Tail-Likes | Chapter 3 | Untrustworthy Stranger To Some

Once they were both allowed to go home, Karia started looking at her map.

Alexander T.G. Perkins stared at her and said "Here we go!" Then she nodded once and they went on their way.

Karia got lost, trying to find her way with the map but she was forgetting what the class taught her on how to read the map.

Alexander T.G. Perkins was walking in random  places, not looking at the ground or his surroundings trying to just go in directions after lengths of time he thought it would take to follow the map's directions and got resoundingly lost as that is the worst way to do it without looking about you.

Alexander The Great Perkins didn't look up from the map once to check where he was, leading to his resounding lostness.

Karia did the same at one point, leading to even more lostness for her.

Alexander T.G. Perkins sat down  on the ground and said "Um..." Then he looks around, realizing he's lost, says "I don't know what to do."

Alexander then stood up and just wandered about the land and accidentally bumped into Karia.

Alexander gently eyed her, confused, and said "Hi!" Then extended a hand to hold her's, asking "How do you do! I'm lost!" She's a little bit confused, but awkwardly grabs his hand, stating "Me, too!" With a sudden grin.

Alexander walks around the town saying "You know, when I was back home, my dad used to be a cop. He arrested a lot of bad people. It protected me because we were afraid that my dad was too close to me for them to hurt me because I'd tell on 'em and they'd know."

Alexander was walking and said "This is a really bad idea but I have no problem with the 'me too' movement. Couldn't see why a few people were upset about it."

Karia is awkward, but says "Cool. I totally understand. Didn't get it, either. No one was saying stop police investigations. It's just women trying to tell people the truth of how they were abused."

Alexander says "Yeah." | Karia replied "I predict a male version of the me too movement." | Alexander is in shock, but says "Okay? I guess... Since Men getting raped happens too."

They're kind of awkward people. Karia says "It happened to my cousin, George... His boyfriend raped him." | Alexander looks at her in the most... Saddened expression.

Alexander asks "Did the guy get arrested?" | Karia replied "I reported him. The relationship was abusive..." She wasn't... Happy... Anymore... | "Heh..." Karia looks at him a little awkward...

Karia asks "Where is our home? Literally, like... Where is the location of our home?" | Alexander asks "Wanna go on a journey to find our home? Literally?" | She nodded.

They gave a fist pump to "Let's find out where our homes are!" They got lost, so... I don't know how, as the writer, to realistically get them out of this. They don't have a GPS and I'm Gen Z.

You say "they should read the map," this is true. They don't remember how; They forgot.

They wander around the forest, then the town, then the park in the town, then some random apartments they know aren't where they live as Alexander keeps asking "Karia "This where you live?" Only for her to reply "Apartment 303 is my home." And she keeps asking "This your home?" And he says "I think... I'm forgetting, but... I think it's Apartment 333? 444? 202? No, no! It's 222? Right?"

So, Alexander takes out his map and tries to look at it again, but it all confuses him because he's totally forgotten how to use it! Karia looks at her own map and her mind is blank; She has utterly forgotten how to use the map!

Karia tells Alexander that "I need to get home... Let's separate and see if we can find it."

However, Alexander has an idea! "What if we just went back to the map training center and had them remind us on how to use it?" | Karia thought about his idea for a minute, then said "Okay, sure. Sounds like a good idea."

She then paused with him for 3 full seconds, then he said "I forgot the way there." She replies "I forgot the exact words of the address, but I remember the path."

So, Karia and him head over to the Map Training Center following her lost lead. She's not looking at the map and he doesn't ask her too because they both know that she doesn't know how to read it.

Once they get there, they head inside and meet the teacher, Donald. Donald's tail was 34 inches long while Donald was 5'7.6 in height.

Donald sees them and is like "Heya, kids!" They nodded once to greet him. He asks "Why ya' here?!" With a large grin! They said "We got lost in Tailson," laughing.

He was stunned, then said out of surprise "How? You guys had maps!" | "Maps we forgot how to read!" Laughed Alexander.

Donald had a very reasonable reaction: "Okay, I'm gonna be honest... This island used to be a huge child sex trafficking hub. Lots of victimization happened right here on Little Saint James. The name is Ironic. The Country of Vernice took it over and now Great Saint James and Little Saint James both are a part of the Country of Vernice, but I'm gonna be honest, the government tried their best to get rid of all the sex traffickers before moving the people here."

The two: Karia and Alexander... Uh... Looked at each other in deep confusion. Donald had to explain further "The government doesn't advise you get lost anywhere... Man or women. I can't tell you what men had to go through when sex trafficked in India. It's... Terrifying... Americans wouldn't even imagine it."

