Survival

He comes back about ten minutes later, armed with some stuff that I can’t see in the dark, and carefully sets them in the pouring rain. On closer inspection, I realize that they’re coconut shells, which he has somehow drilled a hole into at the top. To say I’m impressed is an understatement. Once they’re filled up, he sets them carefully aside and comes to sit beside me under the tree. Now that my thirst is satiated, I’m starting to shiver a little.

“Don’t worry. Tomorrow will be better, but I hope that we’re found. I found a cave on the other side of the island in which we can take shelter, but it is too late to go there now.”

“Sure thing,” I reply through chattering teeth.

Tentatively, he puts his arm around me, and I tense at first but relax after a while. The warmth of his body feels good, so I lean into him, sighing a little. The last man I had been physically this close to is Sebastian. We stay like that for a while before Charles speaks.

“How did you manage to fall over the rai