as unsinkable as i can be // the wilds

chapter seven.

I'm not sure how long Toni held me in her arms, but the sun was down by the time we got back.

"Where the heck were you guys?!" Dot screamed at us, throwing her arms up in the air as we stumbled into the campfire. The sun was completely gone by then, and if I hadn't had Toni beside me the entire time, I would never have made it out of the forest in the middle of the night. She was the only thing keeping me stable.

"We thought you were dead," Leah said from a few feet away from everyone else, using a flashlight to read through her book.

"Nope, just lost," Toni responded, helping me sit down and then grabbing two Diet Cokes from her stash.

"Get one from my ration," I told her quietly, not wanting her to give up one of her own drinks for me. I leaned up against her, too drained to even lift my head, but Toni just wrapped an arm around me.

"Hey," she whispered, "It's fine, I swear, okay?"

"So, did you guys find any water?" Shelby asked, coming to sit across from us at the fire.

"Don't you think we would've said something if we did?" Toni snarled, hugging me a little tighter. I could feel her go rigid as she responded, and I don't remember what Shelby said back, or even if she said anything at all. All I can recall is the way that her tone of voice changed when it wasn't me. How every other person seemed to anger her, but the moment I came into view, her entire persona changed. I still don't know what I did to make her change like that.

"Leah, are you seriously using the only flashlight we have to read your stupid book?" Rachel snapped, placing a hand on her hip and standing over Leah. I winced at her voice a little, trying to focus on my Diet Coke instead.

"Why, you got a problem with that?" Leah retorted, marking her page with her finger and looking up to meet Rachel's glare.

"All I'm saying is that we have limited supplies, you know. This isn't a frickin free-for-all thing where you can just go and buy another flashlight tomorrow. This is life or death."

Leah shot up, dropping the book behind her and coming face to face with Rachel.

"You think I don't know that we're in a living hell? You think that I'm just stuck in my freaking love puddle because I'm too caught up on a guy to think about anything else?" She scoffed, laughing a little to herself. She lowered her voice, coming nose to nose with Rachel. "It's not my fault that I want something to distract me from the fact that we don't know if we are going to live through this, okay?! So don't you dare judge me on how I react in this situation."

Rachel opened her mouth as if to say something, and then I noticed her clench her fist. I reached for Toni's hand, my whole body shaking again, afraid that she would swing at her.

But instead, she turned and stalked off, Nora running after her. I watched as Rachel didn't deny her sister's company, and they actually sat on the shore together as Nora helped calm her sister down. I even saw Nora put her arm around her twin, and Rachel leaning into her. Something happened up on that mountain.

Leah just stalked off behind us, closer to the forest, taking her book and the flashlight with her, but no one came after her. Not then, at least. Not yet.

There was silence between the remaining six girls. I could tell some people wanted to talk, but they weren't sure how. That had been the first real fight between two people who didn't know each other before the plane. It wasn't an argument; it was nearly a fistfight.

"I um... I'm going to go... wash my face off a little, just get the dirt off from the day," Shelby mumbled, running off in the opposite direction of Rachel and Nora, behind large rocks that blocked the view of her from the rest of us.