Lone Wolf

Chapter 2

For what felt like an hour, Addison and Raul followed at what they felt was a safe distance behind Sheamus. Raul attempted to carry on a conversation as they walked, but nearly everything he said fell on deaf ears. Sheamus was focused on looking for somewhere others may be set up with a camp while Addison was replaying the intense scene with Sheamus's intimidation game over and over in her head. To her, Sheamus seemed like the type of guy who wouldn't mind to hurt a girl a third his size, but yet again, when he walked onto the beach, she did seem like she was ready to bash his head in with a rock. She wasn't sure if she had it in her to do that, but she also knew just how great of an actress she was despite him seeming unfazed by her act of aggressiveness. Perhaps he was just matching her energy.

The heat alongside the long walk had dried her shirt out. Raul, however, was still struggling to keep his water-weighted drawers around his waist. He was in the process of complaining about his brother with whom he shared an apartment when Sheamus stopped in his tracks, shushing Raul in the process. "You two smell that?"

"Fire?" Addison said after a quick sniff. Raul had stuck his entire face up like a dog to catch a whiff of the air.

Sheamus nodded. "This way!" He darted into the trees as quickly as he had appeared. Raul shouted for Addison to wait for him as she sprinted in after their Irish islandmate.

She continued to catch glimpses of the sweat-stained pink as it pushed through the brush. The smell grew stronger and stronger until smoke became visible, and soon enough there were massive flames flying high from atop a dried out bush.

At first, Addison only saw two people, women, standing near the blaze before Sheamus began a short chase after a shirtless black man who took off toward the beach. The man turned his head back before running into a tree truck that spun him right into Sheamus's arms.

"Get off him!" One of the girls jumped onto Sheamus's back while the other hid behind a tree. She had a tight hold around his neck before the big Irish bastard managed to shrug her off.

"Lighten up the grip!" The man screamed in pain. As Sheamus let him out of the bear hug, the man collapsed, grasping at his shoulder.

"Why the fuck did you run!?" Sheamus shouted as Addison and the feisty black girl started to pull him away from the injured man.

"Why the fuck did you chase me!?"

"What's with the fire fella!? Huh!? In the middle of the fucking woods!?"

"It's a signal fire, man!" The man clinched his teeth in agony, gripping tighter at his injured shoulder.

"Take him to the beach," Addison ordered, "I'll handle this one."

The two girls, Taya and Erin, helped Juwon to the sand eventually using his own pair of jeans to tie an uncomfortable yet useful sling for his right arm. Addison still hadn't calmed the irate Sheamus down when Raul, winded and pants dragging around his ankles, arrived. They all attempted to put the fire out, but after seeing the depth of the flames, they just did what they could to ensure that it didn't spread to any nearby trees, letting the bush burn to the ground. When Sheamus, Addison, and Raul joined the other trio on the beach, Juwon was asleep.

"I guess the adrenaline crash knocked him out," Taya said as she watched the sunset. Erin, the shy and quiet of the two, sat beside her.

"Better the adrenaline crash do it than my foot up his arse," Sheamus barked before Addison shooed him off to collect wood for a beach fire. Raul fell asleep in the sand as he let his pants dry.

Addison stayed up talking to Taya as the sky grew darker. She learned that Taya was a college student from Chicago. She was supposed to be in her senior year, but she had to take a year hiatus but didn't care to disclose as to why. She didn't remember much but said that it was slowly coming back as they day went on. In Addison's opinion, the most intriguing thing about Taya was the contrast between her milky brown skin, jet black hair, and glowing blue eyes. Taya seemed to have a similar 'give-no-fucks and stand up for yourself' attitude like Addison; hers just seemed more natural. Erin, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. Where Taya was very talkative, Erin didn't speak at all. According to Taya, she had only said one word since she, Erin, and Juwon woke up on the beach, and that was simply her name. Even physically, she was Taya's foil. Where Taya had played softball for the majority of her life and had the physique to prove it, Erin was skinny and even shorter than Addison's simple five-and-a-half foot stature. She couldn't have been more than 120 pounds and had shoulder-length red hair, similar to Sheamus's own shade. Taya was very nurturing to her though. As Erin grew tired, she laid her head in Taya's lap, letting her pet her hair until she fell asleep.