Hey everyone. Lord Pugsy here. Here is the next instalment of A Phantom Marooned, and I am sorry to say that I doubt there will be another chapter before Christmas, but I will of course endeavour to get one in before the New Year. Once again, I only own the story, not Danny & Co.
Not fully believing what they had just heard, the entire class remained statue-like, hoping that the noise came from the wind or some animal banging into the lifeboat they left in the jungle. When all was quiet, the group allowed themselves to relax a little bit; looking at each other, they couldn't help but emit a small laugh at how collectively scared they had just become. Then another shot rang through the air. Then another, and another, and another.
"Get to the shelter!" Shouted Danny. As they all began rushing to the shelter, Danny decided to extend his faith and turned to Dash.
"Dash!" Shouted Danny. "Get everyone in the shelter. Keep them quiet, keep them low, and keep them calm." Appealing to his ego, Dash took to his task with zeal as he was given a leadership role and began ushering his classmates and teacher into their shelter. Making sure everyone was in the shelter and safe, Danny turned to leave when someone grabbed his arm. Expecting Dash, Danny was surprised to see Sam holding his arm; a determined look in her eye.
"Danny," she started. "Please –." Danny cut her off.
"Sam, don't worry. I'm not going to do anything stupid. I'm well aware that, even though I am half dead, a bullet to the head will make me a fully dead. I may be clueless, but I'm not crazy enough to go up against a gun with a stick."
"Danny, I –." Sam started again, but Danny spoke over her.
"I won't go far. Just up to the treeline; you will still be able to see me." Danny said.
"I was only going to say be careful. I don't want to have to stitch you up again so soon." Sam finally got out.
"Oh." Said Danny, rubbing his neck embarrassingly, only to duck down when another series of shots rang through the night, taking Sam down with him.
"Five minutes." Said Sam, slightly shaken. Then, kissing him fully on the mouth first, she ducked into the shelter, leaving Danny feeling slightly giddy at the contact.
I could really get used to that thought Danny, smiling to himself. Another round of bullets broke through Danny's musings, causing him to duck once again; still crouched, he made for the treeline. Looking inwards, Danny turned on his Sense and stretched it as far as he could. He managed to stretch it to about three hundred feet before his sight began to turn slightly fuzzy and his hearing began to sound like static. He could make out various animals running and flying through the jungle, clearly startled by the noises, but there was no sign of any humans. After about a minute, and to no avail, Danny concentrated hard on his ice core and powered up his Sense as much as humanly (and ghostly) possible, stretching it to three thousand feet. At this distance, the static noise was unbearable and his sight virtually zero. All he could see were the orange auras of the various animals which had passed through the surrounding area; the jungle had all but disappeared from Danny's sight. Knowing he couldn't keep this up for long, Danny scanned the entire jungle, when he finally saw them: a faint blue aura was flickering at the edge of his range. As severe nausea began to set in, followed by horrific stomach cramps, two more blue auras appeared in Danny's sight, carrying something blue between them. Danny's last Sense image was the four blue auras moving away from him, before keeling over and throwing up what little there was in his stomach.
In the short time it took Danny to walk back to the shelter, Danny was overcoming his nausea, but the taste of sick was still strong. He gestured for water and Sam, who had waited in the entrance so that she could keep an eye on Danny, threw him one. He swirled some water around in his mouth and spat it out before Sam came up to him.
"You alright Danny?" Asked Sam, giving him a once over.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He said, still a little bit shaky. "I've just never stretched my Sense that far before."
"Did you manage to see anything out there?"
"Yeah. About a hundred metres out; towards the stream where we get our water. There were three of them." Danny slowly trailed off, which wasn't missed by Sam.
"What aren't you telling me?" She asked.
"There were actually four. But one was being dragged away." This caused Sam to gasp, bringing her hand up to her mouth.
"They weren't dead Sam." Hushed Danny, bringing her into a hug. "They were still emitting a strong aura; I think they were just unconscious." Once she had controlled herself, Danny took her hand and led her back into the shelter. Seeing his arrival, the whole shelter burst into a frenzy of questions about what was happening, were those gunshots and are there any other people on the island.
Well, thought Danny. At least they're not asking me about the panthers anymore.
"Yes, it appears that there are other people on this island." Started Danny, the looks in his classmates' faces lighting up. "And yes, those really were gunshots." The hopeful faces fell into ones of panic and fear.
"Look," said Danny, hoping to prevent another panic. "There's nothing we can do for now, except to remain calm and most importantly, quiet." As he said this, he sat himself down next to Sam, Tucker and Valerie, and got himself comfortable as fatigue began to set in. Before too soon, everyone began to follow suit. Just as people began to get comfortable, Danny said something which put them back on edge.
