Page 32 of Dance Practice, Marooned: Part 2

His hand curls around the back of my neck, pressing a kiss to my forehead, then he’s gone.

We move.

We gather everything we can, and Adrian has the smart idea of tearing the beds apart, so they don’t figure out there was more than one person here. It’s smart, really. He hauls them out, impressive considering he has one leg. By the time he’s done, the shack is a mess and the floor is nothing more than a heap of messy palm fronds.

Then, we get the hell out of there.

We scramble through the jungle, shoving trees and shrubs, hopping over logs and running until our lungs burn. Mine, especially. I am still recovering, and my energy levels aren’t what they should be, so I have to stop far more than I’d like. It hurts, but I don’t stop. We decide to go along the cliffs near the shoreline instead of heading inland. It’s harder to reach, but that’s the point.

It isn’t easy getting Adrian in, but we manage between the four of us.

We settle in one right above the rocks and ocean, more a cave than a cliff, but it works. We shuffle in, throwing everything down. I lower myself onto a rock, trying to breathe past the agonising burn in my lungs. Aggie sits beside me offering some water. Tati goes with Rachel, standing at the edge, just looking out.

From here, we can see the ship perfectly. It’s hovering, engines idling, probably waiting for cover of dark to make landfall. Bastards. I want to scream at them, tell them to fuck off, but instead I just clutch my stomach and hope it’ll stop aching.

“What are they waiting for?” Adrian grumbles, staring out.

“I think they’re waiting for night,” I say, voice low.

“Smart,” Adrian mutters. “I didn’t think pirates were clever, but it turns out I was wrong.”

“Not helpful,” I huff, turning away.

“Do you think they know there are more of us?” Aggie asks, shivering and rubbing her upper arms.

“It’s possible, or it could have been sheer accident they saw Zeke. Either way, they’re going to come in, and we need to prepare ourselves for that.”

Aggie’s eyes meet mine. “We have nothing, Grace. No weapons... nothing.”

“We don’t need weapons,” Adrian throws in. “We just need to be smarter than them. If we can draw them into the island, like Ace said, then we can take charge of their ship.”

“It’s probably full of pirates,” Rachel says, joining us. “How would we know?”

“We don’t, not until we can see the situation,” Adrian shrugs. “But it’s probably our best chance. Until then, we gather anything that can be used as a weapon. You’d be surprised what a rock can do to someone’s skull.”

We all just stare at him, somewhat horrified.

“Do you think Zeke made it?” Tati whispers from somewhere behind me.

I hope so.

God, do I fucking hope so.

7

WE SIT FOR WHAT FEELS like hours.

The sun begins to set, the smoke from our now burned-out fire rising through the thick island trees. I’m on the edge of the cave, knees to my chin, arms wrapped tightly around myself as I wait. I am just waiting to see what happens next, even though it feels like it might just kill me. The others are sitting too; we stopped talking a while ago. What is there to say?

Ace and Kellen aren’t back, but the ship has moved closer.

As it gets closer to dark, it comes in, slowly, as if it is taunting us.

I haven’t heard any gunshots, but I haven’t seen anyone either, so I don’t know if it’s a good or a bad thing.

All I know is this waiting is fucking killing me.

My legs ache, my body is tired, but I can’t sit around much longer. Aggie comes over, crouching down beside me. “Should we... go look?” she asks, so quietly the words nearly vanish into the surf.