Twenty feet away, Liam stood in the shallows and stared at the shimmering ocean. He had detached himself from the world. The fear, the hunger. The thirst. All of it now felt as if it belonged to somebody else. The water lapped against his abdomen, the sounds of the water like voices telling him what he needed to do. He wasn’t religious by any mean, but now was silently praying to the god he hoped existed. Not only for a way out but also for the strength to do what he knew was necessary. The brutal, inhuman things he would be forced to undertake to ensure he lived. He had asked his questions and was still waiting for an answer yet to arrive. He was starting to consider that his lack of answer was enough of an answer to his query when something touched his cheek. He blinked and turned his eyes to the sky. This time, there was no mistake.
Rain.
Water.
The strength he had asked for and also the go ahead with the barbaric and brutal things he was going to have to do. The rain started to fall faster, pattering the ocean around him. He opened his mouth and let it land on his parched tongue.
Water. The biggest problem, the biggest drain on his strength was now given to him. As he heard his father and Tyler cheer and whoop as the rain fell, he didn’t smile or change his expression. The strength to do his job was now on its way. He just needed to find the will to do it.
Chapter Nine
The rain was ferocious, driven from the heavens with a fury unlike anything any of them had ever seen. They whooped and cheered, revelling in the unexpected lifeline. Tyler had made the inflatable into a container to collect the precious water and was holding it in place to stop it blowing off the rock. Nash and Liam had their faces turned to the sky, mouths open as they took in the precious life-giving water. Such a simple thing as rainfall had given renewed hope and energy after the punishment of the previous days. With the joy of receiving the precious water came also fear, as the tiny rock they were stranded on was pounded by waves churned up by the storm. They watched the storm rage above them, sky alive with lightning, the power of nature in evidence all around them it was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.
Later, when the storm passed, they sat in contemplation.
‘That should buy us a few days,’ Nash said, looking from Liam to Tyler. ‘Now all we need is for it to rain food and we’ll be set.’
‘I was actually thinking about that,’ Liam said, shuffling closer to the others.
‘You’ve had an idea?’ Tyler said.
‘Not an idea as such, a suggestion.’
‘Go on.’
He glanced out to the black ocean, then at the others, his face milky in the moonlight. ‘I was thinking about you, Dad; more specifically, your leg. You know, how infected it is.’
‘Yeah, it’s not looking too good, is it?’ Nash said, staring at the discoloured appendage.
‘You need help, at a hospital, even then I think we all know the odds are you’ll lose it. That kind of infection isn’t easy to come back from.’
‘You’re killing my good mood here, son.’
Liam shifted position again, and now addressed Tyler directly. It was the first time he had seemed civil and without the chip on his shoulder.
‘We could help him. Cut it off, the leg. Stop the infection from spreading. If we catch it quickly, we might be able to save it above the knee.’
‘Are you insane? That’s not an option. It’s not possible. Tell him, Nash.’
Nash looked from his leg to his son, and Tyler could see it. The older man was afraid. He wondered if that had always been the case, that he feared his son and he had never noticed it before. Liam went on.
‘Think about it, we need food. We could take off the leg, save dad’s life and then… then we’ll have something to eat as long as we avoid the infected areas.’
Silence.
Nobody wanted to speak or knew what to say. The waves lapped at their rock prison and still, nobody broke the silence brought on by Liam’s words. Tyler cleared his throat, choosing his words carefully.
‘We’re all hungry, I get that. But this line of thought leads nowhere. This isn’t an option. Granted, the leg wound is infected, but we don’t know if the infection will spread or not. It could be isolated and saveable once we get out of here. Even if we needed to take the leg, if it was a life-threatening injury that meant it had to happen, we have no way of doing it. No tools, nothing to stop the bleeding, nothing to numb his pain. No means of stitching or sealing the wound. He wouldn’t survive. Even if by some miracle he did, the risk of infection would be even bigger with a fully open wound. And for what? A hunk of infected meat that you couldn’t cook or make safe to eat. It’s a non-starter.’ Even as he said it, Tyler tried to rid his mind of images of rare steak served with peppercorn sauce. Disgusted by the way his mind made the link, he swallowed the burst of saliva before he could start to drool.
He looked to Nash for support, but he was still staring at his son, a frail and frightened old man.
‘Take it easy,’ Liam said, breaking eye contact. ‘It was just… I wasn’t thinking. I’m so hungry, so so hungry it’s just…’ He stared at his father’s leg, then forced himself to look away. ‘I wasn’t thinking straight, that’s all. I get like this when I’m off my medication.’
‘I get it, but I’m telling you right here and now. Get that idea out of your head. We have water now and can ration it out which means we’ve bought a little time. We’ll figure out a way to get food. We’re surrounded by ocean that is full of life. We’ll figure out a way to get it.’
‘Yeah, you’re right, forget I mentioned it. I’m just… I don’t know. I’m not quite together anymore. This place is breaking me.’
They had all felt it but Nash was first to vocalise it.
‘You know, maybe it might be better to just end this. Just walk out into the sea and let that bastard finish us.’ Nash wouldn’t look at them as he said it. Instead, he stared out over the ocean with his one good eye. The shark had stopped patrolling the island, but they all knew it was out there.
‘We can’t give up. Not now. Look at how bad things were before we got water,’ Tyler said, not liking the dark thread they were following.
‘With no food, it will get worse. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling weaker every day. To just sit here and die… It won’t be a good way to go.’
‘Look, I think we’re all feeling negative tonight. Let’s get some rest and save our strength. We’ll talk tomorrow.’
Nobody had the energy to argue. Nash settled down and made himself as comfortable as he could. Tyler did the same, his exhausted mind and body meaning sleep came easier than it should have.
Liam, however, didn’t sleep. He sat there in the dark and stared at his father’s leg. He started to drool.
PRE-DAWN
Nash and Tyler were still sleeping. Liam was too agitated and hungry to do the same and wanting to remove himself from them both, especially his father’s leg and the chance to survive it would have presented, he had gone to the other side of their tiny island, just so he could be alone with his thoughts. The hunger burned in his gut, which he was sure had shrivelled to something non-existent. Hungry eyes scanned the surface of the rock island, looking for something, anything to eat. He found the debris in the alcove. He presumed the storm had pushed it to the island. Liam crouched in the alcove, sifting through the floating fragments of fibreglass. There was half a soggy paperback, it’s cover missing. Alongside it was a few little pieces of polystyrene and half a plastic mug that was his fathers and was cracked down one side. He ignored all of it. The thing that caught his eye was the box. Designed to be positively buoyant in the event of falling overboard, he knew it was the sign from above he had been waiting for. He pulled it towards him, shaking hands fumbling with the catch. Eventually, he freed it and lifted the lid. Inside the watertight container was a medical kit. Liam pushed past the bandages and found what he was looking for at the bottom. He took out the scalpel, heart thundering. There were also spare blades in the box and flare gun. In that instant, everything changed. The opportunity that had, until that point, not allowed him to follow his initial train of thought was now there. Something wet touched his leg, and for a moment, he thought it was starting to rain. It was only when he looked at it that he realised he was drooling at the idea of finally getting some food. Now all he needed was the mental strength to do what he had to so they could survive. He rolled his sunken eyes to the sky. ‘Please, show me a way to do this. Show me a way to make it happen.’