as unsinkable as i can be // the wilds

chapter eighteen.

"This is some real Ralph and Piggy versus the elements type-crap, and I didn't even really notice it until just now." I looked up at the island, admiring the hum of the forest, shielding my eyes from the sun. "Yup. William Golding would be proud."

"I don't even know what that means, Raelynn."

I laughed, stripping my shirt off and wading into the water after Nora, Fatin, and Shelby.

"Didn't any of you guys have to read The Lord of the Flies in school? Everyone I know had to," Nora asked, floating on her back, the pieces of clothing she didn't remove drifting in the water beside her. "Besides, I read it on my own anyway. It's truly a brilliant book."

The day was ridiculously hot, and none of us were ready to make our sunburns any worse than they already were. We were all peeling on our arms, foreheads, and thighs, and we had only been stranded for six days.

"Um... I think I read the SparkNotes maybe? Girl, I don't even know." Fatin sighed. "God, I miss my socials."

"I kind of... don't, actually," Shelby noted, using her soap to rub her armpits and collarbone off.

"I agree with Shelby," I commented. "This is a much-needed break from everything social media, and I am not mad about it."

Fatin looked at Shelby and I like we were Siamese twins joined at the crotch. "Okay, but seriously? What about the haters, the lovers, the thirst traps, the drama, the memes? All of it?" We didn't respond. "Nothing?"

We all just laughed, and I sunk down into the water and wrung out my hair with water. The salt probably wasn't doing anything to help our skin or hair, but it was better than being covered in dirt, grime, and bat poop all the time.

"You know what my Daddy always says when he thinks I'm looking at my phone too much?" Shelby asked. "He says 'you'll never spot a rainbow looking down.'" She smiled as if picturing her father saying it in her head, but I could also see her mouth falter a little bit. I wondered what else her father had said to her.

"Except that... people are always posting rainbow pics on Instagram," Nora noted softly, falling back into the water, splashing us a little bit. Fatin laughed, and Shelby and I joined in after.

"Okay, time for a whore bath," Fatin said, taking the soap out of Shelby's hands. Her jade bikini and hair scarf were such an odd contrast to the rest of us, who were wearing ratty t-shirts and pants that didn't even fit us.

"What is a whore bath?" Shelby asked, looking at Fatin like she had lost her mind.

"Just the pits, tits, and slits!" Nora and I said at the same time, and we both giggled and splashed water at each other.

"Okay, you two are low-key edgy," Fatin laughed, pointing at Nora and I.

"Why do I feel like I'm not getting the joke- oh my Lordy what is touching me?!" Shelby screamed, and the rest of us squealed, beginning to run from something we didn't even know until Nora grabbed what it was, holding it out to us like it was a dead carcass.

It was a Takis bag.

"No way!" I shouted, taking them from Nora, grabbing my shirt, and running up to camp where the rest of the girls were. "Guys! TAKIS!"

Before we knew it, all nine of us were circled around this bag of Takis.

"They're Fuego," Martha whispered, as if saying it any louder would make it unreal.

"They're mine," Dot and Toni both said at the same time, grabbing the bag until they were both holding an end. The tension was radiating off of the two of them: uncomfortableness from Dot and ferocity from Toni.

"Okay, look. I'm not trying to start shit, but I bought these at the airport on my way here," Dot said, keeping her voice calm but not easing up on the bag.

"Yeah? Well, I bought these at a MiniMart and put them in my carry-on bag with an orange flipping Gatorade just like I always do," Toni argued, glaring at the Texan.

"It's true, she did," Martha confirmed, slinging her arm around her best friend's shoulders.

"HA! Where's your witness?" Dot just narrowed her eyes, annoyed.

"Okay, okay, y'all," Shelby started, coming between the two and taking the bag. "How about, instead of cat-fighting each other for it, we use it at a bargaining chip and play for it!"

"Why can't we just eat them?" Leah whined, crossing her arms over her chest, licking her dry lips. We all had been insanely tired of eating macadamia nuts, and at that point, the thought of eating something that came from the worlds we had left behind was so incredibly exciting.

"Yeah, I agree with Leah. She's gone total youth camp counselor on us," Fatin sighed, staring longingly at the bag of chips.

"Guys," Shelby said loudly, cutting everyone off. "Three words. Shelter. Building. Competition." She turned to make eye contact with Dot, whose eyes grew wide as she pumped her fist.

"Ahhh, yes!"

And despite the next fifteen minutes of more arguing, we began the game.

The rules were simple. Build a shelter and do it before sundown. The ax would be shared, but everything else was free play. You got materials when you wanted them, and the group with the best shelter won the Takis.

It was Visors against Warriors.

Rachel, Leah, Dot, and I were on the visor team, while Nora, Shelby, Toni, and Martha were on the warrior team. Fatin decided she would split her endless amounts of makeup and "resources" between the two teams, making us all look geared up and prepared for war.

Friend versus friend. Texan versus Texan. Sister versus sister.

It was truly shaping up to be quite the battle royale.

I should've known there would've been conflict.

William Golding would've been really proud.