The emotions flowing through Max were more than he’d ever experienced before. He’d almost lost her twice in a short amount of time. One from falling out of the sky, the second from monsters in the ocean. He would keep her safe from here on out. Even after they were rescued, he would keep her protected whether she wanted it or not.

A smile came to his lips thinking about her feisty little tantrum on the rocks, telling him not to scold her for saving him from becoming chum. Apparently, she didn’t handle reprimands very well.

“What are you smiling about?” she asked as they sat next to the stream with the picnic foods scattered.

“Nothing,” he replied. He held out his hand to her. “Let’s take a hike around the island. We might find something interesting.”

“Sure,” she answered, reaching to take his hand. After she was on her feet, he led her along the stream winding through the dense trees. Holding hands, they walked leisurely, not really hiking.

Birds chirped and sang in the thick forest. The underbrush was heavy in some places, but others were easy to pass through. The sun sprinkled through the green canopy high overhead. The foliage was so thick that from the air, it was impossible to see the ground except along the sandy coast.

“So,“ he asked, “how long has your dad been doing the survival training?”

“As long as I can remember,” she replied. “Grandpa was a scout in the Vietnam conflict. He pretty much learned all he knew while on location. Live recon via drones hadn’t quite made it to the limelight yet.”

Max asked, “I guess he made it back okay?”

“Define, okay,” she grumped. “Yeah, he had PTSD, but he pulled through it all and when he married Grandma and started a family, he’d adjusted back into civilian life.”

“That’s great to hear,” he answered. “Nowadays we hear too many stories that don’t end as well.”

“Yeah, at least nowadays, the government doesn’t use their own men as living guinea pigs.”

He looked back at her. “What do you mean?”

She sighed. “It’s a long story. Basically, Grandpa’s brother was in Nam with him. Tim was a couple years younger and in great health as an athlete in college. The men over there, they all talked about the enemy and the strange things they saw that couldn’t be explained.”

“Like what?” Max asked. His family had gone overseas too for the conflict, but he never heard any stories from his grandparents.

“How at night, low-flying aircraft would skim the top of the jungle and dump some kind of powder over everything. Not long after all the plants—all of them—were dead.”

“Sounds like that Agent Orange stuff,” Max said.

“Exactly,” Kara replied. “Grandpa said the military told them it was safe for humans, just not plants. What a lying stack of shit that was.”

“What happened?” Max asked.

“Well, Tim, Grandpa’s brother, the athlete, died at the age of thirty-five from extreme diabetes, kidney failure, a rare blood disorder, and who knows what else. And he didn’t get all of that living in a town of five thousand people.”

“Wow. I didn’t know anything about that,” Max answered. He was glad the world had developed where the public took more interest in things going on around them. Watchdog groups and public pressure has kept government closer to the straight and narrow. He thought anyway.

“But I digress,” Kara said. “This conversation is about my dad and his teaching.” Shit, Max had forgotten what they were talking about. “So, Grandpa taught Dad everything he knew about surviving in the wilderness as a kid. And then he joined Boy Scouts and just blew the minds of the pack leaders.”

Max laughed. “I bet your dad just ate that up, if he was the same kind of person then.”

“Oh, you bet he did,” she replied. “He was just as determined that his only child knew how to survive in case of a zombie apocalypse.”

“What about his grandkids?” Max said. He glanced at her when she didn’t answer right away.

“We’ll have to see,” she answered softly. “He doesn’t have any.”

“Will he have any?” Max knew what he hoped she would say. He wanted a family, loving wife and children to make his hair prematurely gray. He wanted grandkids he could spoil and threaten his children with—the “wait till you have your own child” curse.

But he only wanted that with Kara. He couldn’t see anyone else in her place.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

He chuckled at her sudden change of subject. “When we were over the jungle, I saw a strange spot that was cleared of trees. Thought we could check it out.”

“Where on the island are we?” Kara asked.

Max grunted. “We barely made it to land. If we’d been going at my normal cruising speed, we would’ve crashed into the water and never be seen again.”

“Besides scaring the shit out of me, that answers my question how?”

He said, “We’re at the northern part of an island that we shouldn’t have gotten to yet.”

“Oh,” she understood, “you’re saying no one is going to find us because we should’ve crashed into the ocean based on a time schedule.”

He nodded. “Basically.”

