A man crouched, spine popping a boney ladder even through his thin untucked dress shirt. He was not a young man, but his manner and face aged him decades older than he really was. His shave was uneven but not too noticeable when his face naturally did not grow that much hair. He keot as neat as was reasonably doable in a deserted island situation. Certainly, he looked better off than many of the sunburnt and weathered souls out there.
His thick old fashioned glasses were further magnified by the handheld focus tool. All attention on the dried black claw, carefully wrapped in a withered but tough large brown leaf. It fit on its side in the basket, but gaps aside it took up the space of a pig's head.
"I've never seen a specimen like this. Not at this size, not anywhere near it. It's practically a prop, a hoax."
"Well we found it anyways." tiredly droned Mattie, the side of his face squished into his hand. He looked horribly bored as if he had been forced to sit through a very long series of waiting room appointments.
That's certainly what it felt like. This was the 5th 'expert' to be given his turn at the great creepy thing. The partial thing they dug up buried in a grave of bones not its own.
Mattie didn't like it. He likes Sophie's silent smile even less.
"What do you think it is? Is there any chance that...there's more of these things? Alive?" Sophie whimpered, worriedly looking on from the center of the small of staff.
The people who stayed.
It's been hours since they came down the mountain with this thing. The god damn fragile oversized monkey paw, just as mummified and with a broken talon, courtesy of June. She was a little too rough in carrying the basket down in the dark of the cavern and snapped a digit right off. Three out of four still remained intact. To be fair, it still wasn't the smoothest climb either way.
Sophie said it was fine, wasn't all that important. That's all that mattered then.
It still made Mattie cringe and shiver.
It wouldn't be so damn bad is she just told him, them, what the hell it was. What it all meant. But no, that's not what happens today.
Sometimes, Mattie gets the feeling as if this is all one big game.
It doesn't feel real. None of this feels real. They're trapped on a god damn island playing survivor house, snake venom settled and scarred into his veins. If he closes his eyes, if he will it, the world goes by in slow motion. Blurred, to but a fraction of the moment, the minute, the second, but it goes on.
That can't be real. A part of him still thinks it's brain damage, fever overload from venom this close to killing him.
Sophie says it's real.
Sophie wouldn't lie to him like that. She lies to about where's she's been, what's she'd done, but not if it has anything to do with them. She wouldn't risk their health in any way. Overprotective of it even.
He can tell from the way she observes their every move. Where they are at any time of the day, what they're doing, if it's 'safe' or not. Even from the littlest thing from their intake to their exercises.
Sometimes Mattie thinks it's a game, and they're the supposed players at Sophie's control.
From aftar sees June, surrounded straggling kids. Game switch in her hands, beeping away with a face of concentration she doesn't make even for tests. The kids, with nothing better to do, nothing better to see for days on end, circle her, cheering over the small screen with even smaller little characters.
His sisters are quite different, but his blurred vision plays tricks on him. Superimposes the image.
That's Sophie there, playing. Left, right, strike, level up. An invisible outside audience cheering.
"It's real. It's real but isn't just what I'm scared of." whimpered Sophie, a set line programmed. She looks to struggle as she holds up the broken thing, looking dwarfed with it in her small arms.
Pick choice A, B, or C. Go into settings, input the cheat.
"Look at this. It's huge. It ate things, we found little bones. They weren't small exactly but, it was like spit-up. From an owl? "
She turned the claw around slowly as if it were an item on display. On auction. Ready to be sold to the highest bidder at the turn of her delicate hand and money-making smile. Turns it to the broken torn joint dried and mummified over.
"I'm scared of what killed it."
A beat of silence, a glitch.
The characters respond, in murmers before one of the older 'experts' spoke up first, giving others their voice.
"Young lady, there's quite... not enough evidence to fear such."
"Honestly it resembles a bird?"
"That's ridiculous. You don't know if it was killed, it's a single limb. It could have simply been broken from the main body."
"We didn't find a main body." Mattie had enough.
To be honest, he's had enough the day this all started. Given his current options though, the best he can hope for is to speed things along and have a slightly less awful time all around. The faster they're done here, the faster they can just go the damn hell back to the cave. Even if it housed part of whatever that was.
He's spent one day enough wasted on these people babbling. Despite his strangeness, his ability, he doesn't have the patience to continue wasting time. He's better off napping than this, especially in this heat.
