by Kelli Walker
I jammed it back into my pocket and drew in a deep breath. No use being upset over it now. I slid myself out of the cave and looked up, feeling the rays of sun beating down on my face. Nothing but bright skies and a few wispy white clouds penetrated the tops of the trees. A beautiful day after a hellacious storm.
A good day to be rescued if we had a working tracker.
I knelt down at the babbling brook that had receded as quickly as it had filled up. I dipped my hands into it and brought it to my face, wiping off all the dirt and smoke and oils that had developed overnight. I filled my stomach with water before I wiped my mouth off, feeling the cool droplets trickle down my back.
I had to wake up the sleeping giant.
“Silas!”
I heard him grunt as he shifted inside the cave.
“Silas! Wake up!”
“Really? The one time you need to be quiet?” he groaned.
I hoisted myself back into the cave and grinned as I watched him get up. His naked body moved with a fluidity that made my efforts last night worth it. He stood to his feet and dusted himself off as my eyes roamed his body. His thick arms and his pulsing thighs were covered in soot and dirt. He smoothed his hands over the rings of his abs, drawing my gaze down to the girth swinging between his legs.
Electricity buzzed up my spine as I ripped my eyes away from him.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“Sore,” he said.
“How are your muscles?”
“Loose.”
“And your joints?”
“Limber.”
“Sounds like I’m rubbing off on you,” I said, grinning.
I crouched at the mouth of the cave as he cast me an evil glare. Oh, he was pissed to be awake. But I didn’t care. I admired the way his body moved while he clothed himself, patting myself proverbially on the back. Last night had gotten rough, and there was a moment where I didn’t think he was going to make it. But watching him stretch and move without pain or effort helped to put last night into perspective.
It was about survival. Getting him warm so he’d make it through the night.
“Have you heard from Grier?” Silas asked.
I reached for my backpack and slipped down from the cave.
“Not yet. Have to dig the radio out. Though our tracker’s done for.”
“What? Why?” he asked.
“It got waterlogged in the rain, then set too close to the fire.”
“I wonder who’s fault that was,” he murmured.
“Excuse me?” I asked.
I turned around and watched him jump from the mouth of the cave.
“Nothing. What’s the plan now? The skies seem clear. Grier will come looking for us.”
“Best way for us to be found is to stay put,” I said flatly.
“Don’t sound so happy about it.”
“We’re still going to need food until the helicopter finds us, so I’ll go out hunting again.”
“At least leave the radio with me so I know it won’t be destroyed.”
“Not my fault you invest in cheap technology.”
“Give me the radio if you’re leaving again. It’s the only way Grier can contact us right now.”
I narrowed my eyes at him as I jammed my hand into my pocket. I took out the GPS tracker and threw it at him, watching it bounce off his chest. He fumbled with it in his hands before he caught it, holding it up to the light so he could get a good look at it. While he was engrossed in his cheap-shit technology, I swung my backpack around and dug through it to find the radio.
But the second my ears heard the raking of plastic parts together, I sighed.
“What was that?” Silas asked.
“More proof of your cheap-shit technology,” I said.
I pulled out a shattered radio, watching as the face of it fell off and hung from sparking wires.
“What the fuck,” Silas said.
I tossed the useless piece of plastic at his feet and watched him bend to pick it up. That was the only other avenue Grier had of tracking us. Without the GPS tracker, he could still find us. He just needed to fly within five miles of our signal and I could’ve talked him in. But without that radio, we had nothing.
We were on our own yet again.
“What the hell are we supposed to do now?” he asked.
“How about investing some damn money in the technology built to find you?” I asked.
“Didn’t know I’d ever need to be pulled out of the fucking forest.”
“Why? Because plane crashes don’t happen to rich people?”
“What the hell do you have against rich people? Because one second you won’t talk to me, the next second you’re biting my head off, and the next second your hand’s stuffed down my pants.”
“I saved your life getting that blood to pump through your body. I could’ve left you there to freeze to death otherwise.”
“Oh, and me jamming my fingers up your pussy and you begging me not to stop was another survival tactic?”
“I didn’t beg you,” I said.
“You might as well have.”
“You know that? It isn’t rich people I can’t stand. It’s the haughty and pompous attitude that comes along with you. You and your people think that survival is some sort of viral trend, and that it doesn’t mean anything except for the fact that you can commune with nature and take some photos for your social media websites. Survival is making sure someone can stay alive and take care of themselves in the worst of circumstances. Survival is making sure someone can eat and sleep and thrive in the depths of the darkness they’ve been poured into. Survival isn’t for social media or made for filters or something to catch videos of and send to friends. It’s a fucking means to an end, and without me here you’d be dead. So next time? Don’t buy your rescue shit at the dollar tree, Mr. Billionaire.”
