Sam’s got gauze, antiseptic spray and bandages set on a clean pad ready to go. I’m holding on to Easton’s hand, my arm wrapped around his side, ready to put downward pressure on him when Sam pours the alcohol, in case he can’t stay in place.
“One, two . . .”
Chapter 11
Baren
Zane
There’s a loud scream from the mud huts where we left the rest of the group. It’s sharp and clear but stops as quickly as it started. I’m pivoting to go back when Calvin grips my arm.
“They’re cleaning him up,” Calvin says without stopping his pace into the jungle. “As long as we hear nothing else, we should get the water. The sooner we can get him back to camp, the better off everyone will be. This side of the island is better off left for the ghosts.”
I’m glaring at the backside of the knuckle-nut’s head. Seriously. “Or this side of the island has goats, chickens, and?—”
“—a fuck-ton of cats. And there’s no chicken. If there had been chickens, I would have brought one back. And what are we going to do with a goat? You think Haley would let us eat one? And keeping them for their milk? Too much work. Plus, I told you there were goats.”
I stop on the narrow trail. “But you could have told us that this was over here.” I’m steamed.
“I was planning on it. But I wanted to... I wanted to bury the dead first. Then we found the Rock Candy and I thought...” He’s not stopping, so I have to quickstep to catch up with him.
“You thought what?”
“I had fucking hoped, okay? For the first time in a long time, I had hope. With enough man hours, we could have gotten the thing started and then, with what we found last night, I thought we could make it out of here.”
“You mean you found the pirates?” I jog to keep up with him.
“It doesn’t matter. The stream’s up ahead. Let’s just get the water.”
“What the bloody hell, mate? You need to get your shit in order. No more secrets.” I push back a branch and there in front of us is a large bay. It’s rocky, but under other circumstances I’d be shocked by the beauty of the place.
“The freshwater stream’s up there. It’s a bit of a scramble. You ready?”
I’m scowling at him, but it’s more than a scramble to get over the giant boulders. I’m using all the air in my lungs to keep up with him, which might be his plan to keep me from yelling at him. The serious fucker. I want to smack him into next week. “How many times have you come over here without us knowing?” I shout into the waves.
He turns around and gives me that silent stare. “It’s up here. You need a hand?” He stops, standing on a tall boulder, and reaches down to me.
“Nah, I’ve got it.” I’m not short by any means, and in a lot of ways, I’m a lot nimbler than the damn Viking.
I can smell the fresh water before I see it. There’s a small waterfall where the freshwater makes its way into the ocean. There’s a rainbow in the spray as the water crashes over the rocks. I stop next to it and pull the water bottles out of my pack.
“Give them to me. I’ll climb up there and get it from the stream. There’s bound to be salt in this section from the ocean spray.”
“No, I’ll climb up. You can wait here.”
Calvin shrugs. “We can both go up.” He grabs handholds with the swiftness of someone who’s been here many times. And in the end, he’s standing on the edge next to the waterfall before I can get there.
It’s flat, and the jungle is thin here. Off in the distance is another structure. Compared to the ones on the other beach, this one appears whole.
“What’s that?”
“I haven’t... Listen, there are things that the rest of you don’t need to carry. Okay? Please.” Calvin runs his hand over his face.
I’ve got my chin jutted out, and I take a few steps down the stream. It splits a hundred feet up ahead and goes back the way of the other huts. “Any reason that we couldn’t have just gone the other way? Any bloody reason we couldn’t have come around the back of the huts and gone there?”
“Yeah, about ten.”
“Calvin?” I hold my hands in the air.
