6

“Why did we have to move here?” Drew said, climbing over a pile of broken branches.

Alex could hear the sadness in his voice. She didn’t want to make him feel worse, but she did have plenty of complaints about moving to Hawaii. Drew was barely holding his tears back, so she kept her criticism of Mom and Dad’s decision to herself.

They walked for what seemed like hours across downed branches and deep puddles. A dead horse lay on its side in the water. They had gone horseback riding when they first arrived in Hawaii. The trail guide took them way up the steep hills, but the ranch was on the low ground. The horse probably didn’t stand a chance.

An overturned white sailboat with Mer-maiden Voyage painted in blue on its side sat atop a downed palm tree. Alex stepped over part of a mangled deck chair. The tsunami had ripped the flip-flops off her feet, and her bare feet sloshed through mud.

Squelch. Squelch. Squelch.

Drew stopped and sobbed in place.

“What’s wrong?” Alex asked.

“Lulu. She’s gone.”

“I’m sorry,” Alex said. “I know you loved her.”

Squelch. Squelch. Squelch.

“Ah!” Alex had stepped on something sharp. She hopped on one foot and held Drew’s shoulder to keep her balance as she looked at the bottom of her foot. A sliver of wood stuck at an angle. She bit her lip and tugged at the sliver. “Ow!” she cried as it came free, blood rising in its place. “There. I think I got it out.” She set her foot down and kept walking. At first her foot stung, but then the pain eased up.

She had nothing else to protect her feet while she walked. Inches of muddy, opaque water still covered the ground, making it impossible to see where they stepped. If something else cut her feet, she would have a hard time continuing, but they needed to keep going. They had to get to Mom and Dad.

“Ow!” Drew yelled.

“Now what?” Alex asked.

Drew was holding his right foot. “I twisted my ankle.”

“Walk it off,” she said, offering him her shoulder to lean on.

“Ah. It hurts.”

“I know,” Alex said. “Just try.”

Drew reached for her shoulder but then said, “You’re bleeding.” He pointed a shaky arm at a bloodstain now growing on the front of her white tank top, seeping down toward the green gecko on the front. Cuts crisscrossed all over her arms and legs, but now the ache in her arm intensified.

Alex twisted around carefully and found a piece of clear glass stuck in her arm. Her hands shook and her heart pounded as she reached for the glass and gripped it. Her breath came in rapid gasps, but she squeezed her eyes shut and yanked the glass out. Sobbing, she tossed it in the water. This is a nightmare. She longed to be home in frigid Minnesota, where being bundled up in a sweater and fleece blanket made the coldest days cozy. But she had to keep going. She took Drew’s hand and guided him on.

When they had first landed in Hawaii, the warm air was like a blanket. Now, trudging through the muck in water-soaked clothes, that same air felt humid, stifling. Slogging through the water was like walking with weights strapped to her ankles.

She tried to think of something better. Mom and Dad, especially Dad, were always asking Alex what she wanted to be and what she wanted to major in in college. She wasn’t all that interested in marine biology, or any other kind of biology, but she didn’t want to hurt Dad’s feelings by saying that. She loved writing. Mom said if Alex loved what she did for work, then she would never work a day in her life because work wouldn’t feel like work. Mom said writers usually majored in English. It was a lot of reading and writing papers. If the tsunami had struck in another six months, Alex wouldn’t have even been here. She would have been away at college. But then who would have helped Drew today?

When they first moved in, Mrs. Chu had told her that people might not be very friendly until they had been there at least a year. “People are afraid you won’t like living on the island. They’re afraid you will move,” Mrs. Chu said. “They don’t want to get too attached. It makes them sad if you leave.”

Alex knew all about leaving—leaving her friends, her school, her old neighborhood. She had cried alone in her room many times over the thought that she would barely have time to adjust to Hawaii before having to start all over again at college. She had figured she could be miserable and lonely for a year, or she could make new friends, knowing she would soon be moving away.

Now, with the tsunami, she didn’t even know if her new friends had survived. She only had two. She didn’t want to lose them. Drew didn’t have many friends either.

“What if Mom and Dad are dead?” Drew said.

He asked what she was trying not to think about, but hearing it was worse: the spoken words made it sound more real. Alex squeezed her eyes shut and balled up her fists. She was worried for Mom and Dad, Sienna and Maia, and Mr. and Mrs. Chu. They could all be dead.

“Come on.” She choked down a sob. “We need to keep moving. It’s getting dark.”

Drew sniffled quietly. Alex knew he was crying, but if she started crying too, she wouldn’t be able to stop. Instead she tried to focus on getting them to safety.

Drew’s feet slogging through the water behind her sounded like paddles pulling a canoe toward the shore.

“You’re doing great,” she said.

“Do you think anyone will find us?” Drew asked.

“Of course they will,” Alex said, trying to sound as convincing as possible, but she didn’t look at him when she said it. “Let’s just keep moving.”

In truth, Alex wasn’t really that optimistic. She just wanted to sound hopeful for Drew, even if it was a lie.