CHAPTER TEN
the twins standing by one another.

            LENNON.

Sleeping on a forest floor was far harder than I had ever thought, even when I had my clothes tucked under my head as a pillow. But it wasn't just the uncomfortableness of where I lay, but what haunted me when I closed my eyes. The hectic day we had all shared had helped me almost switch off, not allowing myself to be fully effected by what had happened to us. But once the fire began to die out and everyone had laid down to sleep, I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened to us—nor could I stop replaying it in my mind.

Each time I closed my eyes, I was back on that plane, plummeting to the depths below us. I could feel my stomach doing flips, as if I could still feel the plane hurtling through the sky. And when I opened my eyes again, trying to rid myself of the images that came in flashes, I would stare down the remains of the plane that lay a few feet away from me. Even when I was awake, I was plagued by what had happened to us and it felt like that plane was laughing right in my fucking face.

                 And to top it off, I could often hear branches snapping around us, as if something was stepping on them and breaking them. It made me wonder what was out there—if it was wild animals or something else. And sometimes, I was sure I could see something moving through the trees, taunting me. But I never moved from my spot, knowing I would be a fool to investigate a dark forest on my own. So I convinced myself it was just the sound of the forest and that there was nothing scary out there.

At some point, exhaustion must have kicked in and I managed to drift off. It wasn't a comfortable sleep—I didn't enjoy a second of it and I woke up feeling even more tired than I had the night before. I was one of the first to wake and I sat myself up, stretching out my back as I looked around our camp as I realised it hadn't just been some fucked up nightmare. It had really happened.

The fire was nothing but dying embers, flickering ever so slightly in the morning light poking through the trees. The sun was barely up, allowing me to know that it was barely dawn. I checked my phone I had fallen asleep with in my hand. It still had 39% battery and the time read 7:22am. I settled it down on the dirt, a yawn escaping my lips as I continued to look around, assessing my surroundings.

June was still asleep beside me, laying her head on her suitcase with her leather jacket over her head, legs curled up to her chest. I reached over, giving her a soft shake, "June..." I whispered quietly, not wanting to startle her. After a few seconds, her body twitched and she began to sit up, the jacket falling down to her shoulders. I worked up a smile, "Morning." I greeted, giving her shoulder a rub as she slowly sat up, blinking away the morning grogginess.

She looked around, makeup smeared all under her eyes and hair more wild than the day before. A frown crossed her lips as her shoulders sagged, "Great. So it wasn't all just some fucked up dream." She hissed, shaking her head in disbelief.

I offered her a sympathetic smile, "I'm afraid not," I told her before glancing around me. "We should wake everyone else up. Now that we have two phones we should really head out and see if either of us can get a signal." It felt almost ridiculous, suggesting some kind of mission for a signal so early in the morning. But what else were we to do? Sit around and waste the rest of the day? It didn't feel like much of an option.

June nodded, "Okay, but you're waking Imani—she's a fucking demon in the morning." She said, making me scoff a little as I got to my feet, brushing my legs down, getting the dirt off of my bare skin that was cold to touch. The sun was starting to rise above the trees, bringing the promise of another warm day. An excruciatingly warm day, just like the last. Brooke was right, the temperature was so hot that we had to be somewhere tropical. It reminded me of the hot air in the Bahamas trips we used to take as a family growing up.

Together, June and I made our rounds, shaking everyone awake. There was a silence that came with the early morning, no one in the mood to talk as they realised they were waking up in their own personal Hell. We had all gone to sleep, somehow hoping to wake up in our own beds and now that we were awake, we had no choice but to face the fact that we weren't home—we were stranded. And we had to find out where.

My first move was to reach into my makeup bag and pull out my toiletry bag. I took a look around, making sure no one was paying attention and then popped one of my pills, swallowing it without a drink. I then began taking my smeared makeup off from the night before with makeup wipes I had packed, using a small compact mirror to see what I was doing and eventually, my skin was free of the makeup I had been wearing the day before. I also made sure to dab around the wound on my forehead, cleaning it up a little bit more but making sure to avoid the cut itself. It made me look a little bit more fresh—more human, instead of the zombie I felt like.

