Sam+K

__**Crash: Chapter 1**__ My plane departed from Vancouver at 7am, and now well into the flight, we reached our cruising altitude. I settled in for the long flight to my new home and workplace, Sydney Australia, I place my headphones upon my head and my iPod on my lap, laid back and closed my eyes. I dosed off for what seemed like four to five hours, when I was rudely awakened by turbulence. I thought very little of it, glanced out the window only to see dark clouds and a thick layer of fog around the plane as if it was draped in a sheet. I placed my headphones back on my head and again drifted off into a deep sleep. I slept for another six hours, but soon after that I was abruptly awakened by turbulence once again. This time it seemed more intense. The plane began to shake and bounce, and passengers around began to look very nervous. Something seemed wrong. I again glanced out the window, but now I could see lighting striking down in thick bright beams. Dark clouds were all around, and before I could do anything, everything changed. “Fire!” bellowed the woman next to me. “There’s a fire on the engine!” Horrified, I darted my eyes outside the cabin window. Sure enough, she was right. Flames engulfed the engine, as if it was a log on a bon fire. All hell broke loose: passengers yelled and screamed in rapid succession. Many didn’t want to believe their own eyes. The captain soon came onto the intercom and, with a terribly distraught voice he explained our desperate situation “The right engine has been struck by lightning, and we have lost all power upon-“ Before he could finish, the plane began to plummet towards the ocean. Chaos erupted, and my breath was taken away. I knew what was happening. We were going down. I tightened my seatbelt with such force, it was as if I was being constricted by a snake. As I looked out the window, all I could see were flames and lightning flashes around the night sky. We plummeted so fast my heart seemed to be in my throat. Cries, moans, prayers and screams were all I could hear. The remaining engine rumbled a deep roar. We seemed to have lost complete control of the aircraft. Our speed increased as we descended through the clouds. Flames continued to grow and engulf more and more of the right engine and wing. The force of our descending speed glued me to my seat. My face pushed back, paralyzed with fear. I couldn’t stop thinking about everything I had left behind in Vancouver for this job in Sydney. I truly believed this was it. I was going to die, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Leaving my parents and siblings behind, my life was rapidly flashing before my eyes. I felt so vulnerable and couldn’t believe what we all knew was inevitable. I couldn’t save these people. Now descending towards the ocean at critical speeds, I could feel the right wing of the plane, along with the flame-engulfed engine, beginning to be ripped off the plane. Before my disbelieving eyes, the wing and engine were torn from the plane and began to flutter towards the ocean in an angelic manner. Without the right wing, the aircraft began to spiral, and we continued to plummet. Screams filled with such fear were now undeniable. I gripped my armrest with such force, it felt as if I was about to break my fingers. The floor of the aircraft rumbled steadily, and a hole began to tear in the aircraft right above the wing. Soon enough, a gaping hole was in the side of the aircraft. Wind rushed from the cabin, the rushing air roaring throughout the plane. Passengers around me began to be sucked out of the plane, as if it was a gigantic vacuum. I once again looked out the window to see we had penetrated the clouds, and determined that we would be hitting the water any minute now. Through the window. I noticed an Island in the distance, with one distinct hill, a great reef, and dense jungles. Our downward spiral continued, and I braced myself for impact by placing my hands around my neck and tucking down. We slammed into the water with immense force. Water rushed into the cabin like a tsunami. Soon it lingered at my head, and submerged me within seconds of that. I fumbled with my seatbelt, trying to release myself from its tight grasp. Finally it budged and I floated up towards the top of the cabin, only to see that the large hole in the aircraft was now covered in debris and bodies. My escape was blocked! In panic, and now running out of breath, I began to claw at the nearest window. Desperately needing oxygen, I nailed my elbow against the window hoping it would smash. I needed to try something different. Through the water on the cabin floor, I noticed a small Swiss army knife. I grabbed it, and extended the blunt screwdriver feature and used all my strength to smash the window. It shattered immediately and I slipped through the small hole and swam upwards towards the surface with all my strength. My head breached the surface and I inhaled an enormous breath. Bodies floated around me in dense groups. I began to tread water, and noticed the island in the distance. I swam over to a piece of debris innocently floating on the surface. Before I could think, I passed out due to exhaustion

**__ Chapter 2: //The Hunt//__**

I awoke to the painful feeling of sunburn and warm water around lapping against my body. Floating steadily, I lifted my head with all my strength to be greeted by the sight of an island just yards ahead. I rolled off the piece of debris that was keeping me afloat and found the water was only waist deep. I struggled towards the island, the water moving past me swiftly. Upon reaching the beach, I lay down on the warm sand and closed my eyes.

