“I managed to hike to a higher point,” he says, “a ridge that gave a view over the tops of the trees and into the distance. There aren’t any towns anywhere nearby, but I think I saw something. I’m not sure what, though. It looked like the sun reflecting off glass, and if there’s glass, it means there’s something manmade.”
The fog has cleared since we’ve been here, or else he wouldn’t have been able to see anything.
“How far away?” Darius asks.
Reed rubs his hand across his lips as he thinks. “Hard to tell. Maybe ten miles.”
Darius nods with certainty. “We can make that.”
Laney’s gaze darts between us, concern written all over her pretty face. “But it’ll mean leaving the plane behind. Is that a good idea? Any rescuers won’t know where to find us.”
“They’ll see that our bodies aren’t in the plane and that our bags are missing,” Reed says. “They’ll keep looking.”
It would be so much easier if she wasn’t here. I hate the way my father is fawning all over her, treating her like some precious little princess. He hasn’t even mentioned her name over the past fourteen years, and now, all of a sudden, she’s important? I wonder if he’d be acting this way if she wasn’t all long limbs and big blue eyes. He’s such a fucking hypocrite.
I guess he’s not the only one.
I slip my hand into my pocket and touch smooth metal and glass. A pulse of guilt goes through me, but I keep my mouth shut.
I don’t want to die out here, in the wilderness, but I don’t want to die in regular society either. The way things have been going lately, either possibility is on the table. I think of my father and brother, and of this new stepsister I’ve suddenly been lumbered with. Don’t they deserve to live?
My gut twists. Fuck. What a fucking mess.
We will live. Someone will find us. All this is doing is buying a little time. It might even be good for us—give us a little bonding time away from the bright lights and expensive hotels of the city. We’re getting back to nature.
I almost laugh at myself. I doubt the others will see it that way. But I feel like I’ve been handed a gift of sorts, and even though none of us would have chosen for this to have happened, or for the pilots to have died, it is what it is.
Laney’s expression is still creased with worry. “That’s if they even send out a search team for us. We don’t even know that anyone is looking.”
“People are going to miss us.” I point in my brother’s direction. “That’s Darius fucking Riviera. He’s supposed to be playing to sold out concert halls for the next five nights. People are going to notice when he doesn’t show up, and they’ll start to ask questions. Hell, someone is going to notice that our plane fell out of the fucking sky and they’ll send help. Yes, it might be a big search area, but they’ll put out a big search team. It’ll be all over the news. They’re not just going to let us die out here.”
“They might think we’re already dead,” Darius says. “We probably should be. People don’t normally survive those kinds of crashes.”
I bristle. “Yeah, well, when they find us, they’ll learn that we did, won’t they?”
“That’sifthey find us,” Laney says.
I note that her eyes are rimmed with red. She’s clearly been crying. A little bubble of something swells in my chest, and it’s not sympathy. What is that feeling? Power?
Reed shoves his hands in his pockets. “What are we going to do, then? Wait for help to come, or see if we can find help for ourselves?”
I don’t like the idea of just waiting around. I prefer action.
I give voice to my thoughts. “How long would we end up sitting here, waiting, only for no one to come? Right now, we’re in decent physical shape to be able to hike.”
Reed jerks his chin down at my calf. “What about your leg?”
“It’s painful, but I can manage.” I raise the large stick I found. “I can use this as a crutch. Also, we don’t have any supplies here. We don’t even have much water.”
“Wehadwater,” Laney throws at me, “but you drank it all.”
I roll my eyes. “How long do you think a few mouthfuls would have lasted between us all?”
She folds her arms across her chest. “Well, my vote is that we stay near the plane.”
Her presence is pissing me off now. “Who the fuck says you even get a vote? What are you even doing here? You’re not blood. You’re a fucking stranger.”
“That’s enough, Cade,” Reed warns.