THE NEXT DAY, EAST DECIDES to explore and look for water. He grabs the pot and the knife, promising to be back by sundown. My stomach clenches nervously as I watch him walk along the beach. We haven’t been separated in days and I feel a little codependent on him. Plus the idea of him wandering around into unknown territory has me more than a little freaked out. What if he gets hurt?
Hands on hips, I survey our little camp. Last night we worked on clearing our daytime space and laid down some ferns we found for added protection against insects. We ate the rest of our protein bars and the coconut I knocked down for dinner.
We were going to need a lot more food to survive now that we were expending more energy. I empty the survival bag’s main compartment and decide to bring it along with me as I forage. Maybe we lucked out and landed on an island full of fruit.
I loop the strap over my shoulders and wish for the thousandth time for a hair tie. God, maybe I should just hack it off….
Shaking my head at my crazy thoughts, I set off into the brush, careful this time to not get scratched up. Or any more scratched up. East seems to have taken quite an interest in my health.
Only because he doesn’t want to be here alone.
“Shut. Up,” I mutter to myself, annoyed at the notions running around in my head.
Neither of us is thinking about sex.
Sex! Taylor, no one even mentioned sex.
“God, it’s been too long.” I snort. Jamie and I hadn’t had sex in the months leading up to the breakup. At the time it never bothered me, but it seems like there’s nothing like a near-death experience and constant danger to rev a girl’s engine.
What a freak.
Besides, I’m currently rocking the shell-shocked, injured survivor look. Decidedly not attractive.
I scratch my itchy scalp and wish for the millionth time for some shampoo. My kingdom for a brush! Anything to detangle the snarled rat’s nest on my head.
Wait…how long have I been walking?
I spin around, heartbeat escalating radically as my panic rises. Ok, ok, this is ok, Taylor. You’re fine. You just came that way—
Or was it that way?
“Shit!” I hiss and look at the ground to see if I can tell from there what path I took, but who the hell am I kidding? I’m not some tracker!
Growling in frustration, I keep moving forward. Or backward. Left or right, I can’t fucking tell because everything looks the same in the jungle. Tree, tree, bush, tree, bush, bush, rocks… “Anything discernable would be massively appreciated right now!” I shout and listen for noises.
“Where the hell is the wildlife?” I murmur; since hearing those birds earlier, I’ve heard nothing else.
Could be a good thing. Don’t want to get eaten by a puma or some crazy cat. Besides, who can complain about lack of company when you have that, I think as a giant spider scurries away.
Shuddering slightly, I keep moving, placing my feet carefully now that I know there are all kinds of creepy shit crawling everywhere. Too bad I didn’t have something to kill that spider.
“Ha!” I would never eat a spider. Not that hungry yet. Maybe tomorrow if I’m not successful.
I wonder if East is having better success?
God, I hope so. We have the coconuts, but I’d kill for some water.
A tree root comes out of nowhere and trips me up. Yelping, I fall flat on my face. “Come on, jungle!”
Rolling onto my back, I notice the tree has what looks like gigantic green grapes dangling from around its center. Wait a second…
“Jackfruit!” I squeal, recognizing it almost instantly. Jamie is a vegan and would substitute jackfruit for meat all the time. I even got good at cooking it myself.
Jackfruit tastes wonderful and you can even eat the seeds after boiling. Downside? They weigh a ton; larger ones can weigh up to eighty pounds. I need to find a smaller one that’s ripe. Hopping to my feet, I roam around the tree and finally find a few ripe ones.
“Come to mama!” I lean down to pick up the one closest, but I can’t lift it on my own. “Ok, not that one.”
I move to the next, which is smaller, but this big bitch has to weigh nearly twenty pounds. Huffing in frustration, I consider my options. Try to find my way back to camp and hopefully remember how to get back here or take it now and roam around the jungle with twenty pounds of fruit in my makeshift backpack?
