Chapter 10 #2
“Yeah, but we can’t just accuse her of it,” Aggie points out. “She is fragile, we need to be gentle.”
Zeke glances at her. “You’re very protective, maybe you did take them.”
Aggie scowls at him. “No, I did not. Don’t take your shit out on me.”
“When one of you gets injured, you’re goin’ to wish to fuckin’ God we had those painkillers,” Zeke mutters.
“We’ll find them in the morning,” Ace adds in, cutting off the argument. “For now, you need to relax, brother.”
Zeke stares at him, and for a moment, the two of them just lock eyes. Then, Zeke nods and lays down, hands behind his head, staring into nothing. I give Aggie a look, and her eyes widen as if she’s saying ‘uh oh’. Then, everyone just falls silent.
Another night where we all sit like this, wondering what tomorrow will bring.
It could be everything, or it could be nothing.
That’s the scary reality.
By morning, everything has settled down again.
Kellen and Zeke go on their usual fruit run, finding whatever they can, and Ace loads up on water.
Adrian is practicing swimming again, determined to spear some fish.
Us girls do the best we can at preparing the water and food to last as long as possible.
Rachel has gone for a swim, and I can see her floating in the shallow water.
I am clearing out some of the dead fronds tangled at the edge of our camp, salt sweat stinging the little nicks on my knuckles, when I notice Rachel isn’t floating anymore.
Instead, she seems to be kicking frantically, arms splashing, and it almost looks like she is suddenly unable to swim.
Aggie follows my gaze. “What’s she doing? ”
Then, Rachel’s shrieks tear through the wind.
“Shit,” I curse, and drop everything, running down to the shore.
Aggie and Tatiana run down beside me.
“Rachel!” I yell.
“Help,” she screams. “Help, I can’t get back in. I can’t... it’s pulling me out.”
Shit. She’s probably caught in a rip.
“I’ll go find the guys,” Tatiana calls, then turns and rushes off.
I don’t know if we have time to wait for them to get back.
Adrian is standing in the shallows, staring out at her, frantically looking around as if he can somehow find a raft to just shoot out and grab her.
We all know he can’t swim. I don’t think about it, I pull off my shirt, leaving only my bra and step towards the water.
“Grace, no, it’s too dangerous!” Aggie barks, but I’m already in the water, wading, then swimming, salt on my face, in my mouth, in my eyes.
I swim with all my might, and when I reach Rachel, I try to get her to stop freaking out so we can get the hell out of this mess, but as soon as I try to pull her away, she goes under.
My legs piston, arms cutting through the water, and I dive, reaching for where her head should be.
For a terrifying three seconds, there is nothing but these rolling green-blue walls, and then her hand hits the side of my face, nails raking desperate.
We surface together, Rachel coughing, screaming, “It’s pulling me, Grace, it’s—” and she’s gone under again, this time taking me with her, her arms a vice locked around my neck.
The breath I held rips out in a spray of bubbles.
I claw for the surface, for any glimpse of sky, but Rachel’s panic is gravity and she’s dragging us both down.
My lungs? Not burning exactly, but scalded, this hollow ache that buries itself under my ribs and starts to expand.
I struggle and twist, trying to detach from Rachel, but in her panic, she is locked onto me.
She’s going to kill us both if I can’t get her off.
Panic grips me, making me feel sick and terrified at the same time.
Then something hard curls around my arm.
As I’m pulled to the surface, I see Ace, holding onto me as Kellen tries to calm Rachel enough to keep her afloat.
I’m coughing and gasping, choking and half-blind from the salt.
Ace pulls me, and I let him, because everything in my body feels like it’s shutting down.
When we finally reach the shore, I land on my back, still coughing, still struggling for air.
Ace crouches beside me, hand on my neck, rubbing my back.
I fold into him, still coughing, my heart hammering against my ribs, salt water streaming out my nose.
He’s saying my name, over and over. Next to us, Rachel is on all fours, Kellen beside her.
Her shoulders are jerking, breath wheezing in and out, and she looks so small, so entirely broken, that something in me cracks.
I gasp, and tears roll down my cheeks.
The reality hits, as jarring as the first slap of cold water: the ocean is not a playground, and we are not safe anywhere, not even on this patch of flawless sand.
I look out to sea, horizon clouded with haze, and all I can think is, if the water wants us, it will take us, and there will be nothing left.
Aggie kneels beside me, a hand on my shoulder.
“You’re fucking insane,” she breathes, but there’s gratitude in her eyes.
“I couldn’t lose another one,” I croak.
Ace growls, low in his throat. “Nobody is worth losin’ your life for. Don’t be a fuckin’ hero.”
I meet his eyes, and I can see the fury and also fear in them. He was scared then, scared he wouldn’t get me back. My heart skips a beat.
Rachel collapses on the ground, and we both slowly get our breaths back.
My lungs are still seizing, but I don’t care.
I’m alive, and that means I have to figure out how to keep all of us that way.
I look at Aggie, then Ace, and then back to Rachel, who is staring at me.
We don’t need to say anything. We’re all thinking it: this is never going to get easier. It’s only going to get worse.
“Come on, sweetpea,” Ace murmurs, lifting me into his arms. “You need to get dry.”
He carries me up to the camp, and Kellen does the same for Rachel. Everyone else follows quietly behind. The ocean is still clawing at the shore, like it’s pissed off and doesn’t want to let us go. Ace places me down, wrapping me in a blanket and I watch it, from the dry ground.
Maybe there really is no such thing as safe anymore.