Laughing. Someone was laughing. Was it Zoey, her mom, her sister? The stuck-up girls from elementary school? Were they laughing at her? What had she done? If they knew what kind of hell she had been through the past several days, they sure as hell wouldn't have been laughing.
She felt a tap on her cheek. Were they poking her now too? What the hell was their problem? Couldn't they tell she didn't want company right now?! They laughed even more.
Another tap.
Scarlett bared her teeth and her eyes shot wide open, but she nearly jumped from fright as she was face to face with a seagull. The bird cocked its head to the side in curiosity. She made a move to sit up and it immediately extended its pure white wings and took off before she even put any weight onto her arms. Scarlett watched the bird fly away. So, if that was a seagull…then she must have reached the beach! Looking down, her hands were clenching handfuls of sand. She had made it! She actually made it!
Scarlett went to stand, but nearly plopped down face first back to the ground. She rolled onto her back, getting more wet sand in her hair, and placed her hands on her ribs. It hurt when she breathed. There was also a long dark line of dried blood on her arm. And her head. God, her head! She grabbed it and pressed on her temples to lessen the pounding. It only helped a smidgen.
What was she going to do now? The next best thing would be to make a camp and find some food and water. After that, she would find a way to call for help. She was ready to go home. No more adventures. Ever. This nightmare was enough to turn her off from traveling for the rest of her life.
She gripped the side of a nearby boulder and heaved herself up, her injured arm howling for her to stop. She gingerly put her hand to it before looking down, expecting it to look atrocious. The bandage was coming undone and it was colored a muddy brown. Being in filthy river water was sure to give her an infection. She ripped the bandage off and threw it into the sand. Giving it fresh air would do it some good anyway. She gazed at it again. The two top stitches had popped and the affected area had become crusty, brown, and red against the rest of her pale arm. If she found some fresh water, she could clean it up; but the chances of it healing without becoming infected were looking slim. If she found some rubbing alcohol, at least, she would be in better shape than having nothing to work with. Maybe there was something that had washed up on the beach. With the amount of wrecks that crashed here, it shouldn't be too hard to find some supplies.
Wandering the shore, Scarlett came upon remnants of an old concrete bunker similar to the one she had taken shelter in the night of her own shipwreck. Maybe there was a first aid kit in there. She parted a few waist-high weeds that were rooted in the sand out of her way and suddenly saw orange flames right outside the bunker's walls. It was a fire set in a square pit. Did that mean it was already a camp? If it was, then that meant people. And the only people around here were crazy cultists, which wasn't good. She hunkered down in the weeds and watched the fire along with the vacant seating placements situated around it, trying to listen for voices.
She didn't hear anything. Maybe the people had moved on and carelessly let the fire burn out by itself. She moved in closer and hid behind a lone pillar of concrete and that was when she began to hear murmurs.
"So, this piece of crap is going to get us out of here?" It was a man speaking.
Scarlett crouched lower and began to sneak in closer and peeked around the nearest wall. Did they actually have a way off this spit of land? If so, she would plead and plead with them to take her home. She didn't care what it took at this point. She just wanted to go home.
"Hey, this piece of crap is better than nothing," another voice snapped back, but this one didn't sound masculine. Scarlett looked and saw a dark-skinned woman, along with another girl, and two men standing beside an old boat suspended in some sort of hanger above the water. They didn't look like insane scavengers. On the contraire, they appeared relatively normal. Had they been on her ship or were they from another one? Scarlett didn't recognize a single one of them.
"So, what should we do first?" a big guy asked. He was dressed in a red sleeveless shirt, khaki cargo shorts, and blue sandals. The sides of his head were shaved and the hair that remained on top was pulled back into a ponytail.
"Well, the damage looks pretty bad," the black woman said while crouching at the bow of the boat. She wore blue jeans with a gray vest. "We're gonna need tools. I'm gonna try to start it up to—"
"But you said it doesn't run," the other girl interrupted. Her voice sounded familiar…Scarlett also recognized the bob hair style, white jeans, and leather jacket.
"I know," the older woman said, sounding like she was on her last nerve. "But I'm going to try to turn the engine over to hear what kinds of problems it has."
"We should probably tell Lara we reached the beach," the somewhat familiar girl suggested.
The second guy that had brown hair and glasses grabbed the radio from the woman's belt and pressed the button. "Lara? You there?"
Scarlett observed the layout of the area. She had her back against one concrete building and there was another one the same size just a handful of yards away, yielding a pathway between the two. The crew of people at the boat were at the end of said pathway, giving them a clear view of the vacant space. How was she going to get past them and open up one of those doors? And as old as the doors looked, she was sure they weren't going to be easy to—wait, what was that?!
There was a brown backpack sitting against the door closest to her. There were probably things in there, things she could use, like bandages, water, and food. But what if the pack belonged to this group? If it didn't, it would be no big deal if she stole it, but what if it was theirs? Not like she could just go up and say "hi", strike up a conversation, ask for help, and they would give her stuff. Who knew if they would even help her? Almost all of the people she's come into contact with the past few days were not in the slightest bit helpful or friendly.
