Half an hour passed before the rest of the group started to wake up. There were eleven of us crammed into the yellow raft, praying that help would come before we died of thirst or exposure. In addition to me and my brother, some of the group from the other night had made it. Chase, McKinsey, Sherry, Amber, Conner and Reggie. I didn’t know what happened to the rest of them, but when Chase went to find their pastor he managed to bring along three more guys. I didn’t know their names, but they’d been quiet so far.
“Where do you think they went?” Sherry asked as she stared into the water.
It was around eleven in the morning and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The sun was blazing, but the air was still cool. We stretched the tarp over the top of the raft and hid underneath it to escape the deadly rays. Although at the rate we were going, we’d die of thirst long before the sun had a chance to cook us.
“I don’t know,” I replied and leaned my head out toward the sea.
The water was a crazy shade of blue and looked like a mirror. The air was calm and quiet like nothing else was alive for miles. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, sucking in the wild scents of the ocean.
My clothes were damp and my hands felt like prunes. I stretched out and pulled my fingers through the waves as they broke against the side of the raft. I felt like crying, I just wanted things to go back to normal.
“This is exactly why all phones should be waterproof,” Trevor said as he leaned back.
“What?” I asked and wiped my face.
“If there was one phone that wasn’t completely soaked we could just call for help.”
“Did you forget we tried that? None of the phones were working before they got wet.”
“Yeah, well…them being wet doesn’t help.”
“I see land!” Sherry suddenly shouted.
I whipped my head around and followed her eyes. Squinting, I used my hand to block out the glare from the sun. I stared across the water until I saw the mound rising out of the waves.
It looked like a mirage, a lifeline in the middle of nowhere surrounded by deep blue. But as my eyes focused I could make out the rocks on the shore and the glowing sand. It was an island.
“Holy shit!” I exclaimed. “We need to paddle. Help me get the tarp down.”
Trevor grabbed a side and Chase unfastened the back of it. I yanked and the whole thing flew off. I just barely grabbed it as it sailed through the wind. With the tarp rolled up, I pushed it back into the sleeve then leaned over the side of the raft and started scooping the water with my hands.
Trevor joined in on my side while Chase and one of the new guys started across from us. We pulled and splashed the water furiously for half an hour, but it looked like we weren’t moving at all.
“Come on!” Chase yelled like he was on the goal line or trying to get one more rep in. “Move it guys, move it!”
I glanced at Trevor and suppressed a laugh. The moment didn’t last long, but for a second my life wasn’t all gloom and doom. For a second, I could appreciate Trevor’s odd sense of humor which was just like mine.
The sun rained down on us without mercy. Sweat rolled across my forehead and dropped onto the raft before mixing with the salty water below. My skin felt dry and cracked and every time I swallowed it was like eating a cactus.
An hour of paddling and we were no closer to the island than when we started. All we’d done was tear our shoulders to shit and burn like lizards on a rock in the desert.
“This shit ain’t working,” Trevor said as he fell back into the raft. “It’s the damn current.”
“When did you become an oceanographer?” I snapped.
“Doesn’t take a scientist dick! You can see it.”
Sighing, Chase and the other guy gave up and slumped back into the raft. We’d only moved maybe twenty feet and the current was already busy pulling us right back out. I didn’t want to tell him, but Trevor was right.
“We’re never gonna get there,” Chase said and slouched. “It’s so fucking hot.”
“I’m thirsty,” Trevor added.
“Me too,” a chorus of voices replied.
I hated the ocean. How could you be surrounded by water and still die of thirst? It was an ironic nightmare that I was trapped in the middle of. The water was an evil bitch and I vowed that if I survived I’d never get on another boat.
I laid on my back and listened to the waves collide with the bottom of the raft. I felt the ebb and flow of the ocean, dragging us back into its arms, erasing the little progress we’d made. Getting to the island was a lost cause.
Minutes ticked by in silence until an entire hour had passed. The weight of our failure and frustration was exhausting. Between that and the hours spent baking in the sun with no water I was ready to give up completely.
I hummed a tune under my breath, swaying my head to the rhythm. I was tempted to go back to sleep, but my skin stung and my head throbbed with every breath I took.
“We’re not moving anymore,” someone said.
I opened my eyes and sat up. “What?”
“We stopped moving,” Amber said. “The current is gone.”
I rolled over and leaned across the edge of the raft. Amber was right, we weren’t moving. The water was flat, and the air was clear with a light breeze. The current was like an underwater conveyor belt and we’d taken it to its end.
“Let’s try it again,” I said. “Hurry up!”
I started paddling in the water trying to pull the raft to the island myself. I grunted and heaved, dragging my arms through the deep, blue liquid. Trevor joined in and for the first time, we were making progress.
We spun awkwardly as we tried to match each other’s pace, the raft flopping from side to side. Our sloppy strokes sent water everywhere, but we were moving and that was all that mattered.
“I’m so freaking tired,” Trevor growled and glanced back at the other guys on the boat. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you guys there. Just sit back and relax.”
Chase grunted then leaned over the side and started smashing his ape-like hands into the water. He was probably doing more harm than good as he lazily splashed around, but no one else seemed to give a damn.
