"Do you think anyone survived the crash?" one of Eddy's men asked from the back seat of his jeep as they approached the crash site. Valerie shrugged.
"Probably. I know I saw at least one person parachuting down before the plane landed. I think I saw one jump a little later, but I'm not really sure," she explained. On the outside, she remained calm, but she could feel anxiety welling up inside the pit of her stomach. She feared what would happen if and when they found survivors, and she feared what she might have to do.
"We'll have our answer soon enough," Eddy said, snapping her out of it. "We've got another search team a few miles out to look for the first jumper. If there was a second, they'd be closer to the site of the crash." In the distance, the front half of a plane could be seen suspended in a tree top. It seemed messed up to think so, but Valerie wished that they would find no survivors. As they pulled up to the daunting scene, Valerie took notice of the surrounding area: the many pillars, stone walls, and powder kegs strewn all over the place.
"This would be a convenient spot for a gun fight," she thought aloud. They all stepped out of the jeep and gazed up at the plane, not knowing what to do next. "Well, who's going to climb up there?" Valerie asked finally, annoyed by the silence and lack of initiative. The two nameless pirates they had brought with them didn't answer and instead only looked around waiting for someone to answer. Valerie rolled her eyes. "Fine" she finally huffed, "I'll do it. You two just- go do something. I don't care what," she ordered as she searched her backpack for a rope. She finally found it and tied a small noose at one end, leaving the other end untied.
"Geeze, what a bitch," she heard one of them mutter under their breath.
"Yeah, yeah, go ahead and piss and moan. I know, it's hard. It was okay when you thought I was just a sex object to keep around, but now I'm your boss and that makes me a bitch. I get it," she said as she threw the long, untied end of the rope over a tree branch so that it would still hang low enough for her to grab on to. "I forgive you, though," she added as she slipped one foot into the small noose she had tied into the other end. "We're all victims of a systematic brainwashing and conditioning by society. The fact is, though, that I'm more qualified than you, so your boss promoted me. So get over it," she snapped, not in the mood for anyone's sexist bullshit at that moment. Normally, she would joke around with the men, but she was feeling especially sick, so she decided to play the tough girl act harder until she was feeling more like herself.
She grabbed onto the loose end of the rope, and with her own upper body and core strength, began pulling herself up using her makeshift pulley system. The two pirates dispersed and began searching the surrounding area. Eddy stood at the ready with an AK-47.
"Be careful, Valerie," he called up to her.
"Yeah, ok, mom," she answered sarcastically. She could feel beads of sweat forming on her head, and her arms began to burn as she continued to climb. She pulled herself just high enough to touch the plane with her hands. She grabbed onto the open ledge of the plane and pulled herself the rest of the way up, leaving the rope hanging on the branch.
She felt overwhelmingly relieved to find no one in the plane. Valerie moved slowly toward the cockpit, instinctively holding her breath, as if that would make her any lighter. Her stomach dropped with every metallic creak as the teetering plane bobbed up and down with every move she made. When she finally worked her way up to the captain's seat, she took noticed of an old, folded brown piece of paper. Curious, Valerie took it and gingerly unfolded it, revealing a map.
"Huh. I recognize some of these monuments," she said to herself, and realization suddenly struck that it was a map of the island they were on, only much more detailed than any map Roman had acquired for their expedition. There were chicken scratch notes in sixteenth century Spanish all over it, monuments were circled, and in the corner were several roman numerals, though she had no immediate idea what those could be in reference to.
The excitement was almost too much for her to handle. It took every ounce of her self-control to keep from rushing out of the plane to tell Eddy. After taking a moment to calm down, it became translucently clear to her that this was a gift from whatever powers may be.
Shit, she thought silently. Dick-hole's always got his eyes on me. I'll never be able to get this by him, especially now that they pat everyone down each night. I'd have to shove this up my puh, and I'm not about that.
"Hey, Val, you find anything up there?" Eddy called to her.
"No, it's clear!" she yelled back, just in case anyone else was listening. She wanted to share this with him, but she had no idea how. "Well…no better time to test my memory, I guess," she said to herself and began memorizing anything she thought might be important. She took note of a tower that was circled, skimmed a few sentences etched in, and memorized the roman numerals in the corner before folding it back up and placing it where she found it. All three men were waiting for her when she climbed back down to the ground.
"We searched around the area- no sign of survivors," one of the pirates said.
"Did you find anything up there?" the other asked. Valerie shook her head.
"Nah. But, you know what- I think you guys should take another lap around, maybe expand your perimeter. If there was a second jumper, they could have made it at least a mile out by the time we got here."
"You want us to walk for a mile looking for someone that might not even exist?" one of the men asked. Valerie shot him the meanest death glare she could manage.
"No," she started calmly. "I want you to walk a mile out in both directions and walk in a circle until you meet. Then walk back here and report to me," she explained.
