Chapter 29 – Aiden

The native slumps to the ground, dead. But not before he covers me with his blood. I look down at myself, my eyes wide, and my stomach lurching. I clutch my mid-section and double over.

Oh, dear God. I just killed someone. I begin to dry heave. I must be dreaming! I draw several deep breaths through my mouth, but that makes the heaving worse. My throat is raw, and my stomach feels like it’s on fire. I overhear Jason comforting Penelope, asking if she’s okay. I clench fistfuls of my hair and squeeze my eyes shut. My head spins like a never ending Ferris wheel. What is wrong with me? Why did I kill that person? He’s still a human being, regardless of what he did to us and our group, regardless of what he became out here.

Dear God, please forgive me. I didn’t mean to kill him. I’m so sorry.

I straighten abruptly, which makes my vertigo worse, but I ignore it. “Emily!” I glance down and see her curled up in the fetal position, shaking. I crouch down next to her. “Emily? Hey, are you okay?” I roll her over and onto my lap, cradling her against me.

She sobs. “Thank you.”

“What?”

Emily pulls away and looks up at me. “He was going to kill me.”

My breath catches, and a lump lodges in my throat. “I killed him instead,” I deadpan.

She takes my face into her hands. “Listen to me, Aiden. It was me or him. What you just did was necessary. If you didn’t kill him, he would have killed all of us. You did what you had to do.”

I nod as tears pool in my eyes, blurring my vision. I hug Emily to me, taking comfort in her embrace.

She trails her fingers along the nape of my neck, holding me just as tightly as I’m holding her. “You saved all of us, Aiden. Focus on that,” she whispers. Her breath is warm against my sweaty skin.

“I know.”

“Look!” Penelope jumps to her feet and, and a second later, she slumps to the ground. Two arrows protrude from her back.

“No!” Emily shrieks, the word mangled from her hysteria.

I yank her to her feet. “We have to go. Now!” Adrenaline fuels my every movement.

She stands then stumbles. I grip her tightly, praying she has the strength to run. “Emily, c’mon.” I attempt to drag her from the beach, but she’s not moving.

“Jason,” she shouts. “We can’t leave without him.”

“Jason?” I holler. No answer. God, please don’t let him be dead. He was here just a moment ago. “Jason!” I yell louder.

But for all our yelling, Jason doesn’t appear. A native does, though. My heart stops. I shove Emily and scream, “Run!”

She takes off, and I follow. The native is on my heels, and I expect to feel the sharp stab of an arrow piercing my back. Each step has my heart thundering and my chest aching with harsh breaths. I really don’t think I’m going to be able to outrun him. God, please protect me and Emily.

“Faster,” I say to Emily. Then, to my left is a blur of skin and dark hair followed by a guttural howl. Jason bursts from behind a tree and tackles the native. They hit the ground with a sickening thud. I stop and watch in horror as Jason wrestles with the native. Before I can do or say anything, the native has Jason pinned on the ground.

“Get out of here,” Jason shouts at me and Emily. “Run. Now!”

But I’m paralyzed with fear. I need to help him, but I don’t know what to do. And my entire body is shaking—I’m not sure I have the strength to do anything. Then, the native grabs a homemade knife from somewhere behind him and jams it into Jason’s chest.

My stomach lurches. Emily screams and doesn’t stop.

The native glances up at us, and my stomach drops. I jerk on Emily’s hand. “We need to get back to the building. It’s the only safe place.”

We run so hard and fast that neither of us can speak even if we wanted to. My heart is thundering in my chest. My mind keeps replaying the image of Jason saving us.

“There!” Emily gasps as we enter the clearing where the building sits.

“Get to the bunker,” I say, guiding her ahead of me. I glance over my shoulder, but I don’t see any sight of the native. Is he still chasing us?

We rush toward the building. Brenda is standing near the front steps, rifle aimed at us. I grab the back of Emily’s shirt, and we both come to a sudden stop. I raise my hands to show her I’m not a threat.

Then, she lifts the rifle and shoots. I cringe and squeeze my eyes shut. When I don’t drop dead, I slowly open my eyes and turn around. The native who was chasing us, the one who killed Jason, now lies face down on the ground. Dead.

“Is there anyone else with you?” Brenda asks.

“No,” Emily says out of breath. “Those people killed everyone.”

Brenda’s eyes widen, and she glances over our heads. “C’mon, get inside.” She motions toward the door with the barrel of her rifle.

Emily steps forward, and I keep my gaze on Brenda. She’s not planning to shoot us in the back, is she? “Is Tom or Marjorie here?” I ask.

“No.” She shakes her head. “They’re at the airstrip.”

“Alone?” I ask, incredulous. “What if they’re attacked like we were?” As much as I don’t want to think it, the thought screams through my mind—the only reason Emily and I made it out alive is because the natives had so many other people to kill; we were able to sneak away unnoticed among the chaos.

“Tom’s armed. He’ll be okay,” Brenda says. “Now, get inside before another one of them comes looking for you two.” She motions the rifle toward the door then steps aside so we can enter.

I step forward, then reach my hand out for Emily. But she hesitates, her eyes narrowed. Please don’t let her say anything to upset Brenda. “Emily?” I say.