Scarlett got on her hands and knees, watching the group like a hawk. All four of them were still occupied with the radio and boat. Now was the time to do it.
She crept out into the open and reached the backpack. She grabbed a strap to sling it onto her shoulder, when she heard a curt, "HEY! What're you doing?!"
Shit.
Scarlett sprang up clumsily and sprinted away while unzipping the bag to search for at least one thing that she could use. Her eye caught the label of a water bottle before she was tackled to the ground. The backpack was ripped from her shoulder, but Scarlett held onto the strap for dear life. The African-American woman shoved her body backwards, but Scarlett didn't let go and, instead, pounced onto the bag and hugged it, trapping the prize underneath her body.
"Get off! Give it here!" the woman yelled at her. She rolled Scarlett onto her back and snatched the knapsack from her with her more developed muscles. Scarlett growled and threw herself forward to grab the woman's ankle out from under her. The woman hit her chin on the ground and Scarlett seized the strap of the bag again, but her opponent held onto the other one. The two women glared at each other, trying to out-strengthen each other in the tug-of-war.
The other members of the group came running. "Stop! Stop it!" one of them shouted.
Scarlett scooped up a handful of sand and threw it in the woman's face, making her bend over and yell in shock, losing her grip on the bag.
"You little bitch!" she yelled, covering her face. She peeked through her stinging eyes and saw Scarlett crawling away and sprang on top of her. She pulled out a pistol and stuck it to Scarlett's temple. "Give me the bag!"
"Reyes!" the large man fussed.
Scarlett glared at the person on top of her and shoved the backpack in her face. "Take it," she spat. No pack was worth this much trouble.
The woman stood up and stuck out the bag to the guy with brown hair and glasses, not taking her eyes off of Scarlett. "Here, Alex. She was trying to steal it."
"Uhhh…thanks. Who the hell is she?" he asked, unsettled by the scuffle.
"I have no fucking clue. Why don't we ask her?" she pointed the gun in Scarlett's face again. "Who are you?!"
Scarlett only scowled back, answering her with silence.
"I said 'who are you'?!"
"Nobody!" Scarlett yelled back in frustration.
The other girl caught up to the group who had now formed a triangle around Scarlett.
"Are you with those crazy bastards?" the black woman inquired.
Venom dripped heavily in Scarlett's tone. "No."
"Then, who are y—"
"Wait, I know her!" the young girl spoke up.
Scarlett recognized her now: it was Samantha! From the ritual last night! She had escaped?! She was still alive?!
"I recognize her face from the ritual. She looked just as scared as I was to be there. I don't think she's with those guys, Reyes."
"How do we know that?" The person called Reyes narrowed her eyes.
"Because, I mean, look at her! She looks like she's been through more hell than any of us!"
Reyes lowered the gun, observing Scarlett's bruised and battered body.
"Are you alright?" the large man behind Scarlett asked, attempting to help her sit up. Scarlett flinched away without answering. "What's your name?" he kneeled down next to her. Scarlett only stared at the sand, not saying a word. "Hey, we're not like those other guys, okay? We only got stranded here a few days ago ourselves and we still don't know what's going on here. We won't hurt you."
How many times has she heard that before? But Scarlett didn't sense any tension between the two of them. His tone was calm and sincere. Maybe she could, at the very least, tell them her name.
"Scarlett. That's my name," she finally croaked. He grabbed both of her hands and helped her to stand up.
"Why don't we go sit by the fire and we can talk there?" he proposed.
Talk. It was the last thing she wanted to do right now. She wasn't ready to tell them anything. Not yet.
The five of them walked back to the fire, letting Scarlett lead the way. The others followed behind her in a semi-circle, as though worried she would collapse at any second.
"You can have my seat if you want," the young man named Alex offered, gesturing to a weathered green desk chair while he sat on the ground and removed his knapsack from his back. The man in the red shirt wheeled the chair closer to Scarlett and offered to help her sit down.
"I got it," she told him in a low voice and sat, releasing a relaxed sigh as her butt came into contact with the worn cushion. It was the first comfy thing she's sat on in almost a week.
Taking a seat on a log, the man in the red shirt got down to business. "So, what happened to you, Scarlett? How did you end up here?"
Those questions weren't too bad. "I was on a research trip for school. We were doing research on sharks. One night, a really bad storm came and…well, it brought us here."
He nodded. "Same happened to us," he stated, looking around the group, whom also nodded accordingly. A slight pause followed before Scarlett broke it.
"I'm…I'm sorry to ask this, but do y'all have any water to spare?"
"Yeah," Alex unzipped his bag hastily to hand her a large plastic bottle that was only halfway full.
"Thank you so much," she quickly whispered and unscrewed the cap with vigor. The water flooded her mouth and she swore she died and went to heaven. She took several large gulps and wanted to keep going, but once her eyes landed on Samantha's raised eyebrows, she pulled the plastic away from her lips and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She had downed about half of what was left and instantly felt shamefaced for being greedy. "Sorry…" she apologized while handing the bottle back.
