"So tell me Hank, who built all this?" Y/n asked, staring ginormous wall.

"The Iwi built this," he replied. The gang had followed Hank to a village. "You've probably noticed a lot of weird  things on this island. As long as we stay in here where the people live, we'll be all right."

"Wait what?" Y/n said. 

"That wall, is that supposed to keep out that thing?" Weaver asked.

"No, he's not the one they're trying to keep out." Hank replied. Y/n gulped and moved closer to James.

"These people live up on top of the trees while we're down on the roots." Hank explained. "Some of them don't even seem to age. There's no crime, no personal property. They're past all that."

"Why can't we all be like that?" She whispered to James. They began to follow Hank.

"Because in our world, everything would fall into chaos," he replied. Y/n frowned.

"Thank you. Thank you," Hank told two Iwis in blue with matching face paint. "So, good news. They say you can shack up here," he said.

"I didn't hear them say anything," James replied.

"They don't speak too much," Hank answered. "When you've been here as long as I have, you start to understand. You'll see."

"Wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait. We can't stay here," Y/n said. 

"We have to get off the island. We have lives. I have a life." Victor added.

"Nieves, now is not the time. All right?" James told him in a calm voice.

"What lands here tends to stay here," Y/n looked at Mason and mouthed something to her, using the finger across neck motion. 

Hank lead the gang into a giant cargo boat. "As far as I can tell, this ship washed up about 10 years before I did," he said.

"You've been here since '44?" Mason asked. 

"Yeah," Hank replied. "Hey, what happened with the war? Did we win?"

"Which one?" Slivko asked.

"That makes sense," Hank muttered. "Anyway, follow me," he lead the gang inside the boat. Y/n's hand held on to James' hand as they entered. There were torches and stalagmites rising up. "This is all hallowed ground to them. So if you like your hands, don't touch anything."

"Look at that!" Y/n exclaimed. She pointed to the paintings on the stalagmites. They showed people being devoured. Her grip on James' hand got tighter. He looked down at his hand, and then at Y/n.

"Don't be scared, I'm here," he said. Y/n scoffed.

"I'm no scared," she said.

"The way they tell it for thousands of years, the people on this island lived in fear," Hank explained. "That's a heck of a long time to be scared."

"That must've been tough," Y/n whispered to James.

"And then, one day, the darnest thing happened. Some of the things they were afraid of started protecting them Against the things that were eating them," he said, "but nothing lasts forever, I guess." More paintings showed an ape. It seemed to be grieving about the deaths of the others.

"And this is where they honor the last of their saviors." 

"Wow," Y/n and James stared at awe. The giant painting was of an ape holding his hands out as a sing of peace.

"Yeah," Hank said. "That's Kong. He's king around here. He's God to these people. Kong's a pretty good king. Keeps to himself mostly. This is his home. We're just guests here. But you don't go into someone's house and start dropping bombs unless you're picking a fight."

"Wasn't Kong the one who killed your friend?" Mason asked.

"No," he replied in a serious tone. "One of them did." Hank pointed to a painting of lizard- like creatures. Y/n groaned in disgust. "Kong's god on the island but the devils live below us."

"And what are they called?" James asked.

"The Iwis won't speak their name," Hank replied. "But I call them skull-crawlers."

"Why?" James asked.

"'Cause it sounds neat,"he said.

"I agree," Y/n said.

"Okay," James said.

"Look, I just made that name up," Hank said. "I'm trying to scare you." 

"I'm fine calling them that," Y/n answered. "How 'bout you?" She asked James. He just shrugged his shoulders.

"Are you cool with that?"Mason asked. 

"I like the name," James said.

"Yeah, that seems like a great name." Y/n said.

"I've never said that name out loud before. It sounds stupid now that I say it," Hank replied. "Just, you call them whatever you want. They're big lizard things. Nasty. They come from the vents deep down. That's why Kong got so mad. Those bombs woke up a bunch of them."

"I don't wanna see one, ever," Y/n mumbled.

"I tell you what," Hank said. "You're lucky he's out there, too, or you wouldn't have made it this far. They're crafty bastards. Mean as heck." James felt Y/n move closer. He awkwardly wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Now, he can handle them as long as he gets to them when they're still small. You don't wanna wake up the big one."  

"How big is it?" Y/n asked nervously.

"It's bigger. It wiped out his whole family," Hank replied. "Kong's the last of his kind, but he's still growing and you better hope he does. Because the Iwis say once Kong goes then the big one comes up. Then it's, "Goodnight, Irene.""

"Listen," James said, "there's a refueling team coming to the north end of the island in three days."

"You should come with us," Mason said. 

"To the north end of the island?" Hank repeated. Y/n nodded, smiling.

We're gonna get out of here," James replied with a smile.

"In three days?" Hank asked in shock.

"Yes," James, Mason, and Y/n replied.

"You can't get to the north end in three days. It's impossible. That's it. No way." Hank said.

"At least not on foot."