Page 33 of Blue Arrow Island (Blue Arrow Island #1)

Do you find a walk through the forest relaxing? If so, it may be because pine trees release compounds called terpenes, which have measurable calming effects on both humans and animals. If you’re feeling stressed, a walk in the woods may help.

– Excerpt from a lecture given by Dr. Lucinda Hollis in her Plant Evolution course

“Did you think I doubted you?” Marcus asks as we walk out of camp about half an hour later.

We went into the Sub, which is what they call the underground area the tunnel leads to, and he got us each two handguns, a bow and arrow for himself and a stun stick for me.

He set the stick up to activate with my thumbprint and told me it works like a super Taser. I feel safer with it in hand as we head into the jungle.

“We both know you doubted me.” I give him a knowing look.

“I did underestimate you,” he admits.

“You aren’t the first.”

He’s leading the way back to the spot where Amira hid me in a bush, walking a worn dirt path. A line of sweat trails down his spine, rolling all the way past the waistband of his shorts.

“Do you just not like shirts?”

He grins at me over his shoulder. “It’s more than a hundred degrees. I soak every shirt with sweat by nine a.m., so I save the laundry team some work and just don’t wear one a lot of the time.”

“God, those people must have to wash so much sweaty underwear.” The thought of track marks added in with the sweat makes me cringe on their behalf.

“We have big tubs with hand cranks. A few of ’em are set up behind bikes, so right before sunrise some of the laundry people ride around camp and the pedaling turns the cranks for them.”

“They scrub their hands bloody at Rising Tide. And hardly have any soap.”

If he responds, I don’t hear it. After another minute, he stops and I follow suit. He listens for a few seconds. A roar cuts through the chatter of birds, making me break out in goose bumps.

“Lion,” he whispers. “But it’s not close.”

That’s not much consolation. But he starts walking again, so I do, too.

“Where does the electricity come from?” I ask.

He hesitates for a second before answering. “We have solar and hydro sources.”

“So if aromium is Whitman’s experiment, did he have the camp built? The Dust Walker camp?” I immediately regret calling it that. “Sorry, I don’t mean to offend you.”

“We don’t mind being called that. The Tiders mean it like we’re Luddites because we’re against aromium.”

I hum with amusement. “That’s kind of funny considering all the technology you guys have in your camp.”

“Most of them don’t know what we have. They just know what Virginia tells them.”

“And Pax. You never mention Pax, but they’re coleaders.”

“In name only. Virginia’s running that show.”

He’s right about that. It occurs to me that he knows a lot about Rising Tide. More than an outsider would.

“You didn’t come here with the scientists’ camp, did you? You were a Tider.”

“Yep.”

He pulls out a bandanna, wrapping it around his forehead and tying it behind his head. It’s already brutally hot, only a few snowflakes making it through the thick jungle canopy.

“What did you do before the virus?” I ask him.

“Med student. First year.”

“Really?”

He turns to glance over his shoulder at me. “Why does that surprise you?”

“I guess because when you said you were a former quarterback, I only thought of you as a football player.”

He uses the machete in his hand to hack away at a vine near his head, making his shoulder muscles ripple. I shake my head, wondering what he’s bad at. That body and intensity, and he was in medical school?

“Let me guess—you were going to become a gynecologist.”

He barks out a laugh. “Nope. I hadn’t decided between pediatrics and pediatric surgery.”

Oh, my ovaries. The thought of him cradling a baby is just too much.

“You may have been a little scary to kids.”

“Me?” He says it lightly.

“Just a little.”

He stops and turns around, looking in every direction. His gaze freezes on something behind me. I whip myself around to see what it is, my heart racing with worry.

“It’s him,” I say softly.

“Him?”

“This wolf came to me when I was at the cave I’m taking you to. When the Tiders were chasing me. He could’ve eaten me, but he didn’t.”

Marcus grins, amused. “Flavius is a good boy. Aren’t you?”

At the sound of the name, the wolf cocks his head at him like he recognizes Marcus. I look from Marcus to the animal and then back again. “From the Latin word for yellow?”

He nods. “For his eyes. He’s following to look out for us.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

He turns and continues walking. I sigh heavily and follow, looking over my shoulder every few seconds to make sure Flavius is still a safe distance behind me.

But what really is a safe distance from a two-hundred-fifty-pound predator? If he launched himself at me, I’d have no hope of getting away. I rest my hand on the gun holstered at my waist.

“This is farther from camp than I realized,” I say after a few minutes of silence. “How did you guys get me back to camp after you found me?”

“I carried you.”

My lips part and my already high temperature rises another degree. He carried me, and I was too unconscious to even enjoy it.

“Well, that was nice of you,” I say stiffly. “Thanks.”

We stop for a water break, Flavius sitting and keeping his distance of about fifty feet behind us. It takes us almost another half hour to reach the bush I nearly bled to death in.

“You okay?” Marcus asks me.

I nod. “Just thinking about that day. Virginia tried to kill me just for leaving their camp. I don’t understand why.”

“She didn’t want you telling us anything about their camp.”

I knew I was about to die. I’d accepted it. But then that vine shot out of the jungle and saved me. I’ll never forget the buzzing sound of it rapidly growing and wrapping around her.

“How did a plant save me?” I ask. “Why?”

Marcus’s expression clouds. “We need to keep moving. I don’t want to be out here any longer than we have to.”

“It’s this way. Not too far from here.”

