The tension had long from faded when I awoke the next morning. I could still feel the anger burning inside me when I thought about what Mackenzie had said to me but even our stupid fight hadn't been enough to stop her from crawling into the sleeping bag next to me last night. Though I had to admit, the idea of freezing to death was starting to look a lot better than being in close proximity to her.

When I rolled over, I noticed she was still asleep. Her head was tucked into the sleeping bag giving me only a view of her frizzy black hair. Daylight had barely hit the sky and it was a relief to know the walking was over. From this point onwards, it was about being rescued - since there wasn't much more that we could do. In the next hour or two, we would probably fire the flare once Eric had deemed it safe enough and then hope for the love of God, that somebody saw it.

I still couldn't believe Mackenzie had acted so irresponsibly by sending out one of our flares. I knew that desperation was really starting to hit us after spending so long on the island, but she had to have known what she did was wrong. Eric and I definitely knew it was. In fact, I decided I should probably talk to him before she woke up, so we could discuss how to deal with her. With her acting so delusional, I didn't know what to expect next.

Slowly, I sat up in an attempt not to stir Mackenzie and I slipped out of the sleeping bag. My warm feet touched the branches and leaves on the ground and I walked as quietly as possible. The fire that had been burning last night had died down to small wafts of smoke and small red dots that peaked from the burned wood.

My eyes drifted to Eric's sleeping bag and my heart stopped when I realized he wasn't in it.

I glanced around for any sign of him. There had always been the chance he'd gone off to grab more firewood or maybe check for any other people on the island like we'd planned to do. Yet that still didn't seem to make much sense to me. I knew there was no way he would have wondered off far without letting me know.

I decided to wait for a moment, giving him time to return if he had gone off somewhere. I sat on a nearby rock with my arms resting on my knees. My legs bounced up and down as I started feeling restless. I hoped I was only being paranoid and that everything was fine.

Yet I couldn't help but feel off about things.

When a few more minutes ticked away, I started to really worry. I was looking around at all the trees and bushes for any sign of movement that would signal his return. Mackenzie was still asleep and the only movement from the campsite came from her rising and falling chest and the few last wisps of smoke that floated above the fire.

I stood up and tried to ignore the anxiety I was feeling as I walked over to Mackenzie. I braced myself for her negative reaction as I began trying to wake her up. First, I shook her gently. But after only receiving the response of a few grumbles, I tried again a little harder.

"Mackenzie," I spoke loudly, trying to wake her as I squatted down to her level.

She stirred slightly, her head turning around to face me. Her eyes were still closed but I could see the irritation already spreading on her face.

"Wake up, it's important." I pleaded, a hint of urgency in my voice.

She groaned and her eyes peeled open slowly. After several blinks, she squinted in my direction. She raised a hand over her eyes to block the light that peaked through the trees, directly onto her face.

"Mackenzie, I don't know where Eric is. I've been waiting a few minutes and he hasn't returned to our campsite." My teeth were chattering slightly from the cool morning air and my arms were covered in goosebumps.

At first, she didn't respond. But then I watched as she sucked in a deep breath and released a sigh. "Where'd he go off to?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. I woke up and he wasn't here."

I could see that my words caused her to look a little more concerned. Her brows furrowed slightly as her eyes fully opened. "He just vanished?"

The idea that he would have gone missing struck fear in me and I didn't want to believe it was true. "I don't know, we need to find him." I hopped off the ground immediately, brushing the dirt off my pants.

She sniffled as she sat up slowly. "Couldn't he have just gone off to have a look at the view? That was his plan, wasn't it? To check if anyone else was hiding out here before he set off the flare?"

I felt inclined to remind her that she'd already ruined that plan for us last night by disobeying orders and sending off a flare already. I bit my lip, knowing that now wasn't the time for any more arguments.

"There's no way he would have just gone and done that without letting us know. Otherwise, we would have woken up and been like..." I paused. "Well...this."

She blinked and looked deep in thought. I could tell that she knew I was right. He wouldn't have done that to us. After a moment, she crawled up of the sleeping bag and grabbed her boots. In a flash, she had put them back on and jumped off the ground.

"Okay," she began and she smoothed out her black shirt. "Let's look around."

