The Beach (22 page)

It was dark by the time we got our act together. We had to jump into pitch blackness, unable to see the edges of the pool or even the white foam where the waterfall landed. Then we had to find our way through the forest, something I'd have found difficult without Jed to guide me.
My plan was to eat some food quickly and spend the rest of the evening swimming in the phosphorescence. I also wanted to tell my friends about the sleeping dope guard, which had slipped my mind in the excitement of the previous night. But when I got to the kitchen hut, I discovered that our banana-leaf food parcels were missing. All I found was a cold pile of boiled rice. Next, I hunted for the big cooking pot, assuming Unhygienix had just forgotten to lay the fish and veg out, but the pot was empty too. That was strange because usually the cooks kept some dregs for the next morning's breakfast. Pensively, I patted my empty stomach and looked around me. Then I noticed something else, even more strange. Apart from Jed, who was sitting a few metres away, the clearing seemed to be completely empty. I couldn't see any joint-butts glowing in the darkness, or torches inside tents.
I walked over to Jed. 'You notice anything weird?' I said.
He shrugged. 'Only that I can't see my food.'
'Well... exactly. There isn't any food. And there aren't any people either.'
'People?' Jed shone his Maglite around him.
'See what I mean?'
'...Yeah.' He stood up. 'That is weird...'
We gazed about us for a few seconds, following the yellow beam.
Then, from somewhere close by there was a loud moan, clearly the sound of someone in pain.
'Jesus!' Jed whispered, and switched off the light. 'Did you hear that?'
'Of course I did!'
'Who was it?'
'How should I know?'
We paused, listening carefully. Then we heard the moan again and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
'Christ, Jed! Put the torch back on! This is making me nervous!'
'...If you're nervous, why are you smiling?'
'...How did you know I was smiling?'
'I could hear it in your voice.'
'Just put the bloody light back on!'
'No,' he hissed. 'We don't know what's going on yet.'
We listened some more. I remembered my first morning on the beach, waking up after my fever to an empty clearing. I'd found it pretty freaky in broad daylight. There was something unsettling about an empty place that you knew should be full of people. In the blackness with the eerie moans it was ten times as bad.
'This is like a zombie film,' I muttered darkly, and giggled.
'Zombie Flesh-Eaters.'
Jed didn't reply.
The next time we heard the moan we were able to place it. It was coming from our left, around where most of the tents were pitched.
'OK,' said Jed. 'We'll investigate. You take point.'
'Me? You've got the torch!'
'I need to hold it so you've got both your hands free.'
'Free for what?'
'Fighting off the zombies.'
Jed flicked the beam on and illuminated Unhygienix's tent, so I mumbled a swear-word and began slowly walking towards it.
I'd only gone a few feet when the flap opened and Ella's head poked out. 'Jed?' she said, squinting against the glare.
'Richard.'
'And Jed. What's going on, Ella?'
She shook her head. 'Come inside. It's a disaster.'
'It was Keaty,' Ella explained, mopping at Unhygienix's forehead. It had been Unhygienix who was moaning, and he continued to do so while we were talking. His eyes were closed and he was clutching his great brown belly in both hands. I don't think he was even aware we were in the tent. 'That idiot.'
I raised my eyebrows. 'Why? What did he do?'
'He put a squid in one of the fishing buckets, and we chopped it up and chucked it in with everything else.'
'So?'
'The squid was already dead when he speared it.'
Jed sucked in his breath sharply.
'Most of the camp are sick. The bathroom hut is clogged with vomit, and you don't want to go near the Khyber Pass.'
'What about you?' I asked. 'You seem OK.'
'Five or six of us are all right. I've got a few pains, but it looks like I've been lucky.'
'And why did Keaty spear a dead squid?'
Ella narrowed her eyes. 'I'd like to ask him that myself. We'd all like to ask him that.'
'Yeah... Where is he? In his tent?'
'Maybe.'
'OK. Well, I'll go and see him...'
I chose the right moment to leave because as I was backing out, Unhygienix sat bolt upright and vomited everywhere. I vanished quickly into the darkness with Ella's furious screams ringing in my ears.
It took me ages to find Keaty. He wasn't in his tent and there was no response in the clearing when I called his name. Eventually I decided to check the beach, where I spotted him, sitting in a patch of moonlight a little way down the shore.
When he saw me coming towards him he made a movement, as if he were half considering running away. Then he relaxed and his shoulders slumped. 'Hi,' he said in a low voice.
