Chapter 28

Robin stood at the base of the rocks, watching Darcy send the SOS while Christy held up the antenna. Amelia and Krys were creating a makeshift stretcher that they could use to move Kit, and Evie too if she wasn't up for walking. Robin kept glancing toward the tree line, hoping for some sign of Scarlet and the others.

But what she was most concerned about was the storm clouds gathering on the horizon. The sky had been darkening rapidly, and she remembered how fast the storm overtook her and Scarlet the day they took refuge in the cave.

"I think you should come back," she shouted to Darcy and Christy. "It's not safe out there if there's lightning."

"We can't stop now," Darcy called back. "This could be our only chance!"

Or it could be an invitation to get struck by lightning, Robin thought.

"Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is Darcy Stevens-Cosgrove. We are stranded on an uninhabited island in the Galapagos. Our ship has sunk, and we have survivors in need of medical attention. Please send help. I repeat, please send help."

Darcy had been transmitting the SOS for over an hour, but there was something wrong with the radio. They could hear a ship's crew talking among themselves, but they couldn't break into their frequency. Darcy wasn't being heard. Add to that, they had no idea how much longer they had with the battery. How long could one little water-logged nine-volt last?

The wind picked up, whipping Robin"s hair across her face as she scanned the horizon. All she saw were angry-looking waves.

And lightning far in the distance.

"We have to go!" Robin shouted. "It's not safe!"

"One more try," Christy begged. "Darcy, try another channel."

"I've tried them all," Darcy said. "Multiple times."

"Please," Christy cried. "I can't spend another night out here, and Kit sure as hell can't."

She held the makeshift antenna as high as it could go, rising onto her tiptoes. Darcy crossed her fingers and switched to a new channel, starting her broadcast again. And Robin kept her eyes locked on the ocean, as if by staring hard enough, she could keep her friends safe from the storm.

"Mayday, mayday, mayday…"

A little black dot on the water caught Robin's eye. A little patch of rocks she'd never noticed before –maybe even the rocks that took their cruise ship down.

She narrowed her eyes. It seemed like it was moving.

Her heart nearly stopped. "Do you see that?" she shouted, pointing with a shaking hand. "Is that…"

She was almost afraid to say it.

Darcy and Christy followed her gaze, their eyes widening.

"The ship! That must be who we're hearing!" Christy said. "Try again, hurry!"

"Mayday, mayday, we are survivors of a shipwreck. We are stranded on an island in the Galapagos. Do you copy?" Darcy spoke with an admirably steady voice, and Robin forgot all her fears about lightning and scrambled up on the rocks to meet them.

The radio crackled with static, and Robin was panting when she got to Darcy and Christy, terrified and exhilarated all at once.

"Try again. The ship looks closer. Maybe it's coming in range–"

And then, a voice broke through the static. "This is Captain Garcia of the SS Salvador. We copy your mayday. What is your status?"

Robin nearly collapsed, while Darcy keyed the radio again, her hand shaking with a mix of relief and urgency. "Captain Garcia, there are approximately fifty of us and we have sick and injured survivors. We need immediate evacuation and medical assistance."

The captain"s voice was grave as he responded. "I understand your situation, but we have a major storm approaching."

"Please, dear God," Darcy finally cracked. "We've been here three weeks. You have to come for us."

She was sobbing now, and he must have heard the desperation in her voice.

"Okay, okay, we'll figure it out," he said. "Please stop crying. Can you give me some landmarks so I know where you are?"

The three of them spent the next ten minutes trying to guide the ship toward them, and bit by bit, it got closer until Robin could start to make out details about it. It looked to be a small cargo ship, with colorful shipping containers on its deck.

"I see you," the captain said, and all three of them let out an exhausted groan of relief. "This storm's coming in hot and I'm too heavy to get close," he went on. "I'm going to have to send a life boat out to you, and I need you to be ready to go when we get there."

Robin took the radio. "Captain, one of our survivors has a broken leg, and some others are on another part of the island. They haven't made it back to camp yet."

There was a long pause, and then Garcia said, "I could run aground, or be capsized by high winds if this storm is anything like it's looking. I can't risk my own crew and cargo by sticking around near the shore too long. I'm sorry, but if you"re not ready when we arrive, we"ll have no choice but to leave without you."

Robin closed her eyes, choking back tears. "We"ll be ready, captain. Please come."

As the radio fell silent, Robin turned to Christy and Darcy. "Looks like the island is throwing one final fuck you in our direction."

"Well, it's not gonna win," Darcy said. "Come on. We have to get everyone ready to go." She turned to Christy. "Leave the antenna."

"Are you sure?"

