Page 42 of Lost In Kakadu

Without water, we are all going to die.

“No, you’re right. Finding water is more important than digging the grave. We’ve only got one bottle left.”

“But where?”

Mackenzie stepped into the clearing and stretched out the muscles in his shoulders. “We saw those rivers from the air. Hopefully they’re not too far away.”

Abigail looked at him. Weariness showed on her face.

“But we need to go now. We don’t know how long it’ll take.”

“Are we going to die?” Abigail’s eyes were pools of despair.

Mackenzie had faced death before, but this was the first time he’d had to consider someone else’s destiny. Abigail looked defeated. Her makeup was smudged, her hair frazzled and her clothing filthy. She looked uncomfortable in her own skin. He had the impression this was the grubbiest she’d ever been. Staring into her dark green irises, he considered her question.

“No.” He put his hands on his hips. “We are not going to die.”

ChapterEighteen

Abigail was exhausted, hungry and she craved a hot shower and a decent sleep. But that wasn’t going to happen. She stood back as Mackenzie scavenged through the luggage throwing the empty water bottles and a few other bits and pieces into a backpack.

“What do you want me to do?” She heard reluctance in her own voice.

Mackenzie blinked at her as if seeing her for the first time and seemed to agonize over her question. “Just come with me.”

He threw the pack over his shoulder. “We’ll check out the back of the plane again. Ready?”

She followed him into the bush and with each feral shrub she struggled over, she wished her legs were as long as his. Mackenzie soon stopped at a tree, sliced off a couple of weird looking mushrooms and dropped them into a pocket of the backpack.

“What are those for?”

“We might be able to eat them.”

“But I don’t like mushrooms.”

He spun toward her; his honey-coloured eyes darkened to molasses. “You’re kidding, right?” His hands were clenched at his sides.

She frowned. “No.”

“You still don’t get it, do you? We’re lost in the jungle.” He was raising his voice now. “We’ll have to eat all sorts of things to survive.And it won’t matter whether you like it or not, you’ll need to eat it just to stay alive.”

Not impressed with his tone of voice, she glared up at him. “There’s no need to yell at me. I’m right here.”

“But you don’t understand.”

She unclenched her jaw. “I understand our situation fully. My husband is dead, I’m halfway through digging his grave and I haven’t showered, slept or eaten anything decent for days.” She put her hands on her hips. “And I still don’t like mushrooms.”

Mackenzie grumbled under his breath, spun on his heel and stomped away. He pushed past a long thin branch, and it flicked back like a whip.

Abigail ducked away from the branch just in time. “Ha! You missed,” she yelled, smiling to herself.

Mackenzie’s angry pace ensured he progressed further and further ahead of her, but she was confident she could easily follow the path. She took her time, absorbing her surroundings. The only noise she heard was Mackenzie’s grumbling.

The thick air was suffocating, making it difficult to breathe.

Sweat burned her eyes as it trickled off her forehead. A large log lay across the path ahead, its rough bark a spectrum of light and dark green. Cringing, she dusted the log with her fingers, sat on a section clear of moss, removed her handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed sweat from her forehead.

As Abigail breathed in the warm air and her back tightened from the injuries she sustained in the crash. It had been four days since Toni knocked her out. She’d already suffered a lifetime of emotions since the crash and with the way things were going, it didn’t look like the agony was going to end any time soon.

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