Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 104729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
But the feeling of happiness doesn’t last long.
This isn’t paradise. This is hell.
With a shake of my head, I go back to what I’m doing, dragging my hands through the sand.
Time passes.
I’ve scraped my knees, and my hands are dried out, but I’ve carved out the letters SOS. Took me way longer than it should have. Also, a shovel would have been nice, but I guess in the end it doesn’t matter because I did it. Without Alaric’s help.
20
Phoenix
Hours pass, and by the time the sun is high in the sky, I’m no longer sitting on the sand. Now my back leans up against a palm tree that faces the beach.
I hear the sound before I see who’s coming. The faint slapping of shoes hitting the ground behind me. I turn swiftly and then rise to a standing position. My hands cross in front of my chest, all while gazing around to determine if there’s a weapon I can use to defend myself. But my breath releases in a puff of oxygen when I realize it’s only Alaric.
“You changed locations?” he says, taking long strides toward me.
“I can still look from here,” I tell him before lifting my arm to block the sun rays. “It was getting hot over there. Not that this location is much better.”
He nods to himself, walking closer, until he stops short, noticing the beach. “What the hell is that?”
“An SOS. I thought it was rather obvious,” I deadpan.
“I hate to burst your bubble, but that’s useless.” He points to the letters I spent hours digging in the sand.
“You’re just jealous that I thought of it first.”
“Though I appreciate the effort, you realize all your work was for nothing.”
The look on Alaric’s face is one of faint amusement. It makes my teeth grind together as I ask my next question, “How so?”
“See that?” He points to where the sand meets the tree line. “The water comes all the way up to there. As soon as the tide comes in, your message will disappear.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“We’ve established this. It’s not new. But on that note … Are you hungry?”
“I’m fine.” I’m not sure why I’m being so difficult, but after the past week and everything that has transpired, including him crushing my dream of an easy rescue, I can’t let him be my savior.
His lip tips up. “So, that means you don’t want food …?”
“I’m not hungry.” I’m starving, I think to myself, but I stand and start walking in the direction that will take me far away from him. “If you’re back, I’m going to go look around.” He walks up behind me. I can feel his presence catching up with each step I take.
“I wouldn’t do that. If you want to go looking, I’ll come with you.”
“Fine,” I huff. “I’ll stay here.”
I plop myself back on the ground as he walks to the life raft. He rummages through it, and I’m shocked when he pulls out some things that must have been packed away inside.
He places them back and pulls the whole raft out of the water and up the beach until it’s sitting right in front of me.
“While I search the other side of those trees, you can look through and see what we have. I threw in a few of the packs from the Zodiac, and there should be water.” I lean forward to look as he continues to talk. “Don’t eat or drink until I get back. Don’t know how long we will be here and what is on this island, so rationing is important for now.”
“Whatever you say,” I mumble under my breath, trying my hardest not to look up at him. If he notices my attitude, he doesn’t say because, without another word, Alaric walks off in the opposite direction. This time I notice what he took from the boat and what he’s still holding in his hand.
A large knife.
This one is even bigger than the knife he used on the boat. This is like a freaking machete. I wouldn’t want to be the one he is hunting. However, from what I can see, that won’t be a problem.
Other than the sound of the water crashing against the sand, there are no noises on the island at all. Okay, that’s not true. There are birds. Bugs. But nothing that implies any life.
Absolutely no sign that this island has any people on it. It’s deserted. Or maybe no one has ever been here?
Which is not good if we hope to survive.
No one knows to look for us.
Everyone from the boat is probably dead, and even if my father knows what happened, he wouldn’t know where to search. I never got around to telling him our location.
The only chance we have is if some random boat passes by, but seeing as I sat and stared at the water for hours and there was nothing, I doubt that is in the cards for us.