———✰———
It'd felt like forever since Addie had seen any of the girls other than Shelby. And she missed them. She missed all of them. She missed Fatin and Dot and how the three of them would mess around and laugh together or talk about anything, she missed Shelby and the connection they had towards the end of there time on the island, she missed Martha and how she had this unwavering innocence that everything was gonna be okay, she missed Leah and how they seemed to understand each other more so as things got stranger on the island. She even missed Rachel and how she let the girls in to see her more fun and laid back self. But most of all Addie missed Toni. She missed how they were always close to each other, the looks they'd share and instantly understand what the look meant. Addie just missed her girls.
But right then as she sat at the stupid desk, in her stupid stuffy room, completing what felt like the hundredth stupid crossword puzzle, she practically feels the eyes of someone staring at her. Addie knew that whoever the people out there were. They were not your regular FBI agents and they were watching her like a lab experiment. Addie hated it. Hated the loneliness, the paranoia, the boredom, the craziness she felt when she doubted herself on her theories of not being told the truth, the empty feeling she had that left her head in a turmoil of anxiety, she hated all of it.
———✰———
Nora
"No one came for us. Days here: 22. Days since the plane flew over: six. Days without food: two."
None of the girls had the energy to do anything. They were all sat together in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence but a silence where no one even knew what to say. They were all just hungry and feeling hopeless.
"No ones cried in a while. No one even seems that afraid anymore. Not because we're strong or brave. Because when you're this starving, you can't feel anything else"
Toni and Addie were sitting close like they always were but didn't seem to have the energy to do anything but lean on each other. Toni was struggling to stay awake and the only movement Addie could seem to do at that moment in time was to poke the curly-haired girl next to her when she started to doze off. The girls were trying not to sleep in fear of passing out from hunger.
"Hunger is a force of nature, and it's taking out the best of us."
Leah was sitting with them but with her back to the others so that she was facing the water. Nora was sat next to Addie and Toni, but not as close as the pair were to each other, writing in her diary trying to concentrate on something else but the hunger she was feeling. Dot was in a constant state of guilt for letting them eat all the and every so often she would say some from where her head was on one of the aeroplane chair cushions. The others would disagree half-heartedly, not because they agreed but because they didn't have the energy to. Everyone was just completely drained, everyone but Shelby. Shelby seemed to have bounced back since she had her hair cut and let out all her bottled up emotion. She was back to her normal cheerful self. And Addie never thought she would be so happy to see it but she was.
"I let us eat all of the food. Such a fucking idiot." Dot commented angrily as she sat up feeling guilty and pissed off.
"Still it's been healing for some. Some people remember who they are in a crisis."
"Hey. Don't talk about my friend like that, all right? You keep being nasty to her, and I'll have to take you" Shelby told her Dot softly trying to comfort the guilty girl. Shelby took out her fake teeth and smiled before playfully stating, "Bar fight, 2015. You should have seen the other guy."
Addie smiled tiredly at the girl's newfound humour with her teeth, instead of trying to hide it, Addie felt like Shelby was more confident now they were in the open.
"But there are others who return to their darkest places."
"Maybe he's in on it" Leah croaked to the girls making Addie perk up slightly in curiosity, between Marcus appearing out of nowhere and Jeanette completely disappearing Addie was fully on board to listen to anything Leah had to say.
"Who?" Shelby and Addie both asked curiously as they stared at the girls back.
"That fucking pilot" Leah theorised tearfully before explaining to the pair "what kind of a person sees an island full of lost girls and doesn't send help?"
"Leah, what would he be in on?" Shelby was the first to ask questions unsure of where Leah was going with this theory.
"I don't know" Leah muttered still not having a complete theory.
"But why would he just fly past? Whatever's happening here, why would a pilot be sent just to dangle being rescued in our faces?" Addie spoke up next. She was questioning to disagree with Leah, Addie was more hoping that if she asked questions then someone would have an answer.
"I don't know" Leah muttered again before quieting down which told the girls that the blue-eyed girl was coming up with new theories.
Addie and Shelby both shared concerned looks. They knew that Leah's quietness meant she was going dark again, overthinking everything in an unhealthy manner. Shelby was the one that got up and kneeled next to Leah before softly telling the girl, "take it easy, all right?" Hoping to bring Leah out of her dark headspace and back to reality. It was hard since reality wasn't exactly a fun place to be in for any of the girls.