There’s no choice, I have to take it with me.
Kneeling down, I try to fit it in the survival bag, but it’s too big. Sighing in frustration, I realize I’m going to have to use both my hands. There goes any form of balance or defending myself if anything happens. Again, no choice, Taylor, just try not to walk into a den of jungle cats.
I look up to the sky to see if I can position myself with the sun, but the canopy is too thick.
“East!” I yell on a long shot, wondering if he’s by some miracle nearby. Only silence greets me. “You’ll be fine. You’re on an island, just find the beach.”
I go to the right and walk carefully through the brush, keeping my eyes on the ground for any sign that I’ve come through here before. I should leave some kind of marking along the way next time I venture out. Supposing I don’t get bit by a giant spider or something equally treacherous.
After about twenty minutes of walking, I have to take a break. My arms are killing me and I’m pouring sweat. If I have to take a break every ten minutes there is no way I’m getting back before nightfall, and the idea of spending the night away from the beach has me climbing to my feet instantly.
“East!” I yell again, but again there’s nothing. God, how far away did I walk? He promised not to go too far from our makeshift camp.
The further the sun sinks behind the trees the darker it gets, and a sick feeling settles into my stomach. I won’t be able to keep walking without daylight. It’s hard enough as it is now. I’m going to have to find somewhere to stay, I think, tears welling in my eyes at the idea.
“Dammit,” I gasp and keep trudging, keeping my eyes open for anywhere that looks safe. How much time has passed?
I walk for another hour, stopping intermittently before finding a fallen tree. This is definitely the wrong way; I didn’t pass any fallen trees.
I close my eyes in defeat, trying to slow my breath, when I hear it.
Waves.
I gently set down my prize, relief flooding me, and rub my eyes to clear away some of the sweat. The difference in humidity in here compared to the beach is startling. My skin is slick with it; my clothing sticking to me so much I feel suffocated. I shake out my arms and wince when I see how red and irritated they are from gripping the spikey fruit so tightly.
I do my best to rub the sweat on my arms onto my clothes and pick the fruit back up, groaning loudly. Twenty pounds now feels like a hundred, and I know I’ll be sore as hell tomorrow.
Glancing down, I see my feet are riddled with cuts and dirt. I’ll have to wash those as soon as possible. My leather boat shoes I threw on the night the boat sank offer little to no protection. If they couldn’t be used for something else, I’d have thrown them into the woods by now.
The trees begin to thin out the closer I get to the sound of water and soon the ground is softer as I hit sand. When I finally clear the trees, a small cove greets me. It’s a small U-shaped beach, but it doesn’t look like it goes all the way around. There goes walking along the beach and eventually finding East.
I could swim…
But that takes energy I don’t have and who the hell knows what’s in the water. Dusk is feeding time for sharks. Or at least that’s what the television tells me. I place the fruit down in the sand and decide now’s a good time as any to at least give myself a makeshift bath. At least there’s still some light.
Kicking off my shoes, I strip quickly and move into the water. It’s cooler here than at our beach, probably because of all the shade the trees provide, but holy shit, it feels glorious.
I’m too chicken to go further in the water so I stop where it reaches my knees and sink to my bottom, letting the water cool my body down. I sink my hand into the sand at the bottom and rub it along my body.
“God, that feels good,” I moan and rinse off the excess sand with water. Leaning back, I rinse my hair and do my best to finger comb out the snarls.
I look behind me where I left my things and sigh loudly. I squint at the sun and see it’s nearly sunk behind the trees. Shit. Looks like I’m making this beach my home for the night. Dunking my head one last time, I leave the water and do my best to air dry before shrugging on my dirty clothes.
I do my best to clear out the area I’ve designated as my bed for the night. Sinking to the ground, I pull the fruit close and let exhaustion overtake me. I should be scared but I’m too tired. My last thought before drifting off to sleep is of East. Hopefully he’s ok and not freaking out.