I nodded and sat beside him.
'I'm not flavour of the month, Rich.'
'...Neither is squid.'
He didn't laugh.
'So what happened?'
'Don't you know? I poisoned the camp.'
'Yeah, but...'
'I was using Greg's mask, I saw this squid, we've eaten squid a hundred times before, so I speared it and chucked it in the bucket. How was I supposed to know it was already dead?'
'...Because it wasn't moving.'
He glared at me. 'Well I know that now! But I thought... I thought squid were like jellyfish. They just floated around and... and its arms looked like they were moving...'
'So it was a mistake. It wasn't your fault.'
'Yes, Rich. That's right. It was Jean's fault.' He paused to punch the sand between his legs. 'Of course it was my fucking fault!
Jesus
!
'OK... it was your fault, but you shouldn't...'
'Rich,' he interrupted. 'Please.'
I shrugged and looked away. Across the lagoon, the moonlight was catching the jagged fissure that ran down the cliffs to the coral garden. 'Kapow,' I said quietly.
Keaty leant forward. 'What?'
'Kapow.'
'...Why?'
'Just because that's the sound lightning makes.' I pointed at the fissure. 'See?'

I only stayed with Keaty a short while because I wanted to check on Étienne and Françoise. He wouldn't come with me because he said he wasn't ready to face people yet, the poor guy. It was rough to have fought for so long to get on to the fishing detail and then to have been responsible for such a fuck-up. He felt especially guilty that he'd been one of the few unaffected by the squid. I tried to tell him not to be so daft because he could hardly blame himself for having a good immune system, but it didn't do any good.
When I saw what was happening inside the longhouse, I was glad Keaty had decided to stay behind. The scene inside would only have made him feel worse. I'd had no idea that the effects of the food poisoning had been so severe, and actually I doubted Keaty had realized either, or he'd have been back at the camp helping.
Running all the way down the centre of the room were candles, placed there, I guessed, to keep them from being kicked over by the writhing figures on the beds. Through the burning-wax fumes there was the sour smell of vomit. Everybody was moaning — probably not constantly, but there were enough of them to overlap and keep the noise at a steady level — and everybody seemed to have reverted to their own language. Picking out recognizable words in the meaningless babble made everything all the more surreal. People wanted water or the sick to be wiped off their chests. When I passed Jesse he lunged for my foot and asked me to carry him to the bathroom hut. 'I've got shit all over my fucking legs!' he gasped incredulously. 'All over! Look!'
I spotted Cassie and Moshe darting between the beds, hopelessly trying to attend to all the different requests. When Cassie saw me she made a despairing motion with her arms and said, 'Are they dying?'
I shook my head.
'How do you know, Richard?'
'They're not dying.'
'How do you
know
?'
'I don't.' I shook my head again. 'Jesse's calling for you.'
Cassie ran to check on her boyfriend and I continued down the longhouse towards Françoise and Étienne.
Françoise was the worst off — I think. Étienne was asleep, so I suppose he might have been unconscious, but he was breathing steadily and his forehead didn't feel too hot. Françoise, however, was awake and in a great deal of pain. The cramps seemed to come in regular waves about sixty seconds apart. She didn't cry out like everybody else but she bit her bottom lip, and all over her stomach were marks from where she'd been digging her fingernails.
'Stop doing that,' I said firmly, after she'd nearly drawn blood from biting so hard.
She looked at me through dull eyes.' ...Richard?'
'Yes. You're chewing your mouth to pieces... You shouldn't.'
'It hurts.'
'I can see, but... Here.' I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cigarettes. Then I ripped off the top of the box and pressed it flat. 'You can bite on that instead.'
'It still hurts.'
I smoothed her damp hair away from her face. 'I know it does, but this way you get to keep your lips.'
'Oh.' She managed to look faintly amused. She might even have managed a smile if another pain-wave hadn't come.
'What is happening, Richard?' she asked, when her muscles had relaxed.
'You've got food poisoning.'
'I mean, what is happening now?'
'Well...' I looked down the longhouse. I wasn't sure how to answer in case I frightened her. 'People are chucking up, and... Moshe and Cassie are here...'
'Do you think this is serious for us?'
'No, no,' I replied, laughing encouragingly. 'You'll all be much better tomorrow. You'll all be fine.'
'Richard...'
'Uh-huh?'
