Shadowed Eden Read Free Page A

why. They had committed together when Chad and Erin had first brought the idea to the youth group. Of course, that was nine months ago; six months before he and Avery broke up.
    Now Erin sat on a box in the sand, eating crackers and staring into the flames like everyone else. Luca had hauled the box from the back of the van for her. There were two of them, one filled with medical supplies for the village, and the other filled with food. At least they’d been stranded with the van that had the food.
    His thoughts moved back to Erin. Was she going to step up and take care of the group? So far it seemed like the answer was no. She’d done nothing but stare into space for two hours now.
    Avery had told everyone that help was coming first thing in the morning. Sure, that was a great thing to hope for, but they were pretty far out.
    He looked again at the huge nothingness around them. Empty sky and land stretched for miles on end, rising and falling in waves of sand. No buildings, villages, or roads.
    Help might take more than a night to come. While some of them were used to fending for themselves, others like that blonde girl looked like they needed a chaperone telling them what to do.
    Luca cleared his throat and called across the small space. “So Erin, what’s the plan?”
    The youth leader looked up, her eyes glowing in the firelight. “What?”
    “The plan? For the night? What should we do?”
    Her confused look cleared, and she sat up straighter. “Oh. Right. I guess we’ll have to sleep in the van. Girls in the back and boys in the front.” She threw in the last line with a glance between Avery and Luca.
    Luca looked to Avery for her reaction, but Avery only stared at the sand. If Erin’s insinuation meant anything to her, she sure didn’t show it.
    He ground his teeth and kicked at the sand. If it wasn’t so cold, he would get as far away from the group—and her—as he could. How were they supposed to survive the next two weeks if she acted like he had some sort of disease?
    “Maybe we could sing,” the blonde girl said.
    “Nobody feels like singing, June.” Benny rolled his eyes and looked around for support.
    Benny was getting on Luca’s nerves already. He’d sat beside Luca on the plane, showing him the differences between his old phone and his new smart phone. For fourteen hours. “Actually, I think singing is a good idea.”
    The blonde girl—June—smiled at him. “Thanks. We always sing at my church.”
    That reminded him he didn’t really know her. Wasn’t anyone else from her group on their van? There were a few other kids he didn’t know, but they didn’t flock to June’s side like Avery did when June had her breakdown earlier.
    June started singing a praise song that he recognized from church, so he joined in. After him, a few others piped up, too, until most of them were singing.
    The harmony carried in the clear night air, and Luca started to relax. Singing did that to him, and in the deserted—literally—area, it felt like God himself could hear them.
    When the song ended, June launched right into another one. Nobody hesitated this time.
    Luca sang along as he scanned the area. Finally, his gaze landed on Avery. She still stared at the sand. Her lips didn’t move.
    After a second, she stood and stumbled back through the sand, away from the group and toward the van. The faint sound of the van door closing carried through the air.
    Luca sighed.
    After a few more songs, Erin stood and held up her hands. “Let’s get some rest. We’ll get out of here in the morning.”
    Luca waited until everyone else had wandered away. He stomped on the small fire until it smoldered out, and he made sure no one had left anything behind, then he climbed into the van and took the last remaining seat—the front seat across from the driver.
    A few of the girls huddled together under sweaters. Most of the guys were turned as far away from each other as they could get. Avery curled into a corner,