Day 42

The sun hung heavy over the island, casting long, lazy shadows that danced with the swaying palms. The makeshift camp was quieter than usual, no bickering from any of the girls for a change. Only the sounds of the trees and the occasional bird call broke the silence. 

Hunter sat on the edge of a log, her posture tense, her eyes fixed on the horizon. She took deep, measured breaths, her chest rising and falling with a deliberate slowness. The wound on her leg  was still angry and red - a little less than before now that she'd let Dot clean is as much as they were able to do so with their limited resources, but she bore the dull pain with a newfound sense of determination.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Leah's voice cut through the stillness, tinged with the kind of concern that bordered on maternal. She stood a few paces from Hunter, her tall, willowy frame casting a long shadow over the blonde girl.

"It's clearly fucking not," Fatin Jadmani interjected, her tone dripping with its usual sarcasm. She lounged on a nearby log, her posture relaxed, almost lazy. Where Leah was all nervous energy and fidgeting hands, Fatin was a picture of nonchalance. She twirled a strand of her dark hair around a finger, her almond eyes half-lidded in the afternoon heat.

Hunter rolled her eyes, not at Fatin's comment, but at the constant bickering between the two. In the past week, she had started to allow her friends to touch her more often—a hand on the shoulder, a brief hug—and the physical closeness had begun to break down some of the walls she had built around herself.

Yet the emotional distance between her and the other girls was another matter. She knew they meant well, but their overprotectiveness was starting to grate on her.

"I just want to be ready," she said. "In case something happens."

"Like what?" Leah asked, her brow furrowing. "We're doing fine. We have food, water. The wound is healing."

Hunter didn't answer immediately. She looked down at her leg, at the rough, uneven stitches that held her flesh together. Dot had done her best with the limited supplies they had, but it was far from a professional job.

It had taken a lot of willpower for Hunter to be able to sit and let her even try, and it certainly hadn't been fun for any of them. But she'd allowed her - and as far as anyone else was concerned, that was progress.

"Anything could happen," Hunter said finally. "Another storm, an animal. We don't even know how long we'll be here, and I'd rather do this now than be forced to confront it another time."

"She's going to kill us," Leah said, crossing her arms. "You know how Toni is."

Fatin rolled her eyes. "Toni isn't here. And anyway, it's not like we're doing anything behind her back. Hunter asked us to help."

"Help?" Leah said, incredulous. "This isn't just helping. This is—"

"Guys," Hunter interrupted. "It's my choice. I want you to do this."

The two girls turned to look at Hunter. Leah's face was a mask of concern, while Fatin's was more unreadable, though her eyes held a spark of something—perhaps defiance, perhaps fear.

"I need to get over this. It's not like I'm asking you to hurt me. I just need to get used to it."

Leah and Fatin exchanged a glance, then Fatin shrugged. "Okay. Let's do this."

Hunter closed her eyes and waited. She could hear the girls breathing, could feel the tension in the air. She didn't know when it would come, and that was the point. She needed to get used to the unpredictability, the suddenness.

A moment passed, then another. Just when she thought they might have backed out, a hand came up behind her and covered her eyes. Hunter's body tensed, every muscle locking up. She fought the urge to scream, to flinch away. She took a deep breath and tried to relax, to accept the touch.

The hand pulled away, and Hunter opened her eyes. Leah and Fatin were watching her closely.

"Well?" Fatin asked.

"I'm still alive," Hunter said. "That's a start."

Hunter thrashed a little at first as Fatin tried once more, but managed to calm down and lean into Fatin's touch. Relief washed over her as the pain subsided, and she breathed deeply, savouring the moment of reprieve. 

They celebrated afterwards, with Fatin and Leah hugging so closely that Hunter almost thought they were about to kiss. The two girls separated, and Fatin excused herself to go for a wash in the water.

Hunter watched as Fatin walked toward the treelike, her silhouette soft against the rising sun that peeked through the trees. It was almost peaceful, a stark contrast to the chaos that had defined their lives since the crash.

Leah turned to Hunter, her expression a mix of concern and something else that Hunter couldn't quite read. "I'm proud of you," Leah said softly.

Hunter shrugged, trying to downplay the significance of what they'd just done. Hunter didn't feel courageous. She felt exhausted, like she'd just run a marathon on pure adrenaline. But she appreciated the sentiment.

