Chris Ryan - Survival

'It's not that,' said Hex. 'I don't feel too great.'

Alex laid a hand on Hex's forehead. 'Yeah, I know,' he said, casually. 'You have a fever. Sit up and take these. They'll help.'

Hex dragged himself into a sitting position and Alex handed over two of the precious aspirin from his survival tin. He noted the time as Hex swallowed the tablets, working out when he could safely give him the next dose. While Hex drank the rest of the water, Alex bent to examine the leg wound. It did not look good. The komodo's tooth had opened up a gash starting just below the knee and ending at the top of Hex's walking boot. The wound had partly closed but pus was oozing out from under the forming scab and the surrounding skin was red and puffy.

'So, what do you think?'

Alex jumped and looked up. Hex had finished the water and was watching him with sharp eyes. Alex quickly replaced his worried expression with a bland smile. 'You're doing fine,' he said.

Hex regarded him with a keen intelligence. 'That bad?' he drawled.

'OK. There's some infection,' admitted Alex. 'We'll eat first. That'll give the aspirin time to work. Then I'll clean it up for you.'

Hex again refused his portion of the food, so Amber put it on a flat stone by the fire and covered it with another banana leaf. Alex did not feel much like eating either, but Amber, Li and Paulo were all watching him, so he pushed a chunk of lizard meat into his mouth and forced himself to chew. 'Good,' he said. 'A bit like…'

'Chicken?' suggested Paulo.

'Chicken,' agreed Alex.

Paulo and Li both took a bite.

Amber watched them, then looked down at her own portion. 'It's chicken,' she said, closing her eyes. 'It's chicken. It is chicken. It. Is. Chicken…' She bit into a chunk of lizard meat, chewed, and swallowed. A surprised smile spread across her face and she opened her eyes. 'You know, that's not at all bad,' she said. 'For – um – chicken.'

They finished off with mangoes and as much fresh water as they could drink.

'You know, things could be a lot worse,' said Amber, settling back on the bench. 'And now we have our very own water supply just up the beach there. It's almost like home.'

'Like home,' agreed Paulo, beaming proudly as he watched a steady stream of water pouring from the last section of his bamboo aqueduct onto the beach. 'We will be fine here until we are rescued.'

Alex and Li shared a look, then glanced over at Hex. He had fallen into a restless sleep. His face was flushed and his hair was damp with sweat.

'What?' said Paulo. 'What is going on?'

'Come over here,' whispered Li, leading them out of Hex's hearing. 'We need to talk.'

Five minutes later, a grim-faced Paulo leaned over Hex and inspected the swollen leg.

'What do you think?' asked Alex.

'We need to get as much poison out as we can,' said Paulo, sniffing at the wound. 'Already it is beginning to smell bad. I think I know what to do.'

He hurried to the fire where Li was trying to comfort a softly crying Amber.

'Come on,' he said as he pushed the remaining mashed yams back over the flames to heat up. 'You must stop crying. Hex might wake up and hear you.'

Amber scowled at Paulo but he was concentrating on mixing a solution of antiseptic. Once he had done that, he turned one of his shorts pockets inside out and cut away the inner lining with Alex's knife.

Amber sniffed a few times, then wiped her eyes. 'What's that for?' she asked, watching Paulo dip the pocket lining into the antiseptic solution.

'I am making a poultice,' said Paulo, softly. 'To draw out the poison. I have done this often with horses when they develop the poison in the hoof. I hope it will work here, too.' He laid the pocket lining on a banana leaf and stuffed it with the steaming hot mashed yams. Finally, he turned to Alex.

'I need something from your tin.'

Alex stared at Paulo, then nodded and opened his survival tin. Paulo took out a foil sachet.

'What's that-?' began Li, then stopped as Paulo split open the sachet and removed a surgical scalpel blade. Li's eyes widened and she fell silent.

'Ready? asked Paulo, handing the coconut bowl of antiseptic to Li.

Li swallowed hard, then nodded and carried the antiseptic over to Hex's bed. She stroked his face until he woke up.

'Hello, nurse,' he said, grinning weakly. 'Time for my bed bath?'

'Those aspirin must be working,' joked Li.

Paulo studied Hex's face. He did look slightly better. His cheeks were not so flushed and he seemed to be in less pain, but Paulo knew that would only last until the aspirin wore off. It was time to get going.

'Listen to me, Hex,' he said firmly. 'I will clean the wound first with antiseptic, OK? Then I will make a quick cut with this scalpel and put this hot poultice over it-'

'Scalpel?' interrupted Hex, his voice loud with shock.

'I cannot let the wound close up,' explained Paulo. 'The pus has to drain.'

'Are you sure you know what you're doing?' demanded Amber.

'The pus has to drain,' repeated Paulo, looking into Hex's eyes. 'I'll be as quick as I can.'

Hex looked back at Paulo for the longest time, searching his face. Paulo kept his gaze steady. Finally, Hex tightened his lips and nodded.

Hex made no sound when the scalpel went in, but his whole body stiffened. Quickly, Paulo drew the blade down through the crusted scab and the pus spurted out. Hex bit his lip and flung his head from side to side. His eyes were glazed with pain and the tendons stood out in his neck.

'Nearly over,' said Paulo, dropping the scalpel blade into the bowl of antiseptic. He picked up the hot poultice and pressed it over the newly opened wound. 'That is it. All done.'

Hex groaned and relaxed into the bed. His forehead was beaded with sweat and he was pale under his tan. 'Remind me to do the same for you some time,' he panted, glaring at Paulo.

'That was so gross,' said Amber faintly.

'But it's over,' said Hex. 'It'll get better now.' He looked up at the others, gathered around his bed. 'Won't it?'

This was the moment they had been dreading. They all looked down at Hex and nobody knew what to say. Finally, Alex spoke. 'Keeping the wound clean will help,' he said, carefully.

'But…?' said Hex, narrowing his eyes. 'I hear a "but".'

'But komodos have a lot of bacteria on their teeth,' said Li softly. 'Some of those bacteria are pretty bad. They can lead to septicaemia.'

'Blood poisoning,' said Hex quietly. He looked straight at Alex. 'Am I going to get better?'

'Not without antibiotics,' said Alex.

'Do you have antibiotics in your kit?' asked Hex.

'No.'

Hex nodded, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

'But we're going to get some,' continued Alex, firmly. 'Tonight we rest up because at dawn tomorrow, we're leaving the camp. We're going to trek across to the other side of the island-'

'To the all-night pharmacy?' interrupted Hex. 'Come on, Alex. I'm too old for bed-time stories. This island is uninhabited.'

'It is now,' agreed Alex. 'But what about in the war? Think about it! We already found one Japanese soldier. I reckon he was up there on look-out duty. He had the radio to keep in touch with the rest of his unit.'

'So there must have been other soldiers on the island,' said Paulo.

'Exactly! I think they might have had a base or a camp of some sort on the other side of the island. There could be another radio. There could be medical supplies. Antibiotics-'

'Did they have antibiotics then?' asked Hex.

'Yeah, sure they did,' said Amber confidently. 'Penicillin, definitely.'

'They'll be a bit past their sell-by date,' said Hex, but there was a flicker of hope in his eyes.

'Li has already worked out the best route,' said Alex. 'Want to talk us through it, Li?'