Within seconds, I heard rustling from the direction of the mangrove trees at the edge of the beach. Three tattered figures emerged from the jungle, two females and one male. They approached me cautiously and I didn’t know what to do. Were they here to help me or to harm me? As they approached my head started to pound like a drum, my eyes closed and I slipped away into a deep unconscious state.

My head pounding, I opened my eyes, suddenly wondering what was going on. I had a bandage wrapped tight around my head. Standing around me, observing me, were the three people who found me on the beach. I recognized one of them as the woman sitting beside me on the plane.

“What’s your name?” she asked in a concerned tone.

“Sam,” I hesitantly replied, not knowing what to think.

“You hit your head pretty hard, so we bandaged you up with a piece of shirt. It was all that we could find”, she explained.

“Thanks,” I replied.“How did you guys get off the plane?” I asked.

Without hesitation, she said ,“We escaped the cabin of the plane before it could fully sink, and we floated towards the island.”

“What are your names, and what did you do before this?”

“I’m Amber and I am a lawyer and this is Henry, an astronomer. Ginger is a chef”, she explained, pointing towards the other woman.

= “Pleased to meet you. You already know my name, and I am an engineer” I said proudly. =

They tried to look interested, but I could see that they weren’t. Everyone was thinking about the same thing-rescue. Henry piled some more wood on the fire and before he could finish, I asked

“How did you make this fire? There’s almost nothing here?” I said, gazing at our surroundings.

Henry glanced down at me and said “We searched the beaches repeatedly for supplies that might have made their way to the beach from the plane. We only found five things-”

“And what were they?” I interrupted impatiently.

“A machete, tarp, first aid kit, a small bundle of rope, and a compass.” He answered.

“So, I’ll ask again. How did you make that fire?” I repeated.

“Well, we used the knife and some rocks to create sparks, which we directed into some dry tinder, and soon enough we had fire” Henry said, as he continued to feed the growing fire.

I lifted my hand to my head, and was rewarded with a sharp pain ricocheted through my body. I screamed in agony and blood dripped down my forehead. All I wanted was to be home, with a bed, food, and my family.

Weeks went by with little food or water. We built a shelter with the tarp and rope found on the beach. We survived on a diet of jungle fruits and nuts, and the occasional fish. Henry began to pinpoint our location with his knowledge of the stars, and with the help of the compass. He determined that we were stranded somewhere in the South Pacific, about 600 miles off course of our flight path.

My head was still in a bad condition. It couldn’t seem to fully heal and I was having horrible migraines. Flashbacks of the crash were occurring on a regular basis. Memories of the crash haunted me. All I seemed to be able to think about was this crash- the sounds of the roaring engine as we descended through the clouds, the rush of water that shot through the cabin at incredible speeds. Then there were the bodies. This haunted me terribly. All of those innocent people, dead, so suddenly, way before their time. Then, in a matter of seconds, these thoughts would escape me and I was back to reality on this horrible, desolate island with almost no hope, no food, and no water.

Starvation was always a thought present in each of our minds. We needed something plentiful and filling, before it was too late. Henry, Amber, Ginger and I began to devise a plan to hunt the birds and iguanas on the island. Through Henry’s observations we were able to come to the conclusion that the only way to catch the birds was to make traps. The iguanas should be easier to catch. By surrounding them we should easily be able to pick them up without too much trouble.

We set out to various points on the Island to place our traps. We created net like traps, using tarp, rope, and branches and laid them out across tops of several trees, hoping to catch a meal. As we pushed through the jungle, our stomachs rumbled and we all had one thing on our mind - meat. We were all on high alert, watching the ground at every step we took, hoping to come across an Iguana big enough to feed us all. Ginger, who was at the back of our group as we scanned the jungle, shrieked “Iguana!”.

The three of us in front of her turned around and in seconds were chasing this prehistoric beast through the jungle. It was so agile, making quick turns trying to outrun us. It had no real chance. We circled it like vultures, and Henry jumped on it and with one large scoop picked the lizard up. We ran back to camp, eager to cook this Iguana. Once we reached our little camp, Henry placed the Iguana down on the tarp, and swiftly hit it over the head with a rock. He cleaned it using the machete, readying it for our consumption. Ginger, being a chef, was in charge of preparing our meal. She filleted the lizard into several pieces, and draped them over sticks suspended over the fire.