"No fire tonight." He stated bluntly.
"Why ever not Danny?" Asked Mr Lancer, who had been looking forward to the fire's warmth and light in the eerily dark and cold evenings on the island.
"Because Mr Lancer," Danny started simply. "We don't know if the people with the guns are friendlies."
It may have only been mid-afternoon when they rested, but it was in the early hours of the next day when they finally emerged from their shelter; the stress and fear of the previous day taking a toll on their already weakened state of mind. When everyone had finally vacated the shelter and sat around in a circle, Danny spoke what everyone was thinking, but not willing to say it for themselves.
"We need to head into the jungle." He said, looking around at everyone. "I know no one wants to, but we need to. We are running dangerously low on water again, as well as food."
"What's the point?" Alice asked pessimistically.
"Yeah Fenton," agreed Dash, much to everyone's surprise. "They've got guns and we've got sticks. We'd be cut down instantly." To see and hear Dash lose all bravado really hit home for everyone sat around Danny.
"Would I be correct in assuming that you would still like us to train with the weapons you created Danny?" Asked an especially despondent Mr Lancer.
"Yes, I still do." Said Danny, bluntly.
"What's the point?" Asked Eric, reiterating what Alice said.
"Because I would rather go up against a gun, which has limited ammo by the way, with a stick than nothing at all. Besides, I'm pretty sure the deadly animals that we will also encounter don't have guns." This struck a chord with everyone as they remembered the night when Danny fought off the panthers, and how useless they felt not being able to do anything.
"What did you have in mind Danny?" Asked Mr Lancer.
"Well, first of all," started Danny, gesturing towards the pile of weapons still on the ground around the campfire. "Everybody grab a weapon. We've got work to do."
After about six hours of non-stop training, despite Danny's pessimistic expectations, the class were excelling under the circumstances. After an hour and a half with Danny, everyone was managing to keep a hold of their weapons without dropping them. After a few hours with Sam and Tucker, those with spears were able to throw them near-perfectly straight; those who were using daggers weren't too far behind them. After the fifth hour, they could throw them straight with varying levels of strength. Whilst they were handling the dagger and spear users, Valerie and Danny were training the ones who wanted to be able to use the hammers and pickaxes. Danny would teach them the basic moves and they would then spar with Valerie; Danny didn't want to run the risk of his ghostly strength seeping through and potentially breaking his classmates' limbs. It was also due to the fact that Dash was training with a hammer, and Danny didn't want to run the risk of his ego getting in the way of the temporary truce they had made before the first gunshot was heard. After two hours with them, Dash, Kwan, Craig and Eric were competent enough to wield their weapons effectively, despite Valerie beating them every time. Standing off to one side whilst their classmates rested, Danny, Sam, Tucker and Valerie looked on like proud teachers.
"I think we've actually managed to accomplish something here." Danny said to his friends, smiling as he looked at his class.
"Yeah," agreed Sam, taking Danny's hand. "It was a good idea to train them Danny. Now we may actually stand a chance."
"You don't have to sound too surprised." Said Danny, feigning hurt. "I sometimes have great ideas, just not very often. Kind of why I depend on you three when I fight a new ghost."
"Oh you mean like when we fought that ghost about a month ago? The one that had two heads?" Asked Valerie.
"Oh I remember him," chimed in Tucker. "We had to split up and distract him from both sides whilst Danny flew in from above. How many times did he throw you into a building?"
"It was only a couple of times." Defended Danny.
"Nuh uh." Laughed Sam. "As I remember, it was about four times per head."
"Whose side are you on anyway?" Asked Danny, turning to her, a wide smile on her face. Leaning over, she gave him a quick peck on the lips.
"Haven't decided yet." She said, causing all four of them to laugh.
"Anyway," started Danny, trying to change the subject. "How was training Paulina with a dagger." When Sam stifled a laugh, Danny turned to Tucker.
"Well, she was being mouthy to begin with." Said Tucker.
"So she was being herself?" Asked Valerie.
"Pretty much." Confirmed Tucker. "But then Sam did something I will never forget. She threw a dagger at her."
"You did what?" Asked Danny and Valerie, shocked.
"I didn't throw it at her specifically, just at her dagger." Sam said simply, but continued under Danny's glare.
"She was messing around with her dagger saying that cheerleaders have perfect hand-eye coordination. She kept throwing it up and down and nearly took out Star's eye. Fortunately, she missed, but I didn't."
"She struck it straight out of her hands. It was brilliant." Said Tucker, earning a light smack on the arm by Valerie.
"Is Star ok?" Valerie asked.
