Chapter 24

Robin felt Scarlet shifting against her periodically all night, and her breathing never fell into the steady rhythm of sleep. She felt hot in Robin's arms, and she sighed heavily every so often.

When the sky finally began to lighten and a few other people started to stir, Robin kissed the back of Scarlet's head and whispered, "You doing okay?"

Scarlet rolled toward her, wrapping her arms tightly around Robin. She buried her face in Robin's neck and whispered back, "Not really."

They got up and found Krys kneeling beside Kit and Raven at the fire. A deep crease of pain was etching itself permanently in Kit's forehead, and a similar look of concern was a constant on Raven's features. Kit's complexion was pallid and she was sweating despite the cool morning air.

"How's she doing?" Scarlet asked.

"She"s clammy and thirsty," Krys said, her voice tight with worry. "Those are symptoms of traumatic shock. She needs antibiotics and to have her fracture properly set."

"We need to keep working on the raft," Robin said. "If we have to disassemble the shelter to get it done, so be it."

"Zoe will love that," Kit said with a rare smile.

"Fuck her," Robin answered.

"Fuck who now?" Zoe asked sweetly, emerging from the shelter just in time to catch the insult.

"Did you get enough beauty rest last night?" Robin shot back at her.

Zoe stretched her arms out over her head. "Yes, I'm feeling so refreshed. Beats sleeping on the sand."

"Well, it's your last night of it," Lex said. "We need the wood for our raft and don't even try to stop us."

She walked right over and ripped part of the woven roof off, casting it aside. Zoe's eyes went wide for a moment and the rest of her group crawled out of the shelter before Lex had a chance to dismantle it around them. Zoe recovered her composure, pasting on that air of superiority as she said, "Whatever. We're leaving today anyway. Have fun starving on the beach."

Robin was already busy dismantling the shelter with Lex, Simone and Amelia, but Scarlet couldn't let Zoe lead the others into trouble without a fight.

"You can't seriously be thinking of splitting up. We're leaving as soon as we get that raft made, or Darcy gets the radio working–"

"Oh, right, the dead radio she's been doing CPR on for almost three weeks now?" Zoe asked. "Pardon me if I don't hold my breath for that."

She got a few chuckles from her acolytes. Scarlet addressed them directly. "You have to know she's lying, right? There's no secret food supply out there. All she wants is to turn us all against each other, and she's going to put you all in danger in the process."

"Zoe survived for a week by herself," Alicia pointed out. "She knows how."

"No, she doesn't," Scarlet sighed, the frustration evident in her voice. "She got lucky."

"Or the island wanted me to survive, and it wants me to take them into the jungle now," Zoe answered.

Scarlet just shook her head. "You don't really believe your own bullshit, do you?"

"At least leave us the vodka bottle," Robin decided to try one last time. "If you're so confident in your amazing food stores, you won't miss it. But Kit needs it desperately. Look at her."

Zoe did, then laughed, the sound harsh and sickening. "She'll be dead soon. The vodka should be for the living, for those strong enough to deserve it."

Raven damn near lunged at her again, claws out, but Krys was close enough to grab her and hold her back.

Robin went to Scarlet and they watched Zoe and her group pick up the few belongings they'd laid claim to last night –the remaining alcohol included –and march off into the dense jungle. She had a little more than a dozen followers, not quite a quarter of the camp, but the fact that she was able to feed any of them her obvious lies was hard to swallow.

"What are they doing?" Scarlet asked in disbelief.

"They're desperate and scared," Robin said. "I just hope Zoe doesn't get them in too much trouble out there."

When the sound of the group making their way through the underbrush was no longer audible, Evie spoke up. "Okay, no use spending the day thinking about that mess. Let's build a raft."

With the exception of Kit and Raven, who tended the fire, and Darcy, who kept feverishly working on the radio antenna, they all got to work on the raft. Half of them disassembled the shelter and laid out the pieces of wood on the beach, while the other half braided new rope out of vines. While they worked, Robin found herself staring at the horizon often.

Doubt was creeping over her.

Not that Zoe could be right – she clearly wasn't –but a gnawing uncertainty was settling in her belly. There wasn't a single other land mass visible from this part of the beach, and she'd only ever seen a few big rocks and one other island far off in the distance, on the other side of the beach.

So what if they built a raft?

They couldn't fit all of them on it, and those who did go would be sailing into nothingness. The odds that they'd just wind up lost at sea with even fewer resources were too high to ignore.

Was she the only one who saw that? Did they all know, but it felt better to be doing something, pretending to make progress, so they didn't have to face the stark reality of what would happen if Kit didn't get off the island soon?

"Scarlet," she said as she set aside her third piece of rope.

"Yeah?"

"Can we talk?" She cut her eyes up the beach to the rocks, where they'd be out of earshot. "Over there?"

"Something wrong?" Lex asked.

"No," Robin lied.

She got up, and helped Scarlet to her feet. They walked in silence for a little while, holding hands and watching the clouds sweep across the sky. When Robin felt they were far enough away, she turned to Scarlet.

"What is it?"

"Are we just as delusional as Zoe?"

"What do you mean?"

