The crackling firelight painted shifting shadows as darkness swallowed the beach. Daisy silently built secondary fires—a defensive perimeter.
"We need more wood," David said.
Kate shrank back. "Not going out there!"
Their argument dissolved when screams erupted. They found Jack Krause impaled in their food pit—branches through his thigh.
"Kill him!" Emma shrilled.
Daisy stepped forward, removing her shirt to reveal a torso crisscrossed with scars. "Mercy," she said, locking eyes with David.
This wasn't seduction. It was a soldier's negotiation.
As Jack limped away with stolen bread, Emma exploded. "He'll murder us!"
"Enough!" David thrust the axe at them. "We secure camp. Now."
Daisy remained behind, cradling the Glock with unsettling familiarity, her gaze tracking Jack's retreat into the hungry dark.
In that moment, I saw the soldier she'd once been—offering her body as collateral for a stranger's life.
I tossed her the shirt. "We're not animals."
As Jack limped away with stolen bread, Emma rounded on me. "You coward! He'll come back!"
Kate jabbed a finger at Emma. "You pushed me toward him!"
"Enough!" I thrust the axe at them. "We need firewood. Now."
Daisy cradled the Glock, her watchful gaze tracking Jack's retreat into the jungle shadows.