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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
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As Jarod crouched in the bushes, he was beginning to think that all of it had been a bad idea. He was outnumbered, had no weapon and no knowledge of the surrounding terrain. He was—to put it mildly—screwed.
He heard movement to his left and he quickly turned his head, his eyes searching the forest for the source of the noise. He saw nothing, which concerned him more than if he had, and he carefully slid further back into the cover of the vegetation.
He held his breath and waited. The trees shifted slightly in the light breeze; the call of an unnamable bird echoed in the distance. Life on the island, despite everything, kept on going. Jarod swallowed and looked around one last time before he sprang to his feet and ran. He heard movement behind him, surprised movement, possibly a squirrel, but he didn’t dare turn to look. He just kept running, heading in the direction of where the others were and hoping he wasn’t about to lead the bad guys right to them.
It wasn’t until he had a good distance behind him did he finally risk looking back. His eyes searched the forest for his pursuers, for any sign that they were following him. He was relieved to see no one, but that feeling was short lived. He heard the crunching of twigs and vines before he felt himself falling, feeling the sting of limbs hitting him on his way down. And then with a painful shout, he hit the bottom.
---
“What?” she barked.
“I said there are pirates!” Broots said louder.
She flinched and shoved her palm at him. “I heard you, you idiot. I just can’t believe it.”
“Well, it’s true. Jarod said he was going to try to lose them and then he’d meet us back here.”
“Of course Lab Rat will play the Dudley-Do-Right thing,” Parker griped. “And when he gets here, what do we do?”
“I … ah … don’t know.”
Parker closed her eyes and sighed, turning away. Sydney took a step toward the tech, asking him, “How many are there?”
“We saw three, but there could be more.”
“Perfect!” Parker wailed, throwing up her hands.
“Miss Parker, shoosh!” Broots hushed, looking around.
She spun and glared at him, but said nothing. Sydney turned to her, his face tight with concern. “Parker, we should probably go look for him.”
“No reason for us to be Pirate Bait as well. Boy Wonder can handle it.”
“We’re armed,” Sydney said, gesturing toward her gun. “Jarod is not. We need to find him.”
“Sydney, that was automatic gun fire we heard. I have a rusting 9mm.”
“You’re an excellent shot.”
She scowled at him. “Flattery will get you no where.”
“Parker, please.”
She looked at him for a moment longer, hating the desperation that glittered in his eyes. She gritted her teeth, willing herself to say no, to refuse, but when she opened her mouth, “Fine,” was what she said.
“Thank you,” Sydney sighed.
“God, I hate you both,” she snarled as she marched passed them.
---
Jarod groaned and lifted his head up from the dirt, blinking his eyes in rapid succession to try to get them to focus. He looked around the darkness that he had been engulfed in and felt the sensation of dread settle in his gut. The sensation heightened when he tried to push himself up off his stomach and felt the white hot pain shoot through his arm. He hissed and immediately stopped moving, squeezing his eyes shut until the pain subsided. Once it did, he sighed and rolled onto his back slowly, and stared up at the hole he had fallen through. It had to have been eight feet up where there was a small indication of breakage through the intertwining vines and limbs. He would have guessed it was a natural sink hole, but upon looking around, he realized that the walls of the hole were nearly squared off.
Someone had dug the hole. But, for what?
Jarod slowly sat up and held his wrist to his chest, getting a better look at his surroundings. It was almost too dark to see anything, but from the sun poking in and out of the trees and the foliage covering the hole, he could just make out the brown, dirt edges, and debris covering the floor.
And that’s when he spotted something. It was mostly buried and barely recognizable, sitting in the far corner of the hole. He scooted toward it and leaned closer, warily reaching out a hand to wipe away dirt.
What he suspected was true; it was a human skull.
He pulled his hand back and scooted away until his back pressed against the opposite wall. He breathed heavily through his mouth, his eyes darting side to side as he thought over the situation. He tilted his head back and gazed at the vegetation above him, trying to formulate a plan.
He was just about to try and stand when he heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps. There were a few of them, and they were heading his way.
