Emma rubbed her lower back with a wince. "Now what?"
"Do you ever stop asking that?" Kate mocked.
Emma's carefully maintained celebrity facade cracked. "Shut your damn mouth!"
I intervened as Kate smirked. "Enough. We need solutions, not catfights."
After a tense silence, Emma suggested, "What about rubbing sticks together?"
Kate snorted. "You know how?"
"No."
"Then why suggest it?"
I stepped in before Emma could retort. "We'll search the jungle for flint. My grandfather taught me—"
"Flint?" Kate interrupted.
"Volcanic rock. Strikes sparks." I grabbed the axe and water bottles. "You're with me."
The jungle swallowed us whole. Sunlight dappled through the canopy, illuminating the thick carpet of decaying leaves. Every step sank ankle-deep, releasing the pungent scent of decomposition.
"David..." Kate's grip tightened on my arm, her earlier bravado gone. "I want to turn back."
"We need this." I marked trees with axe notches, though the creeping dread made my palms sweat.
When Kate collapsed against a tree trunk, her sweat darkened the bark. "Can't... go further."
She suddenly pressed her face against my thigh, rubbing sweat onto my pants. "There. You've served your purpose."
Her mood swings fascinated me. "What did you do before... all this?"
"Guess."
Before I could respond, the leaves beside Kate's leg bulged unnaturally. A golden head emerged—viper's tongue flicking.
"Don't. Move." My whisper barely carried.
The snake coiled around Kate's thigh, its diamond patterns screaming venomous. When it struck at her armpit, I lunged—
Crack!
The viper's skull shattered against the tree. I stomped its spine for good measure.
Kate clutched the twin punctures. "Am I...?"
"Nonlethal. But we need to—"
She gasped as I ripped her shirt open with my knife. My mouth on her skin drew a weak protest, but the toxin left her right breast numb. After cross-cutting the wounds to bleed them, I rinsed the area with our precious water.
"Can you sit?"
Kate managed a nod, then flushed crimson. "Stop... staring."
I gave her my shirt, leaving myself bare-chested. "Better?"
Her laugh came out shaky. "Now I'm staring."
The return trek took twice as long. Emma's glare at our disheveled state could've melted steel.
"Firewood gathering looks exhausting," she sneered.
Kate yanked the dead snake from my belt and flung it. Emma's scream echoed through the palms as she bolted.
Daisy startled us all by skinning the viper with terrifying precision. Her knife work suggested muscle memory from another life.
"Where'd you learn that?" Emma whispered.
Daisy just blinked.
My turn to take charge. "Emma, cockpit. Now."
She whined about her back until I snapped, "Your Hollywood tantrums won't start fires!"
Inside the wreckage, I braced against Emma while hacking apart the instrument panel. Wires sparked as I severed them—our best shot at ignition.
Back at camp, Kate held up the salvaged copper strands. "This'll work?"
"Positive." I struck the wires together, sending a cascade of sparks onto our tinder.
As the first flame flickered to life, Emma murmured, "Looks like we're not completely screwed after all."