Wish You Were Here

28

Grant led us into an open area with rocky dirt and less trees. The sun came up and warmed our faces. I was afraid to be out in the open like that, in plain view, but the woods were too dangerous to stay in. Grant came to a halt at a giant boulder. He was out of breath, as we all were, and took a minute to slow his breathing.

"Who else is on this island besides Dean and Gina?" he asked Aaron.

"Just us," he replied, looking confused.

Will shook his head. "Nah, there are others. The girls had a couple of guys go into the cabin. The one we passed that was in flames. Right, Ryleigh?"

I nodded quickly at him and then faced Aaron.
"Two guys came in when Grant and Will were out looking for you. I don't know who they were."

Aaron  looked from me back to Will.
"I only saw Dean and Gina. That was more than enough for me."

Will narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything. Grant didn't want to stay in one place any longer, but we were too exhausted to keep running. We slowed to a brisk walk, keeping as fast of a pace as we could. The ground was uneven and dry, reflecting the sun as the temperature warmed.

It felt as though we walked for hours without getting anywhere. My throat was scratchy and my eyes burned from the sun. Sweat dripped down my face and I drank the last of my water. We were all overheated. Just when I felt my knees were about to buckle, Grant tried to shout something. His voice was hoarse and instead he just pointed ahead. I shielded my eyes with my hand and looked past him.

A stream ran through the dirt just up ahead of us. I think we all paused for a moment, wondering if we were all sharing the same mirage. Wearily we gravitated towards the running water. I wanted nothing more than to peel off my clothes and lay down in the cool stream. I actually considered it for a second. The heat peaked in the afternoon and with no shade to shield us, the sun beat down on us with no mercy. The guys all tore their shirts off and walked right into the water.

Kneeling on my hands and knees, I cupped the cool water in both hands and splashed it across my face a few times. I drank so fast I almost choked. Turning, I sat up, splashing the water onto my legs and arms.

Across the stream there were trees, but nowhere near as thick as the woods we were in before. I pointed, my throat still too tight to yell. Grant splashed his face and rubbed his eyes, looking across the stream. He nodded at me. If we could cross the stream, we could at least relish in a little shade, as well as no longer be out in the open.

Standing up, my legs ached in defiance. My muscles twitched and I bent down, stretching and wincing in pain. My body wasn't prepared for this. I was in good shape, being active at home. But doing P.E. in school and occasionally playing basketball or riding my bike all weren't nearly enough to have trained my body for what I had been experiencing. Even Grant, Will, and Aaron seemed to be moving at a slower pace. And they were all in great shape from what I could tell. The lack of nutrition and water was draining of us, weakening us as we lost weight and muscle.

I stepped into the cool water until I was in up to my waist. My clothes clung to my body and my hiking boots filled with water. I took large, heavy steps, my feet feeling like weights. We all slowly made our way across the water. The current wasn't too fast or strong enough to knock us over. But it just took time to make our way all the way through it. Grant made it the other side and tried to stomp the water out of his shoes. Next came Will, carrying our plastic bags high over his head.

I was behind Aaron, who had slowed to a snail's pace. He actually stopped completely for a few minutes, catching his breath. I remembered how he'd looked when we saw him on the screen. Dean and Gina had probably drugged him. He looked so weak and out of it, nodding in and out of consciousness. I didn't know how he had the stamina to have gone as far as we had.

I stayed behind Aaron, carefully holding my arms up and pushing my way through. I was concentrating on my feet as I got deeper into the water. It was too deep and dark to actually see my shoes. I had to steady myself with my arms. The water was loud around me, blocking out surrounding sounds.

I spent too much time gazing into the dark water instead of focusing straight ahead. When I finally looked up, Grant was waving his arms in the air. I could see his mouth moving but couldn't hear him. Aaron had gotten way ahead of me somehow. My stomach dropped at the realization that I would be the only one in the water as soon as he got to the other side. I watched as Aaron picked up his pace, quickly cutting through the water.

Grant was calling out to me, but I still couldn't hear him. I shook my head. Aaron climbed onto the land and looked behind him. Whatever he saw caused him to take off into the trees. Confused, I turned my head to see behind me.

At first I thought they were shadows. My eyes couldn't focus. But then they moved, drawing closer to the stream. Three people dressed in all black were rushing towards the water, towards me.

I faced forward again and found Grant.

"Ryleigh!" he shouted. "Hurry!"

I pushed the water past me. My feet were so heavy, but I took as wide of steps as I could. Fumbling, I tried to rush across. I stayed focused on Grant. Will had dropped the bags on the ground, but now I saw him pick one up and rummage through it. When he heard Grant calling out to me, he stopped and looked up. His eyes widened and he tried to pull at Grant.
My heart was pounding. Grant shook Will off and yelled something at him.

Will stared over at me and back at Grant, yelling something before running into the trees, still clutching one of the bags in his hand.

"Come on, Ry!" Grant's hoarse voice carried across the water.

I rushed as fast as I could. I was almost there. Something hit the water off to my left and I jumped, startled, but then kept going. Grant came running into the stream, reaching for me.
Finally he grabbed my hand, pulling me faster than I could go. I stumbled but kept my footing. He reached down to grab the other bag that Will had left behind and we ran.

I turned to look behind me quickly. I could clearly see two guys and one girl waist high in the water. The two guys were both tall with broad shoulders and matching buzzed haircuts.  Their black t-shirts clung to their muscular arms. The girl looked closer to my age, but it was hard to tell for sure. She had a plain black baseball cap on her head casting a slight shadow on her face. She wore the same black t-shirt as the guys did, and they all wore black pants and boots. One of the guys reached his arm high behind him and launched something into the air. Grant had briefly turned to look behind us and grabbed my hand.

"Get down!" he screamed.

He pulled me to the ground just as a small explosion went off in the dirt next to us. I screamed and covered my face with my hands.
My ears were ringing. Grant pulled me up and I vaguely heard him saying my name.

"You okay?" he yelled. I nodded.

"We gotta keep going!" he hollered and we took off into the trees.