Wish You Were Here

17

"Let's load up and head back, huh?" Grant offered.

I nodded and we gathered up as much fruit as we could and brought it back to the cave. We all sat around, waiting for the fires to go out. By sunset, the fires had almost reached the water. Their flames lit up the night sky. We spent another night in the cave, hoping things would have a brighter outlook by morning.

Waking up on the cave floor was better than waking up in the basement dungeon, but it was nowhere close to being home. I could see it on everyone's faces. They would do anything to just go home. Tempers wore thin and I bit my tongue more than once at Aaron's rude remarks. We decided it was safe enough to leave the cave and start back out. Cal asked if we could take a break at the bottom of the waterfall to get water and cool off, and nobody argued with that.

The sun's temperature peaked by the afternoon. I was hot, wiping my sweaty palms over and over again so I would be able to grab onto Beth if she came close to slipping. She limped along, only asking for my help when she truly needed it. She pushed herself hard and I had to admire her determination. Cal was quiet until we reached the waterfall.

"Finally!" she cheered, rushing to cup water with her hands and drench her face and hair.

Cooling off helped a little with the overall irritability of the group. Grant was still leading us, but was quieter than usual. I think he was concentrating on which strategy was best without having to hear Aaron's criticism. As long as he remained quiet and kept forward, Aaron seemed to do the same.

Now that we were freed from the cabin's basement, as grateful as we were to have escaped it, we were still prisoners. Stuck on this island meant we were still technically kidnapped. Plus, we knew Dean had found Gina by now and with the cameras they had set up all over that place, it was only a matter of time before they figured out where we were.

I took a seat near the water and splashed the back of my neck. The summer heat slowed us down even more than we were already moving. Cal was happily drenching herself, dipping her head into the water so her hair floated all around her. I had to laugh. She reminded me of being a kid and swimming in the pool, pretending to be a mermaid. She looked up and saw me, giving me a shy smile. I waved and took handfuls of water, dumping them down my neck. I knew my skin would dry in only a few minutes once I was in the sun, but for the time being it was a nice break from the heat.

Just as we had all relaxed a bit, we heard it. Another loud explosion, but much closer this time. I ducked down and plugged my ears. Cal looked up to the sky, not sure where the sound had come from, and then ran out of the water. Grant and Will both looked all around us, not sure what to expect.

"Get down!" Grant shouted.

Cal had made her way to me and we huddled together.

"Come on!" she shouted in my ear. I was shaking as she grabbed my hand and led me over to a tree near the guys. Aaron had been on the other side of the water. He hopped quickly over the rocks, landing on both feet and then running in our direction.

Beth!

Just as I was about to ask where Beth was, I saw her. She was on top of some rocks - how did she get there? - limping and climbing her way over, but was way too slow. As she held on to the rocks with both hands, she carefully placed her foot on the ground. She lifted her injured leg over and tried to move forward.

"We have to get Beth!" I shouted.

Grant's eyes found her. "Stay here!" he warned us.

He scanned the skies before taking a step. We couldn't see any smoke, but we knew another fire was looming somewhere nearby. Beth was crawling, nearly slipping on the wet rocks. I could see the fear in her eyes as she frantically tried to keep going. Grant moved swiftly towards her, his eyes fixated straight ahead.
Beth saw him and smiled nervously. Her eyes stayed on Grant when she reached in front of her, grasping a small rock with her right hand. The rock was too loose and it tumbled under her grip. She screamed as she lost her balance, grasping desperately at the other rocks. But those were all loose, too.