"What's going on with you, Leah?" Hunter asked, her voice low but insistent.

Leah's expression shifted, a mix of confusion and defensiveness. 

"What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I mean," Hunter said, taking a step closer. "You've been weird ever since..." 

She paused, searching Leah's face for some sign of recognition, of admission. Leah opened her mouth as if to speak, then closed it, her eyes flickering with something Hunter couldn't quite read. Hurt? Anger? Regret? Hunter didn't know anymore.

Without another word, Leah turned and walked toward the small cluster of tablecloths the girls had kept. Hunter watched her go, a knot tightening in her stomach. She wanted to call out, to take back what she'd said, to explain what she meant. But she stayed silent, the words lodged in her throat like splinters.

Something was off with Leah. And she was determined to figure out what it was.

______

Present Day

"So, what's the plan here?"  Faber questioned, leaning with his arms crossed as he looked at Gretchen scribbling in her notepad. "We just keep on pretending to Hunter that Hudson is dead? Dare I ask why that's the choice here?"

"We need to stop her from coming into contact with any of the other boys," Gretchen replied, ignoring Faber's questioning about her choice for them to pretend that Hudson was dead, despite the fact he was a few corridors away from his twin sister - fully alive. Hearing his small sigh, Gretchen looked up from her notepad, her eyes sharp behind her glasses. "It's not just about keeping her from the boys, Faber. It's about maintaining the integrity of the experiment."

Faber shifted uncomfortably, his conscience clearly at odds with Gretchen's logic. 

"But she's grieving for a brother who's alive. Don't you think that's crossing a line?"

"We've crossed many lines. This is hardly the most egregious," Gretchen snapped, looking at him in disbelief. "You're telling me after everything we've done so far, that this is the one thing that's settling your moral compass off? Don't make me laugh."

Faber remained silent.

"Sometimes, to reveal a greater truth, we must conceal smaller ones," Gretchen continued, her tone measured but firm. "Hunter's reaction to her brother's supposed death is a crucial variable. We need to see how she copes, how it affects her relationships with the other girls once they're all re-introduced. We've seen how they cope with little outside influence, but once we start to introduce the other factors of phase two, this will be a good test."

Faber ran a hand through his hair, frustration evident in every movement. 

"And what happens when she finds out? Because she will, Gretchen. These kids aren't stupid - if anyone is going to somehow wok this out, it's Leah. And once Leah knows..."

Gretchen set down her pen, folding her hands on the desk.

"They won't - and even if they did, by the time any of them discovers it, the experiment will be complete. The data we gather from Hunter's grief; her coping mechanisms, her interactions with the others - it's invaluable."

She walked over to the bank of monitors that lined one wall of the room, each screen showing a different room in the complex. On one, Hunter could be seen sitting silently on the bed, her knees pulled up to her chest as she stared into nothing. The screen beside it mirrored her - but it was Hudson this time. Almost identical in their mannerisms.

"Look at her," Gretchen said, her voice softening almost imperceptibly. "She's stronger than she knows. This loss, this pain... it's shaping her into something remarkable."

Faber joined her at the monitors, his eyes fixed on Hunter's small figure. "And what if it breaks her instead?"

"Then that, too, is valuable data."

_____

 Day 42

Dot looked at Hunter out of the corner of her eye, unsure whether she should be worried about the girl's sudden change in attitude over the past few days. She'd been improving significantly quicker than before and while Dot wanted to believe it was a good sign, she had been stung too much in the past by optimism.

Besides, why had Hunter decided to join her to drag logs? Hunter was much more the 'sit and wait' type than the 'scavenge and provide'. They loved her anyway - but this was certainly bizarrely out of character.

Dot hefted another log onto her shoulder, grunting with the effort. The bark was rough against her skin, and she could feel splinters digging into her palms. She glanced at Hunter again, watching as the blonde girl bent to pick up a smaller branch.

"You know," Dot said, her voice strained from exertion, "you don't have to help. I've got this."

Hunter shook her head, her ponytail swinging.

"No, I want to. It's... nice to feel useful."

Dot raised an eyebrow but didn't argue. They worked in silence for a while, the only sounds the crunch of leaves underfoot and the occasional bird call. The forest was dense here, the canopy above them filtering the sunlight into dappled patterns on the ground.

As they worked, Hunter kept glancing back towards camp, as if checking to make sure they were far enough away. Dot noticed but said nothing, filing the observation away for later consideration.

