Chapter 12: Day 8 — A Star Through Fingers
The noise of the morning briefly woke everyone up. Casey put more wood on the outside fire to keep it going and everyone went back to bed. Except Jessica. She crawled out of the shelter.
Casey stuck her head out after her. "What are you doing? They haven't even unpacked yet…"
"I need to pee," she said walking away.
"Ocean is the other way…" Casey mumbled, closing the flap.
Jessica walked to her minicamp. And on the ground was her wheel. Vegeta had even tied a bow on it with vine. She smiled giddily like a child on Christmas morning raising her fists to her shoulders and tapping the ground with her feet. Then she walked past the camp into the ocean, actually peed, then went to the original shelter to dry off and go back to sleep.
Meanwhile, with Vegeta…
Leticia and crew rolled into camp, and found Vegeta awake.
He was doing squats in his new apron, and an extra feature. He stood then shook his legs one by one. "Look. She made me cowboy pants." He then glared at Ted. "And it has a panel on the back so you can't ask me to shake my lost limb stump."
Vegeta then untied the knot at his side, then leaned down to start untying the two cords on each leg, one at the knee and the other above the ankle.
"When was that delivered to you?" Leticia asked, confused.
"It was never delivered, so I fetched it myself and left the wheel."
Leticia sighed. "That was supposed to be filmed."
"Sucks to be you then," Vegeta said as he rolled up the apron and chaps, then took them with him into his treehouse before pulling up the ladder.
"So what is on the agenda today, your majesty?" she asked sarcastically.
"Nothing really," he said from inside. "Everything is basically done except to eat, sleep and be miserable. I've done the first and the latter, but about to commence the middle. So, shut up and keep it down."
He did not talk again for hours.
Meanwhile, in the forest…
The sun was midway up in the morning sky and she is already on her third wood run. Between being forced to drink urine again and the water she breathed in when Becky almost drowned her, she's leaning over to cough and dry heave every few trees. She didn't dare visit Vegeta again. They didn't seem to know she visited him in particular, but they knew she had found food and did not bring it back.
"Besides, he was a serial killer and cannibal. Ichiro wouldn't lie. No matter what he said, Vegeta would kill and eat her."
"He seemed so nice."
"But that's how people like that lure girls in."
She leaned against another tree. She was so out of it, she was hearing voices.
"If you fainted again, and he found you, you will die. This is a real survivor. If my team could get away with this, what could he get away with? He already attacked Michael."
"But he did it protecting me."
"You weren't in any danger. You're jumping caused this whole thing. And now the host has been fired because of you. You're useless."
"I am not! I'm a singer and dancer!"
"Who was kicked out of your group and hasn't been picked back up. You weren't sent on this show to save your career. They sent you here to get rid of you. They are going to watch you die and get eaten on TV and laugh and laugh."
"No! They won't!"
"You know I'm right."
"Do you hear that?"
"Sounds like birds singing."
"Birdies." She said out loud and stumbled in that direction.
Sugar Petal stumbled down the hill and leaned against a tree. I took her a little time to focus to realize she was looking at Vegeta's camp.
Vegeta was in a hammock under his tree house and had a white stick in his mouth. It took her a few moments of watching his fingers move that he had a flute.
"Did he bring a recorder for his luxury item?"
"That wasn't birds, that was him! Run away! Hurry!"
Sugar Petal began climbing up the hill, but fell and began scrambling on her hands and knees. Suddenly she ran into a pair of sneakers. She looked up past the cargo shorts and saw Vegeta looking down at her with his arms crossed.
She yipped and scrambled backwards until she hit a tree. Vegeta walked a few steps and squatted down directly in front of her. Sugar Petal closed her eyes and whimpered. She felt something cold on her forehead.
"Fucking hell, woman. You're warmer than I am." She heard as the object left her forehead. "Come on, let's get you lying down."
Sugar Petal opened her eyes and saw Vegeta standing with his hand outstretched. "No!" she screamed and knocked his hand away and scrambled behind the tree. "You're a murderer and eat people! Stay away from me!"
"Wouldn't I be in jail or executed if that were true? I know you have a bad fever, but use your brain."
"Ichiro would not lie."
"Well, maybe he was lied to and doesn't realize it?"
"No! No! No! Stay away!" She ran past him.
Vegeta turned as she ran past, "If you want to let Michael and his goons murder you instead of me then go ahead! At least with me you'll have food, a bed and won't have to lift a finger the rest of the game!" He cupped his hands around his mouth. "They're working you to death like a fucking gulag!"
Vegeta sighed frustrated then walked back to his camp.
Sugar Petal stumbled as she attempted to bring wood back to camp. Other than the need for wood and to walk downhill, she was no longer connected to reality. She was currently listening to an argument between her dead maternal grandmother and her murdered parents.
Mi-Young was from North Korea before unification, daughter of a low-level official. She spent over 15 years making her way across China being bought and sold by traffickers to 5 different husbands. She gave 4 of them children, the other took her left eye when she tried to run away.
Never take a knife to an army officer's daughter.
She finally made it to South Korea, ended up as a coffee woman (Korean euphemism for over the hill prostitute), married a client desperate for a kid for inheritance reasons after a menopause oopsy, and had her 5th and last child, her mother.
Even though she lived to see unification, she never regretted anything. She wanted her to join Vegeta.
Her parents both grew up in poverty but ended up as a college professor and a manager in a foreign sales department for their skills in Mandarin and Cantonese.
A year after her grandmother died, her parents thought it would be a good idea to visit the old North, to see where their family came from. They were murdered by survivors of their liquidated extended family after her grandmother successfully fled the country. At first, she was a slave in the fields and a pack mule, then was sent to the same prison that wiped out the entire family, but being such a pretty girl, ultimately landed in a brothel.
She was just worth too much pocket money to kill.
Her "uncle" later purchased her at 15 and brought her south to enroll her at the Nahm's boarding school with false papers saying she had just turned 9.
She had always been very small like her grandmother.
They wanted her to stay with Michael, equating Michael's treatment of her with her caretakers and the need for silent, total obedience for her success and prosperity.
While her grandmother was screaming 'You're never too old to cane your ass' and for someone to let her go, Sugar Petal stumbled out onto the beach. She discovered she was on the narrow beach, but stumbled in the wrong direction. The crew finally intervened when she began climbing the rocks towards the challenge beach and pointed her in the other direction.
She finally wandered onto the proper beach.
"There you are, you stupid bitch!" Becky called out. "You sneak off and find food again?!"
Sugar Petal dropped the wood and face planted in the sand.
Lisa looked at Becky, "Don't go dragging her into the water again."
"I'm feeling lazy right now," Becky said. "Let's just leave her in the sun to rot."
Lisa stood up and walked over. She turned Sugar Petal onto her back. Sugar Petal coughed loose sand from her mouth on reflex before going completely limp.
"Why bother?" Becky called out.
Lisa sat back down by the fire, "Can't have her choke to death on the sand."
