gold rush [the wilds, toni shalifoe]

chapter 19

Day Twenty-One

Fatin

"So, you've dragged me back into here just to ask me questions about Hunter?" Fatin asked, her arms crossed across her chest as she looked between the men in confusion and annoyance. "Do you know how it looks for two middle-aged, clearly depressingly single by the way, to seem so obsessed with one teenage cheerleader?"

Agent Young and Dr Faber tried to keep their composure at her words, knowing that Fatin was known for her snarky comments towards others. It didn't help that she had gone defensive as soon as they told her they wanted to know about what happened on day twenty-one, especially since Toni and Hunter had refused to go into much detail about day twenty. Agent Young opened his mouth to reply but shut it immediately, unsure how to even respond to that.

"I can assure you that we are asking questions about Miss Boyd for nothing but legitimate investigative purposes," Dr Faber replied, his eyes narrowing a little as he tried not to show his frustration with the girl. Gretchen was getting on their tail about the missing days that the girls hadn't told them much about, and the gap between day seventeen to day twenty-two was clearly annoying the ringleader.

"Hmm," Fatin muttered as she leaned back, waiting on the men to continue their question.

"Like my partner was saying," Dr Faber continued as he motioned to Agent Young who was adjusting his tie. He still wasn't entirely sold on what they were doing to the girls but he knew he was in too far now to back out. "How would you describe the atmosphere in the camp the day after Hunter stormed off?"

____

"So, did I hear what I thought I heard last night?" Leah asked Hunter as the two girls waddled in the shallow water, trying to hopefully find some fish or something they'd be able to eat. Shelby had gone with Martha and Nora to look in the forest for potential food sources while Rachel and Dot had gone to check if there was anything they could find washed up on the other nearby beaches. Toni and Fatin had been given the day off by everyone, instead being given the task of manning their camp and making sure that their small fire didn't die out.

The situation had became rather drastic for them all since Dot had announced they literally had next to no food left. When the girls had witnessed the plane fly above them, they had pretty much eaten all of their supplies and everyone was starting to get a little loopy as starvation started to kick in.

Hunter looked up at Leah as she untucked one of her braids from the back of her sweater that she had just thrown on. It was Hudson's old sweater, and she certainly was needing the home comfort knowing that there was a high chance she was going to starve to death soon. The braids were a new look for her, having gotten them done by Toni that morning as Dot explained the plan for the day to everyone.

"Well Leah," Hunter answered back in a teasing tone, noticing the way Leah was smiling at her with a quirked eyebrow. The girl had certainly been getting more and more paranoid but Hunter was just glad to see that she had calmed down for now - but maybe that was the hunger that was doing that to her. "That would depend on what you think you heard."

"I'm pretty sure I heard the wonderful Miss Shalifoe tell you that she loved you and you replying," Leah noted, a smile on her face as Hunter blushed a glorious shade of red. Leah burst into laughter at her response, knowing that the girl didn't think anyone had heard their exchange. "Yeah, I hate to tell you this but we all heard it. I don't know why you guys thought we were all asleep but literally everyone was still awake."

"Shut up," Hunter groaned, grimacing as her foot brushed some coral or something as they paddled through the water. The chances of them catching fish were low and certain a last resort especially since they were all aware that even if they did catch something, Shelby was allergic and they would risk giving themselves food poisoning again like they did with the mussels. Hunter didn't think she could go through all that again. "Are you joking? Leah, please tell me you're joking!!"