No Survivors Read online

  The other kids just looked at her.

  “It’s the truth!” April insisted.

  “I know.” Clark sounded scared. “I believe you.”

  “We believe you,” Kendra added solemnly.

  3

  Silence now. Except for the whisper of the wind and the steady rush of waves against the rocky shore. The kids in the circle were still.

  “Yeah.” Anthony stared into April’s eyes. “We believe you. We believe you’re nuts.”

  All the kids burst out laughing.

  It took April a few seconds to realize they had all been joking.

  “April, don’t you ever give up?” Anthony demanded. “Do you really believe in evil witches?” Kendra asked. “Like in fairy tales?”

  April grabbed Anthony’s arm. “You heard the woman singing. We all heard her. Don’t you remember?”

  “Of course I remember,” Anthony said, tugging free of her grasp. “It was part of the bravery test, remember? None of it was real, April. It was all a game.”

  “It wasn’t a game!” April insisted.

  Clark groaned. “Did you really wake us up and drag us down here for this?”

  April balled her hands into tight fists. “Don’t any of you realize that three kids are missing?” she cried. “We spoke to Marlin’s mom. She said he never came home!”

  “That’s crazy,” Ronni muttered.

  Pam stepped up to April, her long blond hair fluttering in the wind. “I know what you are doing,” she said. “You’re trying to make yourself the center of attention.”

  “Huh?” April gasped. “Me? Why? Why would I do that?”

  “To get the most camera time,” Pam said. “You went on all those TV shows back home because you won the Life Games. And you really got to like being a big star—didn’t you?”

  “Whoa. Wait a minute—” April started to say. “So now you want to be the star of this show too,” Pam accused April.

  “I—I don’t believe you!” April gasped.

  “Lighten up—everyone,” Clark said. “We’re here to have fun—right? We’re here to party!”

  “Come on, April, this is going to be fun,” Phil said.

  “No, it’s not,” April argued. “It’s going to be dangerous and—”

  “Let’s have a beach party!” Pam broke in. “Definitely, a beach party!” Kendra agreed.

  Phil and Clark lifted a girl named Courtney off the sand. They swung her between them, threatening to toss her in the water.

  Kristen pulled April aside. “Forget it,” she whispered. “Give up. They’re not going to believe us. They think it’s all fun and games.”

  “But—what are we going to do?” April replied.

  “Let’s drop it for now,” Kristen said. “No matter what we say, they’ll just make jokes.”

  April stayed behind on the beach when the others finally returned to their cabins. The wind off the ocean carried a late-night chill. And the moon blinked in and out behind thin wisps of cloud.

  Hugging herself to stay warm, April turned and gazed at the rock hills down the beach. The rocks glowed blue against the darkness.

  So strange, April thought, hugging herself tighter. Even at night the rocks glow.

  She remembered how cold they were to the touch. Even with the tropical sun pounding down on them, the rocks were always icy cold.

  And somewhere at the top of those rocks…

  Somewhere in a cave cut into the wall of a rock hill…

  …lived a woman in a blue cloak. A terrifying woman who sucked the breath out of kids.

  A woman whose evil magic had followed April home.

  April gazed at the rock hill until her eyes watered over, and the rocks became a blue blur against the night sky.

  “I know you’re there,” she whispered. “The others may laugh. But I know the truth.”

  “Do you, daughter?” The words seemed to float on the wind.

  April spun around. Her heart pounded. That time the woman in the blue cloak caught her, she had called her daughter.

  “Where are you?” April demanded.

  But the beach was empty. There was no one there. She started to jog back to her cabin.

  She turned from the beach, running through the grass that led to the rows of cabins. She stopped when she saw the long object in the grass.

  Was it moving?

  Breathing hard, she bent to see it better.

  At first she thought it was a stick or a rolled-up palm-tree leaf.

  “Oh!” April cried out when she saw that it was a long, pale snake.