"That's horseshit! Boss, she can't seriously expect-"
"Shut it," Eddy suddenly interjected. "You heard the lady. Get going." Valerie smiled at both men as they stormed off, muttering Indonesian swear words under their breath. There was a brief moment of silence before either of them spoke again. Valerie gently bit on her bottom lip while she thought of something to say, something she often did to distract from the feeling of butterflies in her stomach.
"Wow. 'Lady', huh? I didn't know you thought that much of me," she laughed. When Eddy didn't fire back some smart-ass remark, the butterflies quickly turned to unbearable anxiety. She pushed her long, dark hair to one side and began mindlessly tousling it with one hand, another nervous habit. "Something on your mind?" she asked, treading lightly.
"Is something on yours?" he asked her with an expectant look on his face. She nodded and quickly looked around to make sure his two goons were far enough away before she leaned in close to him.
"I found a map," she said quietly, almost in a whisper.
"A map? So what?" he asked, looking slightly interested.
"It's a map of our island, a way more detailed one than we have, that's 'so what'. Look- I didn't take it with me because of how tight security is lately, but I think this is the break we've been waiting for. There were all these extra little notes written on it, things marked and circled-" she had to stop herself. As she continued to speak, her excitement grew, in turn causing her to speak faster and faster.
"Hey, slow down," Eddy said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "So, what are you thinking?" he asked. She backed up and looked at the ground, biting her lip again as she thought about it.
"Okay," she finally said, still speaking in a hushed tone. "If someone survived the crash, they're probably going to make it back here to get that map. I say we station a group of guys here ASAP to guard the place. If anyone shows up, we'll be ready to take prisoners. I have a few questions about the map, so I'd want to do the interrogating; maybe we could make it a team effort," she said, looking up at Eddy to see if she could get a read on his thoughts. After a moment, he smiled down at her and laughed.
"Okay, but I want to be bad cop this time," he said, recalling that day two weeks ago that Valerie herself had been a prisoner and accused him of playing the good cop.
"Shut up," she said, giving him a solid punch in the shoulder. "But if you get to be bad cop, then I get to crack the jokes, got it?" she said, grabbing his collar and giving it a firm tug, pretending to be tough. She tried to maintain a straight face, but she only lasted a few seconds before she cracked and the two of them started laughing.
"You fucking nerd. So- how do we explain the decision to the boys? They're gonna wanna know why we have them stationed here after you told them we found nothing."
"Shit, you're right," she agreed, annoyed with herself that she hadn't thought of that. "Okay, I'll handle it," she said as she pulled out her walkie-talkie. "Hey, shit-stain, come in," she said into the talkie.
"You know, I really wish you wouldn't call me that," Navarro radioed back.
"Yeah, and I wish I had packed spare batteries for my vibrator; you have no idea how depressing it is to be mid-bate and feel the batteries slowly dying," she shot back.
"You're insane," Eddy laughed.
"God, you're sick. What do you want?" Navarro barked, clearly annoyed.
"Listen, I'm gonna need a squad or two of men here at the crash site."
"What for? We didn't find anything," a new voice radioed in. One of the two men they had brought with them. She slowly turned towards Eddy, shooting him a death glare.
"Who gave them a fucking radio?" she asked him in a threatening tone. "Only you, me, and Navarro are supposed to have them."
"I-I gave them mine. I didn't think I would need one if you and I stayed together," he said, flinching, fully expecting Valerie to strangle him.
"Unbelievable," she huffed before she spoke into the radio again. "Because I fucking said so, that's why," she answered, hoping no more questions would be asked.
"Valerie, what the hell's going on over there?" Navarro demanded. Valerie took a deep breath, and tousled her hair while she maintained the anger she felt.
"I just- think it would be a better use of manpower," she finally sputtered. "You know, instead of searching all over the island for someone who may or may not be here. If anyone is on the island, they're bound to show up at 'the scene of the crime' right? This way, we do the least amount of work by letting the prey come to us. It wouldn't take more than a day, I think." She crossed her fingers and waited in silence for what seemed like an eternity before Navarro answered.
"Fine. It's actually not a bad idea. We'll send a few cars your way. Good work." Valerie's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe she pulled it off.
"Wow, a compliment. That must have killed you. I think Hell might have actually frozen over."
"I hate you," Navarro grumbled, and that was the end of it. Valerie couldn't contain her excitement anymore. She began jumping around uncontrollably.
"We did it!" she squealed and giggled like a school girl.
"Alright, calm down," Eddy said, looking at her like she was some kind of escaped mental patient.
"Are you joking? How can you not be excited?" she demanded. She gently held his face in her hands. "We hold all the cards now. This little operation is ours now. Fuck, El Dorado is ours now. No thanks to your little blunder, by the way, asshole," she said, giving him a light love tap on the cheek.
