Page 26 of Blue Arrow Island (Blue Arrow Island #1)

Your primary weapon is your mind. Fear is normal, but panic is deadly. Stay calm, think tactically and remember your training.

- Excerpt from a police training manual written by Ben Hollis

“More popcorn?” A woman carrying a huge bowl full of hot, buttery popcorn stops in front of me and Amira, her metal scoop poised.

I put a hand over my stomach. “No, thanks. I’m so full. It was delicious.”

“Same,” Amira says.

She nods and moves on to the next group.

This is the first time I’ve made it to the Dust Walkers’ Friday evening social gathering. Before, I was still healing and felt too exhausted. After a dinner of beef, fish, vegetables, and rice in the Hub, a couple of kegs filled with tropical fruit juice were brought out.

It’s a sweet, refreshing change from water. And the popcorn, which was made in huge cast-iron pots over fires outside and tossed with fresh-churned butter and salt, was heavenly. It was served in little baskets woven from leaves.

I’m too full to eat another bite, and Olin is probably starving with the rest of the Rising Tide camp. Some of the people there—like Pax and Rona—are morally gray, to put it lightly, but they don’t deserve to starve to death. I don’t wish that on anyone there but Virginia.

“So you were forced into marriage?” Amira asks in a low voice, returning to our conversation.

“Yeah. Lochlan’s generals all have their pick of women. Or girls.” I scoff. “And if they get tired of her, she disappears and they marry a new one.”

“Disgusting.” She stares at the flames of a nearby fire. There are campfires scattered all over the open space outside the Hub to help deter mosquitoes, and we’re sitting on a log bench by ourselves. “And I suppose he forced you into...you know, too.”

Anger wells inside me at the memories. “When he was home. Which, fortunately, wasn’t a lot. It seemed like Whitman was aggressively invading territories and training new soldiers.”

“What happened when you got caught?”

I shrug. “He never officially caught me with the tea. I was careful about never keeping any at the house. He just suspected after two plus years of me not getting pregnant, so he had me examined by one of Whitman’s doctors, who said there was no medical reason I wasn’t getting pregnant.

That was enough. He had some of his men take me to the prison in Carson City. ”

“Bastard,” she mutters.

“Yeah.” I wrap my arms around my knees and glance at her. “What about you?”

Sadness flickers over her face.

“You don’t have to tell me,” I say, wishing I hadn’t asked.

“No, I don’t mind. I was in a relationship with someone.

It hurts to say his name, so I don’t. We met a few months after the virus.

It was always consensual sex, we just...

didn’t want to bring a kid into this fucked-up world.

We didn’t always have enough food for us, and the thought of having a child we couldn’t feed.

..” She clears her throat. “And one time when we were buying the contraceptive at a market, some of Whitman’s soldiers came out to arrest us.

He—my partner—shoved one of them off me and grabbed his gun.

He told me to run. One of the other soldiers shot him. ”

Her devastation is written all over her face. I put an arm around her.

“I’m so sorry.”

She sags slightly. “They treated me like an animal. Not just after I was captured, but before, too.”

“Whitman’s vision of a perfect society is fucked,” I say bitterly.

“It’s just crazy. Everything was so chaotic after the virus that a billionaire was able to overthrow our entire government. I still can’t believe it.”

I hum in agreement. “Sometimes I wake up and don’t immediately remember. There are a couple seconds of blissful unawareness. Then the boulder of reality falls on top of me.”

She sits up straight, giving me a serious look. “Is there anything we can do?”

I glance over one shoulder and then the other, making sure no one else can hear me.

“I think there’s a lot we can do from right here,” I say in a hushed tone.

“It was Whitman’s guys who brought us here, so we know this is some sort of training ground for him.

The aromium, the kid soldiers, even the genetically modified crops—it’s all a big chess move for him.

He plans to use the technology and the soldiers in the future. ”

She nods, the corners of her lips tilting up in a smile. “So we sabotage it.”