“Watch out!” Emily screams and then shoves me through the doorway.

I barely manage to sit up before I see two natives storming out of the tree line. My eyes widen.

“Inside. Now.” Brenda pushes Emily inside then slams the door shut. Emily quickly locks the door.

I scramble to my feet and rush to the front window. Brenda stands outside, the boom of her rifle echoing as she shoots at the natives. One drops, but the other continues forward. I hold my breath, praying she’ll be okay.

“We have to get down to the bunker.” Emily tugs on my arm, but I don’t move. “Aiden. We have to go.”

“We can’t just leave her.” And I can’t believe Emily even suggested that. “Not when she’s out there fighting to save us.”

I turn my attention back to the window. The second native drops to the ground. Brenda doesn’t lower her rifle, but she looks around. I race to the door, unlock it, and swing it open. “Get inside,” I say to Brenda.

Slowly, she backs up toward the door, rifle still at the ready. When she reaches the steps, she lowers her weapon and turns around. I move out of the doorway, but before she can step over the threshold, she lurches forward, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. And then she drops to the ground, an arrow sticking out the back of her neck.

Emily shrieks, covering her face with her hands. “No. No.” She shakes her head violently and repeats the word no until it blends together as an incoherent wail.

“GO!” I shout, shoving Emily toward the kitchen. I snatch the rifle from Brenda’s dead body and follow Emily through the kitchen and down the dark corridor to the bunker.

***

“They left without us,” Emily says for what feels like the billionth time.

“They didn’t leave without us.” But the more I say that, the less sure I am of it. We’ve been sitting in the bunker for over five hours. Listening. Waiting. Worrying.

“They probably went back to the beach, saw all the dead bodies, assumed we were dead, too, and then left.” Emily paces the length of the living room, her body a ball of tension. If her back and shoulders gets any straighter, I’m afraid they’ll crack.

Footsteps sound overhead. I jump up from the couch. A sudden spike of adrenaline makes my heart race. The door to the bunker groans open, sending a sliver of light down the steps. I move to stand in front of Emily and snatch the rifle from the floor. I raise it, but my hands are shaking so badly, I can’t hold it steady.

Emily grips the back of my shirt, and I can feel her body trembling behind me. I blow out a breath. “I have a gun, and I’m not afraid to shoot you,” I call out, hoping whoever it is will reconsider.

“Don’t shoot, Aiden. It’s us,” Marjorie says.

Relief floods me, and I drop the rifle. A moment later, Marjorie and then Tom appear in the bunker. Emily barrels past me and throws her arms around Marjorie. “You made it.” Then she hugs Tom. “You didn’t leave us here.”

Tom hugs her back. “Of course I didn’t leave you.”

I smile, relief and happiness mixing in my heart.

“How did you get here?” Emily asks Tom. “Brenda told us you were at the airstrip.”

“We were,” Marjorie says. “Then we were attacked, so we left.”

“The plane?” I ask.

Tom shakes his head. “Didn’t show up.”

“What about the communication tower?” I ask.

“Empty,” Tom answers.

Emily whimpers.

There’s a massive knot forming in the pit of my stomach. “Wait, so that means we’re stuck here? For good? We’re never getting off this island?” Hysteria sets in, and I can’t breathe.

“Aiden.” Emily reaches for me, but I jerk away.

“No. This is crazy. There has to be a way off this island. There has to be.” I pace. Each step ratchets my fear. “Brenda must have had contact with the outside world. We need to search this bunker. There has to be something here that we can use to send for help.”

“I don’t know. I asked her those exact same questions, and she said she doesn’t have a way to contact anyone,” Tom says.

“You don’t really believe that, do you?” Emily’s voice is hollow.

“No, but…” Tom sighs. “It’s not like we can demand answers from her now.”

“She was standing in front of the building when we got here.” Emily hugs herself. I want to comfort her, but I’m in no position to do so when I’m on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “We were being chased, and she saved our lives.” A sob escapes, and I close my eyes, desperately wanting to block out the reality of our situation.

“What about everyone else?” Marjorie asks softly, but by the tone of her voice, I’m guessing she already knows the answer.

“Dead,” I say, opening my eyes. “It was a total massacre.”

“Jason sacrificed himself,” Emily whispers.

Marjorie gasps. “God help us.”

“Well, we’re safe for the time being, so let’s—” Tom begins.

“Safe?” I laugh bitterly. “On an island with human freaks who want to kill us and a government who won’t rescue us? And the only person who knows what is going on is dead! What’re we going to do?”

“All right, calm down.” Tom holds his hands up in a show of surrender. “I’m sure there’s something in Brenda’s files that will help us figure all of this out.”

All the hope and adrenaline leaves my body at the same time, and I can barely hold myself up. I lean against the wall and wipe the sweat from my forehead. “We’re not ever getting rescued, are we?”

The room spins, and I can’t get my bearings. I collapse to the floor, and the last thing I hear is Emily calling my name.

Sweet Emily. I promised her we’d be safe, that we would get off this island, that everything would be okay. I lied to her. I failed her like I failed Eddie. My eyelids flutter, and then the world goes silent.