Kenna Esters's Arc

Chapter 3 of 13

Kenna kept walking until the light began to fade. She'd burned most of her film on the fuzzy creature, and now the jungle pressed in from all sides. The air grew thick and wet. Insects buzzed near her ears. She had no shelter, no fire, no plan beyond putting one foot in front of the other. She stopped when she saw the lizard. It was long and blue-green, perched on a fallen log with its body stretched out like a small dragon. Four legs, two arms, and scales that caught what little light remained. The creature didn't move when she approached. It was watching a tree — a thin tropical tree heavy with yellow and pink fruit. As darkness settled, the lizard climbed down from the log and moved to the base of the tree. It wedged itself between two exposed roots and went completely still. Kenna understood. The lizard wasn't hunting. It was settling in for the night near a food source, protected by the root system. She moved to the other side of the tree and found a gap between the roots large enough to shelter her. Using rope from her bag and broken branches, she lashed together a crude lean-to against the roots. She wedged ship timber from the beach wreckage across the top and filled gaps with vines. It wasn't much, but it would keep the rain off. She pulled down three fruits from the lowest branch and ate one. It was sweet and made her mouth water. She saved the other two. Through the gaps in her shelter, she could see the lizard on the far side of the tree, motionless in its own hollow. The jungle around them filled with night sounds — clicks and rustles and distant calls. But here, at the base of this tree, she had a wall at her back and food within reach. She wouldn't chase anything tomorrow. She would watch, wait, and learn what this place wanted to teach her. The shift felt like a shutter click — the moment a frame finally came into focus.