I nodded in agreement and quickly walked alongside her as we headed towards the trees. Leaving the sanctuary of our campsite in the clear ground and heading back into the forest made me feel uneasy.

My eyes were bouncing around rapidly as I looked for any sign of Eric with each step we took forward. I raised an arm, moving a thick brown branch out of my way in order to get a clearer view. The only thing I could see was green for miles.

The entire forest was covered in trees, leaves and branches to the point where it seemed almost impossible to see anything else. I wondered what direction Eric might have wondered off to but I also didn't want to get too far away from the campsite. The last thing we needed was to lose our bearings and become separated.

"Should we try looking on the other side?" I asked, turning to Mackenzie. "What if he-"

"Ssshhh!" Mackenzie glared at me and raised a hand in silence. She looked like she was listening carefully and something had caught her attention.

I gave her a look of confusion by her sudden interruption. "What are you trying to hear?"

"The sound of you not talking!"

I immediately silenced myself, not wanting to make her any angrier as we crept onwards quietly. I peered forward, looking for any movement. The sudden sound of rustling in the bushes caught my attention. It was quick and so quiet, that I wondered for a moment if I'd imagined it.

"Eric?" I called out hopefully.

Mackenzie quickly shushed me. "Shut up! Shut up!" She looked around almost paranoid as she tilted her head up.

"What?" I whispered back harshly.

Her face had grown more serious and she looked at me with wide eyes. "I don't think that's Eric."

Without even a second for me to process her words, they were immediately confirmed.

A moment ago I'd been standing but then I felt the weight of something push me to the ground. A figure had dropped onto me from above.

My chest hit the ground first, and I heard the loud thump and groan that followed. I tried lifting my head but was being held down with a strong amount of force. I was briefly able to catch glimpses of Mackenzie who appeared to be fighting off two or three men herself.

They had come down from the trees.

I struggled with all my might to be free from the person on top of me but could barely budge from their weight. After a few more seconds of struggle, I was able to wriggle out of their grip and roll away from them.

I turned to see my attacker was a male who appeared to be in his forties. His eyes were cold and dark and he had a beard that covered most of his face. I'd fought this man before. He was the guy from the plane I'd knocked out.

"You." I breathed. I was quickly silenced as he attempted to swing a punch at me. Quickly, I dodged his oncoming fist by moving my head out of the way. I had to move quickly in order to have a chance at fighting him properly.

There was no space in front of me to stand so quickly, I flipped myself back as I pushed my body off the ground and got back onto my feet.

Thank God I'd taken gymnastics.

Before I even had a chance to worry about my attacker, another person grabbed me from behind. I was dragged back as I flailed my arms and legs around in resistance. The strong grip on my arms held onto me firmly and I looked around for help.

Mackenzie was still attempting to fight her way out of the situation. But there were three men attacking her. That was when I realized we were outnumbered. There were five men and only two of us.

There was no way we were getting out of this.

I tried to dismiss my negative thoughts. There was always a chance.

I tried to elbow the man who was dragging me. With as much strength as I could use, I threw blows at his stomach, hoping to weaken him into letting me go. He barely even moved, almost laughing at my pathetic attempts.

The man from the plane walked towards me and I suddenly felt trapped. I was wedged between two guys. I couldn't inch back from one without getting closer to the other. The feeling of being powerless frustrated me as I could barely move. There was a firm gripping pinning my arms back and all my feet could do was digging into the ground or dangle in front of me as the struggle continued.

The man continued approaching me until he was less than a meter away. His eyes were locked dead on mine - determined and evil. I tried to conceal my fear as much as I could, looking him directly in the eyes.

He smiled darkly and his look instantly made me sick as he leaned in.

"The RFI send their regards," he spoke in a thick Russian accent.

His arm rose and the last thing I saw was his fist colliding with my face.

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A/N: Hey I'm not using my pen name anymore! Haha so you can call me Dorothy now. But I can't change these fricking book covers properly to get the new name on them. If any of you are skilled with that kind of that then please let me know!

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ALSO HTBAS MADE IT TO #27 IN TEEN FICTION THIS WEEK AND I JUST HIT 2k FOLLOWERS!!! WHATTT THATS SO COOL OKAY BYE