Chapter Five: The Build

It was dark out. The middle of the night. Bailey and Zack had agreed to meet to check on their brewery. It was still kept a secret, mainly because they were trying their best with the ingredients they had, and did not want to build up the hopes of the others in case it didn't work.

They met at midnight, although without means of setting alarms, Zack was waiting ten minutes for her. Wondering after a short while if she had forgotten. But smiled when she emerged silently from the beach hut.

It appeared that there was very little moon cycle here, and with few clouds in the sky, most nights there was just enough light out to see. They walked to the brewery in no time. Walking in.

"Once we build the house, we really need to work on some lighting here" Zack commented as the room was pitch black in comparison to the moonlit outside

"I'm sure we can find something. Use some class bottles to hold a flame. Few along the path, maybe some on the beach" Bailey said absentmindedly as she picked up a bucket, a few had been found lying around the beach

"Is it ready?" Zack asked her

"I think so" she replied

"What do we have?" Zack asked

"Beer by the gallon, and the apple cider is ready. The wine is almost ready for bottling, but needs a little bit more. We should move it in the sun" she commented

"Bails, it's night" Zack laughed

"I meant, where the sun will come in tomorrow. We don't want direct sun but something not in the shade" she added

"The hole here for the window, should get some sunlight but has the protection from the trees" he offered

"Perfect" she replied

"What do we bottle the stuff that's ready in then?" Zack asked

"Normal plastic bottles should be fine, but we need to make sure we use the ones which held carbonated drinks. Keeps the fizz a bit better" she explained

"Can we try it?" Zack smirked

"I think we have to" she replied laughing, she picked up her water bottle, which out of habit she brought with her everywhere. Tipped out the last inch of water at the bottle, and plunged it into the bucket. A few air bubbles rising to the surface as it filled.

She pulled it out once half filled, and passed it to Zack

"No way, I can't take the first sip" he replied

"In case it's poisonous?" she laughed

"No. Because it's your masterpiece. You deserve first taste" he explained

"When did you turn into such a gentleman?" she asked

"I've always been a gentleman" he replied, watching as she brought the liquid to her lips, taking a small sip.

"That's amazing" she commented, passing the bottle to Zack, who raised it to his own lips and took a big gulp.

Perhaps it was the fact that for three weeks he had drank nothing but water, perhaps flavoured by a slice of citrus fruit. But the cool, fizzy apple golden liquid with the kick after. He had drunk alcohol before. They all had. When in France they were served wine with their meals, it was not uncommon to all of them. But something about this was better than anything he had tasted. No preservatives, no chemicals. Just fermented perfect apples.

"Oh my God!" Zack moaned, taking another sip, and passing the bottle back to Bailey who finished it. "We have more of this brewing, right?" he asked

"Three more barrels" she replied. Zack breathed a sigh of relief.

"How many bottles do we need?" he asked

"I think this is a ten-litre bucket so … twenty bottles?" she calculated. They got to work, making sure not to disturb the sediment at the bottom.

"We'll reward everyone with this tomorrow evening. It will be nice, tomorrow will be a hard day" Zack suggested

"Good thinking" she replied

"How far off is the wine?" he asked

"A month or two, it's slow but when it's done we should have twenty bottles or so" she replied

"These bottles?" Zack said, shaking one for the cider

"No, we could get the actual glass bottles from the cave, and there's bound to be some more on the shipwreck we could use

"Do we need corks?" he asked

"Yes, but we have two months to think about that" she replied "It's fine in the buckets for now"

"What about the spirits?" Zack asked. As well as the cider, beer and wine, they had also tried to make some spirits. Gin, Vodka and rum were on their way

"Those will be a good six months, and that's only if the evaporation contraptions work" Bailey said gesturing to the complex system she had set up on the side

"I have no idea how you know all this. You're so smart" Zack complimented

"I grew up on a farm. Moonshine gets real old real fast. Luckily daddy knew how to make the good stuff. I just have to try and work around the missing kit" she explained.

