he came out of the hut, he notices that they were in some other part of the jungle. There is no grass and the trees had been cut down. There were many huts and people around.

“This is Andy,” she pointed to a little boy with brown messy, short hair. He had big blue eyes and a thumb in his mouth. He looked around three or four years old.

They waved at him and turned to the next person.

“This is Shan,” she pointed to the girl that looked like she was about to cry. She had short blonde hair. A long tee shirt and shorts.

They waved at her and turned to the next person.

“And this is Z,” she pointed to the girl that Jose had seen earlier. Her back was facing them as she tapped her foot on the ground impatiently. “Stop being rude Z and face our guest.”

She spun around on the heel of her foot to face them. She kept tapping her foot with her arms folded and a scowl on her face.

“What’s wrong with her?” Jake asked Clare in a whisper.

“I don’t know. She does seem a little angrier than usual,” Clare whispered back.

“I am not a child you ignorant bastard!” she yelled pointing an accusing finger at Jose.

“I’m not an ignorant bastard!” Jose yelled back.

“Weakling!” she retorted.

“Midget!” he screamed.

“I hate you!” they screamed at each other in unison.

“Z, you should behave yourself a little more in front of company,” Clare told her.

“He started it. He insulted me after I saved his pathetic life from the three head snake that was about to devour him!” she told her.

Jose shrugged it off and turned to go into the hut again. “Look little girl. You did not save me. I just had good enough luck I guess.”

“Then who did save your sorry a--,” Shan covered her mouth before she could complete her sentence.

Jose walked inside the hut and sat down on the cot the he had woken up on. Jake had followed him inside and sat next to him on another cot.

“You should learn to be friendlier! I don’t understand why you always act so mean,” Jake shook his head not understanding Jose.

“The little kid started it. Then she made up the thing about her saving me. How is a girl the size of a tree stump going to save me?” Jose asked.

“I’M NOT THAT SHORT!” Z yelled still outside of the hut.

“She has really good hearing,” Jake thought aloud as he rested back on the cot.

“How old is Z?” Jose asked curious to her age.

“Oh. Shan said that she is sixteen,” Jake told him.

“Really, she looks more like ten,” He was surprised that she was not a little kid.

“Are you guys’ hungry? Its dinner time and Z brought back a really good dinner,” Clare asked the two boys peeking her head into the hut.

“Umm sure,” they stood up, headed out of the hut, and followed Clare.

They went into some trees and walked into the opening, where there was two gigantic fish. Z was on top of one of the fish helping people cut large chunks off. All the men waited in line for their turn to get a chunk and bring it back to there family, if they had on, and cook it. There was some women in line also, only a few though.

“Z always brings back food for everyone. She’s actually the one that helped us all survive,” Clare told the boys as she took them in line.

“Wow, do you think you could tell us more about her? She seems so… interesting,” asked Jake as he watched Z pierce the fish with a long spear.

“Sure! I’ll tell you everything I know about her!” Clare smiled at Jakes’ interest in Z.

“You shouldn’t have been so mean to her man. I mean, she saved your life,” Jake nudged Jose.

“Shut up,” was all he could say. He was thinking about Z.

‘How can she be the one that saved me? How could she have helped so many people?’ Jose’s thoughts were shortened when a large quantity of fish landed on him.

“THAT’S PAY BACK FOR CALLING ME A LITTLE GIRL!” shouted Z.

Jose crawled from under the fish and looked at her. He smirked and picked up the chunk of fish with some of Jakes’ help.



Later on, that night when the sun had set and the stars had come out, everybody was asleep except Z. Jose woke up and creped up behind Z. He was about to try to scare her but she turned around and shook her knife at him. She pointed at her ears and turned back around.

“I have good hearing,” she told him as she began to do what she was doing before.

Jake looked over her shoulder and saw the snake from before. She had cut the snake up in sections and was skinning a part of it. He walked to the side of her and watched as she carefully separated the skin. Her hands were all bloody and her fingernails were bitten short. Her clothes had bloodstains all over it. She was completely covered in the snake’s blood. He looked to the other side of her and saw a few other snakeskins.

“Why are you the one doing this?” he asked her.

“The men need to stay with their families and help protect everyone in case something attacks,” she explained to him. If the men are gone and there are on women and children then how will this small village survive? It is better for only one person to go out there. Besides, I will not be badly injured.”

He nodded understanding a little bit more. “Can you explain what’s up with this island?”

“I don’t feel like talking to you. Go ask Clare in the morning,” she told him coldly.

“Whatever… midget,” he walked back to the hut, lay on his cot as he closed his eyes, and tried to fall asleep.

“I really do hate that guy Clare,” she mumbled as she continued to skin the snake.

“So you noticed I was here again? I really need more practice,” Clare appeared from behind a tree and a few bushes.

“Nah, you just need to stop hiding in obvious places,” Z smiled at her friend and threw the snakeskin onto the pile.

