Surviving the Refuge (Survivalist Reality Show Book 2)

by Grace Hamilton

  “I told you! It’s fine!” Lily shouted before reaching her free hand back to the trunk and shimmying back down toward the ground. “I think you need to learn who knows what around here. I know a lot more than you about climbing trees, running a boat, and just about everything else.”

  Regan stared at the blonde girl who was grinning and glaring at the same time. She had made it down the tree alive and unharmed. That would have to be satisfaction enough for Regan. She wasn’t going to get into a battle of wills with a tween girl who was carrying around a chip the size of Texas on her shoulder.

  “You’re right. You do know a lot about living out here and I am glad you do. Consider yourself very fortunate to have had a father who taught you so much about living off the land and being self-sufficient. Enjoy your campsite, Lily,” Regan said before walking back to where her boots were sitting on the beach.

  She flopped down on the sand and quickly pulled them back on. Her quiet, relaxing walk along the beach had been ruined. It was another item on her growing list of reasons why she didn’t like the island. It was just too small for this many attitudes.

  Wolf should have picked a bigger island. Heck, maybe they each needed their own island. In fact, this morning’s bout with Lily settled it. Regan was going to check out some of those other nearby islands. Wolf had said she could probably swim over at low tide, so that’s exactly what she’d do. The low tide wasn’t a huge help, of course, but a few feet could make all the difference. Maybe, just maybe, she could build a hut and live the rest of her days alone on a truly deserted island.

  11

  A day at the beach seemed like exactly what the group needed. They’d been working too hard and stressing over details constantly. Not to mention the fact that the tension between them was making it difficult to get anything done smoothly. Now that they were getting another clear day in between storms, this was another one of Tabitha’s ideas to help settle everyone down and allow them to become a more cohesive group.

  “This is so nice,” Tabitha said with a satisfied sigh.

  “It is,” Regan agreed.

  “I wish there was someone to bring me a margarita. That would really complete the fantasy.”

  Regan giggled, in complete agreement with the sentiment. It was a rare occasion that there weren’t any chores that absolutely had to be done, giving everyone the chance to relax and enjoy the lovely beach on a hot day. Regan leaned back on her elbows, her body laid out on a beach towel as she watched Fred, Wolf, and Lily climb aboard the sailboat.

  “I can do it by myself, Dad,” Lily stated for the third time since the group had made their way to the dock.

  “I’m sure you can, and I plan on letting you do it on your own. I’m just going along for the ride,” Wolf replied in his usual calm voice.

  “I’ll be there,” Fred pointed out.

  “And you’ve never been on a sailboat,” Wolf retorted.

  “It can’t be that hard,” Fred said matter-of-factly.

  Regan looked at Tabitha, both of them smiling over what they’d heard and the fact that Fred would soon see just how difficult sailing could be. Fred figured he could read a book about anything and then put what he’d learned into action perfectly. Regan looked forward to him figuring out that it wasn’t as easy as it looked in the books. She watched the three of them settle in to sail away from the dock.

  “This is what life is supposed to be like when you live on an island,” Tabitha said from Regan’s left.

  Regan turned to look at Tabitha, who was wearing a pair of shorts and a bikini top, lying on a towel, her eyes shielded by sunglasses as she soaked up the sun. Her skin already had a perfect olive tone, but she’d insisted she wanted to feel the sun on her skin. Regan could only compare her own complexion to that of Casper and had kept her tank top on, but she had donned a pair of cut-off jean shorts for their relaxing day at the beach. And she had slathered on some of the coconut oil sunscreen Tabitha had made to protect them from the sun. She wasn’t remotely interested in dealing with a sunburn. Wolf had also lectured all of them about sunburn increasing their risk of dehydration.

  “It is very nice. It’s too bad Geno didn’t want to come down and enjoy some down time,” Tabitha added, disappointment slipping into her tone.

  Regan knew there had been some tension between the married couple and felt bad that her friend was in a rough spot, but there was little she could do to help.

