{Editing Status: Unedited}

"So do you remember where you heard the girl screaming?" I ask Ryan.

He stops walking for a moment and looks around. "Not exactly. I just remember her scream. It sounded close, but I'm not sure what direction," he answers.

I nod. "Just keep your ears pricked," I say. The jungle is alive with noises, and it feels like eyes are on me, watching me as I walk. It sends shivers up and down my spine. Pure, liquidated, unadulterated fear pours through my veins, but I try and not show my fear on my face.

Pools of shadows form under the trees as we walk, quickly, but carefully, our senses alert.

"Wait, wait," Saige suddenly whispers. "Do you hear that?"

"I can hear a lot," I say.

She scowls at me. "Listen, idiot," she hisses.

I stop and look around. Within the sounds of the trees rustling, the breeze, and the sounds of monkeys chattering, gibbering and screeching, I hear a faint cry.

A shrill female cry, brimming with perturbation.

"Where is that coming from?" I ask, keeping my voice quiet.

Ryan shrugs.

"North, maybe?" Saige nods.

"He's right." She points to the right of us. "Let's head that way."

I raise an eyebrow. "How do you know that's North?" I ask.

"I just know," she says, glancing at me.

I know I shouldn't trust her, seeing as I have just met her, but it wasn't like I had another choice.

"Do you not think we should call back to her?" Ryan asks.

"No," I say. "We might attract something."

Saige nods in agreement. "Come on," she says, and we begin walking in the direction that we heard the cry.

The humidity is pushing down on my chest, making it hard to breathe. Sweat clings to my face like an extra layer of clothing and beads of it fall down my face and onto my lips. My breaths come out, in short, quick pants, and I can hear the same breathing coming from my two companions beside me.

The colors in this part of the jungle are bright, vivid. The emerald greens of the leafy plants; the cerulean and amber of the flowers, intercepting each other; the chartreuse green of the grass under our feet, long and thick and soft like a blanket. The vibrant, deep colors are strange to me, unfamiliar. Like I've never seen them before.

I have a dubious feeling to reach out and touch the colors, to make sure that they are real. They seem surreal in the tenebrosity of the forest. My eyes have not yet adjusted from the darkness in the other part of the jungle.

I stop in my tracks when I hear the girl's piercing cry again. It is louder this time.

"We're getting closer," Ryan says, breaking the silence.

My fast walking turns into a jog.

"Wait!" Saige shouts.

I hear them running behind me. The girl's voice gets closer and closer. We run through the trees, the intense colors an incandescent blur. The trees suddenly become less dense and break away into a small clearing. There is a girl, lying in the high, emerald grass, her dark brown hair standing out from the vibrant ocean of green surrounding her.

"Hey!" I yell.

She turns her head, and a look of distress is on her face. We run over to her. She is sitting with her leg bent in a funny way. I realize that there is a large gash running up the side of her leg, and she is resting it in a way to make it less painful. The gash is fresh and open, blood running down her leg like red tears.

"Are you real?" she whispers.

Her voice is croaky and full of fear. I kneel down next to her and touch her arm. She flinches away from me.

"We're real," I say, softly.

She looks about the same age as Saige and Ryan. Her eyes are a shiny, chocolate brown, almost like a darker hazel. Her skin is tanned, splatters of dirt covering her face and neck. I notice a cut by her lip. Her hair is a dark brown, matting to her forehead, and her face is shiny with sweat. I can clearly see her beauty under the layers of dirt, sweat and blood.

"What's your name?" Saige asks her.

"L...Lauren. Lauren Hogan," she stutters.

Saige's eyes flicker to the gash on her leg. "What happened to you?" she asks.

Lauren's face suddenly turns dark, and Saige kneels beside her. "Don't worry about it for now. Let me fix that for you." She takes a piece of moss from the floor and places it gently on her leg.

"What are you doing?" she cries, recoiling, and then wincing at the movement.

Saige hushes her. "Moss can prevent infection," she tells her. "Try not to move."

Lauren looks doubtful, but Saige's soft voice calms her, and she lets Saige put the piece of moss back on the gash. She tells Lauren to keep the moss on her leg. She grabs a handful of Lauren's shirt, pulls a piece of material off - gritting her teeth at the tough material - and ties it around the gash, taking the moss off in the process, and flinging it across the clearing.

"You need some water," Saige says, peering at Lauren's clammy, pale face.

She looks up at Ryan, and then at me, kneeling beside her. I realize what she is thinking. "We need to go back to the lake," I say.

"I can't remember the way back," Ryan says. He looks at Lauren. "And I don't think she's ready to walk that far."

Lauren grimaces with agony as she readjusts her leg, proving Ryan's statement correct.

"She needs water, urgently," Saige argues. She looks at Lauren. "Can you walk?"

"I can try," Lauren says.

"We can help you," I suggest.

Saige grabs one arm, and Ryan the other, pulling her to her feet, gently. She grits her teeth, her breathing heavy, and she groans.

"You okay?" Ryan asks her.