I sucked on my teeth and turned my back to him. His words hurt, and I didn’t know why. And my anger towards him rose as quickly as it dwindled. I blinked back tears I was shocked to experience as I placed my hands on my hips. I couldn’t focus on him. I couldn't focus on what happened between us the other night. He was alive and moving, and judging by the sound of his voice he’d be just fine until his head of security to could us. So, I closed my eyes and forced my mind back into survival mode. Back into rescue mode. Back into ‘jungle woman’ mode.
Fuck Silas.
I drew in a deep breath as the wilderness wind encompassed me. My hair blew around my shoulders, relaxing my body and filling me with its spirit. The wind had always been my friend. Had always been a source of calm, no matter how fast it moved and no matter what havoc it wreaked. The best sleep of my life was when the wind howled beyond the windows of my apartment. Or rocked the fabric of my tents.
Or thrashed the trees of my jungle.
I opened my eyes and tilted my head towards the trees. I heard Silas gulping water down behind me as I placed my hands behind my head. Staying put in survival mode only worked if someone knew how to find us. But a helicopter buzzing around overhead when they couldn't see through the rooftops of the trees wasn’t going to be of any use to us. Which meant we needed to try the best we could to get seen and get to the nearest city.
“Got a plan for us?” Silas asked.
I blocked out his voice as I whipped my bag around to zip it back up. I conjured a faint map of Montserrat I’d looked over on the helicopter ride over. I couldn't remember all of the details, but I knew most of the major cities and villages sat on the north side of the island. If we could get out to the beach and walk up the coast, we would not only be seen but we’d also be on the right track to come upon one of those areas.
But that came with its own set of issues we’d have to work through. However, none of those issues were death in at the base of a volcano, so I made an executive decision.
“Follow me,” I said.
“What?”
I continued on my path without answering him.
“Val
!”
“Follow me,” I said again.
“Valencia Bouchard!”
I stopped in my tracks at the sound of my name roaring from his lips. I slowly panned my head around to him, watching him as he towered over the brook. His fists clenched at his sides and he looked positively irate.
The hell was he upset about?
“What?” I asked flatly.
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what the fuck’s going on.”
I sighed and shook my head before I turned my body to face him. He strode towards me, his form looming over me and casting his shadow over my face. If he thought he was going to intimidate me, he had another thing coming. Silas might’ve scared people in a boardroom, but out here in my territory he was nothing but a scared, useless piece of dead weight that got frustrated every time a woman superseded him in decision-making.
“We’re going to save our own asses. That’s what’s going on. Now come on. Our first job is to get to the beach.”
Then I turned on my heels and continued walking, listening as he fell in line behind me. And the sound pulled a grin across my cheeks.
Good boy.
Silas
This woman was infuriating! We had absolutely no way to contact Grier on this wonderfully sunny day and she wanted to take a walk through the woods? I felt my pulse careening out of control. But as she walked away from me, I saw she had every intention of leaving me in the dust.
So much for our bonding experience.
We walked for what seemed like forever. The humidity was stifling and made it hard to breathe. Sweat dripped down the crack of my ass and chaffed my fucking thighs. Blisters started gathering against the sides of my feet and I cursed every existence from here to eternity and back. I was done with this trip. Done with everything that had happened. There were two families that needed to be informed of the death of their loved ones and I wasn’t even there to fucking sit with them while they cried!
This was bullshit.
Finally, the woods broke. As if they yielded to a higher power, the most pristine and beautiful beach I had ever seen came into view. The clear waters of the island and the soft, white sands beckoned to me. I emerged behind Val from the brush as the harsh summer sun beat down on us, but she didn’t stop once to enjoy the view. The water ebbed and flowed against the beach, cresting with white before rumbling to the shore, and not once did she give a second glance at it.
“Come on, Silas. The waves won’t help us.”
“They help me.”
“Can’t drink it, can’t make shelter out of it, can’t use it to get back home.”
“Do you enjoy anything?” I asked.
Her body stopped in the sand and she slowly turned towards me.
“I mean, in life in general. Do you enjoy anything?”
“I enjoy living.”
“Not if you don’t enjoy the ocean.”
“Some people don’t like water,” she said.
“Do you not like water?”
“No.”
“And why don’t you like water?”
“Because my father almost drowned me in it,” she said flatly.
I felt my face fall and she turned her back to me again. Wait a second, was she being serious? I ran to catch up with her, towering over her small form as I gazed down at her.
“I’m sorry.”
“It happened. It’s done. I’m over it. We have to keep walking,” Val said.
“Have you tried swimming in it since?”
“Only if my survival depends on it.”
“So you never went body surfing in the ocean before.”
“Silas, this isn’t a discussion I want to have with you.”
“I’m just trying to get to know you, Val.”
“Well I don’t want to get to know you!”
She stopped in her tracks and whipped around as her voice echoed up and down the coastline of the island we were trapped on.
“I don’t want to know your life’s story or your childhood! I don’t want to know what your favorite color is! I don’t want to know what the most traumatic experience of your childhood was or where you grew up or what fucking color the flowers that bloomed on the trees in your backyard were!”
