Anomaly; Stranded The Series (bxb)

Chapter 6: Breaking Point

The sky had been threatening for hours, a dull gray that deepened into something far more ominous as the afternoon stretched into evening. The storm was coming. Eli could feel it in the thick, humid air that clung to his skin, the kind of tension that buzzed just beneath the surface, ready to snap at any second.

He stood near the edge of the beach, staring out at the churning waves that slapped against the shore harder than usual. The wind had picked up, carrying with it the scent of rain and something darker, something foreboding. They were about to get hit. Hard.

Behind him, he could hear Jonah moving, his footsteps fast and heavy as he stalked through the jungle, dragging pieces of debris and branches to fortify the flimsy shelter they'd pieced together over the past few days. Jonah had been on edge all day—hell, all week—and Eli knew it was only a matter of time before everything exploded between them.

They'd been heading for this for a while.

The silence, the tension, the way Jonah had been shutting Eli out more and more. It was like the storm gathering above them had also settled between them, building pressure until it had nowhere else to go but out.

"You just gonna stand there and stare at the fucking water, or are you gonna help me?" Jonah's voice cut through the air, sharp and annoyed.

Eli turned slowly, his eyes narrowing as he took in Jonah's frantic movements. His shirt was soaked with sweat, his face tight with frustration, and there was a wildness in his eyes that hadn't been there before. He was unraveling.

"I was checking the waves," Eli muttered, keeping his voice calm, even though every part of him wanted to snap back. "If they get too high, this shelter won't do shit. We'll need to move further inland."

Jonah dropped the branches he was holding, throwing up his hands. "Oh, so now you care about survival?"

Eli blinked, taken aback by the sudden venom in Jonah's voice. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Jonah scoffed, running a hand through his hair in that agitated way he always did when he was pissed. "You know exactly what it means. You've been acting like we're on some fucking vacation, Eli. Like this is just another one of your 'everything's gonna be fine' bullshit trips. We're not at summer camp. We're stuck on this island, and we're running out of time."

Eli's stomach twisted at the accusation, but he shoved the feeling down, his temper flaring up to meet Jonah's. Why was it always like this? Jonah pushing, Eli pulling away. Jonah always assuming the worst.

"I'm trying to keep us from falling apart," Eli said through gritted teeth, stepping closer to Jonah. "You think I don't care? You think I don't realize how fucked we are?"

Jonah's eyes blazed with anger, his chest heaving as he took a step closer, his face inches from Eli's. "You don't act like it. You just wander around, staring at the sky like the answers are gonna fall into your lap. Meanwhile, I'm the one doing all the work. I'm the one keeping us alive."

Eli's heart pounded in his chest, his hands curling into fists at his sides. This wasn't fair. Jonah had been treating him like some useless tag-along ever since the crash, like Eli wasn't pulling his weight, like he was too fucking naive to get what was happening.

"You're not the only one doing shit," Eli shot back, his voice rising. "I've been helping. I've been trying to figure out how we're gonna make it. But you—you just take over like you always do. You don't let me do anything without hovering, without controlling every fucking move I make."

Jonah's jaw clenched, his eyes narrowing. "Because you don't take anything seriously, Eli. You never have."

There it was. The real problem. It wasn't just about the island or the storm or their survival. It was about everything. Years of frustration, years of resentment.