Finally, after what feels like an hour, we make it to the rock. I’m out of breath and panting like I’ve lost a lung. Heck, maybe I did and it’s now floating down the river.
Come back, I need you.
Xander’s out of breath too, which makes me feel a little better since he’s an athlete. “Ready?” I shake my head no. “Thea, we have to. We’re going to wear out from trying to hold onto the rock.”
I whimper and nod. I’m too out of breath to offer him any words.
“Three, two, one.” He counts down, and then we’re off, swimming for the bank that seems a mile away even though I know it’s only fifteen or so feet away.
I kick hard, fighting against the current that seems desperate to send us further away.
“Almost there,” Xander says.
When we tumble out of the water onto land, I burst into tears. I don’t even know why I’m crying, and it’s embarrassing, but I can’t stop them.
Xander hovers above me, pushing my wet hair from my eyes. “Are you okay?” He looks at me worriedly. “Why are you crying?”
Anger rushes over me and I push his shoulders, shoving him away. “You said I’d be fine. This is not fine,” I practically shriek at him.
“I’m sorry, I guess we sort of dozed off and floated down the wrong path.”
I rake my fingers through my hair. “This is a mess. We’re soaking wet, lost, and I don’t know about you, but I’m currently exhausted.” As if to drive home my point, I fall back into the grass, staring up at the sky. “Great, and my sunglasses are gone too. Fucking fantastic.”
He laughs. “It could be worse. At least we’re alive.”
“At least we’re alive,” I mimic. “From the guy who said we weren’t going to die.” I inhale a deep breath. “How are we ever going to find the others?” I question.
“Well—” he looks back the way we came from “—hiking back that way isn’t an option, so we’re going to have to go this way and hope for the best.”
“Xander,” I whine, “there might be bears. And snakes. And I’m in flip-flops. I can’t outrun a bear in flip-flops.” Wait. I lift my foot and look. “Fuck, I lost my shoes.”
“I’ll carry you piggy-back,” he says.
I lift a brow. “For how long? We have no idea how far we’re going to have to walk.” I cover my face in my hands. “This is unbelievable.”
Remember when I was worried about mud? Yeah, I’d take the mud over a hike through the woods barefoot with wild animals.
We take a few more minutes to catch our breath before we stand and start making our way down the river. I walk as far as I can, until the ground turns into sharp rocks and twigs and then I hop on Xander’s back and he carries me like I’m no lighter than a backpack. Thank God he wore sneakers.
The sun beats down on us, and soon, despite our bath in the frigid water, we’re hot and dripping with sweat.
“How long have we been walking?”
“One minute longer since the last time you asked me,” he quips.
“Ugh,” I groan. “It feels like forever.”
I swear time is passing at a snail’s pace and the worst part is we don’t know if we’re even heading in the right direction.
“I kind of want to punch you in the face for this,” I tell him. “But I also kind of want to kiss you, because it’s very sweet of you to carry my heavy ass.”
He chuckles. “I’ll take the kiss over the punch any day—and you’re not heavy.”
“Yeah, you won’t be saying that in ten minutes when your arms give out.”
We grow quiet and a few minutes pass before I say, “What was that? Was that a bear?” I listen again. “What if it’s a werewolf?”
He snorts. “Werewolves are fictional, and I doubt it’s a bear.”