Sam walked out of the ATV track and onto the narrow beach with one of Sugar Petal's net bags.
He sighed slumping onto the ground. "God… I think we've used all the coconuts on the ground…"
He leaned his head back and stared up at the canopy. "These trees are so damn high. It'd be a fall to our deaths."
He glanced back the way he came. "We could get a giant stick, but waking Michael from his siesta would be a bad idea."
Sam put his head in his hands and shook his head. "Vegeta has food. He has a whole animal and enough bananas to give away… but going over there is practically suicide."
Out in the lagoon, Ichiro and Hassim were fishing. Hassim with the spear, Ichiro was using the fishing gear.
At least Ichiro was fishing. Currently he was panicking over losing the last fishhook as he looked at the broken end of the fishing line.
Hassim came up for air.
Ichiro quickly tossed the line back out in the water as he swam over to the sandbar Ichiro was fishing from.
"Oh my days, I need a break…" Hassim said, laying down on the damp sand. He lifted his mask off his eyes. "Almost had one. I think I'm getting the hang of this." He held up the spear and looked at the tip. "This is definitely more of a shallow water spear, but I got an idea how to make a new one to stab the fish hiding in the coral." He looked over at Ichiro, "How's your luck?"
"Nothing…" he said, holding the bamboo pole. "Would have been nice if they gave us more than just the string and hooks."
"Yeah… I wish Sugar Petal was feeling better," Hassim said. He looked at the bamboo stick, "She always had ideas."
"She's really out of it today," Ichiro said. He shook his head. "I can't believe she's even functional. Could probably roast an egg on her skin."
"This is getting ridiculous." Hassim said. "I would say 'if I didn't know better', but I wouldn't be surprised if they are deliberately ignoring her. She's more than met the requirements to get medevaced." He looked at Ichiro. "I know you don't speak it, but do you know any Korean?"
"One or two words, why?"
"Something about that mantra she keeps saying. It's probably innocent, but something about it is creeping me out."
"I think I heard the word for bread, maybe? I honestly have no clue."
"A song about making bread?" Hassim looked up. "Why does it sound so creepy though?"
"Probably because she's sick?" Ichiro asked rhetorically. "Her speech is starting to go too this morning."
"Maybe it's because she is in pain…" Hassim thought out loud. "My grandmother always sang when she cooked. But at the end it was always off. When my brother broke his arm she told him to stop complaining." He chuckled and raised his pitch, "You do not know true pain until you knead bread with arthritis!"
Ichiro chuckled too. "Maybe she should have used a wooden hammer. That's how we make mochi."
"You use hammers to beat the do—" Hassim paused as horror dawned on his face.
He sat up, "How much do you want to bet that song is a Ring around the Rosie version of getting the crap beat out of you?"
"Ring around the Rosie?"
"Yeah, that innocent children's rhyme is actually about dying from the black death in the Middle Ages."
Ichiro couldn't shake the feeling he was right. But he was more focused on what Michael would do to him.
Or… do to Hassim.
"Hey, Hassim. Want to watch the pole. I'd like to try my luck with the spear."
"Yeah sure. Divide and conquer." Hassim got up and Ichiro handed him the pole.
Ichiro gently went into the water on the other side of the sand bar and swam to shore.
The first thing he noticed was Sugar Petal out in the sun, but ignored her. He walked up to the women.
"Michael still asleep?"
"What's wrong?" Lisa asked.
"Hassim just lost our last hook."
"What?" Lisa asked, surprised. "But you were the one who—"
Ichiro knelt and grabbed Lisa's upper arms. "Lisa." Ichiro said firmly as he squeezed. "Hassim. Lost. Our. Last. Hook."
Becky laughed. "Oh! I like this! Lisa, don't be a tattle tale."
Ichiro tightened his grip.
"Lisa," he said firmly. He glared in her eyes.
She started hyperventilating. "Ok…"
Ichiro let go. Lisa stood and practically ran down the beach.
Becky laughed. "Well look at you, mister bigshot. You broke the queen."
"Shut the fuck up, you fucking hyena…" Michael said, waking up.
"Hey Michael," Ichiro leaned into the shelter. "We need to talk."
"What?" he asked, annoyed.
"Hassim asked for a try at the rod to take a break so we switched. Well when I came up I heard him cussing about losing the hook. That was our last one."
"What?!" Michael came out and stood up. He went to speak but stopped. "Where's Lisa?"
"Changing her bloody tampon," Becky smiled, leaning back on her hands to look at them.
Michael glared at her.
Then he noticed something else. Sugar Petal was moaning and randomly grasping at the sky. She was also lifting her legs causing her body to rock back and forth.
"She was gone forever," Becky said. "Probably hallucinating off some mushrooms. You know she'll put anything in her mouth."
Michael growled a sigh.
"Michael," Ichiro interjected. "Hassim threw the empty line back in the water to blame it on me."
Michael sighed again. "So, where is Lisa? For real?"
"Why?" he asked.
"Because as an ex from a multi-year relationship, I know full well Lisa uses hormonal IUDs and hasn't had a period." He clapped his hand next to Becky's head for each word, "Since! Before! We! Met!"
Michael stood up straight and crossed his arms. "Nice try, bitch. Now where's Lisa?"
"She freaked out when Sugar Piss started doing weird shit and when I reminded her of you when she tried to help her, she got up and ran away," Becky said. "I wanted to cover her ass. I'm blaming you Ichiro when she gets back!"
"Which is why I want a neutral observer because you always go after him and," he looked at him, "Ichiro could be trying to save his own ass."
"Does that even matter?" Becky faked confusion. "Are you really going to replace Ichiro with Hassim as your fourth," she put her hand on her chest dramatically, "After me?"
"You are as evil as you are ugly," Michael said.
Becky laid on her side seductively, "So you are calling me an angel?"
Michael went to get mad, but he stopped himself.
"So tell me, did it hurt when you fell from heaven and landed right on your face? Must have been a nasty rock that did that to you."
Ichiro snickered.
Becky lost her smile and sat up. "Jerks!" She threw sand at them. She stood and walked off.
"God damn it," Michael said, stomping in the sand. He leaned back and grabbed his hair. "Gah! I want to scream."
"Why?" his producer asked.
"Because no matter what I do," he points his arm in her direction, "She can take credit for the idea. NO ONE," he growled, "Puts ideas in my head." He tapped his chest with both his hands, "I'm the one who tells people what to do. ME!"
"Want me to handle her?" Ichiro asked.
"At this point she's unhandleable," Michael said, crossing his arms. "I doubt even a decade of prepwork would make her tolerable let alone manageable." He sighed looking up, "When, not if, WHEN, I pull Lisa aside. She will corroborate what you just told me," he looked at his face and snarled, "correct?"
"Yes," Ichiro said confidently. "100%. I am telling the truth."
Michael sighed and pulled off his shirt, "Let's go have this conversation out on the bank."
"Hassim."
He turned behind him and saw Michael climb up onto the sand. Ichiro was wading in the water behind him.
