“You lazy bastards didn’t want to get the supplies when we could! You cried about how tired you were and shit. So yeah, it’s your fucking fault we’re in this! You’d be dead right now if it wasn’t for my brother!”
Antonio slapped my hands away and shoved me in the chest. “Fuck you and your brother. Nobody stopped you from getting the supplies yourself.”
I started back at him, but Amber grabbed my arm and spun me around.
“Stop it!” she roared. “Are we gonna do this for the rest of the time here? Either we learn to work together or we’re all gonna die. Fuck!” She swung her arm in the air then stormed off.
No one spoke for the next few minutes. We all stood around staring at one another, letting the air dissipate from the room. It seemed we were all just as stubborn as we were angry.
“How about we go tomorrow and get the supplies,” Reggie started. “At least now we have somewhere to keep them safe.”
I shrugged then walked off. I stopped near the edge of the entrance and watched as the rain slapped against the mouth of the cave. Dark green vines twisted down from the wall, hanging over the opening, swinging back and forth in the wind.
I could see down to the choppy water outside. Massive waves hit the rocks and climbed up the wall like spidery fingers. Rain blew sideways into the cave, leaving puddles on the floor near the mouth. The storm didn’t look like it was ever going to let up.
The sky rolled and bellowed treacherous sounds. I flinched as the ground rumbled and I felt the vibrations in the air. It might as well have been the end of the world outside of the cave. In some ways, the world had already ended in my mind.
As the rain fell in splattering thuds, my thoughts drifted to my mom. She was always the one pushing me to be a leader and try to see every situation from the opposite point of view. I wondered what she’d say to me now.
I missed her. I missed my dad and my sister and prayed that they were somewhere safe. It was the only way to keep from falling apart. I didn’t know what I’d do without them.
Deep down I felt like they’d made it out. I knew they had to. My dad would’ve gotten them out. He was the toughest man I knew and as long as he was breathing, he wouldn’t have stopped until they were safe.
“What’s that sound?” Trevor asked.
I turned and found him glaring out into the rain with a fearful look on his face. His eyes were wide and he was straining like he was trying to hear a whisper.
“What?” I asked.
“That noise. You don’t hear it?”
I held my breath and listened. At first all I could hear was the sound of the storm and the dull drone of the waves breaking. But underneath that, there was something else. I could feel it more than I could hear it. The faint vibrations in my chest, rattling like a broken speaker.
“It…it sounds like a train,” I stuttered.
“Right?” Trevor replied.
“What is that?” Reggie asked as he neared the cave opening.
It felt like the ground was shaking. There was deep pulse running up my legs like a base drum, thumping slowly in the distance. The sound of the wind got louder and louder. High-pitched wails screeched and started to back away from the opening.
“We need to move!” I barked.
“What?” Reggie grumbled.
“Funnel clouds are back.”
Behind the dense streaks of rain, I could see a cyclone spinning wildly. It was heading right for the cave. The swirling winds collided with the bluff, creating a suction effect and as it neared I could feel it trying to suck me out into the water.
“Move!” I said again. “We’ve gotta get back!”
I grabbed Conner by the arms and started dragging him deeper into the cave. “Reggie!” I screamed. “Help me!”
He raced to my side and grabbed Conner by the legs. Together we carried him into the dark, heading deep into the nebulous labyrinth. We laid him down next to a wall at the furthest stretches of where the outside light could reach.
I left Reggie with him and headed back up front. The others were scrambling into the cave in a crowd of dark shadows. I could hardly make them out.
“Trevor?” I called.
“I’m here,” he said from somewhere in the darkness.
“What about everybody else?”
“I think so. I can’t see shit.”
“Amber, are you here?”
Someone grabbed my arm and rubbed up against me. “I’m here,” Amber whispered.
“Well shit. I’m alive too if you care,” Chase growled.
I laughed. “Is the rest of your boy band around?”
“And don’t forget his groupie,” Trevor added.
“Fuck you!” McKinsey spat.
“Yeah…when?”
McKinsey threw her hands up and groaned.
“Okay, let’s just try to get along for the next hour,” I interrupted. “I think we’re safe back here and that storm isn’t going anywhere. I’m gonna see if I can find somewhere to sit that hopefully isn’t infested with snakes.”
“Snakes are in here?” Sherry snapped.
“I don’t know, I was just saying.”
“I don’t like snakes.”
“Me neither,” Amber added.
“There are no snakes okay?”
I walked off a few feet, as far as I was comfortable going and sat against the wall. Yawning, I leaned my head back and for the first time in a while, I thought about what my friends were doing back home.
I was in a dark cave, counting the seconds as they ticked by and they were probably running the streets of downtown Orlando. I missed the noise, the sounds of the city. I missed the music and the smells of fried food and pizza. I missed my old life.
I thought about what movies were opening and the smell of popcorn seemed to flood my nose. My stomach rumbled nearly as loudly as the storm brewing outside. What I wouldn’t give for a burger and fries. I missed my home.
“Vacations suck,” I suddenly blurted out.
No one replied and as I sat there in the dark, my mind began drift to other places, dark places. Things that I’d repressed or completely ran from.
