I needed it out.
The urge to walk, jog, run overwhelmed me. But I couldn’t. And even if I could, it would be insane to exercise beneath the hot sunshine with no food or water.
Conner stood, brushing his hands on his shorts. “Gonna use the little boy’s room.”
He vanished into the undergrowth, reminding me another task awaited. We had to dig a latrine; otherwise, the bugs would be ten times worse.
“We’ll leave when you’re done,” Estelle called after him.
Conner paused. “Leave?”
“Yes, to the helicopter.” She held up the Swiss Army knife and axe. “We’ll unscrew some panels so we’re prepared for rain.”
Oh, hell no.
“Wait a goddamn minute.” I hauled myself to my feet.
Shit...
The beach swam with agony. I wanted to punch a tree and vomit at the same time.
Estelle didn’t come to support me, backing away instead into the forest. “I told you before, Galloway. You’re not well enough—”
“I’m perfectly well enough.”
Her fingers tightened on the weapons. “No, you’re not. Be reasonable. You’re borderline feverish. Your ankle is giving you grief. Conner and I can do this. We’ll be back a lot quicker than you would be. The walk alone would kill you.”
My nostrils flared. “Way to make me feel completely useless, Estelle.”
Goddammit, did she have to take every task away from me?
“You’re not useless.” She pointed at the umbrella tree. “You’ve provided us with water, for goodness’ sake. You’ve guaranteed we’ll survive a few more days.”
I shook my head. “I should be the one going back there—”
Don’t make me say it out loud with the kid present.
Conner had disappeared but was most likely in hearing distance. And Pippa, she already had a healthy dose of wariness around me.
Not that I blamed her.
But things needed to be discussed...dealt with. Horrible things that no one should have to do.
“Estelle,” I growled. “You can’t go. I’m the one who—”
“Who what? Needs to drag heavy pieces of fuselage back? How exactly? You have a crutch; you can’t carry large items with one hand. That won’t work.”
She’s right.
I didn’t care that she was right.
This was about me being her equal. Me being worthy. Me showing her I was strong enough for her to lean...reliable enough to deserve her trust.
And something else entirely.
“I’m not talking about that.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
I glanced at Pippa. “Not suitable for—”
She jammed her hands on her hips. The flat muscles of her stomach peeked below the black strapping on her chest. “You started this argument, Galloway. So finish it. Why should you be the one to—”
Bloody hell.
“The bodies, all right?” Breathing hard, I hissed, “The non-survivors. Unless you’ve forgotten, seven of us landed here and only four of us live on this beach.”
Pippa pulled her legs up to her chin, wrapping her arms around them. She didn’t speak but awful comprehension filled her face. I wished she were slightly younger so she didn’t have a clue what I spoke about.
Estelle stiffened.
She had forgotten.
I lowered my voice. “It’s best to deal with them now...” Before they start decomposing.
Her eyes flittered to Pippa, tears welling.
Gritting my teeth against the pain, I hopped over to her. My lips grazed her ear. “If we’re here for much longer, the kids will stumble onto their parents eventually. Do you want them to find them like that? Decomposing? Rotting in the—”
She jerked away. “I get it. Okay? I don’t need to hear any more.”
“No, you don’t. You also don’t need to go in there on your own. Someone needs to deal with it, and it isn’t you or Conner.”
She stared at the ground, her face turning slightly green. “You can’t do it on your own. I’ll help you.”
I grabbed her elbow. “Listen to me and listen good. There is no way you want to deal with a bloated body.”
She tried to shake me off, but I didn’t let her go.
My voice turned to a growl. “You’re not helping me. Got it? You’ve helped enough.”
She sucked in a breath.
I had no right to be angry with her, but I didn’t want her scarred for life. Once you’d dealt with something like that, you couldn’t delete it. I’d seen my mother. I’d seen another corpse after. And both times, the remains hadn’t been exposed to high humidity or sunshine. It hadn’t stopped the white-blue skin and dead eyes from haunting my dreams, though.
I sighed heavily. “Promise me, you’ll obey.”
“Obey you?” Her face pinched with rebellion.
“Yes. Promise me.”
“We need those pieces of fuselage.”
My teeth ground together. “You’re not going to give up, are you?”
“They’re already dead. We’re not. If returning to the helicopter ensures we stay that way, then I’ll do whatever needs to be done—decomposing corpses or not.” For her brave talk, her body trembled with horror.
Once again, we were in a stalemate.
I let her go. “Fine. I won’t stop you from going to the chopper. Get what you can and come back. Immediately.”