Chapter Sixteen

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Well, that took way to long and I'm so sorry. I really just wanted to do an update so it hasn't been edited to well.

"Gus?" Evelyn murmured distractedly, her mind still racing a mile a minute. Together they were sitting in their same spots, however now Evelyn laying on the ground with Angus' head on her upper thigh. They shifted positions a while back. Evelyn fingers traced through the rough hair, the brown chunks catching on her fingers as she tried to curl the straw like strands around her pointer finger. She'd mumble an apology as her finger tips scraped the top of his skull and he'd only sigh as he'd sneak a kiss to the underside of her wrist whenever it came into reach.

It had been a while since the heart racing incident, a long while sat in silence as Evelyn tried to process what had just happened. True to his word, Gus was okay. He was smiling and partaking in the conversation, continuing his playful persona with her. He had kept reassuring her he was okay and it made her feel lighter than air.

But she still blamed herself, and nothing would ever convince her otherwise. Angus made her leave so he would face the danger of the wild animal so she wasn't in harm's way and she did. She could have stayed and let Angus go free, but she knew acting out on something drastic would have concluded in one of their deaths. Evelyn suppressed the shudder at the thought of the pain he must have felt from the razor like claws. At first she found it sweet he would do such a thing but now a potential life of death situation occurred and he stood by protecting her, all she could feel was guilt. Flattered beyond words but guilty as all hell. But he way okay, at least that's what he told her.

On the outside, Gus kept a happy face. He was relieved to see that Evelyn was not in shock from what she had just encountered however on the inside, Gus was hurting.

He had two flesh wounds, one on his shoulder and one on his waist and he had lost a fair amount of blood before he could apply the pressure to block the blood flow. He felt tired so he kept his eyes closed as he made it look like he was relaxing, but really if he opened them, his eyes felt like they would droop closed unconsciously after a few minutes as exhaustion set over his body. The wounds stung, they felt like they were being torn open all over again and it took a lot of his energy to keep a happy face on just for his Evy. He didn't need her stressing because he knew there was only one way off his home now that the bridge was cut down.

The water.

He would give himself a few more minutes to reenergize before figuring a safe way from his home.

"Mhmm?" He mumbled his response.

"Are you," she stared but her musical voice trailed off. He sensed the apprehensive tone in her voice and pushed himself up, unable to hold in the grimace. He saw her concern appear on her face but he made it disappear as he stole a kiss from her lips quickly, making her cheeks turn even redder from their natural state. He loved the look.

"How do we get off here?" She finally asked, pushing her previous question away. It was eating her alive but at the moment her focus was getting back to her camp. Her backpack was left back at the meeting point of the marozi, along with her notes, camera and satellite phone. She knew there was no way to reconnect the bridge and after watching the marozi fall to its death from the rocks embedded under the water, she knew it would be difficult.

"Uh, the water." He murmured, studying her reaction closely. When he saw the horror on her face he traced his thumb over her thin, pink bottom lip before pushing himself up. He winced but held his hand out for Evelyn anyways to assist her up. Evelyn had noticed the wince as she grabbed his hand. She pushed herself up with her free hand but squeezed his hand in reassurance, worry in her mind.

"It will be safe." He spoke as he led her around to the other side. He pulled her into his side and pointed down below to where the choppy water looked slightly lighter than the rest. "There no rocks there. Jump in and stay close to the base. Beach is only not long swim." He said. He felt her body tense in his hold and he hated how she was feeling this way.

"It be okay." He said softly to her, pulling a piece of wild black curly hair from the pony tail and swirling it around his finger. "I make sure you're okay." He promised.

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Her body froze from the shock of the freezing water. Her heart was beating rapidly from the adrenaline of jumping off a cliff into unknown water and mixed with the freezing of the water she stilled for a moment. She was scared and alone in deep water unknown to her and instantly her mind thought that while she sunk downwards, she would catch on a random rock pointing from nowhere. Her throat constricted and momentarily the deep breath she had taken before the plunge was ripped from her and she felt like her lungs would burst at any given moment.

Her hands moved in frantic figure eights in front of her while she pulled her knees in to her chest to make sure that if she hit a rock, it would take linger for her limbs to reach it. Her eyes were closed tightly knowing that sand and salt in the eye was painful. Her heart thumped and the feeling of being alone filled her with dread.

She felt a large splash next to her and knew it was Gus. Some of the fear dissipated as she didn't feel alone anymore knowing he was here with her, but her body still felt like it was sinking. When she finally felt her self slowly floating back to the surface, Evelyn's small panic attacked left her and she kicked her way to the surface.

