gold rush [the wilds, toni shalifoe]

chapter 7

Day Six

Toni

"This is the black box you're familiar with, correct? Supposedly equipped with a GPS beacon."

"Why does seeing that make you smile?"

"I, I don't mean to, it's just... that thing was a cocktease."

"Uhhh, I'm wondering if you can expand on 'cocktease'?"

"Like we were so hyped when we got it. We thought that rescue would show up right away but three days go by, and nothing. Just started to feel like a sick joke."

___

"The weather in this place is spastic," Toni complained as she and Dot finished bringing the suitcase back to their original campsite since the cave had been a total bust in the end. "Like how can it be this hot and this windy at the same time?"

"It's like we're being blasted by a giant hairdryer," Dot agreed, not sure what was wrong with the temperament of the island but knowing it was disgusting how quickly it changed. 

"Yeah, and then freezing our assess off in that cave at night," Toni teased, a grin on her face as she thought back to the cave. The freezing was bad - really, really bad - but there had been one major benefit to the cave: Hunter by the end of night five was sleeping closer to the girls than ever, especially Toni. They all guessed that she really needed the extra body heat, since it was much colder when she slept on the other end of the cave herself.

"Okay dude, I get it. The cave was a bust and it was my idea, but didn't I pay the ultimate price? A bat took an actual shit in my actual mouth!"

"Yeah, you really gotta work on sleeping with your mouth shut," Toni joked, a smile on her face as Dot grinned back.

"Can't help it man, that's just how I breathe," she joked, rolling her eyes as she sunk to her knees and started to open their inventory suitcase back up. Fatin had proven rather useful for having a watertight case, while they had pretty much been using the wrecked remains of Hunter's case to throw rubbish in. "It just sucks that we're out here again with nothing over our heads. Carnivores aren't the deadliest force in the wild you know."

"Don't make me guess what it is," Toni said, the joking all out of her tone now as she realised the conversation had shifted to a more serious mood.

"Exposure. Slow killer."

"Where does thirst rank? Cause I'm blowing through my stash here," Toni partially joked, partially was serious. They all were beginning to run low on their cans of diet coke, especially Fatin who was powering through hers like it was free water.

"Hard not to," Dot agreed, noticing how they were both sweaty from the heat. "This reminds me of that like, Texas-in-July heat, you know? The kind that makes old people drop dead on their way to the mailbox and sane people sort of...snap."

They both laughed as Martha was running around the sand next to Leah, showing off that her ankle was finally feeling better after almost a week since she had sprained it. There was a pause before Toni looked out at the water where some of the others had gone to have a quick wash, noticing the familiar blonde hair of the Boyd twin.

"What about other people?"

Dot smiled before shooting Toni a sarcastic grin. "Other people?"

"Yeah, you know..."

"OH!" Dot exclaimed, a shit-eating grin on her face as she snapped her fingers as if she hadn't already known exactly what Toni was asking the first time. "You mean blonde head cheerleaders with hot twin brothers, a dickhead ex-boyfriend and deep rooted emotional baggage? Yeah, I've heard they usually find out that people they got into a plane crash with are now simping over them from a distance? It's crazy, so rare!"