  Geno had been the only one to stay behind, though. RC was sitting on a piece of driftwood, shaded by a palm tree and watching over everyone. He had been like that a lot lately; Regan had noticed—more so than usual. She knew he was worried about someone coming onto the island, his trusty rifle was at his side, sitting on the wood and out of the sand. She’d overheard him and Wolf talking the night before, without meaning to. RC had said he felt something was off, and warned Wolf to keep his guard up. Wolf had seemed to wave him off, but Regan couldn’t take the comment so lightly. RC was like a wise old owl, and she tended to trust his instincts.

  Even now, in such a relaxing atmosphere, Regan could feel the tension coming off the man in waves. It was the one damper on this relaxing day. And yet, much as she trusted the man, she wanted to forget about the danger. Her brain had been in a constant state of anxiousness for too long. She was going to snap if she didn’t turn it all off and give her mind and body some down time.

  “Great job!” Wolf’s loud voice could be heard carrying across the water.

  Regan looked out at the sailboat. Fred had done something to earn praise and was high-fiving Lily. It was nice to see the girl enjoying herself.

  “Tabitha, this is a good time for you to learn how to swim,” RC spoke up.

  Tabitha pulled the sunglasses down her nose and eyed him, not moving from her towel. “I’m fine, thank you.”

  RC chuckled. “You live on an island. It is important you know how to swim in case there is an emergency. I think you will enjoy the freedom that comes with swimming.”

  Tabitha rolled to her side, propping her head up on one elbow and looking down at Regan before turning her eyes back to RC. “I don’t know. I’ve tried many times before. I’ve taken swim lessons and, for some reason, I just don’t get it. I sink like a rock. I don’t have the coordination.”

  RC waved a hand. “The water is nice and smooth. I’m sure your swim lessons were in a pool, and it’s much easier to learn in an ocean. This is an excellent time for you to get comfortable with being in the water, learning how to move with the water. I’ll teach you.”

  “Do it,” Regan chimed in. “I’ll get in with you if you want.”

  Tabitha groaned, and rolled to her back and didn’t move for several seconds. “Fine,” she finally answered, “but you stay on the shore in case you have to come in and rescue me.”

  RC stood up, put his hands on his hips, and looked down at both women. “Where do you think I’ll be? Nothing is going to happen. I’ll make sure you’re safe,” he assured her.

  Tabitha sat up and got to her feet before stripping off her shorts and tossing her sunglasses on top of them. She’d worn the bikini they had scavenged from an abandoned store outside the city, and looked good in it. Regan sat up and watched Tabitha walk to the shore, dipping her toes into the water before looking back at her. The woman was normally unflappable, but Regan could see fear in her eyes at the prospect of venturing into the ocean, calm as it might be.

  “Get in there, Tabitha,” Regan encouraged her. “You’ll be fine. RC has you. Trust me, you are going to love the weightlessness of swimming. It feels so good!”

  Tabitha turned to look at RC, who was already knee-deep in the water. “RC, I trust you, but know this; my husband is a big, angry man. If I drown, he is not going to be pleased.”

  RC threw his head back and laughed, his long hair stretching down his back. It was the first time Regan had seen him laugh anywhere near so freely. His mood seemed to be lightening a bit now that he had swim lessons to attend to, which made Regan
very happy. The dour, doom-and-gloom thing had been getting old. This was how a day at the beach was supposed to be. Lots of smiling and relaxing.

  Regan watched from the beach as Tabitha shucked her fear of water and put her faith in RC, who began giving her the basics of swimming. When Tabitha rolled to her back, letting RC’s strong hands support her in the water, Regan jumped up and clapped her hands.

  “Good job!”

  The sailboat came in closer to the shore, gliding along the water a safe distance away.

  “Is that Tabitha?” Wolf shouted from the boat.

  “Yes!” Regan called back while RC spoke softly to Tabitha.

  Seconds later, RC pulled his hands away, letting her float on her own. No one said a word as she floated slightly apart from RC, her body rising and falling with the calm water.