“Right. I think what we need to do is gather as much information as we can about everyone and everything here.”

I’m surprised when a hearty laugh bubbles out of her.

“I’m trying to make it look like we’re talking about hairstyles or something so no one suspects we’re plotting destruction and shit,” she says.

I smile. “Good idea.”

My gaze wanders to another fire, where Marcus is sitting on a log with Nova, Ellison and Niran.

Nova has her arm around Ellison, the two of them laughing. Marcus’s eyes lock onto mine, his broody scowl dialed down. Niran is talking to Marcus and it looks like he’s also whittling something out of wood with a knife.

“Is it just me, or is he always intense?” I murmur.

Amira follows my gaze to Marcus. “Always. When it gets closer to sunset, Jun will get out his ukulele and play and people will dance, but not Marcus.”

“Never?”

She shakes her head and looks around. “I don’t see her out here, but have you met Zara?”

I lower my brows, considering. “I don’t think so.”

“She’s tall and blond. She’s on the security team. Anyway, I hear she’s been trying to get with Marcus for literal years , and he won’t bite.”

“Hmm. Gay?”

“Nope. I’ve overheard him and Niran talking about women.”

Marcus’s eyes bore into me, his expression unreadable. Just in case he’s a lip reader, I turn to face Amira.

“I think there is someone,” I say softly. “Whoever owns the knife I had that day you found me in the jungle. He wants me to tell him where I found it, but I won’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because information is the only power I have. I’m not giving it away for free.”

“Smart. You think the owner of the knife is a woman he’s in love with?”

Irrational jealousy twists like a knife in my chest. “He’s desperate to know about the owner of it. He said it’s someone important to him.”

“Interesting. If it’s true, she’s been gone for years, because why would people tell me Zara’s been chasing after him if he already has someone here?”

I nod. “That’s a good point.”

“I’ll ask around, see if he was ever with a woman here.”

The happy, gentle sounds of a ukulele being played fill the air. My eyes dart back to Marcus. Ellison has already gotten to her feet and is holding on to both of Nova’s hands, encouraging her to get up.

“They’re together?” I ask Amira.

“Who? Oh, Nova and Ellison. Yes, aren’t they adorable? Ellison is the sweet, effervescent one, and Nova is the serious, dedicated one. She’d behead anyone who tried to hurt Ellison, no questions asked.”

Nova slumps to the side, trying to fight getting up, but she quickly relents, putting her hand on Ellison’s lower back as they walk over to an empty spot to dance.

“I love that,” I murmur.

Both women beam at each other as they dance, Ellison leading. My gaze flicks back to Marcus, and when I find him already looking at me, my heart pounds unevenly. Niran isn’t sitting next to him anymore.

Amira clears her throat. “Um. For a guy who’s possibly in love with someone else, he looks at you kind of ... a lot.”

My head whips to the side and I gape at her. “At me? I told you, it’s because of the knife.”

She pinches her brows together. “You think he thinks staring at you will make you tell him where you found it?”

“I think he thinks I’m a spy Virginia sent here. That’s why he won’t let me out of his sight, and that’s why he thinks I did something to ... his knife-owning companion.”

“His knife-owning companion.” She fights a smile. “Okay.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“I promise you, he’s very suspicious of me. Exhibit A is sitting right over there.”

I tip my head in the direction where Vance is sitting with some other guys, a plate of meat in front of him. He picks a bone clean with his teeth and then tosses it into the fire, grease shining in his beard.

“How’s it going with him?” Amira asks.

“Fine. We don’t really talk. He just follows me and sleeps on the other side of my room every night.”

Amira opens her mouth to say something, but the sound of a man yelling steals our attention. I look past the fire and see Ray, my garden coworker, shoving Niran’s shoulder as he yells at him.

Marcus is on his feet in an instant, a blade in hand. It’s not the knife I found, but a different one.

I stand up and walk closer, so I can hear what’s going on without getting too close. Amira follows.