The Iguana was devoured by our small, hungry group. We sat there, smiles draped across our faces, bellies full of meat. Things seemed to be looking up.

**__ Chapter 3: //Escape//__**

We advanced through the jungle as though we were conquering a battlefield. As we continued our push forward we remained attentive and searched intently, looking for anything we could burn or use at our camp. The jungle seemed to become denser as we continued further into the dark abyss. Mangrove trees hung over us like the clouds in the sky; monkeys disturbed the branches above. Armed with only my makeshift spear and the now rusty and dull machete, I, along with the others, began to become nervous of our surroundings and the animals found within it. We knew if something decided to attack us, we had no chance. The dry leaves crunched beneath our feet, which easily gave up any stealth cover we might have possessed before.

The sun was steadily setting and our shadows began to disappear. Confident in our progress through the jungle, we continued, not thinking about the consequences of being caught by the dark.

Before we realized it, it was pitch black. The sounds of the night engulfed us. Everything seemed alive.

We cleared a small area after our eyes became somewhat adapted to the dark. Still having trouble seeing, we laid down the dry sticks and twigs we had collected while wandering through the jungle.

I knelt down on one knee and used my hands to find the pile of twigs in the dark. Grabbing a large rock, I laid it beside the fire without hesitation and, after having done this almost every day in camp, I knew exactly what to do. I fumbled around in space surrounding me in an attempt to find the machete I had laid down on the jungle floor. Seconds later I found it, raised it above my head, and smashed it on the rock with immense force. Sparks flew in all directions but none managed to find their way into the pile of tinder laid beneath the twigs and sticks.

I tried again, this time striking down harder and his time was rewarded when enormous sparks erupted from the strike and splashed into the wood pile. A small ember glowed within the pile and soon developed into a small flame that engulfed the tinder and burst the wood pile into flames.

I glanced to my right to see Henry, Ginger, and Amber kneeling by the fire. Glancing to my left I observed my surroundings. The light from the fire illuminated the surrounding jungle. I turned my head slightly to the right and noticed a large black lump at the edge of our little fire circle. Not thinking anything of it, I calmly ignored it until I noticed the black mass move. I jumped to my feet and slowly backed up.

“Guys, there’s a huge jaguar behind you. Slowly get up and come towards me,” I instructed them.

Ignoring what I said, and stricken with fear they jumped to their feet and ran towards me at great speeds.

The jaguar lifted its enormous head and glanced towards me with large, depthless yellow eyes that seemed to gaze right through me. It growled a deep and steady sound, and I backed off as unhurriedly and calmly as I could.

With painstaking slowness I bent down and picked up my machete and spear. The great black beast raised itself and faced directly towards me.

Not knowing what to do, I turned and ran into the jungle. I sped through the jungle accelerating quickly as the beast trailed close behind me. ‘The others must have continued running’ I thought to myself. ‘They left me’. Before I could finish my thoughts, I felt the beast’s hot breath on the back of my legs as I raced for my life through the undergrowth.

Suddenly I came to a complete stop as my foot slammed into a root on the jungle floor. I cart wheeled head over heels and began to role uncontrollably through brush. By the time I came to a stop the beast was upon me. I could barely see its’ dark silhouette through the nights blackness, but it was so close I could almost hear the monster’s heart beating a low and steady beat.

This was my fault- I put the others in harm’s way. I should have listened to my gut and turned back towards camp before it was dark. Then none of this would be happening.

My thoughts were again abruptly interrupted by the beasts snarl as it circled me, ready to devour me for its dinner.

My machete and spear had been lost somewhere during the time I rolled through the jungle. I sat there, aching with pain, defenseless and hopeless. I felt the ground around me like a blind man and came across a large, dense branch. This was to be my only form of defense against this beast. It purred and approached me slowly and I raised my stick, ready to defend myself.

Before any more thoughts could enter my mind, the beast leapt at me, jaws wide and ready to kill.

I struck it with a great blow across the skull and it fell back, motionless in the inky night. Slowly I approached, it not sure of what to do. The beast snarled, and I took a few steps back only to realize that I lost my footing and was falling through the air. I hit the rocks below with a thud. The next thing I knew was darkness.