Jarod pressed himself hard against the wall and involuntarily held his breath.
---
Broots stopped and stared at the ground with eyes wide like eagle eggs. “Parker,” he whispered, and both the brunette and psychiatrist stopped and turned to look at him. The tech pointed a finger and gasped, “Look!”
In union, Parker and Sydney turned to look at where he was pointing, their eyes drifting around in confusion. “What the hell are we looking at, Broots?”
“It’s …” he began, “It’s … a snake.”
Parker blinked and then walked over to stand next to him. For a moment, she made a show of trying to see what he was seeing, but turned and slapped the back of his head.
“Ouch!” Broots whined.
“You idiot,” she seethed through tightly clenched teeth. “We have pirates out after us and you’re scared of snakes?”
“It could be poisonous!” Broots snarled back.
Parker grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him roughly toward her, saying in a dangerously low voice, “I have more venom than ANY snake out here, so the only one you have to worry about is me. You got that Broots?”
“Hey, you two,” Sydney said, “Stop your arguing.”
Parker shoved him away, watching the tech as he straightening his shirt with a scowl. “You’re such a moron,” she added for good measure.
“Parker, shut up,” Sydney barked.
Parker looked at him, surprised. “What did you just say?”
“Listen!”
Sydney turned and stared off into the distance, straining his ears to hear. Parker and Broots did the same, drifting their eyes around cautiously.
Then they heard it; a hushed call, “Hello?”
All three turned their heads to their left, looking around for the source.
“Psst … Sydney, Miss Parker … Broots!”
They all exchanged looks before they headed in the direction, eagerly looking around. “Jarod?” Sydney called back, trying to keep his voice low.
“Yeah, down here!”
“Down where?”
“Here!”
They came up to the thick weeds and pushed them aside, discovering the hole with slight surprise. All three leaned forward, peering into it and finding Jarod staring back up at them.
“Is this your plan?” Parker said with a smirk, the first one to recover from the sight of it all. “Being a gopher until the heat dies down?”
“I fell in,” Jarod said needlessly.
“Gee, that sucks.”
“We’ll get you out of there,” Sydney called.
“I sprained my wrist,” Jarod replied, looking down at the arm he still held to his chest. He slowly rose to his feet with the help of his other hand and frowned at the three looking down at him. “I don’t know how I will get out of here by myself.”
Parker turned to Broots and slapped him on the shoulder. “Get down there and hoist him up.”
“Me?” Broots barked, looking at her. “Why me?”
“Because, you’re the most physically capable out of the three of us.”
Broots looked between them and then shook his head. “I beg to differ.”
“Down. Now, Broots.”
“You just want me to …”
“Now!”
“Fine! Alright!” Broots sighed, throwing up his hands. He turned himself around and slowly began to lower himself over the edge, grabbing for limbs and vines to aid in his climb.
Suddenly, the surrounding area exploded with gun fire. Parker and Sydney ducked in surprise, and Broots, startled by the sudden ambush, lost his grip and fell the rest of the way, landing on his back with a loud thud. Jarod immediately went to him and helped him up, then both tilted their heads up to ground level above them, desperately seeking out the other two.
Parker cursed and pressed herself against a tree, lifting her gun up to her shoulder. She tossed a look over at Sydney, seeing that he was laying flat on his stomach under a thick cluster of bushes, before she leaned around the tree to look around the area. She couldn’t see anyone and had no indication of where the shots came from, and she cursed again, ducking herself back behind the tree.
She caught the eyes of Sydney and shook her head gravely. He just frowned in return.
“Sydney? Miss Parker?” Broots called.
Parker shot a look at the foliage covering the hole, praying he’d be quiet.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, before he was hushed by Jarod.
Parker shook her head, silently cursing him, before she heard movement beside her, and she turned her head to watch in amazement as a man stepped out of his hiding. He wasn’t looking at her but the weeds that were covering the abyss that Broots and Jarod had fallen into, and he began to move quietly toward the edge, his large black gun held out in front of him. She watched his profile as he smiled at the two trapped down there and raised his gun menacingly.
