This idea popped into my head and I just couldn't shake it, so I had to write it to get it to stop bothering me.
Nick and Greg are stuck in a Hollywood cliche situation: stranded on a deserted island with no one else around. All they have is each other. This isn't slash to start with, but that relationship may develop as events on the island unfold.
What they will face is unknown; from storms, to sharks, to the extreme heat, but inevitably their biggest obstacle will be overcoming each other.
The surroundings didn't seem to match the way his body was feeling; it wasn't even close in comparison. He felt like he had just been run over, multiple time, by an eighteen wheeler. Every muscle ached and his head was pounding worse than he could ever remember it having done in the past. His throat was dryer than the Las Vegas desert and his eyes were stinging as he squinted against the bright sun that was shining directly into his eyes. His back was as stiff as a board. Before giving in to whoever was shaking him violently and commanding him to wake up, Greg imagined he was going to wake up under a car or in a ditch or something by the way that his body felt. But as he opened his eyes and became more conscience of what was around him, he noticed the slight bobbing up and down of his body. He opened his eyes out of pure curiosity of where he was, and his curiosity grew tenfold when he found himself looking up at Nick towering over him, his body partially shielding his eyes from the bright sun. When his eyes adjusted to the harsh light, he noticed the clear blue sky and countless palm trees behind the standing man, who appeared to be encased by some large, circular, orange object. Greg was beyond confused.
"Wake up man," Nick said, still gripping Greg's shoulder tightly.
Greg jerked his arm away from Nick and rubbed his eyes. "What the hell is wrong with you? What's going on?"
Nick laughed humorlessly, but offered no other verbal response. He extended his hand to help Greg up, which the obviously sorer younger man reluctantly accepted. Nick pulled him to his feet, and upon doing so, Greg immediately almost lost his balance, both because of the feeling the waves beneath his feet were creating and stunning realization of where they were. Greg released Nick's hand as his jaw dropped. He now understood where they were as everything came rushing back to him. He stood there, rooted to the spot in the orange rescue raft, staring out at the deserted island before him. The white sand stretched out about a hundred yards until it stopped, fading into the infinite blue sea as the island curved around. Greg looked to his left and saw nothing but the vast ocean. To his right he could see Nick, watching him look around, and behind him was thirty more yards of sand that stretched to where the forest began. Greg slowly turned around to look behind him, where there was only about twenty or so yards of sand before the high, jagged rocks shot up out of the water and towered at least twenty feet over the sandy ground. It was only then, after having completely taken in his surroundings, that Greg turned back to Nick.
"Our plane crashed," he said softly, to which Nick nodded weakly. "I remember now. The pilot had to do an emergency water landing because one of the engines failed. The coast guard was there to save us, but there was a storm and there were too many people, they couldn't get all of us. We got in this raft..." he trailed off, not being able to recall anything else.
"We helped that mother and her three kids that were sitting near us on the plane," Nick added. "They were the last people that were brought up in the basket to the helicopter. There were only ten or so of us left in the water. They dropped life vests and the rafts. We climbed in and you passed out almost immediately. You hit your head pretty good when the plane crashed into the water."
Greg reached up and touched his forehead, feeling the welt there from the seat in front of him. "How long has it been since the crash?"
"The plane went down at around 8:30 last night. It's nine in the morning," he replied, looking down at his thankfully water proof watch. "I have no idea how long we've been on the island for, I woke up, saw where we were, and immediately woke you up."
Greg looked away from Nick and back out at the ocean. "How far away from the crash site do you think we are?" he asked.
Nick shook his head slowly. "I have no idea. The current could have taken us in any direction until we hit land. We could be anywhere."
Greg tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but to no avail. "What are we going to do?" he asked, his voice weak and full of fear.
"We're going to be fine," Nick said, trying to reassure Greg and himself at the same time. He was terrified himself, but was able to hide it better than Greg. "We'll find water and make an SOS signal and start a fire and someone will come and find us before we know it. They have to be looking for survivors. The coast guard was there, they know people were still in the water. We're going to be fine as long as we don't panic."
Greg nodded in agreement and started to feel himself relax as he though about what Nick had said. It made sense. They knew there were still people out there; they had to be looking for them. They were going to be fine. It wouldn't be a picnic waiting, but it could be worse. Right?
"Okay," the younger man said after taking a deep breath. "Let's make that signal."
"We should find water first," Nick commented. "We're both severely dehydrated."
"What if a plane flies over looking for us while we're looking for water and doesn't see anything?" Greg asked. "Getting off of the island should be our priority, not setting up camp here. Not yet anyway. We need to signal for help."
Nick shook his head in disagreement. "It's 90 degrees out already and we haven't had anything to drink in over twelve hours. Running around in this heat making a signal will drain whatever water we have left in minutes. We won't be able to effectively do anything until we get water."
"Fine," Greg said, rolling his eyes at Nick's continued stubborn attitude even in the situation they were in. "Lead the way captain," he said sarcastically.
Nick sighed at Greg's immaturity and hoped that they were rescued before they were at each others throats. With the rate they were already going at, they would have had to be rescued hours ago for that to be avoided.
