Page 252 of Fragments

“I have an idea.”

Grabbing my backpack, I take Lex’s hand in mine, pulling him into the woods. We run between the trees for a bit, on alert for any sounds or people. I don’t see or hear anything, which is highly unnerving.

I just need to get Lex to safety. I have to get him out of here, because he doesn’t deserve to be trapped on this fucking island for one more second. Regardless of all this mayhem, I’m determined.

We’re gonna get off this rock.

If Dash could do it, then so can we.

“Where are we…” Lex’s impatient question trails off when we reach the shore once more, only in a different spot. By the docks.

“That must be the Warden’s yacht,” I whisper as we get closer, keeping ourselves hidden behind a tree, just in case. “And the ferry that brings stuff over.”

“There’s no way we can get on one, though…” Lex mumbles. “They won’t be leaving now. Not during a storm, especially after what just happened.”

He’s completely right. But I’m hoping one of them has a life raft or something we could grab. It’ll be dangerous as hell, but we have to try, right?

I mean… What’s the alternative?

We stand watching for a few minutes, and sure enough, the boats are crawling with people. I’m guessing they’re the Warden’s guys, staff, captains, and whatnot. They all seem pretty frantic, but it’s obvious we’d never be able to get past them enough to hijack one of these boats.

“Look,” I gasp, pointing at the yacht.

There’s a small boat attached to the side of it, and because of the storm, it appears to have come loose a bit.

“We can grab that,” I tell him. “It’s probably not much, no motor or anything. But it’ll have oars.”

“And you think we’ll be able to take that dinky little thing across ten miles of stormy ocean filled with sharks??” Lex gripes, shaking his head. His brows are zipped anxiously, fear sparkling in his eyes.

Grasping his hands, I hold them up to my chest. “I know it’ll be tough… And really dangerous. But what other choice do we have right now, baby? Seriously, if you have another plan, I’m all ears.”

He gulps, sucking on his bottom lip. “Have you ever sailed a boat before? I’m not, like… an outdoorsy dude…”

I can’t help but chuckle at how adorable he is.My sweet little computer geek.

“I’m a rich kid who used to summer in The Hamptons. Of course I’ve sailed,” I hum, and he grins. “Granted, that’s not a sailboat… it’s a tender or whatever, so it’ll be more like canoeing.” I gaze out at the waves for a moment. “The tide is low, which means the storm will be bringing us out.”

Lex’s lashes flutter. “Is that a good thing?”

“Oh yea. It means we won’t have to fight to get away from the island. The waves will do most of the work. Then hopefully once we’re out there, we can just cruise toward the nearest land.”

Lex nods nervously. “Then what?”

I brush my fingers on his jawline. “Cali. That’s the plan, right? We go there first, to your neck of the woods, and then we can figure out next steps… Like, Mexico, or…”

“This is crazy,” he breathes, his face is lit up with frightened thrill. “I can’t believe we’re out here… I can’t believe we might… getoutof here.”

His eyes fill with fast tears and he chuckles, then whimpers, dropping his face. My heart is cracked and withered, but still pumping to life because of my love for him.

He’s been locked up for so long… so much of his young life spent behind bars.

He deserves to get out. He deserves to be free…

And maybe I don’t, but I’m not leaving him. I’m going to get him off this island so we can have a real life together. Honestly, it never seemed possible until right fucking now, but here we are… Standing outside, in the rain, shivering together, hearts racingwild.

This isreal.We’rereal, beyond the walls.

“We have to keep going,” I whisper, kissing him softly. “We’re gonna make it, baby. You and me,together. If Dash could do it, we can.” Lex snorts a boogery laugh, and I smile, brushing his soft skin. “That kid’s a disaster.”