Stranded! (5 page)

One foot slammed into the face of the beast and it meant nothing. Marshall's lungs needed air and he came back up to the surface in time to see Oceans dashing around the circumference of the pool. He wanted to scream at her to stay back, though everything was happening too fast! He felt a tug on his leg and then immediately a sharp, piercing pain. Marshall was yanked under and luckily he had just filled his lungs with air. He began slapping, punching and kicking at anything that he could connect with and finally his fists and feet met with solid resistance and the grip on his leg was released.
Oceans' screams cut through the quiet of the forest and Marshall's already frantically beating heart spiked even more rapidly. But what he saw halted his movements. Oceans was angrily butchering the baby wild boar. Her arms were going up and down rapidly, gripping the huge hunting knife while blood splattered her and rained down on the water below. The pained squeals of the baby brought the parent's attention from their perspective prey.
Marshall watched with wide, fearful eyes as the two huge animals turned their attention from him to Oceans. Once she realized that they were charging in her direction, she turned on her heels and darted into the woods. The large, beasts with their short legs had trouble getting back up on the bank over the slippery rocks. Marshall used the opportunity to swim to the opposite shore and as he pulled himself up and out of the water, he caught sight of his leg for the first time. There were four neat little holes that streamed blood liberally down his leg.
Marshall climbed back up the rocks, unbeknownst to the animals, and hid beneath the falls. He didn't know enough about animals to be sure that they wouldn't be able to track him by the smell of his blood, but he knew for certain that he wasn't going to be able to outrun anything.
Once on shore, the parents took a few moments to keen over their fallen child. The male took a few moments to stamp the ground and he seemed to want to go into the forest but he wouldn't without his family. Marshall crouched and watched them under the chilly fall of water. Soon it became apparent that the baby was not going to get up and follow them, and with one last nudge of its snout, the mother turned and followed the male from the clearing.
Marshall was shivering with cold as he finally unfolded his body from its crouching position and carefully climbed down from the rocks. His leg was covered in blood now but at least it wasn't flowing as freely. Horror stories ran though his mind of him developing a nasty infection, losing his leg or even dying from it. How did you clean a wound when you didn't have soap? How did you survive on an island when fucking wild boars could appear out of nowhere?
He was hobbling back to camp carrying the shoes that Oceans had left behind. The brush ahead rustled and Marshall almost lost it. He figured his hair had gone stark white, but then it was just Oceans. They ran to each other so fast and so hard that they practically slammed into the other.
"Oh god, oh god!" Oceans was sobbing. She was shaking so hard that Marshall had to practically support her. "I thought they had killed you..." Tears were gliding down her face and her chest was hitching. "I thought I was going to be alone."
"I'm okay." He said while clutching her face and staring into her hysterical eyes. "Oceans, baby, I' am not going anywhere." She grabbed him in a hug, clutching him as if for dear life. He lifted her body from the ground as he hugged her back.
"I was so scared..." He murmured. "I thought they were going to go after you-"
"We have to work together-" She mumbled into his neck, voice still hitching.
"You did so good! I'm so proud of you."
Oceans pushed back gently from him and looked at him intently. "Let's go back and get it. We're going to eat the motherfucker."
Once back at camp, Oceans sent Marshall to his hammock to lay down. She had used some of the cassava flour mixed with water to form a type of 'soap' and had used it to wash his wound as best she could. There was no alkaline in it and therefore was not very effective. She shared some of his same fears of infection and set about the task of making something that they hadn't had in nearly two months...soap. Real soap.
With the pot, lard from the baby pig, and wood ash she had the means to make soap. On the island, she'd seen the old ladies do it, though they had all of the materials they needed neatly packaged or bottled...
She didn't exactly know what she was doing, but really there was just the three major components and so she set forth on the task; fear of Marshall losing his leg as a big motivation to do it correctly.
It wasn't easy, it took an entire day but she began with the alkaline. She used wood ash (which they had a lot of), some of the fiberglass sheeting and a clumsily woven basket. She slowly poured water into the ash, filled basket until the brackish fluid dripped out of the bottom and collected onto the fiberglass sheeting. What ended on the fiberglass was lye.

