King Kong: Long May He Reign ✓

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Music played loudly from Slivko's speaker. Lizzie stood at the front of the boat with James, his arm slung over her shoulder. Leafwings flew noisily overhead, squaking for any kind of food. Marlow was at the wheel, calmly surveying his surroundings. Slivko was on the roof, playing around with the radio.

"I gotta wife. Had a wife? Have a wife? I guess I don't know any more... We got hitched right before I deployed, got a telegram from her the day before I got shot down, said 'just had our baby boy.'. I got a son out there. A grown man I've never met."

It was sad for Lizzie have to watch her friend of so many years look so upset telling this story.

"Yeah she defiantly thinks your dead man" Slivko called from the roof.

James reached up and hit the roof accompanied with a "Hey!" whilst Mason and Lizzie both rolled their eyes.

"I'm just saying!" was Slivko's only defence.

"You don't know that. You'd be surprised how long people wait." Lizzie knew James was talking about his father, and judging by the sympathetic look on Mason's face, she knew too.

"Nah, truth is I don't expect them to be waiting. I'd be fine either way. I just want one last chance to see 'em." Lizzie had heard him talk about this in the past and she knew what he meant. She hadn't expected James to wait for her either. Only difference was James showed up at Skull Island.

The static on the radio suddenly grew louder, followed by:

"Fox Five come back. Is anyone out there."

Slivko scrambled for the radio and hurriedly and excitedly answered back.

"Hey! This is fox five, we hear you!" Everyone perked up and looked to the roof.

"Yeah we're on a boat headed up north, on the river."

"A boat? Were'd y'all get a boat?"

"We met like this crazy Santa Claus time traveller guy from world war two and Conrad's friend from 1962, you'll meet 'em." Marlow smiled at the thought of being called Santa Claus.

"What kinda boat y'all got?"

"It's more of a plane than a boat. A ploat. Yeah, we're on a ploat." Everyone chuckled at Slivko's rushed commentary and abbreviation. James called out to him.

"We need their location Slivko. Tell them to send up a flare."

Slivko shouted back: "Send up a flare so we can find you."

"Rodger that fox five." A different voice came over the radio.

Moments later a red flare burst up into the sky, followed by everyone's cheers.

"We see you! Two klicks to our north!"

"Rodger that fox five. Fox one out."

Everyone cheered at the prospect of getting one step closer to getting off the island. The cheers were cut off with screams as Nieves was dragged by his collar into the air by one of the Leafwings. More and more crowded around his body as they lifted him higher and higher and his screams of terror became louder and louder.

Slivko and James rushed to the front of the boat, guns in hand, ready to shoot the ugly birds. But they were moving too fast and getting to far away. They lowered their guns as Nieves' arm was ripped from his body closely followed by the rest of his limbs and his screams quietened.

Slivko and Brooks obviously couldn't let it go.

"Forget it. He's gone, he ain't coming back." Marlow along with Lizzie had gotten used to these things happening and didn't have difficultly leaving the subject. Even if the subject was another man's death. James and Mason also didn't linger on it. They'd both been in a war zone and both knew what to expect on the island.