"There was no main body, no other bones, nothing. Just this one big birdo foot, whatever the hell it is. We didn't have to carry it all the way here, but we did. We really don't have to do shit about it, but my sister thought it was important. That it would be nice if everyone knew because god damn what is it and is it dangerous? Who the hell knows. Great we established we know nothing, now what? Because there's literally so much other shit we can be doing. Should be doing."
More than one person took offense to his tone, or maybe it was the rough truth itself.
"Now see here you-"
It's too hot for this shit. If Mattie wasn't sick of being kept ignorantly in the dark to Sophie's little games, he would let her play it for herself. But it's too hot and he's not in the mood to be nagged for nothing. Impatience and anxiety wearing on him as if those claws had dug themselves into his flesh. Buried little bones under his skin.
"Honestly, what have you done? What have you all done because we've been here since morning? We can leave this here. How about that?" he looks over to his older sister, seeing her wide-eyed, playing dumb. That was all the confirmation he needed.
"It's not like we can do anything with it. So we'll leave it here. Make of it what you will. We're just saying we found it, and god knows what the hell is left out there to find. There's no choice but to scavenge or hunt whatever we can out there." he gestures to the edge of the jungle green, a little too mockingly slow.
It was too hot and the heat was rising. From blood pressure to internal temperature. It didn't matter. The ones getting offended by the youngster's rant couldn't physically raise a hand agaist him. The ones that could didn't give a rat's ass. Hell they were probably more on his side than anything.
There were two basic types of groups here. The ones who braved the wilds and the ones who primarily stayed safe behind. One provided, the other organized, it should have been fair. Key word, should. Reality had different ideas when the human factor was involved.
The friction already rubbing between the groups.
"Um. What we're trying to say...is that it's scary. Everything is scary, so we should at least help out. Do our parts. Warn each other." said Sophie, softening the edge.
She had a way of soothing men just as much as she could enrage them. One that was more a well-honed craft than any god-given gift of beauty or charm.
Everyone was feeling the pressure, the weight of their environment and situation. But that was the same anywhere. In the cities to the rural country land, work was work and so was all the fears that came with that weight. The fear of the future already burying the present.
It's why so many took to their entertainments. To bars. To clubs. To the arms and pockets of the oldest distraction, and profession. It's why at the core, women bore the world. Made it continue on spinning. By the power of mothers and whores, often times both.
In another life, Sophie took all those titles and ripped them from her raw, still bleeding.
She tore out whatever unwanted life was growing inside her. Much like how the black claw must have torn into the flesh, crushed the bones, of its haul. Shredded and scarred, drank and spew brew after nauseating blood brew till nothing could ever be born from there, from her, ever again.
Then she tore out the throats, guts, squirming living organs out of anyone who had anything to do it. It all looked so much the same.
Sophie was never a mother. But she'll admit to whoring. The price always totaled their life in the end.
"It's just scary, even now- we don't know if we should go back out there....but there's no choice. It's all just...." she shakes, as if holding in her breath, her tears.
Acting brave.
There were a few people who were honestly touched. It was a real fear after all. Every day they went on looking towards the bright side. Gathering food. Making shelter. Every day did not diminish the lurking shadow of doubt and fear. This survival situation that no one could have predicted.
No one but one, this almost crying girl.
Despite the heat, there was a chill that ran through the siblings. Something of a heightened sense? Something that warned of danger,
Mattie didn't know what it was. Where it came from. All he knew was the before he was conscious of it, he was already half crouched to cover Sophie. It looked as if he was offering her an arm of support like a gentleman escorted a lady. When he looked up, his senses told him just where this odd feeling came from. It was uncomfortable at best, but really indescribable.
The eyes of this stranger, then another, and another. Uncomfortable looks that no one seemed to think was out of place.
Sophie took his arm, and quite the opposite from appearances, he was the one who was suddenly supported.
"Um...that's.....really all that we wanted to say. All that we know. Can we go now?" she cowers, making herself small behind the partial cover of her little brother's strong but still so young frame.
"Of course sweetheart." sighs one of the gathered men, not noticing how condescending it sounded.
There were all just so tired.
The brother's words were right. Just what were they doing? If they even know what this was, what could they do?
At best they could only keep going. Keep building. Keep an eye out.
They were all playing this game blind.
"Alright, stay safe everyone. Be careful." came Sophie's soft voice, sounding just as tired as they felt. Almost desperately she pawed and pulled at her brother, too bad her strength was lacking. It only made her appear all the more delicate and sweet.
Mattie broke the wary eye contact, shook of the temporary goosebumps, and let his sister lead them the hell away.
"What the hell was that?" he whispered as they walked.
Back to June, back to somewhere safe. But just where was safe?
