Going on a school trip abroad can be described with many juxtaposing thoughts, but should never be linked to fatalities or injury. Juniper Pearl Foxx always had a sheltered, mundane life, when a terrible tragedy occurred and left her stuck in the Am...
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I wanted to drop everything and hurtle ahead to make sure they weren't imagining things, but that would mean leaving Liam alone, so with a renewed strength I simply picked up my pace with James, feeling incredibly on edge. Had we finally found civilisation? Stumbling through the grasses, barely daring to hope for a rescue, tears sprung to my eyes as I pushed the final dewy palm leaf out of the way, and there, as clear as day, was a hut.
The hut had the look of a poorly planned enterprise gone badly wrong. The walls of rough sodden planks were haphazardly wonky allowing brilliant streams of sunlight to crisscross the hut like a crazy tic-tac-toe board. The roof looked as though the texture of it was fluffy, with many browning palm leaves covering it. I could see a small path leading around the hut to the river a little way down, where a large rusted boat was sat patiently waiting. The feeling of euphoria sweeping over me was like an adrenaline shot as the bubble of fear, terror, sadness and anxiousness was finally popped.
"There's no one here, but I'm sure they'll be back soon and then we can finally return home!" Chip exclaimed, a beaming smile lighting up his face.
I smiled back at him, but I didn't think I could ever truly feel happy again. We had survived, but what about the others? They were gone forever, because we couldn't save them. A physical pain was humming in my heart as a reminder that not everyone was here. Nothing could change that, but it didn't mean I was just going to accept it. Four hours ago we were all together, messing around as we tried to ignore the distress clouding over us. Now we had found what we had set out to achieve, but it didn't mean as much since Mason and Elian weren't there. Their missing presence was obvious, like I had lost a limb. You couldn't overlook it.
"That's great." James sighed, obviously feeling the same as me.
There was a break of trees where we were standing, allowing the sun to beat down at full force, making me feel like my insides were being cooked. The sky was a brilliant blue – finally a break in the green without a blemish. We headed inside the hut, which was dark and smelt damp, but it was a secure place to get out of the scorching sun. Paisley was already in the hut, leaning against the wall with her back to us. She had hardly spoken since the accident had happened, and I respected the fact she needed space to process. Even if space was generously lacking in the petite hut.
We found a bowl of fruit, boxes of crispy crackers and a large bottle of water which we shared out between us, not feeling any guilt about eating someone else's food. A large spider was dangling from the roof with copious, hairy black legs and a multitude of eyes watching us. Abi-Mae got rid of it by high-fiving it into the wall with a heavy, hard-back book, which was laying on the small bed tucked to the side.
We waited patiently, albeit expectantly for the owner of the hut to make an appearance, but as the sun faded into a beautiful sunset and then darkness crawled over us, we began to lose hope. What if the owner had gone on holiday and wasn't returning any time soon? Or had died in some horrendous way like all of our friends? But Matias was quick to liven our spirits and remind us that the hut meant there must have been a village nearby, and we could leave tomorrow if there was no sign of anyone.
