A/N

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Olivia Clarke

{Editing Status: Unedited}

Metal bars. Panic filled my chest and my once calm breaths turned into hyperventilation. I looked around, my eyes blurred. Pristine walls surrounded me, but the metal bars in front of me scared me the most. They locked me inside wherever I was; I was a prisoner. I wasn't completely sure how I had gotten into this small white room; my memory was obscured from finding out how I had gotten here. My legs were shaky as I got to my feet. There was blackness beyond the metal bars, and then I wondered: am I dreaming? I wanted to be dreaming. This would make more sense if it were in a dream. I felt a shock of pain in my neck, below my left ear and my hand flew to it in shock. There was a small bump where I had felt the pain. The panic changed to pure terror as I crumbled to the ground, falling back into the black unconsciousness that I had once been in.

My eyes fly open in shock, and dart around, desperately hoping that I am no longer in that white room. Relief fills me as the sun floods my vision. I close my eyes for a few minutes, letting the sun warm my face. Just a dream, I think to myself. The first thing I do when I climb to my feet is grab my homemade spear; I feel calmer and more protected when it is with me. I know it isn't much, but it is better than nothing, and it has protected me against one of those monsters at least. 

I survey the scene in front of me. Saige is sitting with her legs crossed in the distance, her eyes closed, and muttering to herself. Her long blonde hair is flowing behind her in the wind. Ryan is pacing in the distance, biting his thumb with an intense look on his face, and Lauren is looking at him like she is waiting for him to say something. Quinn is throwing her own spear at a tree and hitting the target every single time. I wonder how long I had been sleeping. It seems like all I do is sleep; the heat makes me feel drowsy and exhausted all the time. I need to do something productive. Our goal of escaping this island isn't tangible yet, but we need it to be. It feels like we have been on this island for months, and even though we have only been on this island for almost a week, we still haven't made any progress on finding ways to get off it. 

I walk sluggishly (still tired from sleeping) up to Saige and touch her shoulder. She opens her eyes slowly and looks up at me. There are heavy, blue bags under her eyes. Saige, on the other hand, is struggling to sleep at all. 

"Let's get moving," I tell her, my voice a quiet murmur.

She nods slowly and gets to her feet. It's hard seeing her like this; I'm used to seeing her with her usual determination and tenacity, but recently she has been lethargic, and unwilling to do anything. I understand how she is feeling. This island makes you lose all hope, even if you cling to it as much as you can. I can feel myself slowly losing hope and any positivity I once had. 

I give her a small smile, and she reluctantly returns it. Ryan notices I'm awake and runs over, Lauren, still hobbling, following closely behind him. 

"You okay?" Ryan asks me, eyebrows furrowed. 

"Yeah, I'm good," I smile. There's no point in making everyone else more negative than they already are. 

I look back at Quinn, who is staring at us, gripping her spear in her hand. One of her eyebrows is raised as she looks at us. She rolls her eyes and walks over to us, snickering under her breath. 

"What is this? Some hopeful survivor group or something? Pathetic," she scoffs. 

"What's so funny about that? We actually want to live," Saige shoots back. I feel the sides of my mouth pull up into a smile; this is the first positive thing Saige has said in days. 

"And may I ask how are you going to do that?" Quinn grins, twirling her spear with her fingers. 

"We haven't got that far yet," Lauren mutters. 

"That's what I thought," Quinn says. "Just because I saved you doesn't mean I'm part of your little...I don't even know what to call it. You're the leader right?" She turns to me as she says this. 

This catches me off guard. Am I the leader? I don't even know what contributions I have made to our survival, but I definitely wouldn't call myself the leader. They all looked at me, waiting for me to say something. But I didn't know what to say. Saige would be more fitting for the leader: she saved Lauren's leg. Or even Ryan, with his incredible hunting skills. What am I good at? 

"Yes," Saige interrupts. "She is." 

I glance at her, my eyebrows raised in shock. 

"Well, "leader", maybe you should be doing something about getting off this island, then. It looks like you're making so much progress with that," Quinn says, her tone heavily sarcastic. 

My hands curl into fists. "First of all, my name is Jade. Secondly, if you don't want to be part of this, then you can leave. None of us are stopping you." 

She raises a dark eyebrow and stabs the ground with her spear. "Can I ask what you would have done if I hadn't arrived to save you? Looks like you need me."

That's true, I'll give her that. We were struggling before she arrived. But her arrogant attitude is getting on my nerves. She smiles at my hesitation.

"You can stay with us, or you can leave. I don't care. But make up your mind soon, because we're moving on."

She looks around at all of us as she thinks about what I've said. There is a fairly large cut across the side of her neck, and without treatment, I know it will probably become infected. She doesn't look bothered about it, or in pain at all. I admittedly envy her mental and physical strength. My eyes trace her muscly arms and shoulders. She is not necessarily beautiful, but if she stopped scowling then she would definitely be pretty. Her dark brown hair is cut short into a bob, and there is a single dreadlock on one side. 

"Fine," she sighs. "I'll stay with you. You'll most likely die without me." 

I roll my eyes at her arrogance. "Great. Let's go."

We head back into the dark depths of the jungle. The humidity immediately increases as we walk deeper into it. I can feel the beads of sweat sliding down my neck and back. The urge to jump into a cool river or lake is overwhelming. 

Although it's hard to admit, I do feel safer with Quinn walking behind us. Her mere presence is intimidating, and I don't know if that's because of her physique or her annoyingly conceited personality. At least she knows how to forge for herself if she has made it this far on her own. 

Saige walks beside me, occasionally passing comments, but she is mostly silent. I want to ask her what's on her mind, but I can feel she doesn't want to share it with anybody. Even though I have only known her for a short period of time, I feel like I know her like the back of my hand. It's probably due to the fact that we have spent every single moment together since we woke up on this island. 

I look back at Lauren and Ryan. They seem to spend every minute together now. I can't help notice that they are holding hands. Somehow, even though our group is small, I miss these things. Every time Ryan looks at her, I can see his hazel eyes soften. I can't help but envy the way he looks at her; I almost wished someone would look at me like that. 

A fist squeezes my heart as I realize that as long as I am trapped on this island, that will never, ever happen. 

{Gif: Ryan Edwards - Dylan O'Brien}

© Olivia Clarke 2017

Lost {Book 1 - The Quarantine Series}