“And you’re hoping this cleared piece of land is human made and that someone has a phone and bottle of Jim Beam?”

Max cocked his head, hearing a rumble. Kara did the same. “You hear that?” she asked. He nodded, noting the stream widening and slowing.

“I bet it’s a small waterfall.”

“You really think so?” she said

“Yeah,” he replied. “Let’s see.” He grabbed her hand tighter and guided them along the water until they came to a dip in the stream.

“How beautiful,” Kara said. She ventured forward, trying to get closer to the fall.

“Kara,” Max warned, “be careful.”

She rolled her eyes. “Always,” she said.

He grunted to himself, knowing what Kara’s definition of safe was. Stepping back, Max’s hand brushed along the top of a plant. Pain stung his hand bad enough to make him holler out in surprise.

Kara spun where she stood. “What happened? Are you okay?”

Max chastised himself for being such a wuss. “Yeah, it’s just a damn stinging nettle plant. I will be fine.”

Kara searched the ground, then pushed through the underbrush to a tall plant with big green leaves. She plucked a couple and put them in her mouth. Chewing, she made her way back to him.

“Give me your hand,” she said. He was almost afraid to ask but trusted her skills. She took the chewed leaves from her mouth and place them on top of the nettles. The stinging pain immediately reduced to a low throb.

“Huh,” he said, “didn’t know about that.”

Kara slapped him on the back. “Next chapter. Survival training 102,” she said. “That’s why you’re only a golden tiger while I’m a platinum dragon.”

Damn, he was impressed. Platinum dragon was like the Navy SEALs of the military.

Kara smirked. “Don’t get all impressed or anything. All that was at least fifteen years ago.”

“Still, not bad though.” Max shrugged. The wind through the trees perked up as if somebody turned on an industrial-sized fan. Overhead, dark clouds move in.

“Wow. Storms roll in fast here,” Kara said.

“Let’s get back to the plane,” Max replied and took her hand. Before they had gone a few yards, the trees whipped into a frenzy, slapping branches at their heads. “Shit,” Max hollered over the wind, “we need to find a shelter or we’ll never make it back.” He couldn’t believe the ferocity of the weather. But with no buildings to block anything, they got the full force of Mother Nature’s spite.

“There.” Kara pointed to the side of the waterfall where the rocky slope continued up to an overhang sheltered by boulders. As they climbed, the incline was getting slippery with the rain turning the dirt into mud. A sudden gust raced over the ridge, knocking Kara off her feet.

She started to slide sideways off the hill, grasping at anything that would stop her fall. Seeing nothing that could save her, Max dove and snagged her wrist, smashing his ribs against the hard and uneven surface. Her downward momentum dragged him a foot farther, but his other hand was securely latched into a crack in the rock.

He called out to her, but she didn’t hear him over the thunder booming and shaking the ground. With rain streaking down her body, hair hung in her face, keeping him from reading her expression. But she clawed her way to him despite the stinging drops pelting their bodies.

Cold and drenched, they made it to the stone cubby hole.

Huddled against the rock and panting, Kara rubbed her arms, teeth chattering. He needed to get a fire started. Surveying the area, seemed they weren’t the only one to use this as a shelter. That must mean someone lived on this island. He hadn’t seen any sign of life when they were in the air, but he guessed that didn’t really mean too much.

Jammed into a crevice was enough tinder to burn for a while. A few flint rocks lay on the ground below. He gathered those and tucked into the dry corner next to Kara.

After bunching the fuel together, he pulled out his pocketknife and slashed it across the flint.

Kara’s brows lifted.

“What?” he asked.

“You carry a pocketknife?” she said.

Max mockingly bowed toward her. “Yes, Jedi Master. Even little grasshopper knows that rule.”

Kara laughed at his playfulness. Within minutes, a fire warm enough to stave off the chill flickered in front of them.

Safe and secure and warm, the two looked at each other and started to laugh. The built-up tension and fear released, relaxing their tired bodies.

“You know,” Max said with a smile, “your shirt is dirty. You should take if off.”

“Ha,” she spit out, “so is yours. Take yours off.”

He shrugged. “Fine with me.” He pulled the wet material over his head.

Kara crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. “Easy for you to do. You don’t have anything to hide.”

He leaned against her. “Neither do you, darling.” His lips found her chilled ones and he took it upon himself to warm up all of her.