Page 33 of Dance Practice, Marooned: Part 2

“I don’t know,” I say, and that’s the simple, broken truth.

She presses her lips together for a minute, then nods. “What if they don’t know where we are?”

I have been having the same thought.

We are well hidden, and they may spend hours going in the wrong direction looking for us. Could that put everyone at risk? Maybe.

“You’re right. We should go out, just a bit, and see if we can find them before the ship makes landfall and it’s too dark. Let’s go,” I say, shoving myself up.

Aggie blinks at me, surprised, then nods. “Yeah, okay.”

We don’t give the others a chance to argue.

We simply tell them we’re going, and they need to stay here, no matter what.

Tati tries to protest, but Aggie and I disappear before she can.

It’s colder than usual, too fast a drop in temperature, and it makes everything feel urgent and raw. The jungle is close and thick, and every sound is an enemy. We stick to the cliffs for as long as we can, then we sneak into the thick trees, heading in the direction of the camp. At the very least, we’re well hidden in here.

Aggie is better than I expected at keeping quiet, which makes me weirdly proud of her. She stays low and keeps pace, only stopping when I do. I hear footsteps just before we reach the old camp, and I pause, stopping Aggie. I put my finger up to my lips and we duck behind a tree. Of course, it’s most likely to be Kellen and Ace, but right now, we take no risks.

A few minutes later, they appear. Both of them out of breath and coated in a mix of blood and mud. We step out, causing them to jolt, and then Ace’s face twists with frustration. “What the fuck are you two doin’ out here? Why aren’t you hidden?”

I glance at Aggie, then back to him. “Because we can’t just sit there doing nothing, Ace. We needed to make sure you guys knew where we were, and it had been so long...”

Aggie turns to Kellen, her eyes locking on his. “Is he... is Zeke okay?”

It didn’t go unnoticed that Zeke isn’t with them.

“He’s alive. Bullet went through his arm so no major damage.”

I’m so stunned it takes a second for the words to register. “Where is he then?”

“Refused to fuckin’ come,” Ace growls. “He said let them think he’s there alone, it’s the only way to get any kind of jump on them. He’s not wrong, but it’s fuckin’ risky leavin’ him injured. If they have no use for him...”

“They’ll just kill him,” I whisper. “We should go and get him...”

“No,” Kellen says. “No, he’s right. This is the only chance we have. He was adamant and arguing with him will waste time. Zeke knows how to survive, we just have to trust that he will.”

“So we’re just supposed to leave him?” I ask.

Kellen nods, sharply. “Yeah, we are. He’s drawing them to him, so we can take their boat. We have a plan in place, you need to trust us.”

It’s so insane I want to laugh, but the way Kellen says it, all broken and resigned, I almost believe it. Aggie does too, because she wipes her nose with the back of her hand and nods, like, okay, that’s what we do now.

Ace jerks his chin. “We can’t sit around waitin’ here. We need to get out of sight. Take us to the camp, we will go over the plan. Then, when night falls, we move.”

We haul arse back to the cave, and I notice as we move that the whole jungle seems to be holding its breath. The air is so tight and thick I can barely get it into my lungs; my muscles want to give up, to drop me right there in the undergrowth, but Ace is behind me and I can’t let him down.

When we get back, the others are waiting. Rachel is on her feet, looking more animal than girl, hair wild and eyes glassy. She doesn’t bother with words, just looks at Ace, waiting for news. Tati pushes to her feet, her eyes wide, and just stares at us. They all want to know the same thing – is Zeke alive.

“He’s alive,” I say. “We have a plan.”

I notice Tati’s shoulders slump, like she had been holding her breath this entire time just waiting.

“We’re goin’ to find a better position,” Ace says, looking around. “This is a good spot to hide, well done there, but we need to be able to move, fast. Can’t do that up here.”

He’s right.