“You should really get to bed tonight,” Clare walked closer to her friend and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“No way, there were some babies that were just born and I don’t want them to cry and annoy their parents while they’re naked!” she laughed a little and walked over to another section of the snake.

“You should take some time and get some rest for yourself,” she shook her head and walked back to her hut.



There was a loud shriek and a deep growl heard waking everyone up. Jose and Jake ran out of the hut to see what was going on. There was a massive jaguar attacking the village. It was destroying huts and anyone that was in its path.

Z charged at the jaguar with a large spear. The jaguar continued to demolish huts as some of the men surrounded it on all sides wielding their own weapons.

“First, aim for its nose and eyes!” Z yelled as she threw her spear into the middle of it eye.

The jaguar let out a roar of pain and began to stomp everywhere. The men did as she did and aimed for its eyes and nose. The jaguar leaped into the air and tried to flee away from them. Z took the other spear, which had a rope tied on it; she tied the other end onto her hand quickly and threw the spear at the jaguar hitting it on its back. She held onto the rope tightly with both hands before the rope yanked her away, she disappeared into the jungle.

Everyone stared at the spot where Z was last been seen.

“What just happened?” Jake asked still confused at everything that was going on.

“Z just went to bring back some new materials that we can work with. She will be back some time today. Now everyone please begin reconstruction,” Clare said to everyone calmly.

Everyone nodded and began to get to work on fixing huts and helping each other out. Clare walked over to Jake and Jose to explain how things go.

“When something like this happens, Z always leaves right away to collect new supplies and materials that can help us rebuild,” she told them as she lead them to some destroyed houses. “Now since you are men you will have to help with the fixing and protecting.”

“Won’t Z need some help bringing that enormous jaguar back?” Jack asked as he kicked some dirt.

“She won’t let the jaguar get that far from the village. She will have the corpse here by noontime. So don’t worry,” she reassured them and walked off to a group of women and children.

The boys began right away helping the huts be rebuilt. They picked up logs and tied them together using the stems off leaves that they collected from trees. Soon at least half of what was destroyed was now rebuilt by noon.

The men sat down and took a break and wait for Z to come back. Jose and Jack kept their eyes on the spot Z had gone. After at around fifteen minutes into noon the men heard rustling in the trees and bushes. Everyone stood up and waited for what was to emerge out of the jungle. There was a silence; everybody was waiting impatiently to see Z.
“I’m… back!” Z yelled as she emerged out of the jungle dragging something along.

The men gathered around and helped her pull the slain jaguar into the village. When the finally had gotten it in far enough Z collapsed on the ground, taking deep breaths with a grin on her face. She was injured by the jaguar and very tired from the eventful morning. Some of two of the men picked her up and took her to the women that were in a large hut made out of clay and rocks they had gathered from the beach. The rest of the men pulled the jaguar into the middle of the village.

“She really came back by noon,” mumbled Jose as he walked to the hut where he saw the two men bring her to.

He opened the door and walked inside to see Z lying on table as the women undressed her, cleaned and wrapped her wounds. Jose felt himself blush seeing Z like this. He was about to walk back out quietly. He crept towards the door but stopped when one of the women screamed pointing at Jose. The other women turned and sent glares at Jose. They all stood up, threw him outside after the punched, and bruised him a couple of times. Jose stood up hearing snickering from the men who had witnessed the scene just happen. One of the snickering men walked over to him and patted his back.

“You never go in there. Especially when a female’s been took in there,” the man explained.

“Thanks for telling me after it happened,” Jose, grumbled crossing his arms angrily.

“Well you never asked,” the man shrugged and walked away laughing.

Jose motioned for Jake to come to him. Once Jake had reached him Jose looked at him questionably.

“What?” Jake asked not liking the look he was receiving.

“Why isn’t anyone trying to get off of this “Island of Terror”?” he asked him.

“Why are you asking me? I’ve only been here for a day and a half!” he exclaimed.

“He’s just a retarded pervert, Jake,” someone declared coming from the hut where the women were.

“Who sai-” Jose was cut off when someone sucker punched him in his gut.

There was snickering from the women. “Don’t you ever try to sneak a peek at me!” the voice of Z boomed, standing above Jose’s limping body.

“I just wanted to see if they needed any help. But now that I know that’s how you respond to people trying to help you, I’ll never even look at your horrible face again,” he replied with a smirk tugging on his face. He stood up straight and stared down at her.

Z glared at him gritting her teeth. She grabbed his arm, flipped him over her head, and slammed him down on the ground. She huffed and walked away into the forest ignoring everyone telling her to rest.

“Ok everyone. We are going to make that jaguar some to use! Lets get that animal skinned! Separate the bones from the meat! And don’t forget to take the teeth out before we burn the unused parts!” Clare told everyone cheerfully.

