Sora Mae stared at the strange colors crawling across the sky.
For several seconds, she seemed unable to understand what Kai Reed had just told her. Her gaze flicked between the dead satellite phone in her hand and the purple-red glow bleeding across the horizon.
“But Elara said the rescue team was on standby,” she whispered. “She said the helicopter would find us.”
“She believed it would.”
“That phone was designed for emergencies. It can connect almost anywhere.”
“Almost anywhere isn't everywhere.”
Kai turned away from the cave entrance. He had already explained what the golden system had shown him: no successful distress signal, severe magnetic interference, and a location that didn't match any known route. Repeating the explanation wouldn't make it easier for Sora to accept.
She swallowed hard. “So there's really no chance?”
“I didn't say that.” Kai glanced at her. “I said the rescue she's waiting for isn't coming. There's a difference.”
It wasn't much comfort, and he knew it.
Sora sank against the cave wall, clutching the useless phone with both hands. Back in the office, she had worried about deadlines, difficult clients, and whether she could help Kai avoid another confrontation with Kael Rainer. Those problems now belonged to another lifetime.
“What are we supposed to do?”
“Survive tonight. Then survive tomorrow.”
Kai picked up a straight branch he had brought into the cave earlier. He drew his tactical knife and began stripping away the smaller twigs. The blade moved with quick, controlled strokes.
Sora watched him work.
“What are you making?”
“A spear.”
He carved the end into a narrow point, testing the shape with his thumb without touching the sharp edge. When he finished, he held the weapon out to her.
“Take it.”
Sora stared at the spear as though he had handed her a live snake.
“Kai, I can't use that.”
“You don't have to be good with it. You just have to know how to hold it.”
He demonstrated, planting his feet and gripping the shaft with both hands.
“If someone comes into this cave, keep them at a distance. Don't wave it around. Don't threaten someone unless you're prepared to act. And don't let anybody take it out of your hands.”
Her fingers closed uncertainly around the wood.
“You think they'll come here?”
“I think thirsty, frightened people do things they wouldn't have considered yesterday.”
Sora looked down the slope toward the beach. Even from here, she could make out movement around the makeshift camp. Elara Voss still sat beneath the shadow of a boulder, surrounded by people who kept looking to her for instructions. Kael was moving between them, angry and restless.
“They're still waiting for midnight,” Sora said.
“They're waiting for the world to turn back into what it used to be.”
“And you aren't?”
Kai didn't answer immediately.
He thought about the office he had hated, the money he had never earned, and the three-million-dollar watch he had thrown into the sea. Somewhere beneath those waves lay the last thing anyone might have considered proof of his old life.
He didn't miss it.
“I've got enough problems trying to stay alive,” he said. “I don't have time to miss a world that might be gone.”
He fastened his knife sheath securely at his waist and checked the remaining supplies. Water. Canned meat. The fire starter. A flashlight. The cave offered shelter, but supplies could disappear quickly, and he had no intention of waiting until they were gone to search for more.
“Stay here,” he told Sora. “Keep the entrance covered. If you hear someone coming, call out before they get close.”
“Where are you going?”
“Along the other side of the coast. The beach down there hasn't been searched properly.”
“You're going alone?”
“That's generally how searching works.”
“Kai.”
He paused.
Sora had gone pale again, but she was no longer looking at the sky. She was looking at him.
“Come back.”
For a moment, his expression softened.
“I intend to.”
Then he ducked beneath the hanging vines and disappeared down the rocky slope.
The farther Kai moved from the main beach, the quieter the island became. The others had searched the obvious wreckage, tearing open bags and fighting over jewelry. Kai headed toward a stretch of shallow reef where the waves had driven debris between the rocks.
His vision shifted.
Golden text flickered into view above a broken section of railing.
[Damaged cruise-ship railing: sharp metal edges. High risk of cuts and infection.]
He stepped around it.
A waterlogged leather sofa appeared farther along the shore.
[Saturated leather sofa: internal padding soaked with seawater. No useful supplies detected.]
“Very helpful,” Kai muttered.
He continued along the rocks, scanning every pocket of debris. Then a deeper gold glow caught his attention beneath a tangle of seaweed.
He crouched.
[Waterproof storage case: formerly used in the cruise ship's galley. Lock damaged; internal seal remains intact.]
[Contents: ten bags of dried beef, three bars of high-cocoa dark chocolate, one medical first-aid kit, and one folding field shovel.]
Kai looked at the case for a second.
“Now we're talking.”
The next wave surged around his boots. He braced himself against the rock, cut through the thick seaweed with his knife, and worked the case free. It was heavier than it looked, and the slippery rocks made carrying it dangerous. He waited for the water to retreat before hauling it onto a flat patch of stone.
The lock had bent inward, but a hard strike with the knife's handle broke it loose.
The lid sprang open.
Everything inside was dry.
Kai took out one bar of dark chocolate, broke off a piece, and let it melt in his mouth. The bitter sweetness settled his stomach. He hadn't realized how much energy he had burned until the first bite gave him a little strength back.
The dried beef was another valuable find. The first-aid kit was better still. On an island where a small infected wound could become a serious problem, antiseptic, bandages, and antibiotics were worth far more than any watch.
Then he lifted the folding shovel.
The compact steel blade felt solid in his hands. It could move soil, break apart rotten wood, and cut through smaller branches. It was no substitute for proper survival equipment, but it would make several jobs easier.
Kai secured the medical kit to his belt, divided the food between his pockets and the storage case, and started back toward the cave.
As he rounded a massive boulder, he glanced down at the beach.
The group below looked smaller now, scattered beneath the darkening sky. Elara had moved into the deepest patch of shade. She kept glancing toward Kai's cave, then quickly looking away whenever someone noticed.
For a brief moment, it seemed she might climb the slope and ask for water again.
Instead, she clenched her jaw and turned back toward the others.
Still holding on to that promise, Kai thought.
He shifted the case against his hip and continued uphill.
The system had warned him about the island's unusual conditions. He had seen enough to know that the temperature could change quickly after sunset. He needed dry fuel, a dependable fire, and somewhere to keep his supplies secure.
The cave was only the beginning.
Tonight, the island would show everyone else just how little their old lives could protect them.