5 months, 2 weeks, and 3 long days have now passed.....

Benjamin has marked each day down since becoming stranded on the island. Since that dreadful day, he's done everything he can in order to survive. He's managed to establish his own little fort colony on the area he washed up on. He also discovered wildlife on the island and has been able to hunt and fish as well as pick whatever he can find off of trees and bushes. He hates having to kill animals in order to survive, but it's what he's stuck with. As long as he only kills for what he needs and doesn't drive anything towards extinction, he can live with it.

Each day, he takes it one at a time and does his best to stay strong and stay faithful in the fact that someday, someone will come along and take him home.

He knows someone is bound to arrive here because after 6 weeks on the island, Ben found something on the far east side of the island. It appeared to be this big abandoned camp site of some sort. It was large enough for a full group of people, at least fifty, maybe more; and it looked to have been used recently. Ben went to search the area, hoping to find some useful stuff that may have been left behind. Unfortunately, all he did find was what appeared to be some sort of a lab or a kitchen, or as close to one as you could make out here. It seemed strange, though, and he couldn't help but question what exactly it was used for. It didn't seem like your typical science lab or kitchen, and not just because of the location of it either.

Ben continued his search through the site until he came upon some type of large freezer chest. Could there be anything good or useful in there? There was only one way to find out. He walked over to the freezer to find a lock on it. He was able to find a big enough rock to smash it off and open it up. There wasn't any food or anything, but he did find the answer to what they were cooking in that lab....

Drugs.

Not just one type or any either, but all the bad kinds that are guaranteed to kill you in the end. It's definitely not the discovery Benjamin was hoping for, nor was the one that followed any better.

As Benjamin was leaving the campsite, he stumbled upon a weird surface on the ground. He dug through the light layer of sand and dirt to reveal a cellar door. He opened it to reveal one of those underground cargo sheds that pirates used to store smuggled goods on islands back in the day. Only, this one was still being used; not for goods, but for weapons. All of which appeared to be military and from around the globe. By far, the most startling discovery Ben's ever made on this island, if not in his life.

This raised an unfortunate question: If anyone did turn up to save him, would they be friendly? Or would they be the people who did all of this? Only time would tell.

Now, it is day 167 on the island.

Benjamin wakes up from his sheltered home on the beach that he made, nearly looking like a caveman after his time here.

He rises from his slumber, stretching around and waking his body. He begins his morning routine of exercises, yoga stretches, and practicing different martial arts moves. He had taken several different classes growing up and was quite skilled. Another one of the perks of growing up as a rich kid.

After his morning routine was over, he went over to the large stone to scratch another mark down, keeping track of the days he had spent stranded. Each passing day, the marks covered more of the rock; and each passing day, he wakes up wondering if today will be the day. It's become harder for the lone survivor to stay strong. It was certainly taking much longer than he had expected for someone to come along and find him. Trying to take each day and trying to wait and to stay hopeful was a long, hard, lingering process of epic proportions. He could only keep trying and striving forward because there was always the chance it could be that day.

Benjamin began his long hike up the hill with his bow and arrows, singing to himself Atlas Falls by Shinedown. He's gotten used to activating a little playlist in his head, one of the few things that keeps him entertained since he doesn't have a phone or any music playing device on him. He's also come to love venturing up to the mountain. It grants a perfect view of the whole island and the ocean that surrounds it. It's a beautiful image in its own right, but it also presented a clear sighting of any possible rescue ships.

About halfway up the hill, Benjamin peered over toward the side of the island. In the distance, Benjamin could see an object out in the water approaching the coast. He stopped in his tracks to try and focus on the shape, hoping it was real and not just what he wanted it to be. It was exactly what he had been waiting to see for all these days: a ship!

