Page 151 of The Island

Static.

West to the ferry terminal, but Kate, who was guarding the dock, had seen no sign of her.

“Heather?”

Static.

He rode northwest up the mangrove beach.

“Heather?”

Nothing.

He rode north over the grassland where the country became hilly.

“Heather?”

Static and then a voice: “Matt?”

Ah…so that’s where she was hiding. “Heather, why did you do all that to us? We have no power, no fuel, no water.”

“Sounds like you’ll have to bring the ferry over to get resupplied.”

“We’ll be guarding that ferry like it’s a barge out of Fort Knox.”

“You almost fooled me, Matt. You’re smart but I don’t think you’re as smart as you think you are.”

“It’s a pity, Heather. We could have made a deal. I know a lot of us wanted it.”

“You wouldn’t have kept to any deal.”

“Maybe, maybe not. You didn’t get to see the best of us. We were moving into the future. My brothers and I were planning an eco-tourism thing for a few years from now.”

“That’s a shame.”

“It’s a shame about Tom.”

“And Hans and Petra.”

“And Hans and Petra.”

“So what now?” Heather asked.

“What indeed?”

“Maybe we’ll stay. We like it here, me and the kids. We have water. We have food. You’ll all be dead in a week, but we’ll be fine,” Heather said.

“Bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit. Olivia was pulling up some daisies this morning, and you know what she found?”

“What?”

“The daisies are really yam flowers,” Heather said. “We found yams. Growing wild. They’re all over the island. Did you even know that?”

“No.”

“It’s so rich in food, this place. You just need to know where to look. Hundreds of Aboriginal people used to live here.”