The Price of Friendship Chapter 3
�There,� said Russell Johnson to his wife Leigh.
�That should hold them.� He straightened from his stooped position over JC after administering the last injection of sedative into the arms of JC, Justin, Lance, Chris and Joey. Each of the young men was laid out, unconscious on the front porch of the large estate owned by the Johnson�s.
�How long will they be out?� she asked, her voice void of compassion as she looked upon the still forms at her feet.
�Long enough for Davis and Marco to take them to the island 4 miles Northeast of here�at least 8 to 10 hours.�
�Topowgo?�
�Yes.�
�Do you think they�ll realize that they are no longer on the same island?� Leigh was not sure that this change in plans would really work.
�I think the combinations of the drugs, exhaustion, and their injuries will cause them enough confusion. I don�t think the location will come into play my dear.�
�What about the natives that may happen upon them?�
�I think that we did enough to scare them years ago that the very sight of any of these young, white men will rekindle that fear.� Russell chuckled as he remembered the native islanders cowering in fear each time he walked into their village on the nearby island. Their fear had been so great that the great majority of the islanders had fled to other islands scattered about in a near 100 miles radius. There were now just a very small handful of those living there who had been unable to secure passage to a neighboring island and he was sure that these young men would be shunned and avoided at all costs. Or, the possibility made him smile, better yet, their fear could possibly bring harm to the young men. Only time would tell.
�It will be good to see if your experiment will work, dear,� murmured Leigh as she knelt down beside JC�s still form. She carefully caressed his fine cheekbones and ran a thumb over his parted lips.
�He reminds me of you when you were a much younger man,� she said as she gazed upward at her husband. She once again brought her gaze back down to JC and gave his face a painful pinch that instantly seemed to burst blood vessels under his skin, causing a bruise to form.
�Now dear, I always took you to be one who would go for the blonds,� he said as he prodded Lance�s side roughly with his foot.
�Oh�that should leave a mark,� Leigh said with a laugh, watching her husband kick roughly again at the unconscious young man.
�Don�t forget that there is another one over there,� she said pointing at Justin, who was lying just beyond Chris.
�I wouldn�t want to do that now, would I,� Russell said with a wicked grin as he moved toward Justin, but not before giving Lance one more sound kick in the right leg.
Hours later, on the island of Topowgo, Marco and Davis hauled Joey�s unconscious form from their boat and dumped him unceremoniously beside the bodies of the other members of Nsync.
�Don�t forget their jackets,� yelled Russell as he quickly removed the search beacon and navigator equipment from the supply box that had washed up with the boys on his island. He and Leigh had made sure that there were first-aid supplies, matches, food and water in the box with plenty to spare, but not out of sympathy or compassion. In order for the experiment to work well, the young men needed to be kept alive and relatively healthy, so, hence the supplies.
�Have you checked the camera and sound equipment through out the island lately?� Russell asked Davis and Marco, who were returning to the boat to retrieve the supply box and life jackets.
�Just two days ago boss. Everything looked good and ready to run,� answered Marco before filling his arms with the life jackets and wading back through the rough surf toward the beach.
�And the alarms?� Russell yelled at the retreating figure.
�Those too boss.�
�Good.�
�Davis, have you seen any of the natives?�
�No sir...not besides my family. The others are gone and he last of their huts have fallen down long ago,� answered Davis.
�Good�good. This is getting better and better all the time.� Russell Johnson had a gleam in his eyes that caused a shudder to run down Davis� spine. He had long ago hoped that he would never again see that look. Davis then let his gaze return to the island�s new occupants who were lying about 50 yards away. He felt a pang of sympathy for the young men, but knew well that he had to keep his emotions in check. He could not let the Johnson�s know his true feelings about the sickening experiment that they had in store for the young men. He valued his own welfare and that of his family too much for the moment to let the welfare of others come to the forefront.
