Alterworld continues...
Time had been passing steadily on the island. And for the most part, Gam had accepted the role as the leader of the group of survivors. In the two months that had passed he had been able to organize, with Myers's and Michael's help, an irrigation system bringing fresh water to the camp, hunting parties, and an incredibly well built shelter. Nicer than some of the places he'd stayed at with Ripper before...
He was currently throwing a net he had made into the seawater in a cove. He heard someone sneaking up behind him. No, two sets of footsteps...
"Michael, Myers, give it up guys. You're not going to get me."
"Dammit Tom," Michael said, "How the hell do you do that?"
"Well Mikey, it's what I do."
Myers sat down on a rock and stretched his arms. "What exactly did you do back where you were from?"
"Really want to know guys?" Gam asked with a smirk.
Myers and Michael looked at each other and smiled.
"Well hell yeah we do," Michael said.
"Guys, believe it or not, I'm a super hero."
Myers and Michael looked at each other again.
Myers leaned back and put his hands beneath his head, saying, "makes sense."
..........
After a long, and very unusual talk, the three friends walked back into camp, carrying some fish. Gam started cleaning and filleting the fish while Myers started cutting some of the island's fruit. Kate walked up and handed Gam a makeshift skillet that he had made some time ago. "I always did love a man who could cook."
"Well I'm not exactly a gourmet chef, but I can cook a few fish. Myers is the guy who makes it all happen."
"Bullshit Tommy, I'm just following your lead."
.........
The fires, with the exception of the signal fire, and most of the survivors were sound asleep. Gam was just dozing off when he heard someone approaching him.
"What's up Michael?"
"You're gonna have to teach me that trick man."
"Sure thing. Now what's going on? You're supposed to be in the watch tower."
"I was. Saw a boat. Maybe a few miles out. Looks like freighter, maybe."
Gam leapt up and took off at a run towards the tower. Michael sprinted after him. Gam started climbing the ladder to the watchtower he had constructed. Boy scouts did pay off after all.
Michael arrived on top of the tower, out of breath, and stood beside Gam, who was crouched and peering off into the night. "What do you think man?"
"It is a freighter, small... It's been altered, a few winches... Salvage maybe... I'm not sure. But a smaller boat is on it's way to shore. Large enough to hold maybe ten men safely, but as slow as they're going maybe more... No searchlights..."
"What's that mean?"
"I don't know... But they don't have any lights on at all."
"So?"
"No legitimate captain would do that."
"How do you know?"
"Because I've been an illegitimate captain before."
"What should we do?"
"Go wake everyone up. You and Myers lead them up the water trail until you reach the spring. Then lead them to the densest part of the jungle. Don't leave until I come to find you."
Gam arrived at the camp just as Myers and Michael were getting ready to lead the rest of the group into the jungle. Kate ran up to him. "What's going on Thomas? I don't like being in the dark."
"I have reason to suspect that our rescue boat isn't here to rescue us... So just to be safe, I'm going to have a little talk with them."
"Talk?"
"Yeah. And if I have to throw cowboy on them, so be it."
"Throw cowboy?"
"Don't ask. Just go."
Kate gave him a quick kiss and jogged back to the rest of the group, passing Michael on the way.
"Take this," he said as he handed him his Bowie Knife. "Just in case."
"Thanks. Now get everyone the hell out of here before that boat gets here."
As the group walked off into the night, Gam took stock of the situation. Now he might have been over-reacting, and the boat might have been a legitimate operation that saw their fire and wanted to help... But Gam always trusted his instinct, and his instinct told him that there was something sinister about the boat and its crew. So he prepared. Using the bowie knife, he cut two sections of pole from the shelter to just the right size to use as escrima. He then cut a long section of bamboo-like pole. He threw on his jean jacket, strapped his throwing knives underneath his sleeve, and put the bowie through the back of his belt. Then, using a little twine, he strapped the escrima to his right leg like a splint. "The element of surprise," Gam thought to himself, "these guys will never think a guy with an injured leg could fight." But the knots were good knots, and with just a tug, the escrima would come right off without a hitch.
Gam noticed that he could hear the engine of the boat approaching. Gam hobbled to the signal fire and stood in front of it. "Let's ruin their night vision, not mine."
Ten minutes later, the boat ran ashore a hundred feet in front of Gam. Nine men jumped out. Even in the dark and at the distance, Gam could tell that they were packing heat. One man even carried what looked to be an automatic... The rest carried much smaller pieces, but a bullet from a handgun could kill just as easily as one from a machine gun. He leaned on the bamboo pole as the men approached. The nine men gathered in a loose formation, with no organization. It would make things much easier.
