《Wrecked》The 48
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"We need to figure out what we're working with here, I need to know what's beyond the forest." My fingers were barely grazing Cara's skin as I treated her leg.
"Well then let's go." Caila was leant up against the log next to my makeshift workspace. She hadn't left my side since Robbie had died yesterday, forcing me to eat each time Elena and Dailia had cooked a meal. The lesbian couple had taken it upon themselves to keep everyone feed, they liked to joke saying; at least being a housewife has finally paid off. I hated to do it but I had spoken to them about rationing out the food, if we were lucky we'd have enough food for two meals a day for 50 people for a month. I'd never heard of a rescue team taking a month to find a fallen plane, but something deep down also told me that it shouldn't have taken them this long either.
"I couldn't leave all these people, what if something happened?" I responded, addressing the only reason why I hadn't already taken off searching the rest of the island.
"I think I can manage, plus you've gotten everyone under control- and I've been watching everything you do." Rukma, the middle Indian sister, spoke up as she paused her work stitching up a young boys shoulder. His deltoid muscle was exposed, the flesh around it irritated and his face shaded with white and green. My heart ached as I knew I didn't have the medicine to save him. Lying him down onto the makeshift beds we'd created, Rukma continued. "I know I'm not a doctor or anything, but being a nurse- you pick up things. Please, if it means you can find some more food or even a way off this island I couldn't live with myself knowing I could have helped too."
"We will be home before dark." I answered all there questioning eyes with my simple statement.
"Be safe." She muttered, taking over my hands on Cara's leg. The young blonde smiled up at me but it didn't reach her eyes- I could see she was struggling and I wanted nothing more than to end help her.
"Dru," Cara grabbed onto my shirt hem before I could stand up. "Can you bring back any purple flowers you find? I can't find any and Nancy- that was her favourite colour." The tears swelled in her eyes as she spoke. I had found out that her class had been on their way for a school field trip and after take off her boyfriend asked to switch seats with her best friend. The same boyfriend I'd watch her take a massive right hook to on the first day. Her best friend, Nancy, had been impaled instantly and her boyfriend had lived. They hadn't spoken since, but I could see him out of the corner of my eyes- standing at the edge of my workspace his eyes never once leaving Cara.
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"Of corse." I threw her a weak smile, I knew what it felt like to lose your best friend here and I would make damn sure I found the purple flowers for the broken girl.
Walking towards the fire I spotted Jesse speaking in a hushed tone to Elena, ignoring them I walked straight up to Vincent who was attempting to cut up some firewood.
"Make sure Jesse doesn't cause any trouble while we're gone, Caila and I'll be back before It gets dark." Before I could turn to start collecting gear we might need for the day, I was stopped.
"Where are you going? That doesn't matter- I'm coming." I didn't bother arguing , instead let Caila do the speaking.
"We're going to scope out the island, there might be more food out there that we could use." She had bent over trying to stuff a water bottle into the makeshift backpack on her back. My eyes scanned over to my med area, there was a women screeching in pain.
I needed to find her some herbs to take away the pain- my knowledge on herbs was minimal and I had no clue what region we were even in to know what plants would be present but I had to try.
"Let's not waste any time then." I began to pack my bag with everything we'd need. We'd be fine without food; I did however grab another water bottle and the makeshift weapons a group of boys had made for catching fish out of the beach. My hands reached for some rope and I felt to ensure my knife was firmly tucked into my pocket.
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"I'm going to a party and I'm bringing a apple." Gemma started the next round of the game, that the small group of people that had insisted on following us into the forest, had been playing for the last hour.
"Can I bring a banana?" Vincent played along, pushing the tree out of the way and holding it aside as everyone followed threw.
"Yes, you can."
"Can I bring a orange?" This time Caila attempted it.
"No, you can't."
"A watermelon?" Vincent question was posed as he stumble on a log, causing a chuckle to spread across our small group. "So it's not fruit.."