Minutes later, Davis, Marco and Russell Johnson climbed back into their boat leaving the five unconscious young men behind.
It was just as the sun was beginning to rise the next morning when the first of the group began to stir from their drug induced slumber. Joey struggled to open his eyes, his pounding head keeping pace with the steady pounding of the surf against the shore. With a moan, the young man attempted to sit up, but quickly found that his efforts only rewarded him with nausea and dizziness. He slumped back against the sand and closed his eyes in an effort to ward off the darkness that was threatening to swallow him up. Off to his right, he could hear someone emitting a soft moan that he recognized as coming from Chris.
�Chris?� Joey croaked. He cleared his throat and spoke Chris� name again.
�Chris?�
�Joey? What happened?� Chris asked, his voice laced with confusion as he struggled to sit up.
�I don�t know�I can�t sit up without seeing black spots�� Joey�s voice trailed off as he again opened his eyes. He turned his head in Chris� directions and saw that he was crawling toward him, grimacing in pain.
�You okay Chris?� Joey asked with concern before another wave of blackness threatened to wash over him.
�Yeah�I think so,� was his weak reply. �Kind of stiff I guess from laying down so long.�
�How are the others?� Joey asked as he turned his head to find where Justin, JC, and Lance were.
�Hang on�let me check.�
Chris changed his course and crawled over to the slowly awakening form of JC, who was moaning and beginning to shake as if he was chilled.
�Josh�you okay?� asked Chris. He became concerned when instead of answering his question JC continued to shake, his teeth chattering�his eyes only opened to tiny slits.
�What�s the matter with him Chris?� Joey turned over from his back to his front and forced himself to crawl to JC�s side.
Chris felt JC�s forehead for fever and found that the young man felt fine.
�I don�t know. He doesn�t feel hot and his skin isn�t clammy. It�s warm like mine.�
�He kinda looks like a friend of mine did after he had some surgery. He shook from the anesthesia that they had given him. He found out later that it was a common side effect.�
�But we�ve been here all along, Joey,� Chris said with a small shake of his head while he gently tried patting JC�s face.
�Maybe it was from hitting his head�you know a delayed reaction or something like that.�
Before the pair could continue with their conversation, they heard low moans coming from Lance and Justin.
Leaving JC�s side, Joey crawled over to Justin while Chris made his way to Lance.
�Where are we?� Justin croaked as he slowly opened his eyes and saw Joey�s face above him.
�The same place as yesterday, J�how are you doing?� Joey answered quietly as he ran his hand over Justin�s unruly curls.
�Been better�way better. You?� Justin asked as he slowly sat up and took in the sights around him. Something didn�t feel right. Something was different. He quickly decided that his confusion was probably due to the events leading up to his waking and brushed off the eerie feeling.
�Ditto.� Joey lay back down on the sand and rested his hands on his folded arms as he closed his eyes, trying to stop the spinning sensation.
As Joey and Justin quietly continued talking, Chris had made his to Lance and was helping the young man to sit up.
�How are you doing?� Chris asked as he watched Lance grimace in pain, grabbing at his right side.
�Man�my side really hurts.� Lance again groaned as he allowed Chris to lift his t-shirt high enough to reveal a large bruise that had formed right below his right arm pit.
�How did you get that Lance?� Chris asked as he gently probed at the black-blue bruise.
�Ouch�don�t Chris,� Lance muttered, flinching at his friend�s touch.
�Sorry,� Chris apologized. �Do you remember hitting anything?� he asked as he gently pulled Lance�s shirt back down.
�No�I really don�t remember much of anything other than what we told Justin when he woke up,� Lance answered as he gave Chris a look of confusion before continuing to speak.
�I just probably got it while we were tethered together. I could have bumped into any one of you guys.�
�I guess�you do kinda bruise pretty easy�yeah, you�re probably right.� Chris didn�t feel convinced with Lance�s explanation, but it was the best thing that he had to go by for now.