"It's amazing" Zack said

"It's chemistry" Bailey corrected

"It's morale" Zack assured her "Come on, let's go back before anyone notices we're gone, leave these in the shade and they should be cool tomorrow"

"Good idea" she replied. They walked back to camp, slipping into their rooms, waving goodnight as to not make a noise which could alert the others to their presence.

The next morning everyone was up early. Woody had made omelettes with Eggs, leftover ham from last night's dinner, onions, a bell pepper and served it alongside some sweet lettuce cups. Suitably full, they decided to plan out the day

"Are we building the barge today?" Cody asked

"We could do, but I think we should all pitch in today. We need to work in the groundings, that would be a lot of work if we split into two. I saw, today we all work together to get the foundations and structural parts in, then tomorrow, you and Bailey can lay the floor, me London and Woody can build the barge and start bringing things across" Zack explained.

"That's a good idea. How are we going to get the posts in the ground?" Cody asked

"Firstly, how do we measure it?' Bailey asked.

"You guys go on, I'll wash this up then come and join you" Woody said, pointing to the pile of plates, knives and forks. They were a life saver; it was much easier eating with them. And the glasses made the water taste more refreshing. It was still stored in plastic bottles, but the glasses just felt nicer to drink out of. They agreed, London offering to help, and stayed behind as the other three walked to the site of their future house.

"Are we creating an attic, or are we having open rafters?" Bailey asked

"Open rafters would have less materials, easier to see damage and repair it before it becomes a problem" Cody explained

"And there were some windows we could use from the wreck, have them as skylights. At least in the living and dining rooms. Until we find some way of lighting the house, we'll need to use moonlight. Looking at our plan" Bailey said unrolling a leaf. There were a few banana plants on the Island which had huge leaves. She found she could write on them using charcoal from the fire, and between her and Cody, they had planned a detailed map of the building.

"According to this, the only room which wouldn't have a window is the hall, so maybe a skylight in there, then one in the living room and kitchen? Bedrooms we don't need them, as it might make them colder" Cody explained

"Sounds like a good plan" she replied

"How high do we want the ceilings?" Cody asked

"There's not much rain" Bailey commented

"I can't actually remember it raining since we've been here" Cody replied

"And that's how long?" Bailey asked

"A month?" Cody replied, calculating but unsure of his answer. A feat which was unsurprisingly alien to Cody.

"So, we don't need a steep roof. If we had the height at seven feet, and nine feet at the highest point. It's still a slope so if it did rain it wouldn't damage the roof, but we probably don't need to worry about guttering. And seven feet is high enough not to hit heads on, especially if we're carrying in and out" she replied.

"How deep should the supports be to then hold it in place?" Cody asked

"One third of the working height, so if they stand at nine feet, they need three feet to be buried" she explained

"So, we need twelve-foot-long posts" Cody stated

"Correct" she replied

"That shouldn't be hard. These taller trees might have two or three in them … Zack" Bailey called

"What's up?" he asked, the building was Cody and Baileys thing. He did not want to step on toes. He would offer his opinion when asked, but otherwise he was happy to leave them to it. As long as he had a roof over his head, he was happy. So, as they were discussing, he was off in his own world, fantasising about how he could slip off with London for an hour or two. They had not been able to get much time alone together since they announced their relationship. It had felt like too many eyes were on them.

"Zack!" She called again, he realised that he replied so quietly they did not hear. He walked over to them

"What's up?" he repeated

"I don't suppose you found a saw when on the shipwreck did you?" she asked. Zack nodded. He had found a selection of tools. Axes, sledgehammers, hammers, nails, saws. Enough to repair the ship it would seem, although the irony that they had salvaged untouched building tools from said shipwrecked boat did not go unnoticed.

"I did actually" Zack replied. They had made a few trips to the shipwreck over the last day or so. Something would come up and they would go and check the ship to see if they had it. Like a corner shop of materials and supplies. They did not have everything, at which the five had to improvise. But they had gotten lucky a few times.

