Fresh Flesh by Todd Russell Page A

it. They dropped an empty
crate one time. Messing with our heads doesn't stop."
    "So that's the plane you saw yesterday. The
government's infrequent drop to their lab rats. I didn't want you
to see it because I didn't want you to lose hope. It wasn't there
to help us, only to do its job then forget it ever flew over this
miserable place. That's the truth I kept from you."
    "Do you get along with the others?" Jessica
asked. "How often do you see them?"
    "I don't interact with them much. Shortly
after we got here I laid claim to this side of the island. I put on
a show that made the others think I was crazier than them. I
searched around and preferred this side of the island. I made my
home this cave and have done a little excavating over the years as
it wasn't always this spacious. You've seen the traps I created for
rain water and have stored in bottles and jugs which I can now
share with you."
    "Great, have been getting tired of coconut
milk," Jessica replied.
    "As for how much I see the other convicts?
They rarely come over to this side of the island. We try to leave
each other alone. That's the way both sides want it. I knew that I
could survive on my own without their help and the drops and have
tried to forget that we share this island."
    "A few times over the years I've gone to
their side of the island, more out of curiosity and loneliness than
anything, to spy on what's new. It's always the same over there
though."
    "Every once in a while a newbie convict comes
along and that's something new to talk about. How did this one get
here? What did he do? And so on. But there hasn't been one, as far
as I know, for quite some time."
    "How long?"
    "If you remember I didn't know what year it
was when you first arrived so this is just a guess: maybe five
years? I'm pretty sure Bobby was the last newbie. I'm kind of in
the dark because like I said, I rarely go over there. I stay over
here and they stay over there. Bobby parachuted off course and
landed on the southwest beach so I was the first to meet him. I led
him over to the east side of the island and left him there."
    "If they really don't like you, and they're
as insane as you think, why haven't they tried to kill you?"
    "Ah," he said and stopped pacing. He came
back and sat down. "Good question, Jessica. They haven't tried to
kill me because I haven't gotten in their way. And I told you once
before that I was no dummy. I didn't intend to come here and die, I
saw this island as a second chance at a life I would never have
outside prison.
    "The other reason they haven't tried to kill
me is because their leader hasn't ordered them to yet. Their leader
has sent spies to this side of the island on occasion to keep tabs
or maybe to see if I've finally gone and killed myself. Bobby might
have been on one of those routine checks today, I don't know. But
his spies don't usually engage me. They will come over, see what
I'm doing and then head back over there."
    "Like I said, they leave me alone. They don't
understand, with the exception of their leader, why I want to live
outside their camp. My fear of them, in part, is what has kept me
going. And their leader has known that and doesn't see me as a
threat."
    "Is their leader an original convict too?"
Jessica asked.
    "Yes, I think we're the only two originals
left. The rest came after. He makes sure they don't die, or do, if
he dislikes them I guess. Many of those hopeless convicts would
starve outside without his help. He is a skilled woodsman and is
the only other person that knows this island at least as well as
me, if not better."
    They traded pensive gazes. Jessica was
disturbed by what was happening here.
    "That's it," he said. "That's the true
story."
    "Bobby," she said, "You were going to tell me
about Bobby?"
    "Oh yes. You see, I have never killed any of
the spies sent over here. It may seem like I killed Bobby without
any emotion but it was to protect you. Bobby was their leader's
best friend. His favorite pet. When he