“Hello,” the man said, his voice rough like sandpaper. He aimed his rifle, his finger on the trigger.
Parker sucked in a breath and pulled out her own gun, eyeing it and then the man, before she did the only thing she could have done.
She lifted her arm and fired.
The pirate’s body spasmed as the bullet punctured through his back, and there was a moment where he just teetered there, before he fell forward.
Jarod and Broots quickly jumped out of the way and watched the man hit the ground with a sickening thud. They stared at the body for a moment in stunned silence, before they tilted their heads back and looked at the brunette now standing at the edge.
“Grab his gun and let’s go,” she said emotionless.
The two gazed at her, before Jarod moved first, bending down and sliding the weapon out from under the dead pirate. After handing it up, Jarod turned to the tech expectantly, and Broots moved to help hoist him up. With a great effort on all their parts, Jarod was pulled up to safety and Broots clumsily climbed up after him, with the aide of Sydney and Parker half way up.
“We need to move,” Parker said, looking around. “The others had to have heard the gunshots.”
“Where do we go?” Broots asked, shaking his head.
“Their ship.”
All turned to look at Jarod and he returned their gazes steadily.
“What?” Parker barked.
“The only way off the island is their ship. We’re going to steal it.”
“And how do you propose we do that?” Parker asked, her hands on her hips. “You think they just left it unguarded?”
Jarod lifted the large black rifle up with his good hand and eyed it up and down, and Parker leaned back a little, surprise written on her face.
“Execution is not your style,” she said.
“Neither is yours,” he replied smoothly, looking at her. “But, it seems we all have to do what we have to do in order to survive.”
She stared at him for a moment, processing his words, before she reached over and took the gun from him, offering him hers. He took it with slight hesitation, looking into her face for an explanation. She answered him with, “You can shoot a handgun with one hand.”
Jarod nodded and tucked the gun in his pants, before he looked at the other two men. “Alright, let’s do this. Either we get off this island … or die trying.”
Broots cleared his throat and looked at them nervously. “Is … ah … that our only options?”
---
Feedback is a wonderful thing!
As Jarod crouched in the bushes, he was beginning to think that all of it had been a bad idea. He was outnumbered, had no weapon and no knowledge of the surrounding terrain. He was—to put it mildly—screwed.
He heard movement to his left and he quickly turned his head, his eyes searching the forest for the source of the noise. He saw nothing, which concerned him more than if he had, and he carefully slid further back into the cover of the vegetation.
He held his breath and waited. The trees shifted slightly in the light breeze; the call of an unnamable bird echoed in the distance. Life on the island, despite everything, kept on going. Jarod swallowed and looked around one last time before he sprang to his feet and ran. He heard movement behind him, surprised movement, possibly a squirrel, but he didn’t dare turn to look. He just kept running, heading in the direction of where the others were and hoping he wasn’t about to lead the bad guys right to them.
It wasn’t until he had a good distance behind him did he finally risk looking back. His eyes searched the forest for his pursuers, for any sign that they were following him. He was relieved to see no one, but that feeling was short lived. He heard the crunching of twigs and vines before he felt himself falling, feeling the sting of limbs hitting him on his way down. And then with a painful shout, he hit the bottom.
---
“What?” she barked.
“I said there are pirates!” Broots said louder.
She flinched and shoved her palm at him. “I heard you, you idiot. I just can’t believe it.”
“Well, it’s true. Jarod said he was going to try to lose them and then he’d meet us back here.”
“Of course Lab Rat will play the Dudley-Do-Right thing,” Parker griped. “And when he gets here, what do we do?”
“I … ah … don’t know.”
Parker closed her eyes and sighed, turning away. Sydney took a step toward the tech, asking him, “How many are there?”
“We saw three, but there could be more.”
“Perfect!” Parker wailed, throwing up her hands.
“Miss Parker, shoosh!” Broots hushed, looking around.
She spun and glared at him, but said nothing. Sydney turned to her, his face tight with concern. “Parker, we should probably go look for him.”
“No reason for us to be Pirate Bait as well. Boy Wonder can handle it.”
