“Water. I need water!”
Kael Rainer’s voice drifted up the rocky slope.
Kai was tying off the last bundle of dry branches when he spotted two men climbing toward the cave. Tyler led the way, sweating heavily even at their slow pace. Javi followed a few steps behind, repeatedly swiping his sleeve across his face.
These two had spent the morning mocking Kai for stockpiling supplies. Now they’d come to beg for them.
Kai waited at the cave entrance.
Tyler reached the summit first and doubled over, hands braced on his knees. “Reed. Thank God. We’ve been searching everywhere.”
Kai said nothing.
Javi straightened, trying to reclaim his usual air of confidence. “Look, Kael wants you to bring the water down. Everyone’s running out. It’s only fair we split whatever supplies we’ve found.”
“Whatever you’ve found?”
Javi hesitated. “You know what I mean.”
Kai’s gaze flicked to the empty bottles hanging from Tyler’s belt, then to the luxury watch wrapped around Javi’s wrist. “Where’s your water?”
Tyler looked away. “We haven’t found any.”
“Then you should’ve spent less time chasing watches.”
Javi’s jaw tightened. “Don’t act so high and mighty. We’re all stuck in the same mess.”
“Are we?” Kai leaned against the cave wall. “You laughed at me all morning for gathering drinking water. Now you want mine. That is not the same situation.”
Tyler’s eyes drifted past him, into the cave. Kai noticed. The bulk of his supplies were hidden deeper inside, but a few bottles were visible near the rock wall.
Tyler took a step forward. “Come on, Reed. Just hand over a few bottles. Kael will make sure everyone knows you helped.”
“I’m not interested.”
Javi’s patience snapped. “Don’t be an idiot. Kael’s still your supervisor. You think refusing him will change anything?”
Kai stared straight at him. “Out here, Kael is not my supervisor.”
Neither man replied.
Kai nodded down the slope. “Leave.”
Tyler glanced once more toward the cave. Then he made his choice. “Forget this. We’ll take what we need.”
He lunged past Kai.
Kai reacted instinctively. A sharp short kick landed in Tyler’s abdomen, halting him before he could reach the stored supplies.
Tyler crumpled with a strangled grunt and stumbled backward. His heel slipped on loose gravel, and he slid several feet down the incline before grabbing onto a tree root to stop his fall.
Javi froze.
Kai hadn’t expected the kick to send Tyler tumbling, but he would not apologize for defending his shelter. He stepped forward, placing himself between Javi and the cave mouth. “Your turn.”
Javi scrambled back immediately. “Are you insane?”
“Maybe. But I’m still standing between you and my water.”
Javi turned and fled down the slope.
Kai watched until both men reached the beach, then returned to the entrance and checked the knife tucked beneath his shirt. He hoped this was the end of it. But he knew better.
Kael waited at the hill’s base. When Tyler and Javi returned empty-handed, his face darkened. “What happened?”
Tyler was still clutching his stomach. “He attacked me!”
“Attacked you?” Kael repeated.
“He kicked me down the slope. Wouldn’t give us a single bottle.”
Javi nodded quickly. “He’s lost his mind. Hoarding everything for himself.”
Kael’s gaze lifted toward the cave. For most of his career, he’d relied on one simple tactic: target the weakest person, apply pressure, and make resistance cost more than obedience. It had worked on Kai for months. He could not accept that it might fail now.
“Fine,” he growled. “If he wants to make this hard, we’ll do it the hard way.”
He grabbed a heavy driftwood club and called over several other men. A few hesitated. They had seen Kai stand his ground. Gone was the apologetic man they remembered from the office.
But their throats burned with thirst, and Kael offered them someone else to blame. That was enough.
The mob began climbing the slope.
Halfway up, Sora stepped directly into their path. “Stop! What are you doing?”
Kael barely spared her a glance. “Move.”
“You can’t just steal his supplies!”
“He hoards water while the rest of us suffer.”
“He found it himself!”
Kael shoved past her. Sora stumbled and fell onto the sand. “Stay out of this,” he snapped. “Unless you want to end up like him.”
At the bottom of the hill, Elara Voss watched the confrontation from the shade of a massive boulder. She had heard the shouting. She had also seen Kai refuse to cooperate with Kael.
Her throat burned with dryness, and her ankle had swollen even worse. She wanted the conflict resolved, yet she was unwilling to climb the slope and negotiate with a man who had already threatened his supervisor with a blade.
“He’s being unreasonable,” she murmured.
Lila Hart, standing beside her, looked up toward the cave. “Maybe. But Kael shouldn’t lead a mob up there.”
Elara did not reply. She still clung to the belief that rescue would arrive before midnight. Once they returned to civilization, she could discipline Kai through standard company channels. For now, she craved water. And control.
Kai heard the group long before he saw them. He stepped out of the cave and watched Kael advance with five men trailing behind. Several carried wooden clubs or loose rocks.
Kael halted a few feet away. “Reed! Enough of this nonsense. Hand over the water, the food, and every other supply you’ve collected.”
Kai glanced at the men behind him. “Did all of you come up here to ask nicely?”
“Don’t get clever,” Kael warned. “Those supplies belong to everyone.”
“Interesting. I don’t recall seeing any of you carry them up this hill.”
“I’m giving you an order.”
Kai almost laughed. Even now, Kael could not fathom a world where his authority meant nothing.
“Let me make this clear,” Kai said. “Out here, there is no company. No office. No boss.”
Kael’s face flushed red. “You little—”
He swung the club.
Kai sidestepped. The wood smashed against the rock beside him and split clean in two. Kael stumbled forward, off-balance.
Kai seized the front of his shirt, slammed him against the stone, and drew his tactical knife. The blade pressed to Kael’s neck.
Everything went silent.
The men behind Kael froze. One dropped his rock. Another stepped backward.
Kael stared at the knife. A thin line of blood welled up where the edge touched his skin. “Kai,” he breathed.
Kai’s grip tightened. “You came here to steal my supplies. You brought a crowd because you thought I’d be too scared to fight back.”
Kael tried to swallow. “Listen. We can talk this through.”
“We could have talked before you marched up here with a club.”
Kai looked past him to the other men. “Anyone else want to take something?”
Nobody moved.
He turned back to Kael. “You said you’d face the consequences. Remember?”
Kael’s lips trembled. “I was angry.”
“Then go be angry somewhere else.”
Kai lowered the blade just enough to create space, then shoved Kael hard. Kael stumbled backward into his men. One grabbed his arm to keep him from falling.
“Get out of here,” Kai ordered.
No one argued. They retreated down the slope, leaving the broken club behind.
Kai watched them leave, then walked back into the cave and sheathed his knife. His hands shook slightly.
He had not wanted to draw the blade. He still didn’t. But the moment Kael led an armed mob to his shelter, this stopped being office politics. It became a simple question: would Kai be allowed to keep what he needed to survive?
He sat down in the shade and took a slow, deep breath. The first confrontation was over. But the consequences were only just beginning.