She prepared the piglet for eating, meanwhile separating as much of the fat as she could. This went into a pot of boiling water to render the fat from any remaining meat. After dressing the piglet in large leaves, it went into a shallow pit lined with banana leaves, hot coals, and then more banana leaves.
Then she checked on Marshall. It was night and he was sleeping deeply. Touching his head, she didn't feel any fever. Yawning herself, but on a mission, she collected the small amount of lye in a coconut shell. She added more water to the pot of fat and removed it from the fire. Finally she dragged herself to her hammock and fell into a restless sleep.
"Oceans, Oceans!" She dragged her eyes opened, her heart thumping loudly in her chest. Marshall was out of his hammock and gently shaking her shoulder. The residue of a nightmare just now fading.
"You were dreaming." He had awakened to the sounds of her cries and her legs kicking out in her sleep. She looked as if she were reliving the wild boar's attack on him. He had leaped down from his hammock, almost losing his balance even though the 'floor' had been raised significantly. His injured leg had stiffened considerably. Oceans was now watching him fearfully. He stroked her brown hand in reassurance. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Her eyes looked out at the distance. The ocean was so beautiful, seemingly endless...the idea of it could leave you feeling small and insignificant: claustrophobic.
"Marshall, I had a dream that on the other side of the island was a resort." She looked at him with piercing, frightened eyes. "All kinds of rich people were there, PAYING to vacation here. There was all kinds of food, and servers wearing crisp white jackets and serving chilled champagne. When you and I walked from the forest, everyone stared at us. We fell on the buffet of food, stuffing our mouths and drinking like gluttons. No one tried to stop us." Marshall watched her, his mouth opened slightly as he pictured what she described. He could almost feel the cool liquid running down his throat. So far, didn't sound like a nightmare...
"There was a pig roasting on a spit and it started moving, squealing, trying to get up and run away. Then two huge pigs came out of the forest. They looked at me, and I started to run-" She looked at Marshall. "I didn't want to kill their baby."
He nodded solemnly. "I know Oceans." He spoke to her in a soothing tone, explaining that they had to do what they had to do in order survive.
"I didn't want to kill that baby..." She cried.
"I know." He said soothingly, wiping away her tears. "They would have killed me to feed their baby. They wouldn't have done it out of cruelty, just survival. You killed IT to save me...and THAT is survival too."
She finally nodded her head and he kissed her cheek. "Go to sleep Oceans, you need some rest." She slowly closed her eyes as he stroked her hand and placed kisses on her face and head. Knowing that he was there, she fell into a peaceful sleep.
***
The soap got made into crude uneven pieces. She scented it with several flowers whose leaves she fished out before the liquid set on shallow pieces of fiberglass. They both took a hunk of the soap and looked at it in amazement. Wordlessly, they walked to the ocean's edge and removed their clothing. Neither looked at the other; the wonder of having soap after two months was more important than anything else.
Entering the ocean only far enough to reach their knees, they began the process of washing. Afterwards they swam and played, chucking the soap pieces further up on the beach so that the precious thing would not float away as they played. They had never played together in the water naked; it was more like a celebration—not an attempt to seduce or to get off on looking at the other. Like children, they frolicked innocently. Then when they finally came back to shore and slipped on their clothes, it was time to feast. Having skipped breakfast the two were ravenous. The pitted piglet was succulent. They didn't eat anything with it, just pork chops, ribs, pork roast, even roasted liver. With distended stomach, they wrapped up the scraps that were left over and napped.

~MONTH 3~
Oceans climbed up the ladder that Marshall had put together. She preferred stairs; especially since they'd just found large flat rocks. But Marshall was incredibly anxious about wild boars. Oceans couldn't blame him. She hadn't been bitten by one!
When she got to the top, she was careful to step onto the solid foundation of their house. Marshall had done a great job making it livable. It was very nearly the size of the average two car garage. And it was waterproof despite the large tree that cut through the wall and ceiling—but necessary if they wanted use of the hammocks inside.
