“Just a little further,” Trevor called back to me.
My palms were sweaty, and my heart thundered with anticipation. On the other side of the rocks lay a scene of complete destruction. Bodies littered the beach, washed up and bloated, the smell radiating like a landfill. Wreckage from the life boats was everywhere, like it’d just fallen from the sky.
This was the real reason Trevor had come to find me. And it also answered a question we’d had since we arrived. Where had everyone else gone?
I now knew why Trevor been so quiet, why he’d been acting strange. He thought we might find our family there, but I felt deep down in my core that they were somewhere safe. I knew they were, they had to be.
We’d been on the island so long it started to feel normal. Like I hadn’t washed up here, but I was here on purpose. It was easy to forget the tragedy that put us here, especially when it was such a painful memory.
“They’re safe Trevor. You know that right? They’re not out there.”
He paused and glanced back at me. With teary eyes he nodded. “I hope you’re right.”
We emerged from the rocks and stepped into the soft, white sand. I covered my face and wrinkled my nose, swallowing back vomit.
I scanned from side to side. No matter where I looked, it was all the same. Dozens of dead, some partially obscured by the sand, others bobbing in the surf, trapped by massive rocks that sat in the shallows, taking the full force of the waves as they broke against them.
The wreckage from the life boats was there too. Not any complete ships, but broken hulls and slabs of splintered fiberglass. Some had made it to shore and lay toppled over with massive gashes, others were partially submerged, barely visible above the surface.
“So, no one made it,” Trevor mumbled. “We thought they had all sailed away, but no one made it. They all died right here.”
I knew that wasn’t true. But as I looked around at the bodies on the beach and the odd, shapes that littered the water, I wondered just how many people died.
“Come on,” I called out to him. “Let’s see what we can find and get back.”
“What we can find?” Trevor asked. “Do you see this?”
“Yes…yes I see it Trevor. What do you want me to do? They’re all dead. We can’t help anyone here, but we can help ourselves. All those life boats had supplies, they had food, they had water. We need that.”
He lowered his head and rubbed the sweat from his face. “I just, I just. They made it, right Daniel? They made it out alive, didn’t they?”
“They had to. Now help me.”
I walked further onto the beach, trying my best to avoid the scattered corpses. There were so many it was hard to move without stepping on something. The bloated, decaying bodies festered in the sand. The air smelled of rotten meat and cadaverous fish, the sun baking death into a cloud of putrid fumes.
I came to the first boat and leaned my head into the fractured cockpit. A body wafted in the filthy water that covered the bottom. An orange life vest was tangled around their neck, the other end twisted around the seat, telling the story of their gruesome demise.
I covered my face as I stepped inside. The water was cold, and the smell was so rancid that I doubled over and puked.
“Fucking disgusting!” I grunted.
Wiping my mouth, I continued sloshing through the nasty muck to the first row of seats where a red emergency bag was located. I climbed out of the boat and dropped the bag into the sand, fighting the urge to take a deep breath of the slightly less foul air.
“Found one,” I called out to Trevor.
“Me too,” he called back.
I continued searching and found a few more first-aid bags and many more corpses. There was probably a lot more to scavenge, but after ten minutes, I couldn’t take the smell any longer. I’d reached my limit and it was time to leave.
“Trevor let’s get the hell out of here,” I shouted after puking into the water again.
He didn’t answer and when I turned around I found him standing in the water, staring at a boat twenty yards away. He didn’t move when I called out to him and his mouth was hanging open like he’d seen a ghost.
“Trevor!” I shouted again. “Dude what’s wrong with you?”
He didn’t reply so I left the bags and made my way toward him. As I stopped beside him I grabbed his shoulder and shook.
“Trevor…what the hell man?”
“She’s alive Daniel,” he replied in a trembling voice. “It’s…it’s Chloe.”
I followed his eyes to the broken boat and sighed. “Come on man. We need to get going.”
“No!” he snapped. “Look!”
I took a few steps closer and stopped. Rubbing my head, I peered into the half sunken vessel. The inside was dry and there was a pile of blankets near the back with a small figure lying on top.
I gasped and mumbled under my breath, “Chloe?”
Moving closer, I slowly stepped inside. It was definitely a person lying on the floor. I couldn’t tell if they were dead or alive, but they didn’t move when the boat wobbled from side to side.
Holding my breath, I inched closer and bent down. My heart suddenly stopped, and my tongue rolled up in the back of my throat. It was her, it was Chloe, lying there like she was at home in bed. Her face was smudged with dirt and her brown hair was tangled and clumped together with sand, but it was my sister.
“Is…is she breathing?” Trevor mumbled.
I glanced back at him then reached a hand out toward Chloe. I paused before resting my fingers on her face. My hand wouldn’t stop shaking and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t catch my breath. I clenched my teeth as tears began to fall from my eyes.
She looked so peaceful, like a little angel. Her knees were tucked to her chest, her hands folded together under her head. There was nothing I wanted more in the world than for her to jump up and wrap her arms around me, but she wouldn’t. And it was my fault.
“Chloe,” I whispered.
