Page 26 of Anyone But You

“Smell these and tell me what you smell,” I said, pushing the berries toward him. His nose crinkled. “What do you think?”

“They smell bitter.”

“Correct. The rule is to stay away from any berries that are green, yellow, or white. To be fair, you should avoid some red and purple berries, too, but the trifecta for sure. Also, stay away from berries that smell bitter or whose branches have a white, milky sap when you snap them. Do you understand me?”

“Yeah, whatever,” he huffed. I smiled in satisfaction when Knox grabbed Josh by the back of his neck. “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Let me go!”

“Quit being a disrespectful piece of shit and listen to what she tells you. She’s trying to save your fucking life, dumbass,” Knox hissed in Josh’s ear.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Josh repeated.

“Don’t apologize to me—apologize to her,” Knox demanded, spinning him in my direction.

“I’m sorry, Victoria. Will you accept my apology?”

I nodded and tossed the berries onto the ground.

“Show a little fucking respect for the person who’s trying to keep you alive,” Knox remarked before storming off.

Josh rubbed the back of his neck and rolled his head around clockwise and then counterclockwise. “What is wrong with that guy? I think he has anger management problems.”

“Probably, but when Knox gets like this, his blood sugar is low. If I were you, I’d be as quiet as a church mouse and stay out of his way,” I warned.

“No shit,” Josh murmured, following behind me.

We need to find food ASAP because if Knox grabs me on the back of my neck like that? It’s going down.

8

Salvage

Victoria

“We have water—we’re making progress,” Knox announced once we returned to the beach. “We didn’t secure food as planned, but it’s not the end of the world.”

He was about to continue his pep talk when Josh raised his hand, interrupting him. “Yes, Josh?” he answered with a sigh.

“How long can we survive without food?”

“Good question. Would you like to answer, Discovery Channel?”

“Answer yourself, Boy Scout,” I huffed, folding my arms over my chest.

He’s not the only one whose blood sugar is running a little low, especially after a six-hour hike.

“Fair enough. Conservatively, about three weeks,” Knox answered.

“We’re fucked.”

I glanced down at my toes that sank in the warm sand and caught movement out of my peripheral vision. It was a hermit crab moseying along the sand without a care in the world. We could eat them, but we’d have to find and consume a fuckload to make a dent in the calorie intake needed for three people to survive on an island.

I bent down to pick it up and examined it.

“What do you have there, Victoria?” Knox asked.

“It’s a hermit crab. Where there’s one, there’s more.”

“Thank God. I’m starving,” Josh said, reaching out for the crab. I gave him my meanest stank face and pulled the crab out of his reach. “What do you think you’re doing?”