I paused for a moment and looked up. The island was getting closer and I could see the rocks that jutted out from the shore. I felt a surge of energy rush through my body and I started to paddle faster.
The water grew rougher the closer we got. It made it hard to steer the oddly-shaped craft as we aimed for the beach, trying to avoid the jagged reef. I thought about ditching the raft and swimming, but I wasn’t sure if my doggy paddle was strong enough to compete with the breaking waves.
“We’re almost there!” I yelled in excitement.
Using both hands, I pulled and pulled at the water. My arms singed with pain, but it didn’t matter. I was gonna make it to that island even if it killed me.
The waves crashed into the raft and spilled over the top, bathing me in the salty spray. Blowing the water off my lips as it rolled down my face, I smiled. I could smell the sand and couldn’t wait to feel its touch beneath my feet.
Everyone else leaned over and started paddling frantically. Water splashed all around us, like a drowning swimmer, but we were barreling ahead into the shallows. I could see the ocean bottom less than four feet below us.
“Come on,” I yelled then rolled out of the raft into the water.
I stood up and grabbed the straps on the side and stared to pull. The waves helped, pushing the raft forward and in minutes I was on dry land.
I let go of the raft and took a few more steps then collapsed into the sand. We were safe and for a few minutes I was gonna enjoy the victory.
CHAPTER 5
STRANDED
I didn’t want to move, but I knew I had to. As the sun rained down its anger on me I dreamed of umbrellas and ice-cold sodas. But that wouldn’t get me home and I wanted to get home.
I sat up and my body screamed in protest. I ached all the way down to my
core and my muscles quivered and cramped in random spasms. My lips were cracked and burned, screaming for water so badly that my head throbbed.
It was late afternoon and although the sun wasn’t trying to burn my eyes out anymore, it was still casting a furious blaze as it fought against the horizon. I’d spent the day exhausted, baking like an apple pie and was certain I was gonna start molting any minute, but I’d lay in the sand long enough, it was time for answers.
Trevor was sitting a few feet away from me, staring out at the water. Sherry was beside him tossing shells into the waves. I yawned and stretched my arms, grimacing from the soreness. Where the hell are we?
Amber and McKinsey had taken off their shorts and were waist-deep in the ocean. I thought they’d gone to cool off, but Amber kept looking back like she was making sure no one was watching. It wasn’t until McKinsey straightened up that I realized the shallows had become the new restroom.
“Where is everybody else?” I asked.
“Oh, you’re awake now?” Trevor said with a laugh.
I hadn’t even realized I’d fallen back asleep. But it didn’t surprise me, I felt like crap. “How long was I sleeping?”
“Like fifteen minutes. You didn’t miss anything. Reggie and Conner went for a romantic stroll or something. And Chase and his posse of meatheads decided to go explore the island. I’m guessing they all won’t make it back.”
Sherry gave Trevor a look then turned back to the water. It was such an odd place to be. Not just our location, but the two of us, being mixed in with some strange group of kids that we really didn’t know. Trevor seemed completely okay with it, but he was probably thinking with the wrong head.
“That’s not a bad idea,” I said casually.
“What’s that?”
“Exploring. I mean, it’s been an entire day. We don’t even know where we are or if anyone else is here.”
“Dude, look at this place…no one else is here.”
“Won’t hurt to look. Besides, I’m thirsty as hell.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Amber asked as she walked up the beach with McKinsey a few feet away.
“Peeing and pretending no one can see us,” Sherry snapped and shot daggers at McKinsey.
“What’s your problem?” McKinsey said defensively.
“You!”
“Guys we have bigger problems than who’s hooking up with Chase,” Amber cut in.
“She’s right,” I said. “I’m going to look for water and civilization. Trevor, you coming?”
Trevor shrugged then slowly stood up. He gave Sherry a quick glance then mumbled, “Good luck.”
“Wait!” Amber snapped. “What if a rescue comes? We need to make a sign or something, so they can see us.”
“A sign out of what? We need to find water, or we’ll be dead long before anyone comes looking for us.”
Amber put her hands on her hips and looked away. Cocking her head to the side, she glanced at me then turned away again and made a low growling noise.
“What?” I asked in frustration. “You think someone is on the way right now?”
“Why wouldn’t they be? A fancy cruise ship sank, it’s probably on every news channel from here to Australia. They’ve probably got planes and boats out already. They’ll be here.”
“That’s the problem, we don’t’ know where here is.”
“Help is coming,” she replied in a deflated voice.
“Well, give a shout when you see them. We’ll be back.”
With that, we left Amber and the other girls to fight amongst themselves. We couldn’t wait around, praying for a rescue. I didn’t want to be negative, but I wasn’t delusional either.
Our ship had sunk somewhere in the Caribbean and hundreds of people were lost. It’d happened so fast they couldn’t even get everyone on the lifeboats. And now we were alone, on some strange island. In the confusion of the night we’d been left, the rescue boats were right there, and they left us. If it was that easy to get lost in the middle of everyone, what chance did the coast guard have of finding us?
“This looks like a movie,” Trevor said.
