The kid in the purple pants was named Stebbins. He looked awkward and quiet, but with Davidson there, practically dragging him out of his shell, they got some words out of him. Garraty was a bit fascinated with the boy. Most of this was because of his pants.

"Well!" Davidson said, one arm slung over Stebbins's shoulders. "Let's go see if we can find some decent food!"

"I saw a mango tree a bit further inland," Stebbins said softly. "It should take us little time to reach it."

Davidson grinned. "Great," he said. "It's not just shitty bananas."

They fell into silence that would've been awkward if it wasn't for Davidson, who seemed to make everything seem less forced. Pearson cleaned his glasses frequently; probably because he was getting sweat on them. Larson didn't speak, just looked around with a dumb smile on his face. Stebbins had drawn away from Davidson and now walked at the rear of the group. Garraty looked back at him every few seconds, wondering what was up with him. He was a weird kid. Maybe he was a bit freaked out by Davidson kissing him.

Garraty would be freaked out if that had happened to him.

After a few more moments of walking in silence, they ran into someone that Garraty hadn't really wanted to see again in the near future. It was true he'd only met the kid once, for about five minutes, but those five minutes had not made a good impression on him.

Carrying an armful of fruit toward a remote part of the island was Gary Barkovitch. He'd abandoned his hoodie, and was left in his gray t-shirt and jeans. His shoes were gone as well. Garraty wasn't sure why; even if he were to get rid of all of his other clothing he'd want to keep his shoes. Barkovitch's feet were already cut to shreds.

"Great!" Davidson said, bounding toward him. Barkovitch jumped, backing away from Davidson, who was advancing quickly, a huge grin on his face. "Now we won't have to work for as long."

"Fuck off," Barkovitch said, trying to duck around Davidson. "I'm not welcome back there, I'm sure as hell not picking food for you assholes."

"Oh, you're the kid that got in a fight with Rank," Davidson said. "He's still there, though; what made you think you weren't wanted?"

"Because I never am," Barkovitch said bluntly. "Seriously, Dumbo, get out of the way."

Davidson blinked, offended. "Well," he said. "I understand why you're not wanted. And I understand that we're just going to take this and be on our way."

"Leave me alone," Barkovitch said, glancing around for an escape route. Davidson had him backed against a tree. Garraty watched as Davidson beckoned for them to come help. Larson was watching a butterfly or something and didn't understand. Pearson glanced at Garraty, who shrugged, and the two headed to back up Davidson.

"Pearson, hold the food while I give it to you. Garraty, hold him still," Davidson said. He plucked a piece of fruit off of the top and handed it to Pearson, who took off his shirt and used that as a sort of basket. "Hey, good idea."

"Wow, Four-eyes, getting sweat all over everything, great plan," Barkovitch said. Pearson flipped him off and Davidson continued piling the food from Barkovitch's arms into the makeshift basket. "Fuck you. Fuck all of you."

Davidson, who Garraty was learning was not that bad of a guy, left Barkovitch one shitty banana. Barkovitch glared at them and as they left, called "I'll dance on your graves! I'll dance on all of your graves, don't you forget it!"

"What a freak," Davidson said.

…

An hour or so later, after filling both Pearson and Garraty's shirts with fruit, they headed back to the campsite. Collie Parker was gone; McVries sat beside the fire in his place. "Apparently I'm good enough to be 'second in command. After Abraham.' So, basically, third-in-command," he said. Garraty dropped the fruit he was carrying, and Pearson's fruit joined his.

"Wow. That was quick for how much you've got," Abraham said, showing up out of nowhere. "What, did you steal it?"

"Yep!" Davidson said cheerfully. Abraham blinked.

"Um," he said. "I'm going to go back to helping Baker with his 'burying people' project. See you later."

With that, he loped off. Garraty sat down next to McVries, suddenly very tired and feeling sticky from the heat and sweat. McVries looked at him.

"You know, you could always go swimming to clean yourself off," he said. "Baker and his crew have already cleared the bodies off of that end."

"That sounds like a great idea!" Davidson said. He looked around. "Hey. Where's purple pants kid – Stebbins?"

"You probably scared him off," Pearson said. "People don't expect to be kissed when they first meet someone."

"Pity," Davidson said, shrugging. "Well, he'll probably join the freak we stole the food from."

"Who?" McVries asked.

"Barkovitch," Garraty said, and McVries nodded slowly.

Almost as soon as he said the name, Collie Parker came back, Barkovitch slung over his shoulder. Barkovitch was swearing and kicking and trying to hit Parker to get him to put him down. Parker was indifferent to his struggles.

"Found this little shit wandering around, muttering about stupid people who stole his food and decided it was time for him to stop being so damn antisocial," Parker said.

"I'm not antisocial! Everyone hates me!" Barkovitch wailed.

"Quiet, you," Parker said. "Hand me a mango, Four-eyes."

"My name's Pearson," Pearson said.

"Whatever," Parker said, and Pearson handed him a mango, which he handed back to Barkovitch. "Now shut the fuck up."

"Does anyone really want him here?" McVries asked. Parker shrugged, and Barkovitch began to complain loudly. "Screw it. C'mon, Ray, let's go clean ourselves up. Parker can take the fire back over… or Pearson, or Davidson – wait, he's gone. Well, see you bastards in hell."

With that, McVries stood up and walked off. Garraty followed. McVries confused him.

They managed to find a pretty secluded area with no bodies. McVries stripped immediately.

Well.

He wasn't wasting any time.

Garraty, after turning bright red at McVries just taking his clothes off just like that, got undressed as well. McVries was pretty far out before he got into the water, wincing as the cuts on his legs stung with the salt water.

McVries appeared next to him, soaking wet and grinning. "It's nice here, isn't it?" he asked. "Despite the fact that half of us died in the crash, it's a nice vacation."

Garraty laughed. McVries was weird, but it was true. He'd much rather be here than at home in Maine, going to school and things like that. This was probably better than where they had been headed, too.

The island really was a paradise.

ok

i have a plan sort of i'm not sure yet

but

yeah

here we go