“We’re armed,” Sydney said, gesturing toward her gun. “Jarod is not. We need to find him.”
“Sydney, that was automatic gun fire we heard. I have a rusting 9mm.”
“You’re an excellent shot.”
She scowled at him. “Flattery will get you no where.”
“Parker, please.”
She looked at him for a moment longer, hating the desperation that glittered in his eyes. She gritted her teeth, willing herself to say no, to refuse, but when she opened her mouth, “Fine,” was what she said.
“Thank you,” Sydney sighed.
“God, I hate you both,” she snarled as she marched passed them.
---
Jarod groaned and lifted his head up from the dirt, blinking his eyes in rapid succession to try to get them to focus. He looked around the darkness that he had been engulfed in and felt the sensation of dread settle in his gut. The sensation heightened when he tried to push himself up off his stomach and felt the white hot pain shoot through his arm. He hissed and immediately stopped moving, squeezing his eyes shut until the pain subsided. Once it did, he sighed and rolled onto his back slowly, and stared up at the hole he had fallen through. It had to have been eight feet up where there was a small indication of breakage through the intertwining vines and limbs. He would have guessed it was a natural sink hole, but upon looking around, he realized that the walls of the hole were nearly squared off.
Someone had dug the hole. But, for what?
Jarod slowly sat up and held his wrist to his chest, getting a better look at his surroundings. It was almost too dark to see anything, but from the sun poking in and out of the trees and the foliage covering the hole, he could just make out the brown, dirt edges, and debris covering the floor.
And that’s when he spotted something. It was mostly buried and barely recognizable, sitting in the far corner of the hole. He scooted toward it and leaned closer, warily reaching out a hand to wipe away dirt.
What he suspected was true; it was a human skull.
He pulled his hand back and scooted away until his back pressed against the opposite wall. He breathed heavily through his mouth, his eyes darting side to side as he thought over the situation. He tilted his head back and gazed at the vegetation above him, trying to formulate a plan.
He was just about to try and stand when he heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps. There were a few of them, and they were heading his way.
Jarod pressed himself hard against the wall and involuntarily held his breath.
---
Broots stopped and stared at the ground with eyes wide like eagle eggs. “Parker,” he whispered, and both the brunette and psychiatrist stopped and turned to look at him. The tech pointed a finger and gasped, “Look!”
In union, Parker and Sydney turned to look at where he was pointing, their eyes drifting around in confusion. “What the hell are we looking at, Broots?”
“It’s …” he began, “It’s … a snake.”
Parker blinked and then walked over to stand next to him. For a moment, she made a show of trying to see what he was seeing, but turned and slapped the back of his head.
“Ouch!” Broots whined.
“You idiot,” she seethed through tightly clenched teeth. “We have pirates out after us and you’re scared of snakes?”
“It could be poisonous!” Broots snarled back.
Parker grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him roughly toward her, saying in a dangerously low voice, “I have more venom than ANY snake out here, so the only one you have to worry about is me. You got that Broots?”
“Hey, you two,” Sydney said, “Stop your arguing.”
Parker shoved him away, watching the tech as he straightening his shirt with a scowl. “You’re such a moron,” she added for good measure.
“Parker, shut up,” Sydney barked.
Parker looked at him, surprised. “What did you just say?”
“Listen!”
Sydney turned and stared off into the distance, straining his ears to hear. Parker and Broots did the same, drifting their eyes around cautiously.
Then they heard it; a hushed call, “Hello?”
All three turned their heads to their left, looking around for the source.
“Psst … Sydney, Miss Parker … Broots!”
They all exchanged looks before they headed in the direction, eagerly looking around. “Jarod?” Sydney called back, trying to keep his voice low.
“Yeah, down here!”
“Down where?”
“Here!”
They came up to the thick weeds and pushed them aside, discovering the hole with slight surprise. All three leaned forward, peering into it and finding Jarod staring back up at them.
“Is this your plan?” Parker said with a smirk, the first one to recover from the sight of it all. “Being a gopher until the heat dies down?”
“I fell in,” Jarod said needlessly.
“Gee, that sucks.”
