Chosen.

Chosen. Chapter 22

Chapter TWENTY-TWO

Hannah

Wednesday, 01/14, 7:15 PM.

Well, it didn't take everyone long to come to a decision about letting Arris' family join our group, especially when they found out what the extra supplies were and that they were willing to share them with all of us for a place in our camp.

I'm still surprised by Autumn's reaction, though, which struck me as kind of rude! She just stared at Arris for like two whole minutes and then whispered under her breath as she marched back to her tent, "I can't win out here!" I mean, like really, what the heck was that about?? I thought she liked Arris when I introduced her to him on the beach the other day. She even asked him to hang out with her at the waterfall that night. Hmmm, now that I think about it, I wonder how all that went? I forgot to ask.

Anyways, Ryker was at least super happy to see Arris again. He remembered him from the scavenger hunt trial when Arris was kind enough to help him at the water caves. And, of course, I still owed him big time for that night when I got lost and Arris totally saved my butt and covered for me when we got back to the cabin. That is precisely why when Joshua and I ran into him and his family while gathering firewood that I didn't hesitate to tell his family to come check out our campsite. I got the feeling they were a little unsure at first (I guess he and his family have had a rough couple of days out here), but then I explained to them that we had an awesome spot, and give it a chance to at least follow me and Joshua back to meet the other families and see our spot, then decide one way or the other. Once they got to our campsite, though, and saw all the resources, plus how nice we had everything set up, they quickly came around.

Arris' Dad, William, went on a short walk to talk with my Dad, since my dad has now kind of become the chief of our little tribe of families here. They came back smiling with a new plan, and I felt proud that it was my idea to bring them to our camp. Now we have another family joining the group. Go me!!!

I look over to Joshua, who has been pretty quiet about everything so far. He didn't say much when we were with everyone, not like when it's just me and him hanging out. The rest of Joshua's family was nice, though, and so were the Langdons. Ellie quickly offered to show Arris around the area. And, I have to admit, I was a little caught off-guard when I found out that Lance and Arris actually knew each other, too. I guess it was from a past challenge, or something. But Lance went up to him and shook his hand, welcoming him and told him not to worry about what had happened before, that it was all just a big mistake, whatever that meant.

After they all got settled in, we sat around the fire, and Arris' Mom, Veni, passed around beef jerky! Oh....my....God, nothing has ever tasted so good!!! That was one of the extra survival items for finishing in the Top 25, and, boy, was it amazing!! They hadn't used much so far between the three of them, but once they passed it out to all the families in our campsite, it was gone, so I thought it was super kind of them to share the last of it with everyone. I instantly felt energized from the little bit of protein after days of practically nothing, not to mention the mood in camp was like Christmas.

We all stayed up late getting to know the new family better and just chatting. That is, all except for Autumn. She had a piece of the beef jerky and then asked if she could take the new book about North Isle (another of the items they got in their safe to help with survival here) and go back to her tent and read. No one seemed to mind, since—let's be real--she was kind of like a black cloud on all the night's excitement. Arris passed her the book with a smile. She took it without even looking up at him, and then slunk off without another word. (So friggin' weird, right?)

The conversation continued to flow, and Arris' family also gave us some insight on what's going on with the rest of the isle, which didn't sound good at all. They said there was one group of families that had started working together like some sort of organized gang or mob and are wreaking havoc on the island. They have taken supplies from other families, stolen whatever food they can find and are pretty much terrorizing anyone they run into, which, I now realize, is why Arris' family was extra cautious when they ran into me and Joshua earlier.