  Before she could step back, the snake raised its head from the grass.

  April saw its eyes dart back and forth. She saw its tongue flicker.

  And then it opened its jaw and hissed at her. “No sssssurvivors.”

  4

  The morning sun was still a low red ball over the water. The ground shimmered wetly from the early morning dew.

  April took a deep breath and stepped into the mess hall.

  She felt as though she had barely slept. She tugged the long red plastic earring she always wore on her right ear. She always tugged at it when she was nervous.

  Would anyone believe her about the snake? Should she even bother to tell anyone about it?

  Most of the other kids had already started their breakfast. April spotted Kristen at a back table with Anthony and Courtney. Anthony was trying to make his cereal spoon stick to his nose.

  At the next table, Pam was talking to Clark. She kept grabbing his arm and touching his chest as she talked. She whipped her long mane of blond hair back and forth.

  April didn’t feel much like eating. She scooped some scrambled eggs onto her plate. Then she took a blueberry muffin and a cup of orange juice.

  She carried her tray to Kristen’s table and sat down next to Anthony. “What’s up?” she asked.

  Anthony turned. He had the spoon stuck to his nose. “The witch did this to me, April!” he joked.

  April grabbed the spoon. “Not funny,” she muttered.

  Anthony rolled his eyes. “Some people have no sense of humor,” he said. “But they do have muffins.” He grabbed the blueberry muffin from April’s plate and shoved it into his mouth.

  “Forget him,” Kristen said to April. “He’s hopeless.” She looked at April more carefully. “You don’t look so good.”

  April shrugged. “Last night something happened on my way back to the cabin. I—I couldn’t fall asleep afterward.”

  “What happened?” Kristen asked.

  “Not now,” April whispered. “Anthony will just laugh at me.”

  Mira stepped to the front of the room, clapping her hands for quiet. “Listen up, people,” she shouted.

  Mira had a slender face topped with curly brown hair. She was short but athletic-looking. She wore crisp white tennis shorts and a blue midriff top that revealed a dark tan.

  “I hope you didn’t pig out on breakfast,” she called out. “Because we have our first competition this morning.”

  “Oink! Oink!” Phil and a boy named Raymond made pig snorts from the corner table.

  Mira made a face at them. “The cameras are rolling!” she reminded them. “If you want to be a pig on national TV…”

  Everyone laughed.

  Mira raised a clipboard. “We thought we’d start with a simple contest,” she announced. “A foot race. To the other side of the island.”

  “But that’s miles!” Raymond protested. “Wimp!” Anthony said.

  “Which way do we go?” Kendra asked.

  “Any way you want,” Mira replied. “You can try to go along the beach. But the rocks make it pretty rough. Or you can cut through the forest.”

  “Can we take a boat?” Phil asked.

  Everyone laughed. Clark threw an empty milk carton at him.

  “First one to reach the dock on the other side of the island wins ten points,” Mira announced. “Go ahead. Start anytime.”

  Chairs scraped against
the floor as everyone jumped up. Some kids grabbed muffins, sweet rolls, and bottles of water as they hurried out of the mess hall.

  Outside, April watched Pam start to jog alongside Clark. April saw Pam’s eyes narrow and her features tighten as she picked up speed.

  As always, she really wants to win, April thought. I’ve never seen anyone who wants to win as much as Pam does.

  She may run with Clark for a while. But when they get close to the finish, she’ll leave him behind in the dust.

  Kristen came up behind April. “Let’s go!” she cried. “What are you waiting for?”

  April held back. “Which way? Beach or woods?”

  “Woods definitely,” Kristen said. “It’s going to be a scorcher. At least in the woods we’ll have some shade.”

  They took off, jogging at an even pace. Kristen is right about the heat, April thought.

  The morning sun hung just above the trees. But the air was already steamy, damp. The trees stood still, not a leaf rustling. No breeze at all.

  April could see Courtney and Kendra up ahead. They were moving quickly, pushing through a clump of tall reeds.

