Michael Bray - Feed

‘You’re alive,’ Nash said from behind him.

Tyler didn’t answer. He was trying to recall what had happened, to piece together how he had come to be on the island, but his brain was fuzzy and he couldn’t figure it out. ‘What happened?’ he asked, throat dry.

‘What does it look like?’ Liam said. He was sitting a little further away with his back to a large jagged boulder.

Tyler looked again at their surroundings. It was essentially a large mound of rocks. No vegetation that he could see and, more worryingly, no sign of their boat. ‘I don’t remember anything after I hit the water.’

Liam and Nash glanced at each other. ‘Nothing at all?’ Nash asked.

‘No.’

‘That will be the shock, I expect,’ Nash said. Tyler stood and looked at their bleak surroundings, then noticed that Nash was injured.

‘What happened to your leg?’

Nash glanced at it stretched out in front of him the ugly wound deep in his calf starting to discolour at the edges. The rock underneath it soaked with blood.

‘I had the Zodiac in the water just in case the shark decided to attack. I knew you didn’t believe me, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t ready.’

‘Zodiac?’

‘Inflatable motor boat. The reason we’re all still alive. Anyway, Liam and me got to the boat, saw you floating in the water, and fished you out just as our shark realised we were trying to get away. Son of a bitch chased us, cut us off from heading back to land and so this was the next nearest spot. It led us here then launched us out of the water a few hundred yards from this fucking rock. The Zodiac was destroyed, but we were lucky enough to be in the shallows so he couldn’t give chase. He’s still out there, though. He’s angry and waiting for us.’

Tyler glanced out at the water, sunlight shimmering off its surface, then turned back to Nash.

‘Anyway, when he knocked the Zodiac from under us, we went in the water and I cut my leg on the rocks. It’s deep and needs stitches but nothing I can do about it now apart from try to keep it clean.’

‘Alright, so what’s the plan? Do we wait until someone comes to save us?’

Nash and Liam glanced at each other again. ‘You don’t seem to understand our situation here,’ Nash said, shifting position and wincing in pain. ‘Nobody is coming here for us. Nobody knows we’re here.’

Tyler grinned, then realised it was no joke. ‘Are you kidding me? The world connected the way it is, it’s impossible to get lost or go missing. Of course someone will find us.’

Nash shook his head. ‘Nobody knows we’re out here. We kept it quiet for obvious reasons. You, of course, are also off the grid. This rock is miles from any shipping lane. The nearest land is a hundred miles away.’

‘Maybe we can signal a passing plane. Light a fire or something to get their attention.’

Nash looked around him. ‘How? With what? There is no vegetation on here. Nothing to burn or make a fire with.’

‘But we can’t stay here. There’s no food, no water. No shelter. We’ll die out here.’

‘At last, the penny drops,’ Liam grunted.

‘We could swim for it. While we still have the strength.’ Tyler said, desperately looking for a way out.

‘Don’t be stupid.’ Liam snapped, clambering to his feet. ‘Are you deaf? It’s at least a hundred miles to land. Do you think you can do that? Swim a hundred miles? You wouldn’t make it a mile. You know what’s out there. What’s waiting for us. You think it won’t attack the second my dad gets in the water and it smells the blood from his leg wound?’

‘We can’t just stay here,’ Tyler snapped, glaring at them both. And hoping that repeating it for the second time would make something change.

‘If you think of anything, feel free to let us know. It’s not like we want this or knew what would happen.’

Tyler stared out at the water and listened to the waves lap against the rocks. It was just after dawn, and already hot. The day was going to be punishing to them with no protection from the sun. He stood and stretched, then headed away from them.

‘Where are you going?’ Nash said.

‘Checking this place out. There might be something you missed.

‘Trust me, there’s nothing to see,’ Liam said.

‘My days of trusting you are long gone,’ Tyler said as he walked away from them, intent on exploring the island.

The terms exploring and island both proved to be optimistic descriptions as the rock pile they were stranded on was too small to be able to do the former or be called the latter. It was essentially a large single rock jutting out of the ocean. A short ‘beach’ of smaller rocks and boulders was where Nash and Liam waited and watched him explore. The bulk of the rock was around fifteen feet tall and had become pitted and worn with exposure to the elements. Tyler looked at it and it was definitely scalable. For now, he dismissed it, instead picking his way around the edge, careful not to twist his ankle on the smaller loose rocks at his feet. The tide washed in, soaking his feet and ankles. It was only then he realised that he was both barefoot and still wearing his wetsuit. He picked his way around the giant rock, trying to ignore the lack of vegetation. The rear of the island was much the same as the front. A small depression had been partially eroded into the rock face, but not deep enough to provide them with any shelter from the elements. He stepped into it, checking anyway as the tide smashed against the rocks at his back. The depression in the rock was only two feet deep and seven high, and completely open to the elements. With some building materials, they might have been able to make a shelter. He chuckled a sharp bark that echoed from the rock at the idiocy of the thought. Building materials. Or a boat. Or a lifeguard. May as well wish for any of those things as they were just as unlikely. He ran his hand across the cool rock, hoping to find fresh water and seeing instead just a covering of moss creeping up the lower part of the wall. As desperate as the situation was, he wasn’t quite prepared to eat that yet, and so he moved on around the back of the island so that he was on the opposite side to where Nash and Liam waited. It was cooler here with the sun rising on the north side and not yet warming the stone. He stared at the upper portion of the rock face. This route looked easier to climb, but the penalty for falling was higher. Sharp boulders jutted like deadly daggers to await anyone who may lose a foothold or slip on the slick rocks. At best, it would be a broken ankle or severe laceration. At worse, death. He reached up and grabbed a jutting section of rock, pulling himself up onto his tiptoes, testing his strength. How long, he wondered, would that last with no food or water and exposed to the burning heat of the day? It was then he knew that there was no other option. He would climb whilst he still could, otherwise, he knew it would nag at him that he hadn’t explored every option. There was, however, a flaw in his plan. He looked down at his feet, his bare, wet feet and knew attempting to climb was madness. Nash had shoes on, or one at least, and as much as he didn’t particular want to wear someone else’s footwear, he decided he would ask to borrow them when he returned to the front of the island. He carried on, every step confirming what he had been told. There was nothing there. Just rock and crashing waves. He came back around the other side of the island, passing Liam on his way.

‘Seen for yourself now?’

Tyler glared at him. ‘You don’t have to be a dick all the time. We’re in this together.’

‘You do what you want, man. I’d have saved my energy if I were you. You’re gonna need it.’

‘We all are. Don’t talk to me like this is my fault. This was your show, not mine.’