Karia asked, "What do you mean?" And Donald says "A few kidnap them up there and force them to be Eunuch to force them into sex slavery." This horrified the two, and they asked "Why are you bringing that up here?!"  In sync.

Donald replies "To let you BOTH know that you both can be victims because Jeffrey Epstein had male victims. One of those male victims spoke out."

Donald says "So... Uh... Let's just go over the  map thing again..." After teaching them, retraining them 4 more times then 1 more just for good measure...

They finally got a pamphlet and 2 VHS tapes, despite this taking place in the future, to help them learn how to read a map since the island has VHS players.

They also got 2 CDs to help remind them as they had CD players here.

Donald says "Listen, this is very important: DO NOT GET LOST ON LITTLE SAINT JAMES."

They nod in fear of what could happen. They then follow the maps to their homes.

At his apartment "222," Alexander The Great Perkins sat on the floor of his empty home. There's only a shower-tub, a bathroom sink with cabinets, and a toilet and a kitchen sink, fridge, kitchen sink and cabinets, kitchen counters, a microwave, and that's it.

He's reading in the news about how "Sex trafficking is illegal... Typical, not a bad thing. Pretty good... All Epstein family members, step, adoptive, and biological and in-law banned from Vernice all the way up to the eighth cousins which they say have only one gene left that makes them related... Makes sense. Um..."Outside, a concerned neighbor, Mateo, a Puerto Rican, stares at him through his window.

Inside, Alexander reads "All people who were on the island before the takeover by the Vernice government are banned... Yup... Good."

Alexander grazes his eyes up and sees Mateo, he stares at him in utter shock, but Mateo squints his eyes, letting him know that he's not gonna let him do anything nefarious.

Alexander is confused because no words were exchanged. They don't have any phones, so it's not like he can call 911. Alexander ran up and locked his doors & windows, worried he'd be sex trafficked.

Mateo instantly left once he figured out that the newbie was getting frantic. Alexander got scared and started yelling "My dad's a cop!" Knowing he couldn't call his dad for help.

The government didn't want them to have iPhones so they couldn't be known by anyone in the world via filming themselves or taking pictures of themselves & telling others that humans with ugly tails existed in their town, but the government never gave them any replacement phones for iPhones.

Once Mateo left, Alexander didn't know what to do because you can't contact 911 on a computer, and this town doesn't allow you to have computers, either.

Alexander just sat there and decided to explore the town in the morning. He has no self-defense tools he could use to protect himself during exploration and does not have money to buy them. So... He needs an ID... To get a job... Oh dear...

In the morning, Alexander forgets to get his ID and goes out to search for a job without one

.Alexander went to the corner store nearby to ask "Hey, can I have a job?"

The cashier, a woman with a long growth that was 9 inches tall that the government mistook for a tail that was a-centered, says "Yes, just hand me your ID! I heard you were a newcomer! So.. I figured you'd have an ID by now."

Alexander asks "Wha- OH!" As he realized he needed an ID and forgot.

He says "Um... Yeah... I was never given one..."

Mateo enters saying "Lady Marina Jenkins didn't give you no idea?" He said, skeptically. "You allowed to-" Then Mateo stopped, noticing the strange tail on Alexander flaring up with suspicion of Mateo, the webbed tail spreads out at it's edges.

Mateo has a true vestigial tail. He looks at Alexander's tail in pure awe; He's never seen anything like this tail. Mateo stepped closer to touch it, but it glowed once Alexander was startled by Mateo just stepping near him.

Staring at the glowing tail in shock, Martha shouted "It GLOWS!" All the other tails don't glow.

She stared at it for 6 seconds, then said "Wow..."Then she realized she had to speak about the stuff about the job when Alexander said "Yeah, it's awesome, really..." Reveling in the attention it gave him!"

Anyway... I need a job..." Alexander reminded her. She snapped back and said "Oh! Yeah... You need an ID... Marina forgets to give one... She forgot with me... So... Go back there..."

On his way to Marina's office, he forgot about the job, then said right in front of the building "What was I getting an ID for?" Tip of his pointer finger perched upon the bottom lip.

Alexander forgot the job he asked for that the shop owner was willing to give. All he needs is an ID. Alexander then went to he office saying "Well... Everyone needs an ID..."Then he tried remembering why as he was telling Marina about how he needed an ID, and how "It was very important, I just can't remember why!" Marina reminded him "You... Needed a job?"

It clicked! "Yes," he sprung to life!

Marina hands him a bunch of papers saying "We don't do computers here. Just sign these papers. We can't take photos, so sit in the back for a portrait."