  April started to call to them. But they disappeared around a tangled cluster of pine trees.

  Insects buzzed. The back of April’s neck began to tingle. She slapped a fat mosquito off the back of her hand.

  After a while, they slowed to a walk. Shafts of warm sunlight poured down between the tree leaves overhead.

  April stopped and took a drink from a water bottle. She handed it to Kristen. “How long have we been going?”

  Kristen sighed. “Not very.”

  They could hear voices up ahead. Pam and Clark. Talking as they ran.

  “Something really scary happened last night,” April said as they started to walk again. She told Kristen about hearing the woman’s voice on the wind. Then seeing the snake that rose in front of her. And how it hissed the words No survivors.

  “That’s really creepy,” Kristen said. “Are you sure?”

  “Positive. It was totally real,” April said. “But I know what you mean. Normal snakes don’t talk. So how come this one did?”

  Kristen shook her head angrily. “It must have been the woman in the blue cloak. The witch. I bet the snake was controlled by her magic.”

  April stopped. She pulled a prickly burr off the shoulder of her T-shirt. “How can we go on playing games when we know there is real danger on this island?”

  Kristen didn’t answer for a long while. Finally, she said, “What else we can do, April? I mean, how do we fight a witch?”

  “I don’t know,” April admitted. “But we can’t just wait. Marlin is somewhere on this island. I know he is. When we were back home, I heard his voice. He was calling to me. It was so strange. He’s here, and he needs our help.”

  “I wonder if Jared and Dolores are with him.”

  “We should be searching for them,” April said. “We should be exploring the rock caves. Trying to find them.”

  “Ow!” April’s hand flew to her temple. The blue crescent was burning. It felt as if someone had touched it with red-hot metal.

  “What’s wrong?” Kristen asked.

  April squeezed her eyes shut against the pain. Stop it, she thought. Please make the pain stop.

  A second later the pain was gone. April glanced around, surprised. She felt her pulse throb at her temples.

  “April, are you okay?” Kristen sounded scared.

  April nodded. It was almost as if someone else caused the pain—and then stopped it.

  “Weird. I…have the feeling we’re being watched,” she told Kristen.

  “Watched?”

  “Someone’s been listening to us. And I think she just let me know that she doesn’t like our plans.”

  April raised her eyes to the fat branches of an old tree. She gasped when she saw a flash of blue on a limb halfway up.

  It was the same blue as the blue cloak.

  “She’s there!” April cried. “Kristen—she’s up there!”

  5

  April grabbed Kristen’s arm. “She’s in the tree! She’s watching us!”

  They heard a cough.

  The tree branch creaked, and the leaves parted.

  April stared up at a middle-aged man in blue shorts and a blue T-shirt. He held a video camera in one hand.

  “Sorry if I scared you,” he called down. “We’re supposed to stay out of sight.”

  April’s mouth hung open. She took a deep breath, trying to force her heart to stop racing.

  “I—I thought you were someone else,” she stammered.

  She realized she was still squeezing Kristen’s arm. She let go and took a few steps back.

  The video guy laughed. “You were expecting someone else to be up a tree?”

  “You surprised us. That’s all,” Kristen said.

  “Just pretend I’m not here,” the man said. “Go ahead and finish your race.”

  The two girls took off, following a narrow path through the trees. April’s legs felt shaky as she jogged.

  “Marks wants everyone to think this is all a TV show,” she said.

  Kristen sighed. “And they all believe him. No one else thinks they’re in danger.”

  “But we are,” April said. “We’ve got to find Marlin. And then we’ve got to find a way to get off this island. Before anyone else disappears.”

  As they moved through the island forest, the air became hotter, steamier. Insects chirped. Birds called to one another from the swaying treetops.

  April stopped to mop her forehead. She could feel the back of her T-shirt clinging to her sweaty skin.

  She took a sip of water, then tilted the bottle over her dark hair and let the water run down her face.

