Devan opened his eyes as the sun was just starting to rise. He was a little cold, and he was so sore that he was finding it hard to move. He knew that he over did it yesterday and he was paying the price for it now. As he tried to move his arms and legs it was like they didn't want to respond, they only shot pain.
This was a totally new experience for Devan. He had never worked this hard in his life. He found that his body was screaming at him with every movement that he was trying to make.
Deven just stopped moving completely and thought that he just needed to take everything that he was doing slowly. He was hurting from everywhere, even places where he didn't realize that he had muscles to hurt. With a deep breath in, he tried to center his thoughts to block out all the pain that he was feeling. He had been in tight spots before. Where he had been wounded, and he had to block out the pain. Just so he could carry on to finish his mission, but usually it was only one part of him that did not want to cooperate at the time, not his whole body. He knew that he was going to have to just push through the pain to get his body to move like he wanted it to.
As he breathed out, he centered his mind, forced his arm to move, and blocked the pain that it was sending. For the most part, it worked it still hurt but at least he could start moving even if it was going to be slow at first. Devan took some time just moving his arm back and forth. It was just stiff and sore from the overwork that he put his body through. He knew that the more that he moved the better it would get and that his strength for today was probably gone. He knew by his passing out that it was the worst thing that he could have done. Because all the muscles that had been overworked were stiffened in place. It would have been better if he could have relaxed them before he slept, but it was too late for hope.
It took some time for Devan to get his arm loosened up to the point he could move it freely and only have it feel sore and weak. As soon as he got his arm moving well, he started in on his other arm. He thought if only his chest didn't hurt so bad, he could have used his right arm to help loosen up his left.
All it took was time for him to get his body moving and once he had both arms moving well he got his chest loosened up and from there everything loosened up quicker. Even though he got his body to move without much pain he still felt like he had the strength of a child.
Devan looked over at the log and he thought that it didn't look that big or heavy, but with every muscle hurting. He guessed that either he was a lot weaker than he thought, or it was heavier than it looked. Devan thought that he could probably get the log to roll down to the edge of the water but then he would have to get it in the water and then pull it to his raft. He knew the easiest part was going to be moving it in the water, but the hardest part was going to be getting it back out of the water. He knew that there was no way that he was going to be able to drag it up on shore far enough that the tide would not wash it back out.
Devan knew that it was just better to leave it where it was. More than risking the tide getting ahold of it and moving it to somewhere it could be hard to get it back from. Or even worse was the thought of it being washed out to sea and losing it. Then I have to start over with a different log from scratch.
Devan let out a groan just thinking of all the work that it took to find it then get it all cleaned up and the worst was moving it. He thought if he ever had to do it again he would have burnt off the limbs no matter what it would have taken to do it. As he thought about dragging it again he knew that the stubs that were left after cutting them were what made it so hard to drag.
In a way he was glad that they were still there, so he had something that he was going to be able to tie the sail to.
The sun was up full now. All the places where Devan had gotten badly burnt were feeling the sun's rays. He knew that he was going to have to cover them or get into some shade. The last thing he wanted to do was to keep getting them burnt more. Especially before he was going to be on the raft with no cover.
Devan finally got to his feet and found that he was not exactly stable, it was like he was weak in the knees. About every third step that he took his legs wanted to buckle. He was able to maintain his footing but the walk back to his camp was a challenge. It didn't take that long for him to realize just what was going on, it was not just the extreme fatigue that he was feeling. It was that he had not really been eating enough. He had taken some food with him but not really taken the time to stop and eat it. On top of that, he had been rationing the food that he had left so that he could stretch it out. It had already been twice the time that they said that they were going to be picking him up. He knew that he was going to be wanting some food for the trip, and he had to do what he could to save what he could.
Devan made sure that he ate a good meal. He ate more than he wanted to eat, but he knew that he needed it. It was going to cut into the supplies that he had been planning on taking with him. But at this point, he didn't have the energy to go looking around to see if there was something else that he could eat.
It didn't take long for Devan to start feeling even better after he had eaten. He knew that it would not have overwhelmed him so much if he had eaten more and had not overdone it so badly yesterday. So, he decided that he was just going to mostly relax today and get his strength back. He thought that as long as he took it slow, he could look around the place to gather some food and put off doing anything more with the raft till he was better rested.
Devan figured that just walking around and looking was not going to hurt him too much as long as he was covered from the sun. Devan looked down at the burns he had on his arms, and he saw that they were blistering a little. He wished that he had some ointment to put on them, but that was something that he didn't have. He knew that there were some plants that could help with burns and that was something that he could look for as well. There had to be some kind of plant that he could crush and layer on to keep it cool and the sun off of the burns.
Devan found that anytime that he sat for a while his muscles wanted to tie up and not get moving again. So he knew he would have to take time to get himself loosened again every time that he rested. That told him that it was time that he should just soak in some water no matter what else he wanted to do. He was going to just have to relax today.
The freshwater that he had found was coming down from a little fall and gathered into a little pool at its base. He had checked it out before and that was where he had started gathering his freshwater from. The only thing was it was not very deep, but it did get a little bigger when the island had a hard rain. The pool was not big enough that he could swim in it, but it was big enough that he was able to sit in it and relax.
