*Shelby*

“Holy shit,” Lin said, gripping my sandy hand in hers.

“I’m too tired to laugh,” Aubrey complained, still holding my other hand. It felt like if I let go of either of them, I would fall apart.

We lay there, our bodies spent from the harrowing ordeal we had just endured, a collective exhaustion settled over us like a heavy blanket. Each breath we took came in ragged and labored, our lungs still struggling to recover from the ...