The Island's Captives

Chapter Seven: Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail

Ronald Monroe

"Stop it Rose!" I shouted. She had just thrown a coconut at me for no apparent reason, which had shocked me and made me yell.

​"You're the one screaming," the brat said.

​"I didn't scream!" A real man doesn't scream, and I am a real man. "I just yelled," I corrected her, "Real men do not scream."

​"Oh, than I guess you aren't a real man," Rose said. I lunged at her, but Mahal stopped me. Sure, since Rose isn't bothering him he protects her, I thought, annoyed.

​"No fight," Mahal said to me. I threw up my hands.

​"Okay, I quit," I said. Why should I stay with her if she's just being a spoiled brat and throwing coconuts at me?

​"What are you talking about?" Rose asked, which was a really dumb question. I looked into the forest to see if Enkidu was on his way back. He had gone to go look for food (for stupid Rose) and we hadn't seen him for some time.

​"I'm going back to Carthage," I said. I actually had thought of the name and (for once) everyone had liked my idea. Oh yeah, I also thought of the name The People for whoever the people are who had taken us to the island. "I ain't wasting no more time with you."

​"By yourself?" Rose asked. "Cuz you know Pete wouldn't like that."

​"I'd rather risk his fury," which we both knew he didn't have, "than spend another minute with you!" I snapped.

​"You can't leave!" Rose exclaimed. Like she cares, I said to myself.

​"Oh, and who's gonna stop me?" I asked, not even bothering to turn around or stop.

​"Go get him!" I heard Rose said to Mahal. "It's your job to keep us safe!"

​"Ronny...can...take care of Ronny," Mahal said. And he sure was right! I turned around and gave Mahal a thumbs up. I then broke into a run, since I wasn't sure if Enkidu would be as easy.

​"Ronny! Ronny come-aaahh!" I turned around as Rose screamed and saw that she, along with Mahal, was being captured by a group of boys. Or are they men? Oh, wait, there's a short one. Three men and a boy?

​Either way, I knew there was no chance of me helping Rose and Mahal on my own. Maybe Enkidu could fight them away, but he still hadn't shown up. Suddenly, one of the boys/men saw me and started running right for me. I felt a familiar chill run through my spine and ran for my life. I have always had a fear of fighting, ever since I got beat up in second grade. That was terrible, and I didn't want to ever repeat it. I didn't want others to think I was a wimp or anything (cuz I'm not!) but I knew others would think that if I told them I was scared of fighting. So, I just never told anyone.

​"Daniel! Come back here!" I heard a loud, threatening voice say, which made me run faster. I could actually run pretty fast when I wanted to. It was only after I felt I was safe that I turned around, only to see that the boys (I was now confident they were boys) had disappeared around the bend of the island, along with Mahal and Rose.