plantfood | [Neil & Danny - Second island]

[Neil & Danny - Second island]

The small pack on his back has water, food and sunscreen, enough of the first two to sustain him for a full week if necessary. It won't be, Mathias knows this, but even with all the work he's done on going into the jungle, he can't completely shake the fear that something terrible will happen. Something will keep him there, even if Neil and Danny get to leave and it's entirely irrational, but the extra food and water make him feel better. They calm the heavy pound of his heart.

Lucy knows where they're going and how long they'll be gone for, something else he's learned the hard way. In Mexico, no one had known where they were, but he's made sure that's covered here, and he's not worried about that. If they don't return by this evening, someone will come for them.

There's no reason to think they won't return. It's a simple trip to the second island. The restlessness that has been growing in Mathias for weeks has been almost overwhelming since Veronica's disappearance. Without her, he feels less grounded, scattered, like there's nothing to keep him from disappearing himself, though he knows that isn't true. He has Sam to look after, and it's because of her that he hasn't gone sooner.

Now, though, he's standing on the west beach with Danny and Neil, early morning sunlight turning the waves pink. There are two canoes in the sand, ready for them to push off and he doesn't feel good. There's not even the smallest part of him that feels close to good, but he doesn't feel terrible either. And that's something.

"Who wants to row on their own?" he asks with a small smile, gesturing at the two canoes.

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"Are you kidding me? This is where they come?" Danny asks with incredulity, considering that he's been sending Steve off for his little field-trips with ITF because Danny doesn't need to babysit them. And apparently it's a bunch of camping trips? Danny's gonna need to make sure they're really wearing Steve out.

--lest someone end up dangling off a roof.

"And how much insurance money you got on you?" Danny jokes. "I'm just asking, you know, in case I'm desperate."

"I'm sure it is enough to buy you all the island mansions," Mathias deadpans as the bottom of the canoe starts to scrape along the sand. "Right, Neil? All the island mansions." Of which, of course, there are none, and he gives Danny a faint grin before standing and getting out of the canoe. His shoes are soaked again, but he grabs the front of Danny's canoe, pulling him into the sand, then does the same for Neil, until both canoes are resting on the beach.

"We'll need to pull them up further," he says, pointing toward the trees. "So they're still here when we need to return."

"It's not the only place they go, but yeah," I tell Danny, coughing out a laugh and flashing Mathias a grin. "Oh yeah, Mathias here is rollin' in it. Richest asshole on the island."

Climbing out of the canoe, I head toward the front to drag mine inland. That'd be fun to fuckin' explain to the rescue team. Sorry we didn't come home, we lost our fuckin' boats.

"He's gotta be, what with the air-cooling business," Danny adds with a smirk, helping to get their canoe a little further up the sand, groaning and complaining the whole way -- like he didn't actually keep in shape, at least to play baseball. "One day, one of these days, I'm gonna make you figure out how to wire me television," he warns Mathias. "One day, Mattie."

"I'm sure there will be many fascinating island programs to watch," Mathias answers, deadpan, although it isn't entirely possible. He knows Neil is at least partially in charge of the island radio and while people would need to film and broadcast the shows from the Compound, it might be possible with some work.

He points toward the wreckage of a boat and says, "What about there? We can start in that direction and work toward anything interesting we might see." He's been told the boat is the one from the film Jaws and that is something he'd like to see for himself.

"Hey, we've already got a TV wired at our place. It'll only play videos and games, but we're already halfway there."

The fact that the TV belonged to Mike still stings, a little. I won't think about it for days, then it'll just hit me. Like his empty side of the bed, or his trunk, or the clothes left behind in the hut.

"Whatever, man. You're the boss," I say to Mathias when he points off down the beach.

Danny glances Neil's way with a look that says he's hurting for it and he makes a small sound that corroborates that fact. "Fuck, why aren't we better friends? I miss sports, don't care what year they're played, I miss a good game on television with food on the grill and a drink in hand."

"Apparently you need to start having football parties," Mathias says to Neil, slinging his pack onto his shoulders and kicking as much water off his shoes as he can. Again, they'll dry in the sun, he isn't concerned with the fact that they're wet. And they aren't particularly far from civilization. If he ends up with a blister, he'll survive.

Setting off across the sand, he takes in the island around him, wondering where it came from. "No one knew this was here, right? At first. It wasn't common knowledge."

"Yeah, I'd been here... I dunno, a few years 'fore they found it," I say, following along behind.

"I guess everybody assumes it's always been here, but as far as I know, it just... appeared, same as the rec center or whatever."

"Jesus, you people who've been here for years terrify me," Danny admits with a shake of his head, trailing along seeing as it's not like he's gonna pull a coup and demand they do something else. "I'd probably be a lot more disconcerted, but all this? This is just...same geography, different people."

Mathias knows he hasn't been on the island as long as Neil, but he has been here several years now -- more than two, he realizes -- and he can't imagine being anywhere else. Even without Veronica, there's nothing for him back home. He's dead and so is his brother.

