The plane wing loomed outside her window. You could almost see the wind glide over it as the plane flew through the sky. The feelings of being on the plane didn't bother her, as it did with some people. It made her feel, in a way, free. Like the earth below didn't matter anymore. Her book slipped out of her fingers and landed in her lap as the plane hit turbulence.
The pages turned back revealing a hidden envelope with her name neatly written across it in black pen. Juliet Carson. Only she knew what was in the folded envelope. She hoped to keep it that way. At least, in till the time was right. She took it and gently tucked it into her jacket pocket before closing the book and setting it on the declinable tray.
Juliet leaned back in her seat. Most of the plane seats were taken, but there were some empty ones. She looked at the man sitting in the aisle across from her. His hair was pitch black and short, his face tannish. She never noticed him there, before. He looked calm enough, but she could just barely see a silent worry in his eyes and the plane jolted.
"Is this normal?" She asked him. She had never been on a plane before and the violent movements were worrying her. The other passengers seemed worried and the attendants were rushing around frantically.
The man looked over at her. He opened his mouth to say something, but the plane jolted extremely violently. Juliet was thrown into the seat in front of her, as well as the man. Luckily, her seat belt stopped her from injury. The sign for seat belts lit up with a noise. The masks fell out of the cabinets. She leaned back into her seat and placed hers on her face. Others around her were doing the same.
She looked over at the man. He sat back limply in his seat, clearly unconscious. Instinctively, she unlocked her seat belt and took off her mask. She staggered to stand up and took a small step into the aisle. The plane jolted downward and she slammed into the top of the plane. Juliet lay there on the floor. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly she placed her hand on her head. Feeling wetness, she knew was bleeding. With her other hand, she reached up and grabbed onto a seat. She pulled herself up and threw herself in it. Quickly, she buckled her seatbelt.
Then, she turned to her right and pulled the mask over the man. He was safe. She pulled hers on and braced the impact. She already knew the plane was going to crash. She could feel it plunge downward as it slowly approached the ground. Others around her were silent. The only noise she could hear was the plane. The ground seemed to be right there, yet it took forever for the plane to hit.
She blacked out. When she opened her eyes, she was laying face up on a ground in a jungle. The trees above her almost completely blotted out the sun. She sat up quickly, only to be rewarded with dizziness and then a viscous throbbing ache in the head. She felt a burning pain in her right arm and looked to see a deep gash from her palm to just about her elbow. She panted as she ripped off her other sleeve and wrapped it around her cut. And then she stopped to listen.
Just beyond the swaying of trees and the chirping of birds she could hear people screaming. She slowly stood up and made sure she was all right. Nothing seemed to be broken. She started at a slow trot towards the noise and then broke out into a run. Just when she was about to give up, she reached a sandy beach. The first thing she saw was the wreckage. Pieces of the plane were scattered all over the place. The next thing she noticed was the people. They were running around frantically.
There was a man running around. His leg was bloody and his shirt was torn. "Lucy! Sebastian!" he called. He looked almost oblivious to his surroundings.
"What's wrong?" Juliet called as she limped towards him, her legs sore. People everywhere were calling for help. It was devastating.
"I can't find my daughter and son. Lucinda and Sebastian. Can you help me look for them?" He explained quickly. He looked at Juliet pleadingly. His arms slightly extended to her. Juliet nodded and immediately began calling out their names.
"Lucy! Lucy!" Their father called beside her. "Okay. You go that way," He said, pointing in an opposite direction, "and I'll go this way."
"Okay. Okay." Juliet nodded. He nodded and ran the way he pointed. Juliet trotted off. She wondered if she was searching for a living human or a body. Just as she was about to give up and help one of the wounded she saw two children being calmed down by someone.
As she neared them she could hear the woman saying, "Are you sure you can't find your dad?"
"Hey." Juliet said as she kneeled down in front of the two children. The girl couldn't have been more than eight or seven and the boy five or six. "What are your names?" She asked the children sweetly.
