Enduring the Storm

Chapter 14 Indigenous Surprise

Brooke's POV

I sit in the sand for a long quiet moment, only listening to the fire popping as the bugs buzz in the distance. The leaves are rustling in the trees with the help of the wind, as the waves crash over the sand and rocks, continuously reminding me of where I have washed up at. I find my eyes bouncing to the total darkness surrounding me, as if I expect to see something popping out of the shadows at any moment, since I don't know where I am at, let alone what is living here.

So, because of this realization, I feel the fear building within me, since I don't know what all is out there as I try to not think too much about it because it is terrifying me the more that I do. I have been on my own many times in my life but never like this, and I don't even want to know what could be out there in the darkness that never comes out during the day. You know there are more out there than first realized, since anywhere you go there are nocturnal animals.. It makes me never want to close my eyes out of the fear of what may join me.

I keep looking around as I glance at my handmade hammock. I have the strong urge to want to lay in it because you never want to stay on the ground especially during the night. The creepy crawlies comes out at night and believe me when I say that I want no part of it. So with the creepy crawlies in mind, I stand up quickly and feel a dizziness hit my head but that's probably since I don't have much in my system and the fact that I have been doing stuff all day that is completely exhausting.

I feel a shiver run through my body, knowing that I need to get my clothes back on. I reach out touching my clothes feeling they are all dry along with my backpack.. Which is just what I needed right now, so I put all of my clothes on layer by layer, then packing the rest into my bag. I have the lighter now in one of my jean pockets and the knife in the other as I zip up my jacket and put my beanie on along with my gloves. I don't know what bugs are out here at night to feast or even how cold it is going to get, but I want to be prepared for anything. So I cover up as much of myself as I can.

All the strenuous movement after such a long day has made me feel funny.. maybe it's the food actually hitting me with nothing in my system, or it's the water finally taking effect or maybe both.. but either way I am feeling funny.. not bad, just funny. I can't explain it much better than that. The feelings it's giving me is something familiar but I can't place where I know this feeling from. I think about it as I sway around before stumbling a bit.. This has got to be the exhaustion right?

I hold onto the tree to steady myself for a moment. I look over locking my eyes on the hammock once again as I stumble and sway my way over to the hanging relief that is my bed. I try to make myself feel better by laying down in my hammock as I feel the exhaustion taking over, but oddly enough I feel a loopiness within me as if I have been drinking and smoking some weed.. I wonder if there was something wrong with that fruit?

I look around noticing the fire and how the flames look more vibrant than ever. I watch as the flames dance around like a fake flame made in the cartoons. It sways and turn around one another, keeping my eyes peeled to it. I realize I have been staring for a while as I notice the colorful ashes drifting away from the fire. My eyes watch it drift into the air as they easily get locked onto the beautiful sky. It's filled with sparkling stars that look like diamonds.

I watch the diamonds start to move around like fireflies as they bounce around the sky, my eyes can't seem to stay concentrated on one. They start to spin around looking like the same whirlpool that sucked me into the water. I feel myself getting dizzier as I can't do anything but close my eyes before I throw up. I keep breathing to myself as I try to talk sense, that this must be an effect of the exhaustion, foreign fruit and water combination. That must be it.. I hope.

I try some breathing exercises since I seem to be feeling worse, but everytime I attempt to open my eyes, I can see that the world around me is still spinning. I squeeze my eyes shut as tight as I can. Trying to make these types of hallucinations go away. But I have had the spins from drinking too much in the past and if this is anything like that, then all I know is that it's going to be a long night. I feel my stomach turning as much as the world around me is. I feel like I am going to vomit at any moment, so I jump up out of the hammock and run over to the edge of the trees trying to get away from my fire and camp so I won't have to smell the chunks of food I have accumulated within my system.

