Survival

One year. It seemed like almost yesterday that they had decided to go on that stupid cruise and ended up here, but a year had come and gone with no one finding the small group on the island. They had given up all hopes of ever being rescued and had made the best of life on the island, even managing to talk about starting families there.



Clara was walking up the hill when Isis and Alex came across her, taking the small sticks from her. “Clara, how many times have I told you that you’re not allowed to carry anything heavy? You’re the doctor, and I’m the one telling you how to take care of our baby.”



Isis smiled as she laid a hand on Clara’s prominent stomach. She felt the responding kick and shook her head. “He’s going to be a football star like his dad. I can tell already.”



“Yeah, yeah. Maybe she’ll be a cross country runner instead.” Clara shook her head and laid her hand on her stomach, continuing up the hill with the other two. “I just hope whatever it is, it doesn’t mind this island as its home.”



“It will be all the baby knows, so I don’t think that’ll be a problem, C.” Alex smiled and gave Clara a quick hug before they walked out onto the shore. He handed the sticks to Gabe, turning his gaze to the horizon. It had become a habit for all of them, though they barely saw any ships these days.



“Ready for tonight’s party, Gabe?”



“Don’t you know it, Alex. We’ve got the hog meat, some potatoes that grow wild on the far side of the island, as well as some pineapple from a tree above the waterfall. We are set for the best damned luau ever.” Gabe smiled as he put the sticks on the fire, turning the hog over so that it could continue to cook.



Nate came around the corner with a huge smile on his face. “Guess what I found?” He held his hands out to reveal large, lush strawberries. “We’ve been here a year. How could we have missed these?”



He handed one to everyone, even Abby as she walked over to join Gabe, and they all held them up. “To Ryley!”



“To Ryley!”



They each ate their strawberry and smiled at each other. It was great that they had this time to be together, even if it was forced upon them. Shaking the thoughts from her head, Isis flopped onto the sand and lay looking up at the sky as the sun began to disappear. She began to hum a little tune to herself and then everyone began to sing it.



“Where did that song come from, Isis?” Alex looked down at her, frowning slightly.



“I don’t know. It just kind of came to my head. Why?” Isis sat up and looked at Alex.



He looked out at the ocean instead of answering and moved quickly, grabbing the gun out of the stump by the fire. He shot two rounds into the air and heard the shouts from the boat that was closer than any of the others had ever been.



“It’s another cruise ship! I think they heard us!” Alex started to jump up and down, shouting, and they all began to join him.



The boat seemed to just sit there for a moment before the lifeboats were lowered and began to come near them. Clara began to cry, nearly falling to her knees only to be caught by Nate. Abby clung to Gabe, and Isis stood beside Alex, staring in shock as the boats came closer and closer to them.



“They’re coming for us. We’re rescued.” Isis was in shock. She had given up on this happening nearly nine months ago, not thinking anyone would ever come for them. Did they even know they were missing?



The ship pulled into the shore and the crewmen from the cruise ship climbed out, walking slowly toward the group of scraggly, dirty strangers. “How long have you been on this island?”



“One year today.” Gabe stepped forward before the others could even get a chance to think about their good fortunes.



“My God! How did you manage it?” The Captain of the ship stepped forward, obviously baffled that they had managed to last a night, nevertheless a year.



They all turned to Isis, pointing at her. Gabe, again, was the one to respond though. “She saved us all. She was in the Marines and had been in survival training. She kept the six of us alive.”



“Were there others?”



Isis responded this time. “Sadly, there was a fire in one of our shelters within our first month here and my older brother was killed. There was another female in our party, but she was accidentally shot and an infection took her.”



“Come then. Where are your friends buried? Will we have caskets brought from the ship and have their remains taken back with us.” The Captain seemed to realize that they had done all they could to keep alive and the deaths of at least Ryley were traumatizing for the group. He radioed for the crew on the ship to send two caskets as Isis showed them where Ryley and Vicky were buried.



After nearly two hours of digging, they managed to find the remains of Ryley and Vicky, transferring them to their own caskets, and sending them to the ship. Alex, Isis, Gabe, Abby, Clara, and Nate were then taken onto the ship where they were given their own cabins, fresh clothes, and food that wasn’t overcooked hog.



Isis allowed Alex to shower in the cabin they shared before taking her precious time under the scolding hot water, burning off a year dirt and grime. She heard a knock on the door and then saw Alex pop his head into the door. “Are you alright, baby?”



Isis nodded, climbing out of the shower and wrapping a large towel around her body, running an actually brush through her hair instead of fish bones. She felt Alex take the brush and smiled as he ran the brush through her now knee length blonde hair.



He put the brush down and kissed her bare shoulder, wrapping his arms around her. “I asked a favor of one of the crewmen.”



“What favor was that?”



Alex smiled and pulled a box from off the floor, handing it to her. “Open it.”