'When Étienne and I were in Sumatra, someone died from eating bad shellfish.'
I nodded slowly. 'Yes, but they probably ate the whole thing. You would have only had a tiny little bit, so you'll be OK.'
'Really?'
'Sure.'
She sighed. 'Good... Richard, I need some water... Please will you bring me some?'
'Of course. I'll be back in two minutes.'
As I stood up, the cramps came back again. I watched her for a moment, uncertain whether I should go or wait with her until the pain had passed, then I jogged down the longhouse, ignoring the pleas I passed on the way.

Unexpectedly, I found Jed sitting outside the kitchen hut, eating plain rice with his Maglite up-ended in front of him like an electric candle. He held out his bowl as I approached and mumbled, 'You should eat,' spraying a fan of white flecks into the light.
'I'm not hungry. Have you seen inside the longhouse?'
He swallowed. 'Stuck my head round the door, saw enough not to go in. Got plenty to deal with in the tents.'
'What's happening in the tents?'
'Same as the longhouse. The Swedes seem OK, but the others are fucked.'
'Are you worried?'
'Are you?'
'I'm not sure. Françoise said people can die from this stuff.'
'Mmm. They can.' He took another mouthful and chewed carefully. 'We need to keep them tanked up with loads of water. Can't let them get dehydrated. And we need to keep ourselves fit so we can look after them. That's why you should eat some food. You haven't eaten since this morning.'
'Later,' I said, thinking of Françoise, and scooped a pitcher into the drinking-water barrel. 'And if the Swedes are OK, then tell them to come and help.'
Jed nodded, his cheeks too puffed up to speak, and I set off back across the clearing.
Back inside the longhouse, Bugs was metaphorically and literally losing his shit. He was squatting alongside the line of candles, eyes bulging like cue-balls, whilst a pool of faeces collected around his feet. Moshe was standing a few feet away, gagging, and when he saw me he hurriedly moved away, as if having seen Bugs I'd been tagged with the responsibility of dealing with him.
Bugs groaned. A string of drool looped out of his mouth and swung crazily from his chin. 'Richard,' he spluttered. 'Get me outside.'
I looked around. Cassie was several beds away and Moshe was bent over one of the Yugoslavian girls. 'I'm in a hurry,' I replied, covering my nose and mouth with the crook of my arm.
'What?'
'I'm in a hurry. I've got to get this water to Françoise.'
'I've got to get outside! She can wait!'
I shook my head, then grimaced. The smell was so bad it was making me feel giddy.
'She already
has
waited,' I said.
His face contorted as though he was going to yell at me. I looked at him impassively while he held the expression, then he gurgled and another stream of shit splashed on to the ground. 'No!' he wailed, then his legs buckled and he slipped backwards.
I took a step sideways to keep clear of the spreading dark puddle. 'Jesus, Bugs. Can't you hold on?'
Bugs whimpered and doubled up into the foetal position, tried to straighten, and doubled up again.
I continued watching him, still breathing into my elbow though it did nothing to block the stench. The giddy feeling was getting stronger, mixing with intense rushes of irritation. It seemed to me, through the pulse that had developed behind my eyes, that there was something self-indulgent about his debasement. How could he not have had the strength to drag himself to the door? He'd distracted me from bringing the water to Françoise, and he was making a terrible mess that someone else would have to clean up. I remembered his stoicism when he'd bashed his leg, and the memory nearly made me laugh out loud.
'I've got to get this water to Françoise,' I said coldly, but didn't move. 'I said I'd only be two minutes. I've already been longer.'
Bugs opened his mouth, maybe to reply, and a slimy bubble of spit popped over his lips. This time I did laugh. 'Look at yourself,' I heard myself say. 'Who the fuck do you think's going to clear that mess up?'
Suddenly a hand grabbed my shoulder.
'My God, Richard! What's the matter with you? Why aren't you helping him?'
I turned and saw Cassie staring at me. She looked very angry, but when our eyes met the anger quickly changed to something else. Something like concern, I noted vacantly, or alarm.
'Richard?'
'Yes?'
'Are you OK?'
'I'm fine.'
'You...' She paused.' ...Come on. We've got to get him outside at once.'
'I need to take this water to—'
'You need to get Bugs outside.'
I rubbed my eyes and wished they would stop throbbing.
'
Now, Richard
.'
'Yes... Right.' I put the pitcher down, a safe distance from the puddle, and went to help her lift Bugs.