Oceans dropped an armful of mud on her work mat. It wasn't actually just mud but clay. Over the last few days she'd made bowls, pitchers, and now she was going to try her hand at making plates. Marshall thought it was just added work because then it meant dishes needed to be washed instead of banana leaves being tossed. However it kept her busy and he couldn't deny that having water jugs was a lifesaver. At night he fired the dried clay for her, covering it in the red hot coals until the morning when pottery emerged from the ash. She even painted them with various plant dyes.
Her lobster trap had worked exceedingly well—though it needed repairing each time something ended up in it. Now he was in the process of preparing two large ones for lunch, along with more of the roasted cassava and various berries. He could hear Oceans singing softly as she kneaded the hard clay. He stopped what he was doing; frozen in his spot.
It was in that very moment that he realized that he was hopelessly in love with her. His heart felt like it was swelling in his chest; maybe it would even burst. Then one of the lobsters clamped down on his thumb and he shouted. It wasn't the first time he'd been pinched and remembered that Oceans had instructed him to gently squeeze the lobster's body and it would let go. However, when something was biting the hell out of your digit, clear thought was not always possible.
Oceans came rushing to the door of the hut with clay up to her wrists. Her eyes were big terrified pools of darkness. Marshall's heart crashed that he'd scared her with his yell. But as soon as she saw the lobster dangling from his hand, her face broke into a smile and she hid her laughter behind her clay-laden hand.
"Marshall." She called. "Squeeze his belly!" He resisted the urge to slam the thing against the nearest rock and did as instructed. The lobster released him and he dropped it to the ground. Oceans climbed down the ladder, insisting on examining his finger thoroughly. It had blistered painfully but the skin hadn't broken. Marshall watched her silently as she rinsed it with clean water from one of her water jugs.
"Ooo..." She cooed. Her full lips made a concerned pout. His eyes took in the slope of her nose and the broad flare of her nostrils. Her lashes, as she looked down, were so long that it appeared to cast shadows. Though he knew he shouldn't, he reluctantly allowed his eyes to drop lower.
He suppressed a moan. The peaks of her nipples were clearly imprinted on the thin fabric of her dress. His mouth ached to take even one taste of-
She placed her lips on his wounded finger and then looked at him brightly. "There, now it's all better." Marshall felt a tremble begin from his feet and move quickly up his body. She gave him a surprised look and before Marshall knew it his head had dipped down to her slightly parted lips and he was kissing her. In that moment there was not one thing that could have tasted better to him than the taste of Oceans’ lips.
"Marshall..." She murmured. He hesitated but she didn't pull back, then she was leaning forward. Marshall was suddenly possessed. His hands slid over her body; they were trembling, he could barely breathe.
Oceans felt her head begin to spin. Her hands travelled up along the hard muscles of his naked shoulders. They were still slightly wet from his venture in the ocean, but hot. It was like the heat had begun to set up residence in his body. Even as her body began to tingle at his touch her mind also worried that he didn't get heat exhaustion.
Marshall wanted to literally fall into Oceans...but his need was not her burden. He suppressed his desire with a shudder, looking like a man going through withdrawals. With great reverence, he allowed his hands to travel up her sides-causing ripples of pleasure to course through her body. His hands then slid down her back, sliding over her round ass, where they lingered to hold her against him. When her hands reflexively moved up to wrap around his neck he was suddenly overcome with emotion.
Choking back a sob he buried his head into her neck. "I love you Oceans...I love you. I'm sorry..." He apologized as he shuddered against her firm body and tried to collect himself. He didn't know what he was apologizing for but-
"Marshall?" She gave him a questioning look, pulling his head back slightly so that she could see his face. "You love me too? I mean-" she averted her eyes embarrassed.
"Too?" He picked up on that word. "Oceans, I'm in love with you; madly, passionately, irreversibly in love with you," he said with all seriousness.
Her eyes closed slowly. No one had EVER told her that they were madly in love with her. No one had ever BEEN madly in love with her. For once in her life someone was feeling the same way about her that she was feeling for them.
