The Price of Friendship Chapter 15
Russell Johnson was pushing buttons on the control panel in an almost frenzied manner. Just minutes earlier, he had been able to see what the five young men were doing and now, there was only blackness�the camera had mysteriously shut off�another probable victim of the strong thunderstorm that the island had endured the previous evening.
Russell was now very anxious to know what was happening�desperate to learn if there was some clue as to what Davis and his brothers had done to help the young men besides using the medicinal leaves. Although, the audio components of the video camera were not completely functional, Russell had been able to hear bits and pieces of some of their conversations once the boy named JC had awakened, but bits and pieces were not sufficient for him to know the entire story. He was sure that he would not be hearing the entire story from Davis�at least not without Davis having a very good reason to tell, but that would be a different matter all together.
With a frustrated snort, Russell threw the remote control that he had been holding across the room. He felt little satisfaction when he heard the dull thud of the device hitting the wall and even less when he heard the distinct sounds of shards and chunks of plastic hitting the hard wood floor.
Leigh entered the room having heard an object hit the wall, and stepped over the aftermath of her husband�s temper tantrum.
�Russell,� his wife said, in an exasperated tone, as she looked down at little remained of the video equipment�s remote control. �What in the world are you doing?�
She continued to walk across the room until she stood at his side and saw the look of extreme frustration written on his face.
�Did you find Marco?� he asked in a tone of voice that Leigh knew was normally reserved for times of intense agitation. Her eyes narrowed at the ugly manner in which he had just spoken to her.
�Yes I did. He will be here shortly,� she answered in a curt manner before turning to leave the room.
Russell quickly dropped his head and stood still for a short moment. He drew in a shaky breath then looked up to see his wife�s retreating figure.
�I�m sorry, my dear,� he apologized before she reached the door. �The camera has shut off abruptly and I don�t know why.�
�The one over the young men?� she asked with her back still turned, but her voice having returned to its almost melodic tone.
�Yes.� Russell sighed and ran a hand over his face. �Where is Marco?�
Leigh turned around and walked back over to her husband�s side.
�He is in the west end garden,� she answered. �Would you like for me to have him come immediately?�
Leigh lay her hand on Russell�s shoulder and felt tense muscles underneath. Unconsciously, she began to gently squeeze his shoulder in an effort to knead the tension away.
�No�no,� he answered, as he placed a hand over hers. �I want you to have him remain in the garden until the work is completed for the day.�
�You need more time to reformulate your plan�don�t you dear,� Leigh quietly remarked.
He only nodded his head then gave his wife a wan smile. She kissed his cheek then silently stepped away.
�I�ll be back shortly,� she said before leaving the room.
Russell returned attention to the blank video screen. His mind was racing with possible scenarios as to what was going on at that very moment underneath the disabled camera and, for a brief moment, Davis became the very least of Russell Johnson�s worries.
For a brief moment, Russell allowed his mind to retreat to that point in time when he and Leigh had found the five young men on the west side beach.
Leigh�s sharp intake of air had caused him to look in the direction that his wife was pointing in. In the distance, Russell could see five forms lying on the beach under the shade of a large boulder, which was half in, half out of the surf.
�Are they�� Leigh asked.
�I don�t know,� he had replied as he walked closer to the group of bodies. They all appeared to be young, but Russell could not tell for sure how old any of them actually were without getting much closer. He dared to look over his shoulder to see that one of Leigh�s hands fluttered nervously about her throat.
He then slowly knelt down beside each of the inert figures and found that they were all indeed breathing, but very deeply, as if in a deep state of slumber or possibly unconsciousness. After finishing with his task, Russell returned to Leigh�s side.
�They�re all alive, dear�they�re all alive.�
�Oh, Russ�what will we do? We can�t be found out.�
Russell did not have to look at his wife to know that her features would be displaying the same near panic that he was feeling himself, but then, slowly, the panic gave way to a much stronger feeling. A feeling of excitement over the possibilities of how they could possibly use this stroke of good luck pushed the panic out its way.
The sudden exhilaration that he was feeling caused Russell to inwardly smile as he spoke.
�We�re going to get them back to the house first and then we�ll decide what to do with them.�
Russell then glanced at his wife and the look of delight on Leigh�s face caused his heart to soar.