"The claw? Or...." Sophie lead off, her usual dead voice not matching with the wide eye sweet face she kept up for the show. They were still visible after all.
"Both. Both that shit...you felt it too. Shit I don't know how to say it but you felt it too."
"That," Sophie patted at him, feeling if his growing muscles were adequate as well as relishing in the comfort of his presence "was intent. You just felt something similar to killing intent."
"The fucking hell?! Killing intent?" he hissed, resisting the urge to turn back.
"Something like that. It doesn't necessarily mean 'kill', it's just bad intentions. When someone's pissed of at you. When someone wants something from you, me. That's what you're feeling. The direction of who is feeling it, where it's coming from."
From the short distance they had left, their youngest spotted them from her designated spot. She waved at them as she put away her game, saying goodbye to the awing children.
"Is it...from the... you know?" Mattie kept whispering. Both their voices low, serious, despite how normal the looked.
"An effect of the venom. You're getting used to this. Your senses are getting stronger." Sophie smiled, small and blooming. As if comforted by something he said.
"This is not the spidey senses I joked about wanting."
"I recall. You were 8 when you had your spiderman phase. Congratulations. Better late than never"
"This. Does it ever go away?"
All the response Mattie gets in a tight squeeze on his arm. Then June catches up to them and Sophie lets go.
"Hey guys! Are we done? Are we doing anything else down here?"
Despite the casualness in her tone, there was a restlessness in the younger girl's limbs. Of being too comfortable, kept away.
It couldn't be helped. She wasn't ready, even more, vulnerable than Sophie could ever pretend to be. Mattie could take the heat while Sophie could lure, redirect. June would be eaten alive as she is, if not taken bites of.
"Yeah, we're done here for today." Sophie nods.
"Dude, Mattie you look weird. Like half pissed and half something. They were that bad huh?"
"Hmmm."
"I'd ask if you were good or not but it's kinda obvious you're not. What happened?" June hands the taller boy her hydro flask, watching as her brother gulped down the contents. Usually it was Mattie's job to nag over stuff like hydration and stuff.
"I don't know either." responded Mattie truthfully."It just felt like we were going in circles, it felt useless. I still don't even know what it was all about."
His head was still unwell but it was better. Cooled down and away from that noise. Now he knows why Sophie insisted on getting away. Far away. It wasn't just about the physical comforts as it was the mental. Despite the open skies and lack of walls, everything felt confined around this camp. Like the waiting deck at the airport, cranky travelers and overworked underpaid employees included.
Everyone just wanted to go home.
But there weren't even the slightest comforts of home, not as they knew it. Could accept it.
"You said it quite well Mattie. We're just....giving them a warning." praised Sophie.
She was worried though, watching Mattie's condition. He always got sick easily. Then there was the fever, the cough that never went away like the seasonal monsoons. As much as she needed to train him, she needed to not push him. It was easy to rely on the tall boy, almost expected. But physically,she wasn't risking him. She wasn't taking him for granted.
She could easily sacrifice lives for his simple comforts. His happiness. No hesitation.
Her family was all that mattered.
"A warning about what?" questioned Juned, "you still never told us what it was. Is there anything to worry about with the bones? Like, our base secured?"
"Trust me June" Sophies smiled, honest to god smiled. "We'll be fine."
"Well okay then. Still not enough answers but ok." nodded June, hooking her arms to drag both her siblings back. No direction in mind, just somewhere with more shade.
"It just...something you need to see to believe."
"Yo, I can believe a flying glitter vampire hippopotamus if you told me it was happening. So just like, have a little more faith in us? Right Mattie?"
The boy groaned, but nodded none the less. Oh how much their little sister didn't know. He's just waiting. For the storms, the time they've agreed on to expose June to that. Maybe then she would stop calling him diva all the time when his head hurts and the world feels too much despite it's dragged out seconds.
"Sure, fucking unicorns and murder rainbows. Come at us. Why the hell not?"
"Oh oh oh I'd be so down for pokemon though. Like I never saw that deer thing Sophie caught and it was legit kinda pokemony. We got more things out there right?"
"The gigantic wild boar wasn't enough for you?" he took another cold swig of the flask.
Maybe he really was just dehydrated, maybe it was heat stroke. It was hard to stay in a top condition out here. The outdoors really was something else when Mattie had always been more of an indoor court kind of guy. Mattie lazily let himself be lead, even if it was from June. Better one of his sisters than anyone else.
That sensation, that cold chill. He still remembers it like a pick thrown at the back of his skull.
Intent, Sophie had warned. Bad intentions.
