In the Sun

x.

I was the first one to wake up the next day. My slumber was restless, but thankfully, I had managed to gain a few hours of sleep before waking up at the cusp of dawn...with a pounding and throbbing headache which pulsated throughout my head. It was so severe that it felt like a wrecking ball had collided with the internal linings of my skull. It hadn't been long until everyone else had woken up as well.

The beach was irradiated by the glowing morning sunshine; a mesmerising spectrum of light that cast down a bright light over the gloomy-looking island as we hastily devoured the remaining coconuts.

Given the calm ambiance, I decided that this was an ideal time to inform everyone about how we would need to re-enter the jungle again. I knew that they were going to freak out, or tell me that I was insane and that they would never set another foot into the jungle after what happened to Irene, but it had to be done. We needed food and we needed to find fresh water.

"I know that this is going to sound insane," I began. "But we have to go into the jungle again."

"No way! The sandman is in there." Michael cried in protest.

"He only strikes at night, Michael. Remember?" I responded, then faced everyone else and continued. "Look, we're almost out of coconuts and we have no fresh water. We can't just keep surviving off of coconut water. We'll also freeze at night without wood for a fire. And unless someone has a crystal ball and can see us getting rescued in the next day or so, our chances of someone finding us and taking us home are extremely slim. As much as you don't like it, we're probably going to be stuck here for a while. Got it?"

"But...what are we going to do if we come across those...things that killed Irene? Then what?" Elvira questioned.

"Run."

"Quite a solution." Freddie said sarcastically as I rolled my eyes in response.

"Let's just go and get it done and over with." Ace stated.

Within the next short moment, everyone stood up before edging towards the thickly tangled vegetation which formed the eerie looking jungle. It didn't appear sinister at first glance, but there was definitely an underlying evil within the dense jungle. The same evil that had brutally murdered Irene and Steven. We didn't know what it was, nor did we really want to find out, but it frightened me right out of my skin.

I looked at everyone else. I immediately noticed that they were all scared...panic stricken to some degree. I could tell that Michael was the most scared. He was doing a good job at trying not to show it, but I could still tell. I knew him way too well. Whenever he placed his hands behind his back and began to fiddle with his fingers, I instantly knew that he was extremely nervous.

I ruffled his hair and bent down to his height. "Michael, I promise nothing's going to hurt you. I'm here to protect you. Okay?"

"Okay sis," He replied quietly.

I frowned before standing up. As the rest of the group started walking into the jungle, I followed behind them with Michael. I could hear the sound of dried leaves, plants and dead twigs crunching underneath the soles of my shoes. Then unexpectedly, I felt soil slowly pouring into one of my shoes.

Nobody uttered a single word, hence silence prevailed. We carried on walking in this mute-like state. I was keen to say something, to bring up a topic of interest to all of us, or to ask a question in order to evoke a conversation. Anything to make the situation less awkward; for myself and for everyone. As it turned out, I didn't need to wait much longer for someone to talk.

"I think we should split up." Freddie suggested.

"What? Are you crazy?" I cried. "That'll only cause more trouble."

"What are you on about? At the rate we're going, it's going to take us ages to find food and water if we're all clumped up in the big group we're currently in." He replied.

"At least this way we know we're safe! If we split up and something happens to one group then we're not going to be able to do anything!"

"Look, I want to get out of here as quick as we can, and the only way we're going to do things quickly is by splitting up. If we stay in this big group, it will take us ages to get what we need."

"He's kind of got a point there." Elvira stepped in.

"Why are you condoning this?" I demanded.

"Because he's right. We need to split up."

I glimpsed at the rest of the group desperately, hoping that someone would say something against the idea of breaking off into two groups and agree with what I was saying. Unfortunately for me, no one came to my defence. Instead, they all just quietly nodded in concord to split up. One group would find food, whilst the other would seek fresh water.

Once Elvira and Freddie began to walk into another direction, I stood still for the briefest of moments, hands on my hips, rolling my eyes and shaking my head before walking the other way in defeat.

"This is fucking ridiculous." I muttered to myself. "If someone gets killed, I'm blaming all of you for it."

"No one's going to get killed, you're overreacting." Ace replied.

"That's not what happened the first time we came in here."

"We didn't know what to expect then. We're prepared this time."

"We are not prepared. If we come across one of those things what are we going to do? We have no weapons, and there's no way that we can fight them off with our bare hands."

"Didn't you say that they only come out at night?"

"Well, yeah but..."

"You worry too much, doll."

I groaned in frustration. "Stop calling me that for god sake."

"Nah."

"You're so annoying." I rolled my eyes.

"Sis, do you hear that?" Michael suddenly said.

I paused in my tracks and listened carefully for a noise. My heart began to hammer against my rib cage. What noise could Michael possibly be talking about? Had he perhaps heard one of those things lurking out? Were we doomed? Or had it been something else?

I quickly looked around. Those things weren't anywhere in sight. Then, instantly, I heard it, and when I did, I wasn't as frightened.

It was the sound of rushing water.

"There's water nearby." I stated.

"We need to find out where the noise is coming from. It'll take us to the water." Ace said.

"No shit Sherlock," I replied. "Come on, it's coming from this way."