I swept her curly hair out of her face then placed my hand on her cheek. Her skin was cold, like ice and I cringed. Leaning forward, I kissed her cheek and pressed my forehead against hers. Finding her had proven to be bittersweet.
“I’m so sorry Chloe. I should’ve been there.”
“Daniel,” she suddenly called out.
I jumped back and fell onto the bottom of the boat. With wild eyes, I gazed at her as she sat up and rubbed her face.
“Daniel?” she said again. “Are you real?”
“Chloe?”
“Daniel!”
She rushed me and wrapped her arms around my neck as we both fell to the floor. I hugged her back, unable to contain myself and tears poured from my eyes.
“Daniel, Daniel!” Chloe screeched over and over. It was like her mind could only form my name or that was the only word she could get out in all her excitement.
I could feel her body trembling in my arms. I didn’t know if it was from the cold or fear, but my heart broke for her and all that she must’ve gone through.
“You’re safe…you’re safe now,” I whispered to her.
I glanced over my shoulder as I heard the clunk of footsteps.
“You’re alive,” Trevor said as he stepped onto the boat.
Chloe lifted her head and gasped as her eyes found him. Without another word, he stepped forward and joined us, wrapping his arms around Chloe and falling to the floor in a heap of grunts and tears.
I don’t know how long we stayed there, but I didn’t want to move. We’d found Chloe and in that, we’d found hope.
I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed her. I hadn’t realized how big the hole in my heart was without the rest of my family. It was like now that she was there I could feel the physical pain of her absence that I’d been ignoring. But I could also feel it healing.
“I thought you were dead,” Chloe squeaked. “I thought you were both dead.”
“We’re fine, we’re better than fine. How did you
get here? Where have you been?” I gasped. Millions of questions were streaming through my mind and I couldn’t organize them fast enough.
Trevor wiped his face and swallowed then cleared his throat. “Where’s mom and dad?” he asked sternly.
CHAPTER 14
SAVE OUR SOULS
We squeezed back through the rocks and took a seat in the clearing. It was getting late, but I was in no hurry to make it back. My legs were sore, and my feet throbbed like they’d been smashed by a hammer. But more than that, I was exhausted mentally.
“What happened Chloe? What happened to them?” Trevor asked again.
Chloe swallowed and looked away. She’d avoided the question until now and I wasn’t too interested in an answer, because I felt like I knew it already. I didn’t want to hear her say it and I didn’t think she wanted to relive it.
“Chloe!” Trevor snapped.
“Jesus give her a fucking break,” I raised my voice.
He beamed at me then ran his fingers through his hair. Turning around, he kicked his feet in the grass then clenched his fist. “I just want to know where our parents are, okay? I just want her to tell me!”
“They’re dead!” Chloe suddenly shouted.
Trevor froze then stumbled backward and took a seat on the ground. I covered my face and turned away. I knew it, I knew it had to be true, but hearing it was like a dagger being driven straight through my heart.
“No!” the words flowed from my lips as if someone else was speaking them. “No!” I roared again.
Chloe broke down. She dropped her head into her arms and let out a moan that crackled with pain and sent an ice-like chill down my spine.
“Dad…dad got me on the lifeboat. They were together, I screamed for them. It happened so fast. They were there then they were just gone.”
My heart broke. The pain of knowing for certain my parents were dead was unimaginable, but knowing that Chloe had to face it alone hurt just as much. Up until that moment I’d been living someone else’s life. Now, my own reality came crashing down on me.
“So, they could still be alive,” Trevor suddenly said. “They could still be on the ship.”
“No,” Chloe sniffled. “The deck flooded. I just barely made it on the boat then water was everywhere. They’re gone…they’re just gone.”
“You don’t know that!” he shouted and pushed himself to a stand. “They could still be alive. Daniel, we have to go back. We have to get to the ship and find them!”
“They’re gone Trevor,” I said and placed my hand on his shoulder. I pulled him toward me and hugged him. “They’re gone…I’m sorry man. I’m so sorry.”
He started to cry and I cried with him. It physically hurt to see him in that much pain. We both were faced with the same heartbreak, the same truth that we’d try to avoid.
“No!” Trevor suddenly roared and shoved me in the chest.
Shaking his head from side to side, he started to back away. I reached for him, but he slapped my hands down.
“I gotta know. I have to see for myself,” he said. “I just have to see.”
Turning around, Trevor started running back the way we’d come. I yelled after him, but he didn’t stop. He rushed down the trail toward the waterfall without looking back.
“Trevor!” I shouted again. “Trevor what the hell are you doing? Stop man!”
I started after him, screaming for him to come back. Pausing he turned around and held out his hands.
“I need some time to think Daniel. Just, just leave me alone.”
“Trevor?”
“I just need time,” he said then ran off.
Sighing, I turned and walked back to Chloe. She was still sitting on the ground, staring into nothing. With a frown, I knelt beside her and reached out my hand.
“You okay?” I asked.
“No,” she said curtly in a tone that crushed my soul.
“Come on. We’ve got a camp back that way,” I said and pointed over my shoulder. “I can find you some new clothes and you can meet everybody else.”
