The Island Read Online Free Page B

Earl went on. “You know, the Lomar name used to mean something. Jackson Lomar was a good man. He had plans to help this city.”
    “I ain’t talkin’ about Jackson Lomar, I’m talkin’ about Damien. Since he took over the business it’s all gone to shit. Buy this, build there. Expand here, bulldoze there. That son of a bitch has killed this city.”
    “You don’t know that. That’s just guessin’.” Roger didn’t seem so convinced in his own words, and Chase could see why. Earl was making a great point.
    “I ain’t guessin’ shit. My cousin used to work for Jackson back in the day. He had plans to fix this city up before he passed. As soon as that son of his took over, that idea went out of the window and he built his damn manmade island. What a waste of money it was too.”
    “Stupid idea anyway. Nobody who took part in that stupid game of his ever stood a chance of winning a damn thing.”
    “You think Lomar didn’t know that? Why else would he give the prize of anything the winner wanted if they ever expected anyone to be able to win? Use your brain, goddamit.”
    Chase was now beyond curious. He knew about the Island of course, everyone knew of it. This was the first he had heard of any kind of game, never mind an outlandish prize. Before he could stop himself, he had turned to face Earl and Roger. “Excuse me, I couldn’t help overhearing… What is this game you were talking about?”
    Roger and Earl shared a look, one which Chase read as easily as they did with each other. It said: Be careful.
    “How old are you, son?” Earl asked.
    “Twenty eight.”
    “You know about The Island?”
    “I know it’s there. But nobody I know seems to know what it’s there for.”
    Roger smiled and drank his coffee, letting Earl tell the rest of the story.
    “Right now it ain’t used for shit. Back when it was first built, it was supposed to be some kind of wildlife sanctuary or some shit like that. It never happened though, because Lomar changed his mind. He had walls built all around the perimeter of The Island and wouldn’t tell anyone why.” He paused for a sip of his drink. Chase realised his was going cold too and he drained his cup.
    “So he builds these walls, and puts the place entirely off limits, as if anyone is gonna go out there to the middle of the ocean to his little patch of land. For ten years, nothing is mentioned about it again, and then out of the blue, Lomar runs a series of newspaper ads asking for volunteers to take part in a brand new game he had designed with the intention of airing it on his network.”
    “What was the game?” Chase asked.
    “It was vague at first. Nobody knew much about it. Ten people volunteered and signed their waivers and all the rest of it, and then Lomar releases the information for the game. It was simple. Survive The Island. Cross from one side to the other and get out through the doors on the south wall. If you do that and win, you get anything you want. Money, fame. Prestige.”
    Chase couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. It was as if someone had gift wrapped the answers to all of their problems in the form of two grumpy and argumentative old men.
    “Anything?” he asked, almost choking on the words.
    “In theory,” Roger cut in. “only problem was, nobody ever did it. Everyone who went in didn’t come out.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Roger ran a thumb across his throat. “What do you think?”
    “How? I mean, what’s in there?”
    “Nobody knows,” Earl said. “The whole area is a no-fly zone. Strictly off limits. Nobody knows what happens behind those walls.”
    “I don’t understand. How does it work? I mean, how would a person apply?” Chase knew how desperate he sounded, but couldn’t help himself. It seemed Earl and Roger could hear it too, the former turning on his stool and looking Chase in the eye. “Before you get any bright ideas, the game ain’t running no more. Three seasons it ran for before complaints and