Karli+U

=__**Li****fe after Lot**__=

** Karli Unrau **


=**__ Ch.1~ Impact __**=

She woke up lying on the coarse, damp sand. Peering up heedlessly, she followed the outline of the large object behind her; it had two peninsulas on either side, from what she could see, almost like a crescent. What had happened? She was on an island, and she was trapped. •••  The small plane was trembling feverishly. Jane struggled to work up the courage and look through the miniscule window beside her. It was dark on the other side; a burst of lightning had just disrupted the embodiment of gloomy clouds ahead.

“Everybody prepare for turbulence,” the pilot disclosed.

Jane began to ponder what he had actually meant; everything would be okay, right? He was an experienced pilot, nothing bad could happen.

He carried on calmly, “Make sure your seat belts are fastened tight.” At that moment there was a terribly deafening screech, followed by a blatant crash arising from the back of the plane. It shook uncontrollably, and Jane braced herself to grab her life jacket. She hadn’t noticed herself stopping to look at the toddler seated across the aisle from her sleeping ever so soundly, and the mother weeping frantically.

“Attention, please ATTENTION! Everyone grab your life vests and please stay calm and collective. Remain seated!” The pilot demanded shortly, “Prepare for impact!”

Moments later it felt as though the plane had skidded across a solid surface̶―weren’t they flying over the ocean? She noted subconsciously that there had been no splash. All of the windows had shattered, leaving glass scattered everywhere and people groaning all around, some bloody and unconscious others rubbing their necks. The toddler had not awakened and the mother was perched up against a wall bloody―both instantly dying on impact. She had to refrain from becoming emotional in order to save herself. A few people had already managed to open the small door in the front of the plane, grabbed all they could carry, and hopped out making small splashes as they departed. So they had landed in water, but she was just too scared and failed to feel this. She made her way to the door, stumbling over many lifeless bodies. Making her way to the door, she noticed the sandy beach front as she splashed into the water and swam the short distance through the water, till 3she landed on the beach, falling to her knees and then drifting into a deep sleep. •••  Waking up, she noticed her standstill environment, and considering for a moment what had happened and where she was she, remembered what had happened. She glanced at the water; where was the plane? Where were the people?

She strained to hear a faint sound coming from what seemed like a tropical jungle. Wondering if she should peruse it, she took a final glance at her surroundings and wandered to where she thought it had come from. There was rustling about one hundred meters in front of her, and voices. It sounded like people! Peeking around the side of an overgrown bush, Jane saw a small group of people; she recognized one that had been sitting a few rows in front of her on the plane. As soon as she realized the connection, she stumbled forward revealing herself to the three strangers.

“Well, hello there.” The man initially questioned, “Were you in the crash as well?”

“Yes,” Jane replied cautiously. “What’s your name? I’m Jane. Where are the others? Were they all injured?”

“I’m Bailey James, this is Dean Johnston, and we are not quite sure of her name,” she affirmed pointing at a short woman with dazzling blue eyes, and picture perfect blonde hair. Bailey was a tall, fair, auburn haired woman, “she hasn’t spoken to us yet. We haven’t seen anyone else yet so at the moment we have assumed ecveryone else is dead.”

Dean stepped in, “So, we took all we could from the plane before it started to fill with water and sink, but there wasn’t much to pull from,” he declared. “We found this tarp, this pocket-knife, and a few other things that are virtually useless,” he established, pointing at the small handheld mirror, toy bucket, and whistle scattered on the firm grass beside him.

Jane gazed at the items. “Maybe not,” she started hastily. “We might be here for quite a while, so having the mirror could be great for starting a fire, and the salt water needs to be boiled before we drink it so we could use the bucket for holding it. After, of course, we check out the island in case there is a fresh water pool somewhere.

However, the whistle, I’m not so sure about.”

“I think that because the bucket is plastic it would melt over the fire,” Dean decreed cockily, jerking his head blissfully to the side before turning back to glance at her expression.

“Just trying to stay positive,” Jane assured slyly.

She pondered the fact that she could indeed be spending the rest of her life on this beautiful but depriving island with a jerk and a nut ball; Bailey, although, she wouldn’t mind as much. She thought of the woman who didn’t speak; she couldn’t be deaf because they already did some easy signing to her and she hadn’t responded. She looked about twenty-one years old, so being scared wasn’t a problem. Jane was baffled, and the possibilities were slim.

Bailey interrupted her train of though, “Alright, we should probably start with the basics: making a camp, gathering fire wood, and actually starting a fire. Let’s start collecting!”

They all hurriedly grabbed what they could, besides the nut case whom they had consequently nicknamed ‘Peanut’. Gathering was difficult without having a proper knife for cutting wood, it could have been incredibly useful. By the minute their strength was diminishing and they all were parched from lack of dehydration. Still they continued through there misery, creating a descent place to stay for the night; thankfully it had not been raining as the tarp was especially small and the sun was setting. They would fill in all of the holes the following day.



