Page 43 of Totally Shipped
As I take a bite of egg, there is a noise behind me and Killian walks out of the jungle—with Leander in tow.
“Look who I found.”
Leander is hollow-eyed. I probably look the same.
“Eat,” orders Rex. “Then we’ll discuss next steps.”
What do people do when they have no plan? Pretend they do; it’s either pretend, or give in to despair. ‘Discussing next steps’ is Rex’s way to hold on to hope. Without hope, things get bad real fast.
I choke down some food and drum my fingers, waiting for everyone else to be done eating too. Now that the sun is climbing up the sky, we can’t let another day go by without finding Daisy.
Killian clears his throat. “Leander found something.”
Silence for a moment, then both Rex and I explode.
“Why wait to tell us? What did you find?”
“For fucks sake, Leander, what?”
“I made him wait to tell you,” Killian says. “Otherwise you would have not waited for nutrition. We will get Daisy back, but only if we keep ourselves reasonably healthy. Look, I want to race after her as much as you all, but we have to think practically, and not let emotion rule us.”
I’m growling. Fuck that. I don’t know if I can forgive Leander and Killian for not telling me the news straight away.
“What. Did. You. Find. Leander?”
“I found Daisy’s panties, and her beads. They led to a small beach I hadn’t been to before. I think Harvey must have her. She definitely left those things for us to find.”
“Taken,” mumbles Rex.
“And probably taken to the other island,” Killian adds.
Maybe forcing us to refuel wasn’t such madness. We’ll have to trek across the island, then swim over to the next one. My whole body goes cold when I think about Daisy having to do that. “Let’s take the life-rings—we can use them for swimming, and if Daisy is there, she can have them for the return journey. We can just tow her.”
“Good idea,” Leander says, going over to collect them.
Rex stands up and rolls his shoulders, then walks to the second shelter, coming back out with a basket with straps. Daisy had woven it a few weeks ago.
“You should take a lot of water, some eggs, and fruit. You don’t want to waste time having to forage.”
I watch Killian walk over to him and take the basket from him. I know it’s killing Rex to have to stay with Keyara, but that’s his job. Leander, Killian, and I will get Daisy back.
Fucking Harvey. We should have killed him.
There is not much we need to take with us that, in a matter of minutes, we are setting off again. Rex and Keyara hold hands and wave.
Keep her safe, Rex.
A tear rolls down Keyara’s cheek, and then another. I hate seeing it.
“We’ll find her, Key,” I shout to her, before stepping into the jungle.
And this time, I’m going to take care of Harvey once and for all. A person can’t be allowed to live after something like this. It’s just not possible.
Leander takes us first to the plane glade so he can find his bearings from there. We stop for a water break, walk around the remnants of Christmas. Some of the decorations are still up.
Just two days ago, but it feels like years ago now.
“Gray?”