With a gasp, she broke to the surface of the water. Her breaths were quick as she awaited Gus to resurface and it wasn't long until his face bopped up next to hers. She had never been more relieved to see his face pop up from the unknown. She treaded water, small choppy waves hitting her in the face. Every now and then small waves lapped into her mouth. She spat bitter tasting salted water back into the ocean as a small smile broke onto her face.

"Are you okay?" Evelyn asked him, concerned of his wounds. She couldn't help but admire him. His long brown hair was slicked to the side of his face and his eyes bored into his. Even though he was in pain, she could see how much Gus enjoyed the jump. If it wasn't for the unknown water and jumping being the only choice, Evelyn knew she would have loved it and the adrenaline she felt would have been the good type spurted from fun and not fear.

"Good, good." He replied, a tanned arm emerging from the dark water to clear his face of his long hair. Angus felt his wounds sting and stretch as his legs kicked and his arms moved and he knew he needed to get out of the water as fast as possible otherwise it would become too painful to keep afloat. He saw small waves hitting the base off the cliff and he knew they had to swim away from it and not carefully walk on the rocks to get back to shore.

"Stay beside Gus, me. Okay?" He instructed her. Evelyn nodded her head, her eyes wide as she swam up beside Angus. The cold water was freezing and her joints felt stiff. It didn't take a genius to realize they needed to clear the water quickly.

Together, they started moving forwards. They stayed a few meters from the base of the cliff and they slowly swam. Occasionally an arm or a leg would touch which sent both of their hearts racing. Neither of them had taken into consideration of sharks or threats other from the submerged rocks. Evelyn knew that shark attacks were rare and she had more of a chance getting killed by lighting than attacked by a shark, but with the adrenaline running in her body she edged herself to swim that tiny bit faster.

The swim as silent as they progressed on, occasionally one of them brushing on each other. Angus was concerned for Evelyn in general, however Evelyn could see Angus grimacing every time he pulled his right arm forwards in freestyle. Angus has said it would only be a 10-15 minute swim but with Angus injury it was taking longer. Finally Evelyn spotted the long stretch of white sand and she knew it was only a small swim off.

"It's there, the beach!" She exclaimed. A smile caught her face and she almost wanted to laugh from knowing that they're safe now, the beach not too far off and the home stretch in clear sight. After everything they had been through, they had made it out alive to Evelyn that's was a huge accomplishment.

Gus grumbled an incoherent sentence back and kept swimming but Evelyn noticed his pace slacking off. His strokes weren't as powerful and his arms kind of flopped back into the water creating a splash that would impair his vision.

"Angus?" She asked, stopping swimming all together when his face stayed under the water for a bit too long. "Angus!" She yelled, hooking her hand under his left arm to pull him up. Angus coughed, some water finding its way down his throat and Evelyn knew she celebrated too soon. He was putting on a brave face from his injury but he couldn't hold I much longer. A small pool of red was dispersing in the water around his body and she knew a wound had opened up somewhere.

"Oh my god, Gus." Evelyn had little first aid knowledge, however none of it could she apply when in water, let alone where her feet couldn't even touch the ground. "Can you keep your head up for me Angus?" She questioned in panic. She could tow him back into shore if she could get him on his back but she wouldn't know how to kick with his large body in her space.

She saw his eyes drooping, his luring brown eyes disappearing for a few seconds before reappearing.

"Fuck," she mumbled under her breath. Gus didn't put up much of a fight when Evelyn flipped him so he was on his back, telling him his only job was to stay awake and keep his head above the water. She hooked her arm around his upper torso and with all of her energy kicked as hard as she could towards the shore. It was much harder work and she quickly realized that they were hardly covering any distance and going at a very slow pace.

"Gus if you can move, please kick your legs." She pleaded needing to get him to shore as quick as possible. She felt his body kicking in a very slow rhythm and thanked him, pressing her lips to his shoulder quickly. Then, she focused on solely getting towards the shore.

Gus felt drained like he had been out all day in the sun with no water. His eyes felt very droopy and his body felt drained. He was aware of his surrounding however he wasn't focused. He could feel Evelyn pulling him, encouraging him as he weakly kicked his legs to help her. He felt guilty making her so tired trying to help him.

It felt like hours but only minutes later Evelyn's toe touched the grainy sand. She cheered mentally as she swam a bit more for a steady grip on the ground before turning to face Gus, both of her arms hooked under each arm as she walked backwards from the water, lugging his body with all the strength she had.

The swim was very tiring as she only had one arm to not only keep herself but Gus up also. She was puffing and her chest was semi tight from the cold but she didn't let it bother her.