Everyone went to his or her work. The women and children looked for any injured, and took care of them; cleaned the fixed huts. While the men kept, look out for anymore-dangerous animals, fixed huts, and tear apart the jaguar. It had been a couple of hours before the sun began to set. Z came back with an enormous bird. She had cuts and bruises here and there but she seemed fine. Everyone helped bring the bird all the way into the village as Z went into her very small hut.

“Hey I’ll be right back,” Jose told Jake as he jogged over to Z’s hut. “Hey Z?”

Z turned her head the best she could to Jose and took a glance at him. “Yeah what?” she asked as Jose squatted down.

“Can I ask you a couple of ques-?” he was cut off by Z. “No. Go away I’m tired.”

He smirked and stood up. ‘She must still be angry about what I said.’ He thought as he began to walk back to the men.

Jake looked at his friend walking back to the group that he was in and looked in the direction that he had come from. He smiled seeing that it was Z’s hut and waved to his friend to sit next to him. ‘He must have wanted to apologize to her.’

“Hey do you know where Clare is?” Jose asked taking a seat next to Jake.

Jake was about to respond but was interrupted by Clare’s voice, “I’m right here.”

They tensed up a little bit when the heard her voice come out of nowhere. They turned their heads slowly towards her and stared at her.

“Where did you come from?” both boys asked in unison.

Clare began to explain to them about how children are made, where they come from. The boys shook their heads as Jack stopped her lecture and told her, “Jose has a question.”

“Um… ok. What is it?” she asked as she took a seat and made herself comfortable.

“First of all, why don’t you guys just build a boat? We could use the wood from the trees and we could use some of the skeletons of those colossal animals that you guys use for weapons and other stuff!” he told her hoping that she would agree.

“Well, there are many huge sea creatures underwater… that’s why you are the only people that survived from your shipwreck. We didn’t all come from the same ship you know,” she explained. “And, we don’t have enough people to separate into large groups. One would be working on the ship, while the other protected them from danger.”

“Have you guys even tried? Anything?” he asked sighing as he held his head in his hands.

“Z has tried many times. I think that she was on this island the longest. She’s been here since she was thirteen when she first came here,” she told him twirling her hair. “Is that all you wanted to ask?”

Jose was silent for a moment before he asked his final question, “Why does Z have such a small hut when she does so much?” he asked uncovering his face.

“All she uses the hut for is sleeping in. She spends most of her time in the jungle,” she smiled at him wearily. “I think the reason she’s always in that horrible place, is because she’s still trying to find another way to get off of this island.”

Jose nodded and watched as Clare stood up and walked away waving vaguely at him. Jose sighed and ran his fingers through his hair exhausted from everything that happened today.

‘I can’t believe that she survived this long on this island. She must have had it ruff,’ he thought watching Jake run over to Clare and talk to her. ‘How does she do it? What was her life like before her ship sank. And, thirteen? Wow…’

“FOOD!” a man yelled as four men carried in the skinned and cooked leg of the jaguar that had attacked the village.

Everyone began to surround the meat with there wooden plates, and forks and knives made of sharpened rock. Jake looked around not seeing Z anywhere. He got an extra plate and cut both of them two chunks of meat. He walked over to her hut and sat the plates on the top of it. He walked over to where the women were giving water to everyone. He got to cups full of water and brought them back to Z’s hut. He set them down on the top of the hut by the plates; he knelt down and shook her leg waking her up.

“You’re hungry right? I brought you some food,” he grabbed a plate of meat and sat in font of her as she came out.

He smiled at her and set the glass of water next to the plate. He grabbed his plate and sat a few feet in front of her. He took out two knives and two forks out of his right pocket and handed a set to her. She stared at him for a while before taking the knife and fork. Jake began to eat his food taking a few glances at Z waiting for her to eat also.

“Thanks,” she muttered before she started to cut her chunk of meat into small pieces.

He swallowed his food and smiled at her again, “No problem. You seemed too tired to get your own food so I brought it.”

She returned his smile and began to eat also. She looked around making sure everyone was ok.

“You know. You are really something. You’ve helped all these people,” he commented as he watched her chew her food slowly.

“Well I like to help I guess,” she told him as she swallowed down piece of chewed meat.

He nodded as they ate in silence. The silence was comfortable, like one you would share with a long time friend. They glanced at each other questionably a few times before they heard someone sit down by them. They both look over to see who the person was.

“Hello,” he greeted them before he sliced and ate some of his meat.

“Hey Jose,” Z replied with a groan only to get a small chuckle out of Jake.

Jose smiled at Z’s tone and swallowed his food. “I see that I have been missed,” he stated sarcastically.

“So Jose, do you have something to say to Z?” Jake asked nudging his arm.

“I will not take any apologizes,” Z stated straightforwardly.

Jose shrugged and ate some more of his food. The three continued to eat in silence for the rest of the meal. An unusual silence had fallen upon them. Around thirty minutes later Z stretched out her arms and legs and fell back. She closed her eyes and crawled into her tiny hut; curled up.