"I've just been told you lost our last hook."
"What?!" Hassim shouted. He immediately brought in the line.
Hassim held the empty end in his hand, "Bloody hell, Ichiro! This why you asked me to watch the rod?!"
Hassim looked at Michael. "Michael, I didn't do this," he pleaded.
"I'm painfully aware of the he said-he said here. Right now, the only witness is Becky, which is worse than none at all. Ichiro has had the rod most of the day, but you have only even spearfished before."
"I literally just got out of the water to take a break," Hassim gestured to Ichiro, "And Ichiro asked to switch."
"That was awhile ago and I heard you thinking of ways to blame me for it because you're on thin ice," Ichiro called out from the water.
Then Hassim saw something just above his head.
"Did you guys leave Sugar Petal out in the sun again?!"
Ichiro turned around. "She wasn't there when we swam out."
"Like how I broke the line? Fuck you." Hassim entered the water and swam over.
Hassim stormed over to Sugar Petal, motionless on the sand, and picked her up. He was shocked by how light she was, even from when they started a week ago. She was no heavier than his older nieces and nephews.
Snapping out of his momentary shock, he carried her into the shade and delicately laid her down like a glass object into foam packing.
He laid down next to her and eventually fell asleep.
"We're back!" Sam called out as he and Lisa came back to camp.
"Are you ok, Lisa?" Michael asked, seeing her face.
"I'm fine," she said, brushing her hair behind her ear. "I just need to rest." She knelt and crawled into the shelter.
"Michael, can we talk privately?" Sam asked.
"What? About your empty bag?" Ichiro interrupted. He knew Sam was going to talk about whatever Lisa told him.
"Well, yes but…"
"What is your excuse this time Sam?" Michael crossed his arms.
"We've used up all the ones on the ground, but that's not…"
"We're not going to let you climb after you almost killed yourself last time," Ichiro said, cutting off Michael.
Michael looked at him surprised and slightly annoyed.
"That's not what I…"
"Then how do you think we should get them down?" Ichiro grilled him.
"Long sticks, but that's…"
"Not a bad idea," Michael said.
"Bamboo is the only thing that gets that tall," Ichiro said.
"Good point," Michael said. "Sam, make sure Becky doesn't go after Sugar Petal. Let's go see what we can cut down, Ichiro."
Ichiro nodded. Then pushed Sam aside as the two walked off.
"Oh, um… Ok. Talk to you later."
Becky laughed. "Don't let the breeze knock you over heavyweight!"
Hassim felt like someone was shaking him awake. He opened his eyes and sat up. He looked around, but found himself alone.
"Wait, I'm alone!"
Hassim bolted up and sprinted towards the water. He stopped and scanned the shoreline, but neither Sugar Petal or Becky was in sight. He heard laughter and turned left.
Michael and Ichiro were poking and smacking coconut trees with long bamboo poles and Lisa and Sam were gathering them from the sand. Becky was sunbathing and giving unhelpful commentary.
But Sugar Petal was not with them.
Suddenly he felt like someone grabbed his head and turned it on a swivel. He spotted a line of red before it disappeared into the darkness of the trees.
Hassim shot off after them, leaving his crew scrabbling to catch up.
"Sugar Petal!"
Her crew turned and Hassim tried to stop but slid on the leaves and fell backwards.
"Hassim-nim! Oe-halmi! Je chin-gu Hassim-im-a-ida!"
Hassim stood as his crew caught up to them.
"Sugar, where do you think you're going?" Hassim demanded.
"Grandma is taking me to go play with the birdie man! He has bananas!"
"Sugar Petal, who is the birdie man?"
"Tree nest pretends to be bumble bees!"
Hassim grabbed her shoulders, and spun her around to face him. "Sugar! Tell me who this is or I will drag you back to camp!"
Sugar's head tilted all the way back and she looked at the canopy.
"Sugar?!"
"Angry net... Black fire head."
Hassim pictured Vegeta's hairline. "Vegeta? Is Vegeta the birdie man?"
Sugar nodded while still looking up. "Carrots is birdie man. He has bananas! And pretty water!"
"Vegeta gave you food and water yesterday," he sighed. "That's why you disappeared. Ok…" he hung his head as he thought for a long time as he mumbled, "Ok… Ok…" He began nodding his head before he lifted it. "Ok," he rotated her forward, "Ok. Let's get you to Vegeta. Do… you even know how to get there?"
She began to sing a Billy Joel song, "In the middle of the night, I go walking in my sleep through the jungle of doubt to a river so deep…" then suddenly switched to Elvis "It's good to laugh and sing, don't worry about a thing. Wear a happy smile, cut loose and run a mile…"
"A mile down the ATV track by the stream, got it." He gently nudged her to start walking.
She suddenly darted forward. "I'm hurrying, Grandma!"
Hassim ran after her and grabbed her arm. "Hey! Slow down you'll fall. You're wobbling like a top as it is."
"I can't. I need to be with Carrots when I fall asleep."
"Why?"
"So he can wake me up. Momma and Papa don't want me to wake up. They want me to go with them."
Hassim grabbed both her shoulders, "Sugar Petal. Your family is not here. They are in Korea."
"No they're not. They're in heaven."
Hassim paled. "What?"
"Well they're not there right NOW," she said. She looked down the road, then looked back at him. "Awe… I'm sorry your puppy Kahil fell off your boat. But Grandma really wants you to let me go now."
Hassim let go and jumped back.
Sugar Petal started walking again. "I would walk five hundred miles and I would walk five hundred more…"
Her cameraman filmed her walking off singing. Hassim's cameraman quickly got in front of him.
He is trembling.
"Are you ok?"
"Kahil was my fourth birthday present."
"I'm sorry, when did you lose him?"
"My fourth birthday party… had him less than a half hour before he fell off the yacht. There's no way she could know that…"
Both cameras' footage jerked uncontrollably to the point it was unusable.
The audio was also unusable, but for another reason…
"She's… been talking to her parents all day…"
"What about when she laughed and she told us God said her parents suck?"
"She was talking to God?!"
"Well… it's… not like her parents would know… about Hassim's dog… right?"
"Oh my Days… Oh my Days…"
"Hassim, don't faint on us!"
"No… No… I'm fine… I…em fine… I'm… fine… WHERE GOING TO LOSE HER IN THE UNDERBRUSH!"
Vegeta was upstream of his camp. Here the stream widened and slowed and was a favorite for fish. Vegeta had built stone walls to coral the fish and hold the bamboo grates. He had just finished tossing more fish he caught with a piece of the net into his holding pond when he heard singing. "Sweet Home Alabama…" He dropped the net and walked over to the road. He saw Sugar Petal zigzagging down the path with one of the other teammates following close behind. The one that did not drink at the party.
Sugar Petal raised her arms, "… Lord I'm coming home to you!" She then collapsed like all her bones had suddenly been removed.
Vegeta blinked out of existence and caught her before she hit the ground over 20 yards away.
She looked at Vegeta. "Good night, Grandma," she said before passing out. She then went into a seizure.