"It's alright. We can always find more," the large man eased. Not wanting to slip into another moment of awkward silence, he kept the conversation going. "Now that I think about it, this is sorta embarrassing, but we've never told you our names. I'm Jonah. This is Sam," he pointed to the young woman, whom waved, "and Alex," he gestured towards the guy with glasses, "and that's Reyes," he ended, pointing to the middle-aged African-American woman.
"Pleasure," Reyes greeted sarcastically. "So, what're we going to do now? As much as I love to sit around here and swap stories, we're burning daylight. The faster I can get my tools, the faster I can fix that boat, and the sooner we can leave."
"Your tools?" Alex asked. "They're probably at the bottom of the ocean. I'm sure there are some around here…" he gazed around the beach.
"The Endurance is just over there," Jonah pointed in the direction of a shipwreck. Scarlett followed his finger and grimaced when she saw that there were two halves of the vessel, like someone had sliced it right down the middle with a sharp knife. Was Reyes suggesting that they all go venture out there? It would be a hard road with the rocky coast and who knew if any of those scavengers were onboard. She didn't want to have to deal with them again.
"My tools will get the job done faster. Somebody's gonna have to go get them because I'm not wasting my time looking for some around here." The impatience in her voice was rising. The group exchanged glances until there was a sigh.
"Alex and I can head over there," Jonah suggested.
"No. I can go by myself," Alex volunteered. Scarlett stared at him in shock, thinking he was either really brave or really stupid. He was kind of cute, though. He looked a little nerdy, but not so much that it would be annoying. He reminded her of her ex-boyfriend, Justin: techy and not afraid of a little adventure.
"By yourself?" Reyes raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, I'm a big boy," Alex smirked, "and Jonah should stay here to defend you ladies incase trouble comes a-knockin'." Reyes gave him a negative look. "Or…incase…you need some muscle…with the boat," he added awkwardly.
Reyes chewed on her lip and cast glances around to every other member of the group, looking for someone to object to Alex's quest. No one said a peep and she gave in. "Well…alright. Just be careful. And don't do anything stupid."
"I got it, I got it," Alex dismissed with a wave of his hand. "So, what tools do you need exactly?"
"My screwdriver with as much bits as you can carry, my crescent wrench, ratchet, pliers—"
"Woah, slow down, am I going to the Endurance or the Home Depot? I can only carry so much."
"My tool bag should be in the engine room. You can put all the stuff in there and take it with you. It's no bigger than a carry-on."
"If you say so…"
"I do," Reyes shot back quickly, quirking an eyebrow.
Alex adjusted his black-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose. "I guess I'll get going then. Wish me luck." He slung his bag around one shoulder and took out a pistol at his side.
"Hey, before you go," Reyes stopped him once more, "leave half of the stuff in the bag with us. Can't have you hogging all the water or the first-aid incase one of us gets hurt."
Alex rolled his eyes and stifled a groan before unzipping his backpack and removing another large plastic bottle that was empty along with some gauze, rubbing alcohol, and medical tape. Scarlett eyed the alcohol and gauze. She wondered if the group would let her use the supplies to tend to her arm. Perhaps she could ask whenever Alex left.
"Look at it this way," Jonah spoke up, "you'll have more room in your bag, so that'll give you the opportunity to grab more supplies. Some blankets, cans of food, clothes, toilet paper."
"I'm starting to think I'm more of you guys' pack mule or personal shopper than just an errand boy," Alex mumbled, zipping his bag back up.
"You're the one who volunteered to go," Reyes said, a small smirk playing on her lips.
Alex only looked up and shook his head before beginning to trudge through the sand. He only took three steps before Samantha piped up.
"Ooh, Alex! If you pass by me and Lara's room, can you check the top bunk and see if my bag of Fritos honey barbecue twists are still there?"
Everyone looked at Samantha with a raised eyebrow.
"What? I've been craving something salty for the past two days. They may be stale by now, but who's to say I—I mean, we—can't have a little luxury after all the hell we've been through?"
It was silent for a few seconds with passive smiles plastered on all of their faces.
Alex snorted, "Alright, Sam. I'll get you your chips. Just try to avoid eating anybody until I get back, okay?"
All of the group lightly laughed except for Scarlett. Instead, the smile vanished from her face. They may not have known, but from what Dmitri had said, there were people on this island that had turned into cannibals. If she had laughed, it would have been as if all of those poor prisoners' lives were just a joke and she would have been making fun of the animals they'd become. But she wasn't about to put this group in their place or seem like a Debbie-Downer. She bowed her head to inspect her fingers, attempting to remove the dirt from under her nails.
"I'm going now," Alex announced. "Does anybody need anything else?" He said the sentence in a firm voice, subliminally telling everyone that they better not need him to be on the lookout for anything else.
Samantha swiftly stood up. A devious smile was fighting its way to be seen on her lips. "Well, now that you mention it, I don't know how long we'll be here, but could you be a darling and grab some tampons for us girls?"
Alex's face went bright red at that and he raised his arms in finality. "Alright, that's it! I'm going! Good-bye!" He began walking away with determination and did not dare to look back.
