Ark: Object of Extinction

Chapter Three: The Island

I stared through the magnifying glass, at the symbol. ‘Contestant one? What does that even mean.’ I thought. “Uh… Ethan?” I asked, standing up. Ethan looked down from the top bunk. “Yeah…?” He responded. “Get down here.” I ordered. He complied, not gracefully though, he dropped off the bunk and landed on the floor. “Ouch.” He mumbled, standing up. “Show me your wrist.” I said. He held out his left hand nervously. “Look.” I said. He looked down at his wrist. I held the magnifying glass up to it. “What… in the… Con-test-ant…. what do think it means?” He asks nervously. “How should I know? Your the smart one here.” I replied, then realizing what I just said, scowled. “LIGHTS OUT!” A voice called. The lights shut off, leaving me and Ethan in darkness. I sat down in the bed, suddenly feeling very tired. I could hear Ethan grunting as he tried desperately to get back on the top bunk. Soon, I couldn’t hear anything at all. Just the short ringing sound, of silence.

I was wet. That was the first thought that came to mind. I felt as if I had just fallen off a ship into the stormy sea, but that couldn’t be right, there was no sea. Not anymore at least. I opened my eyes, and pulled myself up to a sitting position. I was on a beach. A forest sat in front of me, ocean behind me, to my left I could see more of the beach, to my right, a large scaly beast stood, munching on the leaves of the forest. “It’s beautiful, am I right?” A voice said from behind him. I hopped to my feet and whirled around. Ethan stood there, holding an axe of some sort. “Where are we?” I asked, my voice strangely hoarse. “No idea, but, we’ll be fine, I saw smoke rising from part of the beach further down. My bet, is that we aren’t alone on this island.” Ethan smiled. “Here.” Ethan tossed the axe to me. I inspected it. It was crude, made out of stone and wood. But it would do the job. “Should we investigate the smoke?” Ethan asked. I nodded. We began trotting down the beach looking for the source of a large smoke cloud that hung in the air, we didn’t need to travel far though. Almost half a mile out. We spotted a large wooden cabin, a small wall of spikes ran around it. I held the axe at ready. We crept past through a small gate that stood as the entryway to the property. Four campfires stood in the corner of the area, they were lit, a small white egg sat in fire. Ethan walked up to the door and knocked. Almost instantly the door flung open. A man stood there, he was almost as old as me, yet, much more… wild looking. He had a bushy brown beard, smooth brown hair, green eyes, a very pale face, and a white tunic looking garment. He held a makeshift bat in his hand. “We mean no harm.” Ethan said. “…Josh?” I yelped. For it was, Josh, the commander who had seen it all. Josh lowered his bat, looking almost disappointed that he wasn’t about to wack somebody. “Peter! It’s so good to… see you!” Josh cried out. “Percival.” I muttered. “I’ve been here for years! How’d you guys find me?” He asked. Ethan looked confused. “But I just saw you yesterday. You looked as healthy and happy as you could get.” Ethan said. Josh scratched his head. “Oh yeah, come to think of it, I did just get here, sorry I must’ve forgotten about you junior.” He said, patting Ethan on the head. Ethan looked at me and mouthed something that looked “He’s crazy.” I nodded in agreement. “Come on in lads, I’ve got loads to tell you both!” He said.

Next in Argentavis, previous in Araneo.

By MGG