"And then there's Martha the Pure, who has too much blind faith to lose hope."
Martha moved over to sit on the other side of Leah who was softly crying. "There's no way that he didn't call it in. People love to help out, you know? It's probably just taking a minute." The girls all heard her statement. Martha truly believed that was what was happening, but the others didn't quite have the same faith as she did. All of them hoped that someone was coming for them but there was also the feeling that they were left there, on the island, and they were going to die there too.
"I wanna see the world how she does. I think we all do"
———✰———
At some point, Toni and Addie had perked up through there tiredness which led to Addie looking through Martha and Fatin's suitcases hoping to find food with Shelby next to her boiling water and filling up cups and Martha sitting near them.
Toni had wandered over where Martha and Addie were before she began talking to the former "remember our fourth-grade teacher?" Before she sat down next to Marty who smiled at the memory of the cooky lady.
"Mrs Burgum? Weird lady." Marty chuckled lightly and Toni did the same as they thought back to the woman in amusement.
"Yeah. She was kind of a tree-hugging nut bird. Used that natural deodorant that did not work." Toni described as she remembered the woman and laughed with her best friend.
"She smelled like wet mulch." Marty snickered having the same amusing memories of the woman as Toni did.
"I was just thinking about how she used to take us on those walks, behind school. You know, pointing out dandelions and going on and on about how you can make a salad out of backyard weeds." Toni trailed off in thought and Marty smiled lightly at her before Toni spoke again "think we can find any of that shit out there?"
"Maybe." Marty trailed off before looking at Toni and asking "food run?"
"Food run" Toni agreed before looking over at where Addie was still looking through the suitcases "and maybe, we could bring Addie. You know extra set of eyes" Toni blushed lightly as she spoke up. Despite everyone knowing about the pair, especially after the hickey that was still adorning Addie's neck, she still blushes when talking about the blonde.
"Aww, Toni, you love her" Martha teased her best friend. She wasn't stupid she saw all the lovesick looks the couple gave each other and the fact that they were mostly attached at the hip always wanting to be near each other. Her best friend was head over heels for Addie whether either of them knew it or not, they both were.
"Shut up" Toni blushed as she pushed Martha's face away as she had a teasing grin on her face.
When Martha carried on poking her best friend teasingly Toni decided to attempt to change the subject "hey, you know who else is pretty good out there? You know knows her way around? Shelby"
At this, Marty stopped poking and look lightly surprised. The last she had heard Toni still hated Shelby, despite Addie and Shelby making up Martha thought that Toni still hated the seemingly homophobic girl. Which is why she let out a slightly surprised agreement, "yeah"
"Maybe we should ask her to come too" Toni suggested, since the whole finding out Shelby is gay she had a new-found liking and almost respect for the blonde all though the optimistic blonde still got on her nerves some of the time. When Toni saw her best friends surprised face she explained "I know I'm not, like, cool with her, but at this point in this place, grudges are kind of childish."
"I'm so proud of you, Toni" Martha looked at her friend proudly. Toni had matured since her time on the island, she was beginning to not get as angry, she had found someone she loved and met a girl she hated but got over there differences despite the odds.
Toni smiled happily in return but slightly blushed at the comment before the best friends got up and made their way to the two Texan blondes.
"Come on trouble, you are coming with us on a food run," Toni told Addie who looked up when she felt a presence before smiling happily at both the girls and the idea.
Addie didn't say anything but jumped up and brushed the sand off her legs and standing straight up next to Toni, who swung her arm around the taller girls waist.
"Hey, Shelby, do you want to come too? You'd be helpful out there" Toni asked not having the same confidence as she did when asking Addie. Toni wasn't scared of asking the girl nor was she nervous to speak to her. She was more concerned that Shelby still wasn't happy with the kiss that had occurred and was concerned about the blonde freaking out again.
But much to her relief and Addie and Marty's, Shelby smiled brightly at the three and let out a happy "sure" before standing up and walking off with the girls. Letting the others know what they were doing.
———✰———
Nora
"For someone like Martha, dangers always came from the outside. For Leah, it's different. With her, the threats come from within."