The apparent leader of the grizzled men steped forward, a sawed of shotgun in hand. "Where's the others?"
Gam put on a good bluff. "They're on a night hunt. We're really glad to see you, we've been stranded here a couple of months."
"That so? Well, if you do what we tell you, then you'll get to stay here stranded for awhile instead of dying tonight."
Gam put on a scared face. "Whatever you say, man, I don't want any trouble."
"First of all, you're going to lead us to the rest of your people. Any women?"
"Y-y-yeah," Gam fake stuttered, "A f-f-few."
"Good. Where we're headed they'll fetch a good price. After we're done with em."
"Whatever you want man."
"Sounds like we got ourselves a man who wants to survive. Smart. So now, you're gonna lead me to your group. If you don't try anything stupid, you may live through this."
"Right," Gam said, the fake fear melting instantly, "you'll only have one problem tonight."
"What's that kid?" the man asked.
"ME!" Gam shouted as he used the bamboo pole to launch himself backwards over the fire, putting the bonfire between him and the nine agressors. He landed with a crouch and used the pole to launch a slew of burning embers towards the men. The men immediately started coughing and batting the embers out of their faces, which was what Gam had counted on. He leapt to his left, lifting sand in his hands and throwing it in his agressors' eyes. He leapt forward, spinning the staff in a wide circle, immediately knocking out three of the men. Gam dropped the pole and tore the escrima from his leg, using it to disarm two men standing next to him. One of the remaining men began firing his handgun wildly, missing Gam but shooting the two men Gam had just disarmed. Gam rolled backwards towards the man, and at the last minute executed a handstand, giving the man an axe-kick to the chin, knoocking him onto his back. Gam came to a crouch on the man's chest and turned to see the men's leader's shotgun inches from his face.
"It's been fun, boy, but I'm tired of these games. The man pumped the saw'd off, cocking it, but in doing so he ejected an unfired shell. Gam smiled as he, in an instant, brought his escrima together and upward, locking them on the shotgun, and forcing it over his head.
"Bet you thought that cocking your little gun would be real intimidating, didn't you?" Gam said as he used his escrima to cock the shotgun again, ejecting yet another unspent shell. The man tried to kick himself free, but Gam blocked it with his own kick.
"But what you didn't count on," Gam said as he cocked the shotgun once again, ejecting another shell, "Is that you wasted perfectly good ammunition doing so." Gam cocked the shotgun again, and another shell fell on the sand.
"And when you saw a shotgun off like this, you lose capacity." Gam cocked the shotgun again, and the click he heard made it clear the gun was empty. "Guess I'll be taking your boat." Gam executed a backflip, kicking the man in the chin, sending him flying backwards. The man instantly got up and Gam started to advance on him, but one of the other men who had regained consciousness grabbed him from behind. Gam made short work of him, but when he turned back to the leader, he was gone. "Shit!" Gam quickly tied up the other men and was about to run into the jungle when he saw Kate emerge, held around the neck by the men's leader, a revolver to her head.
"Guess who won't be taking my boat after all. Drop your toy sticks boy."
Gam dropped his escrima in the sand.
"And I promise you, before I sell these women, I'll have lots of fun with all of them."
Everything started to swirl around Gambit, and he felt his pulse resound through his head...
"I'm don't want to be a monster," he said out loud.
"What's that, boy?" the man asked, "You got something to say?"
"I said I don't want to be a monster."
The man started laughing loudly, "And why do you say that?"
"Because-" Gambit said and then in one fluid motion, pulled a throwing knife from under his sleeve, and threw it towards the man. The knife went through the mans wrist, severing his tendons, forcing him to drop the gun. He instantly released Kate, who ran behind Gam.
"-I'm willing to be one tonight."
The man started staggering towards Gam and Kate, but Gam scooped up one of his escrima and lauched it towards the man, knocking him unconscious.
Immediately Gam drug the man towards the shelter and secured him to the ground. "He's going to bleed to death," he said solemnly to Kate.
"Yeah, well, he's got it coming" Kate said back.
"Yes Kate," Gam replied, "he does... Make sure he doesn't."
"What?"
"You heard me Kate. Don't let him die. Stitch him up, cauterize it, I don't care. Just make sure he doesn't die."
