"Can you still hear him?"

I strain my ears to check for the sound of crunching sand or muttering, the sounds we've been subjected to for the last three hours. I shake my head when I hear nothing.

Rory sighs and I can feel her noticeably relaxing. "Thank goodness. He needs his rest if we're going to keep searching tomorrow."

"And so do we," I tell her, turning onto my back and try to settle in for some much needed sleep.

I don't know why though. I mean it's completely pointless. Too much is happening to actually sleep. That's why I didn't kick Brian's ass for keeping us up half the night.

Poor guy. Brian has been worrying since he got back late Sunday afternoon to find that Justin had gone off to the other side of the island. He said that Justin had only been there once and knowing his sense of direction, wouldn't necessarily be able to find it a second time. Especially alone.

Normally I would say that he's not giving Justin enough credit, but when he didn't show up the next morning, I was obliged to believe him.

When he never came back that night, we all got a little worried, but decided that Justin was completely capable of taking care of himself. He had gone off by himself before. Maybe he'd just decided to stay in the cave for the night.

Morning came...still no Justin. Brian refused to just sit there and wait for him to come back. He enlisted Rory's and my help and we walked the trails, first to the place that Brian had taken him to a few days before. It was beautiful but there was hardly time to enjoy it. Then we walked the trails to the cave and the wreck, the sights of which still manage to make me cry. We checked everywhere we could think of that he might have gone, but found no sign of him.

By nightfall, Brian had gotten frantic. Not on the outside. He doesn't like to show feelings like that. He wouldn't want to seem weak at all. But he was definitely frantic. I think we all are. There's never been a time when we didn't know where we all were. Even if we are all lost together, we all stick together. And not having Justin here is a lot like I would imagine having a finger missing from your hand would feel. It doesn't feel right. There's this void in our universe. And of all of us, Brian, of course, is going to feel that much deeper than the rest of us.

Rory too, I feel, is beginning to panic as well. She and Justin have been friends and coworkers for years now and they have a very familial relationship.

Somehow I know she's still awake beside me. I can hear the somewhat unevenness of her breathing. I feel the slight tension in her muscles. She, just like I, can't seem to shake worry long enough to sleep.

"We'll find him."

"I know," she whispers. "I'm just worried. What if he didn't take food? Or water?"

"Justin knows how to find both."

"What if he got lost though?"

"He probably did. But he's smart. He knows to find the beach. And once he does that it's only a matter of following it home."

She nods in the darkness. "Brian's going to want to comb the beaches tomorrow."

There's a momentary silence and then, just to fill the space, I say, "We'll find him."

"Yeah. I know."

I roll over and pull Rory into a hug as I begin to feel the tug of sleep. Tomorrow will indeed be a long day. I just hope when we do find him, that he's still okay.

***

"Stay here in case he comes back."

Stay here in case he comes back.

For the past two days I've become the designated house sitter, while the other three go off to look for Justin. Believe me, it's not that I mind that. The last thing I want to do is haul my ass all over this island to search for our little needle in the proverbial haystack. I'm just annoyed with the fact that fucking Kinney thinks he can tell me where to stay at all. I mean, what the fuck is it going to do if I'm here when he comes back? What? Is he gonna just go back off into the jungle if no one's home?

I roll my eyes at Brian and wave them off. "Go. Find the little lost boy already so I don't have to fucking listen to you three cry about it anymore!"

The three of them ignore me and head off towards the right. I watch them until the disappear from view, taking note of how no one is speaking.

If I were to give a shit, I might actually take note that they really do care about Justin and what happens to him. But I don't give a shit. Just like I don't give a shit that, if I were to go missing for days on end, they probably wouldn't look for me at all. And if they did it would be more like a hunt for the body after a week or so. Again...don't give a shit.

All I know is that I need to find a way to get off this damn island! I refuse to die here. No fucking way. I'm gonna get back. And when I do I'm gonna hunt the cunt down that put us here. Maybe I can enlist Kinney as an ally in that little plan since, in essence, he is the one that would have actually gotten us all killed. Of course that would require telling them just what happened and why. And to do that...well I don't think I would come off looking too good. Wouldn't want to die before I had a chance to plunge my fist into that fat, bald prick's chest now would I?

Hmmm...Maybe we could build a raft. It worked for Tom Hanks, right?

"Well, there's nothing better to do." I say to myself.

With a stick, I begin mapping out plans in the sand.

***

I had wondered if maybe we shouldn't have split up. Me and Cynthia to the left and Brian to the right and meet in the middle. But when I mentioned the idea to Brian he seemed a bit frazzled. He shook his head and said that we needed to stay together.

I don't know what is going on in Brian's head. I haven't known him nearly as long as Justin or Cynthia has, but it seemed very un-Brian-like for him to say that. Ever since Justin disappeared on us, it's as if Brian is afraid we'll all vanish. Maybe he has abandonment issues.

Or maybe he's just completely torn up about Justin. I know I am.

I just can't for the life of me figure out why Justin wouldn't come back if he wasn't in some kind of danger. I mean, he mentioned he was going to the other side of the island. I had a bad feeling about that too, but he specifically said he'd be back in a few hours.

I just pray that he isn't injured. Or...worse.

I whimper at that thought and Cynthia reaches for my hand, clasping it and squeezing for a minute before letting her fingers slide out of mine. It warms me and I pick my head up as we continue down the beach.

"Can we break for a minute?" I ask around mid-morning. I'm already exhausted by the pace Brian is setting. We could be running at this point and it wouldn't be much faster.

Brian gives me a withering look but stops. I notice that he doesn't take his bag off that holds several bottles of water and some fruit, just in case. This means he doesn't plan on stopping for long.

