And Then What?

by D. R. Graham

  “That’s it? Trevor got here so quickly. How long did it take him to find us?”

  Sophie didn’t answer. She cupped her hands to splash water over the rest of my hair.

  “Sophie. How long has Trevor been here?”

  She sighed, sat me back up, and moved to sit down on the dirt. She rested her elbows on her knees and looked at me with the most pitiful expression. “Trevor’s not here. You were just imagining him.”

  “What?” I stood up but got dizzy and fell to my knees next to the stream. “No. He was here. He came for us. I know he did.”

  “You were delirious. You only imagined him.”

  “No.” I sat on my knees for a long time, staring out at the trees. “I was talking to him.”

  “No. You thought you were talking to him.”

  I folded my hands together and rested my forehead on them. I was pretty sure God only answered prayers for people who went to church, but I wanted to pray. I needed to.

  “Dear God, please help Trevor to find us. I know he’s looking and I know he won’t stop until he finds us. Please guide him in the right direction and keep him safe. I know I have no right to ask You for any favours, but Trevor does and he’s going to try, whether You help him or not. Thank you.”

  I looked over at Sophie and she smiled with sadness in her eyes. “Let’s finish getting you cleaned up.”

  “Do you think God will answer my prayer?”

  “Yes.”

  I stripped down to my underwear, took my brace off, and stepped into the water. I dunked down just far enough to keep the bullet wound out of the water. I felt better for about two minutes before I remembered something that brought all of my hopes crashing down. My heart sunk into a heavy puddle in the bottom of my chest as I realized that my prayer wasn’t going to be answered. My visions had all been about Trevor being lost and never finding me.

  I looked over at Sophie, who was swimming in the water. She didn’t notice that I was on the verge of freaking out. I held my hands under the water so it wouldn’t be obvious how badly they were shaking. I didn’t know if I felt more like crying or swearing. The whole reason I told Trevor not to go on any rescues was because I knew all along that he was going to fail. I just didn’t know it was me he was going to fail to find. The worst part was I knew he was going to try anyway. He was going to be devastated that he couldn’t rescue us.

  “Do you think the cartel guys are still out there?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “We heard some voices not far away yesterday afternoon, but they were too far away to tell what they were saying or who they were.”

  I finished washing, climbed out of the water, and sat in the sun next to my clothes. My legs were shaking, so I hugged my arms around my knees to keep them still. The ring Trevor gave me sparkled in the sunshine. I stared at it as I spun it around and around on my finger.

  “Mason and I think his dad has probably sent someone out to search for us.”

  “I don’t think they’ll find us.”

  “Why?”

  “In my vision Trevor was lost and couldn’t find us. I think it means we’re screwed unless we get out of here on our own.”

  “Great.” She waded out of the water and passed Mason on her way up to the cave.

  He walked down and sat next to me on a rock. “Everything okay?”

  I sighed and kicked the water. “Trevor doesn’t know we’re lost, and even if he did, he wouldn’t know where to start to look for us.”

  “My dad will know that I went missing with you. They’ll figure it out. Someone will find us.”

  “You think?”

  “Sure. They’ve probably already sent a team out searching.” He sighed. “Unless the drug cartel stayed at the camp and prevented the volunteers from contacting my dad.”

  “So, it’s possible that no one outside the camp knows what happened?”

  “It’s possible.” He stood as if he was in pain and tried unsuccessfully to straighten his leg.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “The knee I had surgery on swells a little when I run too much on it.”

  “A little?” I waded out of the water and followed him onto shore, then reached over to place my palm on his leg. “It’s the size of a cantaloupe, and hot. You need to soak it in the stream.”

  “I have been. It doesn’t hurt. Now that you’re feeling a bit better, I’ll carry you again.”

  “You can’t carry me if your knee is that swollen.” I sighed and closed my eyes to help me think. “I’m almost strong enough to walk. We can make our way down the mountain. All we have to do is find the main road or a village.”