We walk side by side through a clearing, Flavius still trailing. The snow is lighter here, but it’s still falling.

“Did you sleep okay on the floor last night?” I ask.

He shrugs. “Good enough.”

“Well, you can have your bed back tonight.”

He looks over at me, his mossy-green eyes drawing me in. “I’d rather you stay a few more nights in my room. If you don’t mind.”

He wants me in his room. In his bed. I don’t dwell on the fact that he wants me to be in his bed by myself .

“I guess I made a few more enemies this morning.” I spot the curtain of bright-orange flowers at the cave’s entrance. “There.”

He gives me a confused look. “Where?”

“Come on.”

I lead the way to the flowers, then say, “Follow me.”

Like I did the first time, I gently slide behind the dense jumble of vines, making sure not to disturb any of the flowers.

“Are you fucking serious?” Marcus murmurs as he follows. “I’ve searched this area so many times. I thought this was solid rock.”

“Surprise,” I deadpan.

He shakes his head. “And the smell of the flowers masks other scents. This is a good hiding spot.”

Taking a flashlight from his pack, he illuminates the path in front of us. Our boots crunch on the tiny rocks beneath us, the cool air carrying a musty scent.

I keep my hand on the gun at my waist, checking in every direction. Small cracks of filtered light slowly disappear as we descend deeper into the earth.

“Here,” I whisper. “I think. It’s close to here.”

Marcus shines his light around the space, walking about ten more feet before he says, “I found something.”

“Hang on, don’t touch it yet.”

I walk over to where he’s standing. The bowl and flint I found with the knife are still here.

“Those are exactly where they were when I was here before. The knife was right there.”

He sighs softly and picks up the bowl, sniffing the inside. “There’s no way to know how long this stuff has been here.”

“I don’t think it’s been a long time.”

He arches a brow at me. “What makes you say that?”

I take the light and illuminate lines on the cave wall about two feet from the ground.

“This line tells us water has sat in this cave at this level before. In that recent hurricane, Rising Tide flooded badly. And I think this cave is at a lower elevation. So if these items were sitting here then, they would’ve been washed away.

They were put here together by someone and they’ve stayed that way. ”

He exhales through his nose. I shine the flashlight at him so I can see his reaction. The corners of his lips are tugging up in a grin.

“I’m sorry I didn’t trust you before. I was wrong.”

I smile back at him. “Have you ever said those words before?”

Not only is he not scowling, he’s almost smirking . “No, but I’ve never been wrong before, so...”

A high-pitched squeal sounds from deeper in the cave. I turn the flashlight that direction, now making out the sounds of scratching on rock and loud chittering.

“What is that?”

“Shit,” Marcus murmurs.

He grabs my stun stick from my hand and quickly sets it on the ground, then gives me an apologetic look.

“This won’t take long.”

“What—”

He wraps his arms around me and sweeps my legs out from beneath me. I barely get out a squeak of protest before we’re on the ground, his massive body covering mine.

“What the hell are you doing? Look, I like you, but this isn?—”

A whooshing sound comes from the cave’s belly, fast as a freight train speeding down tracks. It sounds like heavy fabric flapping together, clicking sounds added to the chittering, squealing and scratching.

Oh, fuck me. Bats.

The roar is deafening. It’s a massive bat colony, all exiting the cave. Thousands of wings flutter around us, but Marcus has me completely covered. One of his arms is on the cave floor around my head, the side of his face resting against mine.

“It’s okay,” he says, his warm breath a caress over my cheek.

It takes a couple of minutes for me to be able to hear anything other than the whooshing and flapping of the bats. I can feel Marcus’s heart beating steadily against my breast. He’s supporting most of his weight on his knee and elbow, so he’s covering me without crushing me.

There are only a few light squeals and flutters now. He starts to move, but I grab his waistband.

“Not yet. I’m afraid of bats.”

He stays in place, a droplet of sweat falling from his sweatband onto my forehead.

“They won’t hurt you,” he says in a soothing tone.

“They carry rabies,” I hiss. “And bacterial infections.”

“They’re not gonna bite you.”

“I got bit by a bat as a kid.”

“Shit, really?”

“Yeah. My family was camping. It was a fluke thing; there was only one. But we had to leave the camping trip and go to the hospital.”

“Damn.”

“It was hairy. And it hurt like hell when it bit me.”

“I think they’re gone now. But we can wait longer if you want.”

I release his waistband, my cheeks warming. “Sorry about grabbing you.”

“I grabbed you first.”

“True. Maybe you should apologize.”

He arches a brow, amused. “Twice in one day?”

“You don’t need to apologize. I would’ve probably died of heart failure if you hadn’t done that.”

He hums a laugh.

“What’s funny?”

“Of all the things you could be afraid of, I’m surprised it’s bats.”

“Everyone’s scared of something.”

He gets up and then offers his hand to help me to my feet. I brush dirt and rocks away from the back of my clothes, my heartbeat almost back to normal.

“Hello?” Marcus cups his hands around his mouth and yells into the cave. “Anyone in here?”

His voice echoes in the silence. There’s no response.

“Let’s head out,” he says. “We can look around some more outside.”

“Can I walk out ahead of you?”

“Sure.”

He stays several feet behind me as I leave the cave, jogging. I don’t want to spend any more time in a bat lair than I have to. Now that Marcus knows where I found the knife, hopefully I’ll never have to go back in there again.