The island was, as far as the eye could see, deserted, and void of any civilisation. It was big - there were mountains in the distance, and beyond the beach there seemed to be a jungle-like setting, just trees and greenery. Being on dry land after bobbing around on a raft for two days took some getting used to, it felt almost nauseous. Though this probably wasn't helped by the fact that I was still dehydrated and starving. Survival mode kicked in, and my priority above anything else therefore became finding water. The jungle seemed the most likely option, and I therefore dragged myself up the beach, and ventured into the dense trees. Sometimes there seemed to be almost a clear path defining a route through the trees, and other times it felt like wilderness. I had no idea which direction to head, so just continued to hike through the vegetation, listening out for any sound of water. Eventually, after probably about two miles, I heard trickling water, and shortly after, was scooping the clearest and most welcome water down my throat that I had ever tasted.
As much as I would have loved to lay by the stream for a while, I needed to keep going, and once again started trudging through the jungle. I had no container to carry any water in so hoped another stream would at some point emerge. I then spotted my next priority - food. A banana tree stood in front of me, and despite the fruit still being green, I picked a bunch and began devouring them hungrily. At last my belly was satisfied (at least for now), and I wondered what to do. It did seem to be a path that I was now following. Whether it actually lead anywhere though I wasn't sure. As I stopped to ponder whether to go back to the beach or carry on towards the mountains, a subtle change in the air became apparent, and a strange feeling came over me. The sky darkened, and at first I thought a storm was brewing, but then I heard a whispering, which seemed to come from nowhere. I could hear a crashing sound coming from my right, and could see the trees being puled apart by…something. I could feel a presence getting closer, and I was frightened. I had just decided to make a run for it back to the beach, when a huge plume of what seemed like black smoke appeared from behind me and seemed to be travelling at speed straight in my direction. I ran faster than i've ever run before for what seemed like hours (though was probably only a few minutes in reality), with the smoke being ever present behind me. Eventually, with sheer exhaustion getting the better of me, I dived under a fallen tree trunk that lay to the side of the path and curled myself into a ball, hiding my face in my arms. I could hear whatever it was that was chasing me swirling around above me, and honestly thought that this was the end for me, until without any notice, the sound stopped, and everything was still. I lay there for a while longer, before eventually building up the courage to peek out. There was no sign of it anywhere, and I cautiously stepped back onto the track and continued along the path.
As I trudged along, I felt more terrified than I had ever been in my life, like I was on the verge of a complete breakdown, when all of a sudden, I looked up to see a man standing directly in my path. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, i'm guessing early 30s, and was wearing a loose cream coloured shirt, and brown trousers. It also couldn't escape my notice that he had bare feet - in the jungle. I stood there speechless, until eventually he spoke.
"Hello" he said casually, in a US accent.
I was silent in disbelief. Was he real? Was I hallucinating?
"Are you lost?" he followed
Eventually I managed to blurt out a short explanation for my being there, finishing with the most important question of all, "can you help me?"
The man looked at me sympathetically and nodded, placing his hand gently on my shoulder. "You need to listen very carefully, I am going to direct you to a place where there are people that will help you. There is a community that live around a mile from here. You need to keep following this path until you come to a clearing. To the right of the clearing, by a fallen tree stump, you will find a narrower track that will lead to the junction of a larger path, where you must turn right. About half an mile beyond that you will come to a large clearing with a security fence. There will be somebody there, and you must tell them that Jacob sent you".
I nodded as I gazed up the path in the direction he had pointed, trying to take it all in. I had a million questions but words seemed to fail me, and when I looked round, the man had gone, vanished in an instant. There were no signs of which direction he could have disappeared in.
With a new sense of hope, I walked at a quick pace, relaying the directions over and over in my head so that I wouldn't forget them. The short journey was exactly as described by Jacob, and in due course the clearing emerged just as he described it, with what looked like a series of pylons at regular intervals forming a line across it. I became aware of a man leaning against one of the pylons, and unnervingly a long rifle hung over his shoulder. When he saw me, he jumped up to attention and pointed the rifle straight at me. As much as I would have liked to turn round and run, instead I froze, slowly lifting my hands to the air, and waited. The man approached me and looked at me menacingly.
"Who are you? Are you alone?" he barked.
I quickly relayed the story of how I had got to the island, confirming that I was indeed alone, hoping to god he would be sympathetic to my circumstances. He pulled out a radio and spoke into it, alerting the person on the other end to what had happened. It was clear that these people didn't have many visitors, and neither did they seem to like it when when they did have one. To my horror, the voice at the other end simply instructed "If you're sure she's alone, and she's no use to us, kill her. We don't need this right now". As the man put down his radio and started to take aim at me, expressionless, with no compassion on his face at all, I was positive my time was up, until it occurred to me to utter the words that, as it turned out, would save my life.
"Jacob sent me" I blurted out.
Immediately the man paused and stared at me dumfounded. "What do you mean?" he ordered, once he had regained his composure.
"I met him in the jungle. He told me to come here and that you would help me", I cried in desperation.
The man immediately got back onto his radio and relayed this. After a long pause, the voice on the other end, albeit sounding doubtful and uncertain came back with, "Well I guess you had better bring her to me then".
I silently breathed a sigh of relief, as the man lowered his rifle and gestured me towards the fence. He quickly typed a code into a keypad in one of the pylons, and we began to hike over the clearing and into a small village, where more people came into view. The village consisted of mostly houses, with some larger buildings too. People seemed to be going about their business, and for a moment you could have been forgiven for forgetting that we were actually right in the middle of the jungle on a desert island. Eventually we came to a larger, clinical looking building to the far side of the village. He led me into the building and down a series of corridors. The rooms leading off seemed to be a mixture of offices and laboratories. We came to a halt in a small room with just a couple of benches in the middle. There were no windows, other than one wall completely made of glass, which faced out to the corridor. The man exited and locked the door behind him. I slumped on a bench and waited.