Benjamin charges back down the hill and heads for that side of the island. The ship still had some distance to reach before closing in. He just wanted to make sure he could reach it in time. Before long, he makes it to where he can observe everything from higher ground, wanting to make sure these people are friendly. The outfit he was wearing helped keep him camouflaged, a green and brown garment he was able to carve and sew together with his pants covered in dirt, leaves, and cut just above the knees. He crouches just by the edge of the cliffside he is on and watches as a few boats, jet skis, and some other water vehicles pull up to shore. They hit the beach and start setting up their perimeters while some of them appear to be scouting the island, ensuring they are alone here. The most alarming thing about this is the outfits these guys had. They were all wearing these blacked out combat uniforms, some even wearing helmets and masks, while all were carrying military-grade weapons.

Benjamin also noticed one particular person, an Asian woman with white hair, who appeared to be the head honcho from how she was ordering everyone around.

He didn't want to admit it, hated it in fact, but these were not the people he had hoped would arrive. In fact, considering this was also the side of the island closest to that campsite he found, he knew it was his worst fear: it was the bad guys that had arrived; and they looked to be the absolute worst that they could be.

Luckily, Benjamin had prepared for this and was already planning his way onto their ship.

Yes, it would likely be wiser to try and find a place to hide and let these guys leave, but this was the first ship sighting Ben had seen in almost half a year. There was no telling if and when another one would come along, and if that one would be any better than this. As bad as it was, this was his best chance at getting off this island. He had to get on that ship somehow and someway.

Ben starts rushing back to his own little camp area as fast as he can. It takes a good few minutes, but he eventually makes it back. He grabs all his arrows, the extra wooden long bow he crafted, any food he could bring, and a stick on fire before making sure everything else was set. He makes his way back up the hill, always checking for the right distance. Once he gets to a good enough spot on the hill, he glances back to the large pile of wood on the beach he had built for a large bonfire, great enough for any nearby ship to see and would certainly catch the attention of the island's new occupants.

He checks all around him, not wanting any nearby goons to catch him by surprise. Then, he lights one of the wooden arrows with the fiery stick he had, takes aim, and launches! It soars high through the air and lands perfectly onto the wooden pile, igniting the large flames and sending off the smoke.

Back on the other beach, the white-haired lady is examining the perimeter set up by her men before one of them catches her attention. He points toward the smoke rising in the far distance, signifying the presence of an unwanted visitor on the island. She screams in Chinese for a squadron to hurry and make their way towards the smoke. Also, to find whoever started that fire.

The gunmen charged through the woods, thoroughly searching for whoever else was here with them. Their weapons were armed and ready, aiming and ready to fire at the pull of a trigger. They continued their search through the jungle until one of the intruders fired his weapon at some movement in the bushes. It turns out to be just a small animal that got away, resulting in the team leader getting on to the poor fool. Nevertheless, the search continued for the stranded survivor.

Little did any of them know, their target was much closer than they had expected.

Before long, one of the masked members strayed away from his team during the search. He journeyed farther and farther away from his unit without even realizing it. He was so focused on the possible movement in front of him that he was horribly oblivious to everything else around him.

Especially, who was creeping above him.

The foot soldier started to realize how quiet it had suddenly become around him, occupied only by the sound of his own heavy breathing. That was, until he heard something snap from above, glancing up to see a falling Benjamin bringing his wooden bow down on his head. He quickly locked in a sleeper hold until the guy was completely unconscious. Benjamin then moved him to where none of his friends would walk in and find them.

Several minutes later, the search started to calm down as they reached Benjamin's side of the island but found no signs of anyone else present. Their leader was informed of everything, including that they had recovered some weapons stolen from their old campsite. She instructed them to search their camp, see if anyone was there and if they had stolen anything else. Everything checked out correctly, no stolen goods or anything of the sort. Afterward, their leader called off the search for now, deciding they would conduct a more thorough search once they were set up and situated properly. One way or another, they would find whoever else was on here and take him in dead or alive.

Sadly for them, what they didn't know was that one of the members of the search party was, in fact, the individual they were searching for.

