Page 70 of Totally Shipped
I realize I’m failing when I see Keyara cupping her hands over her ears, and my cries echo around the cavern. It’s like my brain is not communicating with the rest of my body.
“It’s OK, Key…we are all going to be OK,” I croak.
I don’t think she believes me.
I don’t think I believe me.
KILLIAN
Holy feck, this storm came out of nowhere.
It’s not just a tropical shower, it’s wild.
And we are all the way on the opposite side of the island, as far from Daisy and Key as it’s probably possible. The power of the wind is enormous, and lightning flashes illuminate the gaps in the canopy as Gray and I hustle. We’ll be splitting up soon. Gray is going to the camp, to see if the girls are still there, and I’m going straight to the storm shelter. The howling wind is making the trees dip and dance, the force almost bringing one day as we hurry along the mud path.
I really hope Daisy and Key have already evacuated.
A call comes in from Gray. “I’m going this way,” he shouts. “Meet you at the cave.”
Hurry, Gray, and be safe. Please.
I rush further inland, my bearings are a little shot, so all I can do is aim for the general direction of the high rocky peak. Rivers of water churn up the ground. Poor Gray, having to deal in the home-made shoes.
A bough crashes to the ground in front of me, I cringe with my head in my hands, but it seems like the rest of the tree is not going to follow.
Keep going. Must keep going.
Eventually I see formations of prominent rocks scattering the jungle floor, and the trees are getting thinner. All of this is a good sign.
“Come on, Killian,” I mutter, peering through the gloom and trying to decide which was to go next.
When I turned fourteen, I got lost on a school camping trip. I was new to New York state, and life in America. The camp was in an area called Hardscrabble.
I liked the name of the place, but not really the company of my classmates. Until I met Zoe. She, like me, had snuck away into a thick area of trees, not far from the cabins, to indulge in some smoking.
I was smoking reds, she upped me by bringing a joint to camp-out. After that auspicious meeting, the two of us hung for the whole week, and made it our mission to do none of the activities that were planned, but just wander the woods and get high.
Now I think back on it, our teachers were really young, probably early twenties, and we must have given them a fecking heart attack when we didn’t make it back one night. We’d intended to, but…
We got lost. Really lost.
For twenty-four hours. Search and rescue had to come and find us.
What I wouldn’t give for search and rescue to come find us right about now. Walking blindly in the now pitch-black, I realize my hands are in contact with the hard rock face.
My knees turn weak with relief.
Now just gotta make the climb up to the ledge, then move along the ledge to the cave.
I’m grateful for the lightning now, with each flash I get a glimpse of what is ahead of me. No point putting it off, with a prayer to Mother Mary, I start pulling myself up the scree.
The noise of the storm roars on, but as I climb higher, the noise lessens. I’m above the trees, I guess. The lightning flashes and I see the ledge just a couple of feet above me.
I roll onto it and lay back, soaking wet and exhausted. Shite, I can’t imagine how Daisy and Key would have climbed up this; it would have been nearly impossible.
Maybe Gray has found them. Or Rex and Leander. When the storm started, they obviously would have come running as well. I’ll probably find them in the cave, warming coconut by the fire.
Thunder booms, making my ears ring. I’ve got to get moving again. It takes a moment for the ringing to stop, then I get to my knees and stand.
