I grew restless as I waited for Grant to fully scope out the back of the cabin. Impatiently I sighed loud enough for him to hear and he shot back down next to me.

"I think they’re gone," he whispered.

"Yeah, so who knows when they’ll be back?"

He shook his head. "No, I don’t mean like gone for an hour or two. I mean gone."

I looked at him before shooting my body up to peer above the bushes. The back door was open wide enough to see inside. Things were strewn around the cabin as though someone had left in a hurry. I crouched back down.

"Let’s go closer," he suggested.

I held my breath as he made his way around the bushes and onto the dirt. Following close behind him, I stayed alert, expecting Gina or Dean to jump out any second. We inched our way over to the door and I waited as Grant peeked inside. He motioned for me to follow him.

Stepping into the cabin, my stomach was in a knot. Drawers were open and cabinets looked like they had been ransacked. A bottle of water was tipped over on the kitchen counter and was steadily dripping onto the floor.

"Wait here," Grant said. "I’ll peek around the corner."

I stayed near the door as he slowly started to sneak away. I rushed over to one of the open kitchen drawers and started to look through it. Not finding much, I quickly opened the other drawers until finally finding utensils. I grabbed a knife that wasn’t too sharp, but I figured it was better than nothing.

"Ry," Grant called.

I jumped and held the knife out.

"Sorry," I said when I saw him.

"They’re gone," he said. "Like really gone. The entire place is a mess. I think they left and from the look of it, they were in a hurry."

"Why would they rush out of here?" I asked.

He shrugged and walked over to the refrigerator. "After we escaped and got Aaron out, maybe they ran."

He found two bottles of water and handed me one.

"Then they probably took the boat back, huh?" I said.

"There must be another way off this island," he said, after thinking about it for a moment.

I stared down at my feet. We had made it this far. There had to be a way out.

"Let’s search this place. Maybe we’ll find something helpful," Grant suggested.

I agreed and decided to continue going through the small kitchen. Grant went into the adjoining room. I could hear him opening and closing doors and moving furniture around. All I found was some leftover food, which I happily shared with Grant. We walked upstairs to the bedroom and checked every corner. All I found under the bed were dust bunnies.

I was about to tell Grant I wanted to give up the search when we both heard a noise coming from downstairs. There weren’t many places to hide in the small bedroom that occupied the second floor. The wooden stairs creaked.

"They’re back!" I whispered.

We both glanced around frantically. Grant pulled a dark blue blanket from the bed and motioned with his head for me to lay down. I gave him a look before quietly getting onto the bed. He laid down alongside of me and draped the blanket over us both until we were completely covered. Grabbing a pillow, he tossed it on top of us and then pulled his arm back in just as we heard the door open.

I held my breath and squeezed my eyes shut. We laid completely still. It sounded like one person’s footsteps and I could feel the heat of someone standing next to me. Grant’s fingers brushed lightly against mine and I opened my eyes. Whatever was about to happen, I knew we were in it together.

Suddenly our blanket was yanked off of us. I threw my arms up in defense as Grant popped up screaming. I jumped up, ready to attack.

"What the-"

Grant exhaled and my eyes focused on Will.

"Will?" I said confused.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt," he snickered.

Grant gave him a playful shove. "Oh, man! What are you doing here?"

"I’d ask you the same thing, but..." Will replied.

"We were hiding," I told him.

"Yeah, sure. Hiding." Will winked at Grant.

I groaned, already irritated. Grant blushed a little.

"Will!" a tiny voice whispered up the stairs.

Will’s face softened and he ran towards the door and peeked out.

"It’s okay," he yelled down. "I found Grant and Ryleigh in bed."

"Dude," Grant said.

"What?!" I recognized the tiny voice now as Beth.

Shoving past Will, I ran down the stairs. Beth was sitting on the sofa with her leg propped up. Her eyes lit up when she saw me. Fresh tears sprung from my eyes.

"Beth!"

We embraced. I wiped tears off my cheeks and stared at her, making sure she was okay.

"How’d you find us? Are you okay?" I asked.

"I’m good," she said softly. "We came here hoping to find supplies or something. I’m so glad you’re here!"

"Where’s Cal? She’s with you, right?" I said as I scanned the room.

Beth shook her head. "She’s not here. We got separated."

"Separated? Again?" I cried.

"She wasn’t taken. I’m almost sure of it. We just...I don’t know. She and I were both having such a hard time and poor Will...he said he’d help us one at a time. He would carry me and find a spot to leave me while going back for Cal. It worked...until it didn’t. This last time, he went back for her and she was...gone."

Gone. Separated. Here we were again. Every time we seemed to finally find each other, something ripped us apart. Grant and Will came barreling down the stairs. Seeing me crying, Grant rushed over.

"Ry, what happened?" he asked and glanced over at Beth.

"We got separated from Cal," Beth answered for me.

When Grant looked over at Will, I wiped the tears from my cheeks and turned to follow his gaze.

"I don’t know where she went," Will started. "The girls...they’re both in bad shape-"

"Hey!" Beth teased.

Will smiled softly at her and went over to her. He gave her a playful rub on the head before continuing.

"You’re a badass, I know! I just mean that, you know, you and Cal..."

"I know," Beth said and gave him a grin. "Cal and I have seen better days."

I reached for her hand and squeezed it.

Will went on to explain the same story that Beth had just told me. They had made it pretty far until getting close to the cabin. When Will went back for Cal, she wasn’t there. He decided to make it to the cabin to look for food or supplies when he realized it was empty.

"I thought that maybe we could get something to eat, some water, and get off this island and go for help," Will said.

"But what about Cal?" I asked quietly.

"I figured the police would have a better chance of finding her," Will replied. "My guess is she went off to look for food or water. Maybe I was taking too long, I don’t know. If we can take the boat-"

Seeing the way Grant and I exchanged looks, Will stopped.

"We’re not sure the boat is still here," Grant said. "Actually, we’re not sure Gina and Dean are still here."

"Yeah," Will sighed. "I was thinking the same thing. This place is a wreck. The island, too...we didn’t run into anyone. Did you? It’s like they’re all gone."

"Ry, stay here with Beth. Will and I can go check for the boat," Grant told me.

I watched as they ran out the back door. Sighing, I closed my eyes and rested my head back against the edge of the hard sofa.

"So," Beth said. "What exactly did Will mean when he said he found you and Grant upstairs in bed?"

I opened one eye. "It’s not what you think."

She giggled. "Yes, it is!"

My cheeks flushed and I opened both eyes.

"We were hiding," I told her.

"Yeah," she said. "Hiding your feelings maybe."

I laughed. "No, really. There was no place else to hide."

She nodded and squinted her eyes. "Mmm hmm...it’s not like there’s a closet or under the bed or-"

"Under the bed was super dusty and-" I tried to define myself.

She broke into hysterics. I lifted her legs and placed them on my lap. Smiling, I looked away.

"I’m just teasing you," she said when her laughter subsided. "You two make a cute couple."

My mouth fell open. "We’re not a couple!"

She tilted her head in disbelief and smirked.

"Anyway, you’re one to talk!" I teased. "You and Will..."

She giggled again and shook her head.

Will and Grant came running back in and Beth and I collected ourselves, holding in our laughter. 

"The boat’s gone," Will announced.

"But that probably means Gina and Dean are gone, too. They probably took the boat out of here," Grant added.

"Great, but now what?" I asked.

For the first time in a while, no one had an answer.

Next Chapter: Forty Five