Vegeta could feel the heat radiating off of her like an open stove. He again blinked out of existence, startling Hassim and the camera crews. A large splash drew their eyes to the stream. Vegeta was kneeling in the hip deep water by his wall and held her shoulders and head above water as she continued to shake.
Vegeta looked over towards Hassim. "Well, are you going to stand there with your mouth open or are you going to help me?!"
Hassim snapped out of it and ran over. He got to the stream as she stopped shaking, "What do you need?"
"Wet cloth on her head. We need to cool her down."
Hassim took his shirt off and waded into the water. "This water is pretty warm."
"Do you have a better idea?! Just get the thing on her head."
Hassim placed his wet shirt over her forehead and hair.
Vegeta looked up at the three camera crews, "Why aren't you radioing for help?!"
"There is nothing to radio help for," Sugar Petal's producer said, "Don't you think we would have called for them already if we could?"
"Did you not see her shaking? It might have been a seizure." Hassim said.
"Do you think we have been doing nothing this past week?!," he snapped, tears welling up, "We could scream all we want, nobody would come. Charlie's already been all but fired for what little he tried to do to help her…"
"Well fuck you!" Vegeta shouted. He looked at Hassim, "What's your name again?"
"Hassim."
"Head to my camp. It's a bit of a walk. But when you reach a small creek coming into this stream on the other side, you'll find tire tracks going up this hill. Go into the big hut, not the one with the hammock, you'll see three pieces of bamboo with smaller pieces as plugs. Those are my water bottles. Don't worry; it's boiled. Bring them here. When she wakes up, we need to get her to drink."
"How do you even know how to do this?"
"Because this is what was done to me when I got sick the first time and the meds didn't work! Now get going!"
Hassim remembered what the grandmother said about Vegeta and climbed out of the water. He started down the track with his camera crew in tow.
After he left, Sugar Petal began to shake again. Vegeta took her hand and a slight glow came from his fingers.
The shaking stopped.
Hassim found the camp. His jaw dropped. Tree House. Hammock. Fire Pit. And this huge thing that looked like a beehive.
"I see why she said bumblebees."
He walked inside the hut. He stepped up on the platform floor raised about a foot off the ground and looked around the room.
"Damn, this place was huge. You can even stand up," said the cameraman.
Hassim was scanning the shelving on the far side that held lots of bamboo. Then he spotted three pieces of bamboo a little over knee height with smaller diameter ones shoved in them. He walked over, on to his surprise a very sturdy floor, and picked one up. It was heavy. He pulled the top and saw liquid. Hassim plugged it back up and grabbed the other two.
"Get out of my way," he said, darting out the door.
Hassim made his way back to Vegeta.
"I'm really cold. The water is really cold."
"It's actually very warm. It's your fever tricking you into thinking it's cold."
"Sugar!" Hassim got a second wind and sprinted the final distance and jumped into the water, "Thank Allah you're awake."
"Put those on the shore and pour her a cup in the plug." Vegeta ordered.
Hassim nodded, waded out to the edge and put two of them on the shore. He then poured out the cup of water."
"I'm cold," she said again.
Hassim came over with the cup and the bamboo held up above the water. "Here, Sugar, drink this."
"I don't want to."
"Sugar, remember your grandmother's words. If Vegeta says you need to drink, you must."
Sugar Petal's eyes widened then reached her free hand out of the water. Hassim helped her sip.
"What Grandma?" Vegeta asked, confused.
"Her dead grandmother led her here."
"You know she was just…" Freddy started.
"Naw, dude that was freakier than you are," his cameraman said.
"Seriously?" Ted asked in disbelief.
"Yep" "Absolutely" "Uh huh" the three crewmates say at once.
Vegeta's crew became uncomfortable. Vegeta growled something. Hassim didn't know the language, but he stressed the syllables "Den Day".
Vegeta took a deep breath and repositioned his fingers, now interweaving them with Sugar's hand.
Hassim thought it looked like he was wearing Nenya on his hand.
Looking at Vegeta cradling her, he thought that was fitting.
The sunlight had switched to almost the opposite angle in the trees. He and Hassim had been taking turns with her. She always got worse when Vegeta let go of her hand, so minus watering the immediate plant life, he was with her in the water the whole time.
"I cold," Sugar Petal said again.
"Hassim," Vegeta moved his head to call him over, "Check her forehead."
Hassim came in the water.
"You're definitely better than you were, but you're still quite hot."
"Are… you going to keep me in the water all night?"
"I didn't think the bastards would be so stubborn about this," Vegeta told her. "I've never met humans that have acted like this before." He looks at the crews, "You hear that?! Tell those turds you work for that I'm better at being a human than they are!"
"What do you want to do?" Hassim asked.
"Well I'm not going to let her suffer," he said. Vegeta looked up. "Leticia, call this in. Tell Reynolds that if medics don't show up in the next 10 minutes, I am going to fly her to the hospital and I swear on Moon Goddess' bloodstained robes I will talk to the press. I don't care about getting outed. I don't care about the fine."
Everyone who saw it thought his face turned to pure insanity. "I will BURN everything to the ground. NEVER forget who I am."
Leticia nodded and lifted her radio. "Crew 9 calling HQ. Vegeta has a message directly for Reynolds. He said if medics don't show up in the next 10 minutes, he will fly Sugar Petal to the nearest hospital and call a press conference. He said quote 'I will BURN everything to the ground. NEVER forget who I am.' End quote. Over."
*fuzz* This is Reynolds. Is that a threat? *fuzz*
"Tell Reynolds nine minutes."
"Vegeta is counting down. He just said 9 minutes."
*fuzz* Tell him they are on their way! Are they still at your previous location? *fuzz*
"Yes, we are still on the main ATV track at the dam. Closer to the Red beach."
*fuzz* They're coming! They're coming!" *fuzz*
On the red beach, the medic teams have withdrawn to not eat dinner in front of the team.
*fuzz* Red Medic 1! Red Medic! *fuzz* Reynolds screamed over the radio. *fuzz* Get the basic kit and ride down the ATV towards Vegeta's camp at top speed! Vegeta's counting down until he flies off with Sugar and he's down to 8! We cannot let him leave! *fuzz*
Lead medic shoved the last of his sandwich in his mouth and ran to his ATV. "My team go!" he shouted, starting the engine.
"2… 1—"
Suddenly they heard engines.
Everyone turned and three ATVs drove up. One was pulling a back-brace basket.
"About time you fucking assholes!" Vegeta shouted, seeing them unpack Earth's white boxes with red markings.
"Get away from her Vegeta," the lead red medic ordered. "You've been doing more than good."
"Fuck off," Vegeta said lifting her out of the water.
The medics noticed Vegeta's glowing hand and how it creeped up Sugar Petal's arm.
"What are you doing to that girl?!" He ripped her from his arms and laid her down. Sugar Petal screamed then began to shake.
"Keeping her conscious!" Vegeta said, climbing out of the water. He reached for her hand again.