"Lucy and Sebastian." The woman answered for them.
"Okay, well, their dad is looking for them. Go and take them up there," Juliet suggested and pointed towards the jungle. The woman nodded and herded the children. Sighing, Juliet looked around her. She couldn't help but wonder where the man was. The man who sat in the aisle across from her.
Getting lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice when a man was calling to her. Only when he grabbed her waist and pushed her away, did she come to her senses. They landed a few feet away in the sand. He threw his arm over her and ducked their heads. The wing on the plane came crashing down where she had been standing.
They coughed as the sand flew up. "Are you alright?" He asked her, sitting up. Juliet nodded in reply and sat up. "What the bloody hell is the matter with you?! Didn't you hear me?"
"No-I mean yes. I'm sorry." Juliet said, shakily. She used the back of her hand to wipe away the sweat on her brow. He stood up and offered her his hand. She gratefully took it and stood up.
"Be careful." He said. He turned to walk away and help someone. He turned his head back to her and asked, "So what's your name?"
"Juliet." She answered.
"Peter." He replied. Juliet watched him run to go help a man who had his leg stuck under a sheet of metal.
She brushed the hair out of her face and got a better look around her. People and machine were scattered around everywhere. A man here with his head bleeding and a kid there holding his leg with his head bent. Lots of people were running around right past him, ignoring him. So, Juliet walked up to him. "Are you alright?"
"My leg." He sobbed, lifting up his head. His face was red and flooded. "My leg hurts."
"Okay, let me take a look at it." She said. She knelt down and put her hand on his foot. She gently took his pant leg and pulled it up and looked at him as he winced. "Okay. Okay, sweetie?" She said, examining his leg. It looked a tad bit swollen with a purple and blue bump in the middle. "Does this hurt?" She slowly brought her hand down to touch his leg.
"Wait!" He exclaimed, grabbing her hand to stop her.
"What?"
He hesitated. "Usually when someone asks that, it'll hurt." Juliet smiled a little. She very gently tapped his leg. "Yes!"
"Okay, sweetie, I think your leg is broken." She told him. "You need to get up near the jungle." She instructed.
"But, I can't walk." He complained.
"That's why I'm going to carry you." She tucked her right arm under his knees and the other behind his back. She slowly lifted him up while he wrapped his arms around her neck. "So, what's your name?" She asked him, trying to take his mind off of his leg.
"Tristin Starr." He said through gritted teeth.
"That's a nice name. I'm Juliet. Jules for short." She said as she trudged up the sand. It was difficult. Her arm felt like pieces of glass were stabbing her, while her legs felt ready to buckle underneath her. "Stay here. All right? Don't move." She bent down and placed him by a tree. He nodded and leaned his back up against it.
She turned around and trotted down the slope. But then she stopped. Something flickered in the corner of her eye. She turned her head to the right, but it was gone. Probably her imagination. Blood had soaked through the sleeve she had tied to her arm. The best thing to do would be to stop and treat herself. Only, she couldn't help her, in less she helped everyone else.
"You! Hey, You!" Juliet looked around. There was a older man facing her. "Yes, you! Get over here and help us." Nodding she understood, she picked her way through the rubbish. "Help us get this shard of metal off of her." He pointed to a woman with a sheet of metal coming up to her stomach. "We'll lift it up and you pull her out." The man commanded.
Juliet bent over and grabbed the woman's' under arms. "One. Two. Three!" The people, who was the older man, a teenage boy, and a Middle-aged woman, heaved up the sheet and Juliet jerked the woman. She stumbled backwards with the woman in her arms. Her legs were bloody and cut open, you could see her bones.
Juliet felt her head grow cold. She turned her head just a little to the left to see blood trickling down a sheet of metal her head had landed on. The two men pulled the woman off of her and place her to the side. The boy examined her legs and the man tried to stop the bleeding. But, the middle-aged woman noticed Juliet wasn't getting up.
