Exit to nowhere

Chapter V. De la Terre à la Lune

Erica took a big bite from the large fruit in her hand and wiped away some sand from her nose with the other. She had no idea what kind of fruit it was, as she'd never seen such fruit before, but Caspar had promised her it was okay to eat it. Although reluctant to tell her what it was, he obviously knew his way around the natures edibles.

She thought back. It was now her fifth day on this desert island, soon to become night . . . alone with those two. She felt dirty, she was constantly feeling hungry and she was angry enough to pop some fuses.

Soran was still nagging on about her having the stuff somewhere on her. He did it every day from dawn till dusk, and it was getting old fast. She had time and again maintained that obviously that wasn't the case here, as both him and Caspar had gone through her stuff quite thoroughly by now.

Finishing the fruit she then licked her fingers and reached for her bag a few feet away. It looked like shit, as Soran in one of his temper tantrums had thrown it smack across the trunk of one of the palmtrees, but she did not care anymore. About its content she however did.

Still sticky with fruit juice, she opened the bag with nimble fingers and took out her book. The book she treasured above others, the book that was her absolute first . She got it as a birthday present when she was six years old, and the one that made such an imprint on her life from that day on, that all she really wanted to do when she looked up into the nightsky was to get there.

She sighed heavily and deliberately loud while she fibbled with the pages. The book she had in her hand was old and torn, with written doodles all around the edges. Her doodles. She glared at Soran sitting by the fire. Now, thanks to him, this book was all she had left of the civilization as she knew it. Damn him to hell. And Caspar too. Would she ever get back? To her job? To her family?

Well, at least it was not wet anymore. She held the book towards the light from the fire and examined it once more. It had taken forever to dry it up. The cover especially. 'De la Terre à la Lune', that was what the cover said. 'From the Earth to the moon.' Erica smiled a little. She wasn't that well-versed in french, but she liked the french cover better, so she'd bought it and replaced the english one. Since her sixth birthday, she had idolized Jules Verne so much and to such extent, that even her father thought that she was taking it just a liiiittle bit too far.

Was she? Taking it too far? Well, to be honest, at the moment that wasn't a thing that Erica was too hung up on. Other things mattered more.

She heard a sound nearby and turned her head. It was Caspar. He came walking through the bushes back to the camp. And . . . of course he was shirtless. Her breath got hitched in her throat. Oh major crap, just rub it in will ya'.

She clenched her teeth and looked away, up, just not on him. How much that she tried, she could not figure him out. Was he really such a bad guy that he wanted her to think that he was? Her distinct recollection of the last five days told her otherwise.

The moon was almost full, the sky clear and starlit, but somehow she could not find it in herself to enjoy it even though it was among the most beautiful sights she had ever seen. Slowly her gaze lowered to the horizon. To the vast and endless sea.

The last couple of days also told her another thing worth knowing. Doesn't matter how good of equipment you have at your disposal. When they get wet, or land on a small hard surface, like a rock for instance, they break. And with no spare parts anywhere in sight, the chance is slim to none to get them to work.

A small smile graced her lips as she thought about that first day when Soran both failed to get in contact with his cohorts, Rollins in particular, and also could not tell where the hell they were.