"Same geography as home?" he asks. "Hawaii?" It must be, there's nowhere else in the world that looks like this, although it's possible Danny isn't even from the same world.

Another question dies on his lips as they near a lagoon and, just over a small rise, he can see something that looks suspiciously like what he'd left behind. "What... is that?" he asks.

"I dunno," I say, squinting out into the distance at a grouping of rocks, and from here, it doesn't look like something natural.

It looks like something built.

"Wanna check it out?" I ask, looking between both of them curiously.

"Did I canoe over here just to have a picnic?" Danny asks, but he prays that they all know he's being rhetorical because if they sit down and have picnic food, Danny's just gonna scream -- but just a little. "Yeah, of course, come on. Adventures away."

Mathias wants to say no -- he's convinced, even, that he is saying it -- but then Danny is saying yes and he finds himself nodding along. It's what he's come here for. An adventure, a time to deal quietly with the loss of Veronica in the way he deals with all loss. It's best to keep distracted.

"Alright," he agrees, although a part of him is still saying no, and he starts around the lagoon. Now that they've decided, he's fairly single minded about it, moving easily through the sand. "What do you thin it is?" he asks. "It doesn't look natural."

"I dunno," I shrug, sounding relatively careless about it. Not uninterested, necessarily, but it's not like I know anything about any of this shit.

"Some kinda shelter, I guess." But it doesn't really look like a house. From here, it looks a little bit like those jungle temples you see in movies, like in that second Indiana Jones movie or whatever.

"See, and here I'm starting to think we should have brought a map," Danny says, but it's not really an upset smile he shares as he starts off in that direction, hoisting his bag a little higher. "But what's the fun in going somewhere if you can't get lost, am I right?"

The smile Mathias offers is both nervous and distracted as he stares at the area they're approaching. As they get closer, the rocks become more and more defined, shaping into something both vaguely familiar and yet completely unfamiliar at the same time. It looks enough like the hill that he can feel his heart quickening, but there are obvious differences.

No flowers, for one. And no men with arrows and guns.

"It looks a bit like ruins," he says finally.

"Yeah, I think I remember hearin' somebody mention 'em," I shrug, glancing sideways at Mathias. He's hard as hell to read, damn near impossible, but I get the feeling he's nervous.

"Doesn't look like anything I've ever seen on the main island."

Danny's a little wary at the mention of ruins, not really because of the actual thing, but because with what Mathias has told him (and because of some of the books he's run into), he has a bad feeling. Still, it's just a feeling and he puts it aside. "Up to you, Mattie," he offers, a bit quieter.

"We'll go," Mathias answers, forcing another smile and pushing himself forward. The closer they get, the more he realizes they really don't look like anything like the hill. There are things here and there that push a memory forward, little similarities, but the hill isn't nearly as steep and when he reaches the top, there isn't a tent or a windlass.

"Harmless," he says, mostly to himself, glad that he's made the decision. "I had no idea this was even here."

It doesn't take long to get to the top, and when we do, I wander a little ways away from them, looking down over the far edge, to see if I can see anything else interesting. But it's not that high, and all there is are trees.

"Yeah, I know, right? It's fuckin' weird.

Danny's busy taking a look around at all the trees and he shakes his head. "I swear to god, if any of you tell Steve that this place has nature and I end up coming here every weekend, you are both dead to me. Dead," he clarifies with both hands in the air.

It's ridiculous, but his heart is hammering hard in his chest and Mathias has to force himself to breathe, relieved when both Neil and Danny speak and sound completely normal. It's a good reminder that there's nothing out to get him, nothing at all to fear.

He turns, crossing over to where Danny is standing and he's about to say something to Neil when, from under his feet there's a cracking sound. It doesn't occur to Mathias until he's falling -- and Danny's falling with him -- that he should move. That he's standing on an old, rotted board and it's given way into a mine shaft and he needs to move, but the thought doesn't come soon enough and he hits the ground below hard. In his leg, something else cracks.

I've got my back to them, squinting against the sun and looking out over the trees, and it's nice. Quiet. Fuckin' peaceful, until I hear an ominous creak, a dry snap, and by the time I turn toward them, they've already disappeared from view.

"Fuck," I hiss, running toward the jagged hole in the ground, a haphazardly covered passageway leading down to fuck knows where. Skidding to a stop at the edge, just as dirt and rock gives way to rotting wood, I lean over, peering down into the darkness and shouting, "Mathias!" and wincing at how my voice seems to echo down, down, down forever.

Danny's gone down with Mathias and while he thinks he's in decent shape, he does the check. Couple of cuts and bruises and a definitely nice gash in his arm, but it's sluggish and bleeds slow. Nothing but mild things that a good band-aid will fix up. He tries to see through the dust and crawls over to Mathias' side, wincing slightly.

"Hey," he says hoarsely. "Hey, Mathias, I want you to lie still, okay? I need to check and see if you hurt your neck."

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