"Great so we can chop them to size. How many will we need?" Cody asked

"Four for each room, though opposing walls can share. By my count..." Bailey began looking at the plan again

"Twenty-seven, maybe twenty-eight if the long wall in the living room needs more" she replied

"We'll get thirty just to be safe" he stated

"How can we put them in place?" she asked

"We can build a small, raised platform, with a ladder so we can get up to the full height, then we can make a post banger using some larger bamboo" Zack explained

"Post banger?" Bailey asked him with a raised eyebrow

"Yeah. If we're using circular bamboo posts, then we get a larger, hollow one with an open end and a blocked end, use that to hit the post into the ground" he elaborated

"That … Is a really good idea" Bailey replied

"You still sound surprised Bails" Zack teased

"I am" she laughed back

"We can keep the scaffolding after, use it if we need to get up high or repair things on the roof" she suggested

"Perfect. What order are we building this in then?" Cody asked

"Structural parts first, then the floor, then the roof, and after we can build the internal walls" Bailey replied

"Won't we need the walls to support the roof?" Bailey asked

"Oh. Good point. Ok we'll build the structural parts, floor, internal walls, roof then external walls" he explained

"This sounds so complicated" Zack commented

"It's not really" Bailey replied

"I'll leave it in your capable hands then!" Zack laughed, Bailey and Cody joined in

"Go make the platform, we'll start working out which pieces of Bamboo will do" Cody instructed

"Yes Sir" Zack replied, walking off to get Woody and London. He walked back and explained the plan to the pair, they agreed it was a good idea and set out to find some materials.

"I'm thinking we could have two platforms. One at six, seven feet, and one at three feet. That can be the standing platform, and the higher one can be on a hinge" he explained

"Are you putting in a safety barrier for the top one?" London asked

"We probably should. If someone falls off, I'm not sure how well we would be able to fix and recover" Zack explained

"Good idea!" Woody replied. Daunted by the fact that if anyone did get injured, there was no help aside from whatever they could find on the Island. And the long out-dated first aid box they had got from the wreck, which aside from some bandages, scissors, tweezers, iodine, safety pins and some gauze, there was not much of any use.

"What are Cody and Bailey doing?" London asked, trying to take the subject away from such a morbid topic.

"They're sussing out which trees, logs and bamboo they want for the house, whilst we do this" Zack replied

"Let's get to work then!" Woody replied

Woody had suffered a little when they had first landed on the Island. He was not used to the grunt work which was required for such a lifestyle, and whilst Cody and Zack weren't neither, they had adapted quickly. Woody had found that he fatigued easily and on some occasions he had to go off for an afternoon nap, though, they were unsure if the heat of the sun had impacted that decision.

However, after two weeks, he had built up his strength and now, a month in, he had lost some weight. He was getting fitter, stronger and feeling as though he had more energy. Bailey was sure it was down to his diet. Everything they were eating was natural, fresh, had no preservatives or processes. Cody was convinced it was the psychological coming to terms with it. Zack and London just thought he'd been more active and eating less.

Either way, Woody was very pleased with his physique now, and had no issue with stripping down to his shorts, custom made by London of course, and parading round, working shirtless in the sun, which no longer affected any of them much. Zack and Cody tended to go shirtless too, as it was a lot more comfortable than sweating through a shirt. Though, Bailey had found a plant which worked well as a washing liquid and was able to wash clothes periodically. Mostly underwear.

London and Bailey were taking the most of the sun, doing most of the work on the Island in bikinis or bikini tops and shorts. Shoes were worn most of the time, but when on the beach they didn't bother. It was only in the woods or on the paths up the mountain where they did not want to risk stepping on a rock, stick or just a hot patch which may burn them.

By lunchtime, the three had created their platform. It was strong, sturdy and had the two levels with a raking ladder. They brought it over to the others and displayed their creation. All pleased, they returned to the beach for lunch. A chicken soup which Woody had put on this morning with London's help.

