"Let’s load up and head back, huh?" Grant offered.

I nodded and we gathered up as much fruit as we could and brought it back to the cave. We all sat around, waiting for the fires to go out. By sunset, the fires had almost reached the water. Their flames lit up the night sky, but we figured we were still too far away for anyone to notice it. The smoke didn’t go up high enough. We spent another night in the cave, hoping things would have a brighter outlook by morning.

Waking up on the cave floor was better than waking up in the basement dungeon, but it was nowhere close to being home. I could see it on everyone’s faces. They would do anything to just go home. Tempers wore thin and I bit my tongue more than once at Aaron’s rude remarks. We decided it was safe enough to leave the cave and start back out. Cal asked if we could take a break at the bottom of the waterfall to get water and cool off, and nobody argued with that.

The sun’s temperature peaked by the afternoon. I was hot, wiping my sweaty palms over and over again so I would be able to grab onto Beth if she came close to slipping. She limped along, only asking for my help when she truly needed it. She pushed herself hard and I had to admire her determination. Cal was quiet until we reached the waterfall.

"Finally!" she cheered, rushing to cup water with her hands and drench her face and hair.

Cooling off helped a little with the overall irritability of the group. Grant was still leading us, but was quieter than usual. I think he was concentrating on which strategy was best without having to hear Aaron’s criticism. As long as he remained quiet and kept forward, Aaron seemed to do the same.

Now that we were freed from the cabin’s basement, as grateful as we were to have escaped it, we were still prisoners. Stuck on this island meant we were still technically kidnapped. Plus, we knew Dean had found Gina by now and with the cameras they had set up all over that place, it was only a matter of time before they figured out where we were.

I took a seat near the water and splashed the back of my neck. The summer heat slowed us down even more than we were already moving. Cal was happily drenching herself, dipping her head into the water so her hair floated all around her. I had to laugh. She reminded me of being a kid and swimming in the pool, pretending to be a mermaid. She looked up and saw me, giving me a shy smile. I waved and took handfuls of water, dumping them down my neck. I knew my skin would dry in only a few minutes once I was in the sun, but for the time being it was a nice break from the heat.

Just as we had all relaxed a bit, we heard it. Another loud explosion, but much closer this time. I ducked down and plugged my ears. Cal looked up to the sky, not sure where the sound had come from, and then ran out of the water. Grant and Will both looked all around us, not sure what to expect.

"Get down!" Grant shouted.

Cal had made her way to me and we huddled together.

"Come on!" she shouted in my ear. I was shaking as she grabbed my hand and led me over to a tree near the guys. Aaron had been on the other side of the water. He hopped quickly over the rocks, landing on both feet and then running in our direction.

Beth!

Just as I was about to ask where Beth was, I saw her. She was on top of some rocks - how did she get there? - limping and climbing her way over, but was way too slow. As she held onto the rocks with both hands, she carefully placed her foot on the ground. She lifted her injured leg over and tried to move forward.

"We have to get Beth!" I shouted.

Grant’s eyes found her. "Stay here!" he warned us.

He scanned the skies before taking a step. We couldn’t see any smoke, but we knew another fire was looming somewhere nearby. Beth was crawling, nearly slipping on the wet rocks. I could see the fear in her eyes as she frantically tried to keep going. Grant moved swiftly towards her, his eyes fixated straight ahead.

Beth saw him and smiled nervously. Her eyes stayed on Grant when she reached in front of her, grasping a small rock with her right hand. The rock was too loose and it tumbled under her grip. She screamed as she lost her balance, grasping desperately at the other rocks. But those were all loose, too. The rocks tumbled beneath her and she scrambled to not go down with them.

"Beth! Hang on!" Grant called out.

The water flowed below her and her leg wasn’t ready for something like this. As she looked around for something to steady herself with, another rock tumbled forward, knocking her over.

"Beth! No!" I screamed and tried to run, but Cal grabbed my arm.

"Ryleigh don’t! It’s not safe!" she cried.

Grant was climbing up the rocks. Beth had fallen backwards, hitting her head.

"Will! Aaron!" Grant hollered.

Will bolted toward Grant. He took giant steps and made it over to him in no time. Aaron hesitated, sighing and waited to watch.

"Go help them!" I shrieked at him.

He ignored me and instead chose to stay behind.

Grant and Will were carrying Beth. Cal and I jumped up and helped them gently place her on the ground in the shade.

"What happened? How is she?" I shrieked.

"She’s alive," Grant assured me. "She hit her head pretty hard, but I think her leg is worse off."

Beth moaned and I crouched down next to her.

"Beth?" I whispered. "How are you feeling?"

"My leg!" she cried. "It feels like my bad ankle or something!"

"I think she messed up the same ankle as before," Grant said in a low voice.

"What?" Cal asked him. "How?"

"The rocks up there," Beth said. "They all just tumbled down. They were all loose."

Grant looked at us. "From the look of it, those rocks were meant to be loose intentionally. They just completely crumbled under her."

"Nice," I said sarcastically. "And what about the explosion we heard? Do we know where it came from?"

Grant shook his head. "No, but it doesn’t matter. Let’s just get out of here."

"Beth," I leaned in to her. "Can you still walk if we help you?"

"I’ll try," she said as we helped her up. As soon as she put weight on her leg she winced in pain.

"She’s not going to be able to go very far like this," I said.

"I don’t think she should move," Cal warned . "What if her leg is broken?"

"I can’t stay here!" Beth cried.

We all exchanged looks. Grant scratched the top of his head. Beth was crying softly both from the pain and fear.

"We would never leave you here, Beth," I promised her. "We’ll just go slow, okay?"

She nodded and then looked from me to Grant. He was hovering over us with his arms crossed over his chest, a concerned look in his face.

"Alright," he said. "Then let’s go slow, as long as we go."

Beth could barely move. I felt like I was carrying her more than she was actually walking. Luckily she was petite, but it still didn’t take long before I was panting. Cal had tried to help by grabbing her on the other side, but we were too wide walking that way. One of us would bump into a tree or lose their footing, thus holding up the group even more.

Every step took twice as long. Aaron sighed loudly and I shot him a dirty look. I couldn’t believe he was acting annoyed at us after he hadn’t done anything at all to try and help Beth in the first place. We walked through the woods, it all starting to look the same. I could’ve sworn we passed the same tree three times. I felt like I had walked a hundred miles, yet we had barely made any progress. I was physically exhausted, Beth was wincing in pain, and the rest of the group was getting antsy.

I held Beth as best as I could. Grant led the way and I only hoped he had a good sense of direction.

"Do you know which way you’re going?" Aaron called out to Grant. "We’ve been walking in these woods forever and I don’t think we’re getting anywhere."

Grant turned around and stared at him. "I’m trying my best. That’s all I can offer."

"You’re leading us in circles!" he accused.

"You’re welcome to do better if you think you can," Grant said.

Aaron paused, considering what Grant said. "Actually, I probably can do better! I’m sick of these woods! I think we should head to the left. It leads to the water, which is where the boat should be."

"Be my guest," Grant shouted. "I’m going straight ahead."

"Fine, I’m going this way. The rest of you do whatever you want," he spat.

"We all have to stick together!" Cal cried out.

Aaron gave her a look and then started walking to his left, through the woods to where he believed would lead to the water shore.

The last thing we should do is split up our group.

Next Chapter: Fifteen