Gabe just shot him a glance and quickly grabbed his arm, pulling, feeling that bone snap back, closing his eyes to that mad howl, until Damian went slack on the sand, knocked out.Maybe for the better.
Sitting with him for a long time, until the sun tainted the sea orange and violet.
Watching him emerge, blink against that dying light. “What… fuck…” Barely a whisper, but his pain was less. Damian looked at his arm, splinted with plastic rods and some sort of strings. He looked at Gabe when he spoke.
“I found some garbage on the beach. There’s tons. Your arm will heal… if we survive…”
Damian brought his trembling hand to his forehead. “Fuck…” He started laughing softly. “Fuck… of all things, I’m stuck with a gay guy on this island…”
Gabe shot him a look, his heart in his stomach. “What should I say? Stuck here with a homophobic asshole…”
Damian just smiled, bitter, but didn’t open his eyes, listening to the waves.
Gabe sighed. “We need shelter and water. Water first, probably.” Looking around, that setting sun unnerving on that quiet shore, the bushes darkening. “There are some coconut trees there, I’ll try and get some down.”
“Fine…” He listened to him leave, those steps on the sand, something ramming against a tree trunk, dull thuds on that soft sand.Coconuts… insane… I’m dreaming…he almost drifted off when he felt Gabriel close. He opened his eyes, watching as he sat down, putting two coconuts on the sand.
“I managed to get these down… it wasn’t easy… now, I found this piece of metal. It’s not super sharp, but should be enough to get to what we need.” He started hacking at the husk, that blunt metal just chucking small pieces off, the air too hot and humid. Exhausting himself, sweat pearling down his shoulders.
Damian swallowed and sat up. “Let me take over.”
Gabe shot him a puzzled glance. “Sure?”
Damian nodded and took that piece of metal. He could hit harder and hacked the husk off.
Gabriel’s eyes lit up. “Now… just a small sharp something…” He took a tent pike out of his pocket. “Ram it in and hit hard.” He put that pike in one of the holes, and Damian hit it hard. A gush of liquid rushing out and Gabriel grinned, handing him the coconut. “Drink.”
“No… you first. It’s your hunt…” Smiling, watching him drink a few sips. He took it when he offered it, those few sips divine in that parched mouth. Not enough, they both knew, their eyes meeting.
“I’ll get more…”
Damian’s eyes went to the violet sea. “Tomorrow. We need to sleep.”
Gabe helped him up, but he limped to the trees on his own. Gabriel gathered some palm leaves, making a make-shift bedding on the sand. “It will have to do…”
That night settling, and they just sat, facing the sea, that small chill seeping in. Still, they lay down, farther from each other, their arms around their body, as best as they could. Damian’s mind drenched in pain, his hands trembling.Fuck.Closing his eyes against that faint nausea, trying to find sleep. Listening to the sea, the waves lapping at the shore. Animals in the woods, close. Howling. His eyes popped open, and he turned his head to the dark undergrowth. Branches cracking.Fuck. His eyes wide on the dark, but he could also hear Gabriel’s breathing, that other human presence somehow soothing, even if every sound wanted him to jump out of his skin. Mad thoughts of his wife and his kids, visions of their faces floating in, that veiled resentment, always. His mouth turned sour, and he had to swallow, bitter. Would they miss him at all? His daughter’s voice floating in, hysterical. Fuck off! I hate you!Holding her face where he had slapped her, hard.Fourteen years old… that small boy of ten… his eyes wide, not daring to breathe.Tears welled up, because it had been so wrong, but he had had no regrets then, just that mad anger, storming out of the living room to get a drink straight away. Maybe two…he could not remember… Drifting off, exhausted breaths.
Gabriel watched him fall asleep, a soft hate in him, despite being still grateful for this companion. Thinking that this could be the end, even if they had survived somehow, that miracle could just die on this hostile shore. Licking his parched lips, his thoughts on Raph, how he would react to the news, maybe lying in bed with his new boyfriend, their eyes wide on the TV set. His parents. Would they even care? His funeral… He had no illusions, knowing that in that vast ocean, islands were like tiny pearls in an endless desert, the chances of them being found slim to none.Who could have survived that crash?The debris long gone, people sleeping in unfathomable depths, tied to their seats. He drifted off, breathing to the rhythm of waves.
Chapter 2
Wakingtothesamesounds, he looked at Damian, at his hunched sitting form, his eyes on the waves. Gabe pushed himself up, ignoring the dull ache in his head. His wound. Dehydration.
“Morning…”
Damian turned to him. “Yeah…” Taming his voice, which had started shaking, clenching his knees against his building nausea.
Asshole…“I need to get water. So, I’ll be gone a bit. Just stay here.”
“Ok…” Shivering, his lips trembling.
Gabe had noticed it but chose to ignore it.Pathetic asshole. His whole being focused on survival, trying to conjure those videos he’d seen online. The rule of three. So, shelter, but first water, because they could not live without that. He set off, carrying that single piece of metal which he’d scraped against a rock, hoping to get some sharpness into it. A plastic container on his back, tied with a piece of fishing net cord. He made sure to leave some marks, breaking branches, twisting twigs, the sound of the ocean dimming, trying to leave that huddled shivering man behind, scrape him out of his thoughts. Walking for hours in that heat, even if it got dimmed by tall trees, the humidity thick in the air, water pouring down his back in thick rivulets.Fuck…Exhaling hard, his eyes drifting to a gaping hole, the sun glinting on something in it under rotting leaves. Water. His eyes wide, he hurried close, smelling that slightly putrid water, but it didn’t matter. He went close, dunking that large container. Yellow, muddy water, but it was water, fresh. Just a slight taste on the tip of his tongue, almost reeling with relief. Hauling the container up on his back, his head splitting, but he set off on his tracks, giddy.
Damian just watched the sea, too sick to even think straight, his head splitting. He knew the feeling too well… and a slow dread crept into him, knowing there was nothing he could do here.Maybe I’ll die, finally…Wishing he had died, sunk to the bottom of that vast blue expanse of water, swallowed by the waves.Good riddance…A sudden bout of sickness made him lean to the side and throw up, hard, whatever was still in his stomach and bile, yellow and bitter.Fuck…Shivering, he wiped his mouth, holding his knees, feeling cold despite the heat. Sweat trickling down his back, even in the shades, that scorching sun burning through leaves, licking his exposed skin. Hours like this, the occasional retching, but there was nothing else to throw up, his cracked lips tasting of blood. He laughed softly, the shimmering white light on the sand playing with his mind. Forms in that sweltering heat…other people? Animals?He could not tell, squinting his eyes. He shook his head, and there was only sand… and the ocean… Trembling again. Fear. Dread.
Turning to steps behind him, flooded with relief. Gabe put the container on the sand, exhausted, and plopped down, a rush of concern washing through him, seeing Damian’s pale face, his trembling lips, and hands.
“I… I found some water….” Catching his breath. “Uh… we need a fire… and boil it.”
