Surviving the Refuge (Survivalist Reality Show Book 2)

by Grace Hamilton

  She took the long way back, choosing to go around the head of the island where she had found the sand fleas, picking up some pretty shells as she went. Shells were one thing they had in abundance. If only they could be used for something other than decorating a box or making a table centerpiece. Somehow, in the grand scheme of things, she didn’t think ‘pretty’ mattered much anymore.

  She stopped and stared at the island in the distance as she made her way around to the north side of the island. It was hard to say exactly how far away the next island was. It wasn’t as far as the mainland, but she had no idea how deep the water between them was. Looking at the smooth water gently lapping against the shoreline, she thought about what the swim might entail. She was a good swimmer, and with that in mind, Regan let herself fantasize about swimming to the other island and escaping for a little while.

  “Don’t do it, Regan,” she spoke aloud, talking herself out of any wild ideas.

  Wolf had told her not to go swimming alone. She suspected he was wary of the sharks, whether he would admit to it or not. And Regan wasn’t quite brave enough to chance getting into trouble halfway between the two islands with no one there to save her. The fact that they had pulled a shark out of the water not fifteen minutes ago was also a good enough deterrent to keep her on the shore.

  After gazing at the ocean for a few more minutes, imagining herself far away, she snapped herself back to reality. It was time to see how the spider hunt was going. She turned and headed toward the trees. Before she’d gone much further, however, the smell of smoke coming from her left caught her attention.

  Regan headed in the general direction of it, pushing through the tall brush and assuming Lily had cut through the trees and was already cooking the fish. But it wasn’t Lily she found. Instead, she saw only a small campfire’s remains, a log still smoldering inside a rock ring, and no one around.

  “Lily?”

  When there was no answer, Regan decided to extinguish the fire. If the girl wanted a fire, she could start it again. Lily knew better than to leave a fire unattended, even if it was close to the beach. A fire would devastate the island and leave them homeless, with nowhere to go. Even being surrounded by water, they weren’t immune to wildfire. In fact, she was convinced they were in far more danger without access to real running water. Lightning had never scared her in the past, but she’d done a fair bit of thinking about it since coming to the island and knew that it posed a real danger to them.

  Lily knew that, Regan realized, and it wasn’t like her to be so careless. Regan kept kicking sand over the fire until she was satisfied it was completely out. Lily would probably be mad, but Regan didn’t care. It was reckless and had put them all in jeopardy. The chore done, she headed into the trees.

  A sound stopped her in her tracks.

  “Lily?” she called out, not moving a muscle, her ears straining to hear anything.

  There was nothing but the sound of the water and birds calling out to one another. Regan started to move again, but couldn’t help stopping and spinning around several times. She couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. It was creeping her out. Why didn’t she bring a gun with her? She’d been carrying one ever since they got to the island but the one time she could really use it; she’d left it at the house.

  She picked up her pace, pushing tree limbs out of her way as she rushed through the thick vegetation to get to the clearing where the house and safety awaited.

  “Whoa!” Fred grunted when Regan slammed into him.

  “You know, when you’re walking, it helps if you look forward,” Fred said, taking a step back. “Where are you going in such a hurry?”

  “Nowhere,” Regan sighed, glancing back to the trees behind her. “I was on my way back to the house. I thought I heard something and turned to look back. I didn’t see you there.”

  He grinned. “Obviously.”

  “Any luck on the spiders?”

  He shook his head. “I think your little buddy was a lone wolf, no pun intended.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Ha, ha. Is Wolf at the house?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where are you headed?”

  “I’m continuing my exploration of the island. I want to go around to the east side and check out those rocks. We may have a good snorkeling opportunity. We could possibly find sea urchin and other lovely delights,” he said.

  Regan wrinkled her nose, shaking her head. “None for me.”

  “You don’t like uni?” he asked with surprise.

  “No. Raw meat of any kind is not for me.”

