We walk in silence. Every so often I glance down at Kate. The shock has worn off I think, there's a glaze of fear on her eyes but apart from that she seems okay. I don't have a plan, just walk back to the hotel. Maybe there's still survivors there. All of a sudden Kate stops. I turn, she's bent over and gagging. I put an arm round her shuddering shoulders.
"Kate?" She doesn't respond. "Kate what's wrong?" I don't know what else to say. So I just rub her back until it stops. She stands up straight.
"I'm just hungry, I haven't eaten in days." She croaks, tears on her cheeks. I wipe them away with my thumb.
"You're probably a bit dehydrated as well. We need to find somewhere to get you something to drink at least." She nods, still holding her stomach. I look around and spy a small corner shop. I guide her by the shoulders over to it and sit her down on the rickety stool behind the counter. "Just sit tight, I'll find something." Kate doesn't speak and simply hangs her head. I don't bother searching the shelves, there's no point, instead I go into the back and find several crates piled against the wall in the small storage room. I slide one out and open it. I shut it almost instantly as the vile smell of rotting fruit burns my nose. I sigh and pull out another one. This contains tins. I pick one up. It's coconut milk, not great but it'll have to do. I take another can and walk back to Kate. She's chewing something.
"What you got there?" I ask. She holds up a silver wrapper.
"It was a candy bar." She says. I shake my head.
"Guess you didn't save me any." She shakes her head slowly. I smile, reassuring her it was okay. "Well it'd be wasted on me, I don't need to eat but I need to drink so I found this." I place the can down in front of her. She grimaces.
"Can we drink this?"
"No idea but we haven't got anything else so." I crack it open and sip the white liquid. It tastes bitter but not too bad. I shrug then pass it to her. "It isn't too bad." She takes it cautiously and shudders as she takes her first taste but then drinks a bit more. This isn't the time to be picky. I take it from her again and drink a bit more. Yeah, not the best.
We finish the can before we leave and I carry the second one just in case. Then we make our way over to the gleaming building on the hill. I sigh, in this heat it seems so far away.
After a few hours we finally reach the hill that leads up to the hotel. I look up, the suns starting to set.
"We can risk it, or camp out." She looks up as well, squinting in the light.
"Well the smoke is a good sign right?" I follow her finger. Sure enough, a larger pillar of smoke is floating to the sky.
"Yeah, it means someone's up there." I hope.
"Shouldn't we get up there before they leave?" I nod. For a kid she's pretty smart. I agree and then we start to climb. It's steeper than I thought and I remember how quickly and easily we climbed it in a car. I decide to keep my eye out for one. It could help us in our race with the sun. I really don't want to risk the dark.
Thankfully the heat starts to leave the air and it makes the winding road easier to travel. I end up carrying Kate right to the top since she couldn't keep going and we finally reach the back of the hotel just as night falls. I let Kate down and smile at her.
"We made it." I take her hand and walk her to one of the fire exits, avoiding the pool areas.
"It's too quiet." Kate whispers as I start to try and unlock the door. She has a point. There's nothing. No wind, no growling and we're too high to hear the sea. The only sound is our ragged breathing and the clang of the door as I manage to rip the lock open with a broken ore which I found on the way up. The wood splinters and I shield my eyes. My skin may be hard to pierce but I don't want to risk my eyes. When I look through the doorway Kate steps back.
"It's so dark." She whimpers and suddenly I realise that my vision is a lot better then hers. I take her hand.
"It's okay, I can see." She looks at me, still unsure but I try and smile even though I'm just as terrified as her.
"Okay." She barely whispers and we walk through into the dark.