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IN THE MORNING, I WAS the first to wake, and not by chance. I woke because I could hear them outside our hut again. I could hear them moving in the brush, and their presence unnerved me to no end because of our run-in with that woman yesterday, and because, as far as they were concerned, our time here was even closer to being over.
I reached over for Alex’s hand and squeezed it in my own. When he woke, he looked at me, but before he could say a word, I pressed a finger against his lips, then held that finger to my ear, and then swept it around the hut.
Listen.
It was just before dawn, which was when they generally left because they knew we’d be waking soon. Ever since we’d been here—eleven days now—that had been the pattern.
But this was different.
Throughout the night, I’d heard them hovering around us—as I’m sure the others had. But hearing them now was unusual. Usually, they were gone before the sun rose. The other thing that struck me was Cutter’s breathing, which was even more labored than it had been when we went to bed last night. I was lying on my right side about ten feet away from him, and even though I couldn’t see him, I knew from the liquid filling his lungs that today might be it for him. His breathing sounded thick and clotted to me, almost as if he were drowning in his own fluids, which hadn’t been the case when we went to sleep last night.
Quietly, I moved closer to Alex and said in his ear, “Why are they still here?”
He shrugged at me.
“Maybe we don’t need to go to them at all,” I whispered. “Maybe we should just confront them now, and see if we can make a deal with them.”
“Are you able to wake Tank,” he said in a low voice. “We’ll need him.”
Lisa was sleeping beside me. Tank was on the other side of her. I feared that, if I startled any of them, the people outside of the hut would know that we were awake. And what would happen then? Would they leave? Had something changed since we’d spoken with that woman? Were they simply waiting for us to step out of the hut so they could confront us? Were they prepared to challenge us?
I wasn’t sure, but I had to act.
As quietly as I could, I turned onto my side and gratefully saw that Lisa was on her side facing me. As gently as I could, I nudged my legs against hers, which caused her eyes to shoot open and stare at me as if she’d never seen me before. That initial moment of panic passed quickly, but not quickly enough for Tank, who slept lightly. He quietly sat up and turned to me, and I pointed to my ear again. Then I took my hand and motioned around our hut.
Listen.
That was all that he needed to see from me. For a moment, he just sat there in silence. Sunlight slanted through the canopy of palm leaves above us. By the concerned look on his face, he also knew that something was off. This wasn’t their pattern. They shouldn’t be here now.
With a deft hand, he woke Blackwell, Daniella, and Alexa with such tenderness that none of them made a sound. He leaned down low and said something to them, and then they all nodded in agreement. Tank then kissed Lisa on the lips before standing and stepping over her to crouch beside Alex and me.
He spoke in such a hush, I had to focus on what he was saying: “They’re here for a reason. We three need to leave the hut, wait for them to approach us—which I think they will—and see what they want. I have a feeling all of us know what this is about. The others will remain here.” He looked at Alex. “Give me your knife.”
“Why?”
“No questions.”
Alex gave it to him.
“Let’s go,” Tank said.
* * *
WHEN WE LEFT THE HUT, we did so as casually as we would on any other day. Not that that mattered. Almost at once, we were greeted by the same four men that had brought Cutter back, all of whom were standing just outside the hut with their rifles trained on our chests.
I recognized all of them, especially the eldest man, the one with the graying hair and the white beard. This confirmed for me that he was the one who led this island. He wouldn’t have shown up twice otherwise, especially in the face of two defining moments. I looked for a woman somewhere behind them, perhaps down on the beach, but there were only men here.
And they looked serious.
So much for equality, I thought.
“Good morning,” Tank said to them.
“Is it?” the older man asked. “I guess that depends. We heard about your offer. We’ve discussed it. And we’ve decided it was worth it to explore it with you today.”
“Thank you for considering it. May I ask what you’ve discussed?”
“That we want you off this island.”
“I believe you know that we want the same.”
“Trouble is, it’s going to cost you more than the ten million you initially offered.”
“Ten million dollars is a lot of money.”
“And we’ve done our research.” He nodded at Alex. “We know who he is now. He’s all over the Internet. People think he’s dead. Some are still holding out hope that he’s alive, but that’s fading. Lots of prayers out there—and also lots of despair. Also, there’s plenty of talk about the crumbling of Wenn Enterprises, which apparently is on the verge of going into the shit can without his leadership. You know—that sort of thing.”
