Bear awoke with the sun, the cheerful chirping of birds stirring him from his slumbers.

After relieving himself the in the shrubbery, he loaded his rifle and stretched. It was already too hot, sweat ran down his back and he sighed. The faster he could bag this kid, the faster they could all go home.

With a final glance over his shoulder at the sleeping lump that was Chip, Bear scratched himself and headed further north.

-/-

By 8am, Tag, John, Maura and Jane were all awake. The previous evening had passed in a tense stand-off. John sitting in the back corner, glowering at Maura while being careful not to let Jane catch him. They had shared a small amount of food and consumed most of the bottled water, under Maura’s strict instruction that they must stay hydrated.

”I’d like to say something.” John said finally, breaking the tension. Jane and Maura sat back down, their fingers automatically intertwining as they looked up at him. Jane set her jaw and waited impatiently.

”I have been an ass.” he began, drawing surprised expressions from each of them. ”All my life, I’ve let ridiculous things infuriate me and my behaviour has driven away many people I loved.” he hung his head as the burn of embarrassment tinted his cheeks. ”I thought if I could stop things that I didn’t agree with, or complain loudly enough about them, then I wouldn’t have to face my problems. If I took on a crusade then I could ignore the war happening in my own back yard.” He wiped a tear slowly from his eye and sniffed loudly. ”When I first met Elaine, back in 1964, I fell for her right away and although she loved me back, I always knew I was never good enough. I never doubted, not for a second, that if she ever found someone she really fell for, someone who made her see what true love really was.” He nodded towards Jane and Maura. ”She’d leave me in a heartbeat, and how could I argue, deny her that joy?”

Maura wiped her eyes slowly as she watched John speak, smiling softly as Jane squeezed her hand in support.

”She spent her life trying to make me see the error of my ways, to make me a better man and I wasted our time together.” A rough sob broke his voice and he paused to gather himself. ”I wanted to bring her on this cruise to try and repair the cracks I had put in our relationship, and instead, when she needed me most, I let my pride get in the way when I should have apologised.”