Making the most of every minute, I strip off my shorts and wade into the water to cool off. Cynthia joins me and we both dive under the water to wet our faces and hair. As soon as we come up and start back for the shore, Brian gives us a look of exaggerated impatience.

"Finished?" I'm taken aback by his tone of annoyance.

"Calm down," Cynthia starts. "Don't go off thinking that you're the only one that cares about Justin. What kind of help will we be if we're passing out from the heat?"

Brian is quiet and simply turns and marches on. Cynthia glances at me and gives me a small smile, which I try to return.

Around noon I know we definitely have to stop again. The July sun is scorching and has heated the beach to an ungodly temperature. It feels as though the fiery ball is right on my shoulders and the feeling begins to suffocate me.

"Brian," I gasp.

He glances at me over his shoulder. "What's wrong?" He asks with as much concern as he can manage. I appreciate it, really I do.

"We have to stop. It's too hot right now. We need to get out of the sun for a little while."

He looks back ahead of him and begins to slow down. He sighs audibly and suddenly looks up at the sky. Then he stops completely, abruptly enough that Cynthia and I bump into him.

Without a word, he pulls off the bag of water, hands it to me and makes a b-line for a group of palm trees that are halfway between the forest line and the ocean.

Since we've stopped, I take the opportunity to head for the heavier trees that will provide some shade. I break out two bottles of water and hand one to Cynthia, opening the other for myself. ‘

After a few minutes of much needed rest, I start to look at my surroundings. It's a beautiful beach. This beach is flat unlike the slope of our own beach. There are a lot more scattered rocks around. Probably tons of seashells as well. There are more palm trees dotting the horizon. Several are grouped together oddly, much like the group of three that Brian is standing at.

"What's he doing?" I ask aloud, seeing him shading his eyes as he stares at the tops of the tall trees.

"Wow! Those maybe?" Cynthia said, pointing towards the leafy tops. There I saw Brian's object of interest. There were three or four bright red and blue birds. Huge things. All sitting up there looking like something out of a nature special. They're very beautiful and seem to have calmed Brian down somewhat.

Hoping to do the same, I sit back against a tree and close my eyes. Of course, as is always the way, the peace only lasts for a short moment.

"FUCK!" My eyes fly open at the gasp of surprise and I look to see shock masking Cynthia's face.

"What?" I try to ask, but she's already up and running.

"BRIAN!" She screams, pointing to him as she runs further down the coast.

Brian sees her and the starts running after her, eventually surpassing her. "JUSTIN!" they both begin to scream in unison.

By this time, I too have begun to sprint towards them, water bag in tow, slapping painfully against my legs since I don't have the patience to actually strap it to my back at the moment. It takes a second but I finally see him and draw in a deep breath. I swallow hard, afraid of what I might be seeing. "Nonono..." I chant under my breath.

A quarter of a mile down the beach, I see Justin's legs as well as his lower torso. The rest of him is partially in the shade of the trees. He's completely still and his body looks pretty red from the sun. My heart beats more rapidly, though not at all from running.

When I near them, I look to the others to see if he's okay, but their faces are grim and tearful.

"Rory, hurry up! We need to get some water in him," Brian finally yells.

I sigh and laugh in relief. He isn't dead!

***

God. NO! He's barely alive!

How the hell did this happen exactly?!

Fuck that. I'll save that question for when the little twat is back in the land of the conscious and I can scream at him good and proper.

Have to figure out how to get him to drink something right now.

I slap his face lightly. "Jus. Justin. Justin, wake up." I see his eyes flicker a little, but he doesn't really move. I hear a tiny moan in his throat - believe me I know the man's moans. "Help me sit him up," I say to whomever might be listening. Rory, gently takes his head as I lift his shoulders, leaning him up enough so that I can maneuver myself behind him. He's laying back against my chest now and I can barely stand the amount of heat he's putting off.

"Okay. Water?" Rory hands me the water and I tilt his head back, squeeze his cheeks and barely tip the bottle up. With even the smallest amount of water, he begins to gag and choke, his throat has become so dry. "Shit. Okay. Okay..." I try again. This time, lightly massaging his throat as he struggles to swallow. "Good. Good boy," I whisper in his ear.

I give him a moment to get that water down and then repeat the process. This time he tries to swallow more than he can handle. But I'm not sure if he's had anything in his stomach in the last day or so and I know that sucking down a bottle of water in his condition may not be the best plan. I gently pry the bottle from his lips and caress his cheek when he whimpers at the loss. "It's okay, baby. Just keep that down for now and you can have some more, okay?" He doesn't answer, but he woke up enough to acknowledge his need for water, which I'll take as good enough for now.

I stay behind him and stroke his stomach, my head bent over his shoulder. I don't want to let go of him. If I didn't realize just how much he needs to get back home, I might be tempted to stay just so, forever.

"Maybe we can strap some branches together?"

"Yeah. And take turns carrying it."

"Think he'll be okay to travel like that?"

I half listen as Rory and Cynthia plan their moving strategy. I don't know and don't really care what they're talking about. We don't have time to plan and construct. We have to get him back and get him fed and cooled off. By the heavy stiffness in his body, I can tell he honestly isn't doing all that well.

Without a word to the women, I stand, lift Justin into my arms and start back towards the trees. Towards those DAMN birds that started all this. We can take the trail back. I still remember it pretty well.

And then we'll get Justin in bed. Pamper him for a few days until he inevitably becomes and asshole about it. Then I'm gonna kick his ass for doing something stupid like getting lost. And then...then I plan to never let him out of my fucking sight, ever fucking again!

TBC in Part 12...