Lightning was now cracking across the sky at regular intervals and the wind was indeed whipping through Robin's hair pretty fiercely. Darcy nodded. "You can't carry that thing across the beach. If we… well, if we still need it after this, we'll come back for it."

They all chose not to voice the reason why they might still need the antenna. Instead, they ran together back to camp, just as the first fat rain droplets began to pockmark the sand. Robin's heart sank when she saw that Scarlet still was not back with the others.

"Any sign of them?" she asked Krys.

"Not yet, sorry." She gestured to the ocean. "Is that what I think it is, or do I need to start myself on mefloquine too?"

"That's the ship that's coming to rescue us," Darcy said proudly. She briefed them all on the conversation they had with Captain Garcia, leaving out the part about how if they weren't ready when he arrived, they were S.O.L.

"Let's get ready to go," Robin said. "I want Kit and Evie ready to be moved as soon as the life boat gets here."

"Evie should be able to get there under her own power," Krys said. "She's still feverish and weak, but as long as someone helps her, she can get to the boat."

"Okay, can you and Darcy handle that?"

"Sure."

"I'm going into the jungle to see if I can find the others," Robin said.

"No," Raven objected, and Robin raised her brows at her. Raven got up from her spot next to Kit. "I know you're worried about Scarlet, but I can't let you risk missing that boat because you're prioritizing other people's safety over your own. You've been looking out for the rest of us this whole time, and now, I'm gonna look after you. You're getting on that boat with us."

"But–"

"Raven's right," Simone said. "They know where we are now. If they can't get us all today because of the storm, those who are left will survive for another day or two until they can send someone else for them."

"I can't–"

"I will hold you down and drag you onto that life boat if I have to," Simone added. The look in her eyes said she was serious, and Robin had no doubt that she was capable of it.

She let out a sigh, then turned her attention to making sure everyone was ready to go. All she could do was trust that Scarlet and the others would come back before the boat got here.

They finished the stretcher for Kit and carefully lifted her onto it. The fat raindrops turned into a torrent and the ocean became turbulent. And they watched the ship come closer and closer, then stop, then a life boat twice the size of the ones aboard the cruise ship lowered into the water.

"Here they come," Robin said, her heart in her throat.

A handful of sailors rowed across the choppy water, bracing themselves against the stinging rain. When they got close to the shore, Robin ran out with Krys, Darcy and Simone to pull it up onto the sand bank. They loaded Kit in first, and despite the jerkiness of the movements, she bit down on her lip and stifled her cries. They made sure Evie got in next, and then everyone else climbed aboard.

Robin was the last one, looking longingly at the tree line.

"We'll come back for them," Simone called over the rain, holding out her hand to help Robin in.

"We need to go," one of the sailors said. "If we don't leave now, we might not be able to row against the currents."

"Get the fuck in the boat!" Raven shouted. Then she jumped out, wrapped her arms around Robin's thighs and threw her into the life boat. "I'm sorry, but it was necessary," she panted as she climbed back in herself.

One of the sailors got out and shoved the boat off the sand, then hoisted himself back in. The four of them rowed hard, and the survivors passed around additional oars they found in the bottom of the boat. Robin just sat there, clutching the side of the boat and watching the tree line as it got steadily further away.

Her heart was racing and the rain was coming down so hard, she could barely even see the trees already.

"I can't leave her," Robin said.

Yes, they'd all survived twenty days on the island, and she knew that Scarlet was capable of surviving a couple more.

And she also knew that the dreams she'd had while the malaria was controlling her mind were just that –dreams.

But she couldn't shake the fear that if she left without Scarlet, she might never see her again.

"I won't abandon her."

Simone stopped paddling, drawing in her oar and probably preparing to lock her arms around Robin so she couldn't do what she was very obviously thinking about doing. But before she had the chance, Robin stood up, the whole boat wobbling with the abrupt movement.

"Look!"

Barely visible through the driving rain, a figure appeared on the beach.

Then another, and another.

Robin's heart soared as she caught a glint of lavender, Scarlet's distinctive hair. And without a second thought, she dove out of the life boat and started swimming like hell for shore.

She passed Zoe in the water. She'd been the first one out of the jungle, and she was screaming and begging for the life boat to wait as she swam after it.

Robin barely spared her a moment's thought. She only had eyes for Scarlet, and she paddled just as furiously in the opposite direction, until the two of them met in the knee-high surf. Robin threw her arms around Scarlet, pulling her close, kissing her hard and messily. "I thought I lost you."

"Never," Scarlet said. "I'm not going anywhere."

Their lips met in a passionate, rain-soaked kiss, everything else fading away for just a moment.

And then Lex pulled them apart. "Come on, lovebirds, let's get the hell out of here."