Chapter 24
Domenico
Morning arrives without bringing any real relief. The first rays of sunlight filter through the cave entrance, spilling pale streaks of gold across the stone floor, but they do little to warm the damp air lingering inside.
I sit with my back against the cold stone wall, absently rolling the last half-empty bottle of water between my hands while I listen to the distant sounds drifting in through the mouth of the cave.
The sounds drifting in from outside blend together. The distant crash of waves against the cliffs, the rustle of leaves in the jungle, and, every so often, something that doesn't belong. Boots crush undergrowth. Voices carry faintly through the trees. Metal brushes against metal.
They're still searching.
I glance toward the small pile of supplies.
The unopened first-aid kit sits beside the emergency blankets, while the flare gun remains tucked safely underneath them.
Nearby, the two bottles we refilled at the stream before spending the rest of yesterday dealing with armed men rest against the cave wall. It isn't much.
Across from me, Zora notices where my attention lingers.
"We're running out." It isn't a question.
I nod slowly. "Faster than I expected."
She follows my gaze to the supplies before letting out a quiet breath. "Then we need to stop reacting to them and start doing something."
I study the map I'd sketched in the dirt over the last two days, marking every patrol route we'd observed and every area we'd been forced to avoid.
The men hunting us have become more disciplined.
They no longer wander through the jungle hoping to stumble across us.
They've divided the island into sectors, moving in coordinated teams that leave us fewer and fewer places to disappear.
"They're tightening the net." I say, dragging a finger across the rough drawing. "Yesterday they searched the eastern ridge. This morning they came through here." I tapped another section before looking up at her. "By tomorrow they'll start overlapping their patrols."
"And eventually they'll find us."
"They only have to get lucky once."
Silence settles between us. I hate admitting it, but we're losing. Not because they're better. Because there are simply too many of them.
I rub a hand across my jaw before looking back toward the flare gun lying beside the medical kit.
"There is one option."
Zora follows my gaze almost immediately. "The flare?"
I nod. "It was meant for rescue."
"It was." She agrees, picking it up and turning it over in her hands. "If we fire it, a rescue team could see it."
I meet her eyes. "So could the people hunting us."
She goes quiet for a moment, her gaze dropping back to the flare gun.
"They'll know exactly where we are. They'll know where to come looking." She lowers the gun onto the ground with a frustrated sigh. "So the flare could save us..."
"...or get us killed." I finish.
"We're trapped."
"No." I shake my head. "We're forced to gamble."
Neither of us says anything for a while. The jungle around us seems unnaturally quiet, as though the island itself is waiting to hear our decision.
Finally, Zora exhales. "If we don't fire it, we eventually run out of water."
"Yes."
"If we do fire it, they'll come after us."
"Immediately."
She pinches the bridge of her nose. "I hate plans where every option ends with someone trying to kill us."
A faint smile tugs at the corner of my mouth. "I've had worse."
She gives me a look. "I somehow believe that."
I crouch beside the map again, smoothing the dirt with my palm before drawing a rough outline of the cliffs overlooking the ocean.
"If we're going to do this, we only get one chance."
She shifts closer, studying the sketch. "Walk me through it."
"We fire the flare from the highest point on the island. It'll maximize visibility over the water."
"And maximize visibility for everyone else."
"Exactly."
She folds her arms. "So we don't stay there."
"No." I draw another mark farther inland. "We fire it, disappear immediately, and head here."
She frowns at the drawing. "The rocky outcrop?"
"It gives us cover from three sides and only one practical approach."
She studies the route for a long moment before shaking her head. "No."
I look up. "No?"
"If they anticipate exactly that, they'll cut us off before we reach it."
"They won't have enough time."
"And you don't know where every patrol is right now."
She's right. I hate that she's right.
I smooth away part of the route and redraw it farther south, tracing a path toward a narrow ravine I'd noticed earlier.
"What about the ravine?"
She studies the sketch again before nodding slowly. "This gives us two escape routes instead of one."
"It also takes longer."
"It gives us options."
I lean back, considering it for a moment before nodding. "Fine."
A satisfied smile crosses her face. "I'm remembering this."
"That worries me."
She rolls her eyes. "You are incapable of admitting I'm right, aren't you?"
"I admitted it."
"You sighed first."
"I was grieving."