__** Ch.2~ Disappearance **__
“So Bailey, what were you planning to do when you got to Australia?” Jane inquired.

“Well, I took a job as a reporter and colonist for a newspaper in Alaska before Christmas and never got a chance to go visit my parents over the break because of it. So I thought since it was spring break we could vacation together in Australia. It would’ve been a blast, but don’t get me wrong this place is gorgeous. It’s just that my spirits are soaring low because we are stranded here,” she replied cheerlessly.

Just then Dean whipped through the bushes and into the opening where they had been discussing their dreams, families, and achievements. “Hey, I’m going to go looking for food. Would any of you like to join me?”

Jane retorted, “Sure, but we need to bring peanut; we can’t leave her or she’ll get into trouble.”

They grabbed what was useful and started out in hopes of discovering other people. Although they knew the possibilities were slim, they never lost track of that goal. About half an hour after beginning, they stumbled upon on a few bushes with abstract purple berries each hanging off its own extensive stem. Before they even had a chance, Peanut had bolted to the bushes stuffing her face with the bright berries.

“I’ve never seen those before,” Bailey affirmed. “What if they are poisonous?”

Dean rubbed the juice from the plant on the inside of his wrist and then responded, “I guess we will have to wait and see.”

“How could you say that so calmly?”

“I’m actually serious; we will have to wait about fifteen minutes to see if I get a reaction on my wrist. If I do then it is poisonous, and it will probable be uncomfortable for a few days. If I don’t we should still wait before eating to see if Peanut has attained any side-affects,” he verified composedly.

“Ok, if you say so,” Jane added.

They waited patiently for some sign of rancidness, but it never came, leaving the girls to collect berries while Dean climbed a nearby coconut tree. They weren’t quite starving yet so they saved the coconuts for later.

This was a great start but Bailey remained unsettled. She just couldn’t accept the reality of the whole situation. Not only that but she continued to feel as if something was not right; something she was missing. She needed to be alone to have alone time to just think and clear her head as well.

“I’ll meet you back at the beach,” she proclaimed.

Wandering off to the beach she stumbled upon a small tangled piece of wire. What had it been from? She didn’t remember Dean grabbing it from the plane, and Jane had emptied her pockets and shown the contents to her also. She didn’t think that it belonged to Peanut, because she wasn’t all with it still. Bailey’s investigative journalist side was starting to assume responsibility of her mentality. Without her even discerning it, she was sprinting expeditiously through the forest leaving leaves strewn about and the tree branches swaying. What was running going to solve? It would probably have no influence. She saw the beach in the distance getting closer and closer as she ran along. She got to the beach panting heavily; she didn’t consider herself out of shape, she just hadn’t run that hard for years. She was at her destination. What to do from here she thought. She looked around puzzled thinking that something would be waiting for her on the beach.

Thunder had sounded piercingly in the distance, and soon after came the rain. The others jogged back onto the beach with more palms for the roof of their hut. Dean just piled his atop the shelter looking at Jane for guidance; of course, they all had for those sorts of things. After all she was a seamstress and knew the perfect way to stitch up the diminutive gaps. All this was happening as Peanut lay soundly napping on the elevated wooden frame that made up their sleeping quarters.

Subconsciously Bailey had been debating whether or not to show Dean and Jane the copper wire she had found in the woods. What could it be for if it was one of theirs? If it was important and she had shown them, it would one of them fess up? She had decided to show them anyways.

“Guys, come over here a second,” Bailey hollered quiet enough as to not wake Peanut.

Both had strolled lacking the knowledge of what Bailey had been stressing about all afternoon.

“What’s up?” Dean asked. “You need something?”

Bailey responded carefully, “I just wanted to show you guys something I found earlier.” She pulled the wire from her pocket and held it in her hand. Neither Jane nor Dean saw the significance.

“What’s it for?” he requested solemnly.

“It’s not yours? How about you, Jane, you’ve never seen it?”

“No, but I saw it sticking out of peanut’s pocket earlier. Do you think it means anything? Why would she keep a wire?”

“That’s strange. She still has some humanly instinct, so she would have an idea of what she was saving it for,” Bailey suspiciously inquired. “Maybe she’s hiding something from us? Should we ask her?”

Dean eagerly avowed, “Yea, let’s go interrogate her.”

They all turned around and headed back towards their shelter, with the wire in hand. Turning the corner they gazed at the hut. Peanut wasn’t there.



__** Ch.3~Tragedy **__
“Where would she have gone?” Jane asked.

“Perhaps she just needed to use the washroom; she’ll probably be back in a few minutes,” Dean supposed.

“Alright, we’ll wait a few minutes before jumping to impractical conclusions.”

The three of them waited near camp while tidying the place up. About ten minutes had passed, and Peanut still wasn’t back.

Bailey pondered aloud, “Should we go out and look for her? I mean, I don’t want to look overly suspicious going around searching; she’s a grown woman. On the other hand, she has amnesia or something and could be freaking out right now or could be seriously injured; that is, if she’s not faking it.”