"We're here Gus, we made it." She panted as she pulled him out. Every now and then a small wave would break on them as she made sure to lift him when they approached so his mouth wouldn't fill with water. If it weren't from being in water, Evelyn doesn't think she could have lifted him.

The water lapped around her knees as she finally reached the shore. Angus had turned and stood as Evelyn took him over her shoulder, most of his body weight depending on here.

"Just a little bit up the beach Gus." Evelyn encouraged trying to get him away from the water. She looked down and had to bite her tongue from the angry red gashes. Some bright red blood mixed with the droplets on his skin as it fell down his body, blending into the darkly tanned skin.

"There we are, let's sit you down." Evelyn tried her hardest to lightly support Gus onto the sand but he fell the last bit with a small thump. His eyes softly closed as his chest rose and fell quickly. One hand pressed to the wound on his waist, the worst place and the source of the blood. The shoulder, although cut deeply and an angry red, was not bleeding and not the problem at the moment so Evelyn ignored that one.

"Angus you're going to be okay. Open your eyes, hey open your eyes." She said. Her voice was strained as tears filled her eyes. She had no clue what to do now. She was torn. Did she stay here with him and hope he gets the strength to walk or wait for someone to find them, or did she leave him and run the short distance to camp to get Dan the medical expert on the camp to help her.

She fell down next to him, one hand on top of his to apply more pressure and the other on his cheek, her finger tips lightly running over his cheek and jaw line.

"Stay awake Gus, you'll be okay." She said. His once alive, brown eyes slowly opened as they looked tired and Evelyn knew she couldn't wait any longer. She had to go and get Dan.

"Pretty." He mumbled under his breath. His head lifted slightly and she bent down quickly, her lips pressing into his firmly knowing he was after a kiss. Her heart fluttered form the compliment and kiss but her stomach tightened from his condition.

"You, you stay awake." She instructed. "I'm going to get Dan. Stay awake, okay? I won't be long."

"No, Evie stay." His husky voice murmured as his hand grabbed hers.

"No, Gus you need help." It pained her to leave but she stood up and ran as fast as she could.

Past the soft sand and into the dirt clad jungle floor, she ran as fast as she could thankful she knew the way to camp. It was further down the beach but running on dirt would be quicker than running on soft sand. Small sticks scratched her legs and some stones she stomped on hardly as she ran but she pushed through it.

Her breaths were jaggered as she ran and soon she was nearing the tent.

"Dan!" She yelled out loudly, her voice portraying the panic she felt. "Daniel, help me! Daniel!" It wasn't long before she got to the clearing of the camp with not only Daniel, but lots of the men coming to see what the panic was about.

"Evelyn, what's wrong. Are you hurt?" He asked concerned, his expression bewildered.

"Angus. He was, attacked by a marozi. He's hurt bleeding, almost unconscious. Quick." She stammered frantically, her hand tightly on his wrist pulling him in the direction of Angus.

"Someone get my medical bag." Daniel demanded, turning serious.

"Evelyn, Shh and calm for me. What happened?" He needed to know the situation and injury.

"A marozi, it's like a tiger. It attacked Gus and he's hurt, bleeding and huge cuts." She panted. "We had to swim back and he's drained. I-I d-didn't know what to d-do." She felt her eyes welling but no one would distinguish as drops from her wet hair ran down her face too.

Tyler appeared with the medical bad and Dan, Tyler, mike and Evelyn all set off to Angus.

Evelyn ran as fast as she could, leading the way. When they burst onto the beach, the men faster than her who were holding back burst in front of her.

They arrived at the body lying on the beach and Evelyn couldn't help the tears. She sprinted as upon reaching him, she fell to her knees. His large body lay on the beach, small grains of sand on his whole body, his tanned chest rising and falling in slow, steady breaths.

"Angus," She asked, shaking him slightly. "Gus, wake up please."

"Evy?" He asked, his voice husky.

"Yes, I'm here." She said. "And Mike, Tyler and Dan. They're going to help you." Angus just nodded his head.

Already Dan was working his magic, cleaning the wound and applying some type of ointment to it. "We need him back at the tent to wrap it and make sure there's no sand in the wounds. He's also dehydrated but he's going to be fine." Dan said after about five or ten minutes.

"He is?" Evelyn asked hopeful.

"Yes Evelyn. He's lost some blood but from the physical exertion and no water, he's drained to the core. I assure you he's going to be perfectly fine, just exhausted and in a bit of pain." Dan smiled.

Evelyn returned the grin and it felt like she was flying from the sense of relief. 


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So that update took way to long and I appologise for making you all wait so long. To those who waited to read this chapter, thankyou for patiently waiting and the the kind messages understanding how important my education is.


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