Chapter 21
Jesse
Asmita’s hand will heal over time; I’m certain of it.
What matters is she got herself over the wall, and we have made it to the island.
A part of me is relieved to have made it this far.
The low hills of sand that stretch out in front of our view won’t take long to cross.
Once we get past those, we should be able to see more of the landscape.
We may have to look around the island to see if anything or anyone is out here.
It’s getting so hot outside and with no coverage in sight, we are going to have to keep moving forward.
Everything is barren as we walk toward the low hills.
I feel completely exposed out in the open like this.
My back is slowing me down, but I keep putting one foot in front of the other.
I have to get us over that hill. I can tell that Asmita is slowing down too.
The fact that we’ve been up for so long isn’t helping.
The sun is draining what little energy we have left.
When we make it to the low sand hills, we have to pause for some rest.
I lay down on the sand and it sticks to my body from the sweat.
My palms are covered, and I rub them onto my pant legs to clean them off.
Asmita is just as weary. She drinks greedily from the bottle she pulled out of her backpack.
I want to tell her to save it, but I don’t have the energy or the heart to chastise her.
When we get up, we start the slow and arduous climb over the hills.
What feels like hours but is really only a few minutes later, we crest the top and can see into the valley of what must be the island’s center. It takes my breath away.
Here, in the middle of the island, is a crystal blue lake, small in size but blue.
Blue as a sapphire and sparkling, it almost blinds us from the reflection of the sun.
Asmita and I look at each other in awe. A slow smile rises on her face, and I can feel the same coming across mine.
When she goes to step forward, I put my hand out to stop her.
“We have to be careful. It could be some kind of trick,” I warn her.
Asmita stands stoically beside me and turns her eyes back to the lake. “This is where I’m meant to be. I can feel it.”
We make our way down the hill and toward the lake.
I scan the landscape, looking for anything moving, anything that could harm us.
I see nothing, and we continue moving forward.
When we make it off the hill and back onto flat ground, we are only about 200 yards from the edge of the lake.
The sand is so soft it makes it hard to walk on.
Asmita gets past me on the sand and is about ten steps ahead of me when I hear the change in her steps.
The soft noise of our feet in the sand has been transformed into knocks on metal.
I scream out to her, “Stop!” but it’s too late.
I run toward her in the sand, and my feet move faster the closer I get to her.
My feet don’t fall deep into the sand as before but stay level.
I reach my arms out to Asmita, and my fingers grasp the shoulder straps of her backpack.
I can see the silver metal through the sand below our feet.
I only get a glimpse of the metal before it gives way, and we are falling downward with the loose sand sprinkling us as we go.
For the first time in my life, I truly feel terrified because this is a real unknown.
As we fall down into the darkness, my hands never let go of the bag strapped to Asmita.
If I have to sacrifice myself for her, I will.
That is my last thought as everything goes pitch black.