Smoke. The first thing I smell is smoke. I'm laying on my back, and there's a sharp pain in my head. I bolt up, ignoring my throbbing head. I'm not sure where I am. Forest surrounds me, and the sky is black. I see someone sprawled out on the ground and I run over, tears stinging my eyes. It's Claire.
The pilot is panicing. I close my book and look outside. We're going down, fast. There's a fire up front, and I am finding it harder to breathe. People are yelling, screaming, and Claire is crying next to me. I'm not sure what's going on but I do know I'm going to die. I squeeze my eyes shut and clutch my book as I brace for inpact. And then, everything is white.
I'm crying now. Claire, my best friend, is dead. I drop to the ground and hold her hand, still warm. It takes me a few minutes to compose myself but I figure that I need to see if there's any others. My legs are threatening to give out. I wipe my forehead, smearing something onto my hand. I look down, expecting sweat. It's blood. I gag at the warm substance- I've never seen so much at one time.
Claire squeezes my hand as the plane takes off. I'm terrified. I've never flown before, and it's making me queazy. Claire grins and assures me that everything will be okay. The other girls are gossiping behind us, talking about leaving the boarding school for good. I smooth out my skirt and fix my tie, wanting to look presentable when we land in America. Claire points out the window and shows me the runway, which we are now above. I can hear my heart beating in my ears, and it's not until Claire settles down do I know we're safe.
I look around, and see an emergency whistle on the ground. It must have come from the plane, which I assume is here somewhere. I take a deep breath and bring the neon orange whistle to my mouth, and blow. It hurts my ears but I keep doing it, hoping someone will hear. I stop after a minute or two and repeat. By now, random groups of girls are coming towards me. They all look beat up and scared, their school blazers dirty and ripped. I lead them over to where a clear patch of land is, and tell them to sit down and wait for any others. Some are crying, and some just look shocked.
"Is this everyone? Who are we missing?" I say, asking the girls who are now seated in front of me. Older girls are in the back, and I recognise some of my classmates. A little girl, maybe a first year, raises her hand.
"Yes? What's your name?" I ask her. Her pigtails are falling out and I resist the urge to go over and comfort her.
" My name is Samantha, but you can call me Sam. I'm missing my best friend Amy. I can't find her anywhere. I'm scared."
"Don't worry, we'll find her. Don't be scared, someone will be here to rescue us in a day or so, okay? It'll be alright, Sam."
I blow the whistle again to quiet everyone down. I pull my shoulders back, needing to look confident if these kids are going to listen to me.
"We will be fine, okay? As far as we know this is an island, and it's deserted. The last thing I saw before we crashed was water, so we can't be too far from the ocean. I want us to split up into three groups. I want a couple of the older prefects to gather up the little 'uns and calm them down. We also need a small party to go and check out where we are, and some people to help me build shelter and find food." I say.
A girl in my year, Priscilla, helps me assign people to groups. After that, I sit down on a rock and put my head in my hands. This is going to be a long day.