"Stay away from her!" He went to push Vegeta back into the stream with his foot.
Vegeta vanished and appeared in front of him. His index finger is pressed into his Adam's apple. He drew his finger up his neck and to his chin. He dug his fingernail into his skin as he jerked his finger away. "Never attempt to assault me again." He looked down at Sugar Petal, now gasping for air. He looked back at him. "You have 10 minutes before I fly her to the closest hospital. If you want to cover up her torture, I suggest you use it to get her real care."
"God she's cold to the touch," one medic said. "Paul, get the silver blanket. She 's probably hypothermic." The second medic pulled out his thermometer gun. "106.4? That can't be right." He pointed it at himself then looked at the temperature. "98.6 on the dot." He pointed it at Vegeta. "101.3? Must be something wrong with it."
"Did you forget who you were pointing that to? That's about normal for me."
Vegeta noticed Sugar Petal's gasping turned to more of a hiccup.
"She's not breathing!"
"She's perfectly fine!" the lead medic jabbed him in the chest. "Stop it and just stay out of our way."
Vegeta grabbed him by his face and threw him in the water. "Never forget what I do for a living! I'm an expert on death!"
The second medic took his orthoscope and put it on her chest. Then her neck.
"Can't get a pulse!"
Vegeta knelt and took her hand. His hands began to glow and the light traveled up her arm.
Sugar Petal gasped for air and began taking deep breaths.
The medic put the orthoscope on her chest. "Heart's beating… but not steady beat." He looked up at Vegeta shocked and confused.
"I'M NOT FUCKING DENDE! DO WHATEVER YOU NEED TO DO TO FIX HER ASS! IF WHAT I'M DOING WAS PERMANENT, WE WOULDN'T BE HERE RIGHT NOW YOU FUCKING MORONS!"
The man grabbed the radio. "Sugar Petal is in heart and respiratory failure. Vegeta is giving some type of alien CPR and keeping her stable. We need the helicopter now!"
"I can fly faster than any helicopter," Vegeta said.
"Vegeta said he can fly faster than any helicopter. What do you want to do?"
*fuzz* If she's stable then she does not need the helicopter. We are sending the boat. *fuzz*
"Tell that son of a bitch that I will be flying this girl to the hospital. The only choice he has is which one."
"Did you hear that?"
*fuzz* Tell him to fly to the resort, we'll have our hospital staff waiting! *fuzz*
Vegeta scooped up Sugar Petal and jumped in the air. He disappeared.
"What… What the hell?" Hassim said, trembling. He fell on his butt.
Meanwhile, on Berapi…
Hassim eventually regained enough of his composure to walk back to the beach. Whatever just happened, he could not do anything else. It was out of his hands.
He took a deep breath and walked into the sunlight.
"Where the hell have you been, Hassim?!" Michael shouted as his eyes adjusted to the light.
"You got your wish, Michael," Hassim said. "Sugar Petal has been flown out. She's in God's and the doctors' hands now."
"Finally!" Becky shouted, throwing her arms in the air. "I was thinking I needed to light that bitch on fire!"
"Becky shut up!" Michael shouted. He turned back to Hassim and smiled. "That's good to know," he began walking up. "With her gone all that's left to do is vote Vegeta out and we can finally get things back to normal and worry about the game."
Michael went to put his hand on Hassim's shoulder, but he swatted it away. "Don't touch me!"
Michael took a step back, "Look, we are all worried about—"
"No, you're not! No, you're bloody not, you maggot!" Hassim screamed, seven days of rage breaking through the dam. "This is exactly what you wanted! All of this! This is your fault! You're sick." He looked around, "All of you are sick!"
"That's the pot calling the kettle black," Ichiro said, "We all—"
"I never agreed to anything! It was your threats against my family that got me to turn my back for a few days, but—"
"We never—"
He turned back to Michael, "Yes you did! "Yes you fucking did!" He pointed at his crew, "And they have it all in confessional days ago!"
"Then you're a lying scumbag who's been setting this up for days." Ichiro jumped in to defend Michael.
"Shut up!" Hassim snapped. He turned back to Michael. "Give me my rug. I'm leaving. Vote me out after Vegeta if you want but I will not spend another night here with you!"
Michael sighed, "Fine, if you can't calm down then it's better for you to leave. But don't be surprised if you get voted out instead of Vegeta."
Michael walked back to the shelter and began lifting up all the palm leaves.
"Wait, where's the rug!"
Becky began cackling.
"What did you do?!" Michael shouted.
"I took it out to sunbathe, when I'm not using the underside to wipe my hands. It's under the mat Sugar Piss made."
"Wipe your hands," Hassim clenched his fists, thinking more toiletry.
Becky smiled, then leaned forward and placed her right hand in between her legs, but on top of her clothes.
She started to moan and leaned forward and backwards bending at the knee.
"Oh. Oh. Oh. Yes. Yes. Oh. Rock me Daddy. Rock me. Rock me. Hey!"
Ichiro grabbed Becky and pulled her up. He began pushing her towards the mat.
"Let go of me, you fucking frick!" Becky said kicking and hitting him.
"Ichiro!" Hassim yelled after picking his jaw off the sand. "Just let her go. She can have it! It's… It's just a piece of cloth…" the last part sounded like he was saying it to himself more than anyone.
Ichiro stopped and Becky pulled her arm from his grasp. She rubbed the forming bruise.
Hassim noticed Lisa shaking her head, mouthing "I'm sorry" over and over again. Her face looked like she meant it. Hassim pressed his lips onto a fake thin smile and did a barely noticeable nod.
But it was noticeable.
"After the first time, I had to steal it back from—"
Ichiro put his hand over Becky's mouth, but it was too late.
"You knew! All of you knew!" Hassim screamed.
"I didn't!" Sam shouted.
"That's enough! Everyone!" Michael shouted.
Hassim looked at Michael. Then turned to Sam.
"Sam, come with me," Hassim said. "I saw Vegeta's camp while we were keeping her alive. We'll be a lot better off."
"Three against four and dropping fast, Sam," Ichiro said harshly.
"I… um… I" Sam stuttered being put on the spot.
"Her heart stopped Sam!" Hassim pleaded. "I saw Vegeta trying to keep her alive with his bare hands. How can you stay here?" He gestured to Michael, "With them!"
"What?!" Lisa screamed. Oh! Oh, God…" she fell to her knees.
Michael knelt down. "Don't worry Lisa, he's lying."
"He's right," Ichiro said, "Can't trust Hassim as far as you can throw him. Like when he tried to blame me for losing the last hook earlier."
"He did what?!" Sam shouted.
Hassim glanced at them before looking back, "Sam."
Sam stood there silently for a while. "I… I can't…" He finally answered.
Sam walked around and stood next to the others.
Hassim looked heart broken, "Sam, I married a Christian woman, so my last words to you will be from your own book. It is easier to get a camel through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter heaven. You cannot serve both God and money."
Hassim turned and walked into the trees.