"Jason. The girl isn't moving." She bent down beside Juliet. Juliet's eyes grew heavy and she closed them. "I think…" She couldn't hear anything else. Everything went black and she couldn't feel the sand under her nor the metal her head had hit.
Birds were chirping, waves were crashing, and people were talking. Juliet could hear all of these noises. Everything around her seemed to be louder that what it usually is. But then, she felt another presence around her. She opened her eyes and sat straight up. "Ugh!" Her head gave a sharp pierce of pain.
"That happens when you sit up to fast after having a concussion." Said a voice, sarcastically. Juliet looked around her. She saw a man with his back to her, tending to the woman Juliet had pulled from under the metal. Juliet lowered herself back to a lay. Flashes of the crash came to her mind. "I sewed up your arm. Try not to use it. I don't have the equipment I need here."
"What, you a doctor?" She asked, sitting back up.
"Funny you should ask. I was just fired. That's why I was on the plane." He said with a small smile. His hair was cut short and it was of a blonde color. His eyes were baby blue. They seemed bright and welcoming.
"Oh, well, that's comforting." Juliet said, sarcastically. She used her left arm to help herself up to a stand. "Hey, listen, did you happen to see a man? About this tall," She held out her hand half a foot taller than her, "Short black hair, brown eyes?"
"Uh, sorry, I don't remember. I'm not very good with faces." He said, holding out his arms in a shrug. Juliet nodded and took a step forward. "But, you should get some rest. The cut in you head was pretty deep." Juliet shook her head, refusing. Her surroundings were grim. Bodies lay, scattered around the beach. The wounded were just as scattered. She needed to get away.
She trudged down the beach till it turned a bend and she could no longer see the wreckage. The waves seemed so calm and serene. They lapped at her feet as she stood just in their reach.
There was barely time for her thoughts to wonder when someone joined her. They stood by her side and watched the waves with her in silence. Juliet didn't turn to look who it was, but she could tell it was a man, just by the way they stood and their figure.
"I guess it's too late to answer your question." The voice came out of the blue.
"Ya, I guess so." She answered, a small smile creeping onto her face.
"What?" He asked her, his head turning to face her. "What is so funny?" His face looked so serious, that Juliet had to smile some more. He waited till her smile went away. "Was there something that I missed?"
"I'm Juliet." She replied, holding out her hand.
"Jake." He answered, taking her hand and shaking it. They watched as the sun hit the water before disappearing into the horizon. "We better head back. You know, before it gets cold or something."
Juliet nodded and then started walking back. Jake walked up to her side and walked. "So, when do you think they are going to rescue us, if they do?" She asked him, climbing over a rock.
"If?" He asked her, climbing over after her.
"If." She replied, making her question final.
"Don't know." He answered her question as they reared the corner. Juliet caught sight of the people. The ones who weren't seriously injured were trying to make fires. Juliet looked up to the sky. Clouds were coming in. "Rains coming." He bluntly pointed out.
She ran her hand through her hair. This can't be happening. "I'm sleeping." She said and closed her eyes.
"Excuse me?" He asked her.
"I'm on the plane. Seat 26C. I fell asleep. This is all a dream and I'm going to wake up when we land." She said, tilting her head back.
"If you say so." He retorted. Juliet opened her right eye and looked at him. A raindrop hit her forehead. Then her nose, then her hand. The next thing she knows, it's pouring. "Hurry." He said. He trotted to a sheet of metal leaning up against a tree. "Under." He instructed as he crouched down and crawled under. Juliet hurried to join him and went under before she got soaked. It was a small cramped place.
Juliet brought her legs up and hugged them. She rested her chin on the top of her knees. The rain drummed rhythmically against the metal. She listened to it as she thought about what had happened. It's been almost six hours. She wondered how long it would take for someone to come and rescue them. If they knew where they were, they would have no problem coming to get them. But, then, what if they didn't know where the plane had crashed.