Alexander was instantly dejected, saying "I can't... I can't even take a photo for my ID?"

Marina replied "You  have an ugly tail... Thus, no. It's too unsightly for the government. They can't have your tail getting out there."

Alexander paused, then said "Fine." Alexander HAD to mention, however, how long a portrait typically takes to make: "It'd take hours."

Marina laughed, and said "To avoid that, we just do a simplified drawing. We keep it realistic, but you're not getting any shading. Just skin color and outlines. This is how we gave artists Jobs."

So, Outside, Mateo waited for him while Alexander was asking "Where do I find-" And Marina replied "You find the art station for IDs outside," she's pretty bored. She wanted to send him on his way and troll him by telling him he didn't need an ID... But she wanted to save that for Karia.

So, Alexander went outside and Mateo snatched him by his shirt collar, scaring the devil out of this man: "WHAT THE FRICK?!" Immediately, his tail flared up and a knife shot out of the tip -- a huge collection of iron -- a gift from the angel, Echel -- And stabs Mateo in the stomach.

Mateo snatched his tail and shouts "What are you?! A demon?!" Beginning to think this newcomer is not human because no one else on this island had tails like that; He is incorrect.

Alexander quickly slipped his tail away, thinking that Mateo is either crazy or a sex trafficker. Alexander unsheathed his tail -- Made from the iron of his blood, leading him to need more iron in his system. Alexander's tail had grown from 15 centimeters to 40 inches long.

Mateo pulls out his own 30 inch tail and pulls out a knife that he straps around the tip of his tail to stab Alexander.

Mateo lunged first, the knife strapped to the tip of his 30-inch tail whipping through the air. Alexander jerked back, but the blade grazed his left forearm, drawing a thin line of blood. Alexander’s glowing, iron-edged tail snapped forward in retaliation, slicing across the back of Mateo’s head.

Mateo snarled and swung again, the blade catching Alexander across the forehead. Alexander staggered, then flicked his tail sideways, cutting Mateo across the neck. Mateo pushed through the pain and slashed Alexander’s left bicep.Alexander struck back instantly, opening another shallow cut across Mateo’s neck. Mateo twisted away and raked Alexander’s cheek. Furious, Alexander drove his tail low and carved a deep gash into Mateo’s left thigh.Mateo roared and answered with a brutal strike that tore deep into Alexander’s right thigh. Alexander spun and caught Mateo’s ear with a savage slice, severing it. Mateo stumbled but slashed Alexander’s left bicep again.

Alexander tried to recover, cutting Mateo’s right forearm, but Mateo surged forward through the pain. His blade flashed once across Alexander’s throat.

The fight would have ended in a sudden, terrible silence.... But...

Alexander immediately slashed the eyes of Mateo to blind him in terror, and ran back into the office; when Marina saw what happened, she bandaged his wound as she always kept some nearby, and rushed him to the nearby Emergency room yelling "Get them to the hospital!" And staff went and Got Mateo and brought him, too, where Mateo & Alexander got treated with Alexander in critical condition.

Now, Alexander was forced to heal. Luckily, healthcare in this country was free.

Alexander’s recovery would depend on the severity of the throat injury and blood loss, since the slit throat was the life-threatening wound that put him in critical condition. The other cuts would heal much faster.

Immediate hospital phase (0–2 weeks):

Doctors would stabilize him first—stopping the bleeding, repairing the throat structures, and preventing infection. If the airway or vocal cords were damaged, surgery would likely be required. During the first week or two he would mostly stay in the hospital while the deeper tissues began sealing and swelling went down.

Early recovery (2–6 weeks):

The shallow cuts on his arms, face, and forehead would mostly close during this time. Stitches from the deeper wounds—especially the throat and thigh—would either dissolve or be removed. He’d still feel weak from blood loss and might have trouble speaking normally if the throat wound affected the voice.

Functional recovery (6–12 weeks):

By about two to three months, the major wounds would be healed enough for normal daily activity. The thigh gash and bicep injuries would regain strength gradually, though the scars would remain.

Long-term healing (3–12 months):

Scar tissue would slowly mature and fade. If the throat injury affected the voice or swallowing, he might need speech therapy for several months. Energy levels would steadily return during this time.

Overall:

• Hospital stay: roughly 1–2 weeks

• Basic recovery: about 2–3 months

• Full healing and scar settling: up to a year

Because he received treatment quickly and didn’t have to worry about medical costs, his chances of surviving and eventually returning to normal life would be much better.

Once Alexander healed up after a year, he was released from the Tailson Emergency Room. Once he got out, he had basically become even more scared of living here and ran home as quickly as possible.

To Be continued...