“Everybody else?”
“Yeah, it’s a long story. I’ll tell you more about it on the way.”
I stood up and helped Chloe to her feet. We gathered the rest of the bags and started the trek toward the cave.
“A camp?” Chloe asked.
“Yeah,” I laughed. “You’ll like it.”
Along the way I caught her up on everything that had happened since we’d last seen each other. She sounded happy that there were other people here, especially other girls and that we weren’t all alone. I tried to keep the conversation light, but my mind was in such a haze half the time I’d forget what we were talking about in the middle.
“It’s great to see you again,” I said as we started up the incline into the cave. “I didn’t think I’d…it’s just great to see you again.”
Chloe smiled then stared up the ridge at the waterfall. “I missed you too Daniel.”
We continued walking as the cloud of depression turned my mind into a clutter or questions and what if’s. That eventually turned into guilt and regret. I knew it was my fault and that pain would stay with me forever, but now it was my job to keep my brother and sister alive.
“What happened? I mean, after you got on the life boat, where have you been?” I asked.
Chloe didn’t immediately respond. I turned around and she was stopped on the trail, staring at me. I looked into her face and it was like she’d aged ten years overnight. Her eyes were tired and stressed, and the expression she wore was exactly like my mother. I could almost see her mind working, contemplating things, weighing her words carefully.
“Something is wrong out there Daniel,” she replied softly.
“What? What do you mean?”
Chloe took a deep breath then looked away from me. She wrinkled her nose and tried to cover her face to hide the tears.
“If you don’t want to talk about it we don’t have to,” I told her.
“No, no it’s fine. We, we were all on the boat and everyone was screaming and crying and looking for their family. I found a spot in the back and sat down. I didn’t have anyone. I didn’t know where you guys had gone and mom and dad were…” she paused to compose herself. “The driver, he kept trying to call someone on the radio, but nothing was working. Everything seemed like it was going wrong. The water was rough…a few people fell out and…and we ran people over Daniel.” Her voice broke.
“It’s okay. You survived, that’s all that matters.” I tried to console her, but as fragile as I thought she was, she didn’t need my sympathy.
She forced a smile onto her face and balled her fists together. “The radio came on and people were crying for help.”
“People on the boat?”
“No, the people on the radio.”
“Other boats, other life boats?”
“No…not the life boats at all. The people that were supposed to help us. The people back at home or the coast guard or whatever, they were asking for help.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It doesn’t matter. A storm came, and the boat wrecked here. A lot of people died, most out in the ocean. There were only three of us that made it to the beach. One lady that was hurt real bad. She died the next night. And a guy that worked on the ship.”
“What happened to him?”
“He died. Yesterday.”
There was something so casual about the way she said it. Like death was nothing, just as normal as someone going to work. My heart ached for her, for all she’d seen and all she’d been through. Even more because I wasn’t there to protect her.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, but felt empty.
“It’s okay. He was nice. His name was Mick, he looked out for me. He found us food and swam out to get the water from the other boats.”
“How did he die?”
“He just died,” she said abruptly.
I didn’t push her any more. I could tell the subject was both
ering her, so I just turned and started back up the trail. “Come on.”
Sulking, Chloe trotted behind me. I wish I knew how to make her feel better, but there wasn’t much good news where we were. As we made it back to the cave, I clicked on the flashlight and stepped inside. Chloe stood at the entrance with a skeptical look on her face.
“It’s not bad,” I said and reached out. “We made a camp near the mouth of the cave. Just stay close.”
She smiled then grabbed my hand and followed me into the darkness. I could feel her fingers trembling and I pulled her closer and wrapped my arm around her shoulders.
“You’re safe now,” I whispered.
The walk back was much quicker. It might have been because I knew where I was going, or I had found my sister, but it felt like only a few minutes passed before I could hear the chatter from the rest of the group.
“Where the hell have you been!” Chase groaned as I stepped around the corner. “We caught a pig.”
He motioned outside where I could see a pallet of leaves with a wild pig splayed across it. Chase’s hands were covered in blood and his fingers were wrapped around a filthy pocket knife.
“You didn’t talk to Trevor?” I asked.
“Trevor? Trevor didn’t say a word to anyone. That brother of yours is a real piece of work. He stormed off after kicking dirt in the fucking fire.” Chase paused and stared past me to Chloe. “Who the hell is that?”
I glanced back at her and swallowed. “This…this is my sister.”
“Your sister!” Amber echoed. “Your sister?”
“Yeah, it’s a long story, but where the hell is Trevor?”
“Dude, I told you already. He ran out of here.”
“Did he say where he was going?”
“I told you, he didn’t say shit.”
Sighing, I turned to Chloe and lowered my voice. “Are you okay here? I have to find Trevor before he does something stupid.”
She looked back at the rest of them then looked to me and raised her eyebrows. It felt wrong to leave her after just finding her, but I was worried about Trevor and I needed to find him in a hurry.
“They’re okay…I promise,” I said. “Amber, can you keep her company for a few minutes?”
Deconstruction- The Complete series Box Set Page 62
