PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

LXIV. Let's Go, Pretty Boy

Everyone trinkled down, till Ben and Eva were left.

"Let's go, Eva."

Eva sighed loudly, but stood to her feet, shuffling her way after the others. Ben nodded, and began walking beside her.

~~~

"This place is weird. It's like another planet or something. Oh, maybe we were abducted by aliens!" Kenji joked, softly clocking Eva's shoulder.

Eva cracked a smile. "Ugh, I wish. Maybe then they could teleport us back home."

"What if they're six foot tall rats that want to eat us? Or enslave us?"

Then Brooklynn should have left me in bardo.

"Well, we're already good at running, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Yaz rolled her eyes. "Cause dinosaurs weren't enough, now we're washed up on some deserted island."

"♪ Castaways!"

Everyone groaned, minus Kenji, who joined in and began singing the song with her.

"Eva, Kenji, I love you guys, but shut up," Sammy told them.

"Well, at least it's a nice day?" Ben proposed.

"At least, there aren't any mosquitoes here?" Sammy joined in.

Yaz scoffed, laughing. "Yeah. At least, we're not being tortured for eternity by vampires."

"But vampires are so hot!" Eva chimed in.

"Right!"

"Ugh, Klaus Mikaelson could torture me for eons, and I'd thank him."

"Who?" Kenji questioned, his eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"Ooh, jealous?" Brooklynn joked.

"N-no."

"Oh my god, he totally is!" Yaz snickered.

"I'm not jealous!" he rushed out. "I just wanna know who this Santa Claus dude is."

That comment left all the girls giggling and gripping at their stomachs as they walked.

~~~

Eva huffed. The sun had been beating down on them for hours, but it only really started to bother her in the past twenty minutes, where she found herself taking off her hoodie and swiping it across her skin to remove endless sweat.

They had been walking for hours, and without water. If they didn't find any soon, they'd be in some serious trouble. Maybe they should have stayed on the beach, or worse, the dark cave that reminded Eva of her death.

She breathed in deeply, eyes wandering around the desert: Darius and Ben were leading the group, followed by Brooklynn, Sammy, and Yaz, who were going on and on about the Vampire Diaries with no regret. Kenji was walking beside Eva, looking as lost in thought as she felt.

She stopped quickly, Kenji turning to look at her weirdly.

"Eva—"

Eva collapsed backwards in the sand, the other campers turning to face her with questioning glances.

"I'm done. Find the shiny thing without me, or do whatever you want, but I'm done walking," she confessed as she balled her hoodie over her head, blocking out the light.

"Eva, get up."

"No."

"Eva—"

"Surviving sucks. I'm done trying. Just go on without me, or whatever."