———✰———
Martha was leading the four in their search for food. She was a couple of steps ahead of the other three. Toni had an empty swag bag to hold anything they could eat, Shelby had a large stick she was using as a hiking stick and Addie was at the back looking around at her surroundings happily also being supported by a large stick she had found.
She and Shelby paused when the blondes new short hair got stuck in a branch causing the two blondes to untangle it as Toni paused when she no longer felt the two's presence at looked back at the girls with a slight look of amusement.
"Is it that bad?" Shelby asked Toni hoping to get the usual blunt answer. She however didn't see the look Addie was giving Toni from behind her. The look made Toni smile even more in amusement as Addie basically told her to be nice.
"No, it's not bad. Especially since Ads evened it out. I mean before it looked like you got your hair cut at a salon staffed by toddlers, but now it's not bad" Toni complimented, she was still blunt and it was a slightly unusual comment but she wasn't mean and she wasn't lying. Before Addie's trim up, despite not seeing the awful hair cut Shelby had given herself a lot, the shoulder-length Bob was a big improvement.
The two blondes smiled thankfully at the brunette and Toni smiled in amusement once again. It was funny to see the blondes wearing the same look even though neither of them was aware of it. Toni and Addie shared a soft look before Martha spoke up and drew them out of there trance.
"Guys, I don't think there's any berries left" the comment made all three of the girl's heads whip-round to face a slightly sad looking Martha who held a big stick like Shelby and Addie.
"Yeah, looks like we cashed 'em." Toni agreed with the same defeated tone in her voice as Martha had when she looked at the empty Berry bush the girls had been eating off of.
"Hey, y'all" Shelby spoke up grabbing the other three's attention as she picked up something from the ground and smiled "this is a find"
"Why is it a find?" Addie asked looking at whatever the blonde was holding curiously at the same time as Toni scoffed lightly, "What the hell is that? It looks like Milk Duds."
"Don't eat 'em. It's scat." Shelby told the three as she started to wander off before looking back when the three others looked at her curiously "you know, manure?" Shelby cleared up but Marty still seemed a little confused.
"It's poop, Marty" Addie explained to her with a slightly disgusted look on her face as Shelby inspected more of it.
"Scat's what we call it in the huntin' community," Shelby explained to the trio who were watching her, all sharing a slightly disgusted but impressed look on there faces. Well, that was until Marty's was wiped off her face at the sound of 'hunting community'.
"What hunting community?" Martha asked apprehensively hoping that the blonde she had grown close to didn't kill innocent animals for sport.
"Just, like the general one" Shelby turned around and answered nonchalantly not spotting Marty's concern and slight horror.
"And you're part of that community?" Marty asked still holding onto the hope that Shelby didn't hunt down animals.
"Yeah, a little" Shelby shrugged still not spotting the look that Toni and Addie saw on Marty's face. A look that meant that the blonde wasn't so amazing and giving as she originally thought.
"Hey, can we talk about what this means?" Toni spoke up from where she and Addie had been looking between the oblivious blonde and the horrified brunette. "I mean, are we about to get mauled by whatever dropped these fucking milk duds?
"It's not a carnivore. They're too round and dry. I'm guessing some small four-legged guy" Shelby told the three calming them as they realised they weren't about to get eaten.
"Can we eat it, or at least follow it to whatever it's eating?" Addie spoke up as the three watched Shelby start to sharpen her stick which meant she was gonna kill the animal to eat.
"We can't eat it" Marty protested before looking at where Shelby was sharpening her stick and asked, "what are you doing?"
"Just getting ready in case we cross paths with it. Goat, deer, whatever it is. It gets away that's a weeks worth of food we're letting runoff." Shelby informed still not spotting Martha's negative feelings about the whole idea of hunting.
"I thought we were foraging. When did animal murder get put on the table?" Martha snapped causing Shelby to finally spot her feeling but was still shocked.
"Martha...I'm sorry. I know you're sensitive, but it's really not murder. At this point, it's more like self-defence." Shelby defended calmly as Toni and Addie watched the two unsure of what to say.
"Self-defence from a—from a goat?" Martha asked shocked and looked over at the couple as she started to get more worked up about the idea.
"She means from fucking starvation." Toni snapped slightly but reeled back when she saw Martha's betrayed look and stated, "by the way, she's right."
"Yeah, Marty, I don't know how much longer we're all gonna survive without any food. And this is our best bet" Addie stated gently hoping to calm the girl down and make her see sense.
