Chapter 550

Chapter 550:

My final hope vanished.

Even if we found his belongings, it wouldn’t matter. We would still be cut off. I sat down heavily beside him, drained. Ashton hung the wetsuit on the simple rack he had built from branches.

I helped him here and there, handing him stones and leaves to fix the rack, but my mind was a total blank.

Ashton finally looked at me. “Should we look for shelter first, or luggage, or food and fresh water p>

I muttered, “You should decide p>

The last decision I’d made was what landed us here.

Ashton decided we should look for the luggage.

To be precise, he wanted to look for our yacht first. With luck, it might have been hurled ashore rather than destroyed.

We walked along the beach. After the long chill of the early morning hours, the sun was finally rising. Its warmth drove the cold from our bodies.

I trailed behind Ashton, eyes lowered to my feet. A thin film of wet sand clung to them. With each step, more sand got stuck.

Stuck, just like us.

My forehead smacked into something solid.

A sharp sting spread across my skin, and I sucked in a breath through my teeth.

“Sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going p>

Ashton studied me for a long moment. “What’s wrong with you p>

My eyes never lifted. I couldn’t meet his gaze.

My lashes trembled. My head dipped lower. “Nothing.” My voice was quiet and slow.

Ashton folded his arms, watching me closely. His tone carried a chill. “Tell me p>

“There really isn’t anything wrong. We’re supposed to be finding the luggage, aren’t we? Don’t waste time on me.” My voice sounded weaker than I intended. I hurried past him, pulling myself together as best I could. My fists clenched tight, and I did not dare look back. I was afraid my eyes would betray my guilt, more afraid of seeing nothing in his eyes but coldness and distance.

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After almost an hour of fruitless searching, we stopped and tried to estimate where the tsunami might have flung the yacht.

“The waves rise straight up and crash down. There’s no rotation,” I said. “If the yacht was thrown ashore, it should still be somewhere along the same line of longitude p>

“If we could work out our current location, it would be much easier to find,” Ashton replied.

“But we don’t have any tools p>

I crouched down, wondering if I should stick a pole in the ground to get a rough reading of latitude and longitude. It wouldn’t be precise, but it was better than nothing.

Ashton’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “Come with me p>

I looked up, puzzled. “You know where it is p>

He didn’t answer but strode off with clear intent.

I hurried to catch up, tapping the stick I had picked up against my palm. “How do you know which way to go p>

Ashton pointed to a pale-bellied fish lying in the sand. “Know what that is p>