“I think that’s a good idea. I don’t think it would hurt to see what she’s doing. What’s the worst that could happen?” Jane resolved.

“Okay, let’s gather some of our possessions in case she has gone farther than we thought.” She started off towards the shelter to collect their things and the few coconuts and berries they had savored. “We are missing something!” Bailey exclaimed.

“What isn’t there?”

“I’m not sure―it just looks like less. We have the tarp, bucket, whistle,” Bailey trailed off. “It’s the knife! She has the knife! Also, she took the mirror and half the food! What’s her game?”

Dean disclosed, “She does have some sort of mental disability or whatever? Maybe she didn’t actually know what she was doing.”

“She must know if she took food as well. We had quite a bit―and for her to take half! I think she is planning to be gone for a while, but why?”

Jane added, “I think she has been playing us all along; it would be much easier to survive as a group, though, so this is really strange.”

Dean had a notion, “Maybe she has multiple personality disorder or something?”

“That would explain a lot.”

“Exactly!” he declared. “Let’s get a move on before she gets any further than she already has.”

They headed off into the forest walking for a half an hour before they stopped to look around the moderate sized clearing, for signs of contact from Peanut.

Jane came darting out of a bush on the far side, “There are footprints over her! Come look!”

Bailey and Dean joined her. They stared at the footprints in the shallow mud path; they looked rather fresh. “I think we should follow them. She wasn’t very smart. Not only did she leave footprints, but also a clearly marked path through the tree branches that she disrupted.”

Each of them agreed, undoubtedly, that remaining to walk on the path that peanut had left behind had been the best option. They continued on foot for a few more hours silently, and sneakily as to not disrupt anything, or anyone. No one spoke; they would only gesture to the footsteps as they began to wind through the trees and over rocks. When they faded onto grass, they would disperse themselves, without even a nod, to begin searching for where they turned up. The sun began to fade in the afternoon and they needed to stay somewhere for the night.

Bailey acted upon this, “We need to set up some sort of camp as well as gather wood to make a fire to keep us warm during the night.”

“Okay, Bailey, you’ll gather branches for a roof to our shelter. We will need a many because I see grey clouds coming this way. Dean, you gather wood for the walls and the fire. I will clear the area and start the fire.”

They quickly got to work without a subsequent comment. All fell into place, and immediately the rain started up. They had spent 8 days on this island―why downpour now? They all gathered to build an effective fire under their hut, because Jane forgot that if it rained it would burn out. When they came together, it only took a few minutes to sustain a new one.

“Nice guys,” she articulated trying to project her voice in order to make it louder than the rain splatting steadily on the roof of their shelter. “We should all try to get a really good sleep; we might have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

Bailey uttered slowly, “What do you think she’s up to?”

“I think Dean may be onto something with the spit personality thing. Have you ever seen anyone with it?”

He nodded in agreement, “Yes actually I used to be in medical school, studying to be a nurse. They brought in people with different types of personalities so we knew how to accustom ourselves to help them. One ended up having MPD, and he wasn’t different from a normal person, things can just trigger it sometimes and set it off.”

“I thought you didn’t have a job and you aren’t going to school?” Jane indicated. “I’m not, I quit. I failed my degree so I dropped out, too much work to redo.”

She gently spoke, “I’m sorry to hear that, you sound like you have a wide knowledge and could help many people out.”

“I thought, you thought that I was a jerk?”

“You were.” She commented flirtatiously. On that note they all fell silent and asleep, not knowing what was in the day to come.

Jane woke up abruptly feeling something whip by her face. She opened her eyes; it was still dark outside and there was lightening in the distance. Focusing herself, she saw Peanut kneeling above her with an eerie, disturbing smile upon her face. Jane felt something dripping onto her neck, it was blood. It was red and warm; it was hers. She opened her mouth to scream but couldn’t, because Peanut was kneeling on her diaphragm. She looked over and saw Dean lying on his front, blood gushing from his throat. Bailey was slumped over in the corner, without an ear and blood streaming from her chest. Jane was in terror; she squirmed and Peanut started the claw at her face with her nails.

“Stop movin’ or I’m gunna make this much harder then it’s gotta be.” She stated trying to get a hold of Jane.

With one last gasp for air Peanut grabbed Jane’s throat squeezing tightly. “My name is not ‘Peanut’! It’s JEN!” She yelled. Jane struggled to regain her ground and fought for her life. She propped herself up and pushed Jen off with all of her might, knocking her off onto the hard land. She got down and punched her so hard it broke a rib. She didn’t want to end her so Jane just tied her up really tight gathered her things and headed off. Jane did go back to check on her every day and tighten the knots.

Three weeks later, Jane’s signal fire brought in a nearby search and rescue boat to shore and turned in a broken and brittle Jen to the police. She was sentenced to a life in jail for murder and Jane never lived a full life. She stayed a seamstress; every day she mourned the loss of 2 great friends and the many others that died in the plane crash.