Survivor

49| Survivors

I was sound asleep. Of all the nights I've had since the plane crash, even with Jake by my side, I never felt so at peace as I did right now. My body had been put through the wringer yesterday, and I assumed the shock of being shot along with the fact that none of us had been able to sleep well since we met Wayde and Garret was taking a toll.

Last night, it was decided that we would make our way to the tree line and spend the night. It was completely dark by the time we got moving, and it was too dangerous to keep walking blindly through the night; especially now that we knew even the terrain itself could be dangerous— thank you to Wes for figuring that one out.

Nate had carried me to the trees and Jake and Cam assisted Wes to walk along. Although the two of us were injured, the overall morale was higher than it had been in several days. We were all back together again; the full BDF. Even my pain couldn't take away the overarching feeling of relief and joy, because as far as Garret and Wayde were concerned, it was over.

By the time we got to the trees, everyone was exhausted. We set up "camp" immediately, passing out sweatshirts and all laying near each other to stay warm. I took my place next to Jake, and we all talked for about an hour, making sure everyone was filled in on the events that took place during the day, and our plan moving forward. Eventually, people started falling asleep, conversation died off, and I let myself follow suit, feeling safe and happy that everyone was here.

I had now been sleeping for what I assumed was hours. I was in a weird state; somewhere in between asleep and awake. My body felt terrible— I was cold, yet hot at the same time, I felt heavy and dense like I couldn't move, I was nauseous, and I felt that my eyelids would be impossible to peel open. Most of all, I was exhausted despite the fact that I went to bed happy, and had the soundest sleep I had ever had.

"Is she okay?" I heard Cam's voice drift to me, yet he sounded far away.

"I don't know..." Adam chimed in, "she looks pale."

I felt someone hovering above me and then a large palm pressed to my forehead. "I can't tell... does she feel warm to you?" I recognized that to be Jake's voice and Jake's touch.

"Let me see," a pair of lips pressed to my forehead. "Holy shit yes. She's burning up," Derek responded.

I am? I did feel ill. I wanted to wake up so that I could tell the guys about how I was feeling, but every time I had the thought to wake up I would drift back into sleep. It was a constant cycle.

"Really? Let me feel." Another hand touched lightly against my forehead and from the voice I thought it was Luke.

"And she's shivering," Nathan added with concern.

"She's always shivering," Wes responded.

"Yeah, but that's when it's actually cold out. It's already warm out today. It's probably because of her fever," Jake added, "and she's not waking up... why is she not waking up?"

"She was fine last night," Cam said with a sigh, "Derek, what do you think?"

Derek huffed and I felt the back of his hand brush against my cheek. "Maybe she's just sick? Or maybe she has an infection? I need to look at her bullet wound."

"Cassie? Honey, can you hear us?" Nathan called to me.

"Wake up princess," Adam cooed.

A different large hand cupped my face, the other palm threading through my hair as my head was eased up off the ground and placed in someone's lap. "Cassie? Come on babe, please wake up," Jake pleaded with me.

I focused every bit of the little energy I had and finally peeled my eyes open. I blinked hard a few times as Jake's face came into focus.

"Hey, there she is! Cass, how are you feeling?" Derek asked from beside me.