Dishing it out into bowls, they all looked out at the sea, as they usually did whilst they are. Perhaps there was something deep within them which hoped that one day they would see a ship going past, or be able to witness a plane. Something which they might be able to draw the attention of. However, they were all quite enjoying the Island. It was peaceful. Watching the waves was therapeutic. They had all, in their own way, come to terms with the fact that they may never get off the island.

Maybe, because they had worked so hard to make this place home, a little part of them didn't want to leave. Or, that could have just been the coping mechanism for knowing they might never go.

Zack broke his train of thought by turning back to the group. Eating was usually a time for silence and reflection. It was loud most of the time, even with just the five of them, there was always a conversation, debate or laugher going. But when everyone was eating it fell silent. And it reminded them of just how silent it was here.

"This afternoon then, what do you want us to do?" Zack asked, gesturing to himself, woody and London, whilst looking at Cody and Bailey

"We have marked the trees we want, we picked thirty just to be safe. If you can chop them, and bring them to us. And also if you can get some vines. We have a hammer and some nails from the wreck so we shall use those, but vines would be good just to secure it in place" Cody explained

"I can do vines" Woody offered, wanting to go back and see if the caterpillars were still there, or if there would be loads of butterflies instead.

"Perfect, we're on wood duty" Zack said to London

"I hope that's not an innuendo" Bailey replied with a raised eyebrow. London winked at Bailey and the suggestive comment died there, mostly because they did not want to know anymore.

They finished, washed up and returned to the woods, where Zack and Cody got the platform into position. Both ripped now from the workouts, London could barely keep her eyes off Zack, until, she caught Bailey checking out Cody, the two girls caught each other's eye and shared a look, an exchange of knowing glances.

They had all felt bad for Woody. Whilst they were enjoying being cast away with their respective lovers, they tried to be thoughtful with it. London would sit next to Zack, they would smile, laugh and he would wrap his arms around her. But they rarely even kissed in public. Cody and Bailey were much the same. And they made an effort that if one couple was cuddling, the other would not, so Woody would not feel left out.

London was also, slowly easing the others into the fact that she was not quite as air-headed as she had been letting on. Much like the ploy that her and Zack's relationship bloomed on the island, she also mimicked coming into the real world. Subtle so no one really noticed. But she did not have to play down her thoughts or ignore her ideas anymore. It was refreshing for her.

By the end of the afternoon, they had decided as they were on a roll, to work into the evening. London and Zack had got all the logs within an hour and a half and with Woody and Zack on banging the posts into the ground, all the structural beams and the floor was down by the time they stopped for the night.

"This is a good base, but I think we could do better. If we took the floor from the wreck we could have it nice and flat. These are nice but the bamboo isn't level. Things would get stuck in the gaps and it's not overly comfortable for our feet" Cody explained as they were walking back

"Tomorrow morning, whilst you guys start on the internal walls, we can go and get some floorboards" Woody offered

"Could you?" Bailey asked. They all agreed as they went back to the camp, and Woody began to cook dinner.

"Of course" Zack replied, looking at the flames in the fire cooking their dinner. "Have we thought about protection, like from a fire?" he asked.

"That's a very good point. We don't want it spreading to the woods, if it was to catch fire" Cody mused

"Or the farm" Bailey replied

"How can we stop that?" Woody asked

"We could put in some fire breaks, then it would reduce the chance of it spreading" Zack offered

"How?" Cody asked

"We could cut down trees and lay the floor with sand. If we do the width of the break the height of the house, the chances of it spreading are minimal" he offered

"How do we bring that much sand from the beach here?" London asked

"We can make a passing train, or a convoy, or we can probably create a wheelbarrow". Cody suggested

"We can think about that after we've built the house. It will be a while before we have a fire in there" Bailey replied

They all agreed. Talking about how the indoor plumbing plans could incorporate a hose of some sort.

By the time they had finished discussing their plans for the next few stages, dinner was ready. Woody had used tomatoes, coconut milk, the leftover chicken from yesterday and some spices he had found to make a delicious curry, complimented by green beans and potatoes. It was one of the best meals they had ever had. Even pre-Island.