“We’ll get you out of there,” Sydney called.
“I sprained my wrist,” Jarod replied, looking down at the arm he still held to his chest. He slowly rose to his feet with the help of his other hand and frowned at the three looking down at him. “I don’t know how I will get out of here by myself.”
Parker turned to Broots and slapped him on the shoulder. “Get down there and hoist him up.”
“Me?” Broots barked, looking at her. “Why me?”
“Because, you’re the most physically capable out of the three of us.”
Broots looked between them and then shook his head. “I beg to differ.”
“Down. Now, Broots.”
“You just want me to …”
“Now!”
“Fine! Alright!” Broots sighed, throwing up his hands. He turned himself around and slowly began to lower himself over the edge, grabbing for limbs and vines to aid in his climb.
Suddenly, the surrounding area exploded with gun fire. Parker and Sydney ducked in surprise, and Broots, startled by the sudden ambush, lost his grip and fell the rest of the way, landing on his back with a loud thud. Jarod immediately went to him and helped him up, then both tilted their heads up to ground level above them, desperately seeking out the other two.
Parker cursed and pressed herself against a tree, lifting her gun up to her shoulder. She tossed a look over at Sydney, seeing that he was laying flat on his stomach under a thick cluster of bushes, before she leaned around the tree to look around the area. She couldn’t see anyone and had no indication of where the shots came from, and she cursed again, ducking herself back behind the tree.
She caught the eyes of Sydney and shook her head gravely. He just frowned in return.
“Sydney? Miss Parker?” Broots called.
Parker shot a look at the foliage covering the hole, praying he’d be quiet.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, before he was hushed by Jarod.
Parker shook her head, silently cursing him, before she heard movement beside her, and she turned her head to watch in amazement as a man stepped out of his hiding. He wasn’t looking at her but the weeds that were covering the abyss that Broots and Jarod had fallen into, and he began to move quietly toward the edge, his large black gun held out in front of him. She watched his profile as he smiled at the two trapped down there and raised his gun menacingly.
“Hello,” the man said, his voice rough like sandpaper. He aimed his rifle, his finger on the trigger.
Parker sucked in a breath and pulled out her own gun, eyeing it and then the man, before she did the only thing she could have done.
She lifted her arm and fired.
The pirate’s body spasmed as the bullet punctured through his back, and there was a moment where he just teetered there, before he fell forward.
Jarod and Broots quickly jumped out of the way and watched the man hit the ground with a sickening thud. They stared at the body for a moment in stunned silence, before they tilted their heads back and looked at the brunette now standing at the edge.
“Grab his gun and let’s go,” she said emotionless.
The two gazed at her, before Jarod moved first, bending down and sliding the weapon out from under the dead pirate. After handing it up, Jarod turned to the tech expectantly, and Broots moved to help hoist him up. With a great effort on all their parts, Jarod was pulled up to safety and Broots clumsily climbed up after him, with the aide of Sydney and Parker half way up.
“We need to move,” Parker said, looking around. “The others had to have heard the gunshots.”
“Where do we go?” Broots asked, shaking his head.
“Their ship.”
All turned to look at Jarod and he returned their gazes steadily.
“What?” Parker barked.
“The only way off the island is their ship. We’re going to steal it.”
“And how do you propose we do that?” Parker asked, her hands on her hips. “You think they just left it unguarded?”
Jarod lifted the large black rifle up with his good hand and eyed it up and down, and Parker leaned back a little, surprise written on her face.
“Execution is not your style,” she said.
“Neither is yours,” he replied smoothly, looking at her. “But, it seems we all have to do what we have to do in order to survive.”
She stared at him for a moment, processing his words, before she reached over and took the gun from him, offering him hers. He took it with slight hesitation, looking into her face for an explanation. She answered him with, “You can shoot a handgun with one hand.”
Jarod nodded and tucked the gun in his pants, before he looked at the other two men. “Alright, let’s do this. Either we get off this island … or die trying.”
Broots cleared his throat and looked at them nervously. “Is … ah … that our only options?”
---
Feedback is a wonderful thing!
