‘I’m going. You can’t stop me.’
‘Fine, then I’m going with you!’
‘You can’t go!’ cried Oli pointing out the others. ‘What about them?’
‘You should’ve thought about that beforehand. I’m not letting you go out there alone.’
‘I don’t need you, James.’
‘You think I care whether you need me?’
‘I’ll go with him,’ a third voice offered.
From the chamber’s deepest corner, Anthony rose to his feet and approached them. He didn’t look recently roused.
‘No!’ Oli insisted. ‘I don’t need either of you. You think I’m incapable, just some dumb kid, but you’re wrong. This is something I need to do alone.’
‘Nobody thinks that,’ said James. ‘But we all know what’s going on out there.’
‘Do we?’ Anthony said cryptically.
‘Look, Oli, people are dying around us. We don’t want to add you to that list. Some of us here care about you!’
‘You can’t change my mind,’ the student proclaimed softly. ‘I’ll be back before sunup.’ With no wish to argue further, he began towards the exit.
‘Oli,’ said James,’ ‘if you encounter any kind of trouble, anything at all, you get your ass back here, no questions. You’re not back by the time the storm stops, I’m coming for you.’
Without a smattering of indecision, Oli left the chamber.
‘Shit,’ James muttered.
‘Those who leave alone,’ Anthony whispered, ‘tend not to return.’ The scarred man hoisted his bag over one shoulder. ‘I’ll make sure he comes back in one piece.’
‘I don’t think he’ll welcome your presence.’
‘Well that’s the good thing about being me. He won’t even know I’m there.’
With no further recommendations to offer, James skulked resignedly back into the shadows and watched Anthony leave the chamber in Oli’s wake. With two more souls left to fate and the group of survivors ever more dilapidated, their chances of survival had once again reduced.
Now they were four.
*
Unable to close out the sound of the wind, Danielle was thankful for Abbey’s body heat as she lay awake. Her toes were cold, as was the tip of her nose. She could feel the gentle rise and fall of Abbey’s chest, just as she could see those of James and Sebastian across the room. Oli and Anthony had left a while ago. She had been awake when they departed, but she hadn't been able to hear them.
The flames of the campfire continued to dance to the silent melody of passing breezes, and she found herself hypnotically lost for a moment in the display. It wasn’t until Sebastian coughed himself awake that she snapped out of it.
She watched the big South African pick himself up and move sleepily to the fire, hands forward. Under her breath she cursed. She needed to pee, and for that she needed privacy.
Peeling away from Abbey, she climbed to her feet quietly. Abbey didn’t stir, didn’t move at all.
‘Shouldn’t you be asleep?’ whispered Sebastian.
Something in the man’s eyes told her he was glad she wasn’t. ‘I need the loo. Wish I didn’t, it’s freezing out there.’
‘So stay and get warmed up for a minute.’
‘How come you’re up, anyhow?’ Danielle questioned. ‘Having nightmares?’
‘There’re no such things as nightmares, only bad dreams.’
‘I wish I’d known that growing up. Could’ve saved me a lot of sleepless nights.’
‘You have a beautiful voice, Danielle,’ Sebastian smiled edgily. ‘It’s a shame you didn’t start speaking earlier.’
‘Thanks,’ she murmured uneasily, and took a step towards the entrance. ‘I’m going to see about that loo trip.’
‘I wouldn’t recommend you go out there alone, sweetheart. The storm’s raging.’
Danielle feigned another smile. ‘I’ll be fine. Takes more than a bit a rain to stop a girl when she needs to pee.’
‘Then I’ll escort you. You shouldn’t be wandering around alone tonight.’
‘That’s okay,’ she muttered. ‘I’ll wake Abbey.’
‘No! Erm…what I mean is, there’s no point in waking Abbey when I’m already here, right?’
‘It’s alright, really,’ she persevered. ‘She said to wake her if I needed anything.’
‘Look,’ Sebastian whispered, ‘I don’t even think we need to go outside. There are several other chambers nearby. Besides, I could do with going too.’
‘It’s okay, Sebastian, really,’ she assured him. ‘I think I’ll just –’
‘What’s the matter, you don’t trust me? I thought we were friends.’
She paused, curious. ‘We are…really, we are. I just…’
‘Good, so I’ll take you. And Abbey can rest.’
Unable to protest further, Sebastian shuffled her from the chamber. She turned reluctantly to see James and Abbey sleeping soundly, and for the briefest moment she could’ve sworn she saw, in the twisted shapes of the firelight, the faintest trace of a smile resting across Sebastian’s lips.
*
For too long he had waited for this moment, this opportunity. He was going to be alone with the girl at last, just like they both wanted.
For days he’d put in the groundwork; sitting on the beach with her, outwardly trying to keep up her spirits, while attempting to steer her affections away from the interfering walking advertisement for brain damage. From the word go Eric hadn’t trusted him.
What he had with Danielle was special. The others would never understand. The way she ran haughtily along the beach, the way she flicked her hair; she’d been flirting with him this whole time. His battle with Eric for the girl’s attention had been fought, and he’d won.
Eric was too damaged to understand that he and Danielle wanted to be alone.
Up until the plane went down he’d been handcuffed. He knew Eric had seen him at the airport; he just hadn’t supposed it would matter. The plane was never meant to crash, just as he was never meant to meet the girl, but during the process he had become free from his bonds, free from the prying eyes which invaded his daily routine, free from restrictions to be handed the beautiful Danielle on a silver platter.
