Chapter 18 Chapter Eighteen Once

"She's delirious." I sighed, burying my face in my hands. "Maybe," Dodge said softly beside me. "Maybe?" I turned to look at him. "She thinks a monster of the deep swallowed him up!" Emma said so.Sobbing back tears, she told us how the air in the cove had suddenly become stagnant and the sea smooth.She stopped, struggling to dislodge soggy strands of seaweed from a broken log, when she turned around just in time to see a large black mass leaping out of the water.The thing, which had no hands, grabbed Darren nonetheless, pulled him away from the shore as quickly and violently as if he were barely weight, and disappeared into the sea with him.

"She's crazy," I repeated in a low voice. Dodge heard my words, but didn't respond. Emma fell asleep in the boys' tent. Dodge found two antihistamines from Martin's backpack and gave her them, which made her fall asleep.I was so on edge that I couldn't even think about going to sleep.Tension knotted in a knot in my throat, my knee jerked violently, and my left foot dug involuntarily into the sand.The campfire is burning brightly, and I don't want no one watching the fire.I'm also reluctant to shovel up wet sand and hastily douse the fire as Dodge suggests.For the first time in my life I was afraid of the dark.

I looked back at Dodge and suddenly noticed that his hair was wet and gleaming slightly in the firelight.His clothes were also changed.I frowned, not knowing what was going on with him. "Did you go to sea?" I asked. "yes." "Go swimming?" A person dragging his injured foot? "I didn't intend to go." He moved the corners of his mouth and made an embarrassed face, "I think soaking in cold water is good for my ankles and can reduce swelling. But I lost my balance and put Wet all over. Clothes and everything." "Are you alright?" I asked, leaning forward to look at him more closely. "Is your ankle... getting worse?"

"It hurt a little bit when I fell, but I'm fine. I just became a drenched chicken." We fell silent, however, I could not stand the silence for too long. "What time is it?" I asked. Dodge tilted his watch to see the time by the light of the fire. "It's just past twelve." I chuckled. "happy Birthday." After a while, Dodge laughed too.The laughter lasted only for a while, and did not break the oppressive atmosphere.I sigh. "Dodge, what should we do now?" There was another silence. "I have no idea." "What do you think... what do you think is wrong with Darren?"

I looked at him seriously.He did a pretty good job of dealing with Darren's disappearance, much better than when facing Martin's disappearance.The mystery of Darren's disappearance cannot be explained by the same set of theories that explain Martin's disappearance.He had no reason to leave, no one prodded him.Unless he quarreled with Emma and left in a huff.But this also doesn't explain why Emma is delirious. "I don't know." His tone was very flat, without showing a trace of emotion.Instead of looking at the flames, Dodge stared intently into the darkness.

"You...you don't believe what Emma said, do you?" "have no idea." "Dodge—" "No." He cut me off. "I don't believe her. It's just..." "He can't disappear out of thin air." I finished what he wanted to say for him. "Yeah." He rubbed his eyes with his knuckles. "Darren's a dumbass sometimes, but he's not going to just walk away. Besides, his car's still there. I just... I just Hopefully we can do something. Do it now." "I know," I reassured him, because he was more excited than he was a moment ago, "we'll be out at dawn, Dodge. We're going to the main road, and we can use Emma's cell phone whenever we have a signal, and even if we don't, We can also go where there are people. I mean, we're not in the middle of nowhere. The girl said there are a lot of people around here, it's just spread out."

I stare at Dodge.His face was still behind his hands, and he rubbed his eye sockets vigorously with his fists, as if to erase the memories of the past few days and start over.I didn't see any traces of tears, but his skin was flushed and his teeth were clenched.I do not know what to say. He raised his head suddenly and stared at me with wide eyes.The campfire dimmed, casting shadows on his face.He looked scary like that, especially as he stared at me with those deep, shining eyes. "Go to sleep," he said. "I hope the day is over." We didn't discuss how to sleep.We walked without a word to the largest tent, where Emma slept.With so much going on, no one wants to go to bed alone.