“Can you wake me up in an hour, Jake?” she mumbled not turning to look at either of them.

“Why, Jake?” Jose asked knowing the answer. He smirked and stated, “You must still be pretty angry about what happened today about you being short.”

“Eh I haven’t liked you since I’ve meet you. Anyways, I have only known you for two days. And Jake is nicer,” she shrugged, “Can you Jake? If you can’t, get Clare, Andy, or Shan to wake me.”

“Sure,” he replied as he stood up holding both his and her plates, cups, and utensils.

Jose stood up also holding his dishes also as they walked over to a pile of dishes. They washed their dishes and placed them with the clean ones. After wiping off their wet hands on a towel next to the sink, they walked back to their hut.

“So… how was your day?” Jake asked uneasy.

“Why are you asking? We did the same things,” Jose replied.

“Just trying to make conversation,” Jake mumbled entering the hut.

Jose followed Jake into the hut; laid down on his cot. Jake laid down on his cot. They both fell asleep soon after they settled and laid down. It had only been two days since they came to this strange island. They seemed to have gained an interest in everything about the island itself.

It has been a month since Jake and Jose had arrived on the island. They seemed to be doing well, and have adapted to the change quickly. They had built themselves a better and larger hut by themselves and they would sometimes help Z pull in the animals she had caught for long distances. The animals are attacking much more now so everyone has to work much harder. It looks like it will just keep getting worse. Z seems to be distressing over the amount of deaths this year. She has been working excessively hard and it is starting to worry everyone in the village.

“Z! You’re finally back!” Clare ran up to Z examining her as she walked into the village.

“Hey,” Z nodded to Clare and continued to walk to her hut.

Clare followed Z putting a supportive arm around her, “You need to rest Z. This is the first time in a week I’ve REALLY have seen you.”

“Don’t worry about me. Worry about everyone in the village. The injured need help,” Z told Clare as they continued walking. “How has everyone been?”

“Well Andy is sick. He has a fever…” Clare looked down trying not to worry too much about him.

“WHAT! Take me to him. I need to make sure he’s ok!” Z exclaimed as she quickened her pace turning in the direction of Andy’s hut.

“He’s fine! However, you are not! Go and get some sleep and then you can go see him!” she yelled pulling Z to her hut.

Z did not have the strength to struggle so she followed Clare back to her hut. Clare smiled seeing Z not resisting. They continued to walk back to Z’s hut in silence.

Once they reached the hut Z laid down on the small cot, she had lying on the floor and fell asleep quickly. Clare shook her head gazing upon Z’s dirty and bruised body. She walked away from the hut and started her walk to Andy’s.

“Hey Clare,” Jake ran up to her waving his hands around. “I saw you with Z. Is she ok?”

Clare stopped and turned around to face him, “She’s in denial. Well at least that’s my opinion.”

“Well maybe if we had some men go with Z and get more supplies and food she wouldn’t be like that,” Jose stated walking up to them.

“You know that we can’t do that. We’ve already lost so many people,” she replied as calmly as possible.

“Z wouldn’t like that idea anyways,” Jake said as he waved at Shan as she walked over.

“What is… going on?” Shan asked waving back at Jake.

“Jose wants to send some of the men out to help Z,” Clare answered for Jake.

“Maybe we should. I… think that Z… would be safer… this w-way,” Shan stumbled.

“She knows what she’s doing,” Jake told them. “She’s been here the longest.”

“How about we talk to her about it?” Jose suggested.

“Sounds… good,” Shan agreed.

“Fine, but someone needs to make sure that she doesn’t leave again,” Clare told them walking off.

“I will I guess,” Jake sighed and walked towards Z’s hut.

Shan and Jose walked over to a group of people and went into conversation.
Clare walked into Andy’s hut. She nodded her head to his parents who were watching him. They stood up and left the hut. She kneeled down next to Andy, who lay on his bed; placed her hand on top of his forehead. She smiled at him even though he was asleep.

“He’s getting better,” she mumbled standing up and removing her hand.

“That’s good,” someone said walking into the hut.

Clare turned around to see Z leaning against the entrance with a worried looking Jake standing next to her. He looked down and shook his head sorrowfully. She nodded to him and walked over to Z.

“You should be resting,” she told Z.

“Look, I will not stand my favorite thumb sucker being ill!” Z exclaimed getting angry.

Clare shushed her and pointed at Andy, who turned in his sleep from the noise. “I knew how you would react about this. That is why I check on him every day any time I am free. So do not worry,” she rubbed Z’s shoulder caringly, smiling warmly at her.

Z smiled at Clare, “Ok, but I want to hear about his condition. Tell me exactly what happened to make him get this sick?”

“Uhh… he was outside playing in the mud when it was raining,” Jake butted in. “One of the men found him laying in the mud soaking wet and filthy. He took him to the hospital.”