He was heavy, being so broad, and he made no effort to walk so we practically had to drag him along the ground. Luckily one of the Swedes, Sten, arrived before we'd got halfway to the door. With his assistance we got Bugs outside and over to one of the diverted streams, where we dropped him so the current could wash him down.
Sten agreed to stay with Bugs—probably a relief after seeing what was going on in the longhouse - and Cassie and I headed back. I wanted to jog but she made me stop so she could feel my forehead.
'What's the matter?' I asked testily.
'...I thought you might have a temperature.'
'Do I?'
'You're a little hot... but no, thank God. We can't have anyone else getting ill.' She gave my hand a squeeze. 'We've got to be strong.'
'Uh-huh.'
'...We've got to keep calm.'
'Sure, Cassie. I know.'
'OK...'
'I've got to get the water to Françoise.'
'Yes,' she said, and I thought she might be frowning, but in the darkness it was impossible to tell. We started walking again. 'Of course.'
Over the time I'd been away, Françoise's condition had got worse. She was still talking but she'd deteriorated into a dreamy, feverish state, and her cheeks were burning up. I had to prop her up against my lap so I could feed the water into her mouth without her choking, and even then she lost most of the liquid down her chest.
'Sorry I took so long,' I said, as I dried her down with one of her T-shirts. 'Bugs was all over the place. Had to deal with him.'
'Richard,' she whispered, then said something in French that I couldn't understand.
I made a guess at the meaning.' ...I'm fine. I missed out on the squid.'
'Étienne...'
'He's here, right next to you... sleeping it off.'
Her head twitched to the side. 'I love you,' she muttered drowsily.
I blinked, thinking for the slightest second that she might be talking to me. Then I caught myself, seeing the direction that her head had pointed, and realized her words were for Étienne. But in a way it didn't matter. It felt nice just to have heard her say it. I smiled and stroked her hair, and her hand reached up and closed weakly around mine.
For the next five minutes I stayed as still as I could, supporting her shoulders on my crossed legs. Then, when her breathing had become slower and heavier, I eased myself backwards and gently lowered her on to the sheets. They were a little damp from where the water had spilled, but it couldn't be helped.
It isn't something I feel I ought to justify, but I'll justify it anyway. I was thinking about the time I'd had a fever. Françoise had given me a kiss so I gave her one too, in exactly the same affectionate spirit. And I wouldn't have called it a kiss that was open to interpretation. It was straightforward; on the cheek, not the lips, unambiguous.
Technically, if you can get technical about such things, maybe I did hold it for a couple of seconds too long. I do remember noticing how soft and smooth her skin was. In the middle of that hellish night, with all the vomiting and groaning and flickering candle-flames, I wasn't expecting to find sweetness. It took me by surprise, that little oasis. I dropped my guard and closed my eyes, drifting a few moments, just for the chance to block the bad stuff out.
But when I pulled back from the kiss and saw the way Étienne was staring at me, I knew he hadn't seen it in the same way.
There was a short silence, as you might imagine, then he said, 'What were you doing?'
'...Nothing.'
'You were kissing Françoise.'
I shrugged. 'So?'
'What do you mean, 'so'?'
'I mean, so?' If I sounded irritable, it was nothing more than exhaustion, and maybe a hangover from the business with Bugs. 'I gave her a kiss on the cheek. You've seen me do that before, and you've seen her kiss me too.'
'She has never kissed you like that.'
'On the cheek?'
'For so long!'
'You've got this wrong.'
He sat up in bed. 'So what should I think?'
I sighed. The pulsing behind my eyes was starting again, turning into a sharp ache. 'I'm very tired,' I said. 'You're very ill. It's affecting you.'
'What should I think?' he repeated.
'I don't know. Anything. I kissed her because I was worried, and because I care about her... Just the same as I'm worried about you.'
He didn't say anything.
I tried a joke. 'If I give you a kiss, will that even things up?'
Étienne paused a bit longer, and finally nodded. 'I am sorry, Richard,' he said, but his voice was flat and I knew he didn't mean it. 'You are right. I am ill and it is affecting me. But I .can look after her now. Maybe some others need your help.'
'Yeah. I'm sure they do.' I stood up. 'If you need anything, give me a shout.'
'Yes.'
I glanced back at Françoise, who, thankfully, was still fast asleep. Then I began walking back down the longhouse, keeping to the side so I didn't get roped into helping Moshe as he shovelled away Bugs' shit.