Benjamin had taken the gunman's outfit and weapons to pose as one of them. The attire barely fits him and is a bit tight, but he is managing. A lot of these guys were carrying their own bags, too, so no one seems to really notice or care about the duffle bag he has with him, which does carry both bows and all his arrows. The rest of the stuff he brought was in the bag that he also stole off the gunman. He continues to follow the crowd, hoping sooner or later it'll lead him on the ship. None of them would be able to recognize him with the goggles and mask that covered the lower half of his head, but he couldn't speak a word of Chinese. He just hoped nobody would try to speak to him. As for the guy he had knocked out, he had him tied up in a good spot; but eventually, they would find him and begin searching everyone with the same outfit as him. The sooner he got on that ship and found a good place to hide, the better. He kept on following the group he was with as they were approached by the woman with white hair. Now, he had a close look at her and found her presence cold and menacing. She gave them further instructions after the team leader gave her a statis report. Again, he couldn't understand a word of it, just played along with his disguise.

Suddenly, after some orders given by the white-haired woman, the group started marching towards one of the boats. Benjamin continues to follow as the whole team piles in. The driver fires up the engine and their course toward the ship begins. Benjamin quietly blows a sigh of relief as already things are progressing well so far. He does his best to keep cool and stay in character as they soon reach the ship. Once aboard, Benjamin stays with them until they enter inside. Then, he is able to break away without raising any suspicion. He needs to learn his way around the ship and figure out what exactly he is going to do now that he's here. He knows he can't hide forever, especially not once they find their lost soldier.

Perhaps, if he can somehow find the Captain's Querters, he just might be able to learn his way around better and get a solid game plan going, maybe even find a radio.

About a half-hour of sneaking around and attempting to navigate through confusing hallways later, he eventually found the Captain's office. It looks like it belongs to that same woman. Not that it was any real surprise to him. He checks to make sure no one sees him before entering the room. He does find a radio, but can't understand how anything works. He can't risk hitting the wrong frequency either. So, he searches the desk instead, looking for anything that could be useful. He had to be careful, though, because it was one of those offices that had a big window on the side with a large view of the ship's hanger. The goggles are lifted to his head and the mask is lowered as he searches. He opens one of the drawers and finds a layout of the entire ship.

"Bingo!" He quietly shouts to himself.

However, it's a little difficult to look through as most of what's written is in Chinese. There is some English translation, though, and some of these areas he can figure out. Including, this one part of the ship called the Brig, which is where they kept any prisoners they detained. If there are any, it could be a perfect way to get some backup.

He stuffs the layout in his back pocket before continuing to search for anything else that might be useful. Nothing else really seemed to jump out at him at the moment. Then, he began searching a file cabinet she kept in one of the other drawers. He checked each one until about halfway through. He opened up the next file and could not believe what he saw.

It was a picture of his father.

Not only that, but it came with a picture of his father's gambit, satellite images, travel schedules, and weather reports. Along with these things came a map with a dotted mark, which was on specific coordinates. Benjamin recognized this part of the map as being the exact area he and his father traveled to while on their gambit; and those coordinates were likely where they got attacked by that chopper.

It was them! That woman and her little private army were the ones responsible for the attack and killing Carlton.

It looks like they chose that specific time and location so that when the yacht went missing, everyone would think the storm had caused their disappearance. Nobody would have suspected anything else, let alone a full-on attack.

Benjamin became shocked and enraged by what he had discovered. He finally knew who was responsible for his father's death, but also had more questions raised.

His dad was never involved with people like this, so why would they have wanted anything to do with him, let alone see him dead? Not to mention, go through so much trouble to accomplish that?

Benjamin didn't have time to dwell on these questions since he heard voices from outside. It was just a couple of crew members chatting to each other as they walked by. Benjamin brought the mask back up with the goggles before slowly returning to the door. He needed to get to the Brig and meet with the prisoners fast.

It took almost another hour of sneaking around and avoiding any suspecting crew members before he made it to the Brig. Benjamin also kept his eyes open for security cameras, which there seemed to be more of the closer he got there. He thought it would be wise to look for the security room first and deal with the guys that could catch him and ruin everything in a hurry. He made it down the ship, found the security room, and saw two guards chatting and laughing amongst themselves. He carefully peaked in through the caged window to have a look at the monitors. Indeed, there was a group of detainees being held, which was great for him, but there was no way he could get to them without these two noticing.

So, coming up with a quick plan, he checked the weapons he took, making sure it was good in case he needed it, and decided to put his disguise to even further use.