"Apricot?"
"Nope."
"Dog?"
"Nope?"
"Elephant, you can always bring an elephant!"
"Nope." Gemma's smirk showed she was proud of herself for creating one they couldn't guess.
"A carrot?" This time I stepped in, having a pretty good idea what her trick was.
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"Yes, you can bring a carrot."
"Can I bring a dog?" The smirk on her face was gone when she realised I had clued on.
"Yes you can now bring a dog."
"Hey, I couldn't!" Vincent exclaimed, "This is a conspiracy!"
"A Egg?" I continued to guess, shoving my win in Vincent's face.
"Yes."
Cluing onto it Caila had the next guess. "A fridge?"
"Yes."
"Come on!" Vincent groaned, huffing in annoyance has he and Gemma continued playing the game. I pushed my stride ahead, a small smile possessing my lips and tugging them upwards. I'd always played that game with Darcy and our boyfriends as we went for hikes. It was something we did every Sunday when we had dated, something that somehow always distracted me from the hardships happen at the time and carrying me away with some simple light-hearted fun.
Despite the game we'd been playing my eyes hadn't stopped scanning our surroundings, the bush was un-kept and there were large clearing every couple of hundred meters. The trees bore fruit, which we agreed we would collect on our way back. They also possessed some herbs I recognised, all of which i'd stuffed into my bag. There was no trace of water, nor any animals other than the birds we could hear singing up in the trees. There was not a doubt in our minds that we were alone on this island.
It was then that I saw them, the purple flowers on the far side of the clearing we were approaching. They were hidden underneath the shade of the large tree right behind them. But I could still see how in bloom they were, they showed no signs of decaying just yet, telling me that they may have just blossomed.
"A goat?" Vincent cheered out as if he'd just cracked the code.
"Yes!" Gemma breathed, thankful he had finally caught on, tired of his many failed attempts.
In what could only be described as a victory dance Vincent's limbs moved awkwardly has he moved threw the clearing. Signing to himself he brushed fake dirt off his shoulders blowing as he puffed his chest out.
It all happened before we could register it, there was the song of spring being coiled and sprung forward. I screamed out to Vincent who seemed oblivious, producing the whip dance move as he sung out Drakes one dance with the words victory dance. As his whip finished the arrow met his shoulder, it didn't appear to have met bone because it continue threw and out the other end where it did stop. Looking around, searching for the person that sent off the arrow but there was no one, and no sight of another arrow.
Vincent fell silent, holding onto his arm with his eyes wide in shock. Caila and Gemma were the same, both frozen in place before the rushed to his side. Tracing back to where the arrow would have come from I found a crossbow set up, perched above a rock with a pulley system that had seemingly been actived.
Pulling the Crossbow out of it's place I followed the string attached, trying to see what had activated it. It lead me to Vincent's feet, the thin translucent string barely visible.
"You set off a booby trap." I breathed, not even wanting to consider what that meant. "Some one set this up, and usually when the hunters do that the killer dogs aren't far behind. Ready to pick up the corpse." They understood what I meant.
"Gemma, apply pressure to his shoulder, I cant do anything until we get back to base." Nodding at me Gemma's colour returned to her face again as she ripped off the bottom of her shirt to place it around where the arrow has nestled in.
"Damn if that's all I had to do to get your shirt off I would have gotten shot earlier." Vincent's boyish smile didn't disappear even after he'd been shot; his teasing nature told me that he wasn't in any real trouble.
I quickly grabbed the biggest bunch of the flowers that I could, using my knife to separate them from their bush I caught up to the other three.
"What does this mean, Dru?" Caila's shoulder brushed against mine as we legged it come, pushing out legs at three times the speed of our leisurely stroll we used on the way there. "Are we safe?"
"I don't know Caila." I admitted, still not willing to comprehend what the weapon in my hands meant. "But I do know it means that we aren't alone on this island."
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