"Well, seems both of the trash have taken themselves out today. You can thank me later." Becky sauntered off towards the rugs.
Lisa saw Michael's face and crawled in front of him, preventing him from standing. "Michael, no. No. Everything will work out in the end." She swallowed as his glare switched to her. "Just, ju- just calm down. Breath. Breath…"
Meanwhile, at the resort's hospital section…
Vegeta was sitting in the lobby. His hands were folded under his chin.
"Would have thought you'd be soaking wet."
Vegeta looked and saw Yamcha with a blanket. "I boiled the water off…"
Yamcha sat down next to him and put the blanket over his own shoulders. "You're really worried about her, aren't you?"
"I read her mind. I know how she got this way…"
Yamcha could feel the rage boiling off of him. Even his hair was waving as his power spiked. Yamcha thought he was about to transform.
"She's been peeing blood for days and she's been so delirious I can't make out any timeline even though I ran into her yesterday."
"Please don't think of any retribution," Yamcha chuckled nervously.
Vegeta glanced at him and smirked. "Even if it's the only reason I'm staying calm?"
"Sepsis?" Mr. Reynolds said going pale.
"Early stages," the staff doctor said. "Just enough to trigger a positive on the blood tests. Luckily, we caught it so soon. But she does have a massive UTI infection and a bruised bladder and kidney. Spleen is slightly enlarged but no sign of its or of any liver failure in the blood work despite the severe jaundice. Plus, her deep muscle bruising around her entire abdomen. Which doesn't make sense from what you told me. The hard fall on her back would cause the back injuries we are seeing but the deep tissue bruising in the front would not be caused by the fall or the couple punches she received to induce vomiting." He crossed his arms, "With the injury on her wrists, the most likely cause of this is her being tied up and physically assaulted over an extended length of time. I think you should go back and look at your hidden camera footage."
"Patch her up. I want her back on the beach by midnight," Reynolds said through clenched teeth.
"Sir, you can't be serious!"
"I am serious!" Reynolds screamed. He got inches from the doctor's face. "I am in charge! It is my call and she is not leaving this game! You have seven more hours before I have security come rip her off any machines you have her hooked up to and throw her into the boat to dump her on shore."
"Stay here. Don't let them do anything funny to her." Reynolds ordered the guards before leaving the medical wing.
After Reynolds left, the doctor came into Sugar Petal's room. She is on a gurney with an IV in each arm. "I'm back Ms. Hyo-jin." He pulled up a chair.
"Am I leaving?" she asked softly.
"Unfortunately, the producers don't see the need. So, what we are going to do is gather the strongest medications we have at hand and send you back with them. Now Ms. Hyo-jin," he came in close to whisper in her ear. "Judging by your injuries, I believe you are not physically safe on the red team. I would suggest seeking to mutiny to the blue team as soon as you can walk."
"I will be with Vegeta," she answered him.
"If you believe that is best," he said standing up. He stepped outside and saw Reynolds had left. He called his staff over, "Up the dosage of the antibiotics to the maximum we can give based on her weight and move the next application up 30 minutes." He lowered his voice. "I need to get Bactrim from the hospital before Reynolds cuts the phone line." He walked off as fast as he could without causing suspicion from the guards.
Reynolds exited the medical wing, and Vegeta was sitting directly in front of the door with Yamcha next to him with a blanket over his shoulders.
"Ah, Mr. Brief. I see you're still here. I will be arranging the boat to take you back to the beach."
"I'm not going without her." Vegeta said firmly.
"Mr. Brief, I understand…"
"No," Vegeta stood up. "You understand. I am not leaving that girl. If she's being medevaced out. I quit. My wife spends more than that when she goes shopping anyway. If she's being taken back, I will be taking her to MY camp." He pointed in his face, "You said if she came to my camp she was MINE! She was at my camp! She was medevaced from my camp! She came to me. Check the cameras. She called my camp home."
"I understand. It was my request to begin with. But my hands are tied. She was taken from the ATV track."
"My fish pond. I dammed the stream. It's my structure. My camp."
"I have to agree with Vegeta," Yamcha said standing. "Besides, is this really worth escalating something so minor?"
Reynolds got into Yamcha's face. "Your job is to obey orders. Not to have opinions."
"Sir. I don't know what you expect me to do. Vegeta is the second strongest person in the entire galaxy. No HUMAN on this planet can touch him. Hell, even if we all ganged up on him at once, he'd take us all out in less than 30 seconds."
"Ha!" Vegeta gave a single laugh. "Don't overestimate yourselves. I'd give it 10 seconds top."
"Anyway," Yamcha sighed. "I'm moral support. Talking him down. Changing his mind. And even if you asked me to contact King Piccolo the Second or the only other Saiyan on the planet, I can guarantee they would side with Vegeta and be a lot less friendly about this than him."
Reynolds' eyes widened. He mouthed the syllables "king pic" before words completely failed him.
Vegeta's head jerked sideways. "Piccolo is a king? Since when?" he asked exasperated.
Yamcha's face went blank. "You… honestly didn't know?"
"No one ever said…" He closed his eyes. "No… No," he opened his eyes glaring back at Reynolds, "That doesn't matter right now. Right now is Sugar Petal." Vegeta folded his legs and plopped down on the floor. "I'm not moving until Sugar Petal leaves. One way or another."
Yamcha grimaced an apology and shrugged his shoulders.
Suddenly they heard breaking glass in a nearby room. Security, Yamcha and Reynolds ran to see. Vegeta raised his knee to stand, but remembering his proclamation, sat back down.
Down the hall, Conner came out a door. He had some cuts and was picking small cubes of glass out of his clothes.
"How the hell did you get up here?!" Reynolds shouted.
"You!" Conner pointed, stomping up, "You do not lock a co-producer out of a major medical evacuation!"
Yamcha put his hands on the door frame and stuck his head in the room. "Did you climb that tree and break the window?" he said, amazed.
Conner straightened his shirt. "British special forces," he said proudly.
They heard someone slow clapping. They saw Vegeta with a fake grin on his face.
"So, what's going on, Vegeta?" Conner said, pushing past Reynolds.
Reynolds glared at the security guards, who had realized they were going to be fired no matter what they did.
They decided to stand back and wish for popcorn.
"I don't know," Vegeta said. "But Reynolds just tried to get Yamcha to drag my ass back to the beach. Yamcha thankfully values the integrity of his limbs."
"Where are the doctors?"
"In there with Sugar," he pointed in the door.
Conner marched in and his eyes first caught sight of a group of nurses and staff standing in a circle. They seem to be sharing information about the documents on their clipboards.
"Yeah!" Conner jogged over to them, "What's wrong with Sugar Petal? Where is she?"
The group looked startled and scared. Conner did not need to look behind him to know Reynolds was motioning for them to stay silent.
"The… The doctor is preparing medications," a nurse stuttered. He pointed, "Ms. Hyo-jin is in there."
The staff now noticed his bleeding.
Conner turned to walk into her room.
