That was odd.
I don’t get a chance to think too much about it, because he’s out of the water before I can. I follow him, sad to be stepping away from it. We wash our clothes in the water, and then wring them out the best we can, then head back. It will take too long to wait for them to dry here. I can feel the sun tightening my skin as we walk, the cold from the pool a memory shrinking away.
Adrian is collecting large leaves on the walk back, mumbling something about a shelter.
When we come out of the trees, Tati and Aggie are back, both making a fishing line to catch fish, and they have some fresh papayas. They’re green, but they’re something. They also have a heap of coconuts. Kellen and Zeke have upturned the lifeboat and are rigging a shelter with tree branches and bamboo. I glance to where Iris is still out, Rachel sitting next to her, staring into nothing.
For the first time since the boat exploded, I think maybe—just maybe—we’ll survive this. Not because anyone is coming,or because anyone will find us, but because we have to. For each other. We don’t know if we’ll get rescued anytime soon, so survival is all we have and to do that, we have to become a team.
“Found water,” Ace announces, holding up a few water bottles.
“Thank fuck,” Kellen murmurs. He is shirtless, sweat glistening across his chest.
Well, at least if we’re stranded on a deserted island, we have something good to look at.
Three somethings, if I am being specific.
Poor Adrian.
7
BY THE FIRST NIGHT, we have a shelter set up, using the boat to block the wind and the rain, and branches and leaves to give us somewhere to lay. We’re exhausted, all of us sitting in silence around the fire Ace made, staring at the flames rising into the night sky, wondering what comes next. Will we be rescued within a few days, a few weeks, or not at all? Nobody knows the answer to that, because none of us know where we are. All we know is that right now, we’re safe. I gave Iris some of the painkillers from the first aid kit, but I know eventually, we have to ration what we have in there.
If we are here longer than expected, then we need to save as much as we can for emergencies.
Nobody has looked at Iris’s leg since we bandaged it up; we decided to let her rest and check in the morning. Ace, Kellen, and Zeke all went and got more water, then they boiled it on the fire and are waiting for it to cool. All of us are waiting for it to cool, desperate to guzzle it down. In the meantime, we crack open coconuts to drink the water, and immediately, we feel better. We eat the flesh and then prepare some fishing line and hooks for the morning. The guys also find a large net under the seat of the lifeboat, which they will use to cast out and catch fish.
We’re luckier than most, and that’s something.
“When I was eight, I accidentally set my house on fire,” Adrian suddenly pipes up, his legs outstretched in front of him.
“Jesus, mate,” Kellen mutters. “Do you think about the words that come out of your mouth, or?”
Adrian keeps going, unbothered. “I wanted to see if I could make a flamethrower. Turns out, they’re quite easy.”
“And you thought it would be a good idea to aim it at your house?” Kellen shakes his head in confusion and shock.
“I was eight,” Adrian points out, those front teeth showing again, as if that fact should be common knowledge.
“What happened to the house?” I ask, unable to help myself.
“It was damaged. By the time help arrived, it was pretty bad. I called the wrong number. I forgot what the emergency number was, so I dialled a local Chinese shop. She thought I was ordering fried rice, so we got six fried rice delivered.”
I can’t help it, I burst out laughing.