After dinner, once everyone was full and they sat around in a comfortable chatter, Zack and Bailey exchanged a look, both standing and walking to the edge of the woods. The other three watched them, curiously

"We'll be back" Zack promised them

"We have a surprise" Bailey replied, teasingly. The pair walked off, leaving the other three behind, speculating.

"Are they having an affair?" Woody asked coyly. London and Cody exchanged a look, almost questioning the strength of the others relationship, before they both quickly denied that as a possibility.

"No way. Maybe she's pregnant" London offered

"More likely they have a present for us" Cody replied

"Or pudding" Woody said, rubbing his still full, but now rather toned stomach.

The pair returned a few moments later, before the speculation had stopped, carrying carrier bags full of bottles.

The smiles of the remaining three dropped, when they realised what it was

"Water?" Cody asked, unable to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"It was..." Zack replied wiggling his eyebrows

"What are you on about"" London asked, confused

"What is it?" Woody asked

"Beer, or cider. Which do you want?" Bailey offered

"Seriously?" Cody asked, outraged that Bailey would have participated in one of Zack's schemes. She seemed unphased

"Yeah?" she asked

"We're underage" Cody replied

"International waters, Codester" Zack commented. "Besides, we've been stranded, we've made ourselves a home here and we're working very fucking hard. We deserve it!" Zack explained. Cody was unable to argue with the logistics of international waters, or the harrowing truth that this was quite probably their life from now on. They might as well enjoy it.

Woody and London had already accepted their drinks by the time Cody had requested a beer. Zack passed it to him, and they poured it into the glasses taken from the boat. Zack raised his first, and the rest followed

"To the Island!" He cheered, they all joined in. They complimented the drinks, a welcome change from the water.

"We should have an early night tonight, up at the crack of dawn tomorrow and see how much we get done. Who knows. Maybe this will be our last night in the beach hut" Zack suggested

"One of them if not" Bailey replied. All motivated by the prospect of being able to move into and furnish the house, they planned their activities tomorrow. Building the barge, whilst Cody and Bailey worked on the roof, then collecting the flooring, beds and other furniture and bringing it back to their part of the Island. It would be a hard day; they all knew that. But it would be worth it in the end!

The Next Morning.

Deciding that they should work on the barge straight away, Zack, London and Bailey all got started whilst Woody was still making breakfast. It was rather easy to build. There were enough buoys, 5-, 10- and 20-gallon drums and pontoons washed up, they lashed them together and created a light floor using driftwood. Attached it to the lifeboat and by eleven o'clock that morning, they were ready to set sail.

Cody and Woody were working on the roof. They needed brute strength to get the beams up, and whilst they would have liked Zack to help, they knew he was best for captaining the boat. The pair worked well though. Cody had created a pulley system using some rope and the taller trees to lift the beams up, then all they had to do was position them.

Thinking ahead, Cody had cut out shapes at the ends of the pillars so once they slotted in, they were secure, and could hold themselves. A few nails and some vines for good measure and it was in place. It took a lot longer to prepare them, but it meant that the heavy lifting was minimal, and the chances of injury were greatly reduced.

Zack, Bailey and London had just docked on the other half of the island. They had brought the barge in as much as they could, but there were a few feet of wet sand to climb through.

"How are we going to do this?" Bailey asked

"What do you mean?" Zack replied

"We're here for the beds first, is that right?" she asked.

"That's right" Zack confirmed. They had planned to do the plumbing first, but as the house was almost split with living room and bedrooms on one side, and the kitchen and bathrooms on the other side, they took a vote and decided to build the bedrooms first, all longing for the comfortable looking begs on the wreck, and fed up of sleeping on the moss.

"The beds frames are metal. If we took them apart, we could probably get them on the barge easier, they look heavy to bring as one unit and we could probably only bring two on at a time. If we take them apart, we could take all the frames over first, then come back for the mattresses, linens and blankets" Bailey offered

"We can bring a tarp next time, so the materials don't get wet" London offered. They all agreed and went to look at the beds.

