Chapter 8
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Anaconda Island
Anaconda Island by Asmaa Nada
Chapter 9
Clark tried to jump through the fire and pass to the other side, but Mark and Antoine caught him and Elizabeth said
"Clarke, I only hear the sound of the wind, nothing more."
Mark said, "I also heard the girl's voice."
"There's something," Alice said. "I'm worried. I haven't heard anything."
Antoine said, “I think we all heard a sound, but no one could distinguish it, or each of us distinguished it differently. This means that it is a deceptive sound that is not real, or the feeling of fear inside us is what makes us judge what we hear.”
Before any of them could speak again, a strong sound sounded like a body rubbing against the leaves and branches of trees. Elizabeth grabbed Raymond's arm closest to her and whispered.
"Did you hear that? How did the sound of tree branches rubbing against something reach us from that distance?"
Mary, transmitted through a loudspeaker, or it could be the wind passing through the burning branches around us.
Mark, “Come on, people, don’t exaggerate the feeling of fear inside you. Let’s think of something to do until the night passes, or at least try to sleep.”
Clark sat down and said, "Maybe you're right, it was just the sound of the wind or those tree branches burning."
Tina said, “Do you know that there is a tape recorder in my bag that plays CDs, and also some singing CDs? I hope it is fully charged. How about we listen to something?”
Tina took out the recording device, then put on loud music, and everyone turned around in a circle. Antoine also took out playing cards from his bag and distributed them among them. Time passed and because of the high volume of the music, they did not hear any movement outside of the flames, and after a while, they all snuck out to sleep. Except for Clark and Mark, they remained awake for some time, and when the fire began to decrease, they got up and tossed some green branches. Three hours later, Mark woke up Antoine and Raymond so that he and Clark could sleep for a while.
With the beginning of the day and the spread of the light, the fires had died down and were extinguished, and they no longer had any tree branches that were not burned. Everyone got up from sleep, as sleep had overtaken everyone's eyes. Clark looked around them and did not find the statues or even those foxes, and Antoine said
“They turned back into kitten form and then left. I saw them a while ago.”
Mark, I thought you were asleep by now.
Antoine: “No, I was only closing my eyes a little, but I was awake.”
Clark: “Okay, now we have to split up. Raymond and I will go and retrieve the maps. On our way, we will collect some wood, because we need a large amount.”
Mark said, “Tina, Mary, and I will also collect some wood as we look for that factory. Surely there is equipment and things that can be used.”
Antoine: “If Elizabeth and Alice are left with me, we will go and collect food, vegetables, and fruits, and if we can catch a rabbit, that will be a good thing.”
Clark, “You also collect wood. I made three mattresses of clothes that were drying at night while I was awake at night. Sorry, but we need a lot of fabric to collect the wood on top of so that we can collect the largest possible amount.”
Everyone nodded in understanding, and then Antoine shouted jokingly, trying to relieve the tension and fear on all of their faces.
“We all remember, especially girls, that small cats turn into huge foxes and eat us. Do not let them dazzle your eyes with their beauty.”
Mark, “And you are not enchanted by the beauty of nature and water. I saw sharks near the shore yesterday and forgot to tell you.”
Antoine: “Fuck you, I was going to dive a little.”
Clark laughed, “Come on, be delicious food for the sharks.”
Antoine hit the ground with his foot like an angry child, which made the girls laugh at what he was doing, then they all set off, promising to return to the same place, Raymond said before they dispersed.
“Hold these ropes with a knife or scissors, cut and tie a rope after every five trees, and if the ropes run out, try to dig the trees and make any mark indicating the way back.”
There were four knives and one scissors, and Clark made the sharp part of the belt he wore and said
“Everyone has something sharp to dig with, except for you, Mark. Grab that iron and dig with it if you move away from your group.”
Mark said, "And what are you going to do?"
Clark replied, "I will break the high branches and teach the trees by them."
Mary said, “Remember that the trees change their position before sunset. When the sun sets, if you are late in returning, walk-in reverse of the marks they left.”
They all moved in two directions, where Mark joined Clark to take one of the maps showing the laboratory after Raymond alerted him that he remembered that among the maps was a drawing specifying the location of a medical laboratory.
Elizabeth was holding Alice's arm, and they moved carefully behind Antoine, who was pulling behind him the brush intended for collecting wood. Antoine turned to them and said:
“There is no danger during the day. Let’s hurry so we can collect wood and food.”
