The Forbidden Trilogy(166)

He nodded and stood, still wobbly.

Lucy sighed and handed him water and the can of stew she'd saved for him—the can that had tempted her beyond sanity all night long. She hadn't eaten it despite her anger, knowing he'd need it after all that drinking.

Luke drank an entire water bottle of water, then ate the can of stew in a few giant bites, and consumed three coconuts.

Lucy stood on the edge of their camp, pack secure on her back, and tapped her foot impatiently. When Luke finally joined her, she pivoted without a word and stomped off toward the lake so they could replenish their water before a long day of hiking.

***

"If you complain about your headache one more time, I'll pull out my gun and use your head for target practice. I swear to God, Luke." She slapped her walking stick against the trees for added impact as she walked through the dense jungle.

Their hike had become an endless montage of trees, bugs, and Luke's complaints. Lucy felt sticky and coated in sweat. Her baseball hat clung to her moist hair, and she wanted desperately to take it off, but didn't want to burn. Her back ached from her pack, laden with the extra food and water.

Luke had been a miserable companion the entire day. He pouted, complained, and generally slowed her down. What little patience she had was gone.

For the first part of the day, they'd tried to stick close to the shore, but they eventually reached the cliffs and had to veer deeper into the jungle.

Like being on a jungle-inspired treadmill, Lucy didn't feel like they'd gained much ground, but they'd been walking since sunrise and the sun was now setting over the mountains. Darkness descended quickly in the jungle. Too quickly.

Lucy stopped and looked around. The area was mostly flat, with some good dry wood for making a fire. "We need to stop and set up camp, get a fire going before we can't see anything anymore."

Luke slumped to the ground without a word, and Lucy sighed and started collecting wood for the fire. He finally joined her, just as she had nearly finished building the fire.

Once it blazed to life, they sat and sipped at their water. At least coconuts were in abundance, and the milk from them kept them hydrated. They ate their coconuts in silence. Lucy pretended it was a cheeseburger and fries, but the fantasy only made her hungrier.

Luke slurped out the last of the milk from his and cracked it open to work on the meat. "So, did you see that Brad and Des are together? That's awesome."

Perfect, just the conversation Lucy needed to feel even more miserable. "Yeah, I saw. I'm happy for them."

Loneliness ate into her, and it wasn't just Luke's recent distance that made her feel this way. She'd felt it for awhile, but hadn't wanted to acknowledge what it was, or maybe she couldn't acknowledge it. Sometimes the hole in her just felt... so hollow, and identifying the piece that fit it was impossible.

A branch snapped in the jungle and jerked Lucy back to her surroundings. She whispered, "There's something in the trees."

Luke did nothing to conceal his voice. "Whatever. Probably some animal. Nothing to worry about."

"Maybe. But even if that's true, then that's dinner. Something other than coconut. I'm going to check it out."

Luke didn't offer to come, which hurt her, but she ignored the feeling and grabbed her gun and knife. She walked quietly and heard more branches snap. It could be something big. She hoped the gun and knife would be enough. Her stomach rumbled with the promise of hot meat but the sphere in her pocket pulsed and her instincts made her cautious. It might not be an animal after all.

Another snap, closer this time.

She rushed forward, fast but careful, closer and closer to the sound.

Then she stopped.

In front of her stood a young man around her age, dressed in black, with black hair streaked with some kind of light highlight.

He had a submachine gun pointed at Lucy.

She had her pistol pointed at him.

They locked eyes.

Around them the jungle seemed to fall silent, as if holding its breath to see what would happen next. Or maybe that was just Lucy.

As they stared at each other, Lucy studied him more closely, focusing on the details of his face, despite the darkness surrounding them. His chiseled jaw was locked in focus, and his green eyes seemed to study her just as intently as she studied him.

A woman came up behind him carrying a flashlight. The tall forty-something woman with sandy blonde hair brought mixed feelings for Lucy.

Agent Simmons smiled. "Lucy! Oh, we've found you." She gestured to the guy with the gun. "Agent Riley, stand down. She's with us."

Agent Riley lowered his gun, and Lucy did the same as Simmons embraced her.

"We're so glad to see you. We saw the plane go down and hoped you'd all made it to the island, so we put together a search party immediately. Where is everyone? Where's Agent Morrison? All communications have been down. We didn't even know if anyone survived, but you did!"