  Kristen leaned over and pressed her hands against her knees. “It’s too hot for a race,” she said. “We should be swimming.”

  April sighed. “How much do you want to bet that Pam is already at the finish line?”

  “Your friend really likes to win, huh?”

  “She’s not my friend,” April said. “I’m just stuck with her. Pam is really—”

  A flash of red in a tree made April stop. Squinting into sunlight, she saw a large bright-red bird.

  “Is that a parrot or a macaw?” she asked Kristen.

  The bird uttered a squawk, as if answering April’s question.

  Then another shrill squawk.

  Then it clearly spoke. “No survivors!”

  April gasped.

  Kristen let out a startled laugh. She stepped closer to the tree and peered at the bird.

  “Awwwwk. No survivors,” the bird said again.

  Kristen turned back to April. “This can’t be happening.”

  April raised her eyes to the tree limb. She cried out as the large bird suddenly swayed—and toppled from the tree.

  It landed headfirst with a hard thud in a pile of dead leaves.

  April and Kristen both froze.

  April waited for the bird to move, to stand up.

  But it lay on its side. Its round black eye stared blankly at April.

  Kristen dropped beside it in the pile of brown leaves. She reached out to touch it—but pulled her hand back. “It—it’s dead,” she whispered.

  Then her expression changed. Her eyes narrowed. She reached out with both hands and lifted the bird from the ground.

  “I…don’t believe this!” Kristen cried. “What is it?” April demanded.

  Kristen didn’t reply. Instead, she tossed the bird to April.

  The macaw bounced off April’s chest into her hands. She uttered a cry of surprise. “It’s a fake!”

  Kristen nodded. “Some kind of robot puppet.”

  April turned the bird upside down. It had a tiny speaker under its tail feathers. “Marks again,” she said angrily. “The whole island is booby-trapped with his tricks!”

  6

  April examined the robot bird in her hands. “That snake last night—do you think it
was a fake too? Just one of Marks’s special effects?”

  Kristen nodded. “Probably.”

  “But how did Marks know anyone would come past this tree?” April asked.

  “Anyone who comes through the forest has to use this path,” Kristen replied.

  “But other kids came this way before us,” April said. “Why didn’t the bird talk to them? How come it fell on us?”

  Kristen shrugged. “Just lucky, I guess. Or maybe Marks thinks we’re easy to scare.”

  April tossed the macaw to the ground. She bit her bottom lip. “Don’t you see what Marks is doing, Kristen?” she asked. “With all of these fake scares for the TV cameras? He’s rigged it so there’s no way to tell what is real and what isn’t.”

  “Maybe,” Kristen said. “But that means he knows the truth about the witch. Whatever that is.”

  April thought it through. “Well, Marks lied about Marlin. He said Marlin never answered the invite to the reunion. He made a joke when I told him what Marlin’s mother said. I think he’s definitely covering up something.”

  “But what is the truth?” Kristen asked.

  “Good question,” April said. “I wish I had the answer.”

  They heard shouts up ahead.

  “We must be near the dock on the other side of the island,” Kristen said.

  April wiped sweat from her forehead. “We forgot all about the race. We’d better catch up to the others.”

  They turned and started jogging once again along the twisting dirt path. “We’re going to finish last,” Kristen said. She turned to April. “Do you care?”

  “I just want to finish alive!” April replied.

  The trees ended at a sandy clearing. As she jogged, April saw a fat brown lizard watching them from a flat rock. A cloud of tiny white insects floated low over a clump of bright yellow wildflowers.

  The square wooden dock stood at the other end of the clearing. A bunch of kids clustered on the shore beside it.

  Kendra and two other girls were bent over, collecting shells. Anthony and Phil were tossing stones into the sparkling blue water.

  April waved when she saw Pam on the dock. But Pam didn’t see her. She was standing with a guy from the camera crew, tugging back her long blond hair, chattering away into the camera.