We crawled into our respective sleeping bags, and Dodge turned to me, seemingly automatically, and put an arm around my waist, in the same position as he had done the night before.I have no objection.I need such comfort. I don't think I'm falling asleep at all, it's just that when I open my eyes, it gets brighter in the tent.I'm sure the sun hasn't risen yet, but it's almost there.The sky was gray, and all outlines and shadows were clearly shown, but there was still no color.It was very cold, and the tip of my nose was freezing cold.Still, I was sweating from the heat.For a moment, I couldn't figure out what was going on, but I felt something was wrong, but gradually I realized that there was something tightly around my waist.It turned out that Dodge was holding me so tightly that I couldn't breathe.

Not wanting to wake him up, I tried to reach the zipper with my arms, letting the cold wind blow my body.To do this I had to take his hand away, when I heard a grunt behind me. "I'm sorry." I said softly.Emma was still sleeping. Dodge didn't answer, I'm sure I woke him up.Curious, I turned and looked at him. His eyes were closed, his facial features were tightly wrinkled, and his mouth was pursed.His hair was flat on his head, with some strands sticking to his forehead.I couldn't help but feel worried, and reached out tentatively, touching his face.His face was hot and his skin was sweaty.He groaned again and avoided my hand.His arms slid away from my waist, free of restraint, and I sat up, moving carefully, aware that with each movement the sleeping pad vibrated under Emma and Dodge.I slowly reached into his sleeping bag from the side and touched his shoulder.He was hot and his T-shirt was sticking to him like a second skin.

Horrified, I hastily withdrew my hand and held this hand with the other.This hand is warm, as if the heat from Dodge's body is transferred to this hand of mine.he is sick?He hadn't looked very well last night, but he was fine, and he wasn't sick. It's just that he's really bad right now.I made a quick assessment of my own situation.I feel the same as usual.No fever, no dizziness.No stomach discomfort.Whatever happened to him, I don't seem to be infected. I still remember his wet hair glistening in the firelight.He fell in the sea and got wet.Is it because of this?It was cold last night, even colder in the sea.

