Amanaki village. There it was. Right there...

Well, what was left of it...

Merrick had lied to Anna, Amanaki was gone...

All that had been untouched by the blaze that had plagued it was the welcome sign.

I walked through the burnt out village. There was no sign of life, and the fire hadn't been recent. This place had been abandoned for months. The jungle was taking the village back, and greenery was starting to cover the scorched ground, hiding what had happened to it.

That meant no Sam.

I took the letter out of my bag and read it:

Dear Sammy,

Have you painted your house yet?

I've been trying to get my room painted, but no luck yet.

Anyway, my cousin (the one who brought you this) Renae, she needs your help. She's being chased by the pirates and my papa'ss men, but don't worry, she hasn't done anything wrong.

I think you should take her to that cave by the colonists house. You know, where that hero guy kept his friends...

She'll be safe there until we can find out a way to help her escape.

Love Anna

P.S Tell your paps to bring you over one day, I can't wait to see you.

The colonists house!

I knew where it was. It'd been built by a British business tycoon after world war one and used as a base by the japanese during world war two. I couldn't believe it'd actually held up this long.

I wonder who lives in it now?

I browsed the abandoned, burnt out village for supplies, but was only able to find an extra knife. I don't know if it was really any point of me hoping there'd be something left in the gun shop, which was almost in the centre of the village and the only building left standing.

The guns were gone; all that was left were a few rounds of ammo and some holsters, all useless.

I came out and made my way out of the village.

I followed a path, out of the village and came to a road. There was a bridge over a river and I decided to fill my bottle up. The jungle was quiet; all that I could hear was the soft breeze of the wind and the running water.

I put the knife I'd just found in my bag and took out the map. If I continued west, I'd get to the mansion.

It was about mid-day and I was pushing my way through some thick bush when I heard the dog bark. My stomach clenched and I flew round and saw it, bold as brass, snarling and growling, and running straight for me.

I yanked the knife out of my trouser pocket and as it jumped towards me, I grabbed on to it with my broken hand and pushed it down on to the ground. It bit down on my wrist, making me cry out. I dug the knife in to its chest, killing it instantly. Its jaw unlocked and I fell backwards.

In amidst the pain, I could hear people shouting. Pirates.

What I didn't know, was that I was standing right next to a pirates outpost. I pushed myself to me feet, actually saw the bullet before I heard it, and ran.

I fell through the shrubbery, rolled down a small hill and to some broken down tree trunks. I pulled myself over them, hidden from the pirates and waited..

I heard the pirates finding the dog and walking around, just meters away from me.

They didn't search for long,

"They must of got away" one said,

"Bastard killed my dog" another said.

The voices got quieter and only then did I continue on my trek, making sure I stayed in the bushes so that the pirates didn't get a shot out on me again.

As night descended, I reached the mansion and found that, it to, had been on fire.

I made myself walk inside and look at what was left of it. It seemed like someone else had inhabited the house since the last time I'd seen it.

If the fire wasn't enough, everything in the house had been turned upside down. The tables and chairs had been thrown across the room and the plates and cutlery had been scattered all over the floor.

I could see the blood on the floor from where someone had been attacked and dragged out. I followed it, out the door and to a small wooden canopy round the side of the house.

The corpse of whoever it had been was still there.

I took a step backwards and then left it. I didn't want to think too much in to it. Next to the mansion was a green house, but after some investigating, all I was able to find was some overgrown shrubs and a few empty bowls.

I made my way to the cave that was just down the hill a bit and went inside, finally hidden.

There was some old tent, a sleeping bag and an outline of a fire. I put down my backpack and gathered a few semi-wet twigs that were near the pond in the cave and put them on to the fire. I sat down next to it grabbed one of the matches, lit it and threw it on to the wood.

I sat back as it started to burn. It's strange how something so violent can bring such comfort.