Chapter 7
BY THE FIRST NIGHT, we have a shelter set up, using the boat to block the wind and the rain, and branches and leaves to give us somewhere to lay.
We’re exhausted, all of us sitting in silence around the fire Ace made, staring at the flames rising into the night sky, wondering what comes next.
Will we be rescued within a few days, a few weeks, or not at all?
Nobody knows the answer to that, because none of us know where we are.
All we know is that right now, we’re safe.
I gave Iris some of the painkillers from the first aid kit, but I know eventually, we have to ration what we have in there.
If we are here longer than expected, then we need to save as much as we can for emergencies.
Nobody has looked at Iris’s leg since we bandaged it up; we decided to let her rest and check in the morning.
Ace, Kellen, and Zeke all went and got more water, then they boiled it on the fire and are waiting for it to cool.
All of us are waiting for it to cool, desperate to guzzle it down.
In the meantime, we crack open coconuts to drink the water, and immediately, we feel better.
We eat the flesh and then prepare some fishing line and hooks for the morning.
The guys also find a large net under the seat of the lifeboat, which they will use to cast out and catch fish.
We’re luckier than most, and that’s something.
“When I was eight, I accidentally set my house on fire,” Adrian suddenly pipes up, his legs outstretched in front of him.
“Jesus, mate,” Kellen mutters. “Do you think about the words that come out of your mouth, or?”
Adrian keeps going, unbothered. “I wanted to see if I could make a flamethrower. Turns out, they’re quite easy.”
“And you thought it would be a good idea to aim it at your house?” Kellen shakes his head in confusion and shock.
“I was eight,” Adrian points out, those front teeth showing again, as if that fact should be common knowledge.
“What happened to the house?” I ask, unable to help myself.
“It was damaged. By the time help arrived, it was pretty bad. I called the wrong number. I forgot what the emergency number was, so I dialled a local Chinese shop. She thought I was ordering fried rice, so we got six fried rice delivered.”
I can’t help it, I burst out laughing.
“Jesus, you’re one of a kind,” I mutter.
“You can say that again,” Kellen chuckles.
“I’m going to try and sleep,” Aggie murmurs, pushing to her feet. “This conversation is killing my brain cells.”
We laugh, and that feels good because we’re all terrified.
My back is aching, my legs sore from all the swimming and jungle walking we have done in the last twenty-four hours.
Not to mention being thrown around on that lifeboat.
Rachel has some severe sunburn, which we aren’t able to do a great deal about, but the blisters forming on her skin are a concern.
All we can do is keep her out of the sun and try to protect her skin as much as possible, keeping it clean. She is curled up beside Iris, her eyes fixed on the fire, unwavering. Tatiana is sitting, knees to her chest, arms wrapped around them, looking terrified.
I yawn, my body fighting exhaustion.
“Sleep,” Ace murmurs from beside me. “You need to rest.”
“I know,” I whisper. “I just...I don’t know, I guess I’m afraid to close my eyes.”
Ace doesn’t say anything more, he just shifts closer to me and then before I know it, he is pulling me down until my head lands on the jumper stretched across his lap.
“You’ll be so uncomfortable,” I protest.
A warm hand settles on the side of my head. “Just close your fuckin’ eyes, woman.”
His hand moves, slow and careful, through my hair.
He works his fingers against my scalp in lazy circles, almost like he’s daring me to fall asleep.
Part of me wants to fight the comfort curling through my chest, but another part—maybe the truest, most animal part—wants to take everything he offers, even if it lasts only tonight.
I shut my eyes, listening to the hush of waves and the soft crackle of burning leaves. I can feel Ace’s body radiating heat under me, can feel the weight of his palm on my ribs, steady and grounding. For the first time in days, I let myself drift, give in to the warm gravity of exhaustion.
But as the world blurs, the uncertainty comes to life.
What if nobody finds us? What if, in a month or so, we’ve run out of food, or water, and all the first aid kits in the world can’t stop the rot of panic and hunger from setting in?
What happens when the storms come back, and we have nowhere to go?
My father’s face flickers, like a warning light at the edge of sleep.
Has he even noticed? I think of the girls, my team, all the years we spent under his watch, and I can’t help but wonder if any of us ever really made a dent in his world.
Would he bother to call for help at all?
Or would he just write us off? Maybe this works better for his twisted little plan.