He's looking at her funny; his face softens as he takes her features in, and it is the first time I have seen him not look fearful. I raise my eyebrow at him. She looks at him and nods, giving him a small smile.

"Let's go," I say, leading the way, and the three of them following closely behind me.

Finding the lake proves to be easier than I originally predicted, and we find it within ten minutes. As we kneel down next to the water, I notice Lauren's face, and she looks like she is about to pass out any minute.

"One second," I say.

Maybe she can use one of those big leaves for a cup, the ones that dip into a cup shape. I run over to the edge of the jungle and look around for one. I soon spot a big one lying on the jungle floor. After picking it up, I run back to the water. I scoop up the water and stare at the reflection of a girl, staring back at me, her shiny hazel eyes wide. A smear of dirt covers her left cheekbone. Her eyebrows are dark arches, contrasting against her pale skin, and her lips are pale and cracked. Her natural beauty shocks me.

So.

This is me? It can't be.

I tear my eyes away from the reflection of my myself and hand Lauren the water. She gives me a weak smile of gratitude before raising it to her lips and taking long gulps. When she is finished, I scoop up more water. I do this about four times before she says that she's had enough.

"We seriously need food too," Saige mutters.

"Well, have you seen any edible plants anywhere?" I ask her.

She shrugs. "I haven't been looking."

I notice a lizard scuttling around by the water's edge. I walk around the edge of the lake and pick up the sharpest stick I can find. I walk back over to the lizard and stick the sharp stick into its center. It struggles slightly, and then lies still as a small puddle of red liquid surrounds it. Saige and Ryan look at me, shocked.

"We need food," I shrug.

"One lizard will do nothing," Ryan says.

"Well when you see more lizards, let me know," I say.

He smiles slightly.

When the moon rises that night, and the fire we had made earlier is flickering in the moonlight, we cook the seven lizards I killed. I don't know how I knew how to cook a lizard, but I knew. Somehow. My method is hanging it over the fire and hoping for the meat to cook.

Lauren bites into hers, cringing as her teeth sink into the paltry meat of the lizard.

"How is it?" I ask her, looking at mine.

Saige bites into hers gingerly.

Lauren chews, pauses, and then carries on chewing. She shrugs. "It's not bad," she says.

I grin and bite into mine.

"It's not amazing, but it will do," Saige says.

"This is not the time to be fussy," I sigh, and she scowls at me.

Ryan is sitting on the water's edge, staring at the moon, his arms wrapped around his knees. The moon reflects a white light of the dark water, illuminating the whole lake. The embers flicker and spark off the fire.

Lauren stares at Ryan's back for a while, and then stands up. She limps down to the edge of the water and sits down next to him.

"Don't tell me we're going to be the third wheels," Saige mutters through a mouthful of lizard meat.

"Don't get me started," I sigh. "You definitely did well on her leg, though. How did you do all that healing stuff?"

She raises her shoulders in a shrug. "I don't know. It seems like a kind of intuition if you know what I mean? I don't really need to think about it, it just comes naturally to me. She definitely looks better after eating something."

"Yeah, she does." I watch them.

I can't hear what they are talking about because they're talking in low mutters. Ryan suddenly puts his arm around her, and she leans her head against his shoulder.

"So, seeing as you don't have a name, I think I should make one up for you," Saige says, breaking the silence.

I look at her and raise an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Well, yeah. I can't just call you 'person', can I?" She says.

I snort and shake my head. "I guess not," I say. "What name, then?"

She tilts her head at me and studies my face. "Hmmm. You look like a Jade."

"Jade?" I laugh.

"What? You don't like it?" She asks.

"No, I do," I laugh. "And my last name?"

She raises a finger at me. "Give me a moment."

Her concentration for making up a last name for me is amusing, and I can't help laughing at her screwed up nose. She flicks open her eyes. "Dawson!" She grins. "Jade Dawson."

I smile. "Jade Dawson. I like that."

She folds her arms and scowls at me.

"You better."

I chuckle.

She sighs with relief. "I'm so glad you have a name now."

"Me too," I agree. "It's like I actually have a legitimate identity now. It's weird how you don't really know who you are, without a name."

"Well, you do now."

I nod and smile. Jade Dawson. Somehow, I feel legitimate now. It's almost like I was a ghost before, and now I'm real.

Drifting off to sleep is easy, with the warmth of the flames on my face, and the soft rippling of the water in the lake.

My sleep, though, is awoken by the sound of an ear-splitting, shattering scream.

A/N

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! :) Sorry for the slow updating. It's proven hard to be updating like 4 different books at the same time, LOL. I have so many other books I want to write, too. Ugh, it's horrible. The joys of being a writer, haha.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, and stay updated for Chapter 4!

Don't forget to like, comment and share!

Olivia J. Clarke

{GIF: Lauren Hogan - Maia Mitchell}

{Song: Mountain Sound - Of Monsters And Men}

© Olivia Clarke 2016

Lost {Book 1 - The Quarantine Series}