Survival

He hurried to the fire where Li was trying to comfort a softly crying Amber.

'Come on,' he said as he pushed the remaining mashed yams back over the flames to heat up. 'You must stop crying. Hex might wake up and hear you.'

Amber scowled at Paulo but he was concentrating on mixing a solution of antiseptic. Once he had done that, he turned one of his shorts pockets inside out and cut away the inner lining with Alex's knife.

Amber sniffed a few times, then wiped her eyes. 'What's that for?' she asked, watching Paulo dip the pocket lining into the antiseptic solution.

'I am making a poultice,' said Paulo, softly. 'To draw out the poison. I have done this often with horses when they develop the poison in the hoof. I hope it will work here, too.' He laid the pocket lining on a banana leaf and stuffed it with the steaming hot mashed yams. Finally, he turned to Alex.

'I need something from your tin.'

Alex stared at Paulo, then nodded and opened his survival tin. Paulo took out a foil sachet.

'What's that-?' began Li, then stopped as Paulo split open the sachet and removed a surgical scalpel blade. Li's eyes widened and she fell silent.

'Ready? asked Paulo, handing the coconut bowl of antiseptic to Li.

Li swallowed hard, then nodded and carried the antiseptic over to Hex's bed. She stroked his face until he woke up.

'Hello, nurse,' he said, grinning weakly. 'Time for my bed bath?'

'Those aspirin must be working,' joked Li.

Paulo studied Hex's face. He did look slightly better. His cheeks were not so flushed and he seemed to be in less pain, but Paulo knew that would only last until the aspirin wore off. It was time to get going.

'Listen to me, Hex,' he said firmly. 'I will clean the wound first with antiseptic, OK? Then I will make a quick cut with this scalpel and put this hot poultice over it-'

'Scalpel?' interrupted Hex, his voice loud with shock.

'I cannot let the wound close up,' explained Paulo. 'The pus has to drain.'

'Are you sure you know what you're doing?' demanded Amber.

'The pus has to drain,' repeated Paulo, looking into Hex's eyes. 'I'll be as quick as I can.'

Hex looked back at Paulo for the longest time, searching his face. Paulo kept his gaze steady. Finally, Hex tightened his lips and nodded.

TWENTY

Hex made no sound when the scalpel went in, but his whole body stiffened. Quickly, Paulo drew the blade down through the crusted scab and the pus spurted out. Hex bit his lip and flung his head from side to side. His eyes were glazed with pain and the tendons stood out in his neck.

'Nearly over,' said Paulo, dropping the scalpel blade into the bowl of antiseptic. He picked up the hot poultice and pressed it over the newly opened wound. 'That is it. All done.'

Hex groaned and relaxed into the bed. His forehead was beaded with sweat and he was pale under his tan. 'Remind me to do the same for you some time,' he panted, glaring at Paulo.

'That was so gross,' said Amber faintly.

'But it's over,' said Hex. 'It'll get better now.' He looked up at the others, gathered around his bed. 'Won't it?'

This was the moment they had been dreading. They all looked down at Hex and nobody knew what to say. Finally, Alex spoke. 'Keeping the wound clean will help,' he said, carefully.

'But…?' said Hex, narrowing his eyes. 'I hear a "but".'

'But komodos have a lot of bacteria on their teeth,' said Li softly. 'Some of those bacteria are pretty bad. They can lead to septicaemia.'

'Blood poisoning,' said Hex quietly. He looked straight at Alex. 'Am I going to get better?'

'Not without antibiotics,' said Alex.

'Do you have antibiotics in your kit?' asked Hex.

'No.'

Hex nodded, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

'But we're going to get some,' continued Alex, firmly. 'Tonight we rest up because at dawn tomorrow, we're leaving the camp. We're going to trek across to the other side of the island-'

'To the all-night pharmacy?' interrupted Hex. 'Come on, Alex. I'm too old for bed-time stories. This island is uninhabited.'

'It is now,' agreed Alex. 'But what about in the war? Think about it! We already found one Japanese soldier. I reckon he was up there on look-out duty. He had the radio to keep in touch with the rest of his unit.'

'So there must have been other soldiers on the island,' said Paulo.

'Exactly! I think they might have had a base or a camp of some sort on the other side of the island. There could be another radio. There could be medical supplies. Antibiotics-'

'Did they have antibiotics then?' asked Hex.

'Yeah, sure they did,' said Amber confidently. 'Penicillin, definitely.'

'They'll be a bit past their sell-by date,' said Hex, but there was a flicker of hope in his eyes.

'Li has already worked out the best route,' said Alex. 'Want to talk us through it, Li?'

'OK. We had a good view of the lie of the land when we were up on the headland the other day. Remember, Amber?'

Amber nodded, although it all seemed a long time ago.

'We can't skirt the coast,' continued Li. 'There are mangrove swamps beyond this lagoon, both ways. Besides, it would take too long. I – I mean-' She stumbled to a halt, glancing quickly at Hex, then away again. 'What I mean is, we wouldn't do it in a day that way.'

'So where do we go?' asked Paulo. 'Through the rainforest?'

'Again, that would take more than a day, and it's very easy to get lost when you can't see more than a few metres ahead. We could end up going in circles. No, I think the best way is up. We should get out of the rainforest onto the lower slopes as soon as we can, then work our way round the eastern shoulder of the mountain to the other side. That way we can see where we're going and the distance is much shorter.'

'Any climbing?' asked Paulo.

'It's mostly just hard walking. There is one outcrop curving all the way round the shoulder to the other side, but I think I could free-climb that, then anchor the rope for the rest of you. Remember, Amber? The way we did it?'

'Yeah. That was OK,' said Amber.

'But we can't just abandon the camp and the signal fire,' said Hex.

'We'll leave a marker arrow, pointing the way we go,' said Alex.

'But we could split up,' insisted Hex. 'Amber could stay here with me until the rest of you come back.'

Alex nodded. He had been expecting this question. The truth was that Hex only had enough time left for a one-way trip, but that was not the answer Alex gave.

'It's not safe to split up,' he said, smoothly. 'Not with komodos hunting in this part of the island. Besides, it's going to take four of us to carry the stretcher.'

'Stretcher?' said Hex. 'You think I'll need a stretcher?'

Alex could have kicked himself. They had decided to keep quiet about how quickly the blood poisoning would develop. Now here he was shooting his mouth off about stretchers. He forced himself to grin down at Hex.

'You mean you don't want to be carried in state around the island, watching the rest of us sweat?'

'I'm not that sick,' said Hex, glaring up at them from fever-bright eyes. 'I'll walk. I'm not too sick to walk. Am I?'

'No,' lied Alex, 'but it would be better to rest that leg.' He started getting to his feet but Hex reached out and caught his wrist in a hard grip.

'You haven't said it yet,' said Hex.

'Said what?' asked Alex.

'Come on,' said Hex, still gripping Alex's wrist. 'Say what you always say. Look me in the eye and tell me I'll live.'

Alex looked down at Hex. He was not sure he could make such a promise. He knew how bad the odds were for Hex. This trek across the island was a desperate measure, but anything was better than sitting back in camp and watching him die. The chances of finding another radio or a cache of usable penicillin were remote, but it was Hex's only hope. Alex concentrated on that hope and pushed everything else to the back of his mind.