Hi, everyone :)
This is my first fiction in this category, so I'm a little hesitant to post this right now. I understand that it's an extremely short chapter, but I wanted to test this out first and see your reactions. I promise, if you all like it, the later chapters will be much longer. I hope you all enjoy it, and please review!
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It was the last thing Jackson had expected to happen. Looking back, he would find it to be the worst two months of his life. And it was all because of one little box…
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Jackson's eyes curiously scanned across the lid of the rusted tin box. It had been one of the last things he had expected to find on this deserted island, because tin boxes just didn't grow on trees. Someone had once been – and maybe still was – here. Maybe that person had found a way out. Just maybe a plane had flew over and rescued him, making this insufferable island not actually unknown.
Thoughts ran through his mind as he watched Eric's hands caressing the box protectively, and he secretly wished that Eric would disappear off the face of the Earth because, man, did he want to open it himself and unfold the hidden secrets within.
Jackson made a hesitant reach for the box, however Lex suddenly urged, "No Eric! Don't open it! It could be an old ammo box from World War II, or something! The pressure could have built up inside and it could explode!" The preteen's hands went up in a placid manner, and he backed off, "Seriously, Eric."
Eric, though, rolled his eyes and snickered quietly, "You just want it for yourself!"
He picked up his screwdriver from the ground and placed it between the lid and the side, ready with a hammer, in the other hand, to pound it open.
"Eric…" Jackson warned, having changed his mind after what Lex had advised. The last thing that they needed on this island was another person hurt or even killed, "Don't…"
But Eric's hand had already come down with the hammer, and for a split second, they could only hear the "clink" of the tool hitting the screwdriver. But then, exploding into their ears and bodies, they could only hear and feel the white hot blast that erupted as the box ripped open.
And all too quickly, it was over. All five of them (Jackson, Lex, Eric, Nathan and Melissa) lay, stunned, on the ground.
Nathan was the first to move. Slowly, he sat up, dazed, and wiped his hand down his face, "Is everyone alright?" He asked.
"I – uh… I think so." Was Eric's hesitant reply. He still rested on the ground, eyes closed, and Nathan couldn't tell if he did this because he was still recovering from the blast or because he was embarrassed and ashamed of what he had done. Nathan guessed the last.
"Oh, God." Melissa's soft voice cut into Nathan's thoughts, and he turned to her. It was only then that he recognized that she sat next to Jackson, who had yet to make a sound. Nathan and Lex crawled over to the pair, and even before they reached him, they could only see a large piece of rusted shrapnel lodged deep into Jackson's lower abdomen.