They took off the mattresses, blankets and linens, leaving them lined up inside the wreck. Bailey offered to wash them all back at the Island, they were doubtful they would get to sleep on them tonight, as it was a lot of work to create the rooms in the house. But they were hopeful for tomorrow. Which meant that they would have all day, night and part of tomorrow to dry after a washing.

They took all the frames out to the beach. It was mostly rock, so they did not have to worry about sand getting in the frames. Although, London said she would wipe them all down once back on their part of the island. The frames were metal, and whilst they had held up remarkably well over the century they had been abandoned, the risk of the saltwater causing them to rust was great. And all the tarps they could find were on their part of the Island, it would just have to be a case of going careful.

The beds were easy to dismantle. The headboard was attacked by two screws. Then the four legs came off and the sides unscrewed. They had all six beds taken apart in no time. They had decided on six because that left one room spare if needed. Say, one of the beds collapsed then the patron of that room could move out without having to try and fix the problem or sleep on the floor in the middle of the night.

Barge full, but still rising above the water, Zack slowly rowed the boat back over to their beach, working together they took all the bed pieces off and brought them into the beach hut, out of the bedroom area, but off the sand. Ready to be transported to the house when it was built.

"Ready to go back for the rest?" Zack asked.

"You guys go, we don't need all three of us for the rest. I'll stay and help Cody and Woody get these rooms built" Bailey suggested

"Alright. Is there anything else you want us to get?" he asked, picking up the tarps from a pile they had kept on the beach, and flicking off the sand.

"You can start getting the flooring up in the rooms we've emptied. Move the clothes storage and bedroom furniture into one room, we can collect that once the rooms are done, we're in no rush. But the flooring we do want" Bailey suggested

"Will do" Zack replied with a smile

"See you in a bit" London replied following Zack back to the boat and barge. Bailey winked at London as the couple left. London smiled, mouthing a 'thank you' to her. It had been a while since she had any alone time with Zack, and she needed him.

The pair got on the boat and as soon as they were in the water and away from the shore, London slipped in front of Zack, who was calmly rowing

"Hey" he said softly

"Shhh. No time for talking" she replied seductively. She pulled off her bra and watched as his eyes darted to her tanned, now free breasts. Is mouth opened slightly and she could already see the bulge in his pants. Clearly, he had missed their rendezvous too

"We have some time" she muttered as she sat on his lap, feeling his hardness between her legs. Her breasts dancing just in front of his face. His lips closed around her nipple, and she moaned softly. His one hand wrapped around her waist, the other steadying the boat

"Now?" he asked

"Now!" she demanded. Slipping off his lap, she got on her knees before him. He raised an eyebrow at her as her hands slipped beneath his shorts, pulling out his member, and rolling the top over her lips, licking them with her tongue, before slipping his head inside her mouth.

She was an expert at this. She always felt incredible. He slipped deep into her throat, her lips around his hilt. His head deep within her. She swallowed and he nearly came then and there for her. So close already

"Jesus! Fuck London" he moaned. Placing his hand on her head and applying a little pressure. He knew how much she liked that. She moaned onto him, the vibrations going up the length of his shaft and into his core. She pulled off him, licked up the length of his member a few times, before pursing her lips as a small bead of spit dripped from her lips and onto his cock.

She brought her lips straight back to him again, sucking hard, harder than he had ever been sucked before, deep. Her throat closed around his cock now, rocking her head up and down on him. Up and down, over and over as he got closer and closer.

The little twitches in his cock told her how close he was getting, and she knew she needed him too. She pulled off him, lifted her skirt to show that she was not wearing anything underneath, and straddling his cock, he could feel her heat, her wetness against him, and he rocked his hips, trying desperately to slip himself inside her.

She smirked at him, raising her hips and sinking down on him. Biting her lip to stop from crying out as he filled her, stretching her. She swore he wasn't this big before.

She rocked her hips, bouncing up and down on his hard member. Remembering after a few minutes just how alone they were here, and how it was probably the most alone they would be for a while. She let out a moan. Louder.