"Thank you, Alex! Good luck!" Samantha yelled after him and gave him a small wave even though he didn't see it. She sat back down on the driftwood log, still laughing to herself.
"That seemed to light a fire under his ass, didn't it?" Reyes smirked and then turned to Jonah, seeming to turn more serious. "Right then, I'm gonna go have a look at the boat. Jonah, you come with me to see if we can get look at the engine. Sam, Scarlett…just…stay here," Reyes told the two remaining girls and went back to the boat.
"Gee, way to make us feel important…" Samantha rolled her eyes.
Jonah turned to them. "You know how she can be. One of you should look for clean water. The other should look for anything that could be useful around here that we could use. Or perhaps find something for dinner."
"Will do," Samantha saluted him.
Scarlett bit her lip in anxiety. Should she ask now? Everyone was going to do their own thing, so what harm would it do?
"Can I…Can I use some of these to clean my arms?" she rotated her limbs to reveal her injuries to him.
Jonah pursed his lips to hold back a grimace as he scrutinized her arms. It was the one time she hoped it was so disgusting-looking that he wouldn't see the two remaining sutures on her left arm. That would just prompt questions. She'd rather handle it herself in the silence. "Yeah. Go right ahead. They look rough. You want me to help you?"
Scarlett shook her head vigorously. "No. You're needed with the boat."
"Alright. Then, maybe Sam would be willing to help," he turned to the short-haired girl, prompting her to assist Scarlett.
Dammit, Scarlett grit her teeth together.
Samantha shrugged her shoulders. "Uh, I can try. I've played nurse before, but it was mostly concerning hangovers. Though, I've seen my fair share of accidents when people get drunk."
"Perfect, then. Try not to waste anything," Jonah advised before leaving them alone. Scarlett bit the inside of her lip as she watched him walk away.
"So, you mind me asking what caused those?" Samantha grabbed gauze and the bottle of alcohol.
Scarlett showed her her right arm then her left. "Wolf bite and an arrow. Happened two days ago."
Samantha opened the alcohol bottle and wet the corner of a cloth. "Wow. Were you trying to run from…them?" she hesitated with the word, although she knew full well that Scarlett knew what she meant. She put the gauze to her skin and Scarlett hissed as though she had been burned with a branding iron.
"I was in the woods when it happened. When I woke up, I was in that place."
The cloth in Samantha's hand had turned a red color as she gingerly wiped the dried blood away on both arms. It was then that she noticed the remaining black threads embedded in her left one.
She was stunned. "You got stitches?"
Scarlett was quiet and sidestepped the question by grabbing another cloth and the medical tape for her.
"Did you do them yourself? That'd be pretty bad-ass if you did," Samantha attempted a smile.
Scarlett opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it. Gathering up the courage again, she told her, "Someone else did it. One of…those guys."
Samantha's face fell somewhat. "Oh…" She was silent for a moment until she witnessed Scarlett pathetically trying to keep the gauze in place while wrapping the tape around her arm herself.
"Here, let me," she took the tape from her and proceeded to bandage her arm. Around and around she went, constantly asking if Scarlett was alright with the tightness of the binding. Scarlett let her, knowing that she would do a better job than she ever could. "How did they treat you?"
Scarlett felt as though she had been socked in the gut. What was she supposed to tell her? That she was captured, raped, captured again, and then tortured? Nausea began to rise in her throat at the thought of forming a sentence to explain what she had been through in the past week. Moisture began collecting in the corners of her eyes, so she flared her nostrils and took a deep breath to prevent mucus from dripping out.
Samantha noticed her question had obviously caused her some kind of distress. "I-I'm sorry I asked! I didn't mean to make you upset, I swear!"
Scarlett stared off into the distance, wanting to take the conversation off of herself. "They gave you that black eye?"
Samantha ripped the medical tape with her fingers and carefully patted the end of it to Scarlett's arm. "Yeah. I took a guard's radio off his belt to contact my friend. Honestly, I was surprised I wasn't caught sooner."
"And they beat you?"
Samantha nodded her head. "Yeah. Though, I suppose it could've been a lot worse, being on an island with this many guys and all; but still, it really hurt," she put her hand to her tender cheek in remembrance of the pain.
Yeah…could've been a lot worse…Scarlett mused. She had been on that side. She knew what "a lot worse" was. It wasn't something one wanted to experience.
She must have been staring into space because Samantha called out her name. Scarlett whipped her head to look at her. She was staring at her with a worrisome expression. "You alright?"
Scarlett nodded in reply, turning her gaze back to her fingernails.
"You wanna go find some water together? Or would you like to split up and look for whatever's around here?"
Scarlett wanted to be alone, but at the same time, she didn't. She had been so desperate for any kind of normal human contact over the past week and if she didn't take this opportunity for some bonding, it'd be a downright crime to herself. Samantha was a nice enough person. And on top of that, she had been through what Scarlett had—to an extent. She had spent time with the scavengers. She knew what they were like.
"I'll come with you," Scarlett stood up from the chair and Samantha retrieved the empty plastic bottle. After informing Jonah and Reyes that they were leaving camp, the two of them set off in search of fresh water.
