Man Hunt

Chapter Seventeen - The Traitor

‘’Jack, stay awake. Keep your eyes open,’’ I instruct, staring into the poor boy’s eye.

Tears fall from my own eyes and splash lightly onto Jack’s forehead. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Nobody else was supposed to die. I glance at Kate, who is staring at Jack wide-eyed, almost in a trance.

‘’Kate, get water from Aaron’s bag. I need to cleanse this wound,’’ I order, however she doesn’t move.

I stare at her for a moment, she is still staring at Jack.

‘’Kate!’’ I repeat loudly, she rushes to the bag.

I turn back to Jack and cradle his head in my hands; his skin is cool to the touch.

‘’Jack please stay with me,’’ I begin, and his eyelids begin to close slightly.

Gently, I slap my hand against his face. His eyes snap open again, but they are distant, his pupils have dilated completely.

‘’Jack please,’’ I say again.

It’s horrible that he cannot talk. There must be so many things he wants to say before he dies. Thanks to the monsters that run this ‘game’, he’ll never have the chance. They stole his voice. They stole his life.

I take my eyes from Jack momentarily and turn to Kate, ‘’what’s taking you so long?’’

Kate simply stares into the bag in her grasp, unresponsive. I curse, get to my feet and rush to her. I snatch the bag from her and route through it quickly – as I do she watches me. I fish out his water bottle and rush to Jack’s side once more. Vacantly, Kate follows.

Much to my surprise, she doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t cry. She doesn’t scream. She simply falls to her knees and stares at Jack with an empty and distant look her eyes. Has this island finally taken its toll on her? Has this pushed her past her breaking point? Is she so numb now to death that she cannot bring herself to cry? Or does she just want to ensure that the image of her crying isn’t the last thing Jack sees before he is so cruelly taken from us?

I unscrew the lid on the water bottle and pour a small amount onto his wound. He curses – almost silently – and tries to sit up, although he falls backwards and lands on his back once again.

‘’I’m sorry Jack, I know it’s going to hurt but-‘’ I begin and begin pouring more water on his wound however Kate reaches out and grabs my wrist.

‘’No Alice, it’s too late,’’ she says, shaking her head slightly, ‘’please, can you give me a minute to say goodbye?’’

I lean over Jack’s body and gently kiss him on the forehead. I then get to my feet and return to the edge of the water pool as Kate sits by Jack’s side, his hand in hers as he the life slowly drains from him. I can hear Kate’s faint sobs from where I sit; they mingle with that of my own.

Jack is going to die.

I reach into the water and fish the bottle from the bottom of the shallow pool. I then kneel by the edge, shut my eyes tightly and plunge my head into the water. I then scream. I scream at the top of my lungs. I scream until my throat hurts. My screech echoes through the water. I run out of breath and pull myself from the pool.

You promised Kate we’d get off this island. You promised nobody else would die. You lied.

I stare at my reflection in the water below me, only now do I realise that I haven’t seen myself since I woke up on this island. There are no mirrors here. I glance down at a tormented face. My brown hair hangs in strands clumped together by the water dripping down my face.