Robin unburdened herself, pouring out every fear she had about their plan, about the fact that it'd been seventeen days and they'd never seen a single ship or plane, about how bad Kit looked this morning and how unmoored the entire group had become. "Hell, I'm beginning to think we all died when the ship sank and this whole thing is just some hallucination of a dying brain."

"Babe," Scarlet cut in, then grabbed both her arms and pulled her into a passionate kiss tainted with saltwater tears. "We are not dead, and we're not giving up either. I'm scared for Kit too, and for everybody who went with Zoe. We have to hold it together for them, okay?"

"I just–"

"Hey!"

They turned their heads back toward camp. Raven was running down the beach to the raft, shouting.

"Darcy got something!"

Robin looked at Scarlet, eyes wide. "The radio?"

"Run!"

They raced back to the camp, where Darcy was tenuously holding out a long strip of silver-colored metal, God knew what piece of the ship. She seemed unwilling to move lest she break the connection, but she was grinning from ear to ear. "Do you hear that?"

"Static!" Evie cried. "Oh my God, Darcy, you did it!"

Krys ran up and threw her arms around her wife's neck, and the connection broke. "Oh shit!"

"It's okay," Darcy said, quickly popping the battery out of the back of the radio and slipping it into her pocket. "I proved we could get a signal. Now we just have to figure out how to get a good one."

"Do you think Zoe's group is still close enough nearby?" Scarlet asked. "We have to tell them."

"I don't know why you keep trying," Lex said with a roll of her eyes.

"Just because Zoe is the worst human being doesn't mean the rest of them should suffer," Scarlet said. "She has them brainwashed. They deserve a chance."

Lex threw up her hands. "You're a better woman than me."

She really is, Robin thought. She would have given up on Zoe long ago too, if not for Scarlet pointing toward the moral true north.

"I'll go with you," she offered. "We'll look for them."

"Thank you," Scarlet smiled.

"Be careful," Amelia said, her voice more stern than Robin had ever heard it before.

They promised they would, then the two of them went into the jungle in the same spot they watched Zoe and her group disappear into. Fortunately, it was pretty easy to see where twelve people had trampled a path through the otherwise undisturbed nature, and they tracked them easily at first.

"Do you think I'm nuts?" Scarlet asked.

Robin smiled. "Yes. But in the most compassionate, admirable way."

The deeper they got into the jungle, the harder it was to see the others' path. They weren't following a straight line, and Robin had no doubt that was because Zoe didn't have a real destination in mind. Food stores, yeah right. They'd been walking for close to an hour and Robin was going to suggest they turn around soon when Scarlet pointed.

"Look, over there!"

Robin saw a bright pink flash through the trees, somebody's once cheerful bikini that was now threadbare and dirty.

"Hey!" Scarlet called. "You guys, come back!"

They picked their way over to Zoe's group, who were all sitting down on a fallen palm tree, looking tired and thirsty. They hadn't even brought water with them, and they'd have to start a fire from scratch wherever they ended up camping for the night before they could boil ocean water to drink. The gravity of their situation sat heavily on Robin's chest and she felt guilty for ever questioning Scarlet's drive to save them from themselves.

"What do you want?" Zoe asked.

"Darcy got the radio to work!"

A murmur rippled through the group, a few hopeful looks flashing across their faces.

"She spoke to someone?" Zoe asked.

"Well, no, but she got static–"

"Static!" Zoe scoffed. She turned to her followers. "Look how desperate she is to have you back under her thumb, slaving away on her dumb, useless projects. She was willing to come all the way out here to try to impress you with static."

"It's something," Robin said. "We're going to improve it."

"Or the battery will die just like that guy in the underbrush," Zoe said. "They're all going to look like him by the end of the week."

"No, you will if you keep following this lunatic," Robin said. "Where are you gonna get water, huh?"

"We'll have all the water we need once we get to our food stores," Zoe said. "Sparkling, even."

Robin stuttered with shock. Sparkling water, on a deserted island. And these poor, delusional people were salivating over her lies!

"Please come back with us," Scarlet pleaded. "We have rainwater, and a fire, and dinner… the raft is coming together, and Darcy's gonna figure out how to make her antenna stronger."

A few of them whispered among themselves, but most looked scared to anger Zoe, like doubting her would mean slamming the door on the mythical supplies she was promising them. But then one person stepped forward –Tasha, with a tormented expression on her face.

"I... I think we should go back," she said. "If there"s even a chance of rescue, we have to put our all into it."

Zoe"s face contorted with rage. "If you leave now," she hissed, "don"t even think about coming back! You leave me, you're cut off!"

Tasha hesitated, her gaze darting between Zoe and Scarlet. Robin could see the conflict playing out on her gaunt face, the desperate hunger warring with the faint hope of rescue. For a moment, she thought Tasha would give in to Zoe"s threats. But then, with a deep breath and a look of resolve, Tasha turned and walked towards Scarlet.

The bandmates hugged, and a tear slid down Scarlet's cheek.

"Raina?" Scarlet asked.

But her bass player shook her head, siding with Zoe.

"Come on, let's get moving," Zoe said. "I've had enough of these two."

She got up and the rest of her group did the same, their movements sluggish.

"If any of you want to come back, you're welcome," Scarlet called as they started to march away. "No time limit, no conditions."

When they were gone, Tasha asked, "Did Darcy really get the radio to work?"

Robin nodded. "She did."