Russell's thoughts were momentarily interrupted by the flickering of the video monitor before him, causing him to turn toward the screens. With renewed hope, Russell observed what was within the camera�s range, but found that there was nothing�absolutely nothing for him to see but the surrounding trees and vegetation. Apparently, the camera no longer had the ability to pan the surrounding area...there was now no way that he could properly see what the young men were doing.
Suddenly, almost as quickly as it had come, the picture once again returned to black, causing another short outburst of frustration from Russell. He wiped a shaking hand over his face and allowed his thoughts to return to where they had been.
They used the small radio that they carried to call their helpers, Davis and Marco and had them bring the flatbed truck and a few more supplies to their location. Davis and Marco arrived within 20 minutes and the group went about the task of first insuring that the young men would not revive themselves during the trip to their home. Chloroform was Russell�s anesthesia of choice...efficient, simple to use with few side effects to render the unfortunate soul further into incapacitation. A property of the drug that was most attractive to Russell was that the recipient would, more than likely, have little memory of the events leading up to the drug�s application. That could prove very useful if one of the young men happened to awaken before the right time.
Davis and Marco made quick use of the chloroform without disturbing any one of the young men from their slumbers.
Once that task had been completed and the five inert bodies had been loaded upon the truck, along with the large supply container and life jackets, Leigh and Russell entered the cab of the vehicle while Marco and Davis rode in the back with the unconscious young men.
They enthusiastically spoke of their plans for the unfortunate group and their excitement could be barely contained within the confines of the truck�s cab. With the plans taking shape, it didn�t matter to them that there may be some one out there looking for these young men. It didn�t matter to them if these young men were related in any way. It didn�t matter to them that their plans carried the possibility of deadly consequences. No�what matter to the pair was that Russell was now going to be able to test his experimental drug.
His fellow colleagues of the FDA, due to several factors, had banned the drug that he had developed in the United States. One of which had been the sudden death of a young technician who had volunteered to be used as one of the drug�s first case studies. The drug�s exclusion had nearly destroyed Russell. The banning was what had caused he and his wife to relinquish their ties to the US and to flee to the island on which they now lived on. These five young men were going to be his ticket to the riches that he deserved. If this drug worked�if the results that he had expected were to occur, then, if put into the correct hands, he would receive the power and prestige that he craved�that he deserved.
The possibilities were endless�the drug could cause man to fight against man�woman against woman�city against city�country against country. He would hold the key to the very existence of the US if he allowed the drug to fall into the so-called �wrong hands.�
A blip of color on the otherwise blank monitor screen once again interrupted Russell�s thoughts and the camera suddenly became mobile again. It panned the surrounding area allowing Russell to once again see what the young men were doing. He watched the screen and saw that three of the young men now seemed to be missing since he had last viewed them. He fiddled with the sound controls for a few moments, trying to find what had happened to those three but found that the effort was entirely useless. In a mixture of defeat and frustration, Russell thrust a blank tape into the recorder and walked away from the equipment. He knew that he needed to eat and get some rest soon in order to further implement his plans. He glanced over his shoulder one more time before leaving the room.
Chris sat with his back against a tree trunk. Lying on the ground beside him, with his head on his lap, was Lance. Chris placed a protective arm over Lance�s chest as darkness began to settle about them.
A little more than an hour ago, Chris had made the final judgment of how to best handle the difficult decision in getting the group back to the cave safely. Now, as he waited for Justin�s return, Chris let his mind wander back to that discussion.
�I don�t like it�I don�t like your idea one bit,� Justin protested after hearing the final decision that Chris had made for the group.
�I�m sorry, J, but we don�t have any other choice,� Chris replied in a tone of voice that was showing his growing impatience.
�He�s right you know,� JC said quietly in Chris�s defense.
�But something could happen to them while we�re gone, JC,� Justin countered as he threw his arms in the air in frustration and fear. His imagination suddenly began to run wildly with the possible implications of leaving Chris and a still incapacitated Lance behind while he and JC would take an unconscious and feverish Joey back to the cave.
�Yeah, you�re right, J�something could happen, but something is going to happen with Joey if we don�t get him back to the cave where the aspirin is and where a fire can be built to get him warm.�
Chris gave Justin a look that should have told him that there was no room for further argument, but that was not going to stop Justin from trying anyway.