"Dodge," I whispered.His eyebrows were twisted, but he didn't wake up. "Dodge?" I reached forward and shook his shoulders, lightly at first, then harder.I don't know why I want to wake him up so badly.I just know that I don't like being alone.I told myself I was going to talk to him to see how he was feeling and if there were any other symptoms, but I wasn't really sure if it was the right thing to do. "Dodge!" Emma whimpered softly and rolled over in her sleeping bag, but my attention wasn't on her.I looked down at Dodge, as if I could wake him up with my mind.But it seems to work.His eyelids moved, and then he opened them.At first, his eyes were unfocused and seemed a bit lost.Then, he looked up at me, and I noticed he was awake. "Dawn?" he said hoarsely.He struggled to utter the words, and I was surprised at how hoarse his voice was. "That's right." I said in a low voice. He looked around, looked at the dim light, and the motionless figure of Emma who was sleeping. "What's wrong?" he asked. I bit the inside of my lip and looked at him. "How are you feeling?" I asked. "what?" "how do you feel?" "I feel..." He thought for a while, "It's very cold." As soon as he spoke, he burrowed into the sleeping bag, "Why is it so cold here?" Not so.The sun has risen, and the temperature in the tent is also rising rapidly. "It's not cold." I replied, my heart sinking.I don't want Dodge to be sick right now. "It's really cold." He disagreed. "Where's my coat?" Without saying a word, I handed him the coat and watched him sit up and put on his clothes, his whole body trembling violently from the momentary exposure. "Oops." He scratched his head, then plopped down on the sleeping bag. "what happened to you?" "Dizziness," he said, one hand still on his forehead. "You're sick," I said.For some reason, I have to say this fact out loud. "Nope," Dodge told me. "I'm fine." Even as he spoke, he burrowed a little into the warmth of his sleeping bag. "How does your ankle feel?" Dodge looked uncertain. He kicked his feet, and there was a soft rustling sound around me.After a while, he stopped suddenly with a distorted expression. "It hurts." He said honestly. "Let me see." I urged. "Wait a minute." Dodge said, pulling the sleeping bag higher, looking at me warily.He shivered again. I looked him over carefully.The sky was getting brighter, and after I saw it clearly, I found that his face was getting worse and worse.His face was pale and a little yellow.He shivered again, swallowed, and wrinkled his nose. "How are you?" He didn't answer, but after a while, he moved.He refused to get out of the cocoon-like sleeping bag just now, but now he struggled, opened the sleeping bag, got out, sat up straight, and didn't care about the injured ankle at all.I watched in bewilderment as he staggered out of the tent, and a moment later I heard retching and coughing.He threw up. I fought my nausea—it had nothing to do with Dodge's illness—and followed.I took out a bottle of water from the cooler which was not cold at this time, walked around the tent, saw him squatting in the grass, and walked to him. "Thank you." I unscrewed the bottle cap and handed him the water, and he said out of breath.He took a swig, then spat a gulp of water over his vomit. "I'm fine." He assured, "You don't need to guard me." There was a sour smell of vomit, but I didn't leave him.He has a fever and is likely to pass out.I just waited while he sipped slowly and rhythmically, breathing very slowly and steadily, trying not to choke the water out.After a while, he finally felt able to walk, so I helped him stand up, put his arm on my shoulder, used as his crutch, and limped back to the blackened fire pit. .Emma is not outside.Through the opened tent curtain, all I could see was her huddled figure.I don't know if I should wake her up, not sure what state of mind she will be in when she wakes up.She had been in hysterics last night and only calmed down after drinking sleeping pills. "Would you like something to eat?" I asked Dodge, seeing him plop down in his chair.He shook his head, looking very pale.He pulled up the collar of his coat, wrapped it around his neck, and continued to drink water in small sips. In order to find something to do, I took out a piece of rice cracker, took small bites and ate it.I wasn't actually hungry, I didn't even finish half of it, and threw it into the fire pit, thinking it would burn or be eaten by scavengers. "Do you think we should take Emma?" Dodge asked, pulling me out of my reverie. I blinked, staring at him, pondering his words. "We can't leave her here alone," I said.Then, I took a deep breath, "Can you go?" "Yes." Dodge replied immediately, his tone was very firm, and his expression was very decisive.I don't allow myself to look skeptical. "We'll go when Emma wakes up." He kept looking at the waves as he said this, and I couldn't help thinking he was convincing himself, not me. Emma showed no sign of getting up, and for the entire twenty minutes, Dodge looked back at her every three seconds, and his neck was about to cramp.Seeing him like this, I really felt sorry for him, so I got up from my chair and went to the tent. "Emma," I called, "Emma, ​​are you awake?" She didn't answer, but I don't think she was sleeping.She was still motionless, her position tense in the sleeping bag.Looking over her dark blue sleeping bag, I can see her shoulders hunched and I can't see her neck.I knelt on the sleeping mat next to her.The movement of the air cushion moved her body, but she remained motionless. "Emma." I called again.I put a hand on her shoulder.She wriggled to get out of my hand, shrugging her shoulders higher this time. "I