I also don't want to be close by when some type of animal or bug comes around to figure out what that smell could be. I bend over vomiting everything out of me, as I use the tree beside me to hold myself up. My insides strain and clench as they hurl the little bit of food I had in my system onto the ground and something else. I spit out the last bits as I notice the something is dark but looks like maybe a log.. no not a log.. what is that? I reach out to touch it and investigate.

But once my fingertips make contact with it I jump instantly, knowing exactly what that is.. it's skin. I jump back as I stumble feeling worse from whatever I have in my system. But as I back away I see what that really is.. it was a leg a vomited on.. a man's leg.. He looks native to the land since he only seems to be wearing a loin cloth. He has a spear in the other hand as he glares daggers at me. I know I have seen strange things because of whatever is in my system, but I don't think this man is apart of the hallucinations.

I am panting as I back away seeing this indigenous man stepping forward, not caring that my insides are running down his leg.. He just keeps coming for me as I turn and run for my camp. I can hear his footsteps behind me as I trip and fall. I look back to see this angry man yelling at me in some other language that I don't understand. I flip over keeping my eyes on him as I back away, but he looks furious as I watch him lift his spear up, then pointing it at me as he yells more.

I don't know what he is saying but I am assuming he is pissed that I am on his land. I try to get back up, but that is not possible in my state. I stumble falling on the ground again as I just turn, grabbing the first thing that I can. It's a flaming log. I turn pushing it into his exposed chest as he screams out in pain. He grabs the wood from my hand, throwing it to the side. I try to get another one but my hand is stepped on by another man that is in the same attire as the first man I was battling.

I am surprised but I should have assumed that there were more people than just this one man. I yell out, trying to get my hand out from under his dirty foot that is pressing down but he is not moving. I use my other hand to pull the log out of the fire and setting his loin cloth ablaze. He screams out as his feet do a type of dance, getting off of my hand. I push myself to stand as I use the log to smack him across the face.

I turn around to run to who knows where as I am stopped but another two men with their arms up and ready to fight. I put mine up as I stumble back and forth just hoping I have had enough training over the years to defend myself even in this state of mind. The look at each other saying something before one man nods and heads straight towards me. He swings his arm as I do the same but my movement is just to put my arm in front of me to block his hit. I then quickly kick him in the groin and punch him in the stomach.

He bends over grabbing his stomach but that's not the only thing he has grabbed. He instantly pulls out a makeshift knife, so I swipe it out of his hand, not giving him a chance to use it. I knee him in the face as I stumble a little more before noticing that the second man is not there. I look to the side just to receive a slice to my leg as I yelled out in pain, automatically elbowing this man that is in close proximity, right in the face. His nose cracks then bleeds letting me know that I broke it. I use the makeshift knife to stab his leg, just like he did mine.

He swipes his knife back and forth at me but luckily I stumbled right out of range to avoid his wrath. I turn around feeling the lightheadedness hitting me tenfold as I sway and stumble around. I grab onto a tree as I turn around just to be punched in the face by another man. I try to kick but he catches my leg, sending me straight to the ground. He starts dragging me out, but I don't want to lose this. I spin my body with my leg that is not trapped in his grip. Twisting my body while my boot makes straight contact with his face. He doesn't know this but those are steeltoe boots and he is about to find out that you don't want to mess with a girl like me.

He screams out as I try to get back up to my hands and knees just to be kicked in the stomach. I fall over grabbing for the pain-filled abdomen, my arms wrapped so tightly hoping he won't do it again, but if he does, I'm just hoping this is enough to protect it. He kicks for my stomach again, but it doesn't hurt as badly and I think he knows it. He then kicks me straight to the face as I cry out in pain.

He does this action a couple more times for good measure, sending my mind into an even deeper daze than it was before. I can barely keep my eyes open as I feel them grabbing for my arms.. I try to fight off their hold, but there is absolutely no strength within me to do so. I see multiple of them surrounding me as I am picked and carried away to who knows where. I drift in and out of consciousness as I can't fight the darkness any longer. The breath leaves my lips as I drift into a sleep I never wanted like this.