  “We have no food. You’re only going to get weaker. We’re all going to get weaker.”

  “We don’t need food for a while. We’ll be fine as long as we have water.”

  “Yeah? Did you see that in a vision?”

  “No.”

  He turned slightly when I said that, and I noticed he also had an injury.

  “Mason! Your arm.”

  “It’s fine. The bullet only grazed it.”

  I examined the wound close up. “It’s still bleeding.”

  “Again? Shit. It won’t stop, for some reason. It’s not even that bad.” He tore a leaf off a nearby tree and applied it with pressure on his arm.

  “Here, let me.” I stood and moved his hand away so I could use both my hands to apply pressure.

  “I can’t even tell you how sorry I am that I put you guys in danger. I want you to hate me,” he said and winced from the pain.

  “That’s not possible. Besides, it’s my fault we’re in danger. I want you to hate me.”

  “That’s not possible.”

  I tipped my head up to meet his eyes. They had turned the darker shade of blue that only happened when he was sad. I suddenly remembered I had kissed someone when I thought Trevor was sitting with me in the cave. “Did I kiss you?”

  He stared at me for a while, licked his bottom lip, and said, “No.”

  “That’s good,” I said, even though I knew he lied. “I don’t want to complicate things.”

  “Yeah, things are pretty complicated already.”

  “Do you think Orrett is—?”

  “I don’t know. Let’s not worry about any of that.” He stretched his arm across my shoulder and pulled me in for a hug. “Let’s just worry about getting out of here alive. Nothing else matters right now.”

  CHAPTER 18

  Time went really slowly after I became more alert. My shoulder was killing me and my stomach felt raw on the inside from the hunger. None of us really talked because there wasn’t anything to say. When it got dark on the third night, I said, “You guys should go down the mountain together tomorrow. I’ll stay here.”

  “I’m not leaving you,” Mason said.

  “I don’t think I’m strong enough to walk yet and you won’t be able to carry me.” I pointed at his knee that had swelled to the size of a watermelon.

  “I’m not leaving you,” he repeated.

  “Mason. Be reasonable. If you guys don’t go get help, we’re all going to die.”

  Sophie didn’t say anything, but she shifted the position she was sitting in.

  I could tell Mason wasn’t going to budge his opinion, so I said, “Maybe I’ll feel well enough in the morning to come with you.” Then I let it go.

  Mason got up and disappeared outside the cave.

  “You’ll have to go by yourself if he refuses,” I whispered to Sophie.

  “I don’t know if I can do it alone.”

  “You can.”

  “If we stay here, someone will eventually find us.”

  “We’ll need food before that happens. Mason can’t carry me and I don’t think I can make it.”

  She started to cry.

  “Sophie, you’re the strongest female I’ve ever met. You can do it.”

  “Haven’t you known me long enough to realize that the tough-girl thing is all just a big act?”

  “Yo
u can do it,” I repeated.

  Mason came back into the cave. It was too dark to see him, but I felt the warmth of his body when he slid down to lie next to me. His breathing was initially shallow, then slowed and got deeper. It almost sounded as if he’d fallen asleep until something crashed through the bushes outside. Mason sat up. Sophie made a whimpering sound and scooted closer to me. We all held our breath and listened. It was moving around close to the opening of the cave.

  I reached through the darkness and searched for Mason’s hand. When I found it, he tightened his fingers around mine. We sat perfectly still. I could hear a sniffing sound, sort of like what a black bear in Britannia Beach would sound like if it was searching for food. “It’s an animal. Make noise,” I said as I stood up and clapped. “Ha! Ha! Get!”

  Mason stood and clapped his hands. “Yeah! Yeah!”

  “What are you doing?” Sophie whimpered. “Don’t tell it we’re here.”

  “It already knows. It can smell us. Ha! Get!” I stomped my feet and yelled some more. Then I listened. The bushes rustled as it ran away.

  “What do you think it was?” Sophie asked, from a safe position behind Mason.

