Angel Eyed (DISCONTINUED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE)

thirty eight

"Oh god I'm exhausted!" Niall followed, crashing onto the sand with a loud thud and dropping everything in his hand, pale skin glistening under the afternoon lights.

I'm pretty sure we were all tired. Who wouldn't be? I had to consistently switch from grabbing sticks from the ground and watching out for predators. Thankfully I was yet to see one, and I would like for it to stay that way until I get out if this place. After all, Hannah did get bitten by a snake on her foot in the book while they were trying to pick berries from the bushes and Sebastian had to suck the venom out of her. "It's been an entire day, did you guys see any edible things in here?" I questioned, giving my starving head even just a little bit of mercy.

"The fishes would be a great place to start." He suggested, cocking his head past Sebastian to look at me.

Even just the sound of the word fish coming out of him made my mouth water. "We don't have any bait yet." Seb countered.

Worms. Millions of crawling brown things on the wet soil inside the forest I've avoided like I was going to die if I get close. My father loved fishing in a lake back in the Philippines when I was a kid, and he would make come with him frequently to carry a heavy, and solid tupperwear container. Later I found out it was filled to the brim with maggots and worms. Didn't let him convince me to come with him from there on.

"I found some nests in there, maybe they have eggs? I can start a fire and we can cook."

The bird staring back at me in the forest comes to mind. She would definitely mind if we steal her eggs, but then, I would practically eat an ant right now if I see one. It didn't matter. "Yeah that's not so bad." I shrugged. "How are we going to cook them though?"

"Big rocks." Seb nodded, winds blowing on the loose tendrils of his hair as he picks up a piece of pebble among the sand, launching it towards the shore. "We'll find smooth ones under the ocean, I'll see if I can find any. Otherwise we'll have to settle to barbecuing fish."

I pause, squinting my eyes as I stare directly on to the dying light from the skies. I couldn't believe what I was hearing; actual teamwork of planning what we we're supposed to do instead of fighting about pathetic shit. But then again, I shouldn't celebrate too early. Whenever I've done that so far I always ended up getting disappointed. "I can set up camp." I opined, "I was a girl scout in elementary, I know my way around."

"I'll help you--" They addressed in unison, catching each other's gaze upon realization for the first time since I stopped them from fighting five hours ago.

"I don't always need help with anything." I explained, pushing away the tension rising in the air. It was true. I wasn't just saying it for the sake of proving myself. Also, I needed to be alone with my thoughts even just for a while to figure out what I'm supposed to do, because so far, I've never been so lost of control of my life. Not to mention, it was the least I can do. "You guys can go ahead and do what you have in mind, I'll stay here. I'm still tired anyway."

Thankfully they didn't protest, taking my words as it is to my surprise. As much as we didn't want the break to be over so soon, we do as planned; Sebastian set out into the ocean, disappearing from the surface whilst Niall walks back into the forest, taking a piece of wood to protect himself from whatever, persistently reminding me to be careful as well and that he'll be right back. My stomach clenched in hunger when I began my work, dragging myself up from the sand and grabbing the pieces of wood we gathered from the forest.

I stab the branches into the sand, burrowing them as deep as it was allowed for consolidation, kicking them to make test the sturdiness. Four columns in and I realized I had no idea what I was supposed to do next, the winds dragging on my feet. I peer across the shore, the sinking sun staring back at me as it broke into flares against the waves. On a second thought, the dinghy would probably provide a good roof for us, but I wasn't going to go back out there and look for it when I barely survived swimming. A sigh escaped my nose, turning away from the ocean to the line of trees ahead of me.