Standing over the body was a young thai brunette holding a sharpened stick. Anne stared at the in front of her body while panting and still full of adrenaline. It was too dark to make out what it was. Anne grabbed her phone and turned on the flashlight. She shined the bright light on the body and was horrified by what she saw.
She dropped her weapon. "Drake!" Anne yelled shaking his unconscious body.
There was no response. She started to panic at the thought she may have just killed him.
She put two fingers on his neck hoping to feel a heartbeat. After a few seconds she breathed a sigh of relief. He still had a seemingly steady heart rate. At least he wasn't dead yet. Just in case though, she placed her hand in front of his face and could feel his breath.
Anne sat down next to Drake in relief. At least he wasn't dead. Unfortunately, that meant now she had to keep an eye on him. She tried to assess the situation. Anne had barely made it through the first day. Now she just attacked one of her friends. To top it all off, it was dark outside. There was only one way for her to salvage the situation. She'll have to protect Drake until he woke up.
Anne grabbed Drake by his shoulders and pulled him deeper into the cave where he'll likely be much safer. "Urgh!" she grunted. He was a lot heavier than she thought. When she was finally able to deposit him in a corner, she laid down and closed her eyes as she began to rest.
When Anne finally woke up in the morning. The first thing she did was check on Drake. However, she noticed Drake's body wasn't where she had left it. Panicking, she stood up and noticed a large scorpion dragging him away.
"Put him down!" Anne grabbed her makeshift spear and charged at the scorpion. It immediately let go of Drake's still unconscious body and turned to make a threatening pose at Anne. It would not be denied its next meal. Anne's eyes glowed blue as she charged at the scorpion.
The scorpion tried to grab her with its pincers, but Anne jumped over its attack just in time. She charged at its head and stabbed it in the face. The scorpion screeched and tried to sting at Anne.
It was at this moment Drake woke up. "Huh? Where am I? What's going on?" At first, he was confused about his surroundings. Then he noticed the massive creature standing over him.
The scorpion didn't seem to care. It was still focused on trying to hit Anne. The scorpion's stinger flailed around wildly. The only way it was going to land a clean hit was through sheer luck. Drake stood up and narrowly dodge the scorpion's stinger. That stinger hit the ground at full force and was temporarily stuck. Drake noticed the opportunity and grabbed the stinger. He held it down so the scorpion couldn't use its most dangerous weapon.
Anne pulled the spear out of the scorpion and stabbed again. This time hitting the stinger while it was still stuck in the ground, paralyzing it. The scorpion gave one last screech before turning around and retreating with the stinger being dragged along the ground.
Both Anne and Drake relaxed once again. Anne spoke up first. "Hey Drake..." the situation was still a little awkward especially since she attacked him.
"Hey Anne... it was a good thing... you were there... I almost... got eaten... by that thing." Drake replied still panting.
Anne was able to recover first. "I'm just glad you're alright."
"Yeah... almost died... what is it twice now? Whew!" Drake took a deep breath.
Anne stood up and started to keep watch. "Did you find Sasha or Marcy?" Anne asked.
"Marcy? No sign of her yet... I did find Sasha though..." Drake trailed off.
Drake remembered what happened to Sasha how she was stuck in a trap and told him to save himself. His own conscience began to scold him. She was your friend and you left her to die like a coward.
It was true he had left her to die. It was a dangerous place and like Sasha said, he was no good to anyone dead. Then another image appeared in his head. It was his stepfather smiling proudly at him.
Drake remembered how his often-drunk stepfather would beat him to within an inch of his life for seemingly minor offenses. Only stopping when he was afraid, he would kill Drake. Yet here he was looking at him proudly as if Drake had just fulfilled his destiny.
Drake understood why this was the case. Although he was still incredibly young and thus didn't have children of his own to raise. That hadn't stopped him from dooming another family's child. A voice in the back of his head told him perhaps they were not so different after all. They may not be biologically related but the old man's influence on Drake was undeniable.
"Uh hello? Drake are you there?" Anne snapped her fingers in front of his face. It snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Huh?" Drake looked around and remembered where he was.
"You zoned out. Are you alright?" Anne looked concerned.
"I'll be alright. It's just... I found Sasha. Then something happened and I left her behind." Drake explained.
"What happened?" Anne asked.
Drake didn't really want to explain it. He already had enough to think about. "I... it's complicated. Look we should probably get to work."
"What do you mean?" Anne questioned.
Drake stood up. "Last time I saw Sasha, she told me we should focus on our own survival first. She also said she would come find me."
Both Anne and Drake thought about how they were going to survive. They already had shelter, but it was really cold the night before. Not to mention neither of them knew the land. How were they going to solve the problem of food and water? Anne spoke up first. "I wish Sasha was here. She was always the one with a plan."
"Yeah... it's difficult without her." Drake thought long and hard about what to do next. "Alright, maybe we should split up to cover more ground? I guess we should come back here at the end of the day and share what we found. If we're lucky we'll find Sasha and Marcy out there." Drake suggested.
Anne nodded in approval. The duo walked out of the cave and prepared to go their separate ways. "I guess I'll go this way." Anne said pointing right.
"Then I'll go this way. Remember to be back here before dark." Drake replied.
The two separated with the hopes that the other would find a way to improve the situation.
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Author's Note
Hey everyone. Sorry for the long wait. I realized I didn't do nearly enough planning before I began writing. So, I had to make up a lot of plot points here and try to get all my ideas organized before I could move forward.
Originally, I didn't have an origin for Drake Cohen. I wasn't sure if it would be necessary for the story. However, as I thought about the realities this decision. I realized I needed to give some background information about Drake. It would likely affect his decision making in the future and give a glimpse into how he thinks.
During the planning process I had two separate ideas for the story. Either I kill Drake now or I let him survive this chapter. This decision would drastically change how the story would go in the future. I spoke with a friend about it, and she persuaded me to let him live. So, it was decided he would live to see another chapter.
Also thank you all for reading up until this point. Even though this story has been out for less than a month. It's already exceeded my expectations. I hope you all stick with me for the rest of this ride.