Survivor

42| Great Escape (pt. 1)

Jake was right, I found Luke standing outside of the cave waiting for me. Although Wayde had made it clear we weren't supposed to speak, I could tell by his eyes that Luke was asking me if I knew the plan. I knew what needed to be done, but that didn't mean I was any less nervous about our escape. I just kept thinking about all the ways that our plan could go wrong.

I gave Luke a subtle nod before heading into the cave to change out of my wet clothes. I stopped short when I saw Garret was in there already.

His greedy eyes raked up and down my body, and I was suddenly feeling very exposed as I felt the wet material of my shirt clinging to my breasts and stomach.

"You go for a swim?" He asked.

I nodded. "Just wanted to wash up quick."

Garret took a step closer to me and I was about to exit the cave altogether when I felt a palm on my back. I was relieved to see Luke was behind me and I instantly felt safer. As Jake had promised, they wouldn't let anything like last night happen to me again.

"Garret, Wayde was lookin' for ya," Luke said with a stern voice.

"For what?" He asked, his eyes not leaving my chest.

Luke shrugged, "Beats me. I think something about guarding the gun."

As soon as Garret left the cave, Luke shuffled me forward towards my suitcase. "Get dressed quick before he comes back," he commanded before turning around to guard the door.

"Was that true?" I asked as I quickly removed my wet shirt.

"No... but I'll just play dumb. Better than having him in here eye-fucking you."

"Thank you," I said as I shimmied into a dry pair of shorts.

"No problem." There was a brief moment of silence before he spoke again, "Cassie are you okay? You know, after everything that happened yesterday?" He asked.

I took a breath before answering. "No... not really," I replied honestly, "but I need to be, and I will be."

"You're a strong girl Cassie. Hold on to that," Luke said with his signature reassuring smile. "Shit, he's coming back already. Be ready for tonight. I'll signal you when it's time," he said before exiting the cave.

I hated how I had to be so distant from the guys, but I really appreciated how he used our one moment alone to check in on me. It made me feel so connected to them still even when we needed to keep our distance. I inched closer to the cave wall to listen in on Garret and Luke.

"I didn't see Wayde," Garret confronted.

"Hmm that's odd. He must have changed his mind?"

There was a moment of silence where I assumed they were staring each other down. "What game are you playing?" Garret sneered.

"The one where I do what I'm told, sir."

It was quiet for a second and then I heard a thud, followed by a grunt from Luke. "That's for being a prick. Now get back to work," Garret ordered.

I flinched. We couldn't keep living like this. These guys didn't deserve to be threatened or hurt constantly. Although my brain was moving a mile a minute thinking about all that could go wrong, my heart was full of hope; hope that with any luck, we would be out of here tonight.

*********

The rest of the day was quiet. We kept our distance from Garret and Wayde, and we all kept our distance from each other too.