Visions of my parents came to mind. Visions of them drowning in a room on the ship. Visions of me standing to the side just watching them, incapable of doing anything.
I shook my head, trying to rattle the thoughts from my mind. I was exhausted. My body ached and my muscles burned like fire. I’d had enough.
The storm outside rumbled long into the night. I sat awake for what felt like forever, alone with my thoughts, listening to wind try and tear apart the cliff. It made terrifying sounds as it ran up the wall and whistled into the cave opening. Sounds that brought back childhood fears of monsters in closets and boogeymen under the bed. I didn’t like being alone.
“Trevor, you awake?” I called out.
I felt like we were little kids again. Still sleeping in the same room, keeping each other awake late into the night.
“No,” he replied. “Go to sleep.”
“Why do you always do that? You’re an asshole.”
“Dude go to sleep.”
“Asshole,” I mumbled again.
I rolled onto my side and stared toward the wall that I couldn’t see. It was so dark and quiet my thoughts became a room full of people shouting. I needed something to do, like every second that we sat in the dark took us further and further away from home.
I shifted and turned toward the opening of the cave. My eyes grew heavy and I started counting the time between lightning strikes. The blue light flashed intermittently, illuminating the abyss for a split second before casting us back into darkness. It was a wicked, fireworks show, and that was all it took for me to fall asleep.
CHAPTER 8
TOMORROW DOESN’T COME FOR EVERYONE
“Daniel wake up,” Trevor echoed in an unfamiliar tone.
His voice sounded faint, like he was calling to me from across a room, locked in a closet. There was something odd i
n his words and it made me shiver. I felt a hand grab my arm and I slowly opened my eyes.
“Daniel?”
“Yeah, I’m up,” I croaked.
I could see daylight peeking into the cave and I took a sigh of relief. Things could only get better and we could finally get to the supplies that had washed up the other day.
“We made it through the night,” I said with a smile.
Trevor bit his bottom lip then looked away.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Um, just get up.”
“Trevor, what the hell is going on?” I sat up and grabbed his arm.
“Conner…he um, he died last night.”
“What?!” I snapped. “How…what? Where is he?”
“Sherry and Reggie are outside. They’re, they’re taking it how you’d expect. We need to move Conner out of here.”
“What do you mean?
“We…we have to bury him Daniel.”
“Bury him,” I echoed.
I took a deep breath and groaned. My head was spinning and I couldn’t focus. Nobody was supposed to die here. He couldn’t be dead. Why would we need to bury him?
“Come on man,” Trevor said.
I stood up and followed him to the mouth of the cave where they’d moved Conner’s body. The rest of the guys were standing around him, looking down at his lifeless corpse with blank expressions.
He looked like he was sleeping. His eyes were closed and his face looked peaceful. It was just like I’d left him the night before.
“I…I don’t mean to sound stupid, but how do you know he’s dead.”
“He’s dead!” Chase said angrily.
I looked at Chase and frowned. He turned away, but not before I could see the tears in his eyes.
Rubbing my face, I took a deep breath and tried to make sense of what was happening. How could Conner die? He was a normal teenager, just like me or anyone else. We didn’t just, die.
“We need to move him,” Trevor said.
“Okay. Um, I…I can carry him up the trail, but I need someone to help,” I replied.
It didn’t seem like any of them were going to volunteer for the job and we were burning precious daylight. After several minutes of silence, I turned around and looked at Trevor.
“Looks like you just volunteered.”
“We’ll…we’ll head down and start,” Chase paused and wiped his face. “We’ll dig a grave for him.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you there.”
I grabbed Conner’s wrists and winced. He felt cold and his skin was spongy. I wanted to let go and wash my hands, but I knew the job had to be done. Trevor grabbed his pants leg and we hoisted him into the air.
The trail was much easier to navigate without the rain. It didn’t take us long to reach the top of the cliff and start heading back through the jungle. I walked silently, my mind trying to make sense of Conner’s premature death. It scared me.
I looked down at his face as we walked. His head was slumped backwards, his eyes half-cracked like he could’ve fallen asleep talking.
“I need to take a break,” Trevor said, breaking the silence.
“Ok,” I replied. “In the clearing just up ahead.”
We walked for a few more steps then set Conner down. I took a deep breath and shook my arms out, wincing from the soreness.
I closed my eyes, basking in the warm, salty air. I would’ve given anything to be anywhere else right then. I felt like I was living someone else’s life, I was watching a dream, or playing a character, but none of this was real.
Conner was our age and he was dead. Things like that didn’t happen and it overshadowed every other event that had occurred. We were stranded on an island after surviving a sinking cruise ship, but in some ways, we’d managed to escape the reality of it. Most times it felt like a teen camp after the counselors had gone to bed.
Even missing my parents was explained away. I’d convinced myself that they’d survived and had been picked up by the coast guard. I just had to stay alive until they found me. That was the fantasy I’d built, the lies I’d told myself or maybe even naively believed.
