Lucas strolled back from Mia's tent, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he whistled a little tune.
He had barely made it ten steps before a group of girls ca walking toward him, their eyes locking onto him like a pack of wolves spotting an intruder.
They weren't exactly hostile, but the way they glanced at each other before turning back to him made it clear they were suspicious.
After all, the boy and girl tents were on opposite sides of the camp for a reason, and here he was, stepping out from their territory in the dead of night.
One of them, a short girl with her hair tied back in a ponytail, stepped forward with her arms crossed.
"Lucas, what are you doing over here?"
Lucas, ever the smooth talker, simply chuckled. "Mia wasn't feeling too well, so I walked her back," he said, his voice carrying the perfect mix of concern and nonchalance. "Gotta take care of our own, right?"
The girls exchanged glances, their suspicion lting slightly, though not completely.
"She okay?" one of them asked, tilting her head.
Lucas nodded, keeping up the act. "Yeah, just tired. All this survival stuff is wearing people down."
He sighed dramatically. "I swear, by the ti we get out of here, we'll all have wrinkles."
That earned a couple of small laughs, which ant they bought it.
"Well, whatever," the ponytailed girl finally said. "Goodnight."
"Night, ladies." Lucas flashed a grin, throwing up a lazy salute before making his way back to the boys' tents.
Once he was out of their sight, he exhaled, shaking his head.
That was close.
The last thing he needed was the girls gossiping and making his life complicated.
By the ti he reached his tent, exhaustion hit him like a brick wall.
He barely managed to kick off his shoes before crashing onto his mat.
His eyelids grew heavy, and before he knew it, he was out like a light.
[The Next Morning]
Lucas expected to wake up to the math teacher's usual morning screech-fest.
Instead, he was jolted awake by sothing far worse — Leo.
Specifically, Leo sitting on his lap.
Lucas blinked, groggy and disoriented, only for his brain to register the weight on him.
His face imdiately twisted in disgust. "Ew, that's gay."
Leo, unfazed by the comnt, grabbed him by the shirt and started shaking him. "No ti for that! Get up, dude, it's serious!"
Still half-asleep, Lucas groaned. "Ugh, this better not be about you losing another bet."
"No, dumbass, just co on!"
Before Lucas could even protest, Leo dragged him out of the tent by the arm, nearly making him trip over his own feet.
As soon as they stepped out, he realized sothing was wrong — there was a lot of commotion coming from the shore.
Teachers, students, and even so of the older kids were gathered there, all staring at sothing with expressions ranging from shock to anger.
Lucas and Leo pushed through the crowd until they reached the front.
The second he saw what had everyone in a frenzy, his stomach dropped.
Their rafts...
Destroyed.
Completely wrecked.
The safety rats had been torn apart, their bindings snapped as if sothing had yanked them free with brute force.
Pieces of torn rope littered the shoreline, so floating uselessly in the shallow water.
"Holy shit," Lucas muttered, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Yeah," Leo said, arms crossed. "We're so screwed."
One of the teachers, the grizzled gym coach, ran a hand down his face, looking as if he was resisting the urge to punch sothing. "Alright, does anyone want to explain how the hell this happened?"
The crowd murmured, but no one had an answer.
"We secured the rafts last night," one of the older students spoke up, looking equally frustrated. "They were tied down. Soone — or sothing — must've done this."
Lucas frowned, stepping closer to examine the damage.
He wasn't an expert in raft-building, but this didn't look like sothing that happened naturally.
The bindings weren't just loose... they were snapped.
So logs had deep gouges in them, like claw marks.
Claw marks?
A chill ran down his spine.
"You guys think an animal did this?" he asked.
The students around him glanced at each other, but no one had an answer.
"If it was an animal, it wasn't small," Leo muttered, nudging a piece of broken wood with his foot. "Sothing big ssed these up."
Lucas exhaled sharply. "Great. Just what we needed. First, we're stranded on this damn island, and now sothing's out there wrecking our only way off."
The realization settled over the group like a dark cloud.
No rafts. No escape.
And sothing dangerous lurking nearby.
They were fucked, weren't they?
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