Page 135 of The Island

“It seems cruel that they fly all this way and then we eat their eggs,” Owen said.

“We’ll get something else, then.”

Heather scanned the horizon. She knew the O’Neills would start looking for them again eventually. But without the dogs and with fuel low in their vehicles, they might not be moving that fast. And maybe this morning, they would start feeling sick from the poisoned well.

“You learned all about birds on that place you grew up?” Olivia asked.

“Goose Island. Yeah, I guess I did.”

“Why did you leave?” Olivia asked.

“Um, I think I just got to that stage when your parents suddenly flip from being always right to always wrong.”

Olivia nodded and dropped out of the tree and went wandering by the old ruined bus.

“That’s never going to happen to me ’cause I don’t have any parents,” Owen said.

Heather swallowed, hard. “Owen—”

“Hey, look what I got,” Olivia said. It was a side mirror from the bus. “It’s useful, right?”

“Of course it is! We can signal for help from passing planes. You catch the sun like this,” Owen said, climbing down out of the tree and grabbing it.

“Hey, I found it!” Olivia said, grabbing it back.

“Can I see?” Heather asked.

Olivia brought it over, stood on tiptoes, and handed it to her. Heather caught a glimpse of herself. Her tanned face was caked with blood and dirt. Her hair was matted and wild. Her eyes were deep set, and her right eyelid was swollen. She had a yellow bruise on her forehead, a cut across her left eyebrow, and another cut on her cheek she didn’t even remember getting.

“Wow, I look terrible,” she said with a laugh as she handed it back to Olivia.

“Oh my God, look at me,” Olivia said. She was sunburned with matted hair and red eyes.

“Let me see me,” Owen said.

The sunburn did nothing for his appearance either.

“How did all this happen? How did we get so…lost?” Olivia said quietly, sitting down on the ground.

“We’re not lost. We know where we are,” Owen said.

“You know what I mean.”

Heather climbed out of the tree. “We came to another world and we were driving too fast and we hit a woman. That’s all,” she said softly.

“Yes,” Olivia said.

Heather sat down and put her arms around Olivia’s waist. Owen sat down, and Heather put her arms around him too.

“We’re not really lost, are we?” Olivia asked.

“No,” Heather said. They were before, maybe, but not now. They knew this place. This strange continent in February without any snow. In all this orange. In all this red.

“Did you live your whole life on Puget Sound?” Olivia asked.

“I was actually born in Kansas,” Heather replied.

“Where?”

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