Poison Paradise - Damned of the 2/19th

Steel and Flesh

Don looked up at the mountain, shaking his head, one hand on a palm tree so he could put his weight on one leg. "That's a ways up," He said.

Raincloud spit out a seed then dropped the rind. "Should we even bother heading up?"

"Sure," Kevin said, shrugging.

Don shrugged. "Maybe," he shaded his eyes, looking at the rock. "I think I see something. I'm not sure what."

"Where?" Raincloud asked.

"Right there," Don said, pointing.

Kevin squinted. "I don't see anything."

Raincloud moved over to stand behind Don, looking up his arm to see exactly where he was pointing. "You mean at the top of that sheer cliff?"

"Right below the top. See that? It looks weird," Don said.

Raincloud nodded. "Yeah. It's not too far up. Let's head up."

Don and Raincloud looked at Kevin, who shrugged. "Sure. Let's see what you guys see."

The three men, soaked with sweat, began heading up the steep grade.

"Is it just me, or does that look... weird?" Raincloud asked.

"Yeah," Don said, gasping, his face red.

"I still don't see anything," Kevin said.

The three men pushed between the large shoulder high ferns and stumbled as they stepped out onto cracked tarmac. Don almost fell, going down on one knee, gasping, his face red.

"Don!" Kevin cried out, moving up and kneeling next to Don, reaching out with one hand to brace the older man.

"Don, are you all right?" Raincloud asked, kneeling down next to the older man.

Don nodded, gasping. "Will. Be." he gasped. "Just need a break for a minute," he shifted position and sat down. "Humidity is killing me."

"You have a bad heart?" Raincloud asked.

Don nodded. "Yeah. Well, no. I mean, I had a triple bypass last year. I've lost a lot of weight, changed my diet, but I usually take high blood pressure pills."

"Shit, they went down with the plane," Kevin said. He gave a weak smile. "Well, at least the food here is all natural."

Raincloud nodded. "Just take it easy. None of us or anything on this island are going anywhere."

Don nodded, chuckling. "True. That."

After a few minutes Don's breathing returned to normal and he started to stand up.

"Just wait a couple more minutes, all right?" Raincloud asked. He kicked at the cracked asphalt under his feet. "Do you think it's weird that there's a road on the side of a mountain on a deserted volcanic island in the South Pacific?"

Don shrugged. "You saw that dock, right?" Raincloud nodded and Don held up one finger. "One, it's a Navy installation. Two, it's an unmanned island. Three, that dock went out far enough that it must have been a hundred feet or more to the bottom, which means they can dock a big ship there. Four, turn around," he pointed off to the left of the mountain.

Raincloud turned and looked, noticing that the road went on for a couple hundred yards with a steady downgrade, before obviously doing a hairpin switchback. That wasn't what caught his attention, rather it was what was beyond the road. Kevin turned, saw what the other men were looking at, and just stared, his mouth slightly open with shock.

A small town sat off to the side of the mountain, surrounded by jungle. The mountain blocked the view for some of it, but Raincloud could count twenty city blocks visible in front of him, and a dozen city blocks that went from his right to left. He could see the small toy-like appearing cars on the streets.