"Yeah, she's fine." Said Sam. "Spent the rest of training far away from Paulina though. I think Paulina is afraid of me now."
"As if she wasn't already." Smirked Danny, also earning a light smack on his arm. Giving her an apologetic smile, Danny saw Mr Lancer gesturing to him from the other side of the campfire.
"I'll be right back." Said Danny, giving Sam a quick hug. As he made his way over, Danny couldn't help but notice two daggers at Mr Lancer's hips.
"Looking dangerous Mr Lancer." Said Danny, smiling at his English teacher.
"As a teacher, I take it upon myself to learn as many new skills as possible Danny." Responded Mr Lancer, reciprocating the smile. "Although, I will not be making a habit of using them, if you do not mind?"
"I wouldn't have it any other way. I don't want people to know the feeling of killing an animal. Even if it is in self-defence." Mr Lancer knew Danny's underlying thoughts though.
"Or killing another person?" Asked Mr Lancer.
"Yeah." Muttered Danny, rubbing the back of his neck. Noticing that Danny wanted to get off the possibility of killing a fellow human being, as far as Mr Lancer was concerned, he got back to what he wanted to ask Danny in the first place.
"So Danny, by my calculations, we have approximately two and a half hours before the sun begins to set. When do you propose we venture into the jungle?"
"As soon as possible really." Danny said. "We don't want to be in that jungle any longer than we need to be. But here's the part you won't like." Danny added ominously.
"Why do I get the distinct impression that this is where you declare that you will be going in there alone to hunt for these gun-wielding individuals?" He asked seriously.
"Well this time, you will be pleasantly surprised." Chuckled Danny.
"Oh?" Asked Mr Lancer, confused.
"I don't want to go in alone, but I do want to split into two groups. One to collect the food and one to collect the water. That way, we can get both done and no time is wasted unnecessarily."
"Have you already devised a plan of action?"
"Collecting food will be easier and less dangerous as the fruit-bearing trees are much closer to the beach. I want to take Valerie, Kwan, Bradley and Alice to go and collect water. I want Dash with the food collectors, and you to look out for Tucker and Mikey as they finish off the beacon."
"Your logic appears to be undeniable, but you will forgive me if I still have reservations about splitting everyone up."
"Mr Lancer," started Danny, realising he was going to have share some details with his teacher. "I know just how dangerous it can be. Look, I trust you enough now to tell you some more things about me. But please, no questions. Ok?" Mr Lancer paused briefly, before nodding slowly. Taking a deep breath, Danny continued.
"As you can probably tell from the amount of scars I have, I get into a lot of fights. As you are also aware, I know how to handle myself in a fight. And yes, Sam, Tucker and Valerie are with me when this happens. I do everything in my power to help and protect people, and I like to think I'm good at doing that. And I can promise you, I will do everything I can to protect them." Sighing deeply, Mr Lancer thought about what Danny just said.
"To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful." He said philosophically; when he saw the confused look on the teen's face, he chuckled mirthfully.
"Edward R Murrow said it. He was a highly successful journalist during the Second World War. Anyway, this relates to you because I know you to be telling the truth. Due to the fact that I know you are telling the truth, your argument has a high level of credibility. Ultimately, because your argument is truthful, I believe you when you say you will do everything within your power to protect your peers." With this, he stuck out his hand to the teen; when Danny shook his hand, Mr Lancer pulled him in closer and spoke in a serious tone.
"Thirty minutes Daniel. You are to return to this beach and in my sight in thirty minutes, ok?"
"Deal." Smiled Danny. With this, Danny walked back over to the campfire, gesturing over towards Sam, Tucker and Valerie to join him.
"OK everyone," Danny declared to everyone, getting their attention. "We have a little over a couple of hours before sunset, and no one wants to be in that jungle after dark." He left it a moment so everyone could ponder what he just said before continuing.
"Firstly, Tucker and Mikey will remain on the beach to finish off the beacon. Secondly, I will be taking Valerie, Kwan, Bradley and Alice to collect the water. Dash, you'll be leading the rest to collect the food. We need this done within thirty minutes to make sure everyone gets back here. We still don't know who's out there."
With everyone's task in mind, everyone ventured into the jungle, splitting off when they came to their designated routes. Allowing Bradley and Alice to take the lead to the stream, Valerie took this chance to speak to Danny.
"You do realise you're taking a fairly big risk in giving Dash some responsibility here don't you?" She asked him.
"Yeah," he answered. "I know. That's why I sent Sam to keep a close eye on him. Though to be honest, I don't think he will be giving us any more headaches whilst we're here."
"What makes you say that?"
"He may not be the smartest, but he's clever enough to know that arguing won't get us anyway. Not anymore."