"Wait sir, you're bleeding," he said, going after him, "You'll contaminate the room!"
Conner walked inside. "Hello, Sugar Petal. How are you doing?"
"I'm ok," she smiled.
The nurse entered. "Sir. Please. We need to check your cuts before you can stay in here."
Conner glared at him. "Then check my cut here. I'm not having her moved out of my reach again." He walked over to the side of her bed.
"Don't sit down yet!" The nurse grabbed a blanket and covered the chair. "Ok."
Conner sat down. "So tell me what happened today?"
"My grandmother called my parents morons and told me to live with Vegeta," she said.
Conner blinked, but moved on. "So, can you tell me what the doctor said?"
"An infection. The doctor is getting pills for me to take when I go back."
"That's good if they think you can go back."
Sugar Petal turned her head to the door, "He wants me to go back."
Conner looked and saw Reynolds in the door with his arms crossed.
"He was screaming really loud at the doctor," she continued. "Said he was going to rip me off the machines and dump me on the beach."
Conner looked back at Sugar Petal, "Well I'm going to make sure you get the treatment you need." He would have put his hand on the railing by hers, but it was scratched up. Then he saw something through her medical bracelets.
"Sugar, show me your hands," he said standing.
She hesitated, but did lift her hands. She put her wrists together and rotated her hands unprompted.
"How did this happen?" he asked sternly.
"Nothing that was against the rules," Reynolds spoke loudly, preempting Sugar Petal's soft voice.
"It's ok," Sugar Petal said, "Mi-Mi said Vegeta would take care of it."
"Who is Mi-Mi?"
"Oe-halmi, my grandmother."
"Sugar Petal, why do you think you spoke with your grandmother? She is not here."
"Oe-halmi and my parents died a long time ago. My parents wanted me to go with them. Mi-Mi wanted me to find Vegeta. Said if I got to him, I would be able to stay."
Conner lost his color, "You saw your dead relatives beckoning you to the other side?"
Sugar Petal nodded, "Oe-halmi was never nice when she's angry. I can't say most of what she called my parents because of my contract." She teared up and smiled.
"Well, we're all happy you listened to her and are still here." Conner said tapping the side rail. "I'm going to let you rest. I'll see you later, ok?"
She nodded.
Conner walked to the door, removed the chair holding it open, and closed the door until the bolt was resting on the frame.
Sugar Petal shifted, sinking her head deeper into the pillows, ignoring the screaming outside.
Yamcha had rejoined Vegeta, still sitting on the ground.
"Did she almost die?" Yamcha asked, listening to the shouting.
Vegeta grunted a yes. "Probably got a good look at King Yemma."
Yamcha listened some more.
"You gave her your energy?"
"Held her hand half the day before they got off their asses." Vegeta said. "When they made me let go, her heart stopped."
"Kami…" Yamcha muttered.
Conner stuck his head out of the door, "Did you say her heart stopped?!"
"No EKG, it didn't happen!" Reynolds shouted behind him.
"Isn't that what the wrongful death clause is for?" Vegeta parroted back.
"Vegeta what happened?"
"Today as a whole with her or just at the stream."
Conner's eyes narrowed. "As a whole."
"She wandered close to my camp earlier. Found her crawling on the ground and the Doc could have lit one of his cigarettes on her skin. I tried to get her back to my camp like last time, but she kept screaming Ichiro told her I was a murder and a cannibal and to stay away."
He looked at Reynolds over Conner's shoulder. "And since I can't kidnap her like last time, I had to let her crawl away."
He looked back at Conner. "I had dammed the stream near my shelter to catch fish. A little later, Sugar Petal came walking up to me and collapsed. She was even hotter than last time and was muttering about her grandmother. I grabbed her and got in the water with her. Human medication does not always work and I have limited immunity to your illnesses, so when I get sick, I end up in a bathtub full of cold water and ice. Hassim was with her, and while his crew was freaking out over some paranormal experience they had on the way, he helped me with her.
"But the crews refused to call for help, saying their calls would not be answered. At that point, I began putting my energy into her to keep her stable. Think of it like charging a dead battery. She woke up and stopped being crazy, but whenever I needed to get out, she kept getting worse. After half a day I threatened to fly off with her to a hospital and medics finally came. My understanding from my parents-in-law is that the phrase keystone cops is an insult for incompetence, so I will use it here.
"Some of them looked like they wanted to help, but one kept interfering, deliberately sabotaging their efforts to save her life.
"I was born a soldier, and have been killing on the battlefield since three years old. I know what death looks like. Hell, I've died myself. I ended up grabbing him by the face and throwing him in the stream. I would have held him under if I could get away with it. While he was under the other medics finally got to her and found no pulse. I grabbed her hand and put my energy back into her and her heart started up again. I didn't let go of her hand again until a little while ago."
Everyone was silent.
Vegeta smirked, "Since you're all probably wondering. I was tested before I was born. My DNA said I would be most useful to society as a heartless killer, so I was trained and put on the front line."
Yamcha rolled his eyes, "Don't give me that. You cried at the end of—"
Vegeta shoved him and he went flying down the hall and into the exterior wall. When the dust cleared, he was hanging with his butt in the air out a hole into the sky.
"I'm ok!" Yamcha said as a seagull landed on his back.
It nipped him in the butt.
"Ow! Hey you stupid bird!" He shooed it off of him and out the hole.
Then a cacophony of screaming erupted from outside.
"Oh shit…"
Yamcha turned and raced down the hall as a flock of seagulls chased him through the building.
Conner and Reynolds hit the deck to escape the wrathful flock.
Vegeta's laughs could barely be heard over the noise as he fell over on his side.
"Is this normal for you?" Reynolds asked, getting off the floor.
"Oh, you should meet the bald one!" Vegeta said, gripping his sides.
The doctor returned and stuck his head out the door. "What the hell is happening in my hospital?"
"You… just… missed… the fun…" Vegeta wheezed through his laughter.
"Are you the doctor?" Conner stood.
"Yes Mr. O'Malley." He said, extending his hand. "Dr. Ramirez at your service."
"I want to talk to you, alone." Conner said.
"Sepsis?!"
"Yes. Early stages. Not to irreversible levels yet, but combined with her already near fatal dehydration and low blood sugar pushed her over the edge. Vegeta is worried about refeeding syndrome, so we are keeping a close eye on it. He understood the concept just enough to not completely sabotage her by giving her a banana after fasting seven days. We're holding off on the dextrose until we see what the banana does. In the meantime, we are giving normal IV solution to fix her dehydration and help jump start her kidneys alongside her antibiotic drip."
"But they are given water."
"Doesn't mean she is being allowed to drink it. Don't tell Reynolds, but with the severity of her physical injuries, I used a rape kit. She's clean, thankfully, but she's been through hell. Either Reynolds isn't telling me everything, or the red team has figured out the hidden cameras and are torturing her out of sight. She has both a bruised bladder and a bruised kidney. That's deep, severe impacts from both front and back."
"Then she meets the criteria for dismissal."