  “Am I really doing it?” she asked, her voice stiff.

  “You are doing it all on your own,” RC confirmed.

  Lily clapped her hands from the boat. “Woohoo! Look at the sailor becoming a swimmer!”

  Everyone laughed. For a brief moment, Regan forgot all about the tensions between herself and everyone else. They were all having a great time watching their friend face her fears and conquer something new. Regan smiled. This was going to be one of those polaroid moments stored away in her memory. This was one memory she wanted to be able to look back on.

  The serenity of the moment was short-lived, however. Regan’s eyes caught something moving in the water.

  She lifted the sunglasses from her eyes and stared at the surface, waiting to see if she saw it again. She had to be seeing things.

  There!

  Regan moved closer to the edge of the water, staring toward the end of the dock. Before she sounded the alarm, she wanted to be positive of what she’d seen. Seconds later, she saw what she could positively identify as a fin, slicing through the water close to where Tabitha was floating on her back, completely oblivious to the unwanted intruder.

  “Shark!” she cried out, pointing toward the fin moving toward the shore in a loose circle.

  RC’s head whipped around, following where Regan was pointing.

  “Get out of the water!” Wolf shouted from the sailboat.

  Tabitha had heard the warning and immediately lost concentration, so that she found herself splashing and struggling in the water as RC hurried toward her.

  “Grab her!” Regan yelled as RC moved as quickly as he could through the chest-high water. Tabitha had drifted into slightly deeper water as she’d floated, and she was shorter than RC.

  “Tabitha!” Lily screamed.

  Regan didn’t know whether to dive into the water to help RC or stay on shore. Her eyes stayed glued on the fin lazily meandering through the water. Within seconds, RC had Tabitha, pulling her toward the shore. Tabitha found her footing and raced out of the water, her eyes wide with fear.

  “Shark?” she gasped.

  Regan pointed at the small fin cutting and weaving through the water.

  “Oh my God!” Tabitha squealed when she saw how close the shark had come to where she’d been floating.

  RC was wiping water off his bare chest and arms before wringing out his long hair. “It isn’t dangerous,” he said with disgust.

  Regan and Tabitha turned to look at him as if he were crazy. “Not dangerous?” Tabitha wheezed. “It’s a shark!”

  RC took a deep breath, but frustration still bled from his voice when he answered, “It’s a harmless species. He’s not going to bother anyone.”

  “Blacknose shark?” Wolf yelled from the sailboat as it glided over the water toward the dock.

  “Yes!” RC shouted back.

  “What’s a blacknose shark?” Regan asked. “Isn’t a shark a shark?”

  RC eyed her, apparently to see if she was serious, and then shook his head. “It is a shark, but unlike his cousins, he isn’t truly a threat. Blacknose sharks are happy to swim alongside humans without taking a bite out of them—unless the humans are aggressive first or the shark feels like there is food involved. You’d be surprised how many species of shark fit into that category, in fact—few species are outright aggressive, despite what movies might have you believe.”

  Tabitha was already shaking her head. “I don’t want to swim with sharks.”

  Wolf had been guiding the sailboat into the dock as they talked, and Lily jumped out of the boat and raced toward them before Wolf had even tied it up.

  “Are you okay?” she asked Tabitha, her eyes full of concern.

  The worry was sweet enough to remind Regan that, despite Lily’s typical nasty attitude, she was a sweet, caring girl underneath her rough exterior.

  Tabitha smiled and nodded. “Your grandpa says it was a blacknose shark and I wasn’t in any danger.”

  Lily rolled her eyes. “There are blacknose sharks all over out here—I was worried about you panicking when you were out there floating.” She turned to look at Regan, giving her the usual look of disgust. “They’re harmless. You should have let Tabitha keep swimming”

  Regan glared back at her, sad that the brief visit from the sweet, caring Lily had already ended. “I doubt that. They may not attack first, but harmless is a reach.”

