Page 39 of Here for a Good Time
At that, his generally peppy face droops, making him look like a toddler who got told off in front of the entire class. “We didn’t have time. They told us to leave and get help. I promised my grandpa I’d come back and save him.”
Above his head, Zwe and I exchange pained expressions. “Hey, we will,” Zwe says, clapping Antonio’s shoulder.
“Thanks, friends,” he mumbles through a faint, hopeful smile.
“Do you think—” I swallow. “Did it seem like they wanted to hurt anyone? The bad guys, I mean. Any information you can give us is useful.”
Antonio’s brows pull together in concentration. “I don’t know,” he says at last. “They always went off to the side to talk, and they kept their voices down. They’d take us to the bathroom if we wanted to use it, and they passed out water and sandwiches and fruit that they collected from the kitchen.”
“That’s good,” Zwe says.
“But they were also so…” He gazes off into the distance, as though attempting to recall what he saw.
“So what?” I prompt.
“Angry,” he says. “They would break things.”
“Break things?” Zwe asks.
Antonio nods. “Throw vases over the hill and laugh. Smash the computers. They were destroying… everything. Like,everything.”
Zwe and I exchange aThat’s not goodlook behind his head. Every time I close my eyes, I see that woman’s face, the unfiltered fury in her eyes, how her jaw clenched like she wanted to rip me apart with her bare hands.
“I know the clock is ticking, and we don’t know what theirfinalplan is, but the fact that they’re looking after everyone in the meantime is good,” Zwe says in his best attempt at a reassuring voice. “It means we might be able to negotiate with them, and they might not actually want to hurt anybody.”
“Is everyone there?” I ask. “Sandra and Eka too?”
Antonio nods. “Everybody.”
“I’m back!” Leila’s voice catches our collective attention. She raises her open palms. “Don’t worry, I washed my hands in a creek. Anyway, should we get going? What was the plan?”
“You know, it’s a good thing thatyouof all people were the one who escaped,” Zwe says. Once he’s on his feet, I lift my arms to ask for help, and he reaches under each of my armpits to gently get me up, too. “We were going to go to your family.”
Leila’s face pinches with puzzlement. “My… family?”
Zwe points up in the general direction of a mountain. “You said your family still lives here on the island, right? We figured they must havesomeway to contact the mainland. And out of all the hiking trails, this was the longest one and the only one that included a lunch break, so we took a wild guess that this trail led to the village.”
“It does! Holy shit, that’s brilliant!” Antonio punches Zwe’s arm. “Well, well, well, look at us, a quartet of prettyandsmart faces.”
“They do have phones, right?” I ask Leila, who looks confused.“Your family, I mean. They have a phone, right? Maybe a satellite phone?”
“Oh, yes, of course.” Chuckling, she rolls her eyes and points to her head. “Sorry, I’mreallytired and sort of thirsty. My brain isn’t working quite right.”
“Here, take a sip,” Zwe says, already unzipping his bag.
“No, you guys need it for your—” Leila argues.
“Weallneed to,” Zwe cuts in. When she opens her mouth to argue again, he reaches over, opens one of her hands, puts the body of the bottle against her palm, closes her fingers around it, and closeshisfingers on top of hers. “I insist.”
“Well,” she says with a playful smirk, “if the guestinsists,” she adds as they hold their gaze.
“Right!” I say, a little forcefully. I amveryhappy for Zwe, but this is not the time nor place for a little flirtatious exchange. “Shall we head for the village? Preferably before the bad guys catch us? Zwe, do you want to check the map?”
Leila shakes her head. “That map might not be much good. Sorry, we shouldn’t have left that in your room, our hiking options are quite limited right now. Management has been drawing up plans to expand into the forest as well, and they’ve built some new paths and dug up certain places so they’re not accessible anymore. They want to build a helipad.”
“A helipad? That’s honestly a shame, this place is beautiful,” I say, taking in the surroundings.
“I know,” Antonio says. “They also want to build a new glamping experience or something.”
