Chapter Seven: Mourning
"I can't believe they're gone," Gwen says to Bridgette. "I'd only just started to become friends with Courtney again, and now she's gone." She starts to cry as it starts to sink in that she will never see them again. Bridgette has her arm around Gwen and is stroking her shoulder comfortingly.
"I know, none of us really expected them to be the next ones to go," Bridgette says quietly.
"Are people finally going to start listening to me?" Harold wonders. "We shouldn't be going into the forest. It's obviously more dangerous than the one in Wawanakwa and I don't think we should risk it."
"Courtney and Duncan were right about it being a main part of our food source, though," Trent reminds him. "What we really need is something to ward off bears."
"I think it's fine!" Izzy opposes. "I've been into the woods tons of times, and I haven't been eaten yet!"
"Yeah, but so had Duncan and Courtney, and look at what happened to them," Harold points out. "No one's safe. We're better off just waiting until someone rescues us."
"But what if no one does rescue us?" Owen cries. "We've been here for almost a week and we've lost six people! That's like one person every day!"
"Did you ever see the movie 'Castaway'?" Cody asks. "He was trapped on that island for five years before he took it upon himself to escape. Maybe we should do the same?" Sierra hugs him tightly.
"You're so smart, Cody! Not about the waiting five years thing, but about the escaping ourselves thing," she says excitedly.
"Perhaps we should wait it out for a few more days," Alejandro suggests. "That man was on the island for five years, was it? Surely we can spend a few more days here. You have to admit, it is kind of nice not being harassed by the paparazzi all of the time."
"Yes, we should stay here a few more days!" Geoff supports quickly. Alejandro narrows his eyes at Geoff in suspicion.
"I don't know about that," Justin disagrees. "All of this sun is making my skin go a little too golden-brown, know what I'm saying? If we're here for any longer I don't want to think about what might happen to me." Leshawna rolls her eyes.
"You can last a couple more days, hot stuff," she tells him. "Izzy, do you think you could make spears for everyone so we can protect ourselves against bears?"
"Of course!" Izzy exclaims, and she hurries into the forest to start building.
Gwen and Owen sit next to each other on the beach, not speaking. Since they both lost someone they cared about, they didn't really feel like talking to anyone or doing anything, but they both thought it was nice to have some company.
"Do you think they're happy where they are?" Owen asks. Gwen puts her hand over Owen's.
"Yeah, I think so," she replies. "I think Courtney would've liked to achieve more before she died, but apart from that they're probably happy they don't have to deal with most of the people here."
"Do you think... do you think Noah misses me?" Owen looks up sadly at Gwen, and she gives him a small smile, trying not to cry.
"I do." She squeezes his hand comfortingly. "Do you want to hold a funeral for them? To say our last goodbyes?" Owen nods. They get up and join everyone else by the campfire, who are listening to Trent play the guitar. Izzy comes running out from the forest holding spears.
"Guys, I'm finished making weapons for you all!" she announces, dropping the spears at her feet. "Everyone grab one." They all do as they're told and pick up a spear each.
"Now that we have protection, who wants to come with me to do some foraging?" Leshawna asks.
"Yeah, I'll come," Justin volunteers. Everyone looks at him in shock. "Well surviving a bear attack will be great for publicity. If I get out without a scratch, I'll have modelling agencies begging to take me on."
"Wait," Gwen stops them. "Owen and I were hoping we could hold a funeral for the people who have gone missing, as a last goodbye."
"Good idea Gwen," Geoff praises her. "We'll let Leshawna and Justin do some foraging first, that way we can have some food for the wake." Gwen nods in approval and Leshawna and Justin head off into the forest with their spears.
"I'm going swimming," Heather declares. "Anyone care to join me?"
"I'll come with you," Alejandro says. He stands up and takes Heather's hand.
"Me too!" Geoff agrees. He goes to stand up but Bridgette grabs his arm and pulls him back to his seat. "What are you doing?"
"Giving them some alone time," Bridgette replies forcefully. Heather and Alejandro walk off to the water and the others sit in silence around the fire. Trent strums gently on his guitar.
"Na na na na," he sings slowly. Harold and Cody join in. "Na na na na." Sierra, Bridgette and Owen chime in with "Hey, hey hey," and everyone choruses "Goodbye."