Her laugh is quiet but genuine, disappearing almost as quickly as it appears.
By the time the sun begins sinking toward the horizon, every detail has been argued over, changed, and argued over again until neither of us can find another flaw to point out.
We make our way toward the cliffs without speaking much. The higher we climb, the stronger the wind becomes, whipping through the jagged rocks hard enough to make the trees below sway violently.
When we finally reach the edge, the view stretches endlessly in every direction. The ocean glows beneath the fading light, impossibly vast, while the jungle behind us seems almost peaceful from this distance.
I pull the flare gun from my belt and check it one final time.
Zora steps beside me. "This is the point where you tell me everything is going to be fine."
"I'd rather not lie."
She lets out a slow breath. "I figured."
I look toward the horizon one last time before raising the flare gun.
"If someone sees it, they'll come. But if they don't?"
I don't answer.
The flare erupts with a deafening crack, streaking high into the sky before bursting above the island in a brilliant bloom of crimson. For an instant, the red light washes over the cliffs, the jungle, and the endless ocean, turning the entire landscape the color of fresh blood.
The silence lasts only a heartbeat.
Voices suddenly echo through the jungle below, followed by the sharp crack of branches and shouted orders as patrols react to the signal. Within seconds, the island is alive with movement. They saw it.
I don't waste another second. My hand closes around Zora's, and I pull her after me.
"Run."
The flare has barely finished burning out when the island erupts into chaos.
Voices echo through the jungle from every direction, sharp commands cutting through the evening air as branches snap beneath hurried footsteps.
Somewhere below us, someone shouts an order, followed almost immediately by the unmistakable crack of gunfire.
The sound ricochets off the cliffs, making it impossible to tell where it's coming from.
I don't hesitate. "Move."
We sprint into the tree line, the jungle swallowing us almost instantly.
Thick branches lash against my arms as I pull Zora behind me, forcing a path through the dense undergrowth.
The shouting behind us grows louder with every passing second, joined by the unmistakable sound of boots crashing through the forest floor.
"They're coming from the east!"
"Cut them off!"
"They can't have gone far!"
The voices close in rapidly.
I glance over my shoulder before grabbing Zora's wrist tighter and yanking her behind a cluster of rocks just as another burst of gunfire tears through the trees we'd occupied seconds earlier. Bark explodes from the trunk beside us, showering splinters across the ground.
"They're herding us." Zora says between breaths.
"I know."
My eyes sweep the terrain ahead, searching for another route. There isn't one.
A second patrol pushes through the trees directly in front of us, moving to intercept.
"Damn it."
Zora follows my gaze.
For one brief moment, neither of us moves. Then I make the only decision left.
"We split."
She shakes her head immediately. "No."
"We don't have a choice."
"There has to be another way."
"There isn't."
I grip her shoulders, forcing her to look at me.
"Listen carefully. If we get separated, head straight to the rendezvous point."
"And if you aren't there?" She asks.
"I'll get there."
"Nico..."
"If I'm delayed, you wait fifteen minutes. Not a second longer."
"And after that?"
"You leave."
Her expression hardens. "No."
"Zora."
"I'm not leaving you."
Another volley of gunfire erupts somewhere behind us, followed by shouted orders moving closer through the trees. The choice is made for us.
I squeeze her shoulder once. "Go."
For a fraction of a second, she doesn't move. Then I turn and sprint into the trees to draw them after me, trusting that she'll do exactly what I told her not to argue about.
By the time I reach the ravine we'd chosen as our meeting point, darkness has settled over the island. The jungle is unnaturally still, and I crouch behind a cluster of rocks, forcing myself to slow my breathing as I listen for any sign of Zora.
Nothing. Five minutes become ten. Ten become twenty.
I tell myself she's delayed. That she took a longer route to avoid the patrols. That she's doing exactly what I taught her to do. But the excuses become less believable with every passing minute.
By the time nearly an hour has slipped by, I know something is wrong. I leave the ravine and retrace the route I expected her to take, moving carefully through the darkness. The jungle is far less forgiving at night.
Every shadow resembles a person, every shifting branch threatens to betray my position. I search for anything out of place, and before long I find it. A snapped fern. Fresh footprints pressed into damp earth. A faint smear of blood across a jagged rock.
Someone came through here.