Page 28 of Anyone But You

“It still works! Good thing I sprung for that waterproof case, huh?”

This isn’t all bad. I might have a night or two of entertainment. We won’t have WIFI, but I did download a few movies from Netflix onto my tablet a few days ago.

“That’s great news. Did you find anything else?” I asked, tossing a belt into the burgeoning raft.

“There’s a lot of debris on the reef, but I haven’t found anything that would be of immediate use to us. Have you found anything we could use for fishing?”

“Nope. If we were on a commercial flight, there would be netting on the back of the seats that we could utilize. I’ll keep looking.”

He shook his head. “Let’s call it and head back. We can try again tomorrow morning. We’ve been out here long enough and have some food that’ll last us a few days.”

“Sounds good. I don’t know about you, but I vote we wait until tomorrow to build a shelter. We’ve expended enough energy today.”

“Agreed,” Knox responded tiredly. I threw the scissors into the raft before slipping into the water.

“I’ll pull first,” I volunteered, grabbing the rope on the front of the raft.

I know one thing for certain: I’ll be in the best shape of my life in a month.

My mind replayed the day’s events, from discovering that That Man Over There canceled my flight to swimming to shore with our salvaged loot.

I have yet to accept that this is my reality—that I’m destined to live out the remainder of my life away from civilization. It’s only Day One, and surviving in these conditions with minimal supplies and random facts I’ve memorized from the Discovery Channel for a week will be a major feat. I want to hate Knox for what he did, but I know guilt is eating away at him. I can see the pain in his dark eyes that begs me for my forgiveness. I may not 100% forgive him by tomorrow, but the way I see it, the pent-up anger and animosity will weigh me down likean anchor dropped to the ocean floor. Instead, I’m choosing acceptance and peace.

Knox

“Ain’t this ‘bout a bitch!” Victoria expressed, punching a fist into her open palm.

“You owe me fifty bucks.”

“What the hell do you want me to pay you in? Seashells? I can’t fucking believe this,” she complained, kicking at the sand.

Josh was…dead.

“This is your fault, Victoria. I told you he shouldn’t have been left alone.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think we’d have to babysit a grown-ass man. All he had to do was wait two hours, and he could’ve had one of these Fancy Feast dinners.”

I snorted. “The meals are better than cat food.”

“Says you.”

I stared down at Josh, who had turned blue in the face and lips from eating the berries Victoria had specifically warned him to stay away from.

Note to self…always listen to her.

I glanced up when I heard Victoria sniffling. “Are you crying?”

“It’s just—” she hiccuped, “he went out like Seneca Crane inThe Hunger Games. I liked Seneca—he had a redemption arc.”

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

“Of course you don’t,” she said, breath shuddering. “I was a child whenSAWcame out, and you were in the workforce.”

I sighed and shook my head. “What are we going to do with him?”

“Eat him, duh,” she said through her tears.

“What the—”