“Then what do you want?” I asked.
“I want you to shut up so I can save you. Because if you don’t, I might just kill you myself.”
The anger I used to see in her eyes was no longer apparent. Instead, there was only pain. Her walls were eroding away, but they weren’t revealing what I figured I would find. I watched her shake her head as she snickered, and I stood there waiting for more of her verbal assault.
But I got something much better than that.
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re what?” I asked.
“I’m sorry for snapping at you.”
“Why?”
Her eyes flickered over to me before she shrugged her shoulders.
“Because I understand what you’re trying to do and I don’t know how to do it. But that doesn’t mean I don’t see the effort.”
“What am I trying to do?” I asked.
“Get to know me.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re stuck on this island and survival works if the team can learn to rely on one another,” she said.
“Then why won’t you let me in?”
“Because I don’t do that kind of thing. I don’t like it.”
“You don’t like having friends?”
“I don’t like being vulnerable. You make me feel…”
I watched her eyes turned up to the sky before she shielded her vision. I followed her gaze, searching the sky along with her. No sign of a helicopter. No sounds of an airplane. Just the blue sky, the wispy white clouds, and the blazing sun that threatened to burn every inch of our exposed skin.
“You make me feel vulnerable, Silas. And I’m not in a position to cope with that emotion,” Val said.
“I appreciate the honesty.”
She snickered and shook her head before she looked over at me. But it was more of the same. More pain. More red eyes without tears. More sadness pouring from her beautiful brown eyes. I wanted to hug her, but I didn’t know if she would appreciate the gesture.
“Take off your shoes and walk in the sand. It’ll help with the blisters.”
“What?” I asked.
“The way you’re walking. You’ve got blisters. Take off your shoes and socks so we can go walk in the shallow end of the waves.”
“How is salt water going to help my blisters?”
“It’s nature’s sitz bath, and the only thing akin to a disinfectant we’ve got if they pop. And once we find some fresh water, we’ll rehydrate them if they do pop.”
“But you don’t like water.”
“I do when it’s required for survival. And I’d like to not have to amputate your foot in the middle of the jungle.”
“You can do that?”
She grinned at me and walked away as I reached down to take off my shoes.
“Seriously, you can do that!?”
A small giggle fell from her lips as I stripped myself down. Well, not fully. I took off my shoes and socks, then rolled my pants up to my knees. Then I ripped the undershirt off my back and stuffed it into the hem of my pants. I jogged, allowing my multiple blisters to air our as the cold waves lapped against my feet. It stung, but soothed at the same time. Though I secretly prayed they didn’t pop. I walked alongside Val as she slowed her pace, her strides falling in line with mine.
An intentional move because she thought I wasn’t up to the pace she kept.
“We’re fine now that I’ve got my shoes off. Don’t slow up on my account.”
“Trust me, I’m not,” she said.
“Then why did you slow down?”
Another grin slid across her cheeks, but she didn’t answer me that time.
Val slowly made her way in front of me and my eyes fell to her hips. Her wild blonde hair
blew in the wind and her hips swayed with a mesmerizing beat. I turned our conversation around in our head. Her apology. Her admission. The little giggle she afforded me. I’d met people like her before. I knew of the kind, anyway. The distance she tried to put between us was due to her pent up frustrations and sexual energy. She was a woman who wasn’t used to giving herself over to someone, especially with her sordid childhood. And now that the two of us had experienced an explosive moment together, she was making excuses to keep her distance.
Even though she didn’t want to.
Her admission to vulnerability was one I didn’t expect from her. I still found myself reeling from it. Her pace was naturally faster than mine, and the distance between us slowly grew. An apt representation of the emotional distance she tried to keep between us. But even she admitted that a survival team that didn’t know one another couldn't function properly, and I wondered if that meant more conversations between us.
More chances to show her that I really did want to get to know her.
After all, if we were going to be stuck on the island with one another, the least we could do was open up and be honest.
I lost myself into my thoughts until I ran into something. Well, someone. I heard Val grunt as she stumbled on her feet and I reached my arms out to catch her. I wrapped my hands around her waist and kept her from falling, and her eyes locked onto mine. The sun reflected off the gray specks in her vision and I lost myself in her for a second. It wasn’t until she settled herself onto her feet and cleared her throat that I came back to life.
Back to reality.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Until you ran into me, yes,” she said.
“Why did you stop?”
“It’s a good place to camp for the night.”
“Camp? But we’ve got plenty of daylight.”
I watched Val nod her head and my stomach clenched. I turned around slowly and looked up into the sky, groaning when I saw it. Another thick, dark formation of clouds off in the distance.
“That’s where Grier and my team are, isn’t it?” I asked.
“Yep.”
“Right underneath those dark clouds.”
“Uh huh.”
“And they’re coming right for us, aren’t they?”