“... such a load of shit!” Ray cries. “ He likes it here”—he stabs a finger in the air toward Marcus—“because he gets to be the big shot. But I don’t want to live on this fucking island until the day I die! I have a wife back home. We need to be building a boat.”

Nova walks up beside Marcus, her hand on a knife in a sheath at her waist. Niran, who’s not as tall as Marcus but taller than Ray, stands with his hands on his hips, his expression impassive.

“We don’t have the resources it would take for that,” Marcus says levelly. “And we don’t put our hands on people.”

Ray takes a step toward Marcus. Nova has her blade at his throat before I can even take a full breath. Putting his palms in the air, Ray steps back.

“I’m not gonna hurt anybody.”

Amira snorts softly because hurting Marcus, Nova, or Niran doesn’t really seem like an option for Ray.

“I’m tired of all your we shit,” Ray snarls at Marcus. “You don’t speak for me! I want off this fucking island, and I know other people here do, too.”

Marcus lowers his brows slightly. “Anyone who doesn’t like it here can leave anytime. They just can’t come back.”

“Bullshit!” Sweat drips from his chin. “Why do you get to control everything? All the food and medicine? And whatever’s in that bunker? No one but you can access it. Maybe what we need is a change in leadership.”

The camp was already quiet, but now it’s deathly silent. Everyone stares at Marcus and Ray, Nova’s blade still drawn.

Marcus looks around, his expression neutral. “Anyone with Ray? If ten people ask for an election for a new leader, we’ll have one.”

Ray’s shoulders sink with relief and he looks around. “Come on, guys! If you want to build a boat and get back home, this is your chance!”

A man calls out from beside another fire. “You don’t think we should, Marcus?”

Marcus shakes his head and crosses his arms. “We don’t have the right tools, the know-how, or the manpower for it. And we’d have to leave the safety perimeter to source enough trees.”

Some people nod. No one comes forward.

“Come on!” Ray bellows, walking away from Nova. “Speak up! This place is bullshit and he’s a dictator!”

The camp is quiet. Ray’s wild-eyed gaze lands on me.

“You. You said you want off this island. Tell him!”

My pulse hammers as everyone turns to look at me. The entire camp isn’t out here, but there are at least a hundred people staring at me and thinking I’m Team Ray. What the fuck?

“That’s not what I said.” I approach Marcus, who’s scowling at me. “He’s twisting my words.”

“It’s okay to agree with him.” Marcus’s tone is cool and detached.

“I don’t.” I shoot a glare at Ray. “You never said anything to me about building a boat or getting a new leader. You wanted to know about Rising Tide and you said you’re tired of shoveling shit and you want to find a way out of here.”

His eyes narrow at me, his expression hard and hateful. “You’re just afraid of him like everyone else. But there’s power in numbers.”

I balk. “Do you have any idea what’s in that jungle? In the Rising Tide camp?”

He shrugs. “Can’t be worse than this place.”

“I saw the body of a man who got torn apart by a jaguar. People kill each other for fun at Rising Tide. There’s no food.

They’re eating algae and bugs. A snake—not a normal snake—killed someone from this camp.

If you think this camp is the worst place on the island, you’ll be in for a shock when you leave it. ”

“Is that what you want?” Marcus asks Ray, his tone brusque. “We’ll give you supplies if you need them and you can go.”

Ray considers, then shakes his head, his voice cold. “No.”

“Then quit running your fucking mouth,” Niran says, spitting on the ground.

Marcus shakes his head, his expression dark. “He can say whatever he wants.” He focuses on Ray. “But the next time you put your hands on someone in this camp will be the last. Clear?”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Ray walks away, hanging his head in dejection. After the way he threw me under the bus, I don’t feel sorry for him.

I want to assure Marcus that I wasn’t talking shit about his leadership, but when I turn, he’s already walking away, Nova and Niran on his heels. Amira puts an arm around me.

“It’ll blow over,” she says.

I have a feeling it won’t.