20.

Darkness began to fall and it set in quickly on the first day of activity on the return to an island of horror and violence, and both Roland and Al wondered as to if the other had made it to this moment thought neither wondered very long as they both were sure that the other was doing quite alright. When the darkness had completely set in, Damien Meadows, a now uncaged cage fighter, had a fire going quite strong.

In a way he was hoping it would attract further competition, even the sound of wolves howling in the not too far off distance caused Damien no distress or worry. If anything, the howling could be a partial soundtrack to who and what Damien is. Anger most certainly is not something new to this place, and Damien has plenty of it to disperse as he sees fit.

Damien would watch as one such wolf would appear to the left of and off past the far side of his fire. This wolf would move across the fire, keeping its distance, and even make eye contact. It was quiet and had moved slowly, almost assessing this Damien fellow. It had stayed only for a moment or two and would move on without incident. Damien put out his fire before moving on himself, to find a place to spend the night.

Who is going to attack in places where even the wolves fear to tread? And indeed, the indigenous life had been created though not all creatures are animals, as Roland can attest to, ... his canine friend from the previous year to this one, had been more Human than most humans he had ever met in his life.

Morning came and Al had found himself some fruit trees not far from where he had spent his first full night back on the island. At first, he wondered as to how safe this fruit would be to eat though that thought would not stay with him very long and nothing seemed to be happening directly after having consuming said fruit apart from the fact it was aiding with filling a hole in his tummy.

'I am sure you have plenty there, friend, if you don't mind sharing' spoke a voice not so far away from Al.

The voice belonged to Dolph Anderson. A man more used to being confined to a prison cell than not.

'Sure, just help yourself ... friend.'

Al noticed no immediate danger though he would stay vigilant. There is a fair distance between the two men and this other fellow did not act in a manner as to suggest he came here looking for a confrontation ... Al will not instigate anything, not just yet anyhow, though wary he will stay.

'Thank you.'

'Not a problem.'

'So, what do we do now?' asked Dolph, 'do we fight now until one of us is seriously injured or dead?'

'Oh, I wouldn't recommend that, not right now anyway' responded Al maintaining a gap of at least thirty feet between himself and the stranger, and spying something not all so far away.

'And why would you not recommend such a thing?'

'See, friend, if you turn around you will see a good friend of mine approaching so odds would not be in your favour.'

'Hope you are not trying to distract me friend, and besides I have successfully overcome many two on one encounters in my past.'

'I am sure you have, though I would still recommend leaving it for another time.'

Roland and Al had indeed found each other, and Dolph would watch as the two men greeted and hugged one another. Roland took a couple of steps towards Dolph.

'Who have we got here?' asked Roland.

'My name is Dolph, and I am only passing through right now, an encounter may be better left for another time perhaps, as your friend has already suggested.'

This is no prison yard exercise training session, no cookery course either. No omelets need be made today.

'My name is Al, and this is my good friend Roland.'

Nods were exchanged and Dolph began to move.

'Look forward to our next encounter' spoke Dolph.

'So will I' responded Al.

As Dolph moved away, Al reached for Roland's right hand and grabbed it tightly.

'So good to see you my friend, thought that I may have to go it alone this year, though it wouldn't be the same not fighting side by side with you.'

'Oh, I see, so you had almost forgotten about me already and were looking for a new fighting buddy huh?' spoke Roland.

'No, no not at all, that guy just showed up not long before you got here, asked about having himself some fruit and that is all.'

'Relax my friend, I was only having a laugh and it is good to see you.'

'Good to see you too my brother, are we ready to kick some ass?'

'Oh, hell yeah ... fruit you say ... how nice?'

***

A couple of hours pass quietly and uneventfully for both Roland and Al. Neither can be sure as to how long they were actually apart though with it feeling like it was not much more than twenty-four hours or so, both were more than happy to be back together maybe even more so for Roland despite the fact he wouldn't wholly admit that.

'So, what do you think?' asked Al, 'should we stay here and wait for the fun to come to us? Or go forth and find us some fun?'

