Journey for the Truth

Chapter 5: Sink or Swim

This chapter is told by the POV of Devin

After Desmond got the shit kicked out of him we had a series of fights that overall were disappointing for the standard set by Milton and Desmond. It has been three hours since we've gotten there. So far, Jacob, Oliver, Mike, and Desmond have all been taken out. We had decided after the Milton/Desmond fight that Beth and Kelly are going to be our nurses. I am up against Milton next. Milton only has one fail left. I haven't lost a fight yet. The other two left are Steven and Antonio. Steven has lost one to me, and Antonio hasn't lost a single match either. They're both really good. Milton lost to Mike and Steven.

"Ok, will the contestants please step up onto the dead island" Steven says pointing toward a small patch of land in the middle of the creek about big enough to fit two picnic tables on it barely. We walk across a board we brought down there onto the  piece of the land in the creek. Antonio grabs the board and pulls it back onto land to block off our escape.

"are you ready bro?" I ask Milton extending my hands toward him

"as ready as I'll ever be, I'm not giving up easily" he says shaking my hand then stepping back

"Ok the rules are that whoever can break the others will to fight wins. They must be conscious for the fight to end. They may verbally quit and end the fight, or tap a foot or hand three times. Do you understand the rules?"

"I do" Milton says stepping slightly away from the edge

"and you?" Steven asks me

"ya, ya, ya, sure. Earlier when you told us to come up here? Did you make a video game reference? Towards Dead Island?" I ask trying my hardest not to laugh. Steven's not as good at containing his laughter though. He busts out laughing

"Yes, of course I did! I was wondering if anybody would pick up on that! Awesome! Ok now both of you know the rules. Sooooo, fight!" Milton jumps at me immediately catching me off guard and lands a punch directly to the side of my jaw sending me to the ground inches from getting soaked in the creek. I stand up and look behind me at the water.

"woah woah woah, hold up one sec. I don't want to walk all the way home with a soaking wet shirt. Give me a second" I say then begin taking my shirt off. When the shirt is above my head I see Milton swing at me. Good thing I have a pretty thin shirt. I step to the side and kick him in the back sending him splashing into the water. I take my shirt the rest of the way off then toss it over to Beth who is starting at me now non-stop and smiling her devious little smile that means I don't want to know what's going on through her head. I wink at her and mouth the word 'behave' then turn back to Milton wading back to the island. He finally gets back onto land and catches his breath before standing up.

"impressive move dude" he says shaking his head to himself "I should've seen that coming"

"ya, you really should have" I say grinning at him. I clench my hands into fist and spread my legs shoulder width apart then flex every muscle in my body. I bet Beth is going crazy right now. After a few seconds I relax and get into my fighting stance and begin planning my next move. How about running jump to the chest followed by a knee drop on his chest for the win? Ya, that should work. I grin and run at Milton then jump and kick as hard as I can at him. Milton sees me in the air and barely ducks in time. Oh shit! Now I'm screwed. A cold rush of water engulfs me from head to toe as I splash into the creek. I swim up and reach onto the island to pull myself up. Milton steps on my forearm pinning my arm in place

"tap for air" he says then pushes my head under with both hands. I keep calm knowing that if I run out of air, I can tap and give up for breath. I think about the situation and try to find a way out of this. I could play dead, or maybe try to bite a finger of his. Crap out of air, I didn't get to breathe in before I went under. I guess he pulled it off, he wins. I try to tap out signaling my defeat. Wait. I can't move my hands. Oh shit he's crushing the muscles I need to move my wrist. I try to swing my other arm onto land but he catches it and holds it still. No you idiot, no. I'm not trying to hit you, I'm trying to live. I try to blow bubbles to let him know I'm out of breath but there is no air in my body at all. This is where I'm going to die. Fuck. Well, if I have to die early. I'm gonna die fighting. I squirm trying to get free from his grip but my muscles are all tingling. I guess this happens when you drown. I feel a sudden rush of energy through my body, like drinking three monsters in 5 minutes. I feel all my muscles tingle intensely like needles on every inch of my body. In one last final effort to live before I black out, I tense every muscle in my body. There's a big flash of light then everything goes dark.