I applied some sun-lotion to my face, shoulders and neck and then picked out fresh clothing. Realising we would be walking through the brush, I picked out my blue Pirates sweats with red lines down the sides and a long-sleeved crop top and got changed without giving a shit anyone was around. I undone the shoelaces on my Converse and then done them up again, tying them tighter. I felt like I was gearing up for some crazy kind of mission—something I had never done before. It almost felt the same as preparing for a game, trying to get in that determined mindset.

June approached me, still wearing the same clothes as the day before but she had left her leather jacket on a heap on top of her suitcase, "You ready for this shit?" She asked, stuffing her hands into the back pockets of her jeans.

I inhaled sharply, pulling my hair back into a low ponytail, leaving a few strands loose, "Ready to march off into the unknown? Sure. So ready." I said, sarcasm dripping from my tongue as I tried to muster up a smile.

June gave me a sympathetic one back as she placed her hand on my arm, "Look, you don't have to do this today if you're not up for it. You went through a lot yesterday—plus, you're still injured. No one would blame you for not coming." She softly told me, rubbing at my arm.

"I'd blame me," I said before giving a glance to everyone around me. "I can't help but feel like I let everyone down last night—even the Devils. I just—I just wanna help today. I want to help us find some way home." I insisted and June twisted her lips, looking me up and down.

"It must be so exhausting being you." She said with a sigh before turning her back and heading towards Eden as I watched her go. I almost felt like there was some bitterness behind her words—but I wasn't going to address it, not when we had bigger problems going on. And I also didn't want to admit that it was. It was exhausting.

Ivy suddenly appeared from out of the woods, carrying a bunch of water bottles held together by plastic, "Look what I found whilst taking a piss!" She called out, holding up the package of water bottles, dangling them in the air, the muscles in her slender arm flexing.

It was like Christmas Day had come early. Everyone's faces lit up for the first time that morning as they rushed toward her, pep in their steps. Ivy grinned, reaching inside, "You get a bottle!" She exclaimed, tossing one to Kitty, "You get a bottle!" She passed one to Evie. "Everyone gets a bottle!" She tossed the remainder to the ground and everyone flooded around them like hungry animals, grabbing them like their lives depended on it.

I approached them slowly, a frown working it's way to my lips as everyone began downing the contents of the bottles, "Shouldn't we go easy on the water?" I spoke up, catching everyone's attention who suddenly looked like I had ruined their party. At their expectant glared, I threw my hands up, stuttering over my words. "I just—I just mean, we don't know how long we're going to be out here and that's the only water we've been able to find. Shouldn't we save some until we can find a sustainable water source or something?" I suggested unsurely, screwing my face up.

"Sustainable water source," Nora scoffed. "She thinks she's Bear Grills." She commented, rolling her eyes, her curly brown-blonde hair in a curly bun on top of her hair, blue eyes glaring at me. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. What was that the day before about women supporting women?

I held my hands up in surrender, "I'm not trying to be difficult, I just—"

"Aren't you, though?" Ivy spoke over me, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes. She threw her hands up. "I just brought this shit back for us and everyone's actually fucking happy and you just can't stand that you're not the source of it, right? Lennon fucking Sawyer, always needing to be the centre of attention!" She exclaimed dramatically, throwing her hands up, laughing humorously.

I scoffed in disbelief, "God, you are insufferable," I snapped at her, making her widen her eyes in amusement. "I don't give a shit about being the centre of attention! I just don't want anyone dying of fucking dehydration!" I found myself yelling, frustration building up inside of me. It was so early in the morning—too early to be dealing with Ivy and her snide comments.

"So, what do you suggest, Princess? How do we fix the water problem?" Ivy challenged, stepping closer to me.