  He shook his head. “You are really missing out. When fresh, it’s quite delicious.”

  “I’ll take your word for it. Hey…,” she began, stopping him before he could walk off. “Fred, were you out that way earlier?” she asked, suddenly wondering if it could have been him who’d left the campfire smoldering.

  He shook his head. “No, I’ve been with Wolf.”

  “Oh, okay. Lily is out there,” Regan added, not telling him about the minor shark situation.

  Fred nodded his head and continued on his way, using the small narrow path Regan had come in on. With the unattended campfire dismissed, she hurried up to the house, hoping to get the chance to work in the greenhouse. First, though, she wanted to clear it with Wolf. There was no way she was going to do anything to make him mad at her as well.

  She heard male voices coming through the trees from the shoreline near the dock and waited to see who it was coming up the path. RC and Geno emerged after a few seconds, both looking thrilled about something.

  “RC!” she cried out, noticing the huge bundle he was dragging. “Let me help you.”

  “Thank you, I would appreciate it,” he said, smiling at her—something that rarely happened.

  “What’s all this?” she asked.

  She grabbed one of the ropes that was attached to the sled he was dragging. There were a couple of very full burlap sacks on the sled.

  “Oranges,” he said with a smile.

  “Really? There are orange trees on the island?”

  He shook his head. “No, Geno and I went to the mainland. We did some trading with a local farmer for some of his orange harvest. These are the last of what he had. The season ended a couple weeks ago. He wanted to unload these before they rotted.”

  “That’s amazing. Wait, did Geno fix the motor on the boat?”

  RC nodded his head again. “Yes, he did.”

  “Hallelujah!”

  Regan traded grins with Geno, who seemed too happy with things to offer the usual attitude he’d had toward her. Then, without another word, Regan began helping pull the oranges back toward the house, thrilled with the way things were shaping up. As usual, their island existence was a rollercoaster ride full of ups and downs, with plenty of twists and turns, but perhaps she was getting used to it. The day had started out on a bit of an off note, but now it was seriously looking up. She only hoped this was a sign of better things to come for them.

  14

  “I admit, I was curious as to why Wolf had so much vinegar stockpiled. I thought it was odd, but knew there had to be a valid reason,” Regan commented.

  Tabitha laughed. “I thought it was for pickling food. I had no idea we could use it to make cleansers.”

  Regan stuffed one of the clean, quart-size Mason jars full of the orange peels they had been piling up as they peeled orange after orange. It was still early in the morning, but they’d already made a dent in the work, having pulled out Wolf’s food preservation books the night before and done their research on how to preserve oranges. They figured their best bet was to try a few separate methods, but it would take time.

  “I just hope it works,” Regan mumbled.

  “Make sure you fill it to the top so all the peels are covered with the vinegar,” Tabitha instructed.

  Regan nodded her head, pouring the pungent vinegar over the orange peels before putting on a clean jar lid and tightening the band.

  �
�I hope it smells better than what it does right now. The vinegar is making my eyes water,” Regan complained.

  Tabitha nodded in agreement, handing another orange to Geno, who was sitting at the far end of the table. “It’s supposed to smell like one of the citrus cleaners you would buy at the store. I’ve heard of people doing this before. It’s safer than bleach or any of the other cleansers that have nasty chemicals in them. I always wanted to try it, but never had the time. I guess I have the time now,” she said with a laugh.

  Regan grabbed another jar from the box, lining it up on the table to get ready for the canning of the oranges. Wolf had all the necessary supplies for home canning. However, they didn’t want to be standing over a hot stove and heating up the house until it was unbearable. That meant they’d be doing this part outside over the fire pit.

  RC had told them it was safe enough to use the method with fruit, but he’d strongly advised against it for vegetables and meats. The heat from the fire wasn’t enough. Fred, always the scientist, had gone on to explain that the pressure canner could definitely be used over the fire. That, however, was a problem for another day. Today was about the oranges.

