Paradise

Chasing the Sun Part 3 [END]

The walk back was pleasant. Seth and I talked here and there about what we would have done if we were all at Montego Bay right now, then it turned into our dreams and hopes for the future. We both expressed how much we missed our family and reminisced on our younger school days. It seemed like we took forever to walk along the shore to get back and the sun was already starting to get low. When Seth and I finally arrived at the camp, Holly ran towards us and took our bags. Stephanie jogged over and gave us coconuts to drink out of while Jace finished the last touches on the hammock. He strung it between two palm trees next to the boulders using vines and thick leaves from the trees. Seth and I guzzled down the savory water and sat on the boulders to stretch out a bit.

I wiggled the last few drops of water into my mouth and glanced around our new camp. It actually looked much better. There was the hammock, a new ditch for the fire full of fresh branches, fruits lined up along the boulders, from coconuts to mangoes and bananas. Even the dirty clothes, well now clean clothes, were hung on the ends of a tree branch that stuck out of the sand to dry. A new set of beds were made with fresh leaves a few feet away from the camp fire. There was even a little coverage over each bed, my guess to block any rain that would come. Everything looked cozy.

"Now are you both buddy buddy now?" Stephanie asked as she sat on the boulder and combed through her hair with her fingers. Seth glanced at me and I rolled my eyes in a joking way. He smirked and finished the rest of his water.

"Yeah you can say that." Seth replied and gave Stephanie a wink. She eyed him with suspicion.

"Anyways, what did you guys find?" Jace asked as he tugged on the knot of the hammock to seal it in place.

"Good news is they found food!" Holly smiled as she neatly placed the apple, container full of sandwiches, and a few bags of peanuts by the fruit.

Jace slowly laid back in the hammock and it rocked under his weight before he gently slid himself inside. He removed his bandages from his foot. It looked worse than before. He winced a bit before he placed a new ripped piece of cloth that he pulled out of his pocket before he wrapped it around his foot. He noticed my eyes on him and gave a small smile.

"Yeah but there's bad news." Seth glanced in my direction before he returned his attention back to the group.

"There were survivors. I mean there were but they're not here." Seth said as he placed his coconut aside.

"What do you mean not here?" Holly asked in confusion. "Are they dead? Lost?"

"No what he means is, they too survived the plane crash, but they found a raft on the plane. Had to be sometime before or after we searched it for ourselves, including a map. They figured they could make it off to another island because there's another one nearby." I said. Everyone's expression filled with a sense of hopelessness.

"Another island?" Stephanie looked down and furrowed her eyebrows. "Then why didn't they come and look for us?" Her eyes filled with tears.

"The real question is are they coming back." Jace said as he sat up in the hammock. It swayed from side to side under his weight.

"I doubt it. They left a note actually," Seth took the note out of his pocket and showed it to Jace. "I don't think they had a clue we were here. Probably figured we were all dead."

Jace read the note and took a deep breath. He read the note again as his eyes settled at the bottom of the page.

"Angus?" He whispered and then pulled out the note in his pocket. "Hey Cleo, isn't Angus the same guy in this note?" Jace looked at me puzzled.

"Who's Angus?" Holly and Steph said at the same time.

"We don't know. But we found this weird letter and it's written in another language. But he was apparently alive on this island." Seth replied.