Claire couldn’t help but smile. “Just so long as we live.”
They fell silent again, concentrating on the hike. Every step felt hard-won. The moss was slippery from the rain, and the bushes and vines seemed to tug at their feet. Listening for any hint of a stream, they walked through the forest with no idea of whether they were heading in the right direction or the opposite.
Eventually, Claire heard the burble of water over rocks. She picked up her pace, hurrying toward it at a near run that made everything ache. She glimpsed the water soon, sloshing over moss-covered rocks. Kneeling next to it, she rested, waiting for Reyva and Mariana to catch up.
Dunking her hands in the water, she felt the crisp coolness run over them. She splashed water in her face and rubbed away some of the muddy grime. When she opened her eyes again, the forest looked hazy. She blinked and rubbed her eyes harder.
In the haze, she saw a shape: a dog?
A wolf.
She froze, not daring to breathe.
The wolf studied her. Was it a wolf? She squinted at it. It looked as if it were wreathed in a black-smoky fog. Maybe a mountain lion. Yes, the tail—but then she thought she was mistaken again because as she stared, she saw only the trees and rocks and fallen branches.
My imagination, she thought.
Or a hallucination.
She didn’t feel short of breath or nauseous or dizzy. This wasn’t her brain betraying her, at least not in the usual way.We need to eat, she thought.And rest.And not be in this forest any longer.
Reyva and Mariana caught up with her. “Excellent!” Mariana said. “Downstream?”
“You okay, Claire?” Reyva asked.
“Yeah. I thought I saw...” She realized the birds had gone quiet again only because they abruptly resumed their songs. She shivered and stood. If she was already so hungry and tired she was hallucinating, before their journey had really begun... Her legs felt wobbly, but she took a deep breath and steadied herself. “Let’s find the lake.”
They reached the lake before nightfall and collapsed on the shore. Calm, the water lapped on the pebbles. The low sun cast a path of light across the water.
“Will you hate me if I talk about food?” Mariana asked.
“Yes,” Reyva said.
“We can try to fish...,” Claire began to say, then trailed off. As badly as she wanted food, she couldn’t imagine moving. She felt as if every bit of energy had been sapped out of her. For the last few hours, all she’d thought about was reaching the lake, and now they were here... but home felt farther away than ever.
We aren’t going to make it, she thought, then she squelched the thought. They’d made it to the lake. That was enough for now. Tomorrow she’d think about what came next.
Scanning the horizon, she saw the dock—a speck to their left. It was far enough away that it looked only a few inches long. She wasn’t sure what the math said about how far it was, but it was a significant haul. She wondered if Jack had returned there, but as hard as she stared, she couldn’t see any hint of movement near the dock or anywhere along the shore.
“So tomorrow we keep going that way.” Mariana waved her hand in the opposite direction of the dock. “If we follow the lake away from the dock, eventually we’ll reach civilization.”
“Don’t talk about moving either,” Reyva said. “No food. No moving.”
Claire closed her eyes. She was fairly certain she could sleep exactly like this, except for the fact that her stomach felt like a yawning void. Plus at least a thousand rocks were poking into her back. “We need food.”
“Cheeseburgers,” Mariana said. “Pizza. Burritos. Tamales. My great-aunt makes the world’s best tamales. To die for. When I’m back in LA and you come visit me—note the wordwhen—we’ll get her to make a whole plate for just the three of us. Nosharing with any of my cousins. Or neighbors. Everyone loves her tamales.”
“Youstillthink we’re going to survive this?” Reyva said softly. “Look at how far we have to go. Can’t even see the boathouse from here. It’s days away.”
“Tomorrow we’ll find food,” Mariana said. “You’ll feel better after you eat.”
Reyva said nothing.
Claire propped herself up on an elbow to look at Reyva. Her broken arm was cradled against her chest, and she had a cut on her cheek that hadn’t been there before. It was speckled with dried blood.She has to be in tremendous pain, Claire thought. Yet Reyva wasn’t complaining.She hasn’t given up. I can’t either.She had to keep pushing for as long as she could, for Reyva and for Mariana. “Give me the nails and the wire.”
Wordless, the others handed over the supplies.
Claire pounded one of the nails with a rock until it bent. She held it up. It looked somewhat like a fishhook. Sort of.