�How are the others?� Lance asked. He glanced at Joey and Justin and saw that they were sitting beside a shaking JC.
�Do you think you can get up and we�ll go find out?�
Lance shook his head and the pair struggled to stand without falling flat on their faces before making their way over to the others in the group.
�How�s JC doing now?� Chris asked as he carefully helped Lance to lower himself onto the sand before sitting down himself.
�He seems to be waking up more. He really looks like Marty did after he had his surgery� really weird.� Joey moved closer to JC and gave the young man a gentle shake.
�Josh�Josh�come on, man. Wake up.� Joey continued with his encouragement for several minutes as the rest of the group also gave their support. Justin pulled JC�s body into a sitting position, leaned him against his own body and wrapped his arms around him. The new position seemed to put a little more life into the waking man and his eyelids began to flutter as his head moved from side to side.
Finally, after several more minutes, JC�s eyes opened and he looked about him in a dull, dazed manner.
�What�what�where?� were the confused words that escaped his mouth before he began to cough.
�Hold on.� Lance slowly crawled over to the large supply box and managed to lift its heavy lid.
�There�s supposed to be food and water in here,� he said. Seconds later, he lifted several bottles of water from the box.
�Open just one,� said Chris as he glanced at the limited amount of supplies. �We need to make it last until we have a chance to look around here for fresh water.�
Lance tossed the bottle to Chris who opened it and gave JC a few sips before passing the bottle on to the rest of the group. Each took a few sips before passing it back to Chris who took his turn. By that time JC was sitting up with minimal support from Justin.
�How long have we been here?� asked JC trying to judge by the sun the possible time as he drew his arms over his chest as the last of the tremors coursed through his body.
�I have no idea,� admitted Joey. �My watch must have fallen off sometime last night or�was that two days ago.� He scratched at his head in obvious confusion.
�My watch says that it�s about 8:00 in the morning.� Lance finished glancing at his watch. �And it�s Monday, the 25th.�
�We sank on Saturday night?�
�Yeah Justin�� answered Chris.
�I guess we were more tired than we thought,� JC said. �We lost most of Sunday, I guess.�
�Yeah,� Joey answered quietly before asking the question he was sure was on everyone�s minds.
�Do you think they�ll be looking for us soon? The captain said that the navigational equipment and search beacon had been switched on before they put them in the supply box.�
�Uh�guys�they�re not in here,� Lance quietly said as he dumped the contents of the box out onto the sand. The group noted that there was plenty of food, water, first aid supplies and matches scattered about the sand.
�Uh oh�we�re in trouble now�aren�t we?� JC said quietly as he gazed at the items on the sand.
�Yep�I guess you could probably say that, JC,� Chris answered as he stood up and ran his hands through his hair in an effort not to lose his cool.
�Do you think things could get any worse than this right now?� said Justin in a frightened voice as he looked at his friends.
�Now let�s not panic,� JC answered, trying to sound confident, but he wasn�t sure if he was coming across in that manner. His heart had leaped into his throat when Lance mentioned the missing beacon and navigator.
�Yeah�we�re all okay. We have food and water. Looks like there has to be some fresh water around here somewhere because of all the vegetation and animals around,� Lance offered in encouraging tones as his gaze traveled around him, taking in all the sights.
�We�ll be okay.� Joey sounded sure and confident with his statement. �We just need to stick close together.�
Russell and Leigh Johnson listened to the exchange between the boys and observed how they took care of each other by way of the hidden microphones and cameras carefully camouflaged amid the surrounding vegetation.
�This experiment is going to be quite interesting�isn�t is Russ?�
Russell looked lovingly at his wife and held out his hand toward her. She grasped it and allowed her husband to pull her into his embrace.
�It will be�they laughed at my suggestions at the universities. We�ll see who has the last laugh when I finish with these boys.� Russell�s voice took on an evil tone as he and his wife began to chuckle at the possibilities to come.