Along the way, there was some light chatter. Scarlett had informed Samantha of a nearby stream; the small body of water that meandered from the river that she washed up from. It was further up the beach and surrounded by large stones. After that, Samantha begin asking Scarlett simple questions. Whether she was simply curious, bored, or nervous, it didn't stop her from running her mouth. She had questioned Scarlett on her name, age, where she was from; really basic stuff. Samantha laughed when she had guessed correctly where Scarlett haled from.
"It's your accent," she giggled.
Scarlett came to a halt. "I have an accent?"
Samantha turned to her. "I didn't say it was thick or anything. Just certain words. And when you got angry at Reyes, it really came out then," she said with a grin. She wondered if Scarlett knew anything more about the island, but Scarlett was sad to inform her that she didn't.
"You're so quiet!" Samantha fussed with a smile. "I like talking like this. Makes everything feel normal again."
"Why don't you tell me some things about you then? You know, what you asked me."
"Okay. My last name is Nishimura. I'm twenty-one—no, sorry—twenty-two and…I was born in L.A., but I wouldn't really call it home. I don't know if I would really call any place 'home'," she bowed her head.
Scarlett frowned. "Why not?"
Samantha sighed. "My family moved around a lot. We never stayed in one place for more than two years."
"For your parents' work or something?"
"Yeah. Mom's a model and Dad's a media tycoon."
"Sounds really fancy. I could never imagine moving that many times," Scarlett shook her head in disbelief. Really, though? How could anyone settle down when the next thing they knew, they had to pack up their bags and move again? She wouldn't be able to make long-term friends. She'd have to switch schools. And she thought that the first day of every school year was nerve-wracking as it was; and that was with the people she had grown up with.
"It can be a lot," Samantha told her, "but it has its upsides. I've traveled all over the world and had the chance to see other cultures. That's the best part about going some place new. It made starting over not seem so bad, especially when it's places like New York City, Barcelona, Paris, and Tokyo."
"You've been to all of those places?" Scarlett asked, her eyebrows raised as high as they would go.
She shrugged as if the answer was simple. "Yeah, told you I traveled all over. What's the furthest you've ever been from home?"
"Here," Scarlett responded in a small voice.
Samantha immediately cast her eyes downward. "Oh…bet this has turned you off from traveling, huh?"
"Yeah…for life."
"I don't blame you."
The two of them reached the stream and Scarlett instantly felt saliva collect in her mouth. The water was moving moderately fast and was only about a yard in width. Samantha unscrewed the cap of the empty bottle, got down on all-fours on a large rock, and lowered the bottle in the middle of the stream where the water was moving fastest.
Once Samantha had filled it up most of the way, she raised the bottle to show Scarlett for approval. "What do you think?"
It was a little murky and there were small sediments floating throughout the liquid and settling to the bottom. She pursed her lips in worry.
"I wouldn't risk it. I'd say we boil it first. I saw y'all had a pot near the fire. We can use that."
"What's wrong with it?" Samantha wondered as though she had done something wrong.
"I just…I don't know. I don't wanna get sick. This stream came from the river that flowed through that village that had all of those men living in it near the palace. Who knows what kind of stuff they dump in there."
Samantha put her hand on her hip. "Good call. They could've gone number one or number two in there."
Scarlett bit her lip as another thought came to mind. "We probably should've brought the pot here instead. We could've carried more back and now we've contaminated the bottle."
Samantha tilted back her head, releasing a groan to the sky. "You're right! Why didn't we think of that sooner?!"
Scarlett immediately wanted to come to her rescue. "It's alright. I'm sure we'll figure something out. At least we found a water source. They'll be proud of us for that."
"I guess so…"
"It could be worse. We'll just have to drink from the pot like a bunch of cave people," Scarlett suggested, trying her first attempt at a little humor for the first time in a long while.
Samantha blew air through her nose as an amused response and they began to make their way back to Jonah and Reyes.
They were nearly back to camp when Samantha whimpered, which she quickly covered up by sucking air through her clenched teeth. Scarlett stopped right beside her.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, just my damn foot," she took another step gingerly. She was limping. "I hurt it when we shipwrecked. It hurt like hell whenever we ran from the palace, but the pain had died down whenever we reached the beach. But just now, I felt a spike of pain, walking in the sand."
Scarlett's eyebrows knitted together. "You think it's broken?"
Samantha hurriedly shook her head, her matted hair swinging in her face. "It's just a sprain."
"Do the others know?" Scarlett asked with worry.
"Yeah," she nodded with an exhale, continuing to take steps forward anyway. "Once we get back, I'll probably take a break. I can get the water boiling while I'm at it."
Scarlett nodded in approval. "Sure. Sounds good."
"Oh, and just so they don't think we're useless, would you mind looking for something for us to eat tonight? We hardly have anything in terms of food, maybe one granola bar left."
"Uh…sure. I'll try to find something," Scarlett rubbed the back of her neck. Where the hell was she going to find enough food to feed five people?
"I know it won't be a big feast or anything, but even a little somethin'-somethin' would put us all in a better mood."