The girls began cutting small branches close to the ground and then throwing them on top of the furniture that Antoine had tied to his waist. Alice also took off the shirt she was wearing and tied the ends of it around her waist, to put inside it the fruit that she could pick. After approximately two hours of incursion, Antoine stopped in two ways and then dismantled the furniture. from his waist left it on the ground, and said
“Look, there is a small deer alone. I will hunt it. You two move between the fruit trees in the opposite direction, but do not move away from those brushes.”
Alice, "We're not supposed to break up."
Antoine hit his head with the palm of his hand and said, “How can I hunt the deer while you are with me? Well, wait here and look at me. I will not go away.”
Elizabeth said, “Can you catch him or should I go? I am good at using an arrow and a bow.”
Antoine looked at her in amazement and said, “Where will you find an arrow and a bow?”
Elizabeth pointed up to a tree. Antoine raised his head, and so did Alice. She said:
"Who put that bow and arrows there?"
Antoine said, "I remember that Mark's grandfather said in his diary that the inhabitants of the neighboring islands come here. It may be someone's property."
Elizabeth came forward, climbed the tree, grabbed her bow and bag of arrows, then came down and said:
“‘Alice’ can sit with the brushes here, and we will hunt the deer that is still standing where it is, eating the grass. This in itself worries me, but let’s try.”
Alice sat next to the brushes and was trying to sing to distract her mind from feeling fear, while Antoine and Elizabeth moved lightly until they approached the deer without her noticing them, but they were not the only ones intending to hunt the deer, as there were those lurking among the grass waiting for an opportunity to pounce on their prey.
********
At the door of the cave, Raymond and the rest of the young men stood looking at the maps on which a block of stones had been placed to hold them in place, and a warning was carved in English on the outside of the cave wall with sharp claws.
"Escape if you can. You are not welcome in my kingdom. Do not search for secrets because some of them are the cause of your death"
“What does that mean?” Mary said.
Mark said, "Escape if you can. You are not welcome in my kingdom. Do not search for secrets because they will be the cause of your death."
Mary looked at him with a mixture of sarcasm and horror and said, “I did not mean the meaning of the words, they are in English, but I meant who wrote them, if the island belonged to a huge snake.”
Clark said, “The marks of what he dug into the stones are not the marks of a knife.”
Tina approached, then ran her finger over the engraved letters and said
“It's an animal's hoof, not a knife.”
Raymond: “It could be one of the residents of the neighboring islands who wants to warn us, but he is afraid of something.”
Mary put Tina's finger inside her mouth and said, "Maybe, there are traces of human blood inside the letters."
Mark said, "How did you know she was human?"
Mary laughed, “Because it tastes like my dolls, and sometimes in the laboratory I differentiate between types of animals by the taste of blood. I know it’s disgusting, but this is my way of knowing the difference.”
Mark's face was disgusted, while Clark looked at her with admiration, and Raymond looked away with his eyes into the distance, then Clark said
“Come on, Raymond, check the maps and give Mark the map that shows that factory.”
Raymond moved, then lifted the stone and began to flee into the maps, then he pulled a map sheet from among them and gave it to Mark and said
"Why don't you listen to the warning? Don't go searching there. It's enough for us to collect wood and food until a ship passes near the island and we leave."
Mark said as he looked. To the map: “No ship will pass or even approach that island. Have you forgotten that it is considered an island that has not yet been discovered and is not present on any recognized map?”
Raymond said in horror, "That's right, then, how are we going to get out of here?"
Mary said, “Don’t worry, Mark’s father will send to look for us.”
Clark said, "How could he know the location of an island that is not located on world maps?"
Mark said in a trembling voice, “He has the rest of Grandpa’s diaries. There may be a map and hand-drawn maps inside the diary.”
Raymond said, “It is true. Indeed, it is certain that he drew it in his diaries before he drew those large maps.”
There was silence for a moment, and then Mark said, “Anyway, while we wait and try to explore the place, we won’t take another chance here.”
Raymond said, “No, I will go back to the beach. Who will come with me?”
Clark laughed and said, "Grab that mattress and when you come back, cut the small branches on your way. I will go with Mary and Mark. I think they need protection."
Raymond, with some fear, said, “Fuck you, I won’t come back alone, I will go with you.”
Mark said, "Then you shouldn't lose the maps again. Clark, you go ahead and cut down the small trees. We also collect branches, and Raymond reads the map and directs us."
Tina pointed to Raymond after Mark returned the map to him and said jokingly
“Come forward, tour guide.”
Raymond looked at them and shouted desperately, "Fuck you all!"
The foursome's laughter rose together at Raymond's reaction, and Raymond also laughed in turn, then they all moved in the opposite direction to the beach, penetrating further into the island, not thinking about the amount of risks they were putting
themselves into.
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