Maybe it makes it easier if we just disappear.
I can’t think of that.
I let sleep take me.
When I wake again, it’s silent and still.
The fire is down to its embers, painting everyone in the shelter with long, reaching shadows.
The lifeboat shell above us glows dull and orange, and everything else is black, except for the sliver of moon burning out on the horizon.
There’s a thicket of bodies, all of them curled up in sleep.
I am lying on my side, Ace curled behind me.
His chest is pressed into my back, and his tattooed arm is snug against my waist, hand heavy and warm over my ribs.
I freeze, not wanting to wake him, but also not sure how to feel about the fact that I like it this much.
I let myself enjoy the comfort of this feeling for a moment, letting it sink and pretend we are anywhere else but here.
A soft, high sound cuts through the hush—almost like a child’s whimper.
I turn over, careful not to jostle Ace, and catch sight of Iris, maybe a meter from me.
She is trying to sit up, and every time she does, she whimpers in pain.
Then, she launches forward with a whimper and a gag, vomiting all over the ground.
I scramble up, ignoring the way Ace’s arm drops from my body, and reach her just in time to stop her from toppling back down.
“It’s okay,” I whisper, brushing her hair away from her mouth as she sobs. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.”
She shakes in my hands, sweat beading across her forehead. Tatiana mumbles in her sleep, but doesn’t wake. Only Ace sits up, instantly alert. He moves closer to us, kneeling next to me and staring at Iris.
“She’s sick,” I say.
He doesn’t say anything at first, just nods and moves to help me shift Iris onto her side, so she doesn’t choke on the next wave. He presses a palm to her cheek, then adjusts the jacket under her head so she is more comfortable.
“It hurts,” she says, voice small and croaky.
I grab some of the cooled water, unscrew it, and tip it against her lips. She drinks, sputtering, but it seems to help.
“Should I get her more painkillers?” I whisper to Ace.
He shakes his head, mouth tight. “Not yet, only if she gets worse. We gotta make it last.”
I want to argue with him, but I know he’s right. We don’t know how long we will be here, or what is going to happen. I look down at Iris, who is breathing slow and shallow.
“We need to prop her leg up,” I say. “The swelling is bad, and it might take some of the pressure off, which could help with the pain.”
Ace nods, and together, we use a tangle of branches under her calf, easing her into a more comfortable position. She whimpers, but doesn’t fight us.
“Sleep,” I whisper, stroking her hair. “Just rest, okay?”
Her breath evens out, and she’s gone again, the same as before.
Ace settles beside me, his hand searching for mine, rough skin brushing my knuckles.
For a long time, neither of us say anything.
We just sit in the dark, watching the embers, counting the slow breaths of eight people who have become something like a family by force.
I think about the next day, and the day after that.
About how we’ll have to ration water and food, how Iris will probably get worse before she gets better, how none of us are really cut out for this but we don’t have a choice.
I think about what it means to survive.
Ace leans in closer, murmuring into my ear as if he can hear my thoughts, “We’re gonna make it, Grace. You hear me?”
I nod, and even though I’m not sure I actually believe it, I want to.
He pulls me close, and slowly, we drift off again.
When the sun comes up, we are still alive.
And so we have no choice but to keep going.
AGGIE’S EYES DART TO mine, and then we both look at Tatiana before staring back down at the scene before us.
In these last two days, Iris’s condition has gotten much worse.
She is sweating and vomiting, her fevers taking over, and her leg is infected.
The second we undid the bandage, we knew it was bad.
The way Aggie quickly covered it back up, as she stares over at me in horror, tells me it’s far worse than we could have imagined.
I push to my feet, taking Aggie’s hand and pulling her aside while Tatiana sits with Iris.
“It’s bad, Gracie,” she whispers. “I...it’s so fucking bad.”
“What do we do?”
“I don’t know. Are there any antibiotics in that kit?”
“I think so,” I say, turning and rushing back towards the camp.
Ace, Kellen, and Zeke are just returning from another water run as I am rummaging through the kit. “What are you doin’?” Zeke asks, placing a large bottle of water down.
“Seeing if there are any antibiotics in here. Iris is in a bad way, like a really bad way. She needs something.”
Nobody answers, so I look up and see that they’re all glancing at each other. Kellen is the one to speak. “Let’s go and have a look first.”