“You have access to the Internet?”
“Are you deaf?”
“If you have access, why haven’t you helped us?” Tank asked.
“We helped your friend.”
“From what we heard, you brought him to us because, as far as you were concerned, he was a lost cause.”
“Was I wrong about that?”
“He’s still alive.”
“For the moment.”
“You’re right. As we speak, he’s near death. But you have medications on this island that can help him. So, why not help him?”
“Those supplies come at a steep cost to us. There are hundreds of us here. You can imagine how much we need access to them. He’s not one of us, so, as far as I’m concerned, I could give a shit about him, or how he came to us. Because he’s not one of us, he didn’t receive what he might have otherwise.”
“If you have access to the Internet, I’m confused,” Tank said. “I thought you wanted no part of the outside world.”
“You misunderstood me. Years ago, we’d had enough of that world. We didn’t want any part of it, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t keep on top of how it’s being destroyed by countries, governments, and corporations. You know, such as Wenn Enterprises.” He looked at Alex. “That would be you, correct?”
“I own Wenn,” Alex said. “But I’m destroying nothing.”
“Is that so?”
“It is so.”
“So, you outsource parts of your new phone to Singapore to help those who would like to have those job opportunities in the States?”
“We went out to bid. We needed specific parts to build our phone. Singapore came in as the least expensive option. The majority of our SlimPhone is made in the States. We only went to Singapore for the phone’s memory card. That’s it.”
“And because you’re a greedy bastard, you took it.”
“Are the people of Singapore not allowed to make a living?”
“Are you fucking kidding me? How much are they making per hour? Have you even considered that? You’ve fucked them over while you made a profit.”
“Since you have access to the Internet, I would suggest that you look into just how much of Wenn’s business is conducted in the States. More than eighty percent of it is made there. As for Singapore? Yes, they won the bid for a few reasons—they were less expensive, and they offered a great product.”
“Whatever, man. You’ve got a beard now, but that’s the face I saw in all those news stories about you, so you must be the great Alexander Wenn everyone is moaning about. And because we know what you’re worth, we want fifty million dollars to get you off this island.”
“Fifty million?”
“That’s right. Fifty million.”
“If I’m to come through with fifty million dollars to get us off this island, how do you expect me to proceed? And even if I did follow through in good faith, who’s to say that you will do the same?”
“I guess there’s no saying that we will. You’ll need to take our word for it.”
“What’s your word worth?”
“Fifty million dollars.”
“For fifty million, it had better be good. So, here’s the deal—at least the first part of it. You have penicillin on this island. Our friend is in critical condition and he needs help ASAP. You can help. Give us twelve shots of penicillin, and then I’ll trust you enough to take a chance on giving you that money.”
“Not happening. Money first. Then we give you the penicillin.”
“Are you sure you want to risk that?”
“The question is whether you want to. We didn’t flee the States on some whim, Mr. Wenn. We came here armed with enough money to last us for years.”
“Who is us?” Alex asked. “Your generation? Perhaps the generation after you? Regardless, at some point, that money will run out. And when it does, the third generation will suffer because of it. And then there are the generations after that. Do you care about your great-grandchildren? Your great-great-grandchildren? And those who will come after them? I know you do. Believe it or not, I think you’re probably a good man who wants to protect what he’s built here. You wouldn’t have come to us this morning otherwise.”
“We don’t need your money, buddy.”
“Long-term, I think that you do. And that’s not a judgment on my part. It’s reality. If you’ve been here for thirty years, at some point you’re going to need a fresh influx of cash. I’m happy to offer you that. But I’m not going to give it to you if you won’t help our friend. If you don’t, there’s still a good chance that we’ll be found, and then you’ll be out fifty million. Think about that for a minute. So, what’s the conclusion?”
The man thought about that for a moment before he spoke.
“How bad is Cutter now?” he asked.
“He already told you,” Tank said. “Today might be it for him. If not, then certainly by tomorrow.”
“If we bring you six shots of penicillin and agree to contact the right people to get you off this island for fifty million dollars, then we can go forward.”
“I asked for twelve shots,” Alex said.
“And I’m offering six.”
“How do we go forward?” Tank asked.
The man’s brow furrowed. “That’s where it gets complicated,” he said.