"I'll try…"
Samantha immediately stopped dead in her tracks, straightening up. She narrowed her eyes and slowly reached behind her body to pull out the handgun she had tucked into her pants.
Scarlett's stomach dropped. "What is it?" she whispered, looking frantically in the direction Samantha was gazing.
There was a figure on the beach about fifty yards away. It didn't look like Reyes, Jonah, or Alex. And it was coming closer.
"Oh, God. Not again…" Scarlett had no weapons of any kind, so she leaned closer to Samantha, whom had raised the pistol and was holding it firmly with both hands. She wasn't sure how good of a shot Samantha was, but the firearm itself could be intimidating enough to scare maybe one scavenger away if they were lucky. She clenched her teeth together and could actually feel herself tremble. She could hear Samantha breathing heavily. Her finger hovered above the trigger as her eyes were glued to the person. But the person was not heading towards them. They appeared to be heading for the fire; the camp.
"Wait a minute…" Samantha trailed off. Scarlett could see the newcomer was shorter and skinnier than any of the scavengers she's ever seen. They had an almost…womanly figure. And a head full of long brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail.
"Lara?" Samantha called out cautiously. The person didn't seem to hear her, but it was made obvious that Samantha knew her when she called out again, this time louder and more confident. "LARA!" She then took off in a sprint towards the girl.
For an injured foot, she sure can run, Scarlett thought as she watched Samantha kick up sand each time one of her feet left the ground.
"Sam!" the other person called out and started running to her as well. They met in the middle and collided with each other, Samantha almost knocking the other girl down upon impact. They then became a mess of tangled limbs wrapped around one another in great big bear hugs and from what Scarlett could hear, there was laughing and sniffling. They rocked from side to side in each other's arms, not ready to let the other go. Scarlett walked towards them, not wanting to be standing all by her lonesome. Besides, this newcomer looked familiar too.
"And just where have you been? What took you so long?!" Samantha demanded to know using a faux stern voice.
"I…um…had to take care of a few things along the way. I should have left with you last night," the girl admitted. Scarlett knew that voice, that English accent. And now that she could fully see the girl's face, her eyes grew wide. It was her! The one who had saved her from Vladimir! The one that had tried to stop the ritual last night!
"Damn right you should've!" Samantha fussed and finally released her. She realized Scarlett was now standing beside them with a dumbfounded expression on her face. Samantha cleared her throat, "Oh, sorry. Scarlett, this is Lara. Lara, this is—"
"Scarlett…" Lara finished for her in a pensive voice. She scrutinized her, scanning her from head to toe. It was then that her eyes were as wide as Scarlett's. "I remember you! You saved me from that man. Then, he tried to kill you, but I…" she trailed off, unsure how to finish the sentence. "And then, you were at the ritual with that other man. I don't know if this makes you feel any better or not, but he's…gone."
Nikolai, Scarlett mentally sighed. He didn't make it.
"Scarlett?" Samantha was staring at her with concern. "Is something wrong?"
Scarlett shook her head. How would she ever explain to them that one of those scavengers, especially one of the top ranking ones, was protective, even generous, towards her? They might see her as defending him or even siding with the enemy. It would be better to keep those encounters to herself. Instead, she said, "I can't believe you're alive after all this time. I thought you had died back in that fire when they were shooting arrows at us!"
"There were some loose boards at the bottom of the back wall. I got out through there," Lara told her.
"Thank God. I thought you were a goner. I hadn't even learned your name yet," Scarlett bowed her head, remembering the grief she had gone through from her "supposed" death; how she had felt at the thought of those men killing an innocent person and how she was powerless to stop it.
"It's Lara," she stuck out her hand to initiate a formal introduction. "Lara Croft."
Scarlett grabbed her hand with a ghost of a smile. "Scarlett Glockner."
They shook hands and as soon as they released one another, Samantha suddenly grasped Lara's hand. "Well, c'mon. Let's go tell Jonah and Reyes that you're back. They've been working on the boat."
Lara was pulled along against her will. "Just Jonah and Reyes? Where's Alex?"
"He volunteered himself to go back to the Endurance and get some tools for Reyes. He left a little while ago."
"By himself?!" Lara asked, stunned.
"He said he was 'a big boy'," Samantha told her, imitating a deep, masculine voice on the last three words. Scarlett snorted. Samantha reminded her of Zoey. They both had that upbeat, joking personality and they always wanted to find the good in every situation. They never failed to find a way to make their friends crack a smile.
Once they got to the boat and met up with the other two from the group, Jonah pulled Lara into a hug and smiled. "Good to see you, little bird." Samantha joined in the embrace, making Scarlett smile as the hug grew in size. Jonah turned and gestured for her to join the embrace. She raised an eyebrow. She didn't really know these people and they didn't know her, but if they wanted her to get in on some of the affection, then they must trust her somewhat and maybe even like her. She stepped forward and stretched out her arms, one going around Jonah's large waist and the other ensnaring Samantha's leather jacket. It felt good to hug; to want to be included and a part of a group; to have friends.
The only one that didn't join in on the cuddling was Reyes.