"Do you trust him?" She asked in a more serious tone.
"With my life? No." Chuckled Danny. "There's only three people and three ghosts I trust with my life. Well, four people now." He added with a smile in Valerie's direction, causing her to beam. She had still been anxious about having hunted him for all that time and didn't think she deserved his forgiveness just yet.
"I take it Jazz is one of the people you trust?" She asked.
"If you had asked me in my first year of being a Halfa, I would have said no; especially as she had sucked me into the Fenton Thermos half a dozen times. But now, I do."
"And the ghosts?" Valerie asked, just about coming around to the idea of there being good ghosts.
"That would be Clockwork, Frostbite and Dani."
"I don't think you've told me about Frostbite. Who is he?"
"I'll tell you later. We're here now and we don't want Alice and Bradley to listen in."
"Fair point." Within fifteen minutes, they had filled up all the water bottles, and as they turned to leave, something caught Danny's eyes in the undergrowth near the entrance to the game trail. Walking over to it and crouching down, Danny pulled out about a dozen shell casings; all different sizes. Turning to face Valerie, Alice and Bradley scared faces.
"We need to leave right now."
Sprinting through the jungle, they burst out onto the beach to find everyone else had already returned. Leaving Alice and Bradley to catch their breath, Danny and Valerie made a beeline for Tucker and Mikey.
"Guys, please tell us some good news." Begged Danny, still slightly wide-eyed.
"Would good news be that the combined technological intelligence of both myself and Mikey has resulted in a fixed beacon?"
"You did it?" Asked Danny hopefully.
"You can bet your desert island butt that we fixed it. We are officially transmitting as of about five minutes ago."
"I knew you could do it." Exclaimed Danny, bringing his best friend into a hug. When he pulled away, Valerie took her opportunity to pounce on him and kiss him fully on the mouth. Danny turned to slightly bashful Mikey.
"I hope you don't mind if I just give you a handshake?"
"I think that would b...be best." Stuttered Mikey, still embarrassed by the show of affection being displayed by Valerie and Tucker. For the first time in a few days, Danny started feeling hopeful at their predicament; then he put his hand in his pocket and felt the shell casings, bringing reality crashing down around him.
"Dude," started Danny, interrupting the couple in front of him. "How long until the signal is picked up?"
"I don't know. A few days maybe. Then another few days for the signal to be triangulated. Then probably a day to actually get here. I'm going to guess around a week until we're gone." Danny's heart sank at this, which Tucker picked up on.
"What's wrong?" Danny pulled the casings out of his pocket and passed them over to him.
"They've got between eight and twelve different types of guns Tuck. And from the amount of gun shots we heard last night, a shed load of ammo."
Later that evening, Danny got everyone around the campfire area, tossing all the shells on the ground.
"We're in big trouble guys. Even though Tucker and Mikey have done the unthinkable and fixed the beacon, it's still going to be around a week until we leave this place. Until that time, we've got people with guns running around out there who could very well know that we're here."
"What are you suggesting Fenton?" Asked Dash, not unkindly.
"For the next week, we need to be hyper-vigilant. We never go anywhere by ourselves, and we try and actively avoid the jungle as much as possible."
"That seems sensible." Said Mr Lancer, picking up one of the casings and inspecting it. Everyone else treated them like land-mines, not daring to touch them.
"Is there anything else?" Danny asked, turning to Sam, Tucker and Valerie.
"We should probably set up a watch rotation at night. We don't want to be snuck up on whilst we're all asleep." Suggested Sam.
"True that." Said Tucker. "We don't want gun-wielding psychopaths getting the better of us."
"Now I don't know about you lads," came a voice from behind them, followed by the clicking of metal. "But I feel mildly insulted by that." The class slowly turned around to see six men in army fatigues standing at the edge of the treeline. They were all holding guns, ranging from hand guns to shot guns to assault rifles; all pointing at the class' heads. The one who had spoken stepped forward from the line, assault rifle in hand and gave the group a cold, hard stare as the other five men began to circle around the campfire, like sharks preparing to attack their prey.
"If you want to see another day, you're going to follow me and my boys here." With that, he gestured with barrel of his gun for the group to start walking into the jungle. As the only adult, Mr Lancer took it upon himself to lead his students, despite being terrified beyond comprehension at coming face to face with a gun. Danny fell in at the back, just as scared as Mr Lancer, with an equally scared Sam holding his hand with Tucker and Valerie holding hands in front of them.
What are going to do now? Danny asked himself as the dark jungle swallowed them up.
I sincerely hope everyone enjoyed this latest chapter and look forward to the rest of the story. Until next time, have a very Merry Christmas.
Lord Pugsy.