“Oh.” She dropped her head back onto the hammock. “I don’t know.”
Like hell she didn’t know. She’d been here the whole time I was gone, and no one else had been near our camp.
“I need those canteens,” I said.
“I don’t have them.”
“But you know where they are.”
She yawned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“This place is hotter than hell. We need those canteens.”
She shielded her eyes again. “Me and Maks only have two.”
“Really?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “So a few more would be really nice, huh?”
She grinned. “Yes, if only I knew where to find more.”
I wanted to tip the hammock over and dump her out of it. I’d offered her all the fish and rice I had cooked before even taking any for myself. I’d left all four canteens full of water from the well. And she’d thanked me by fucking me over.
Without another word, I left camp and went to the well, where I filled my canteen, drank until it was empty, and then filled it again. Now that I knew I couldn’t trust Irina, I’d be staying awake all night long to protect the only canteen I had left and all our other supplies.
“You think she took your canteens?” Nutter asked me as I screwed the cap back on my canteen.
“I know she did.”
“Low blow,” he said, sounding genuinely sorry.
I was fucking pissed, but I wouldn’t give Irina the satisfaction of seeing it. Instead, I walked back to camp, sat down on a stump stool, and pulled the canister of beef jerky from the new backpack.
She’d eaten most of the fish, but even now, I couldn’t begrudge her. She was starving. There was still some rice, though, so I ate that and a couple pieces of beef jerky.
“What is that?” she asked me. “What’s in that bag?”
“Beef jerky and none of your goddamn business,” I said.
After pausing for a few seconds, she said, “If there’s anything in the bag I want, I might be able to find your canteens.”
I fought every instinct I had and smiled, taking out another piece of jerky and biting the end off.
“Nah, we’ll get by.”
She scoffed and stomped off toward the beach. It would suck having to fill the canteens constantly. We also wouldn’t be able to travel too far from camp because we couldn’t bring enough water, but still…worth it.
I knew Lauren would agree.