Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach

[Strazio Rockwell]

Consciousness brought a pain usually reserved for war criminals. The shard of wound lodged in Isaac’s gut ached with every heart beat. He could feel the foreign object twitch against flesh and organs as his body instinctively shuddered. The girl that had taken him in seemed to be the kind sort, at least kind enough to bring a dying man off the beach.

“Thank you,” he spoke through gritted teeth.

“Oh it was no problem, really!” she offered him a glass of water.

Every heartbeat he could feel the obstruction, every breath sent survival instincts through his veins. Almost on instinct his blood reacted to protect its host. First it wormed through his flesh, collecting every splinter and pressed them against the largest shank of wood. Isaac grunted as his blood pushed against the skewer, slowly forcing it out of his body. A cold sweat formed on the old man’s brow as the wound was exposed to the salty air. His haemoglobin mastery kept the crimson liquid from leaking out of the wound, and it instead formed a makeshift suture. The puncture wound was tentatively sealed as Isaac tossed the bloody hunk of ship onto the floor.

“Sorry I made a mess,” he frowned and looked at the small amount of spilled blood.

“Are you going to be okay?” Noodle asked.

“Yeah, kind of” the old man’s voice wavered slightly, “I’m not sure how long I can hold this suture for, but it should be long enough to at least start the healing process.”

The Bloodlance walked over to the bay windows and stared out into the ocean. Some things never change. Even after his trip to the Oververse the Empire had not forgotten about Isaac Carter. Bounty hunters would keep coming in droves, until the old man was in the ground, and even then they’d probably exhume the body as one last “fuck you”. Noodle watched the crimson-clad man anxiously, he was still sopping wet, but he seemed not to mind. His focus was elsewhere, deep on the horizon and in the crevices of his own psyche. After a deep breath her turned to the girl and smiled warmly.

“This is a pretty impressive island you’ve made,” he paused for a moment, reading her expression, “reminds you of home doesn’t it?”