"Jonah, give the hoist a try." She pulled on the thick line that was hooked up to a pulley system and down into what Scarlett supposed was the boat's engine. She guessed Reyes wanted to extract it from within the vessel, so that she could make the repairs more easily. Jonah went over to help her while Samantha turned to Lara.
"This has got to be our best chance, right?"
If she was referring to getting off of the island, Lara didn't offer her confirmation right away. After a moment, she put on a smile and told her, "We've got to try."
Scarlett's face became downcast at the way she said the words. What if Mathias and Nikolai were right? What if they couldn't fix the boat? What if they couldn't leave? They'd be stuck here until they died. She closed her eyes. This was not the time to think those thoughts. They would find a way somehow. They had six brains altogether and not one of them was dumb. Someone would come up with something if this didn't work.
Reyes seemed a lot happier now that Lara was with them. She even offered the girl a genuine smile. It was the first time Scarlett had seen her do that. It made her feel more at ease in Reyes' presence, knowing that the woman had more to her than just seriousness and frustration.
"What can I do to help?" Lara offered.
Reyes nodded at her work ethic. "Help Jonah," she gestured to him with her head. "Sam, you too. All of you, actually. We're gonna need all hands on deck to lift this thing."
Jonah, Lara, Samantha, and Scarlett went to the edge of the boat and took a hold of the loose end of the metallic line, ready to pull up the engine at Reyes' command.
"Okay, on the count of three. One…two…three!" Everyone grunted as they pulled on the line, causing tension on the line and the pulley. Reyes pulled upwards with all of her might in front of the engine itself. Scarlett's hands were turning red, her biceps straining. She was pulling so hard that her feet were sliding forward from under her and she squatted to put as much muscle into jerking the line as she could.
"My hands…are…killing…me!" Samantha growled, but didn't halt her efforts.
A moment longer and Reyes finally called out, "Okay, stop. Stop."
Everyone exhaled in relief. The engine hardly left the deck of the boat. Reyes put her hands on her hips and cursed under her breath. She began to pace back and forth, racking her brain, trying to come up with a different way to lift the heavy piece of machinery. Samantha rubbed her hands together, trying to coax the pain away.
Lara looked at the ground. "We'd be able to lift it more smoothly with some kind of block and tackle."
Jonah gazed upward at the pulley system. "You're right. I should be able to fashion one from all of these pulleys."
Lara looked further down the dock that extended into the ocean. The shoreline was littered with the wrecks of ancient galleons that were probably once mighty ships that used sails to navigate across the world. Now, they were becoming reefs for fish and the like; probably a feeding ground for sharks if Scarlett had to guess. "There might be some on that rigging we can use. I can check it out," Lara proposed.
"It would definitely save us time and brain power," Reyes agreed.
Lara nodded, "I'll go."
"Be careful," Samantha told her. "No missteps."
"I've got it," she said back reassuringly. Samantha was right, however. One wrong step and she would be plunging into the ocean. She could get impaled by wreckage at the bottom, hit her head and become unconscious, or sharks could attack her and she wouldn't be able to swim away in time. It wouldn't be a job Scarlett would want. But if Lara had survived a burning building and escaped the clutches of all of those cultists, then this job should be somewhat simple for her.
Once Lara had walked off, Samantha turned to the rest of the group. "Scarlett and I found a stream a ways back from the beach. We've got some water, but we think we should boil it first. It was a little cloudy and we shouldn't risk it."
Reyes looked up from the engine. "As thirsty as I am, I have to agree. Better safe than sorry. Don't wanna be puking all over the place or have diarrhea."
"Jonah?" Samantha turned to him.
"Can't argue with that. Like Reyes said, 'better safe than sorry'."
Samantha nodded. "So, we all agree. We are under a boil advisory until further notice. I'm gonna go get this water started on the fire," she held up the plastic water bottle. "My foot started hurting again, so I'm gonna go rest. Scarlett, would you mind looking for something for us for dinner? I'm getting pretty hungry."
"Are you sure you don't want me to go back for more water, Samantha? I can—"
Samantha held up her hand to stop her from speaking any more. "Just 'Sam', please. You sound like my parents when you use my full name," she rolled her eyes. "And I'm sure. If we need to go get more water, I can do it. I just need to get off this foot for a little while."
Jonah joined in. "Getting food does sound like a good idea. I think everyone could use a little pick-me-up," he glanced in Reyes' direction, watching the woman hard at work, playing with the control panels on the old boat.
Scarlett bit the inside of her cheek. She didn't want to be solely responsible for everyone's dinner tonight. What if she couldn't find anything? Then she would be the cause of everyone going to sleep tonight with empty bellies. And when people get hungry, sometimes it makes them angry. Zoey had called it being "hangry". "I…I can try," she muttered.
Jonah put an arm around Scarlett's shoulders and offered her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it too much and don't mind Reyes. I was the cook onboard our ship. Just try and find something. Even if it's seaweed, I'll try and make it edible for everyone."
Sam sighed dreamily. "Your fried fish was the bomb!" she ended with a laugh. "All crispy with the seasonings and tartar sauce! I could eat some of that up right now!"
