Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 59521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
“I have been keeping track of everything, because I know how fuckin’ important this shit is. Someone took them.”
“Maybe they fell out?” Aggie offers.
“They didn’t fuckin’ fall out.”
Her brows shoot up. “Listen here, buddy, talk to me like that one more time...”
I bite my bottom lip.
“Did we give them to Iris and just not realize?” Ace asks.
“No, because they were here the other day. Who took them?”
Zeke is very over the top with the medications after Iris, but I also think there is more to it. He has seen some things, that much I know. He served for a while and then became a fighter. He holds an energy that tells me he has had to survive before, and it wasn’t easy. He rations everything, keeps on top of our water, and makes sure everything runs smoothly so we can survive for the ultimate length of time.
“Calm down, brother,” Ace mutters, pushing to his feet. “It’s more than likely they got dropped. We’ll find them.”
“I’m tellin’ you, they fuckin’ didn’t,” Zeke growls.
“We did clean up today,” Tatiana offers, “maybe we dropped them?”
She’s right, we did clean up the area today and rearranged a few things to make it more comfortable.
“We did,” Aggie agrees. “We’ll have a good look in the morning, we might have accidentally lost them.”
Zeke doesn’t look convinced. “Where’s Rachel?”
“Zeke,” I say, shaking my head. “Just because she lost someone, doesn’t mean she is stealing drugs.”
“Well, to be fair,” Adrian pipes up from his spot on the sand, where he is making himself a spear to catch fish. It doesn’t look like it’s going well, but he seems determined, “drugs do give a person that euphoric feeling which can take away the unpleasant sensations of grief.”
Zeke looks to him. “Seriously, dude?”
Adrian looks up at him, shoving his glasses up his nose. “You look like the kind of man who has tried a drug or two. Are you telling me I am wrong?”
“Mind your fuckin’ business,” Zeke snaps.
Adrian shrugs. “Maybe it was Aggie.”
Aggie spins on him. “Excuse me, just because I wouldn’t help you with your constipation problem doesn’t mean I am a thief.”
Adrian looks to her, pointing two fingers to his eyes, then to her.
I bite my lip, because it’s hilarious but now is not the time to laugh.
“Stop doing that,” Aggie protests. “You’re starting to creep me out.”
“Anyway,” Kellen claps his hands, snapping them out of it. “We need to ask Rachel.”
“Yeah, but we can’t just accuse her of it,” Aggie points out. “She is fragile, we need to be gentle.”
Zeke glances at her. “You’re very protective, maybe you did take them.”
Aggie scowls at him. “No, I did not. Don’t take your shit out on me.”
“When one of you gets injured, you’re goin’ to wish to fuckin’ God we had those painkillers,” Zeke mutters.
“We’ll find them in the morning,” Ace adds in, cutting off the argument. “For now, you need to relax, brother.”
Zeke stares at him, and for a moment, the two of them just lock eyes. Then, Zeke nods and lays down, hands behind his head, staring into nothing. I give Aggie a look, and her eyes widen as if she’s saying ‘uh oh’. Then, everyone just falls silent.
Another night where we all sit like this, wondering what tomorrow will bring.
It could be everything, or it could be nothing.
That’s the scary reality.
By morning, everything has settled down again. Kellen and Zeke go on their usual fruit run, finding whatever they can, and Ace loads up on water. Adrian is practicing swimming again, determined to spear some fish. Us girls do the best we can at preparing the water and food to last as long as possible. Rachel has gone for a swim, and I can see her floating in the shallow water.
I am clearing out some of the dead fronds tangled at the edge of our camp, salt sweat stinging the little nicks on my knuckles, when I notice Rachel isn’t floating anymore. Instead, she seems to be kicking frantically, arms splashing, and it almost looks like she is suddenly unable to swim. Aggie follows my gaze. “What’s she doing?”
Then, Rachel’s shrieks tear through the wind.
“Shit,” I curse, and drop everything, running down to the shore.
Aggie and Tatiana run down beside me.
“Rachel!” I yell.
“Help,” she screams. “Help, I can’t get back in. I can’t... it’s pulling me out.”
Shit. She’s probably caught in a rip.
“I’ll go find the guys,” Tatiana calls, then turns and rushes off.
I don’t know if we have time to wait for them to get back. Adrian is standing in the shallows, staring out at her, frantically looking around as if he can somehow find a raft to just shoot out and grab her. We all know he can’t swim. I don’t think about it, I pull off my shirt, leaving only my bra and step towards the water.