They climbed out of the raft and dragged it up on the beach, well away from the waves so that it wouldn't get washed back out to sea. Then the set off into the forest, which was really just a dispersed settling of trees and bushes. The temperature in the shade dropped at least ten degrees, and they were both glad for the relief from the harsh sun. It wasn't thickly settled, which they were thankful for. Once they had started walking, they both realized that they had almost no energy and wouldn't be able to search for long. Luckily, they didn't have to. About fifty yards in, they came to a clearing in the trees where there were a ten foot tall water fall that crashed over dark rocks before splashing into the pool below. It was larger than either one of them had expected to find. The pool was roughly double the size of any regular above ground pool and was encompassed by the rocks and land around it. It overflowed on the left side, running over the rocks and creating a stream that ran for as far as they could see; probably all the way to the ocean. After taking in the marvelous sight that was before them, they both eagerly crossed over the edge and knelt down on the rocky edge and scooped a handful of water up in their hands. They tested it to make sure it wasn't salt water, and when they realized it wasn't, they both began drinking greedily. They drank from it until they had quenched their thirst, and then some, and then they splashed the cool water over their faces and necks to cool down. Refreshed but still exhausted, they turned away from the waterfall and sat on the cool rocks to catch their breath.
"I can't believe this is happening," Greg said, looking down at the sandy forest floor beneath his feet.
"Hey, it could be worse," Nick said, still trying to remain as positive as possible. "We have clothes and shoes. We have that raft with a first aid kid in it. We have water, and there seems to be plenty of fruit around us to eat. And at least we didn't get separated, ya know?"
Greg nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and at least I'm not stuck with Hodges."
Nick laughed. "There's always that."
They sat there for a few more minutes before they got up and headed back to the beach to build some sort of signal. They decided on a giant SOS symbol made out of fallen trees and rocks; pretty much anything they could find that wouldn't get blown away. Due to the heat, they had to go back and forth to the pool several times to remain hydrated. It took longer than they anticipated because of how large they wanted to make the sign. All in all, it took roughly two hours, and when they were done they had created an SOS sign that was about ninety square feet in size, which they estimated could be seen about four miles high from the sky. When they were finished, they collapsed on the beach. They had long since abandoned their shirts and had rolled the legs of their jeans up as high as they could to make do against the heat. They were sitting close enough to the water that when the waves rolled in, they washed over their feet; but the warm ocean water did little to cool them down. So they sat there, looking out at the expansive sea, and ate a good deal of bananas and coconuts that they had collected from the forest. After having satisfied immediate survival, thirst, and hunger needs, the two men looked over at each other.
"What do we do now?" Nick asked. "Find shelter?"
"From what?" Greg asked with a shrug. "The beautiful weather?"
Nick shook his head. "It won't be beautiful for long. We're on a tropical island, there could be a storm any minute."
Greg knew he was right, but didn't want to entertain that fact just yet. He knew there was going to be plenty other times for Nick to be right. "We will. Let's just enjoy the fact that we're on a tropical beach with no one else around and not stuck in a lab or a crime scene; or anywhere with Hodges, for that matter."
Nick laughed and looked back out at the blue water shining in the afternoon sun. "You're right. There are definitely worst places to be stranded."
Greg was sitting to Nick's right, so when he looked over at him when he was talking he saw the cliffs in the background. He suddenly had a few too many ideas rushing through his head, and Nick could tell by the hypnotic look on his face. Nick looked over his shoulder at what Greg was staring at, then looked back at the other man, frowning in confusion.
"What are you staring at?"
Greg smiled. "The rocks. We should climb them to get a better view of the island. Maybe there's a resort on the other side, or on another close by island."
"Okay," Nick said, laughing slightly. "And when there isn't, what are we going to do then?"
Greg's smile grew even wider. "Then we can jump off the rocks."
He quickly got to his feet and all but sprinted to the cliffs. Nick hesitated only for a few seconds before getting up and quickly following Greg. He caught up to him at the base of the cliff, where Greg decided to take off his jeans. Nick couldn't help but watch the younger man shed his pants, and to distract himself from the confusing distraction of Greg getting undressed, Nick followed suit. Their shirts were still sitting in the sand near their SOS signal, so now they were clad only in their boxers; Greg's grey, Nick's black. Greg was about to climb onto the rocks when Nick grabbed his arm and stopped him.
"What if there are rocks under the water that we can't see?" he asked. Greg frowned, and Nick smiled. "I know you all too well man. You were just going to climb up there and jump, then look around. We should figure out if there's rocks that we'd land on first, don't ya think?"
Greg sighed. He hated it when Nick was right. "Good point," he muttered before turning and heading into the warm water.
Nick followed him in, and it wasn't long before they were chest deep in the water. It got deeper quicker than they thought it would. All they felt on their feet below the surface was the sandy bottom as they circled around the cliffs. As they got to the other side, there were more level of rocks leading from the bottom up to the top, but they deduced that if they stood at the highest point and jumped straight out, they wouldn't land on any rocks and the water was deep enough that they wouldn't get hurt.
"Alright Evel Knievel, let's do this," Nick said as he started to climb the rocks.
Greg couldn't contain his excitement. For the time being, both men forgot that they were stranded on a deserted island and reveled in the fact that they were on what would otherwise be considered a tropical paradise. When the got to the top, they scanned the island, noting that there was nothing on the other side but a little but more sand. It was a relatively small island; only about a half mile across in either direction. In the distance they could see a few other, much smaller islands, none with any signs of life.
"Well," Greg said as he turned and stepped to the edge. "There's nothing left to do but dive in."
And with that, he bent his knees and jumped straight out into midair, his arms flying above his head as he free fell to the waiting ocean below.
Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I promise not all the chapters will be as care-free as this one; there are many obstacles Nick and Greg are going to have to overcome on the island. As the story develops, you'll also find out where they were coming from when the plane crashed.
Next chapter should be up soon. Reviews are always appreciated!