More or less.

A thought occurred to Johanna. “Okay,” she said, taking both items in her left hand and extending her right to King, “Deal.”

King let his face crack into a brief smirk as he grasped Johanna’s hand. “Good. Put it on.”

It was Johanna’s turn to smirk, this time. Taking hold of the collar, she looped it around her wrist, twisted, and looped it again. It fit almost perfectly, and would be easy to adjust or remove in the future. She flexed her hand and held out her wrist, examining her new bracelet with pride.

“It’s supposed to go around your neck, Johanna,” King said dryly.

Johanna shook her head, grinning like a fool. “That wasn’t part of the deal.”

“Fine,” King said, forcing the words through clenched teeth, “Suit yourself.” He turned away, and walked pointedly away from Johanna. “Be home by sunset. I’m going to have your ass, tonight.” With that ominous promise, he walked past the treeline, and soon was gone. Johanna suspected King was being entirely literal, and hoped that her efforts to test her boundaries today wouldn’t be punished too severely.

Still, she reasoned, she felt like she came out ahead on this interaction, especially since, in addition to a very functional knife that would likely serve her well, she had picked up some valuable information. She and King were not alone on this island. In fact, it sounded like there were several people, possibly even groups of people, scattered around the dense jungle. That left her an opportunity to begin building a life here that wasn’t completely dominated by King. In fact, with time, she may even be able to buy her way out of the debts and promises she had already accumulated, if she needed to.

Of course, she had no idea where these people might be, and the day was half-over. Fucking and lazing about all morning was fun, but not especially productive, and maybe Johanna needed to be productive right now. She palmed the knife and turned towards the jungle. Where to start?