gold rush [the wilds, toni shalifoe]

chapter 5

Day Three

Dot

Being awoken to the loud crashes of thunder and rain pelting on her face wasn't how Hunter wished to be woken up, but she actually was considering the possibility to her preferring that over one of the girls shaking her awake since it freaked her out every time. 

Dot was frantically running around them all as they all jumped to their feet, the Texan grabbing all the Diet Coke cans in sight while Hunter tried to push her drenched hair away from her eyes so that she could see better. She was aware that if she didn't get to brush it soon, it was very likely that it was going to get knotted and constantly start to annoy her from hanging in her face, but that was a problem she would just have to find a solution to after the rainstorm was over.

A little known fact about Hunter Boyd was the fact that she utterly despised lightning storms. Rainstorms, she had always been fond of and usually found them calming (when she was inside in the warmth obviously), but any storms that contained lightning and thunder terrified the girl and had done since she was a little kid. Any time there was a thunderstorm, Hudson would always welcome her into his bed like they were little children again and they would put on a film or he would teach her how to play another one of his favourite playstation games in the hopes that it would take her mind off the lightning.

"Come here, I got you," Shelby said from just along from Hunter where she had taken off her own jacket to try and hold it above herself and Martha to keep them slightly more dry from the pelting rain. Hunter paid little to no attention to it, and silently prayed that no matter how bad this storm got that none of the girls would even try come near her. The only person she trusted during thunderstorms was likely thousands of miles away worried sick about her.

"I used to think thunderstorms were like, majestic," Leah yelled out to them all, clutching that stupid book in her hands like it was going to protect her from the storm. Hunter briefly looked up before going back to where she was rocking back and forth slightly, her arms wrapped around her knees as she pulled them to her chest and kept her eyes jammed shut. Toni sent her a concerned look before she noticed where Shelby and Martha were sitting together, trying to hold her anger in at the blonde potentially replacing her.

"That still your take?" Rachel yelled back, instantly being cut off by a loud crash of thunder as the girls all flinched at the noise and how close it seemed to their position.

"No."

Dot sprung back up to her feet, her eyes catching the darkened yellow of the emergency slide that she had dragged back the day before. She had an idea for a temporary shelter and while they wouldn't be able to sleep with it, they'd at least be able to stay a little more dry and hopefully not catch a cold from the rain.

"All right, come on!" Dot yelled out to them all, dragging the slide over to the group of shivering girls. "Everybody grab an end, get under!"

All of the girls hurried to their feet - minus Hunter - as Dot appeared with the slide, rushing to find some shelter from the harsh winds and rain. They all grabbed a section of the slide, throwing it up above as they all slipped under without any haste. They all seemed more relaxed as soon as they got under the slide, before everyone realised that the Texan cheerleader was still sitting in the wet sand, her eyes shut as she muttered under her breath to herself.

Once they all realised that yelling her name wasn't doing anything, it seemed like a lose-lose situation for them all. No-one wanted to say it, but they had to. This was survival, and at the end of the day they all had reasons they wanted to make it home for.