Locked (Savage Men 2)

“Don’t be,” I say. “Animals exist for food. Animals eat animals. It’s nature,” I reply.

She nods a few times. “I’ve studied that plenty of times. But I still feel like there should be a better way.”

“Like what? How does your store get the meat? Do they kill the animal?”

“I guess.”

“And it feeds how many people?” I ask, raising a brow.

“Millions across the world, I suppose.”

“So you made a farm out of animals,” I say. “We don’t do that here. I kill what I need to survive. Is that cruel?”

She shrugs and looks down at the fish. “I suppose not, when you put it that way.”

I smile and gaze down at the arrowheads, which are finally sharp enough to use.

“Done,” I say as I get up from my tree stump. “You?” I ask.

She cuts the fish a few more times and then says, “Yeah.”

“Throw it in the box with the rest. We’ll eat it tonight,” I say.

She goes inside to store the fish and clean up, washing her hands in a separate water bowl. She even made some kind of frothing mixture made of herbs that supposedly keeps the tiny animals at bay, the ones that were almost invisible.

It still amazes me what all she can do with leaves. I wish I’d known all that. It would’ve made life much easier. But I guess it is, now that she’s here. She’s even been trying to teach me how to do it, but I’m not a fast learner.

As she rubs the sweat from her forehead, she mumbles, “What now?”

I’m glad she’s so eager. She’s finally settled on working hard here on the island, and she hasn’t said a word about wanting to go home in a few days, so that’s good. I just hope it stays that way.

I grab my arrowheads and attach them to the sticks, then I find my bow in the hut and bring it out. She looks at me with questioning eyes, which makes me grin. “Now, we hunt.”

I grab her hand and pull her into the jungle. We both have a flask filled with water tied around our waist, so we can easily hunt for a couple of hours without going thirsty. Perfect.

I already taught her how to shoot an arrow by using trees as targets. But it’s time she participated in the real deal.

I pull her through until we get to the spot where the monkeys are. The moment they make a noise, I stop in my tracks and so does she.

“What?” she whispers.

I place my finger on my lips. “Shh.”

Jules looks around while I grab my bow and place an arrow on the string. I eye the area above me. I spot one and point at it. Then I pull back the string … and let go.

The arrow blasts through the air. The monkeys screech. A loud thud sounds through the jungle. The monkey’s been hit.

I smirk to myself and wink when she gazes into the distance, searching for the animal. “Whoa …”

“Now you try,” I say, shoving the bow into her hands.

“What? Shoot an animal? Me?”

“Yeah,” I say, shrugging. “You want food or not?”

“I can eat leaves.”

I lift a brow. “For the rest of your life?”

She makes a face.

“So you don’t mind getting cold in the winter?” I ask.

She frowns. “What does that have to do with it?”

“Fur, remember?”

She takes a deep breath and sighs. “Really?”

“Yes. Fur. We need it, just like food. Now c’mon.” I nod my head in the right direction.

“What? Now? I haven’t even practiced this—”

“Just try it. I’ll help you.” I throw her an arrow and search for more monkeys, walking around until they make more sounds. However, Jules is still in the same spot she was before. She seems frozen to the ground, staring at the arrow.

I pause and turn, beckoning her. “C’mon. This way.”

But she won’t come.

She won’t even glance my way.

Her hand begins to tremble … and so does her entire body.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, frowning as she drops the arrow on the ground.

She immediately turns her head my way and gasps as she sees me. Her eyes are bewildered. Her body language like that of a bird about to fly away to safety.

“I … I …” she mutters. No full words leave her mouth.

What did she see that startled her?

What happened when I wasn’t looking?

Her eyes widen.

Then she turns around and runs.

“Wait!” I scream, holding up my hand, but it’s no use. She doesn’t look back.

Won’t even say where she’s going.

Or why.

Accompanying Song: “Through Falling” by Johann Johannsson

Juliet

I run.

I run as fast as my legs can take me.

As far as the horizon goes.

I don’t look back.

Don’t hesitate.

I have one destination, and I’m heading there right now.

The moment I held that arrow, I knew.

I remembered.

It marks the beginning of the end.

Tears form in my eyes as I wade through the jungle back to the place I once came back to life. That place that held my memories … the place I left my home behind.