"Hey, Dot? Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot," Dot replied, adjusting her grip on the log.

"Why weren't we friends in school?"

The question caught Dot off guard. She paused in her work, wiping sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. She let out a short, humorless laugh. 

"Seriously? You're asking me that?"

Hunter's face flushed. "I mean, I know we ran in different circles, but..."

"Different circles?" Dot snorted. "Hunter, you were the girl. The popular cheerleader everyone wanted to be friends with. And I was... well, I was the weird, pill-pushing freak."

Hunter winced at Dot's blunt words. 

"I didn't think of you like that."

"Maybe not," Dot conceded, "but that's how everyone else saw me. And you never exactly went out of your way to change that perception."

Hunter fell silent, her face a mask of guilt and regret. Dot sighed, feeling a twinge of remorse for her harsh words. She hadn't meant to make Hunter feel bad, but the question had dredged up old feelings she thought she'd left behind.

Unknown to Dot, Hunter was desperately trying to keep her occupied, to give the others time to set up the surprise party back at camp. But as they talked, Hunter found herself genuinely curious about their former dynamic.

"I'm sorry," Hunter said softly. "I should have... I don't know, reached out or something."

"It's high school. Everyone's an asshole."

Hunter laughed, the sound bright and unexpected in the quiet forest. "God, ain't that the truth."

Dot and Hunter had fallen into a comfortable silence after that, the physical labour providing a welcome distraction from the constant stress of their situation. They were so engrossed in their task that they almost didn't notice the approach of Fatin and Leah until they were practically upon them.

"Well, well, well," Fatin's voice rang out, cutting through the relative quiet of the forest. "Look at you two, all sweaty and dirty. It's kind of hot, not gonna lie. If I was Toni, I'd be jumping your bones right now, Hunts."

Dot rolled her eyes, but a small smile played at the corners of her mouth. Hunter chuckled, dropping her log and smiling at the two.

"What are you two doing out here?"

"We, uh, thought you might need some help. You've been out here for hours," Leah said, her eyes focusing on Hunter for a little longer than Dot, as she tried to convey for her to get back to camp without the birthday girl realising. 

"Yeah," Fatin chimed in, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "We figured we'd come give you both a hand. Can't have our resident cheerleader working herself to death, can we?"

Dot raised an eyebrow, suspicious. "Since when are you two volunteering for manual labor?"

Leah shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "We're trying to pull our weight more. Right, Fatin?"

"What can I say? We're evolving. Becoming one with nature and all that shit."

Hunter seized the opportunity, dropping the branch she was holding.

"You know what? I think that's a great idea. I'm pretty beat, and I'm sure Dot could use two energised set of hands rather than one tired pair. I'll head back, but I'll see you three once it gets darker?"

Dot looked between the three of them, her brow furrowed. Something felt off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. The forest around them seemed to hold its breath, as if waiting to see if their ruse would be discovered. Dot sighed, relenting. 

"Alright, fine. But don't think I'm not onto you all. Something's up."

 Hunter turned away from the group, a small smile playing on her lips as she heard Fatin's exaggerated groan behind her. She knew Dot would figure it out eventually, but hopefully not before they got back to camp.

As she made her way through the dense foliage, Hunter's thoughts drifted to Hudson. The forest around her seemed to fade away, replaced by memories of her twin brother. She wondered what he might be doing right now, if he was safe, if he was looking for her.

The path beneath her feet was uneven, roots and rocks threatening to trip her with each step. It reminded her of the obstacle courses Hudson used to set up in their backyard, always trying to challenge her, to push her limits. She could almost hear his voice, encouraging her, teasing her, daring her to keep up.

A bird called overhead, its cry sharp and piercing in the quiet forest. Hunter wondered if Hudson was hearing similar sounds wherever he was. Was he outside too, trying to train for football? Or was he inside, at school? She imagined him pacing in their living room, arguing with their parents about mounting a search party.

As she ducked under a low-hanging branch, Hunter felt a pang of guilt. Here she was, planning a surprise party for Dot, while Hudson might be out there thinking she was dead, and feeling desperate and alone. But then again, maybe he was adjusting to life without her. Maybe he was moving on, finding new routines, new friends. The thought both comforted and stung her.