She frowned, but opened the large box, gasping at the silk dress inside it. She stood, holding it up and looked at herself in the mirror. “It’s just like my Prom dress. How did you manage this?”



“I told him what I wanted and he had the dressmaker on board make it. I wanted your first night back in civilized company to be a good one. I managed to find out what this cruise ship was used for as well.”



Isis saw the snicker on his face and frowned, turning to him. “What aren’t you telling me, Alexander Santos?”



“Get this. On this ship, right now, are all the people we graduated high school with!”



“What?!” Isis nearly dropped the dress in shock. Could it really be that she had gone through a year of cold water and snakes to be thrust into a Hell where she had to deal with those she hated as a kid?



“Apparently, one of the richer graduates rented the entire cruise ship for the reunion. We were rescued by those that hated us most in high school. Great, huh?” Alex seemed thrilled, but Isis wasn’t too sure.



She sighed and dropped the towel, pulling on the silk dress. She looked in the mirror and found that her skin was darker, her hair lighter, and her eyes the dress they were back when she was in high school on her Prom night. “It’s going to be like Prom all over again. Yet Ryley’s not here to drop blue paint on you again. I guess I’ll have to do it this time.”



Isis smiled over her shoulder, kissing Alex lightly. “Let’s get this over with if we’re doing it. Where is the rest of the gang?”



“In the hall, waiting for you. They’re all excited.” He took her hand and led her into the hall where everyone was waiting with the captain.



“Good, now that she’s here, let’s do this.” Nate turned to the captain and nodded. “All yours, Captain.”



“You know that this is legally binding because I’m also a notary of the public, right?”



“Yes, Captain, you’ve said that. Now I’m not getting less pregnant. Marry us already.” Clara smiled pleasantly at the captain as she laid a hand on her stomach.



He shrugged and married them. He had them fill out the paperwork then had Isis and Alex sign as witnesses. He smiled and shrugged. “You’re married now. Get upstairs and enjoy the party. Eat something that you haven’t killed yourself.”



Isis laughed and followed Clara, Nate, Gabe, and Abby upstairs, her hand in Alex’s. She walked into the room and, just like in high school, all eyes in the room went to her. She started to freeze up when she felt Alex’s hand on her back. She eased herself into the room, eyes following her every move.



Everyone attacked Clara and Gabe, asking where they had been. They explained everything to those who asked and ended up announcing it to the entire room. Isis and Alex remained in the shadows, neither wanting to relive Ryley or Vicky’s deaths.



The principal of the school, apparently then as well as now, walked up to the podium and smiled at the group of his former students. “As is customary, we will have the Reunion King and Queen. These two are the two that we see most changed in the last ten years. Our king and queen are … Alex Santos and Isis Sands.”



Isis stood there shocked for a moment before Alex pulled her toward the podium. She felt lost, like she had been pulled into the twilight zone. Alex took the crown, but didn’t place it on his head. “I can’t accept this. The true king here is Ryley Barnes. His sacrifice was one of great friendship and love. His death was a tragedy, but his memory will live on. Ryley, this is for you, brother.”



Alex held the crown up and laid it onto the podium, walking away slightly. Isis took the crown from her head and looked at it carefully before she spoke. “If Vicky had been here, she would have been standing up here wearing this crown, but she’s not. I’d like to say that she died bravely and we will miss her, but it couldn’t be farther from the truth. She is the reason Ryley isn’t here today. She’s the one who burned down the tree house Ryley was in. I know it’s not right to talk ill of the dead, but I talked ill of her when she was alive, so it doesn’t matter. I can’t give this crown in her memory, so I will give it, as Alex did, to Ryley’s memory. He was my biological brother. He needs to be remembered.”



She laid the crown beside Alex’s and walked passed him, out of the room and onto the deck, breathing hard. She couldn’t get enough air. She wanted Ryley here with her, but because of Vicky, she would never touch her brother’s face again, never here his laugh, never pretend to be BBC personalities with him. He was lost to her.



She felt arms wrap around her and jumped before relaxing against Alex. “That was great, Isis, they all deserved to know just what the head of the A-list was truly like. At least now they know that the A-List is destroyed.”



“How do they know that?”



“Someone just asked Nate if he enjoyed being part of the A-List. He nearly fell over laughing before shaking his head and pulling Clara to him with the response ‘Fuck the A-List. I’ve been a hard core member of the B-List for six months now. I’m never going back’. It was grand.”



“Sorry I missed it.” Isis sighed and turned in his arms, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Can we just lock ourselves in our cabin and have hot kinky monkey sex in a real bed until we get back to land?”



“You had me at hot and kinky.” Alex smiled and lifted Isis’s head, kissing her gently. “Come on. We both need a real bed. I’m tired of leaves.”



Isis nodded and followed him to her cabin, though she was going to be sure to keep the dress. She was just hoping that when they hit land that nothing changed between the couples that had been made on the island. It would be a shame for it all to fall apart. A few days would see what would happen.