Sienna sighs as she looks at it, hands planted on her hips. “Well… it’s still fucked.”
I check my phone again. The battery is almost dead, and there’s still no signal. Sienna has about twenty percent left onhers. We wait another twenty minutes, sharing the last of the water and granola bars. No engines. No voices. Nothing.
Sienna stands, brushing dirt off her shorts. “Okay. New plan. We start hiking back toward the resort. There has to be a clearing with a signal eventually.”
I nod. “Lead the way.”
We’ve been walking for about ten minutes when she abruptly stops and tilts her head.
“Did you hear that?” she whispers.
I listen. At first, there’s nothing but the usual jungle sounds—birds calling, insects humming, leaves rustling. Then, faintly, the low rumble of engines cuts through the noise. Multiple vehicles. Growing louder.
Sienna’s entire face lights up. With a delighted squeal, she jumps straight into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist and shaking me excitedly as she giggles.
“That’s them!” she grins, practically vibrating. “We’re being rescued, Milo!”
Before I can respond, she jumps down, grabs my hand, and starts running, pulling me eagerly along the uneven trail and over jagged rocks. We round the corner just as four ATVs come into view. Aria and Ethan lead, with two resort employees right behind them.
The moment Aria spots us, she skids her ATV to a dramatic stop, kicking up dust and pebbles.
“Sienna! Milo!” she screams, leaping off before the vehicle even comes to a full stop. “Oh my God. You’re alive.”
Aria crashes into her sister, pulling her into a fierce hug. Ethan follows close behind, clapping me hard on the back, clearly relieved.
“Duh. Of course we’re alive,” Sienna laughs, squeezing her twin. “It’s gonna take a lot more than being stranded overnight in a jungle to kill me.”
“How the hell did you even end up stranded?” Ethan asks, glancing around. “Where’s your ATV?”
“Somewhere back up the trail,” I say, gesturing behind us. “We hit a sharp rock, and both front tires blew out.”
“This wouldn’t have happened if I had driven,” Sienna says smugly, winking at me.
I give her a blank look, and she smirks back.
“And you didn’t think to call any of us?” Ethan raises an eyebrow.
“No signal,” I reply with a shrug.
He eyes me suspiciously.
“This is allyourfault, you know,” Sienna says, pointing dramatically at Ethan and Aria. “If you hadn’t sent us on a wild goose chase for rubber ducks in the middle of the jungle, we wouldn’t be in this mess. We could’ve died out here! Iguanas could’ve eaten us!”
Aria rolls her eyes, fighting back a smile. “But you didn’t.”
“But wecouldhave!”
“Sienna,” Aria playfully smacks her on the arm. “You’renotgoing to hold this over me for the rest of our lives. I know you. When I have kids, you’ll tell them the dramatic story about how Aunt Sienna and Uncle Milo almost died because of me, which, by the way, is amassiveexaggeration. You’re literally holding a picnic basket and three rubber ducks!”
Sienna gasps in mock outrage, holding up the swimsuit duck like evidence. “These are my emotional support ducks, thank you very much!”
The back-and-forth between the twins quickly devolves into full-blown playful chaos. Ethan and I exchange a look and roll our eyes in unison, both of us knowing better than to get involved.
One of the resort employees radios back to base to confirm we’re safe. The other heads off in the direction I pointed to recover our broken ATV.
Ethan nudges me with his elbow, a knowing grin spreading across his face. “So… you two really spent the whole night out here, huh?”
I nod, keeping my expression as neutral as possible. “Found a waterfall. Made the best of it.”