�But�Chris�please�� Justin began, his voice taking on a pleading tone. He just couldn�t handle the possibility of Chris having to experience an attack. He wanted to do everything in his power to prevent that from happening, but Chris was not cooperating, as far as he was concerned.
�No. You will do what I�ve said for you to do and that�s final,� Chris ordered as he stood up and held out his hand toward Justin to help him stand up. Justin looked at the hand grudgingly before accepting the help. He stood up and brushed the dirt from the seat of his shorts as Chris helped JC to stand.
�Should we try to tell Lance what�s going on?� JC asked before kneeling down beside Lance who had been sleeping heavily since their attack. Apparently, the leaves that the natives had put under Lance�s tongue were keeping Lance in an almost comatose state. When they had tried to awaken him, they experienced great difficulty and finally concluded that Lance was probably just going to have to sleep it off.
�No�you need to get going so that Justin can get back here before it gets too dark,� Chris said as he and Justin made their way over to Joey.
�Now�remember, when you get back to the cave you need to make sure you give Joey a couple of aspirin and then you need to try to keep him warm by a fire,� Chris reminded Justin.
�JC you need to see if you can�t get him to eat something like some crackers or mashed up banana and be sure to change his bandages and clean his arm good.�
�Yes, Dad,� JC said with a small smile. �Maybe you need to be the one going back with J,� he added.
�We�ve already been through that. This is really the best way�the only way,� Chris said quietly.
He understood why everyone was so nervous about the situation as a whole. There were so many things that could possibly happen to any one of them, but Chris just couldn�t allow himself the luxury of thinking of those things right now. For now, he needed Justin and JC to get Joey back to the cave.
Chris knelt down beside Joey and carefully stroked his hand over the young man�s sweaty head while Justin and JC watched at a short distance away.
�Joey�Joey�come on�wake up,� Chris whispered. Joey stirred and his eyelids fluttered open to reveal glassy, feverish eyes.
�Hey, Joe,� Chris said quietly. �How are you doing?�
Joey licked his lips and weakly nodded in response. Justin bent down and handed Chris a bottle of water. Chris took the bottle and, with JC�s help, propped Joey up into a half reclined position so that he could drink from the bottle. Once Joey had had his fill of the water, Chris quietly explained what was going to be happening. He couldn�t tell for sure if Joey completely comprehended what was being said, but he did not protest when he was lifted up to a standing position then hefted up to rest over Justin�s shoulders.
Few words were exchanged between the five, but each knew what the other was thinking.
�I�ll be back as soon as I can,� Justin said as he carefully shifted Joey�s limp body on his shoulders.
�Be careful guys�see you in a bit J,� Chris said as he turned to sit down on the ground beside Lance. He watched Justin and JC walk down the path knowing that this was only way to get the job done.
Chris�s thoughts were interrupted by a strange noise coming from somewhere overhead. He looked up at the tree limbs above him, expecting to see some sort of exotic animal, but found that there was nothing overhead that he could see that would make such a strange noise.
Chris looked back down at Lance and saw that he was still sleeping very soundly. Minutes later, Chris heard that noise again. He carefully lifted Lance�s head and scooted out from under his friend�s head. He carefully lowered Lance�s head to the ground and then stood up. Chris circled the tree that he and Lance had been under and saw that there seemed to be something out of place hanging from one of the limbs about 20 feet off the ground.
Chris wiped his hands on his shorts as he again circled the tree as he looked for some sort of way to climb the tree. He found several knots that he could step up on in order to reach the lowest limb, which was about four feet above his head. Very quickly, Chris began climbing up the tree, knowing that if he hesitated at any point, he would lose his nerve since he and heights generally didn�t mix.
After he reached the lowest limb, Chris climbed on top of it and pulled himself further up the tree by grabbing onto several more limbs hanging just above his head. He could still hear the strange noise and the farther up he climbed the tree, the louder it seemed to get.
Minutes later, Chris was level with the source of the noise and he pushed several larges leaves away in order to get to the noise�s source.
�Oh my gosh,� he whispered when he had revealed the source of the strange whirring sound that he had heard.