"Madly..." She repeated. Then she felt his lips on hers again. He began speaking, murmuring against her lips as he continued to kiss her.
"It doesn't matter to me if you don't feel that strongly-"
"Marshall?"
He pulled back and took a deep breath before answering. "Yes?" His heart was slamming against his ribcage.
"I don't want to one-up you, but Marshall, I don't think about anything but you; from the moment I open my eyes until the moment I go to sleep. That's not something I'd ever admit to any other man...but then I've never been this deeply in love with any other man before."
He smiled. He realized that life on this island wouldn't be half bad if he could spend it buried in her luscious body. But her expression didn't match his. Her brow was gathered in concern. He hesitated.
"What's wrong?" He tried to think if he'd said anything wrong. Maybe she'd seen the wolf gleam in his eyes.
"Marshall..." How did she tell him about the dream? She'd had it every night since she'd slaughtered the baby wild boar.
Now he was frowning. "Ocean, look at me. What's wrong?" She was scaring him now.
"You know how badly it bothered me that I killed that baby pig."
He looked confused. She'd been restless in her sleep lately. "You're still bothered by that?" He held her hands, running his thumb soothingly over her knuckles.
"I know that neither of us has said this before, but there is a chance that we may never get off this Island." She thought that the chances were slim that they would ever be rescued. Three months was a long time to be stranded.
He watched her silently, neither confirming nor denying.
"I have this dream," her face grew warm. "That we...we had a baby. And the pigs came and got him."
Marshall blinked. The words almost bowled him over, let alone the idea of something like that happening. Then he began to slowly understand what she was getting at. She was afraid of becoming pregnant.
"What if-what if we had a baby?" The look in her eyes let him know that this was a serious concern of hers. His hands rubbed her arms in what he hoped would be a soothing motion. "Oh honey, I-you know, we can...do things that won't result in a baby." He felt his own face turn red.
Oceans didn't respond because no matter what the plan, it always led to sex. When she had lost her virginity it was just supposed to be some dry humping. But Kevin Hickson had said that when a boy got hard they couldn't stop, they couldn't go back. She supposed it was rape but she had just accepted it in the end, turning it into something else. She continued seeing him for another three months until he dropped her for someone more popular.
"Marshall, if something should happen and I did get pregnant...don't you see how horrible it would be? We would be imprisoning a child on this island...forever!" She couldn't get that idea out of her head. She didn't want to bring a baby into this place where wild pigs roamed, and where there were no hospitals, no medicine, and just a shelter made of sticks and plants...
He could see that the topic made her very anxious. He gave her a reassuring smile. "I love you, and just being able to say that out loud, to think and feel it freely; I just want to focus on that for a while. The rest, well its food for thought, but I won't be attempting to impregnate you within the next few minutes."
She feared that he thought she was being silly or over imaginative. She allowed herself to be pulled into his arms. It felt so good, she felt so safe.
***
And now that they had expressed their love, for the rest of the day they found reasons to touch; holding hands while they walked to the fresh water stream, him rubbing her feet after eating lunch, and her rubbing his shoulders when he rolled them after carrying back firewood. Now that he'd kissed her, he couldn't wait until they had some quiet time for them to kiss more.
The time finally came, after the sun was low in the sky and they'd taken their private time to bathe. While Marshall fed the fire, Oceans poured water into clay cups. It was strange drinking water that didn't have the residual taste of some fruit, but now the mineral taste of the earth. She passed him a cup and he held out his arm indicating for her to sit down next to him. She did so, nervously.
Now she felt self-conscious and stupid about mentioning pregnancy and dead babies. It was like going out on your first date and planning the wedding. She was happy that he didn't hold it against her. He put his arm around her and lightly stroked her skin, not realizing that he was driving her mad with desire. She leaned her head against him and he sighed in pleasure.
"Marshall?" She asked shyly. "Will you kiss me?"
