Chapter 75

I couldn't believe it.

The mountain hike seemed like a fantastic idea at first with the promise of breathtaking ocean views, but now, as Lucas and I stared at each other with equal signs of worry, I was beginning to think that maybe we had underestimated its challenges.

"Lucas..." I started then glanced around at the seemingly endless trees.

I couldn't hear any sounds or see any signs of which way was the right way to go.

We were completely lost.

"It's okay, Shana." Lucas immediately denied our predicament, trying to comfort me instead. "We'll find our way, we just need to head back to the trail."

"Which is... where exactly?" I swallowed hard, looking up at him. "I don't know where we are right now, Lucas."

Lucas frowned, studying the surroundings. "I know, Shana. It's hard to tell... The trail was clear before, but now everything looks the same."

I hoped James was happy, wherever he was. He had successfully managed to split us up, leaving Lucas and me alone. And now here we were... Lost.

"Let's just think about this logically for a second." Lucas put his hands on my shoulders, stealing me and himself. "We need to retrace our steps."

"Lucas, I would do that if I had a clue of where we came from." I turned, looking around us again. "But I don't remember where that was."

"Okay, I think I might remember. Follow me." Lucas walked forward toward two large trees standing next to one another. "I remember seeing this pair of trees and telling myself to dodge them."

"Well, that's a start," I said.

As we tried to make our way through the woods, the ground beneath us suddenly trembled, and a deep rumble echoed through the forest.

Trees swayed dangerously, and I stumbled, barely managing to catch my balance.

It felt as if the ground beneath us was about to crack open and swallow us whole. Birds flew out of the trees over us, squeaking and searching for safety.

"What's happening?" I exclaimed, trying to keep myself still on the ground.

"Earthquake, I think!" Lucas shouted back, grabbing me and pulling me closer to him. "Let's go! We need to find a safe spot!"

We stood, running, and in seconds I noticed that trees were beginning to fall over from the force of the shake.

Lucas's eyes were wide as he grabbed onto a tree trunk. "Shana! Watch out!"

A large tree was beginning to fall, and I shrieked as I ran out of the way.

In a panic, we both sprinted back toward what we hoped was the direction of the trail. We didn't stop moving, and we kept weaving through bushes and fallen trees.

But amidst all the chaos, we were getting more and more lost as the around us grew dense and unfamiliar.

Lucas tugged me forward, and I was trying to keep up with his pace, but I still wasn't as fast as him.

I gasped as my foot caught on a fallen tree, sending me tumbling to the ground.

An intense pain shot through my left leg, and I gritted my teeth, trying to suppress a cry.

I must be bleeding... it hurts so bad. Oh my God, what if I broke my leg?

"Shana, are you okay?!" Lucas rushed to my side, concern etched across his face.

He dropped down to the ground, holding my leg in his hands as he crouched.

"Yeah, that tree... I didn't see it." I nodded, my breath shaky. "It's just a scrape. But my leg... it hurts."

Lucas's fingers gently examined my injured leg. "Shit, this is not good. We need to go find help, Shana. But my phone has no signal here."

"Mine doesn't have any either." I glanced down at my scraped foot, my heart sinking.

How were we going to get ourselves out of this mess?

Lucas lifted my leggings, exposing the scrape from my fall.

It was large, red, and angry.

I gulped.

"Can you stand?" Lucas asked, lifting himself to his feet.

He reached a hand out for me to take. Gently, I placed my hand in his and he pulled me up. When I tried to apply pressure to my left leg, it wasn't taking any of my body weight without protesting in pain.

It wasn't an excruciating pain, but a more annoying kind of pain.

"I think I might've sprained my ankle," I told Lucas, using his body to support me. "My leg hurts when I put my full weight on it."

Lucas bit his lip, wrapping an arm around my waist to help keep me upwards. "Don't worry. Just hold on to me, okay?"

I complied and threw an arm over his back to get a better grip.

"You're okay?" Lucas asked, his eyes meeting mine to find some sense of confirmation. "Nothing else hurts you?"

I nodded. "It's just my leg."

He blew out a heavy breath, moving his gaze back to the woods around us. "That earthquake had terrible timing."

"I know..." Panic started to take over me. "Lucas, what if the others are in danger? That earthquake was pretty strong and so many trees fell."

Luckily, Lucas and I were in an area of the woods with fewer trees, but still, I managed to get hurt by one of the fallen trees.

What if the path Victoria, James, and Emily had walked on was worse? What if they had faced some other challenge? What if they were lost like we were and needed to find help?

Lucas hesitated, his expression torn as if he was thinking the same thoughts as me. "I know we need to find them, but I don't want you to make your injury worse. You can't walk on that leg."

"So, what are we supposed to do?" I asked, my fingers tightening their grip on his shoulder. "I'll be fine. It's just a sprain."

"You can't apply too much pressure on it. We don't know the full extent of your injuries," Lucas argued. "What if it's worse than what we think?"

"It isn't." I shook my head. "I would know if it's broken."

Lucas pursed his lips, looking back down at me as if he was contemplating something. "If the others are out there and need help, we're probably the only people who would be able to find them fast enough."

I nodded in agreement. "I think so, too. You should go and leave me—"

"Don't be ridiculous." Lucas frowned at me. "I'm not leaving you here by yourself when you're injured and another earthquake might hit. We stick together."

His words overwhelmed me, and I felt my lip begin to tremble. "Lucas, I'm scared."

His gaze softened as he tried to comfort me in my state of distress. "There's nothing to be scared of, Shana. I've got you. I won't let anything happen to you. We'll get out of here in no time."

But as the evening settled in, the woods only grew darker, and the sounds of the night approaching surrounded us.

We tried walking to find the trail but had no success. Lucas was exhausted from holding me up the entire time, and I was just exhausted in general from the entire day.

Hunger gnawed at my stomach, and fear clawed at the edges of my thoughts.

"Let's take a break," Lucas's voice was low and steady as he leaned us against a tree.

"It's getting dark," I stated the obvious.

"I know." Lucas looked around anxiously. "We might need to spend the night here."