"This man is incorrigible, and you want me to save his life? He was going to kill you and rape me!"
"I know that Kate. He's a killer. But if you don't save his life, so are we. I'm going to get the others."
And Gam walked off into the jungle.
He was currently throwing a net he had made into the seawater in a cove. He heard someone sneaking up behind him. No, two sets of footsteps...
"Michael, Myers, give it up guys. You're not going to get me."
"Dammit Tom," Michael said, "How the hell do you do that?"
"Well Mikey, it's what I do."
Myers sat down on a rock and stretched his arms. "What exactly did you do back where you were from?"
"Really want to know guys?" Gam asked with a smirk.
Myers and Michael looked at each other and smiled.
"Well hell yeah we do," Michael said.
"Guys, believe it or not, I'm a super hero."
Myers and Michael looked at each other again.
Myers leaned back and put his hands beneath his head, saying, "makes sense."
..........
After a long, and very unusual talk, the three friends walked back into camp, carrying some fish. Gam started cleaning and filleting the fish while Myers started cutting some of the island's fruit. Kate walked up and handed Gam a makeshift skillet that he had made some time ago. "I always did love a man who could cook."
"Well I'm not exactly a gourmet chef, but I can cook a few fish. Myers is the guy who makes it all happen."
"Bullshit Tommy, I'm just following your lead."
.........
The fires, with the exception of the signal fire, and most of the survivors were sound asleep. Gam was just dozing off when he heard someone approaching him.
"What's up Michael?"
"You're gonna have to teach me that trick man."
"Sure thing. Now what's going on? You're supposed to be in the watch tower."
"I was. Saw a boat. Maybe a few miles out. Looks like freighter, maybe."
Gam leapt up and took off at a run towards the tower. Michael sprinted after him. Gam started climbing the ladder to the watchtower he had constructed. Boy scouts did pay off after all.
Michael arrived on top of the tower, out of breath, and stood beside Gam, who was crouched and peering off into the night. "What do you think man?"
"It is a freighter, small... It's been altered, a few winches... Salvage maybe... I'm not sure. But a smaller boat is on it's way to shore. Large enough to hold maybe ten men safely, but as slow as they're going maybe more... No searchlights..."
"What's that mean?"
"I don't know... But they don't have any lights on at all."
"So?"
"No legitimate captain would do that."
"How do you know?"
"Because I've been an illegitimate captain before."
"What should we do?"
"Go wake everyone up. You and Myers lead them up the water trail until you reach the spring. Then lead them to the densest part of the jungle. Don't leave until I come to find you."
Gam arrived at the camp just as Myers and Michael were getting ready to lead the rest of the group into the jungle. Kate ran up to him. "What's going on Thomas? I don't like being in the dark."
"I have reason to suspect that our rescue boat isn't here to rescue us... So just to be safe, I'm going to have a little talk with them."
"Talk?"
"Yeah. And if I have to throw cowboy on them, so be it."
"Throw cowboy?"
"Don't ask. Just go."
Kate gave him a quick kiss and jogged back to the rest of the group, passing Michael on the way.
"Take this," he said as he handed him his Bowie Knife. "Just in case."
"Thanks. Now get everyone the hell out of here before that boat gets here."
As the group walked off into the night, Gam took stock of the situation. Now he might have been over-reacting, and the boat might have been a legitimate operation that saw their fire and wanted to help... But Gam always trusted his instinct, and his instinct told him that there was something sinister about the boat and its crew. So he prepared. Using the bowie knife, he cut two sections of pole from the shelter to just the right size to use as escrima. He then cut a long section of bamboo-like pole. He threw on his jean jacket, strapped his throwing knives underneath his sleeve, and put the bowie through the back of his belt. Then, using a little twine, he strapped the escrima to his right leg like a splint. "The element of surprise," Gam thought to himself, "these guys will never think a guy with an injured leg could fight." But the knots were good knots, and with just a tug, the escrima would come right off without a hitch.
Gam noticed that he could hear the engine of the boat approaching. Gam hobbled to the signal fire and stood in front of it. "Let's ruin their night vision, not mine."
Ten minutes later, the boat ran ashore a hundred feet in front of Gam. Nine men jumped out. Even in the dark and at the distance, Gam could tell that they were packing heat. One man even carried what looked to be an automatic... The rest carried much smaller pieces, but a bullet from a handgun could kill just as easily as one from a machine gun. He leaned on the bamboo pole as the men approached. The nine men gathered in a loose formation, with no organization. It would make things much easier.