“That’s all?” Z asked surprised.

Jake and Clare nodded staring at her oddly, as she went outside and rolled on the ground laughing. Clare walked next to Jake both still bewildered at what just happened.

“What’s up with you all of a sudden?” Jake asked.

Z stood up taking some deep breaths to calm herself down before she spoke, “I was worried over something that will probably go away in a few days!” she explained to them still holding back her laughter.

“So does that mean that you’ll stop worrying?” Clare asked grinning blissfully.

Z nodded her head smiling ear to ear. She walked into the hut again and squatted down next to Andy. She brushed her fingers across his messy brown hair. She pulled the cover up to his shoulders and caressed his cheeks. She walked back over to Clare and nodded. She walked towards Clare’s hut smiling.

“Why does she care about Andy so much?” Jake asked as they followed Z to Clare’s hut, as the parents walked back inside.

“She found him on the beach shore one day. He was trying to find his parents. She took him in and treated him like a younger brother. She was happy when she found his parents. She reunited the family and helped them make a hut,” Clare explained.

“What is Z? A God or something?” Jake asked raising his voice and waving his hands around.

“Calm down, she’s just like that I guess…” she replied letting out a small giggle as they neared her hut.

Jake smiled at her and turned his head forward to look at Z. “Well I’m not going to complain about that.”

“Come on slow pokes! You guys walk like turtles in quicksand!” Z called for them from inside the hut.

They both smiled at Z and quickened their pace. Z laughed and moved out of the doorway to let them in.

“Hey? We should have the meeting now,” Jake whispered to Clare as they walked in.

“Yeah, you go and get them. Last time you watched her she still left,” Clare patted his back and turned him around; pushing him out.

Z stared at them questionably as she watched Clare push Jake outside the hut. “What’s going on?”

“Well…” she started out, “Jose wanted to debate with you about a certain issue.”

“I just got back and you guys want to ridicule my rules?” she asked getting angry. “That Jose. I never liked him.”

Clare had a smirk on her face hearing the last part, “Really? I kind of think he likes you.”

Z had looked at her disgustingly and shook her head violently, “That has to be the sickest thing I have EVER heard in my ENTIRE life!” she nearly shouted.

“Do you know how many times he has asked about you? At least twenty times,” she smiled seeing the look on Z’s face.

Z looked like she was going to gag right there listening to Clare. ‘That’s like immoral… Pleas dear God tell me that he hates my guts as much as I hate his!’ she thought holding her head still.

Clare walked over to her and patted her back, “I bet he even wants to start a family with you.”

Z yelled in anger and curled her fist up, “Never in my life!”

“You guys would be the perfect couple!” She stated smirking inwardly.

“SHUT UP AND STOP TALKING!” Z yelled at Clare, “Talk about this anymore and I’ll make you pay for it,” she mumbled as she sat down.

Clare smiled at her friend and sat beside her, “I don’t think I’ll ever understand you.”

“Good,” she muttered closing her eyes.

“Hello? Hey! So let me see I have gotten everyone. So let us start with the meeting. Clare, you did tell her about it right?” Jake asked walking inside with Jose, and Shan coming in after them.

Clare nodded a yes to Jake as she watched the daggers that Z was shooting at Jose. She chuckled a little seeing his expression. Everyone sat down and got comfortable. It was silent for a long time.

“Why are you glaring at me?” Jose asked annoyed.

“I don’t like you. Not one bit. I would rather be killed SLOWLY than ever date you!” she yelled pointing an accusing finger at him.

“WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU EVER THINK I WOULD WANT TO DATE YOU EITHER?” he asked now very angry.

“STOP ASKING PEOPLE ABOUT ME! MIND YOUR OWN BUISNESS AND DON’T YOU DARE TRY TO EVER FIND OUT ANYTHING ABOUT ME!” she shouted glaring at him even more.

Jose looked over to Clare on to see her looking away smiling at the scene. He glared at her and looked back at Z. He smiled seeing her facial expression. She looked like she was going to explode anytime now. He stood up a smirk planted on his face as he replied, “And what’s a puny little munchkin like you going to do about it?”

Z was fuming with anger. She clinched her fist together and growled angrily. She stood up and punched him hard in the gut. He held his stomach limping over from the impact. She smiled seeing how much it hurt. She swiftly moved, one foot bent to her stomach, twisting her foot that was still on the ground making her turn quickly. She extended her leg, which was pulled into her stomach, out and hit him in his head with her foot. Sending him flying to the ground a few feet away from where she had kicked him.

“Z! Wh-hy di-d you-you do that!” Shan asked running over to Jose’s side and checking to make sure he was all right.

“He shouldn’t have said what he said,” Z mumbled standing up correctly.
“You didn’t have to do all of that,” Clare smiled at Z wirily before scooting her way to Jose.