"Okay, okay. You did good. Don't get cocky. You have no idea how this is gonna play out. Why are you including me anyway? You seem pretty capable; it's not like you need me."
"Ugh. You know," she started, laughing nervously. "I just- hate you the least out of everyone else here, and I thought I'd throw you a bone," she said, flipping her hair and trying to seem cool. He kept looking at her though, waiting for the truth. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Okay, look," she started. "I might act tough around here, but I'm not strong or anything like that. I feel like I have to be someone completely different here. I'm not strong enough to do some of the things I might have to do on this island, and I don't know if I'm strong enough to live with myself afterwards. Two weeks ago, I would have died if you hadn't helped me. I need someone to keep me sane, and distract me from all the things that have me terrified. If I had to pick anyone, it'd be you. I really do hate you least of all." She couldn't even look at him while she spoke. She was too embarrassed, and she was afraid he would think less of her for admitting that she was afraid.
"Hey," he said to her, causing her to look up at him. "You're under duress, right? It's either work with us, or die. There's nothing wrong with choosing to live. Everyone has the right to fight to live. And don't sell yourself short. You were right, earlier. You're more capable than any of the idiots in my crew. So be the villain for now. Make more money than you would ever know what to do with, and then you can go home to your books and your cat," he said as he patted her on the head like a little kid. She wasn't sure what to think. This was a side of Eddy she didn't know existed. She couldn't remember the last time she had an honest conversation like this with anyone, and she didn't know how to react. She thought it was sweet up until he patted her head. Maybe he was just as awkward as she was.
"Thanks for the pep-talk," she finally said. "So, it's me and you, right? Fifty-fifty?"
"Definitely," he said, patting her on the back with a small smile. She rolled her eyes, but found herself smiling anyways. "So- let's get back to the camp," he said, sounding noticeably uncomfortable.
"Alright," she said as they walked together to the jeep, still wearing a smile. "By the way, I don't have any cats. I'm a dog person. You really picture me as the lonely cat lady?" she asked, pretending to be offended.
"Okay, so no cats, but I bet you live alone with more than one dog," he said, looking at her with an irritatingly cocky grin as he started the jeep.
"Damn. You got me," she finally answered, annoyed. Yet, she was still able to laugh as they drove off.
Valerie was sitting in the jeep with her feet propped up on the dash and a book in her hands later that afternoon. Eddy was talking with a few of his men a few feet away. Occasionally Valerie would lift her gaze above her book to sneak a glance at them, trying to read their lips, but it was no use. She sucked at reading lips and they were probably speaking Indonesian anyways.
"What are you doing?" Navarro said from behind her, startling her and causing her to lose her place.
"What does it look like?" she hissed, feeling agitated, not bothering to look away from her book to talk to him. Every time she looked at his face it made her blood boil.
"Geeze, sorry. Good book?" he asked, pretending to be interested.
"Plato's Republic. You wouldn't like it- no pictures. What do you want?" she asked, finally looking up at him.
"Geeze, no need to be so testy. I actually don't want to talk to you. I was on my way to talk to Eddy, you were on my route, so I stopped to say hi. Sorry I bothered you," he said as he walked past her towards Eddy.
"Yeah? Well bite me," she said before returning to her book. It was at that moment that frantic screaming muffled by static and heavy gunfire came through her radio, startling her again and catching Eddy and Navarro's attention. Valerie didn't hesitate before radioing in.
"Calm down, I can't understand you. What the hell is going on out there?" she demanded.
"My men are being taken out by a lone gunman at crash site Alpha! We need backup NOW," someone answered. Valerie took a moment to absorb what she just heard, but couldn't comprehend it. She turned the radio over in her hand with a dumbfounded look on her face and checked to make sure it was working right before she radioed in again.
"WHAT?" she demanded.
"A lone gunman! Send hel-" the signal cut short. Valerie stared at the walkie-talkie in silence and in horror. Hearing someone's last words as they were being murdered is something she just didn't know how to deal with.
"Who the hell are they fighting? Rambo? I want you two and a group of your best men to head out that way NOW," Navarro commanded.
"Right. Let's go," Eddy said, and he and the four men he had been talking to hurried over to the jeep. Before Valerie could even process it, she was on her way to what might possibly be her deathbed.
Just- don't go out like a bitch. Go out in a blaze of glory, she kept telling herself. She tried to keep cool, but the sensation of drowning was coming, and she was having trouble breathing. Her hands were shaking so she decided to fiddle with her handgun to keep her hands busy.
"Ease up," Eddy said to her, and she instantly felt slightly less sick. "Nobody's dying today."
"Yeah. I really wish I believed that," Valerie said somberly, staring blankly at the scenery as they drove by. "You don't have to sugar coat things for me," she sighed. "It's as good a day as any other to die." She said, already deciding it was best to accept it rather than deny the harsh reality, similar to when she was locked in a cell. She only had a small glimmer of hope inside that she would luck out like she did before.