"Zack! Fuck me please!" she cried. Her orgasm so close. She could feel it. She needed him. He picked her up, flipped her onto her back and ploughed into her. Her breasts bouncing with every thrust of his hips into hers.

The beauty before him closed her eyes, mouth dropped into that perfect 'O' as she found her release, as she tightened around him, impossibly tight, he found his own release. Catching their breath, he finally, and reluctantly pulled out of her. Pulling his shorts back on as she placed her bra back on her chest, he looked around

"Fuck" he whispered, seeing just how far out from the Island they had gotten. It was far in the distance now.

"Oh" she replied, her brain still foggy from the orgasm

"You're a bad influence on me" he smirked at her, picking up his oar. She picked up the other one and they rowed back into the other beach. Both a lot more satisfied than they were before.

Arriving on the other side, they found that with the tide out, it made it a lot harder to dock the boat. The barge would not come in, and whereas before it was a short distance of wet sand to traverse, it was now much longer, and deeper. They were up to their knees as they walked across the sand, having secured the boat so that it would not float away

"Let's go and get the floorboards now, give the tide a few hours to start coming back in, and then we can load everything up on the barge" Zack suggested

"Good idea!" she replied, and the pair walked inside the ship. They had moved all the mattresses and bedroom furniture into one room, on the same floor as their door on and off the boat. It was much more convenient that way.

Zack found a hammer which had been left lying around, and a screwdriver. There were many tools which had been discarded on the wreck, and most were still in a useable condition. They got to work removing the floorboards and found that once they got a few up, the rest just followed. Within an hour or two, they had stripped almost all the rooms.

Looking at the piles of wood, they realised that they would have to take two trips, and that did not include the mattresses. Zack placed his hammer down in a place he knew he would remember it, before thinking that if they brought one door back too, then Cody and Bailey could use that to measure the gaps for the doors in the house.

He explained this to London and she agreed. Together, they removed one of the heavy oak doors.

"Fucking hell what's this made of? Gold?" London asked straining as she helped Zack carry the weight, who agreed that the door was much heavier than expected, and wondered for a moment if the materials they were using on the house were strong enough to support it.

He debated using the supporting beams from the wreck on the house, but most were horribly rotten by now. The internal ones were alright, but any which were external, or were touching external ones were compromised by deterioration. They knew it was better to use the Islands materials and use the dry, safe to use wood from inside the wreck for the house.

They checked the tide, and it was coming in. They lugged the hard wood onto the barge, followed by the mattresses, linens and some of the planks, wrapping it all securely in a tarp and going back to their part of the Island.

They found that the tide did not seem to affect their part of the island as much as it did the other. Another reason they counted themselves lucky. After three trips back and forth, both were exhausted, but everything was brought back, and secured safely in the beach hut.

They were all very relieved when it was time to call it a day and settle down for dinner. They had all agreed that today was the hardest they had worked since arriving on the Island, and whilst they had made remarkable progress, they knew that tomorrow they would need an easier, less intensive day to recover

"How far have we got?" Zack asked, digging into his steak, mash and peas, which Woody had whipped up whilst the rest tidied up for the day.

"Foundations, structural points and roof is on entirely. Tomorrow we build the internal walls, and then the external walls. Priority being the bedrooms. Do you have much more to get from the wreck?" Cody asked

"Not unless you specifically want more" Zack replied

"Then tomorrow we'll all work on getting the rooms done. If we can get three, we'll call it a good day. Two working on each room, and one can build the beds" Cody replied

"When do we furnish with the rest of the furniture on the wreck?' London asked, taking a sip of her cider which Zack had brought, insisting that they all needed some reward for such a hard day's work.

"Once all the rooms are complete, we can work out how much space we have, and what we can fill it with. Once the bedrooms are all constructed it's a few external walls for the living room, and then we're onto the kitchen and bathrooms. Once the plumbing is in that shouldn't take long to do up You can get whatever furniture you find and bring it back whilst we're doing the plumbing if you like?" Bailey suggested. They all agreed

"We said last night could be our last night in this hut. Tonight is more likely to be the last night" Woody said, filling in the silence

"Any night could be our last night on this Island" Cody replied

"I'm starting to doubt that more and more each day" Bailey added, sadly

"How long have we been gone now?" London asked

"Over a month, coming up to five weeks" Cody answered

"How long do you think would have looked for?" Zack asked, not usually one to spark upsetting conversations, but knew that it was a question everyone was asking but was too afraid to ask.