As the trees began to thin out, signaling her approach to the camp, Hunter took a deep breath. She hoped Hudson was okay, wherever he was. She hoped he knew she was thinking of him, that she missed him more than words could express. And she hoped that someday, somehow, they'd find each other again.

Reunited, and whole again.

____ 

"SURPRISE!"

Everyone cheered as Dot walked in, Fatin and Leah dragging her along by her arms as the girl smiled at them all. She hated her birthday - but this felt different than usual. It felt... nice.

"I hate you," Dot said, but the smile on her face told them all otherwise. She might have hated the attention, but this moment... she'd remember that for the rest of her life. "All of you."

"We love you too, Dorothy," Fatin joked, wrapping her arms tightly around Dot as the Texan playfully pushed Fatin off her. Toni and Hunter laughed, the blonde girl tucked under Toni's arm and resting against her side as they stood with the rest of the girls.

"Well, not that I didn't see it coming," Dot joked, motioning between Leah, Fatin and Hunter, "because you three have shit-ass poker faces."

"Okay, so I'm not a smooth person," Leah teased, trying to ignore the playful glare Fatin was sending her for her poor acting being a factor in Dot's lack of surprise. "Moving on..."

"You are a hard-ass working queen," Toni and Martha said, moving away from the group and putting a crown formed from plants on her head. Hunter laughed out loud at the original look on Dot's face, before she noticed how Dot's eyes softened ever so slightly.

Shelby moved forward next, placing a sash over Dot that almost looked just like it was perfect for birthday celebrations - if it hadn't said RETIREMENT across the front in bright red letters. 

"Fatin might have been the leak," Dot started, her face a lot more sincere as she stood in front of the beauty pageant queen. "But I know you were behind this."

Shelby burst into a huge smile, laughing with joy as she realised that Dot was clearly happy and grateful for the moment they had created for her. The blonde leaned forward, pulling Dot into a tight hug as she giggled with the rest of them grinning at the joy being exchanged.

"All right. Enough of that. Let's get this party started!"

The girls gathered around the bonfire, its warm glow casting flickering shadows across their faces. Rachel started singing a tune, her voice ridiculously out of tune. It was familiar yet strange, a pop song twisted by memory - each girl taking a moment to catch on to what song it was. Gradually, the other girls joined in, their voices blending together in a somewhat organised chaos.

Toni was the first to start moving, her body swaying to the rhythm of their makeshift song. She pulled Hunter close, spinning her around in a clumsy waltz that had them both laughing. Hunter's eyes sparkled in the firelight, her earlier melancholy forgotten in the joy of the moment.

Shelby joined in next, her pageant training evident in her graceful movements. She grabbed Martha's hands, twirling her around as Martha giggled, her usual shyness melting away in the heat of the celebration.

Leah hung back at first, watching the others with a mixture of amusement and longing. But then Fatin was there, grabbing her hands and pulling her into the circle. Leah resisted for a moment before giving in, letting the music and the moment carry her away.

And at the center of it all was Dot, crown askew on her head, retirement sash flapping as she moved. She danced with abandon, her usual stoic demeanor replaced by uninhibited joy. She grabbed each girl in turn, spinning them around, her laughter ringing out over the sound of their singing.

The girls' voices grew louder, more confident. They belted out the lyrics to "Dancing Queen," their off-key rendition echoing through the trees. Their bodies moved in sync, a messy, joyful choreography born of shared experiences and growing bonds.

Hunter and Dot weren't surprised that Shelby had managed to pull off something like this. In fact, Shelby was known around their school as the best event planner. Hunter was pretty sure that Shelby had helped organise three homecoming dances, two other holiday dances, and their latest prom. But Dot never went to any of those, and Hunter was blackout drunk to remember most of it.

There was a moment - one where everyone thought things were about to take a turn - when Hunter was holding up the piñata that had been found with the retirement supplies and a blindfolded Leah missed, instead smacking the branch in her hands against the side of Hunter's arm.

Hunter froze for a second, the camp instantly going silent before the girl burst into laughter. Leah ripped the makeshift blindfold off with a grin as she realised that it was Hunter laughing, and soon everyone followed. A lot had changed in the space of a few weeks.

Things were much better.

"Listen, um..." Dot started as they were all sat around the fire later that evening, having just finished a game of limbo. "With what I'm about to say, just know that the bar is really low, but... This is the best birthday that I've ever had."