Martha however was looking at the two, mainly Toni, with shock and betrayal as she asked "are you seriously taking her side?"
The couple shared a look and they knew Martha was mainly talking to her best friend but neither of them could disagree with the blonde, they were too hungry to take Martha's side.
"Marty, it's not about sides" Toni shook her gently as she told her best-friend who looked fairly pissed off and upset with the whole idea.
"I don't want any part of this." Marty spat before storming off leaving the three to watching her unsurely. None of them wanted to upset the girl but they also knew that killing and eating this animal may be the only thing that would keep them alive at the moment.
———✰———
The three were still looking for the animal that had left the 'scat'. Shelby had taken the lead since she was the only one who knew what she was doing.
"I, uh—I—I have to pee," Toni announced not sounding the slightest bit embarrassed about having to pee in front of her girlfriend and kind of friend in the middle of a forest.
"Oh, uh, we'll just..." Shelby stuttered slightly as she and Addie kept there backs to Toni so that she could pee.
After a couple of seconds of silence, Toni spoke up "it's not happening. Performance anxiety." The sentence made Addie snicker slightly mainly at the blunt deliverance.
"We can walk farther away" Shelby suggested trying to make the girl more comfortable so she could pee in peace.
"Or we could sing" Addie piped up playfully referring to when Shelby sang as she peed when they first arrived on the island.
"Yeah, let's go with the singing" Toni matched the playful amusement that Addie had causing Shelby to smile and chuckle at the pair before she started singing.
"I'm gonna pop some tags" Shelby started singing and Riley started to join in both she and Toni both slightly amused at the song choice.
"Only got twenty dollars in my pocket"
"Macklemore? Where did that come from" Toni laughed at the two highly amused at the singing girls.
"First thing that came into my head" Shelby defended with amusement.
"I just went along it" Addie added as her explanation before Toni spoke up again.
"It's random I like it" She confessed to the two blondes who hummed slightly before starting to sing again at the same time which made the laugh lightly.
"I, I, I'm hunting, looking for a come up this is frickin' awesome" the pair finished off as Toni stood up and joined them now finished with her business.
"You know what? The first time that one was playing on the radio, I thought they were singing 'pop some caps'" Shelby confessed chuckling lightly as she spoke to the couple.
"No way. I thought the same thing." Toni chuckled enjoying Shelby's company more than she originally did.
"Are you just saying that to make me feel better?" Shelby asked not completely convinced.
"Shelby, my dear, in all honesty, until you just sang those lyrics I still thought the words were 'pop some caps'. And if you didn't just sing the right lyrics I probably would've gone through life singing the wrong lyrics" Addie confessed as both girls laughed and Toni squeezed her waist from behind playfully. Addie squealed at the action and Shelby laughed at the pair no longer uncomfortable with there slight PDA.
"Don't do that! You have pee hands still!" Addie squealed again taking Toni's hands off her waist as they carried on walking.
"Pee hands?" Toni laughed full of amusement at the girls she loved walking in front of her.
"Toni you just peed and it's not like you washed your hands after" Addie explained her voice filled with laughter.
"I didn't touch anything. You can't have pee hands when you didn't touch anything!" Toni pointed out to her girlfriend just as amused as she was.
"Still, wait ten minutes to make sure all the pee germs are gone" Addie stubbornly told the brunette as the pair behind her laughed at her concern of germs despite there current living conditions.
"There is no such thing as pee germs!"
Toni fought back playfully, the trio still making there way forward.
"Are too" the trio laughed before they heard a twig snap and gasped Shelby looked ready to hunt but Toni and Addie looked slightly afraid. Addie backed away from the sound until she felt Toni's chest on her back and Toni grasped her girlfriend's hand.
"Did you hear that?" Shelby asked the pair as she pointed her sharpened stick at the sound.
"Yeah. It could be our Mark." Toni nodded looking happy as they began to move towards the sound.
"Or something coming to eat us" Addie pointed out apprehensively now tucked in between Toni and Shelby.
The trio came closer to the sound and Toni moved a branch out of the pair's way. They both smiled at her thankfully and Shelby let out a shocked "thanks" when Toni didn't let it swing into her once Addie had passed before the brunette took up the rear. Now with the experienced hunter in the front with her weapon drawn.