“Well he probably broke at least one of his bones since he’s such a weakling and all… so I’m going to go and get some more supplies if this little “meeting” of ours is over,” she waved good bye o them and headed for the door.

“STOP HER!” Clare shouted.

Jake not knowing how to stop her tackled her to the ground with a bear hug.

“If you don’t let go of me… I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” Z yelled angrily as she starting pushing her way out of the bear hug.

Jake stood up with Z still in his hold. He rocked her back and forth smiling down at her, “Oh come on. Big sis doesn’t like hugs?” he asked jokingly.

“NO I DON’T LIKE HUGS! NOW LET GO OF ME OR PREPARE TO FACE YOUR DOOOM!” she yelled agitated as she squirmed around in his “hug”.

“Good thing I have her arms down. I woul-,” his eye twitched as he stiffened.

Jake fell on the floor with a loud thud letting go of Z. He curled up into a ball and rocked back and forth holding his crotch, biting his lip.

“What happened to him? WHERE’S Z?” Clare asked worried.

“She kicked me… Ooow,” he mumbled.

Jose sat up slowly still hurt from the two hits he had just gotten from Z just a few seconds ago. He winced as he touched the bruise on his head. ‘God Z. You didn’t have to hit me that hard.’

“We n-need t-to find-d her. We-ee never f-finished th-the meet-ting!” Shan stated watching Jose as he winced again touching his bruise on his stomach.

“I’ll find her,” Jose told everyone standing up.

“You guys are just going to scare people with your yelling and fighting,” Clare told him with a sigh.

“And that should be the signal that I’ve found her and might need some help,” Jose replied triumphantly.

Everyone smiled seeing how much Jose wanted to get her. They nodded their heads yes.

“You like her don’t you?” Jake asked sitting up.

“I DON’T LIKE HER!” Jose yelled stomping out of the hut.

Everyone laughed at Jose’s reaction to Jake’s question.

“I see you’re feeling better,” Clare laughed pointing downward.

“Yes. Yes I am,” Jake smiled at her, chuckling a bit.

“E-either th-they r-really like ea-ch other or th-they ha-hate each o-other a lo-lot,” Shan said smiling.

“I think Z really does hate him though,” Clare replied sighing sadly. “I probably messed it up for him even more…”

“Huh? How?” Jake asked.

“Well I was just joking around with her. Saying that I thought that Jose had a crush on her, so on so forth,” Clare explained.

“So you didn’t know if it was true or not?” Jake asked, scooting closer to them.

“Exactly. I didn’t know that she’d be that angry when I told her that he had been asking about her,” Clare lowered her head.

Shan patted Clare’s back and suggested, “Maybe w-we could-d h-hook the-them up.”

“That’s a great idea!” Jake shouted standing up quickly.

“Ok. But-,” Clare was cut off when they heard people yelling loudly.

“I guess he found her,” they mumbled in unison.

“Jake go help Jose,” Clare ordered.

Jake ran out the hut and to where he heard the yelling coming from.

“M-maybe w-we shouldn’t h-hook the-them up,” Shan said trying to see what was going on from the window.

“Well… let’s try at least once,” Clare stood up smiling. “Here they come.”

“LET GO OF ME!” Clare and Shan heard Z yell at the boys.

“Stop moving so much!” said a man.

‘Huh? Who’s that with them?’ she asked herself hearing many footsteps. ‘Five people?’

Z was thrown into the hut by a group of people. She stood up and dusted herself off. She glared at everyone and leaned against the wall furthest away from everyone. She tapped her foot impatiently and scanned the room sending daggers to everyone.

Clare cleared her throat receiving everyone’s attention as she began to speak, “Thanks for bringing her back guys! Now we can start our meeting!”

“I shouldn’t be here, in a meeting, with people!” Z said raising her voice.

Jose sat next to Shan. He had a bloody nose, a black eye, and a few new bruises, “Z, you have to listen to us.”

“I don’t have to listen to anybody!” Z proclaimed stubbornly.

“Well I think you should since I think that most of us in this village think differently of the way you do things,” Jose said in defense.

“Is this true?” Z asked sighing.

“Well I can’t tell you for sure…” Clare responded.

“You say that my way is wrong eh?” she asked Jose.

He nodded his head, “Yeah I said that.”

“Well I’ve been here for 3 freaking years! I have tried hundreds of thousands of times to get of Godforsaken island! It’s a miracle that I’m still alive!” she shouted angrily. “I would love to just make a boat and float my way all the way back and never even think about this place! But there is no way possible!”
“I bet there is!” Jose yelled back at her.

“I’ve already tried. And guess what, I thought about it too,” she stated more calmly. “I really do want to leave this place but there isn’t any other way to get out of this hell hole…”

‘Sometimes I feel so bad for Z…’ Clare thought lowering her head.

“But! If you want to go and kill yourself go ahead, Jose!” she waved her hand in a sweeping motion.

