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“HE WAS LYING,” TANK said when they were out of earshot. “He does have contact with the outside world. His clothes were relatively new. Same goes for his sons. And he wore sneakers that definitely were a recent purchase—you could tell by looking at them and by how deep the treads in the sand were when he walked away from us. Here’s what I know from that exchange—somewhere on this island is a boat, and they use it to go to a neighboring island, which must be populated with people and with stores to purchase things like clothes and sneakers. Who knows where we are? Doesn’t matter. What matters is that we’re close to an island filled with people who can help us. I can promise you that.”
“One of his sons was wearing a T-shirt that said ‘Duck Dynasty,’” Daniella said. “Did you see that?”
“I did.”
“Who the hell wears a ‘Duck Dynasty’ T-shirt?”
“These people. And since that’s a relatively newish show, my point is made. They have access to a populated island.”
“The plane,” Lisa said. “I can’t hear it anymore. I think it’s gone.”
“It’ll be back,” Tank said, and then he knelt at my side and placed the back of his hand against Cutter’s forehead, likely to see if he was running a temperature, which he was.
“Are you with me?” Tank asked.
Cutter’s voice was barely a whisper when he spoke. “I’m here.”
“Are you strong enough to talk?”
“Yes.”
“What do I need to know?”
“He wasn’t lying. There are hundreds of them here. I saw the compound, which is tucked within the jungle—but it’s huge. The women demanded that the men help me, and so they did. They have a shitload of supplies here. Everything you could imagine. They even had a sling for my arm, for Christ’s sake.”
“Did they treat you with drugs?”
“No, but they have drugs. I heard some of the women say that they should shoot me up with penicillin, but the men weren’t having any of that. They didn’t want to waste it on me. Instead, they chose the agar. They wrapped the plant around the cut on my leg. They cleaned my leg and changed my dressing each day with fresh leaves. They poured alcohol on it to help kill the infection. But it was all for not. My leg is in bad shape. I can feel it. I can smell it. And I can tell you this—it’s not healing.”
“We’ll get you well.”
“It’s too late. With each day that passes, I feel as if I’m slipping away.”
“Alex and I will take you over to the hut. I’ll examine your leg, and we’ll go forward from there. What I need you to do is to focus on your health, and pull through for all of us. I need you to fight this, Cutter. I looked everywhere for you. None of us is about to lose you now.”
“I don’t know if that’s a choice, buddy. It’s not good.”
“We’ll see about that.” He looked up at Alex. “Grab his legs. I’ll take him by the shoulders. We need to get him back to the hut and expose the wound, so we can see what we’re dealing with before we go forward with any treatment.”
“Is there any penicillin left?” Lisa asked.
“Some. We’ll use what’s left of it, and then we’ll see what the jungle has to offer. The key is to kill whatever infection has taken hold of him. But we’ll succeed. Do you hear me, Cutter—we’ll succeed. I promise you that we will.”
“I appreciate that,” he said. “But I think you should save your supplies. I know what I’m feeling, Tank. I know what it means from our training. I’m a lost cause. Save the penicillin for yourselves should you need it.” When Tank was about to speak, Cutter reached out and gripped his arm. “I need you to listen to me now. No bullshit, OK? We’ve never done bullshit. We’ve always spoken the truth. I know that I’ll die from this. I won’t be here much longer. All I ask is that you keep me comfortable, that you stay by my side, and—if you do get off this island—that you take my body with you. For my parents’ sake.”
“You’re not leaving any of us,” Tank said. “So, get yourself together. Fight this. Alex, grab his feet. Let’s go. We don’t have long until the sun goes down, and there’s plenty to do while we still have light.”