As he sat in the water, he found himself glad that the pool was not filled with bugs or things like leaches. He shuttered at the thought of leeches sticking onto him and draining his blood. He really didn't need anything that was sucking his blood and making him weaker.
The water felt great on the burns as well as all his sore muscles, but it made him wish it was deeper so that it covered more of him at once. It still felt like a cool bath and if he lay down it would cover him. When he stayed still the water would clear, and he could wash himself off as long as he moved slowly. So that he didn't kick up the sand again to make it all cloudy.
He had to admit that if someone wanted to be away from everyone and everything. This would be a great place to do it. As long as you brought everything that you wanted for comfort along with you, and you didn't mind foraging for the little bit of food that you could find.
As he lay there soaking, he found that it was so peaceful. He had not been looking for that but being on the island was changing him. He knew that he was feeling different now than when he first was dropped off. Before it was always a rush to fulfill the contract then he would have 3 or 4 others just waiting for him to get done.
Devan was not sure just when it happened that he went from a no-name killer to a famous assassin, but he had to admit that the money that he was making now was huge compared to when he first started. He now even has to turn away some because he just didn't have time to get them all done.
Of course, being famous comes with its drawbacks as well. First, it had placed a target on his back and every now and then he would have someone trying to take him down. The worst was it did mean that more of the law was looking for him, but he found that the law had numbers but most of them were easy to kill and not even close to anything that was a challenge for him. That was why when Rodger and his team jumped him it was such a shock.
Devan had always opposed working with others. He had never really trusted anyone and that just showed him that he had been right not to. Devan thought about it and knew that his first instincts were correct. As soon as he had gotten the posters, he should have killed Rodger and all his friends. Not worrying about using them to convince the girls to come back with them.
Devan shook off the thoughts. He knew that the only reason that he kept thinking back to it was because they were the first ones that had ever gotten the best of him. He knew that he would not be able to get past it mentally until he dealt with them.
Devan knew that even if they were together next time, they would never be able to get away from him. Even if they got some help, they would all die. Not that he was planning to face them that way. He knew that he would take his time and hunt each one down. Then as he faces each one, he would then decides if he wants to kill them as he looks them in the eyes. Each man would know that they were helpless and strictly at my mercy when I decide if they live or die by my blade.
As he lay there thinking Devan looked up into the sky and saw that there was a large cloud blowing in his direction. He was not concerned even though it was big it looked very light and puffy. He had gotten used to big puffy clouds covering the island and the worst that they seemed to do was rain for ten minutes. It was just enough to soak everything before they would stop and blow away. But at the same time, it was not like he wanted to be lying in a pool of water in case it turned into something more.
As he stood letting all the water run off of him and out of his clothes, he noticed that he was feeling better. The pool of water had rejuvenated him mentally and physically. Devan could tell that it was still a little before noon even though the sun was hidden by the clouds. So, he figured as long as it was not raining, and the clouds didn't get any worse then he could gather some fruit as he walked. Then if it did start raining or it got looking too bad, he would just head straight back to camp.
Devan walked and he was actually feeling a lot better, but he found himself wishing he knew more about the plants. As he looked down at them, he knew that some of them would have to help him as medicine, but he also knew that some of them were poisonous. He thought that he was more likely to know the ones that were poisonous because he used them and some that were antidotes.
Poisons were a favorite of his to use. He loved getting the instant kill but if he gave them a fatal wound, he didn't want them laying around suffering, or for the fact of the matter he didn't want them getting better either. Devan always carried a couple of vials of poison and more of the antidote just in case he was ever wounded and poisoned himself.
Devan thought that trying to find a beneficial plant was just going to be a waste of time. He just didn't know enough about them to help. As he looked at the leaves there was just not enough of a difference for him to tell what was what.
So, he turned to strictly gathering things that he could tell were food. At least he was lucky there. It seemed like as he looked around there were plenty of different types of things that he could gather. He knew that part of them would be better if they had other things with them. While others would taste a lot better if they were cooked. There was no way that he would be trying to build a fire and cook things on the raft.
Devan was surprised when the clouds had not started raining or passed over it did look like they were starting to darken. Once he had his arms full, he figured that it was just going to be better if he got back to camp. Especially if the clouds kept getting darker, they could turn into a bad storm.
Devan had not even made it to camp when he had felt the wind starting to kick up and it seemed like it had changed direction. Then came the first few drops. Devan hit the beach and saw the rain out in the water. He saw that it was headed in his direction but at least it seemed to be moving slowly. He watched as part of the cloud had turned to a very dark gray and then looked like it was being pulled down into the water.
On seeing that Devan sped up his pace. He didn't mind getting a little wet, but it was not like he wanted to be soaked again. Especially with no sun out to dry him and the fact that he knew that a heavy rain would put his fire out and make it so it would take a lot of work to light it again.
Devan had almost made it under the tarp when the rain hit hard drenching his back and drowning out the last of the fire that he had going. Devan was glad that it was not cold here although with his back all wet he did start getting cold just from being wet. So, he just stripped down and sat there waiting for the rain to stop and his clothes to dry out but looking at the clouds he was not sure how long that was going to be. Devan was glad that at least he was mostly dry, and he had food to eat and a dry place to sleep.
He watched as the rain fell in sheets and he was glad that he was not stuck out in the open. But he was still stuck with nothing really to do but to watch it rain.