Sinking below a green and purple sky, the dim sun cast hues of blue and orange over the waves, the beauty almost hypnotic. Luke turned on his flashlight as he headed back to his one room cabin to brush his grill and hit the rack. He suspected the entire world was AFU and while there hadn't been any proof, he'd already begun to grieve for his country. He wanted to know for sure and planned to be on the north beach at daylight with the town's strongest CB.
3
LJ found Kendle before he hit the beach and recognized her immediately in spite of her rough condition. He had noticed her tracks, followed them on a whim, and now stood quietly in front of the crude shelter, thinking it looked very sturdy for being handmade.
Shoe strings around thick branches formed a frame, a green tarp covered with Johnson grass for a roof, palm leaves as the walls. She'd even dug a drainage ditch to keep drier. It was clever. This 26-year-old female of mixed parentage was clearly no timid brunette, though right now she didn't seem much like the outgoing, vivacious woman he'd watched on TV either.
The thin, infamous woman sleeping barefoot and restless inside her shelter, would probably come to the chin of his 6'1" frame and she looked sick. Her short black curls were sun-streaked, as were her long, dark lashes, and her skin was an unnatural shade of red that made him frown. Where had she come from? He knew everyone in this community and the Survival Challenge star wasn't a resident.
Kendle woke slowly, mind and body protesting. Her inner alarm had jolted her, telling her she wasn't alone, something she had been for so long that there was no mistaking it. The man's lean shadow (and it was a man, she felt that clearly) was blocking the sun from her eyes and she groaned as she sat up, stomach rolling. Had a boat found her? Was she rescued?
Her haunted, bluish-gray eyes locked on the tall, leafy greenness behind him, where a teal fruit dove sat on a low branch, watching them anxiously. Tears welled as she remembered. She was on land!
"You real?" she croaked, slowly climbing to her feet and he nodded, watching the pulse in her neck pound.
"As can be. Luke Johnson, LJ, at your service."
Kendle stumbled forward on shaky legs and fell into his plaid-covered arms, sobbing, and Luke was unable to stop himself from being glad her smell wasn't strong despite her faded, mismatched clothes.
"So glad...to see you! Been alone...soo...long!"