“Okay. Tie him up, Euphie,” I commanded, nodding at the man. Unlike the other girls, Euphie had managed to make her entrance silently, without bashing through hedges or stepping on numerous twigs on her way in. She had been standing behind Elsa with a coil of rope over one shoulder and a knife in her dominant hand, ready for the man to fight or surrender.“What are you doing?!” the man in the windbreaker protested as Euphie stalked toward him, unwinding the coil of rope.“If you decide to turn on us, how are we going to make sure we escape with our lives?” I thundered, fed up. For the past two weeks, none of us had dared to relax. Our lives had been under constant threat. If wild animals like the massive wild dog we had encountered did not get us, then humans might. There had been Hans and his gang of men, and now this trio of thieves. The man seemed to have no energy to respond. He heaved a mighty sigh, but let Euphie bind his arms behi

Holy shit. We might have a chance of getting off this island after all! The realization reignited hope painfully in my chest once more. Unconsciously, I had begun to internalize the idea that we were going to perish on this island. Two weeks had passed and we had seen no sign of rescue at all. Although we had spent most of the past week going further inland, we had spent the first week and a half fairly near the sea. All of us, including Claire and Rosie, had watched the skies and the sea with the hope that we would spot some passing vessel or aircraft that could bear the news of where we were back to civilization. As time had passed, my hopes, too, had faded. The man in the windbreaker had just given me reason to continue believing that we would return one day to our regular lives, even though I could only pray ardently that it would not turn out to be false hope.“How?” I blurted out, my heart thudding so hard in my chest that it was a wonder I could even breathe.

I must have made some sort of sound, because the woman I had been watching let out a sharp gasp. The hand that had been fucking herself wildly stopped, and she glanced around, swivelling her head slowly from left to right. Despite the fact that the presence of someone else had to be alarming, she displayed very little alarm. Only the cessation of her masturbation signaled that she was trying to figure out who the intruder was.“Who’s there?” she called out, her voice dreamy and languid. “I know there’s someone there. Is it the man whom I’ve been following around?” Damn it! I had no choice but to reveal myself, especially since she had just told me that she had been following me around, confirming my instincts about the rustling sounds I had heard earlier. What I just could not understand was why she had been so wanton about her pleasure. Everyone wanted to masturbate and get their rocks off, yes, but why was she being so bold about mast