Skink—No Surrender

Tommy finds his way back to the canoe and paddles toward the main river current. Frustrated, Malley throws Skink’s golf club at Tommy; it misses him, disposing of their only weapon. Skink grabs his bass fishing rod and tries to catch Tommy with the hook. He’s unable, but Richard steps up and begins to cast. He hooks the back of Tommy’s shirt.

Tommy feels the barbs of the fishing hook and panics. He turns the canoe over and falls into the main river current. As Malley calls out for Skink to catch Tommy, Skink spots an alligator in the river. He watches from the shore as the alligator drags Tommy under the water. Skink orders Richard and Malley to stay on the bank before leaving.

Richard and Malley confirm Tommy’s death when they see the alligator swimming with Tommy’s clothes in its jaws. In the silence that follows, they hear the calls of a bird. Richard looks at a nearby tree to see an ivory-billed woodpecker. He and Malley watch the bird, which Richard believed was extinct, until it flies away. As it does, Nickel’s fishing barge turns a corner of the river. Dime and Tile are both on board.