Dr. Ramirez sighed, "As much as I hate it. Mr. Reynolds was right saying she doesn't. That alien saved her life, but whatever he did to her means there's no evidence of her deteriorated condition. She was alert and stable despite everything." He shook his head. "They fucked up the rules this year bad, but I can't risk everyone's lives over this. The million-dollar lawsuits against me personally and my hospital. We're a poor rural hospital on the brink of bankruptcy. If we went down, the next nearest hospital is five hours away. The money from this was a windfall for us, but now I think I know why we were selected over the big prestigious ones."
Conner closed his eyes, "Yeah… Yeah I'm getting this a lot…"
"We're filling her up with the strongest antibiotics we have on site," he said quickly, "and I just ordered an even stronger one plus the strongest antivirals and antiparasitics that won't interact. They'll be here in an hour and the rules say contestants can be given daily medications for on site. She'll be in pain, but out of danger in two weeks with care and rest."
"But the contestants are responsible for its protection and dosing," Conner said. "And these sound dangerous."
"A… A watch," he said. "It'll be a fight with Mr. Reynolds, but if you can get the alien a watch, he can look after her. He said he had his own camp separate from the rest of the red team with food, clean water and even an outhouse. Both he and Ms. Hyo-jin said she will be safe there."
"I'll get it done," Conner said. "You just do your job."
"Just make sure Reynolds keeps his promise of 11 pm. He wanted her back on shore by midnight."
Conner nodded.
Meanwhile, on Samundra…
The sun was almost gone, the crews were packed up and the red crews had just rolled onto the beach.
The bonfire was still shooting a mountain of flames into the sky even though it is no longer being fed.
The group was eating a late meal. Jessica was some distance away, out staring at the sea again.
"Shouldn't someone go get her," Casey asked with her mouth full.
"Let her be weird," Bob said. "Just save her a bowl."
Daisuke stood up and headed over to her.
"Still got that weird feeling?" he asked, walking up.
She jumped slightly, being shaken from her thoughts.
"N…No…" she looked back out. "Whatever it was, it disappeared into the water a long time ago. I'm just thinking. It was… just a twist of energy. Something pure but wrong at the same time. Then suffering like I never felt being swallowed by Vegeta's void in a dark spiral. Then it disappearing into the sea…" She began shaking her head slowly. "I don't know… I don't know…"
"Well, you can't do anything about it now," Daisuke said. "We'll be seeing Vegeta again tomorrow. We can ask him then." He held up his half-eaten bowl, "Food's done. Let's rest."
"Yeah… We can ask him then…" Jessica followed him back to camp.
Later, on Berapi Beach…
The moon was almost at its zenith when the sound of a motorboat stirred Michael and Ichiro. They looked and saw the silhouette of a man carrying a person bridal-style out of a boat, splashing the last few feet to shore.
The boat sped off into the night.
The silhouette left no doubt as to the man, and extension, the other person. The man let down the other figure in the dry sand.
"The hell?!" Michael shouted realizing who they were.
The two figures stopped and turned towards them. Then the one being carried climbed on the man's back and he darted into the woods.
"Get back here!" He grabbed the machete.
Ichiro grabbed him when he tried to stand. "What are you doing? Nothing can be done now. Go back to bed. We'll see them tomorrow."
Vegeta returned to camp and found the fire pit still burning high and Hassim asleep in the hammock.
"Enjoying your nap?"
Hassim snapped awake.
He turned his head and saw Vegeta carrying Sugar Petal on his back.
"Is she ok?" he asked, sitting up.
"Apparently me using my energy to keep her alive means there's no proof she needed to be medivaced, so they gave her an IV for dehydration," he held up a plastic bag full of bottles, "And gave me medication for her. Antibiotic, antiparasitic, antiviral, and anti-whatever the other skittles are. Basically, throwing shit against the wall to see what sticks." He then twisted his wrist showing a watch. "At least Conner got me a watch so I can time the meds right. He said it was set to the world's most annoying alarm. Yamcha did not like the joke that it was a recording of his voice." He smiled, "he liked it even less when I said I would have named someone else but you're not supposed to speak ill of the dead on this pathetic pebble."
"Vegeta, I have to ask, but…"
"If you're willing to hop over the stream, follow the little creek up the hill to its spring and little pond. You'll find your answer there. There's a prototype lantern on the shelves, let me get this girl to a nice soft bed." He walked over and entered the beehive.
Hassim followed. He stayed down on the first floor as Vegeta climbed the ladder to the second floor. Then suddenly, a bright light came from upstairs. He rushed up and was surprised to see a fireplace, chimney and all. Sugar Petal was lying on two animal skins on the bamboo floor.
Vegeta looked over at him. "Tiny flame lights up the room really well, doesn't it?" He smiled and stood, "Let's get you the light."
Hassim backed away as he climbed down. Vegeta walked over to the shelf and grabbed what in the dark looked like a bucket made from the huge bamboo from the tree house. He followed Vegeta out to the fire and Vegeta used some sticks to fish some burning coals out.
"Is that… glass?"
"Yep. Stupid plastic kept melting. But the fire's only hot enough to make the beer bottles flattened out." Vegeta handed it to Hassim. "I'm pretty sure next season they'll remove the scavenging rules because of me," he laughed.
Hassim took it and looked it over, "You can say that again."
"If you don't think it's bright enough, just come back. I can always show you tomorrow night." Vegeta walked back into the beehive.
Hassim paused, but then walked down to the stream. The green glass gave a weird glow, but it was bright enough to see. He looked back at the camp. Then he took a deep breath and trudged across the stream. He didn't want to believe the serial killer and cannibal stories, but the crew had snapped at Ichiro, not for them being lies, but for revealing some type of secret. But Vegeta was special. The dead returned to guide people towards him. His glowing hand had calmed Sugar Petal.
And he flew.
Whatever this "energy" was, the answer to it all was up this hill.
It took maybe 15 minutes to scramble up the steep hill in the dark. Hassim came to a decent size clearing. The floor was a hard slab of bedrock with a spring and medium-sized, rectangular pool with time worn edges. It had definitely been carved out by humans at some point.
He held up the lamp and squinted, but he saw nothing. Absolutely nothing. What was up here Vegeta wanted him to see? There was nothing but the sound of bubbling water and the light of the stars above.
THE STARS.
Back at camp, Vegeta heard Hassim enter the hive. He looked and saw his face rise over the floor as he climbed up.
"I see I'm not dealing with an idiot judging by your expression," he said rolling back over, "If you don't feel comfortable, my tree house is yours for the night. Just toss the embers into the little fireplace there."
"No I… I'm fine."
"Your stutter and pale completion says otherwise," Vegeta said not looking. "Toss the embers into the pit outside then, and find yourself a spot. No sense restoking the fire in here."
"Already did," he said, finishing climbing up. He found a place to lie down.
"Your time is better served sleeping instead of watching my back," Vegeta said a few minutes later. "It's almost 1 and it's a challenge day."
