Alex- Day One

Alex wanted to drop down to the floor and just… well, panic he supposed. But that wouldn't be useful. The first order of business was to figure out a way to get back to the bus, or some people near them.

Jordan kicked a rock angrily, spitting some curses at it.

"Wow. That sure helped a lot," Merick scoffed, though he too was wearing a concerned frown. Jordan's eyebrows knitted together, showing that the sarcasm wasn't appreciated, and Alex jumped in, quickly trying to alleviate the already growing tension.

"We can try and call someone that's on the bus. How abou-"

"No signal. I was going to call Rachel, but…" Marie trailed off, waving her phone vaguely.

Jordan kicked another rock. Merick raised his brows.

"Okay, this is fine. They'll notice we're gone or something and come back," Alex said. "They'll have to. They'll turn around for us."

Merick scoffed. "That old crone? You think she'll notice? All she sees are things to talk endlessly about." Alex opened his mouth to argue, then decided not to. It wasn't worth it. They needed to find some food and water, it could be hours before the bus comes back and anyone notices they're gone. They'd all be too preoccupied with taking pictures.

"Guys, let's try and see if w-"

Everyone started talking over him. Jordan pointed his finger at Marie, claiming how it was her fault for getting them stuck.

"This happened because of you. You just go 'traipsing' into a cave and we, like the idiots that we are, all follow you. We should have stayed with the group. I should have stayed on the bus. Hell, I shouldn't even be here." He ran a finger through his black hair, shutting his eyes as if that would make him wake up from this dream.

Marie spat back, immediately on the defensive, that all she wanted were some cool pictures, since that was the point of this trip. Merick stood behind his sister warningly, but Jordan didn't seem to care.

"Jordan, calm down-"

"Well sure hope that you got something out of this, because I sure didn't. I just got stuck here."

"You can leave anytime you want," Marie replied quickly, her eyes storming with anger. "If you're going to be here to bring the rest of us apart, we don't need you."

Now Merick stepped in to be more firm, but it was a bit too late.

Jordan threw his hands upwards in exasperation.

And then he began to walk.

"Jordan? Jordan! Where are you going?" Alex asked, beginning to walk after him. But Jordan didn't turn back around. Merick followed a few steps behind, but then decided to stay back.

"I'm going to find a way out of here," he spat, not even bothering to turn around. He kicked back sand in his wake, and Alex stopped walking.

"How? You can't be serious. You're not going to walk all the way to civilization or something. The nearest place is like… hundreds of miles away. We have to wait for them to come back, and by-"

Alex trailed off as Jordan didn't stop walking. Didn't turn around. Didn't say anything. Just kept walking.

"Alright, well, we'll be in this cave if you ever decide like coming back!" Merick shouted to Jordan. Marie didn't bother saying anything, from her expression clearly still fuming from the quick argument.

"What do you mean, we'll be in the cave?" Alex turned towards his friend. "We can't just sit there. We need to get stuff. Like food. And water."

"They'll come back for us long before we need anything. Just give it a few hours. The bus will probably find Jordan along the way too," Merick replied, though as he turned back towards the cave entrance he paled ever so slightly.

A breeze swept through suddenly, hot and dry and blistering on their skins. Marie grabbed onto her own arms, huddling on top of herself.

"We need to get into the shade anyway," she finally said. "This heat will kill us, especially since we don't have water." She looked around at their group. Once a group of four, already down to three.

Dryly, Alex wondered which one of them would be the next to leave. He shook the thought away. Right. He had to figure out food and water. Water especially.

Then he remembered.

He remembered listening to the bus driver as they had driven on the desert landscape, and how she distinctly mentioned that cactus water is not actually a good idea to drink. Something with acidity or something, he supposed. It wouldn't kill them, just make them really sick, but even that would dehydrate them even more.

No, better not to risk it, he supposed. And glancing around the landscape around him, littered with sparse trees and sad plants, he figured there wouldn't be much to eat yet either. Maybe when it became nighttime, and all the animals were out and about.

So, silently relenting his inner argument, he went and followed Merick and Marie inside the cave.

Marie had already slid down, and Merick was just going down after her when Alex squeezed through the opening.

The cave seemed… darker somehow. The shadows more concentrated, making him feel almost claustrophobic as he went in.

Merick didn't comment on his lack of food or water, not even bothering to smirk or quirk a brow. He just sat down in one of the corners of the main cave, absentmindedly tapping the cave floor.

"You know, I cant help but think that you're really not nervous about this whole situation."

Merick looked at Alex. "Why should I be? The bus will come backe eventually. And besides, this would make for a cool story."

"A… story?" His sister butted in from where she was sitting on an adjacent wall. "You think this would make a cool story? Are you serious?"

Merick looked at her simply. "Well, yeah. Get this in the papers. Four kids got left behind in the desert. Take some pictures to prove it. We'll be pretty popular."

"Please, please Mer, please tell me you're joking." Marie stared at him. Alex couldn't say might either. Merick just shrugged, leaning his head against the wall. The shadows seem to lengthen around him, wrapping him in a light embrace, and Alex blinked to clear the image. He was just paranoid.

"Look. For the time being, we have at least an hour of being stuck here. I'd give it forty five minutes, if we're lucky, which considering we're stuck here in the first place, we're really not. Might as well make the most of it."

Merick closed his eyes, signifying the end of the conversation. Alex felt the sharpness of his words, the defensiveness, and sat down in the corner away from the rest of them, not willing to talk anymore. They couldn't be getting on each other's nerves yet. It's barely been ten minutes.

And so everyone was left to stew in their own thoughts.