  “I don’t think it’s that much cooler than it would be at noon,” Tabitha complained as they sat at the picnic table, tediously peeling oranges.

  “I’m glad we’re not doing it in the house. We’d all be sleeping outside with Lily for the next week if we heated the house up that much,” Regan replied.

  “This sucks,” Geno complained as he picked at the left-over rind on the oranges.

  Regan nodded, glancing up to see that he was fully focused on the work at hand. She still couldn’t believe he’d meandered out to the picnic table and offered to help. He’d said he couldn’t sleep without Tabitha and might as well, which Regan found adorable. Unfortunately, his help came right along with his constant complaining about not liking the work. She’d been tempted to tell him to go back to bed more than once, much as she appreciated the extra set of hands. No one had said he had to help, after all. He’d offered, which in her mind meant that he had to sit down, shut up, and do the work.

  As of now, though, they had peeled at least fifty oranges, and still had a bag and a half left, despite the large bowls they’d left in the kitchen for eating with meals over the next few days. Regan simply hadn’t realized the monumental effort it would take to preserve the fruit.

  “This is going to pay off in December when there’s no fresh fruit,” Tabitha reminded them when she saw Regan eyeing the stack of oranges waiting for their attention.

  “I didn’t know you could can oranges. This is kind of cool,” Regan admitted. “It’s just getting tedious.”

  “I think we should leave about half the bag to dry,” Tabitha noted. “And some to make some fresh orange juice. Doesn’t that sound good?”

  Regan nodded her head. “It does. It’ll be refreshing after all this.”

  Regan stopped peeling and started to split the oranges and stuff them into the sanitized jars. They worked in silence for several minutes, getting to where they had a nice rhythm going and were making good progress.

  “Have you and Wolf talked about having kids?” Geno blurted out suddenly, stopping all work.

  Regan nearly choked on the bite of orange in her mouth. Her eyes wide, she looked to him and then to Tabitha. “What?” she croaked.

  Geno shrugged as if it had been the most natural question in the world. “I was wondering if you two have thought about having children.”

  “Uh, I can’t say it’s something we’ve ever talked about. That seems a little beyond the scope of our very new relationship,” Regan pointed out, shocked that he’d feel it was appropriate to ask her anything so private as that.

  Tabitha apparently felt the same, and sat glaring at her husband.

  “Leave her alone, Geno. She isn’t going to side with you,” Tabitha snapped. “And she certainly doesn’t want to talk to you about this.” Tabitha looked at Regan. “I’m sorry. He has no filter,” she mumbled, shooting another glare at her husband.

  Geno shrugged one of his big shoulders as Regan looked back to the oranges in front of her, wishing she could run away.

  “It’s an honest question,” Geno argued. “She is the only other woman on the island. I want to know what she thinks about it,” he said, completely unapologetic. “I want to know if it’s a female thing or just you. I thought all women wanted babies.”

  Tabitha slammed down an orange as Regan did her best not to throw one at the man’s head. “That was a really stupid thing to say, as well as archaic and, just mean!”

  Regan kept working, unable to believe he was speaking to her at all, let alone about something so personal. When she looked up at Tabitha again, though, she could see the anger and frustration on her face—along with a healthy dose of embarrassment. Instead of making Tabitha feel more embarrassed, Regan managed to push aside her own discomfort and tried to play it cool.

  “I think that’s something each couple needs to work out themselves—privately,” Regan commented after a few seconds more had passed.

  Geno shook his head, a scowl on his lips. “There’s no such thing as privacy anymore. Not on this island with all of us living in that one house. Trust me, everyone knows everything.”

  Regan suddenly felt her face burning. The way Geno was talking insinuated he knew about some of the secret meet-ups between her and Wolf. Or maybe Wolf had even said something to him? No, she told herself, Wolf was keeping their relationship as private as she was trying to keep it. Geno was just being Geno.