Juliet looked over at Jake. He was leaning up against the tree. His face was turned away from her and was looking out at the rain. She watched as he turned his head back and stared at the ground instead. His fingers weaved and unweaved with a strand of grass he had plucked from the ground. Juliet watched him for a moment and then studied his face. His face was so thoughtful and serious. He was obviously thinking about something. His eyes seemed narrowed onto that piece of grass, as if he concentrated on it long enough it would sprout it something amazing. Juliet felt like smiling. An odd thing. You wouldn't think smiling would be odd.
"You've been starring at me for the past two minutes."
Juliet jumped. Had she been starring? She didn't realize she had. "What?" She asked.
"I said, you have been starring at me for the past two minutes."
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize." She apologized. She stared down at her hands, clasped together around her legs.
"Thinking?" He asked her, a smile on his face.
Juliet slightly nodded her head. Jake shrugged and tossed the grass. The sky got dark in a matter of minutes. Juliet could only see the outline of Jake. "Well, that was odd." She could hear him say. The wind howled outside and shook the sheet of metal. The rain pounded onto it, as well.
Juliet was lured into a sleep. When she woke up the sun had risen and the rain had stopped. She shifted into a crawling position and went out of the shelter. She looked around and saw all of the familiar horror. She felt total despair. All she wanted to do was to crawl up and cry. But she knew that wouldn't solve anything. But, what would? She could see the planes hadn't come over the night. These thoughts rushed into her mind without hesitation. It was frustrating her that she had little hope of being rescued.
She watched as the father of Lucy and Sebastian keep a careful eye on his kids, all the while holding the hand of the woman who Juliet had pulled out of the metal. She watched as a girl sat down next to Tristin and offer him some water. She watched as the used-to-be doctor tends to a woman. She watched as Peter tries to build a fire. Then she turned her head to look at about five people talking in a circle, including Jake.
She slowly stood up, her muscles tense and sore. Instead of heading directly over there, she loomed around for a second to hear what they were saying.
"…Supposed to do?" She heard a young man say. His hair was dark brown and short, it stood up in places. His eyes were crystal blue and stuck out behind his sheet of black eyelashes.
"Maybe we should start a signal fire?" Suggested a tall blonde man.
"Okay, Spencer. We start a fire. Then what? Sit around and hope someone sees it?" Barked a shabby brunette. His hair was cropped short and his face had a narrowed look to it. A five a clock shadow tinted his jaw.
"Ryan, relax. We'll start the fire. But we'll try to figure something out." Replied a older man.
"Well, there is still a matter of food. What are we supposed to feed these people?" That was Jake.
Juliet decided to join this little group of men at this moment. There was a spot right between Ryan and Blue-eyes. She stepped up from where she was listening and stood in between them. Jake looked at her for a moment before looking at the older man.
"Well, we can always fish. Then there's the fruit." Juliet responded. She had seen fruit trees in the jungle when she was following the noise of screaming people and there had to be fish in the ocean. Blue-Eyes and Older-Man nodded their heads.
"So, what then? We just sit around eating fruit and fish?" Asked the blondy, Spencer.
"Well, in less you have a stash of cheeseburgers somewhere, then yes." Replied Ryan.
"Here's what we're going to do." Stated Older-man, "Ryan, go around and see if anyone needs help with anything. Aiden and Spencer go around and see if you can find anything useful to keep and bring it up the beach. If you can, try and sort out the baggage. Jake and…" He looked over at Juliet. So, Blue-eyes name was Aiden.
"Juliet." Replied Jake for her.
"I'm Jesse. Jake and Juliet, Go and pick some fruit. These people will be hungry and we need as much food as we can get, soon. With fish, there is a chance you can catch one." He said and turned to walk away.
So, Jesse was going to be their leader. The people needed a leader. Some one who was quick thinking, had a sense of what was going on, and knew what to do. She looked over at Jake.