Free Survivors (Stranded) by Jeff Probst, Christopher Tebbetts Page B

going down,” Vanessa said. “Here, we saved you some fish.”
    “I’ll have some later,” he said.
    “Don’t be stupid,” she told him. “You have to eat. It’s the only way you’ll get stronger.”
    “I’m not being stupid. I’m just not hungry.”
    “Are you kidding me?” Vanessa asked. She actually seemed angry. Buzz and Jane were sitting across the fire from him, and they noticed it, too. They both looked over now, with scared, wide-eyed expressions.
    When Vanessa spoke again, her voice shook. “In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re all in this together,” she said. “We’re a family, Carter. How many times do I have to say that before you get it? Now eat the stupid fish before I kill you.”
    Carter reached over and pinched off a small amount of the flaky white flesh. When he put it in his mouth, it was warm and comforting. But even so, it was hard for him to swallow. His appetite was gone, and he had no desire to eat more. That was as scary as his swollen hand, which was up to twice the size it had been that morning. A line of dried yellow pus showed along the original wound, and it was impossible to unbend his fingers anymore.
    Their long day in the sun, and the swim back, had wrecked him. He’d never felt worse, even on the night he’d spewed his guts out after drinking bad water. The difference this time was, he didn’t expect to feel better anytime soon.
    “Have some more,” Vanessa said. She fed him several mouthfuls of fish. Carter took the food, chewed it, and swallowed—but not because he wanted to.
    He did it for the others. Right now, that was the most he could manage.

    “Buzz, can you give me a hand down here?” Vanessa asked. “I want to pull together whatever bamboo we have.”
    “There isn’t that much,” Buzz said.
    “Will you just come here, please?” Vanessa asked, more bossy than usual.
    She left the deck and dropped to the ground, leading Buzz around the bow to the water’s edge, out of earshot from Jane and Carter. All the salvaged bamboo from the raft sat in a pile on the ground against the hull of the ship.
    “What’s going on?” Buzz asked. “I thought you wanted to—”
    Vanessa raised a finger to her mouth to quiet Buzz. “What do we do about Carter?” she whispered.
    Buzz shook his head. “What
can
we do?” he whispered back.
    Neither of them seemed to have an answer for that. They stared silently at each other. Finally, Vanessa asked the one thing she’d been trying not to bring up for the last three days. She’d been trying not even to think about it, but there was no avoiding the question.
    “Can you die from an infected cut?” she asked. The words caught in her throat, followed quickly by a sob. It felt like bringing the possibility to life, just by naming it.
    “I don’t know,” Buzz answered, clearly fighting back his own tears.
    “Nobody ever said anything about infection on those million shows you watched?” Vanessa pressed him. “Come on, Buzz, think. There has to be something we can do.”
    “I don’t know!” he said again, in a fierce whisper. “I wish I did, but . . . I don’t.”
    “Is Carter going to die?”
    Vanessa turned to see Jane standing there. She’d always had a way of moving around so as to not be noticed. Now she stood in the shadow of the ship’s hull, staring at them as if she were afraid to come any closer.
    “I hope not,” Vanessa answered. Two weeks ago, she would have tried to hide the truth from Jane. Not anymore.
    The sound of cicadas filled Vanessa’s ears, while horrible thoughts poured into her mind. Would there be a new grave on the island before it was all over? How would they ever be able to take that if it happened? How could they live without Carter?
    She shook her head then, as if to expel the thoughts. Up till now, it had been impossible even to imagine something like that happening. But there was also nothing left to say. Nothing they could do, and very little they could even hope