  “I know she talked to you about this,” Geno continued. “I want a baby. She doesn’t,” he said, his voice rising.

  “I didn’t say that!” Tabitha argued. “Really, Geno, now? We need to discuss this now?”

  He shrugged. “Why not? She already knows about it. No one else is around.”

  Regan looked around the open clearing outside the house. She wanted to run away and hide from the conversation herself.

  “A baby would give us joy and something to look forward to every day,” Geno started. Tabitha opened her mouth to respond, but Geno kept on talking. “Women have been giving birth without hospitals for thousands of years. You can do it, too. We always talked about having a baby. We’re both alive and healthy, so we can still have one.”

  “I—” Tabitha didn’t get a chance to reject his idea.

  “You’ve got the medical training. You can tell Regan what to do and she can deliver the baby. Hell, Fred probably knows how!” Geno said, getting louder with every word. “Don’t say it’s dangerous.”

  Regan was shaking her head. “I don’t deliver babies.”

  “You’re going to have to learn how to do it eventually,” Geno shot back.

  Regan burst into laughter. “Seriously, Geno? I don’t think I do. There’s nothing that says I have to become a midwife or have a baby.”

  “People are going to keep having babies. It isn’t like life is going to stop because we lost power. What do you think is going to happen? We let the human race die out because you’re too afraid to have a baby without electricity?” Geno snapped.

  “Let someone else have the babies to keep the human race alive!” Tabitha shot back.

  Regan looked at Tabitha and could see the frustration on her face. From how quickly her friend was losing her temper, she also realized they’d obviously been having this same argument for quite some time—and it was reaching a boiling point. She had no idea how to diffuse the situation, though. Instinctively, she thought about what life would be like if the two of them ended up having a baby, and then what it would look like if they ended up splitting up.

  “I think this is something you two need to work out. You need to listen to her, Geno,” Regan said firmly, knowing it would probably make him mad at her for talking to him, but not caring. “It’s her body. She’s the one who would have to be pregnant and go through labor without a doctor or drugs. She knows what the labor and delive
ry process looks like and the complications that can happen because she has the medical training. I think you need to consider her side of this. And despite what you think, having a baby isn’t a walk in the park—it’s never not been dangerous, even with hospitals, so you have to listen to her.”

  Geno slammed his hand down on the table. “She won’t listen to me! I’ve been trying to tell her it will be okay, that I’ll be there to help her through it all.”

  Tabitha looked like she was about to cry as she answered, “Geno, it isn’t just about the delivery. It’s the baby. How do we keep it healthy with no medicine? What happens when it gets sick? I would die if my child was sick or injured and I could do nothing to help it. I don’t want that kind of heartbreak.”

  Geno seemed to soften a little, but Regan could see he hadn’t changed his mind. “You know so much about alternative medicine. We could do it.”

  Beside him, Tabitha had dropped her oranges and begun shaking her head. “I can’t think of that right now. I need time to get used to this life before I go jumping into something like that.”

  “Dammit! Why won’t you listen to me?” He was practically shouting, but in true Geno fashion, it was simply him being him—loud.

  Regan raised an eyebrow. “She won’t listen to you? Are you sure it’s her that isn’t doing the listening?”

  “No! Yes, I mean!” he shouted and pushed the orange he’d been working on back onto the plastic tablecloth they had spread out. With that, he stood up and stared back and forth between them before whirling and stomping away.

  Regan turned her attention to Tabitha. “Wow,” she muttered. “I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have stuck my nose in. He’s not being reasonable.”

  Tabitha nodded her head, letting out a deep breath. “Exactly. This is what I’ve been dealing with the past couple weeks—it’s just the first time the argument has come up when we were with anyone else. He wants to jump into this without thinking it through. Maybe I’m being too pragmatic, but there are so many what-ifs. I’m not the type of person who can jump into something like this without working through all the details.”