"Now, Sam," Jonah lightly rebuked her, "don't do this. You'll just torture us all with the fantasies."
But Sam challenged him. "And all the…the…"
Jonah gave Scarlett a little push towards the water. "Hurry, before she fills your mind with dreams and makes your stomach growl."
"…fries!" Sam finished in a loud voice. She struck her chest right where her heart was with her fist. "Oh, how golden, hot, and salty they are, your beloved fries! I crave them! I crave them!" she moaned dramatically and sank to her knees, reaching out her arm to him, as if she were Gollum from the Lord of the Rings. Scarlett snorted and let out an audible giggle as she left the two of them in search of some food. If she did find something, it certainly wouldn't be as delicious as crispy french fries.
Scarlett walked along the shore, her eyes carefully scanning the sand and rocks for anything edible. Her mind was in hunting mode for the most part, but there were questions that kept nagging—no, nagging was too mild of a word—more like torturing her.
Should I tell these people what I've been through? Would they ask? How would I explain it? What would they think? Would they see me as a weakling or even a coward?
If she was to confide in any one of them, it would be Sam. She had been captured too. Maybe not have endured the same violence and terrorism she had, but the scavengers had still been hostile to her. They had even physically beaten her. And she had been pretty easy to talk with. She didn't seem like the type of person to put anyone down. It would probably be better if she did have someone to tell her problems to and Samantha would most likely be the best person to unburden her troubles on. She and Scarlett have gotten to know each other a little bit, but they were still strangers. And discussing personal problems with strangers seemed a lot easier than unloading troubles on a family member at the moment. There would be less judgement.
Scarlett heaved a sigh and rubbed her eyes. Should she even tell Sam, though? Would she even be able to discuss all what happened to her without breaking into sobs and having another psychological meltdown? She wasn't sure. God, all of this was getting to be too much pressure. She should just focus on finding food. The others were counting on her. Her body was counting on her.
Scarlett picked up her head and her eyes went to a cluster of rocks not too far from the water. Something odd was sticking out of them. She narrowed her eyes. When she reached the landmark, her jaw dropped in amazement as to what was jammed between the rocks: it was a fishing rod. It was sticking straight up like King Arthur's sword and just screamed: "Pull me! Release me from this stony prison!"
She stepped up on top of the lowest rock, which came up to her knees, and leaned forward on the one in front of her. She stretched out her arm and only her fingertip touched the carbon fiber rod. Stretching further, she was able to wrap her entire hand around the stick, but when she went to extract it, it wouldn't budge. It must have been wedged in-between the rocks at the bottom of the pile. She raised her knee up to her chest and climbed the boulder, which was another three and a half feet tall. She ensnared the end of the rod using both hands, being mindful of her stance on the slanted surface, and after finagling with it for nearly two minutes, it popped out of its holding place and Scarlett nearly fell off the rocks. She regained her balance and then proceeded to take the time to inspect her new treasure.
One of the eyes on the silver rod was broken, but other than a few dents and scrapes in the paint, it was in usable condition. Eyes venturing lower, Scarlett's breath nearly hitched in her throat when she saw a reel was attached; line included! She did a fist pump and squealed with joy, but upon seeing how tangled the line was, she wanted to take back her jubilation. It looked like a matted bird's nest and, honestly, Scarlett even wondered if she should waste her time untangling it. She could've hit herself for thinking such a thought. This was a gift from above; a key to her survival. And the remnants of her first-world mind had the damn nerve to voice its laziness! She couldn't afford to be ungrateful. It would be hell to try and realign the fishing string, but unless someone else had a better way of catching fish or anything else for that matter, this was going to be occupying her whole afternoon.
She landed back on the sand and something rustled in the brush nearby, making her heart stop. She held the rod out in front of her as a weapon, but really, how much damage could a stick do? It still felt better to hold something in her hands, though. She could, at least, strike whatever it was repeatedly or poke it in its eye or something.
There was a groan mixed with a squeal. Her nerves were lit up with fear and she brought the rod back, squeezing it with both hands like a baseball bat. A form rushed out of the brush and Scarlett shut her eyes quickly, swinging the stick around once. Not sensing it made contact with anything, she cracked her eyes open.
It was a boar. She released her breath and watched it hustle away. She was thankful that it was retreating because from the look of its tusks, she would not want to be in a fight with it. She had heard that they were mean animals. However, in a way, she was jealous of the boar. Today was just another day for it, trying to find food and running away from threats. It didn't know that there was a life where you could be safe, secure, and never have to worry about running out of food…Food! Scarlett growled as the hog disappeared from sight, almost as if in a taunt. If she had her rifle, she could have shot the damn thing! It would have been roasted pork for everyone tonight. Scarlett sighed. They would just have to settle for fish tonight. Still though, she was almost excited to head back to camp to see everyone and to tell them what she had found. She was happy that she was productive and would actually contribute to all of these people's survival. It felt good to be needed.
She made her way back to camp, contemplating everyone's reaction to her return, and could just make out the figures of Jonah and Lara talking when two gunshots and an unknown voice pierced the tranquility of the beachy waves.
"HELP! HEEELP!"