Wish You Were Here

29

I was soaking wet, my hiking boots heavy with water, and my head was spinning. Grant was rushing blindly into the thinly wooded area located across the stream. Somewhere behind us, three people were close behind and I had no intention of letting them catch up.

Grant was going so fast that I couldn't think straight. I reached out and grabbed at his shoulder.

"Wait," I huffed. "We need to stop."

Grant took a quick look at me and then pulled me off to the side. We ducked behind a pile of large rocks and I collapsed onto the ground. Grant sat down next me, frantically looking around.

I gulped some of my water down. "What's going on?"

"I have no clue," Grant whispered. "Those people...I have no idea who they are or why they're chasing us. But we have to keep going, okay? It's not safe to stop here."

"Where are Will and Aaron?" I asked.

He looked down to the ground. "They took off. I thought we'd catch up to them, but..."

Our whole group had gotten separated. We weren't sure if Will and Aaron were even together. They could have gone off in different directions. If Cal and Beth survived somehow - which I convinced myself they had - I didn't know how we would all find each other again.

"Can you get up?" Grant asked.

As much as I didn't want to, I knew we had to keep moving. Reluctantly, I stood up and waited as Grant peeked out around the rocks.

"Okay," he whispered. "Let's go."

We hadn't gone in a straight path. Instead, we headed to our left, which we hoped would lead to the center of the island. Most of the mountains and hills were there and if we could hike up high enough, maybe we could spot someone from our group. Or find the people who were chasing us and see if there were more of them out there.

The bag that Grant had picked up fortunately contained most of the food. We had all filled our water bottles from the stream, so for the time being, we were set. Since we didn't want to stop, we both ate a small bite while we walked. After about an hour, we both agreed we most likely weren't being followed. We'd probably lost them. Or, we feared, they had found Will and Aaron.

I couldn't think about any of the possible things that may be happening on this island as we walked along. Cal and Beth were hopefully alive, but where could they be? Beth could barely walk and they were low on food and water when we had left. I knew Beth got scared easily and I couldn't blame her. Her leg was causing her so much pain, besides slowing her down. Cal was strong, but I wasn't sure if she'd be able to lead the two of them around this island. I also knew that if I was worrying about her, she was somewhere worrying about me. Neither of us knew where the other one was, or if the other was safe.

Will could probably hold his own, but not against three people. Aaron had gotten more than his share of trouble so far. I just had to hope he hadn't gotten captured again or hurt.

As I walked behind Grant, I watched him. He was so cautious and aware of everything surrounding us. We had walked close to two cameras already, and he had spotted them both, leading us around them. I had half expected to talk about nonsense just to fill the silence. But instead, Grant pointed things out, like which plants were poisonous.

"Were you a Boy Scout or something?" I joked.

"Funny." He smiled. "I wasn't a Boy Scout. I just went camping a lot as a kid, that's all."

He looked away when he said that, his face looking a little sad, I thought.

"Well, I've gone to different camps every summer for the past few years, but you know a million times more than me." I told him. "All I ever learned at camp were things like horseback riding or how to make dream catchers."