  “I don’t know. It was big, though,” I said.

  “It was most likely a coyote.”

  “Are there still jaguars around here?”

  “I don’t know. The locals have lots of legends, but it’s hard to know what’s true and what’s not. I’m sure it was just a coyote.”

  “What if it comes back?” Sophie asked.

  “I’ll stay awake,” Mason offered as he sat down near the opening of the cave.

  “We’ll take shifts,” I said. “Wake me up when you get tired.”

  In the morning, my stomach growled painfully to remind me that I hadn’t eaten in days. I should have never complained about the food at the camp. If I’d known it was the last thing I was ever going to eat, I would have tried to appreciate it a little more. There were a lot of things I would have tried to appreciate more.

  I rolled over. Sophie was asleep beside me. Mason was still sitting awake near the opening. “You didn’t wake me,” I said to him.

  “I didn’t get tired.” He turned his head to look at me.

  I got up and rested my hand briefly on his shoulder as I passed. “I have to use the facilities. I’ll be right back.”

  I wandered out of the cave on my own. My legs were still weak and my steps were pathetically unstable. After I peed, I carefully walked down the shore for a few metres, searching for berries. Trevor had taught me the difference between edible and poisonous berries at home, but I wasn’t sure if it was the same in Mexico. It didn’t matter because I didn’t find any berry bushes anyway. I considered catching a fish, and I would have, if there had been any fish in the stream. I decided that snagging a bird or a lizard would be a good option, especially if I started a fire to cook it with. Then I realized it might not be a good idea to have a fire in case the drug-cartel guys were still after us.

  I crouched down at the edge of the water and put two painkillers on my tongue then cupped my hands to scoop some water into my mouth. I scooped another handful to splash over my face and I heard a noise. It sounded like something walking up behind me. I tried to spin around and stand up at the same time, but fell to my butt.

  “Graceful,” Sophie snickered.

  “You scared me.”

  “Sorry.”

  I moved to sit on a flat stone near the edge of the water. She crouched down to cup water. She drank a few handfuls, then climbed up and sat next to me on the rock. I hugged her. “I’m sorry I got us into this mess and that I haven’t been a great friend lately. I feel horrible that I didn’t know about Doug or your plans to go back to school.”

  “You’re the best friend I could ask for, Deri.” She sighed and looked up at the trees. “I talked you into coming here, remember? And the reason I didn’t tell you about Doug was because I knew you would talk me out of it. The reason I didn’t tell you about wanting to be a teacher was because I knew you would talk me into it.”

  “I don’t want you to avoid telling me things because you’re worried I would pressure you. I’ll support you no matter what you do or don’t want to do. It’s your life, not mine.”

  After a long, heavy pause, she said, “I made a mistake with Doug.”

  “You can fix it when you see him again.”

  “If.”

  “No. When.” I noticed she was wearing the ring Doug had given her when she graduated. “He’s going to be excited to work it out.”

  “Our lives have gone in different directions. I don’t think it can work if he’s going to keep touring.”

  “You didn’t even try.”

  “I don’t need to try some things to know they’re going to end up a disaster.”

  “You guys have something special. You shouldn’t throw it away without trying everything.”

  She sighed and nodded.

  I pointed at her feet. “My adorable canvas slip-ons have taken quite a beating.”

  “Yeah, I owe you a new pair.” She threw stones in the stream. “Are we going to try to make it down the mountain today?”

  “Yeah, I think I can do it. All we have to do is find a road or a village. I don’t think it will be that hard.”

  “What if we run into the drug dealers?”

  “I don’t know. We can’t stay here forever, though. We’ll need food eventually. We could risk a fire and have some barbecued snake if you want.”

  “Ha. I think I’d rather starve, but ask me again tomorrow.”

  I stretched my arm around her shoulders and squeezed tightly. “I’m glad you’re with me. I’m sorry I dragged you into this mess, but I wouldn’t be able to get through this if you weren’t here with me.”