He responded so quickly that he wouldn't have had time to answer even if he had wanted to. His lips swept down and met hers lightly. His hand reached out to cup her face. "You're beautiful, Oceans Delano." He whispered.
"No, you are." She replied softly. She leaned forward and he met her halfway. He didn't want to pressure her but his body was burning for her. His mind was painfully aware that the only thing separating his hand from her body was the flimsy piece of material--beneath it she was completely nude. He shuddered and practicing great restraint he placed his hand on her hip and kept it there.
Oceans hadn't had a reason to feel sexually aware in many years. To her, the experience of wanting to be loved was almost new. If she'd felt this way in the past, she certainly couldn't recollect it. Sex for her was the rapid in and out of a man over her and the swift relief of a climax. But this was all so different. Marshall seemed to love kissing her—not just using that to get to the next place...
With a smile she pulled back from him. "I don't want to stop kissing you."
"Wait there." He got up and hurried to the hut, returning with her afghan. She'd thought of unraveling it for the precious yarn but Marshall had been adamant about saving the keepsake. Now he spread it out on the mat and lay down, gesturing for her to lay down beside him. This time she didn't hesitate and they lay in each other's arms, kissing and peering into the other's eyes for most of the night.
The next night Marshall again spread out the afghan, and again they held each other, exchanging sweet kisses. Ocean's body pressed against his feeling completely comfortable being so close to him. But Marshall had a love hate issue with that. He loved the feel of her body but not his inability to hide his arousal. The jeans helped, but not when she was pressing herself against him. The arousal was pleasure laced with fear. He loved her touch but the longer he stayed erect, the harder it was for him to pull back around to himself when the kissing ended and it was time to say goodnight.
"Oceans," he pulled back slightly and stared into her curious eyes. "I...um—I need to stop kissing for a while."
"Oh," was her response after a short hesitation. Her face felt warm as she suddenly realized just how difficult it was for a man in a situation like this. But he never pushed her or tried to coerce her, he just backed off and bid her goodnight. It was that trust in him that allowed Oceans to feel comfortable enough to do what she'd been fantasizing all day.
She felt suddenly shy. Discussions of sex had never been encouraged in her family, so instead of talking she leaned in and pressed her lips to his surprised ones. Tentatively, he allowed his hand to move to her breast and when he was cupping it, lights seemed to flash behind his eyes! It almost felt as if he was in the midst of a seizure. Quickly he slid his hand back to the relative safety of her hip.
Oceans groaned. "It's ok." She whispered. He felt her light touch on his dick, where it strained painfully against his jeans.
"Oceans-" he wanted to stop her hand but couldn't. Her touch felt so wonderful.
"Let me help you." Then she was unzipping him and reaching into his pants. Marshall gripped her breast frantically, tugging and fingering her hard nipple with rough fingers. Oceans gasped. Her own fingers tugged against the button on his fly. And then her hand was digging into his pants and gripping his hard shaft.
The pleasure of her touch was so immediate that Marshall threw back his head and bit his lip hard enough to draw blood just to hold back his moans. He didn't think he'd ever been so aroused in his life. Her touch was causing his body to arch and shiver beyond his control in ways that he'd never experienced before.
"Oceans!" He yelled as her hand traveled up and down his shaft. It was too late to stop, he'd been masturbating like he was in Junior High School for the last few days, and yet his semen still shot from his body like gunfire! He gripped the rocky sand in his fist, feeling as if the broken shells would slice through his palms, but he couldn't stop until the last hard spurt of semen left his body. He lay there panting for a moment before he came up on his elbow, still out of breath.
"Lay here." He said gently. She gave him a curious look but lay on her back as instructed. Marshall took a deep breath to bring himself back around and then he kissed her. "Thank you..." His tongue slipped into her mouth. "...for trusting me." His hand slid under the dress, gliding up her satiny leg. Now it was her time to squirm at his touch. "Let me help you now..." His hand cupped her naked mound. The hairs there were damp and he slipped his fingers between her slick lips, stroking her swollen flesh. Oceans groaned against his lips but Marshall wouldn't let her turn away. He wanted to swallow her moans.