I glanced around the group, taking in the water bottles in their hands. Some had already drank from the bottles whilst others hadn't, "We split the bottles between two people and we make it last the entire time we're on our search—"

"Yeah, fuck that!" Kitty exclaimed, pushing her way up beside Ivy. "Do you even realise how hot it's about to be? And we're gonna have one water bottle between to of us? Are you serious?" She demanded, a bitter tone to her voice.

June stepped in line beside me, "Then imagine how hard it's going to be when we eventually run out of water," She piped in, backing me up without me having to ask. "We're gonna need to keep whatever resources we have! That means food, water, any medicine we might find. We have to find a way to share it between us." She reasoned.

Kitty laughed, "That's not predictable at all—the twins standing by one another. How stupid do you think we are?" She hissed, glaring between us.

"Kitty, they're right," Hattie spoke up, standing by me for the second time in two days, making me feel relieved that someone other than my sister agreed with what I was saying. Kitty's head swivelled towards Hattie, ready to argue. "Look, we really need to save what we have if we're going to last long out here. If not, the elements plus lack of food and water will be the first thing to take us out—never mind anything else." She reasoned before looking towards Ivy, softening her gaze.

"You've done the whole Cadets thing, right? You know this is the right choice." She urged, making Ivy stare her down before her gaze flickered towards me, her eyes speaking unspoken words. It wasn't that she didn't agree with what I was saying, it was that she didn't agree with me—or any of us Pirates. The hate we had all held for each other was clearly still there, even after what we had been through and we were still looking at each other as rival teams. I was still her rival—a person she didn't want to be on agreeable terms with.

"Fine. Whatever." Ivy agreed not-so-willingly.

"Alright, now that that's settled, let's talk teams," I said, immediately shifting the topic of conversation before anyone else could argue against me. "I'll lead the team up the hill and June will lead the team in the other direction. Put your hands up if you think you're able to do the walk." I ordered and then looked around to see who had raised their hands. Ivy, Kitty, Evie, Maggie, Abby, Ethan and Evie. I found myself looking to Imani who avoided my gaze and it was clear she just didn't want to do the walk. Typical Imani.

Hattie took a step forward, "I'll stay back to watch over everyone." She said and I had no arguments with that. She had proven she was the best chance we had at taking care of those with wounds and we needed her to stay behind to watch over them.

"Okay..." I drawled out. "We need some people to stay here in case the rescue comes and to look after anyone who's injured anyway. Maggie, Abby and Ivy, you're all with me." Ivy didn't look too pleased by the choice to pick her to come with me—but if what she had said about being apart of the Cadets was true, then she could come in useful.

"Kitty, Evie and Ethan, you go with June. The rest of you are staying behind, but whilst you're here, I want you to have another look for any resources—food, water. Imani, could you help Hattie out with tending to the injuries?" I turned my gaze towards my best friend who had been trying to get herself out of doing anything of use. I couldn't blame Imani, not really. She'd had her life handed to her on a silver platter and wasn't used to doing things for others—but she couldn't afford to be like that out here. She had to help somehow.

She gave me an unimpressed look but then put a fake-ass smile on her lips, "Sure thing, babe. Anything for you." She said in a voice that actually said 'fuck you, bitch'.

"Alright," I said, pulling Rebecca's phone out of my pocket and handing it to June who slid it into her own pocket. "Meet back here before the sun goes down, okay? Good luck." I said, pulling her into a quick hug, almost not wanting to let her go.

"Stay safe out there." June replied, her chin resting on my shoulder as I gave her back a quick rub before pulling back.

I took a step back from my sister, giving her an encouraging look before glancing around my team, "Alright. Let's go." I urged, turning my back and heading towards where the ground began to turn upwards, going uphill. My group followed behind me as we ventured into the unknown, my heart beating erratically in my chest. I didn't know what we would find out there—and I wasn't prepared in the slightest. All I could do was hope that we would find something that would help us, otherwise, we were well and truly fucked.