  Wolf was walking toward them now, Fred by his side. And Fred, the man who knew everything, was nodding his head. “The blacknose sharks are not aggressive, and many divers have enjoyed encounters with the sharks. I once had a friend who paid a lot of money for the chance to swim alongside them.”

  “Great,” Regan murmured. “I didn’t know there were friendly sharks.”

  “It’s okay,” Wolf said, putting his hand on her shoulder. “It’s always better to be safe.”

  Lily scoffed. “I’m going to my campsite.”

  “Take the rifle,” Wolf ordered, handing her the small .22 that had become Lily’s gun.

  With that, she headed down the beach in her usual huff. Regan watched her go, shaking her head at her own ineptness. She couldn’t win with her. She knew Wolf or RC would go check on her later. Hopefully, she’d be calm by then.

  “I think I’ve had enough of the beach for one day,” Regan mumbled, bending down to pick up her things.

  “Me, too!” Tabitha exclaimed. “I don’t care if it’s a friendly shark or not. I’m not swimming with the thing!”

  Together, the ladies climbed the slight incline that led to the house, leaving the three men behind. Regan felt like an idiot, though. Once again, she had given Lily another reason to be mad at her. She hadn’t meant to freak out. In her mind, a shark was a shark, and you certainly didn’t swim in the water with a shark twenty feet away. And, to make things worse, she’d ended her friend’s otherwise successful swim lesson prematurely.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Tabitha said as they walked through the trees. “I for one am glad you said something. If I would have seen that thing first, I would have panicked. I’m sure it would have thought I was attacking it and eaten me.”

  Regan chuckled. “You are a bite-sized snack.”

  “Hey!” Tabitha mock-scolded. In a moment, however, she was laughing. “I’m going to find Geno. I can’t wait to tell him I was actually swimming in the ocean!”

  As they neared the house, Regan waved goodbye and headed toward the greenhouse, her earlier mood of elation having evaporated.

  With the afternoon at the beach over, it was back to the same old crap on the island—with her being the one too many of her companions wished would go away. She knew she was pouting, but the way things had gone, it was hard not to. It seemed like, no matter what she did, she kept screwing up and making things worse with Lily. And even if Tabitha was glad she’d warned her, they both knew that Regan had made a fool of herself in front of everyone at the beach. Once upon a time, that would have been enough to have Regan running for the hills by any means of escape possible.

  12

  Determined not to make the same mistake twice, Regan had decided that she wasn’t going to freak out over every little
animal or bug she saw. Florida was different from any place she had ever been in the past. The snakes, alligators, monster spiders, and now the sharks swimming in the waters around them all seemed so dangerous. Before she had come to Florida, she’d done a little research about what she could expect to see in the swamp—but apparently she hadn’t done enough.

  And this island had its own ecosystem. She wanted to know when to freak out and when to go on as if whatever she was encountering was no big deal. At least there was one man who would be eager to share his information without making her feel like a complete idiot.

  “Fred,” she said, finding him in the screened-in patio, his nose buried in yet another book.

  At midmorning, this was still one of the cooler places to be. It was heating up outside, and likely to be very hot according to Wolf. Everyone else was already outside getting a jumpstart on their chores so they could retire inside the house for the afternoon hours. Giving in to the summer heat, Wolf had covered the windows with heavy blinds that allowed a slight breeze in but blocked the majority of the sunlight. While Regan wasn’t fond of the cave experience, it did keep the house a good ten degrees cooler than the air had been when they’d left the blinds open.

  Fred mumbled some kind of greeting, not looking away from the book that held his attention. Lucky for Fred, Wolf’s library was extensive. There wasn’t a lot of fiction, but there were books on just about everything else. Gardening, hunting, and even how-to books on making soap, basket weaving, and really just about anything you could think of. He’d wanted to be prepared for anything and had known the internet wouldn’t likely be a source in a true emergency. He’d been right, and Fred was taking advantage of it.

  “Fred,” she said his name again, trying to get his attention without having to resort to pulling the book out of his hands.

  He let out an exaggerated sigh. “Hi, Regan,” he said, putting the book in his lap.