He slammed himself against the door of the security room while breathing hard, catching their attention while pretending to be wounded or in distress. One of them spoke to him in their native tongue, but Ben shook his head while continuing to hyperventilate, coming off as too weak or wounded to respond. The guard rushes over with a look of shock and confusion as he unlocks the door. As soon as the door opens.....

Knee to the crotch and pistol smashed to the temple!

"Stop! Don't!" He shouts at the other guard with his gun aimed before he could pull out his sidearm.

The guard wisely moves his hand away from the pistol before raising his arms.

"Now turn around! Turn around now!" He shouted again while doing the turning gesture with his other hand in case he didn't speak English.

Whether he did or not, he understood Ben clearly and turned to face the opposite direction. Benjamin entered the room and stomped on the head of the other guard, keeping him down before moving to his partner. He smashed the gun over the back of his head, knocking him out before grabbing their handcuffs. He restrained both guards to their chairs before grabbing the keys and heading for the cell doors. He reached the particular door before unlocking it and entering. The group of captives who were inside were all behind a large caged door. They jumped to their feet upon the sound of the door unlocking. Benjamin enters and closes the door behind him just to be safe. The group looked to be all Americans, which was a definite good sign. They were confused to see a troop rushing in by himself until he removed his goggles and mask, revealing himself to be a fellow American.

"Howdy friends!" He said with a cheesy grin and goofy country accent.

The group looked at each other with confusion, not expecting that to be an approach, but welcomed it nonetheless. Benjamin approached the cage and was met by the leader of group.

"Who are you?" He spoke first.

"My name is Ben McFarland. They've stopped at an island I've been stranded on for several months now," he quickly answered.

"Wait, McFarland? You're that rich kid that's been missing, aren't you?" He asked with shock.

"Yea, that's me," he nodded with a grin. "And you are?"

"Eddie Fyers, federal agent, and this is my team," he gestured to the people behind him as they nodded and waved, but one of them just grunted, almost laughing or scoffing, as if disagreeing with that statement.

"Oh, and that's Ben Turner," Eddie added.

"Don't tell him my actual name," he irritably retorted.

"Oh, excuse me, Bronze Tiger," Eddie retorted back, earning confusion from McFarland with that odd nickname. "So, McFarland, you said we're at an island?"

"Yea, and ironically, these people are the ones who sunk my dad's gambit and forced me here. Who the hell are these people? And who's that woman with the white hair?"

"That's China White. She's in charge of this whole triad and cartel we've been after."

That was a startling revelation to say the least.

"Any idea why she would go after my dad?" He asked with shock and concern.

"Afraid not, kid, but what I do figure is that they likely brought us to this island to bury us here."

Benjamin shot up his eyebrows from that horrifying possibility.

"I guess we better get moving then, huh?" He said before bringing up the keys, Fyers informing him which one to use.

He unlocked the door with the correct key, releasing his new friends before removing the AK-47 strapped around him.

"Here, you're likely better with this than I am," he gives the rifle to Eddie.

"Thanks. How many of them have you taken out already?"

"Not much, just the guy on the island whose outfit I stole and the two guards in the security room. It won't be much longer before they know something's up."

"Can you fight?"

Benjamin shrugs.

"I'm no Jackie Chan, but I handle my own."

"Can you shoot?"

Benjamin drops the duffle bag and takes out the bow and arrows. Eddie and his team look at him like he's crazy.

"Are you serious?"

"Trust me, you'll want me with this. There's another in there if anybody can use it?"

Eddie looked to one of the female members of his unit, nodding to her before she retrieved the wooden bow with its arrows.

"Just don't slow us down, kid," Ben Turner, or Bronze Tiger, commented.

"I won't, I promise," McFarland nodded.

"You ready to go home, kid?"

Ben smirked with a nod.

"Yes sir!"

(A/N: Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Tell me what you thought!

Next chapter will be the culmination of Arc. 1, and then we get into the more interesting bits.

Since the time of this publishing falls on his birthday, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to the man who started this universe and one of the coolest people I've met on the app Lokis03277)