know you're awake." She sighed and turned around slowly.She stared at me with eyes that looked like two giant glass balls.I know she's thinking about yesterday, about Darren, and I don't know what to say.I don't know if I should bring that up and ask her about it.Was she just going to retell crazy stories about monsters of the deep eating people? I forced a smile. "Hurry up, we're going to get out of here, we have to go to the main road, find a house or take a ride. You go change your clothes and eat something. Then we'll go." Emma went to bed wearing last night's clothes, but I hope that the little everyday thing of changing clothes will bring her back to reality.She may not be able to eat, but I feel I should advise her so.For some reason, I feel like an adult, even though I'm the youngest of us.It's just that Dodge is sick, Emma is crazy, and now I'm the only one in charge.I don't like this and have no other options. Emma changed slowly and obediently put on the one I handed her.She looked like a zombie, she was lifeless.We did not speak.When she was finally dressed, I signaled her to go outside, which she did, but shuffling with slow steps like a woman in her late teens. Dodge was nowhere to be found on the beach. For a split second, my heart stopped beating, and a sudden sense of panic hit me, followed by coughing and vomiting.He went to the long grass again, bent his back, and spit out all the water he had just drank.There are many crooked footprints between him and the chair he was sitting on just now, it can be seen that he dragged his left foot.Even as he vomited, his body was off balance, carefully lifting his sprained ankle. After he came back, I didn't ask him how he was feeling.It was obvious he wasn't feeling well.I don't think it's possible, but his complexion is worse than before.His face was sallow, and his tightly pressed lips were pale.He frowned in pain every step he took, but he walked back slowly. "Are you ready to go?" he asked, his voice very dull. Did he really think he could go all the way to the road?That's at least two miles.He had sprained his ankle, and the trip would be nothing but an ordeal for him.He vomited and had a fever and it was so sad. "Dodge, I don't think it's better to—" "I can do it," he snapped, obviously knowing what I was going to say. I didn't want to argue with him, just watched in silence as he packed bottles of water and a large bag of crisps into his backpack and slung it over his shoulder.He had already put on his shoes, but his left foot was unlaced.Apparently tying his shoes hurt his ankles. "Have you got your phone?" he said, speaking to Emma for the first time. She didn't seem to mind being ignored.She just stood there motionless, waiting with a blank expression. Hearing this question, she blinked a few times.Then, she frowned slightly, as if she didn't understand. "Your cell phone," Dodge repeated impatiently, "do you have it?" Emma made a slight movement that looked like a shrug.Then, she turned her face away and looked towards the small bay. "I'll take a look in the tent," I said, and I could tell Dodge was getting tired of Emma, ​​and I didn't think that was going to help.She seemed completely lost, as if there was no soul behind those big, empty blue eyes.But I don't have the energy to worry about her. After all, I need to worry about Dodge, Martin and Darren more. In a way, I cling desperately to the possibility that Martin has come home.As for Darren, I'm not so sure.Speculation that he was swallowed by the sea lingered.I should have searched the cove more carefully, I knew that, but Emma was out of control and it was difficult to get close to the roaring sea.She was desperately unwilling to let me go near the water, which actually scared me, so I only dared to search on the shore and rocks. I should have looked in the water, I should have done that.Guilt weighed down on me.I tried to suppress it and let it retreat to a place where I couldn't see it, but it bit me and made my heart burn like a flame. I quickly found Emma's phone, on top of a pile of her clothes, the pink metal case standing out against the dim tent.I pressed the button, expecting to see the screen light up.But things backfired.I tried not to sigh.I don't find this surprising.We've all been at the beach for days, and Emma always likes to have her phone on, listening to music or taking pictures.All the apps she uses consume battery power, and at the moment, her phone doesn't respond. "Emma's phone doesn't work either," I said, walking back to Dodge and Emma.The two of them still seemed to be standing in place, but it looked like Dodge had a hard time staying still. "no response." Dodge snorted irritably. "Looks like we'll just have to go out and find someone," he said.Standing on the beach, he moved his body and adjusted his center of gravity, "Hurry up, I think it's time for us to set off." He started walking slowly toward the parking lot. "Emma." I gently tugged at her elbow, "Emma, ​​let's go." Although I was standing next to her, she didn't seem to hear me.I pulled her arm harder and she just let me pull her forward.We took a few steps in tandem, and she stopped. No matter how hard I tried, she refused to take a step.I turned around and stared at her. "What's wrong?" "I do not go." "What did you say?" I didn't mishear her, I just couldn't believe she said it. "I'm not going. I'm not going without Darren." I thought she was going to cry again, but her pale face was very calm, and her chin was raised firmly. "Emma, ​​that's why we're leaving so we can get someone to help him. We need help." But she shook her head at me, saying she wouldn't change her mind.