The girls fell silent, their faces illuminated by the flickering firelight. Dot's words hung in the air, a bittersweet reminder of the lives they'd left behind.

"Mine was two years ago, and Toni snuck us into a casino," Martha said, causing everyone to burst into laughter at the unexpected announcement from the girl.

Toni held her hands up, trying to justify it. "Hey, come on - you wanted to see those nerdy magicians... I can't remember their names..."

"Penn and Teller," Martha interrupted, rolling her eyes but with a smile on her lips. "They're not magicians - they're illusionists."

"Okay, I was the illusionist, sliding us past that asshole bouncer - for the record."

Leah laughed, a small smile playing on her lips. 

"Mine was my thirteenth. My parents took me to this little indie bookstore and told me I could pick out as many books as I wanted. I think I spent like... three or four hours in there."

"Of course you did," Toni teased, nudging Leah with her elbow.

"Well as memorable as that sounds, I think my sweet had you all beat," Shelby said, and Dot and Hunter mused their lips in agreement. Both of them remembered that - everyone in their neighbourhood probably did. "It was a 'Great Gatsby' theme... and we actually rented an old car. And the best part was when my dad surprised me with a video from none other than Joel Scott Olsen."

"Who the hell is that?" Toni whispered to Hunter, the blonde smiling gently at her as she leaned up to her ear.

"He's a pastor - I thought he was like the writer of the Great Gatsby at his party... very humbling moment."

Martha laughed at them both, before turning to look at Hunter.

"What about you, Hunt?"

Hunter's smile faltered slightly as she looked into the fire, memories flickering through her mind like the dancing flames. She took a deep breath, her voice soft when she finally spoke.

"My birthday... it's always been a shared thing, you know? Hudson and I... every celebration was for both of us. Every year, it was like this big production. Our parents would go all out, trying to make it special for both of us. When we were little, they'd do these elaborate themed parties. I remember one year, it was pirates. They transformed our entire backyard into this makeshift ship, with a plank and everything. Hudson spent the whole day running around with a plastic sword, making all the other kids walk the plank into our pool."

Hunter laughed softly at the memory, her eyes distant.

"As we got older, the parties changed, but they were always... ours. Together. Even when our interests started to diverge and our parents stopped being around as often, we always found ways to make it work for both of us. Like our sixteenth birthday - I wanted this big, fancy sweet sixteen party, all glitz and glamour like Shelby's. But Hudson, he just wanted to have a bonfire with his football buddies."

She paused, running a hand through her hair.

"So, we somehow managed to do both. We had this elegant party in our backyard, fairy lights everywhere, a dance floor... the works. But off to the side, there was this huge bonfire pit. All night, people kept moving between the two spaces. It was chaos, but it was perfect."

Hunter's voice grew softer, tinged with a bittersweet nostalgia as the rest of the girls listened to her opening up about her brother - something she hadn't done too often with them all.

"Last year, we decided to do something just the two of us. Skipped school, drove out to this lake, just outside of town. Spent the whole day there, swimming, fishing... we even tried to paddleboard, which was a disaster. Hudson kept falling off, splashing around like a drowned rat."

"Loser," Dot muttered, causing them all to chuckle.

"We stayed out there until the stars came out. Just lying on the hood of his truck, talking about everything and nothing. About our plans for the future, our dreams... It was the first time I really felt like we were growing up, you know? Like we were becoming our own people, but still... still connected."

Hunter fell silent, her gaze fixed on the fire. The other girls watched her, the weight of her words hanging in the air. Toni reached out, taking Hunter's hand in hers, offering silent support.

"This just, like, kind of reminds me..." Rachel said, breaking the silence after a moment. They all turned to look at her, noticing how she was looking slightly into the distance. "That I only have one birthday to celebrate from now on. Not two."

Everyone's smiles and laughter had stopped, avoiding meeting her eyes as she looked angrily between them all - they'd all been too busy reminiscing to notice her sudden change in demeanour. 

"So fuck all your birthdays," Rachel snapped, pushing herself up from the ground and looking directly at Hunter. "And fuck you too."

She stormed off towards the water, Hunter flinching a little at the end of her statement which was directly at the girl. She knew it wasn't personal - Hunter was sitting talking about how she'd spend her birthdays with her alive twin while Rachel had sat and listened knowing that she'll never experience that again. 

Hunter didn't know what she'd do if Hudson died.