"People would be looking for us" Cody replied to his brother reassuringly

"Would they?" Zack asked the awful question

"Why wouldn't they?" Bailey replied

"We have a very tight knit group of friends, the five of us. We're all here. Addison pops up every now and again, but never for more than a day. The only people who would care are Moseby and Tutweiller" Zack explained. "Moseby has a ship to run, that's if Mr Tipton hasn't killed him yet"

"He would have" London confirmed, causing a strained laugh from the group

"And Tutweiller has classes to teach. She'd be distracted" he added

"If you went missing, I would look for you" Bailey said to Zack

"And I you, because we're all close friends. But we're all missing together. Outside the five of us. Who else would you dedicate that much time, and emotional effort to try and find. How long before you wrote them off? If Kyle from Math went missing, how long before you moved on? A week or two?" Zack asked. Silence followed as the truth settled in everyone's minds.

"I still think people are looking" Bailey replied, confidently

"They are. Somewhere. But people need to get on with their lives much as we need to get on with ours" Zack replied. His aim when vocalising the question no one else would ask, would be to bring it up into a near little bow. To remind them that they had to move on. Now was his chance.

"This is such a nice place" London agreed

"Think about it. We have everything we need here. Who has the better life. No laws, no rules, no school. We're safe here" he explained

"No pollution" Bailey added

"It's quiet, the views are incredible" London said, gazing out to the open ocean

"We have as much food as we want" Woody added

"And an amazing chef" Bailey complemented, causing Woody to blush.

"Aww thank you" Woody replied.

"We have shelter, fire, food, water, a pool, hot tub, a house..." Zack listed

"A shipwreck which gave us beds, blankets, tools and everything we need to survive" Cody added

"You don't even get that on a five-star holiday" London replied

"Exactly. And it's free! We have luxury" Zack added

"Especially if we can plumb in the toilets, sinks and showers. Should be easy enough" Bailey contributed

"I'm sure we might be able to use the wrecks engine for something. As much as I would love to build a ship to get off this island, it's too old. But we might be able to repurpose it for something. Like air conditioning" Cody suggested

"That is the only downside to this place. The heat" Woody replied

"All I'm saying is. Any night could be out last night here. But this place is nice. There are much worse places we could be. I would rather be here with all of you, than almost any other place" Zack stated

"Aww Zack" they all replied.

Once the conversation had moved onto something a little happier, Woody stood up and walked off. Not questioning it, perhaps he just needed to relieve himself, no one thought any of it until he returned a few moments later with a tray

"I have a surprise" he announced

"What is it?" Zack asked

"Something I was working on. I used the eggs from the chickens and some Sugar beet I found. And the wreck had a whisk so I could FINALLY make them. I've been fantasising about these for ages! | Woody said, placing the tray down, they all looked at the little white clouds on the tray.

"What are they?" Cody asked

"Meringues. I found some berries to go with them" Woody explained. They ate them, and they were delicious. The meringue melted in the mouth and the sharp berries brought them back to savour the taste.

They ate, drank, and watched as some dolphins danced over the horizon as the sun set, all having to agree it was incredible.

"We need a name" Zack replied

"A name?" Woody asked

"For the Island" Zack replied

"What are you thinking?" Bailey asked

"Zacowobalo" Zack replied

"Come again?" Cody asked

"Zah-Co-Wah-Bah-Lo" Zack said slower

"What does it mean?" London asked

"It's the first two letters of each of our names" Zack replied

"Zacowobalo" London repeated. "I like it"

"Me too" Cody added

"Well done, Zack" Bailey complimented

"Welcome to Zacowobalo" Woody cheered.