“You… you-,” Jose was cut off by Jake. “There are other concerns also, Z,”

“Really? What?” she asked trying to finish this quickly.

“Well you shouldn’t go by yourself anymore when you get supplies,” Clare answered.

“We hardly have enough people to keep the village safe! How am I supposed to take someone with me?” she asked.

“Having two or three men won’t make the village more vulnerable!” Jose protested.

“And having more people in the village to help protect it wouldn’t be bad either!” she told him before walking towards the door. “I need to go get supplies now.”

Everyone watched as Z walked through the group of men, who parted, letting her through. She walked back to her hut to get some equipment before she left.

“And once again Z is right,” stated one of the men by the door.

Jose glared at them. He stood up and pushed his way through the men stomping out of the hut angrily. He seemed even angrier than he was when she had punched him in the stomach and kneed him in the head. He walked in the opposite direction that Z went.

“I-It w-wasn’t tha-that b-bad,” Shan said unsurely.

Everyone sighed sadly hanging there heads low. They began to exit Clare’s house slowly. Everyone was a bit worried about their two loud-mouthed angry friends. When everyone was out of the hut, everyone saw Z run past them. She was holding at least five empty sacks, six spears, and holding a knife. She was going into the jungle again after resting for only an hour. Not even resting, all she had done was argue and worry. They shook their heads and went onto their own business, while Z disappeared into the jungle.

Z ran through the trees and vines pushing them to the side. She looked around for anything that the village could use. She spotted a coconut tree. It had two coconuts in it. She stopped quickly skidding a little bit and looked up to the canopy. She tied the bags to the tree. She made sure the knife was still wrapped before she put it into her pocket and grabbed the sides of the tree. She pulled her self up and held herself there pushing onto the tree with her feet. She kept doing this for a while. It seemed like she would never make it to the top until she saw a vine. She smiled inside and was about to try to grab it. She looked down seeing that she was far up from the ground. She closed her eyes in frustration; staying in the spot, she was in.

“Why does it take so much energy to get coconut?” she asked herself irritated.

She opened her eyes and looked at the vine again. She sighed and pushed off the tree trunk. She swiftly turned her body as she flew through the air and grabbed onto the vines end. She sighed in relief seeing that she made it across. She did not waist any time. She pulled herself up as quickly as she could, her legs helping her every now and again. When she finally made it to the coconuts, she frowned knowing how she would have to get down. She swayed on the vine getting closer to them. She held onto the vine with one hand and her legs wrapped tightly around it. She reached her hand into her pocket and grabbed the knife. She took off the cloth that was wrapped around the knife; stuffed the knife back into her pocket. She grabbed onto the coconuts, when she swung close enough to them, and cut them off. She slid down the vine holding onto it with her legs. She held onto the coconuts and her knife tightly as she closed her eyes. She was sliding down the vine rather fast.

‘This is going to hurt,’ she thought. ‘Just find another way!’

She looked to the side of her seeing another vine. She swung her vine close enough to the other one and grabbed onto it with one of her legs. Holding on tightly with both legs she hung upside down, still holding the coconuts in her arms.

‘The ground is still too far down,’ she thought to herself.

She let go of the vine and let herself fall for a few feet down before intertwining her legs with the vines again. She looked at where she had stopped and sighed inwardly. She was at the very end of the vine.

‘Why me, I’m going to have a horrible headache after this… Good thing I was blessed with strong bones,’ she thought as she let go of the vine again.

She bit her teeth down bracing her body for impact. Pain filled her being once she hit the hard ground. Her arms and legs felt like noodles and her insides felt like liquid.

“All of this pain just for some stupid coconuts!” she yelled angrily.

She pushed herself off the ground and looked at the coconuts. She growled at the coconuts and picked them up. She put them into one of the sacks that she had brought with her. She quickly untied them from the tree, throwing the sacks over her shoulder and walking off to find more supplies.

After a while of searching for food and other random things everyone needed, Z had bruises on her bruises, and scars located everywhere.

“I need to find a-,” her sentence was cut off when an overgrown, orange cat with a white belly and paws, ran past her.

She smiled and chased after the cat, going as fast as she could. “Kitty, kitty, kitty?” she called trying to get its attention.

The cat stopped and lunged towards Z. She moved away quickly before the cat could hit her and studied the cat. It did not move that fast and it was not that big, but Z did not have as much energy that she really needed. She looked at the cat angrily. She ran as the cat tried to claw her. Z let out a cry as she held her stomach. She looked at her stomach to see it bleeding. It was not bleeding too much; it was just a scratch, not that deep. She was lying on the ground.

‘Darn cats and there claws…’ she thought angrily to herself.

