This is my first King Kong fanfiction. I hope you like it. :)
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As Hayes and his crew treked through the jungles of Skull Island, searching for Anne, few of the men spoke. At first many of them had been complaining, but for a while now they had been quite silent. The silence gave him time to think, and he used the time to do just that. This was quite a mess that they had gotten into. The island was dangerous, and while he feared for the safety of the crew of The Venture, he also did not think it right to leave Miss Darrow on the island to die. So some of the men had volunteered to venture out into the depths of the island to save Anne. Hayes was ashamed of some of the men who didn't volunteer, and one young man who did volunteer, he would not allow to accompany them.
Jimmy had volunteered as easily as any of them; Hayes was willing to risk his own life to save the woman whose cheerful attitude and beauty had won over the hearts of the crew, but he was not willing to allow Jimmy to do the same. Hayes cared deeply for the young man, and while walking through the thick jungles thought of the day he had first met him.
The Venture was heading out into the Atlantic Ocean, from New York. The crew planned to arrive in Central America, where they would load various animals to be brought back to New York to be put into a circus or zoo.
Hayes, making his usual rounds, walked below deck, to inspect the cages, as he always did shortly after the ship started on its voyage. He would check to ensure that the locks on each cage were intact, and that none of the hinges were loose, along with anything else that might pose a potential threat of the animals escaping. He started at the front cages, and slowly worked his way to the back. When he was not yet to the back row of cages, he noticed something slumped in the corner of a cage. Had an animal died in the cage, and the men who unloaded the animals failed to remove it, or even notify them?
Hayes breathed out a stressed sigh and walked back to the cage. As he got closer, he noticed that the form he had seen was that of a young boy. He quickened his pace, ducking through the entrance of the cage, and kneeling down by the unconscious boy. He gently turned him over, and put two fingers on the boy's throat, checking for a pulse, and was quite relieved to find one.
He nervously scanned below deck, searching for anyone else who might be there; there was no one. He looked back down at the boy, and put his hands on his shoulders. Suddenly the boy gasped, and breated in sharply, shrinking away from Hayes.
"Hey," Hayes said, gently, "I'm not going to hurt you, okay?"
The boy looked back at him, trembling, with frightened eyes.
"Are you hurt?" Hayes asked him, looking the boy over in an attempt to answer his own question. The boy had a few visible bruises, but he wore a long sleeved shirt and long pants. Therefore, he could likely have non-visible injuries. Noticing that they boy did not seem to trust him, Hayes knew that he needed to work with him for a minute before trying to take him up on deck.
"Hey," Hayes asked, "What's your name?" he tried to get the boy to talk to him. The boy just looked at him, still shaking, "...I'm Mr. Hayes," he continued, "You can call me Ben if you'd like..."
Hayes sensed that they boy was becoming a bit less tense, "How old are you?" Hayes tried a different question.
"Jimmy," the boy said quietly, "my name is Jimmy."
"Good," Hayes responded, "Can I ask you how you got here? Why you were laying in this cage?"
The boy shook his head.
"Alright," Hayes patiently responded, "Are you hurt anywhere?"
The boy nodded, nervously, rolling up his sleeve, revealing a thin arm that was quite bruised.
Hayes instantly felt angry. A young boy would not have gotten bruises that large and dark my simply falling down or bumping into something. Someone had done this to the boy. By the looks of it, Jimmy's arm was broken.
"Do you think you can walk up on deck with me?" Hayes asked, "So we can fix your arm?"
Jimmy nodded, and stood up, wincing as he did so.
"Can you walk alright?" Hayes asked, noticing that the boy seemed to be in pain when he stood.
"Yeah," Jimmy answered, swaying slightly as he followed Hayes out of the cage.
Hayes walked slowly, so that Jimmy could keep up with him, toward the stairs that led to the deck. He noticed that the boy seemed to be dizzy; Hayes looked into his unfocused eyes, "Are you alright?" he asked him, "Do you need to sit down for a minute?"
"No," Jimmy responded, "I'm okay..." he breathed in a shaky breath and swayed again.
"Are you sure?" Hayes asked, "We can sit down for a minute."
Jimmy looked up into Hayes's eyes, "I think-" he began, "I am okay."
"Alright," Hayes said, starting to walk toward the stairs again.
"Wait!" Jimmy cried out, leaning his back against the wall, "Wait for just a minute," he said, breathing rapidly, sliding down the wall and sitting on the floor, still leaning against the wall.
"Are you alright?" Hayes asked him.
Jimmy looked up at him, and then leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes.
"Jimmy?" Hayes asked, looking at the boy, and placing his hands on his shoulders. The boy had passed out. Hayes gently lifted him, and carried him up the stairs.
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There will be at least one more chapter... maybe a few more... Not too many though...
Please review this and tell me what you think. :)