'Don't be so eager my friend, there is no prize for the most kills or for creating the most carnage, it may be a good thing to go on the move now and just take things as they come.'

It would seem that Al would get things his way as before long both himself and Roland would get entangled with a lot of fun. In a wide-open space with more of a stone gravel ground rather than one carrying much vegetation or growth of any kind, seven combatants were caught up in battle and two of these fighters just so happened to be Dolph Anderson and Dara Cunningham, neither of whom knew the other or were fighting the other. If they had come into contact with one another upon the trip to the island, then neither man had made much of such a supposed moment.

Roland and Al got straight into it. A small slim man easily more than a foot shorter than Roland came running quite quickly towards him and this man would launch himself once he got close to Roland. Connecting physically with Roland only forced Roland backwards three or four steps, more to catch his own balance other than anything else. This is a little unusual for the big man as for anything that has come at him like this before, Roland would be the one making the contact, not receiving it.

This man would come again straight away, and Roland would just catch him and slam him to the ground before picking him back up and firing him as far to his own left as Roland could. There would be nothing in that area for the smaller man to have connected with, backing a back early on would have been an accomplished start though the throw itself was enough to see off a first opponent.

Al straight away gave a helping hand to Dolph as he had gotten himself into a slight bit difficulty. Kinda having a better the devil you know moment, with perhaps a hope for a future return of the favour before either might have to take the other out.

'Thanks, though I had it under control' Dolph told Al.

'Sure ... you had' spoke Al with a smile.

Before Dolph could offer a retort, he was met with a punch to the side of his face by yet another incoming competitor to this gathering. All four men ... Roland, Al, Dolph, and Dara would go into battle against separate island combatants and none of them would notice the arrival of Damien Meadows until the moment he was about to snap the neck of the man who Roland had already dealt with and all ten fighting combatants stopped almost in unison right at that moment that Damien snapped the neck of that first man who had already been taken out, off to the side to where the main combat had been going on.

There are now ten potential combatants, all eyeing one another, assessing one another, using what they may have gathered of the competition from before the transport to the island. A brief silence would oddly seem deafening. A phrase each man, or woman ... for there are two women here in this field, getting to witness a phrase in action for themselves. Another phrase is ... nothing lasts forever.

Roland's second opponent would make a move from having battled with one giant monster with whom he had been actually holding his own against, to go attack the arriving giant monster to which one strong knockout punch was enough to prevent any ensuing battle, a knockout punch to which even Roland himself would be proud of, though preventing battle is always the last thing on Damien Meadows mind.

Another of the combatants made his way towards the angry monster and for his efforts would get airlifted by the throat and unceremoniously dumped right on the back of his head ending his attempt to be the next island victor, and his death made three in a matter of seconds despite the inability of the first to defend himself, though the same could be said for the other two men. Roland could be attributed the death of the first soul having delt with him already, though, of course, Damien had been the one who finished that man for good.

Two of the other remaining combatants standing before Damien vacated the vicinity believing in the live to fight another day mantra, leaving Roland, Al, Dolph, and Dara all standing not far from and in front of Damien and none of these four men were about to go anywhere, not just yet anyway.

There is also a rather butch looking lady also holding her ground in this particular moment. She seems as much up for a battle as anyone else. Indeed, here on this island, there are no ladies or gentlemen, so making assumptions about anyone's ability to fight is never a wise thing to do.

At this point too, it seemed as if Damien had actually made a friend, a wolf moved to stand next to him. Not a wolf like the one Roland had befriended a year earlier. Wolfie had appeared to be more dog than wolf, there would have been a pleasant demeanour to him, and he could even be described as being playful.

The wolf which had come to stand alongside Damien appeared to have as much a desire to find blood as Damien did himself, a proper enhanced hybrid with which Roland had witnessed during his first stint on this place. Perhaps evil will always be able to find evil. With a simple point in the direction the two others had made a run for it off in ... and along with speaking the word 'go', the wolf would head off in pursuit.

It could be safe to say that both of those runners will be taken care of.