She rolled off the ground quickly standing up and running as the cat tried to flatten her. She climbed up a vine and swung over to a tree. The cat turned to her, staring at her with its bright blue eyes. Z noticed that it was just a kitten. She smiled inside having no pity for the kitten as she launched herself onto the cat, pulling out her knife, and stabbing it in its back. The cat snarled loudly, kicking and jumping, trying to get Z off its back. She shoved the knife deeper into its back and stood up. She pulled the knife down its back, making a deep gash. It yelped in pain and continued its pursuit to get Z off its back. Running to “Mr. Kitty’s” head, Z raised her knife over her head and stabbed the kitten in his right, big, beautiful, blue eyeball. She held onto the fur tightly as the cat started bucking wildly. After a while, the cat calmed down and collapsed. Z smiled happily, she would be able to have many supplies to bring back to the camp. She plopped down on the cat and smiled looking up at the sky.

‘If I try to kill another animal today I’ll probable die,’ her grin widened at this thought. She loved to make inside jokes, it was one of those unknown specialties.

There was a rustle in the trees and vibrations in the ground. Something big was coming. The vibrations grew louder and louder. It was getting closer and Z knew that she did not have enough strength to take on such a huge beast. She slid down the corpse side quickly as she saw birds start to fly. She grabbed the cats left paw and pulled as fast as she could, knocking over trees and running over bushes and smaller animals. The vibrations from the upcoming animal’s steps were louder now. She could tell that it was looking for the corpse that she had just killed. She wasted no time. It did not matter if she was tired or hurt at this point. She just wanted to get back to the village safely, with the corpse in her position. She kept running and pulling as fast as she could, the sacks of fruit, vegetables, herbs, and small bags of water slowing her down. She ran and ran for about a half an hour, until she did not feel the vibrations anymore. She smiled inside, seeing that she got away. She dragged the cat as she though about what just happened.

‘What was that? I’ve never felt anything like that before,’ she thought as she began to see one of the huts.

“Yo guys! A little help?” she screamed trying to get someone’s attention.

No one heard her. She sighed and continued to drag the cat’s corpse and herself to the village. Once she got to the village, she felt her body go numb. She was so tired. She felt like she could just sleep forever, but she knew she wouldn’t allow herself to act so unhealthy. She dragged the corpse into the middle of the village.

“Guys I ha-,” she collapsed next to the carcass, not able to finish her sentence.


Hours had past before Clare saw Z move. It was now night and everything was dark except for the fire from the torches outside. She squatted next to her and shook her head. She knew that Z ran into something that she couldn’t take on. It frightened Clare to think about it. Z had always been able to hold her own. This must mean that something’s changing. She looked outside her window; Jose had gathered a group to protest against Z and the way she did things. He didn’t know anything. Villagers with ropes and torches gathered around Jose in a swarm. Jose had most of the villagers on his side. Clare began to worry.

“What’s going on?” Z asked as she slowly sat up rubbing her eyes.

“Go back to sleep Z. You need the rest. Don’t worry,” she told her friend, laying her back on the cot softly.

Z had no energy to protest. She laid back down on the cot and fell asleep quickly. Clare looked back out the window and shook her head. She stood up and walked outside towards the crowd of angry villagers.

“AH! I SEE YOU HAVE FINALLY COME CLARE?” Jose asked in a loud voice making everyone fall silent.

“No, I am here to ask a question,” she explained trying not to show her anger.

“WELL THEN, WHAT IS IT?” he asked in that same booming confident voice.

Clare walked over to him pushing her way through the crowd and into the middle where Jose stood. She cleared her throat and began to speak, “Z knows what she is doing. She has been here for many years. She has survived on her own for quite some time. She has always worked hard to help everyone. Moreover, she knows these jungles well. So why is everyone going against her; following some boy that was only here for a month?” she asked speaking loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Some of these people’s families have died. They have the right to question Z’s judgments!” Jose spoke.

“It’s not Z’s fault that she isn’t able to be there for every person in this village! She is only one person! She cares for everyone,” Clare snapped at Jose.

He shook his head and raised his torch above his head, “If she cares about us so much, why does she not find a way to get off this island?” he asked everyone.

There were some people shouting out “Yeah,” and “That’s right,” from the crowd. They weren’t being convinced, at all. Z was in some big trouble right now. No one seemed to listen. They were all turning on Z. Clare sighed and pushed her way back out of the crowd.

She turned around and gave them all a warm smile, “Watch, when there is no more hope. You all will see that Z was right. And the horrible thing about that is; you won’t be able to reverse it.”

Clare turned away from the crowds’ glares and stares of confusion. She walked back inside her hut and sat next to Z’s sleeping form. She brushed her hair with her fingers and smiled sadly at her friend.

“I know you feel the change too,” she whispered.

Clare watched her friend as she slept, worried about the days to come. She couldn’t shake the strange feeling that she kept getting, and she knew that Z could feel it too. She knew that Z would know what to do when the bad feeling that her and Z had came. But, no one wanted to listen to Z anymore; it was all because of that stupid boy, Jose.