"Alone at last," Heather says happily, slipping her arms around Alejandro's neck as they go deeper into the water. He puts his hands in her waist but looks at her disapprovingly.
"Should we really be acting like the happy couple we are when some of our friends have just gone missing?" Alejandro asks. Heather scoffs.
"I don't think they're really missing or dead," she tells him. "I think this whole thing was set up by Chris for him to laugh at us." Alejandro ponders this, thinking about the conversation he overhead from Geoff last night.
"Maybe..." he says thoughtfully. Heather looks at him seductively.
"I don't care about that right now," she says. She starts to kiss Alejandro's neck and chest and puts her fingers under the band of his shorts. He looks at her in surprise and she grins at him.
"I didn't think you were ready," he states. Heather pulls a condom out from her bikini top.
"I took a few from Bridgette," she explains. He smiles.
"You want you first time to be in the ocean?" he asks. Heather nods. "How romantic." Alejandro pulls Heather closer to him and starts kissing her hungrily. She jumps into his arms and he holds onto her thighs. "Are you sure you're ready?" he asks through the kissing. Heather nods impatiently and they sink into the water.
"She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes," Trent sings, and the others all join in. "She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes. She'll be coming 'round the mountain, she'll be coming 'round the mountain, she'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes." Trent continues to play but they all stop singing when they hear a loud rustling sound and some cursing from the forest. Everyone gasps in surprise as Noah and Courtney come staggering out of the woods. Courtney is holding Noah up as he limps along. Owen immediately runs to Noah's side and scoops him up. Gwen slowly walks over to Courtney, not sure if it's real, and pulls Courtney into a tight hug.
"Noah! Is it really you? I've missed you so much! What happened? We thought you'd been eaten by bears!" Owen cries. Noah rolls his eyes.
"Relax, Owen, I wasn't eaten," Noah assures Owen. "I was walking through the forest with Izzy and Eva, when Izzy went off to chase a squirrel and a boar started chasing me and Eva. I climbed a tree to escape it and waited for it to go away but by the time it did, Eva was gone."
"So you've been wandering around the forest all this time?" Owen asks. Noah nods. "You poor thing! I'm so glad you're okay!"
"I thought you were dead," Gwen sobs into Courtney's shoulder. Courtney laughs.
"It would take much more than a bear to kill me," she tells Gwen. Gwen pulls away from Courtney and nods, brushing her tears away and laughing at how stupid she feels.
"Where's Duncan?" she asks. Courtney shrugs.
"He was there when I went to sleep and gone when I woke up," she replies.
"Well it's possible that he isn't dead, right?" Gwen worries. "I mean, Noah wasn't so maybe the others aren't either."
"I hope so," Courtney says. "I mean I hate Duncan but I don't want him to die!" Alejandro and Heather come out of the water holding hands and are surprised to see Courtney and Noah.
"Courtney!" Heather greets her. "I knew you weren't really dead."
"Good to see you too," Courtney says sarcastically. "Where are Justin, Leshawna and Geoff?"
"Oh, they're foraging," Harold tells her. Then, he realises that Courtney said three names and he looks around for Geoff. "Where is Geoff?" Alejandro realises what it means and sneaks away. He finds Geoff not too far into the forest and listens to his conversation again.
"Courtney just came back," Geoff tells the person on the other end of the call. "So he still hasn't arrived?... I'm not going looking for him!... I don't know, maybe there really are bears!... Well it's better than everyone thinking they're dead... Whatever dude, I'm not putting up with it for much longer." Geoff hangs up and Bridgette walks over to him.
"Still no luck?" she asks. Geoff shakes his head and Bridgette sighs.
"Is it worth it?" Geoff wonders. "Will everyone hate me when it's all done?" Bridgette cups Geoff's face in her hands and looks him in the eyes.
"I know that any one of them would do the same thing," she assures him. "If everything works out the way it's supposed to, they will probably hate us to start with but we're doing this to benefit everyone. They'll thank us eventually." Geoff smiles at her.
"You're amazing, you know that?" he says, and she plants a quick kiss on his lips.
"I try," she says with a wink. "We should be going back now." She turns to leave but Geoff grabs her hand and pulls her back into another kiss.