“Huh?” I turned to him with a confused face.
“This,” he said and spread his arms around.
The island had at least a hundred feet of beachfront before the sand vanished into a dense jungle. Jagged rocks cluttered the shore on one side and blinding white sand on the other, but there was no telling what the rest of it looked like.
The land rose gradually the deeper in you went. I could see a peak from the beach that I assumed backed into the water on the far side. It was a massive cliff that stuck into the air like a thumb, with trees sprouting out from the sides. Trevor was right, it did look like a movie. Like a set from a prehistoric thriller about a bunch of dumb kids that get eaten by a radioactive lizard.
Cupping my hands around my mouth, I shouted, “Hello! Hello! Can anyone hear me?”
“Daniel what the hell are you doing?”
“What does it look like? People could live here.”
Trevor twisted his face then looked away. As I screamed over and over he turned toward the water and mimicked me in a high-pitched girl voice and threw his hands into the air.
“Fine! Which way did Chase go?” I asked and started edging around the small strip of land that wasn’t submerged.
“I don’t’ know man. I was just happy that they left. Those guys are tools.”
I shrugged and kept walking. We climbed over a row of rocks and waded through a shallow lagoon before making it around the side of the island. It was as undeveloped and empty as everywhere else.
There was a narrow trail that led into the trees and looked like animals probably frequented it. As I stood at the edge I contemplated if water was worth the risk of getting eaten by a jungle predator. But at this point, I was thirsty enough to fight an animal and drink its blood.
“You think they got out, don’t you?” Trevor suddenly asked.
He was standing behind me, staring down the trail with a blank look on his face. I turned around and looked at him and felt a rush of guilt and pain that bored into my heart. He’d always looked to me to make the right decision. Last night I had failed him.
“I should’ve listened to you,” I started. “We should’ve never left them.”
“He told you to leave, so you left. You did what you were told…that’s why you’re the responsible one. That’s why you’re my big brother.”
“We shouldn’t have left,” I said again and started walking down the trail.
“But…but they made it, right? They got off the boat?”
“I’m sure they did. Dad’s stubborn as hell and you know what he always says…”
“Huntington’s don’t die, if they ever tell you I did it was a lie,” Trevor finished in his best dad impression.
I laughed and pushed further through the brush as the ground slowly started to rise. We walked uphill for twenty minutes straight before the ground leveled off. The tangled roots and twisted branches were waging a war against us at every turn. At the top I doubled over and tried to catch my breath.
“It’s just dirt everywhere man,” Trevor groaned. “And we can’t fucking drink dirt.”
“There’s gotta be water here.”
“There better be. I don’t wanna die on this stupid island Daniel.”
“Come on.”
We kept walking, pushing through thick branches and wide, bug infested leaves. I felt like I’d been smacking myself nonstop since we’d left the beach. Visions of commercials about West Nile virus, malaria and zika started playing in my head and a real fear of being all alone festered at the edge of my thoughts.
“This sucks,” I snapped as I broke through another cluster of branches.
I was feeling lightheaded and running out of sweat. My face felt flush and my tongue was a slab of sand paper. If we didn’t find water soon, I wouldn’t be able to make it back to the beach, much less wait for a rescue.
&
nbsp; “You hear that?” Trevor stopped and asked.
“Hear what?”
“Shh.”
I stopped walking and held my breath. I strained my ears for any sound, any hint of movement. For minutes I stood like one of those stupid mannequins in the department stores. I’d even froze my arm in a fixed position, like I’d been zapped mid-stride.
I was starting to think Trevor was crazy. He had his head leaned forward, his long neck strained like a giraffe. I was seconds away from telling him how stupid he was, but then something snorted and the bushes moved.
“What the fuck was that?” I asked as I jumped and spun around.
“I don’t know dude,” Trevor said with a nervous voice. “Something’s out there.”
There was another squeak and I felt something brush past my leg. The bushes shook and I stared around the trees with wide eyes, flinching like a drug addict going through withdrawal.
“There’s another one!” Trevor shouted.
“Where?”
All around me, branches were cracking and the leaves rattled like beads hanging in a doorway. I backtracked then stumbled on Trevor’s leg and almost fell. He grabbed my arm and I steadied myself. Then we turned and ran back the way we came like hell was chasing us.
“Hurry up!” I shouted as I pushed him forward.
I could hear something closing in behind us. Snorts and the rumble of legs, beating against the bush with thundering ferocity. Trevor needed to move faster.
I didn’t know if he’d felt my hand or heard my mind screaming at him, but suddenly Trevor switched to a gear I’d never seen before. I tried to keep up, but he’d reached another level of human movement. At least one of us was safe.
I tore through the branches and leaves behind him in panic, tripping over roots and the dense brush. My foot caught a thick vine and I tumbled forward then slid through the dirt and rolled over onto my back.
I tried to scoot away, but my feet kept getting tangled with the roots and other foliage. The vines had a mind of their own, wrapping around my shoes like snares, tightening their grip with every move I made. My heart was pounding, ripping its way out of my chest. The more I tried to escape the more entangled I became.
Deconstruction- The Complete series Box Set Page 54