He's felt it to some capacity. An opponent across the court right before the pulled a foul, a nasty move. Between two of his friends in the midst of a heavy argument. A leer or catcall from a passing car before when he and June walked home particularly late one night.
It happened before.
He just never felt it like this. Senses sharp, tampered with. Even now, in the heat, he feels the gazes. Mostly passing, maybe curious. But he feels it, the little laser pricks resembling cold.
"Okay the boars are scary, no lie. But we'll be fine. Sophie said it so I'll say it too. We'll be fine."
"Right."
He looks down to the chattering girl pulling his left. Young and 16, fresh and cute in her colorful top and sneakers. He can't see why anyone would leer at that, especially given how childishly annoying she was. But it happened before, it's happening now.
To her left was Sophie, looking far younger than she really was. There's a bug bite on her elbow, pixie cut on round cheeks. She looked like a kid. Her smile had never been seductive. Charming and soothing yes, elegant maybe, when she remembers to act her age.
They were all just kids.
He doesn't understand.
Pinpricks of cold. They're not pointed to him.
Somewhere in the distance some bored people, grown men, whistle while someone waves. He doesn't know them, doesn't like the look of them, and pulls his sisters to speed up.
"We doing anything else down here? Because I'd honestly rather nap in a cold cave, doesn't even have to be ours."
Sophie reaches over, ushering her brother to lean down in order to Mattie's temple.
"We'll check on the shelter first. I need to see what they're doing with the water drain and storage. Some better huts should be built by now. You can close your eyes there."
The shelter, rather than pinpricks of cold intent, always felt humid with something akin to despair. Mattie doesn't know what to take of these sensations. But he'll take it. He'll take a damn nap.
"We'll be fine." repeats Sophie.
She pushes them along, looking back some whistling men. As she smiles back, she memorizes their faces. Short term of course, it won't be long till they're flushed gone and out. Come at her family and she'll do it right this second.
"My, it's Junebug and the crew! Coconut?" comes that aged Southern accent, washing over like the shade of a patio.
As they approach the old woman, a surprise catches their eyes. The space is a mess, everything was these days in the construction. But MaryBeth sat rocking along, sipping on a coconut with a grass straw. Like anyone's grandmother in her own retirement.
"Oh my gosh! A rocking chair! How sweet!" June clamors up to the old woman.
Her seat was a fat woven thing, or empty space and bent yellow-green branches. Part young bamboo and salvaged materials. It looked more like a wheelchair but it did the job. Sophie eyed it carefully, analyzing the technique, trying to match up to any surviving builders and coming up empty.
"When! Where? Oh my gosh this is sick." June giggled.
"Thanks. We tried."
At the pile of scraps and coconuts, sat two faces made familiar to Sophie only but a few nights before.
One a long dark woman, struggling to smash the coconut cleanly. A driftwood bowl by her side to carry the scooped out meat. The other cleaning and sanding the half shells into something looking like actual bowls. He was a nervous smile scattered in freckles and ending in pale blue eyes, bangs pulled back with a headband. Hands scrapped and dusty from the work.
Sophie made a new note, potentially useful.
"You made this?! Hi I'm June!" June jumped, ready for her friendly introductions.
"Hi! I'm Caleb. Well we tried. Came to check out the huts, thought it was a good idea to look before trying to make our own and we decided to trade. Stick around and help out where we can. It's a better dead easier if we're all working together? Furniture and stuff are more do-able with just me or another person. I think we got a better hang of it now. Right Keshia?" fumbled the boy, friendly but a little scared off by June's sudden face to his.
"Hmm, you're the art student. I just gather parts and hold things according to orders." the tall woman cleaned up the latest nut she was working on before looking up, a small smile of pearls peeked out on sighting the girl behind June.
"Sophie? You're looking much better, your foot alright?" Keshia asked, getting up with a dusting of coconut fuzz.
"Ah, Sophie?! How are you feeling?" Caleb scrambled looking over. Surprised at her presence and worried when remembering what happened the last. The night they last saw the petite girl.
Mattie peeked down to his sister, professional smile already plastered on to the new introductions.
Sophie may have been playing a game but damn hell was he going to keep letting her play for him. He wasn't a little kid anymore, begging her to beat this level or boss.
"Your foot? Hi, I'm Mattie, Sophie's brother, and this is my more hyper sister June. Nice to meet you. Do you mind telling me what my sister didn't?" Mattie grinned, so hard his eyes closed behind his glasses.
Sophie sighed. Well there goes trying to save him another headache.
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