But now it all was falling. Conner’s death ripped through our façade, tore down the walls of denial and laid the grim reality at our feet. Nothing was promised and waiting around for a hero to come rescue us was as childish as believing in the tooth fairy.
Leaning my head back, I looked up and smiled. The sky was clear and the sun was beaming down, like a storm had never happened. Except it had and the trees and bushes that cluttered the dense jungle, were nearly all wiped out. But I was still alive and the sun was up, as long as those two things remained true I would keep pushing forward.
I turned back to Conner and tried to imagine what could’ve have gone wrong. Kneeling, I reached out and touched his neck with my finger. His skin was wet and clammy and I shivered, wanting to shrink away, but I kept my resolve. I turned his head from side to side then moved the hair that fell around his ears.
“What are you doing?” Trevor asked.
I didn’t reply. I wasn’t sure what I was doing. I was looking for something, anything that would explain why he just suddenly died. I needed to talk to Reggie, but I doubted he was in any condition to help.
“We’re never gonna get home, are we?” Trevor suddenly asked. “We’re all gonna die here.”
I wrinkled my face and glared at him. His eyes were red and streaks of dirt were smeared across his cheek. He wore a defeated look which made him almost unrecognizable and his voice sounded dull and empty.
“Why would you even say that?”
“Because it’s true.”
“Come on man. This dark shit isn’t you.”
“I’m serious. How the hell are we gonna get home?”
“We’re gonna fight Trevor. Even if we have to swim back to Florida, we’re getting home. I promise you that.”
He looked at me with a clenched jaw and nodded. “It’s just, none of us know what we’re doing. We don’t know how to survive.”
“We’ll learn.”
“How? Conner died just being here. He just fucking died Daniel!”
He was right. We didn’t know what the hell we were doing. We had no food, no water and we’d already lost someone. Maybe we were going to die.
I sighed and shrugged my shoulders. “We’ll figure it out, one step at a time. Let’s just finish this,” I told him to reassure myself.
We picked Conner back up and started toward the beach. Trevor didn’t say much of anything else. It was weird seeing him so depressed. His norm was laughing through the serious moments and making jokes about anything that cut too close. I’d never seen him so off and it made me nervous.
Once we made it across the lagoon, I could see Reggie kneeling near the water with Sherry. She had her arm around him and they were both crying as they stared out to the ocean. I couldn’t imagine how they felt. I’d never had to experience losing someone close, but this had to be especially hard.
“Try to keep quiet,” I whispered to Trevor.
Amber and McKinsey were back near the tree line, so we headed toward them. I wondered where Chase had disappeared to. I had no idea where we were supposed to bury someone or how any of that would work. It felt grim and careless to think about, but things like smells and contaminating any drinking water we might find.
As we slowly trudged through the sand Reggie lifted his head and turned toward us. I froze and stared back at him, my heart shattering as his eyes bore through me. Sherry followed his eyes and covered her mouth as she found us.
“I’m sorry,” I mouthed the words.
Sniffling, Sherry wrapped her arms around Reggie and pulled him into her chest. He hugged her back and groaned in agony.
“Shh,” she soothed him. “It’s okay. I promise it’ll be okay.” Her voice broke and quivered as she squeezed Reggie tighter, trying her hardest to stay strong.
I watched them for a moment. Reggie’s despair and heartbreak were palp
able, and it was amazing to see how strong Sherry could be after just losing her twin brother, even though I knew she was consumed with her own pain. She worried more about Reggie than she did herself.
I didn’t know Conner that well, but he was the first person my age that I knew that died. It was a sobering moment that made me think about how close I was with my own family. What made it worse was how guilty I felt.
We’d dragged him up mountains and down treacherous cliffs, ignoring the condition he was in. We…I’d put my own safety ahead of his and no matter if that was the right thing to do or not, it made me feel terrible, but it also strengthened my resolve to find out just what had happened to him.
Sherry swept her hand over Reggie’s head in a motherly gesture. She cried with him, finding solidarity in their pain and their lost love.
We were just kids and in one night we’d aged years. None of us would ever be the same and the reality of how alone we were was glaring.
I looked away and found Chase waving his hands from the trees. Swallowing, I nodded my head and we started toward him.
“We found a place,” Chase said lowly. “It’s about twenty yards back.”
“Okay, we’ll follow you.”
Chase led us to a clearing behind a group of thick, palm trees that had survived the storm. The rest of the area was bare and stripped of any real foliage. In the center was an odd shaped hole, probably three feet deep. Antonio and Keyon were inside of it, jabbing at the dirt with thick branches and scooping it away with the husks.
We laid Conner down to the side and folded his arms over his chest. His cloudy eyes gazed up at the sun and I reached across his face and used my fingers to close them. When I looked up, Chase was staring at me, his eyes full of tears and a look that I’d never seen before.
“We…we didn’t know how deep it should be,” he stuttered. “Do you know?”
Something rustled behind us and I turned as Hanson rounded the trees holding several branches in his arms and the last bottles of water from the salvaged cart. He looked confused, or even lost. We all were, in that moment.
“I found some more tools,” he said. “And some water.” He sat them on the ground then dropped into the hole along with the others.
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