  She made a face and flicked my arm. “Ya, there’s no one I would rather be running for my life with than you.”

  I chuckled. “Do you think your dad will let you go on vacation with me again?”

  “If we don’t tell him what happened.”

  “Okay. Here’s the plan, we’ll walk down to the road, hook up with a ride back to the resort, and get on a plane back to Vancouver. He won’t even know. It’s brilliant.”

  “You are shot, though,” she pointed out. “Someone might ask how that happened.”

  I laughed. “True.”

  “I’ve got an idea. We’ll tell everyone we went snorkelling and a stingray stabbed you with its tail.”

  “I like it.”

  We both turned to look over our shoulders when we heard footsteps coming up behind us. “Morning, ladies,” Mason said. “Are you enjoying your Mexican vacation?”

  “The bed is a little hard and the food sucks, but other than that I would give it rave revues,” I said.

  He waded into the water to wash up. He dunked completely under the surface and pushed his wet hair back off his face, then stood frozen in the water and searched the sky. A second later, I heard what he heard.

  “It’s a helicopter.” I pulled Mason and Sophie’s t-shirts out from under the belt tourniquet over my shoulder. “Here, tear this along the side seam.” I handed Mason his shirt. “We have to lay the fabric out on top of a tree so they can see us from the air.”

  “What if it’s the cartel guys?” Mason asked.

  I looked up at the sky and considered our options. “It could be one of your dad’s, or military, or even commercial. The odds are in our favour. Do you think you can climb that tree and spread the fabric over the top branches?”

  “They’re circling around,” Sophie said. “They’re searching along the stream. What if it’s the cartel guys and we end up showing them exactly where we are?”

  I pointed downstream about fifty metres to a group of shorter trees that weren’t as crowded by taller trees. “We have to take that chance. We’ll put the signal there. They can’t land the helicopter here anyway. They’ll have to hike in. If the cartel guys show up, we’ll see them before they see us. It wil
l give us enough time to run and hide.”

  Mason ran down the pebble shore and climbed one of the taller trees. When he got as close to the top as he could, he flung the t-shirts across the top of the branches next to him. He scanned the sky for a while, then shouted, “I think they’re going the other way.”

  Sophie and I stared up at the sky as well. I couldn’t even hear the helicopter anymore. Mason started to climb down one branch at a time and when he was about ten feet off the ground, the branch he stepped on snapped. He fell the rest of the way and landed awkwardly.

  “Shit,” he moaned and held his knee into his chest.

  Sophie ran to him. I rushed as quickly as I could, but my legs were not cooperating and I kept stumbling. She reached him and knelt down. He groaned in pain, but it sounded as if he was trying to stifle it. I eventually got to them and helped him sit up.

  “I’m okay,” he strained to say. The tendons in his neck stretched tightly and his jaw didn’t move as he spoke through clenched teeth. He sucked in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, as if he was bracing for pain.

  I glanced at Sophie, concerned.

  “I think the helicopter went south,” Mason said. He winced as he tried to straighten his leg. It wouldn’t extend, so he gave up trying and left it bent.

  “Can you walk?”

  “Yeah.” He tried to get up, but fell back on his butt.

  Sophie frowned, then tilted her face up at the sky. “If he can’t walk, we’ll be stuck here.”

  “I can.” He tried again and was able to get up, but not put any weight on his left leg.

  “Take his other side,” I said. “We need to get him to the creek to soak his knee in the cold water.” We wedged ourselves under his armpits and he hopped back towards the cave. Even with the soaking, his knee swelled more and it turned a purplish-red colour. He acted as if it didn’t hurt, but he could barely put weight on it.

  “He’s not going to be able to walk,” Sophie said.

  “That helicopter is searching for us. They’ll circle around. They’ll definitely be back,” I said.

  Sophie frowned. “What if we don’t want them to come back?”

  “I don’t think it’s the drug-cartel guys. I’m sure they have way more important things to do than chase us through the wilderness for days and days.”