The apparent leader of the grizzled men steped forward, a sawed of shotgun in hand. "Where's the others?"
Gam put on a good bluff. "They're on a night hunt. We're really glad to see you, we've been stranded here a couple of months."
"That so? Well, if you do what we tell you, then you'll get to stay here stranded for awhile instead of dying tonight."
Gam put on a scared face. "Whatever you say, man, I don't want any trouble."
"First of all, you're going to lead us to the rest of your people. Any women?"
"Y-y-yeah," Gam fake stuttered, "A f-f-few."
"Good. Where we're headed they'll fetch a good price. After we're done with em."
"Whatever you want man."
"Sounds like we got ourselves a man who wants to survive. Smart. So now, you're gonna lead me to your group. If you don't try anything stupid, you may live through this."
"Right," Gam said, the fake fear melting instantly, "you'll only have one problem tonight."
"What's that kid?" the man asked.
"ME!" Gam shouted as he used the bamboo pole to launch himself backwards over the fire, putting the bonfire between him and the nine agressors. He landed with a crouch and used the pole to launch a slew of burning embers towards the men. The men immediately started coughing and batting the embers out of their faces, which was what Gam had counted on. He leapt to his left, lifting sand in his hands and throwing it in his agressors' eyes. He leapt forward, spinning the staff in a wide circle, immediately knocking out three of the men. Gam dropped the pole and tore the escrima from his leg, using it to disarm two men standing next to him. One of the remaining men began firing his handgun wildly, missing Gam but shooting the two men Gam had just disarmed. Gam rolled backwards towards the man, and at the last minute executed a handstand, giving the man an axe-kick to the chin, knoocking him onto his back. Gam came to a crouch on the man's chest and turned to see the men's leader's shotgun inches from his face.
"It's been fun, boy, but I'm tired of these games. The man pumped the saw'd off, cocking it, but in doing so he ejected an unfired shell. Gam smiled as he, in an instant, brought his escrima together and upward, locking them on the shotgun, and forcing it over his head.
"Bet you thought that cocking your little gun would be real intimidating, didn't you?" Gam said as he used his escrima to cock the shotgun again, ejecting yet another unspent shell. The man tried to kick himself free, but Gam blocked it with his own kick.
"But what you didn't count on," Gam said as he cocked the shotgun once again, ejecting another shell, "Is that you wasted perfectly good ammunition doing so." Gam cocked the shotgun again, and another shell fell on the sand.
"And when you saw a shotgun off like this, you lose capacity." Gam cocked the shotgun again, and the click he heard made it clear the gun was empty. "Guess I'll be taking your boat." Gam executed a backflip, kicking the man in the chin, sending him flying backwards. The man instantly got up and Gam started to advance on him, but one of the other men who had regained consciousness grabbed him from behind. Gam made short work of him, but when he turned back to the leader, he was gone. "Shit!" Gam quickly tied up the other men and was about to run into the jungle when he saw Kate emerge, held around the neck by the men's leader, a revolver to her head.
"Guess who won't be taking my boat after all. Drop your toy sticks boy."
Gam dropped his escrima in the sand.
"And I promise you, before I sell these women, I'll have lots of fun with all of them."
Everything started to swirl around Gambit, and he felt his pulse resound through his head...
"I'm don't want to be a monster," he said out loud.
"What's that, boy?" the man asked, "You got something to say?"
"I said I don't want to be a monster."
The man started laughing loudly, "And why do you say that?"
"Because-" Gambit said and then in one fluid motion, pulled a throwing knife from under his sleeve, and threw it towards the man. The knife went through the mans wrist, severing his tendons, forcing him to drop the gun. He instantly released Kate, who ran behind Gam.
"-I'm willing to be one tonight."
The man started staggering towards Gam and Kate, but Gam scooped up one of his escrima and lauched it towards the man, knocking him unconscious.
Immediately Gam drug the man towards the shelter and secured him to the ground. "He's going to bleed to death," he said solemnly to Kate.
"Yeah, well, he's got it coming" Kate said back.
"Yes Kate," Gam replied, "he does... Make sure he doesn't."
"What?"
"You heard me Kate. Don't let him die. Stitch him up, cauterize it, I don't care. Just make sure he doesn't die."
"This man is incorrigible, and you want me to save his life? He was going to kill you and rape me!"
"I know that Kate. He's a killer. But if you don't save his life, so are we. I'm going to get the others."
And Gam walked off into the jungle.