"I have a better idea," he tells her, and she giggles. Alejandro decides he doesn't want to see anymore and goes back to join the others. He walks over to Heather who is talking to Gwen and Courtney and pulls her away from the conversation.
"Geoff and Bridgette are up to something," he tells her in a low voice. Heather looks at him in confusion and he repeats everything he has overhead Geoff saying. Heather's eyes widen as Alejandro tells her and when he finishes she isn't sure how to respond.
"Well," she says, trying to take in the information. "Isn't this a strange turn of events? For once the people plotting something isn't you or me."
"You're friends with Bridgette now, aren't you?" Alejandro asks.
"Umm..." Heather replies. Alejandro sighs.
"You have been speaking with her more often than usual anyway," he continues. "Do you think that you could find out what's going on?"
"Maybe, but I can't make any promises," Heather says.
Courtney and Gwen are sitting cross-legged on the sand facing each other as Courtney recounts everything that had happened yesterday.
"I don't know what to do," Courtney says hopelessly. "A part of me still really cares about him but I don't think I could ever trust him again. Maybe it would be best if he got eaten by a bear. That would solve everything." Gwen gently puts her hand on Courtney's knee.
"I know everyone says you never forget your first love, but sometimes you have to," she advises. "If you don't think you can trust him, maybe it's time to let him go. I mean, that's what you tried to do before, right?" Courtney nods.
"You're right. I'll probably never see him again after we get off this island and I'll be better for it," she agrees. "Plus, even though I did start warming up to him yesterday, I still hate that guy." Gwen starts laughing and Courtney joins in as Trent walks up to them.
"Hey guys, nice to see you getting along again," he comments. Gwen smiles up at him.
"We're just talking about everything that happened over the one day I thought Courtney was dead," Gwen tells Trent. "Want to join us?"
"Actually I was kind of hoping I could speak to you alone," Trent says. Courtney raises her eyebrows and stands up.
"I'll leave you to it," she says, and Trent sits in her place as she walks away.
"I'm glad Courtney isn't dead," Trent states. Gwen smiles.
"Me too," she agrees.
"I can't stand to see you sad," he continues, straight faced. Gwen stops smiling and looks into Trent's eyes.
"Trent..." she begins, but Trent interrupts her.
"I know it didn't work out for us the first time, but that was when we were competing against each other. I'm not going to be that guy anymore. That guy was jealous and paranoid and didn't know what you wanted." He takes Gwen's hand and clasps it in both of his. "I still don't know what you want but I want to know. When you kissed me the other day I thought maybe you wanted the same things I do but then you ran away and I..." Gwen stops him from rambling by pressing her lips to his.
"You had every right to be paranoid," she tells him. "I mean, look at what happened." Trent laughs nervously and drops his gaze to look at the sand between them. "The only reason I ran away is because I didn't know what I wanted either, but hearing you say all of those things now made me realise that I want to be with you." Trent looks up at her and smiles.
"You do?" he asks happily. Gwen nods and Trent pulls her into a hug. "You have no idea how happy that makes me."
"Oh, I think I have some idea," Gwen laughs. Trent releases her from the hug and looks at her.
"So what do you say? Will you go out with me again?" he asks. Gwen kisses him again.
"Yes."
Trent and Gwen walk back to the fire holding hands and a loud cheer erupts from everyone as they see them.
"Finally!" Heather says. Geoff and Bridgette hi-five and Cody hands Harold ten dollars.
"You'll be giving me that back when Leshawna doesn't come back," Cody whispers sideways to Harold.
"Shut up Cody, gosh!" Harold snaps.
"Speaking of which, Justin and Leshawna have been gone for a long time..." Bridgette observes. "I really hope they haven't been attacked by bears."
"Relax Bridge, I'm sure they're fine," Geoff says reassuringly. "They've got the spears Izzy made. If any bears try to attack them it won't kill them." Bridgette nods.
"Hey you know what would be fun?" Sierra says. "We should keep singing!" There a few murmurs and shrugs and Trent picks up his guitar.
"Where were we up to?" he asks as he starts playing.
"Six white horses," Sierra provides.
"Right! She'll be riding six white horses when she comes..."
