-The very beginning is boring, but everything has to have a beginning, and I'm not a good writer :p-

July 16th, 2009

It has been only a few hours since the plane crash, and Penny, Leonard, Sheldon, Raj, Howard, and Barry were [coincidentally, lol] the only ones to survive. Everyone else and the luggage went up in flames where the plane had crashed onto a stone beach. Thankfully, the fire didn't burn down the forest, though. They had all been on an airplane for a vacation when it went off track and (for a reason they never found out) plummeted toward an unidentified island surrounded by unusually rough waters. Penny and the guys happened to be on the same plane as Barry Kripke, so he was also with them. No one minded his company except for Sheldon, but another person is good to have when they might need help. It was almost sunset now, and the six of them had gathered on a sandy beach quite a ways from the stone beach to get away from the chaos. Everyone sat down, finally having the time to try to comprehend what happened a few hours ago. No one talked for a while until Sheldon looked up at Leonard. "I told you vacations are nothing but trouble."

"Sheldon, you have to be kidding me. Do you have any idea what just happened?"
"Yes, that's why I just said what I just said!" Everyone else looked up to watch them argue.

"No, what I mean is, that's not our problem right now! Look behind you! You see that? That's the complete opposite of civilization!" Leonard was already very mad, and he was pointing to the dense jungle behind them.

"Okay, guys, just calm down," said Penny as she rubbed her forehead, sitting 'criss-cross-applesauce' and holding her head up by having her elbow rest on her knee. "We can't afford to argue right now - I'm pretty sure none of us know what this place is, and we lost everything in the crash."

"She's right," said Barry [imagine he has his speech impediment. I'm not writing like that lol]. "We have to build a shelter."

"And find food and drinkable water," Howard added. Sheldon cringed at the thought of having to drink water from the outside. Raj stayed silent because Penny was near them. He just nodded whenever he agreed with something.

"Right," said Leonard, who was more calm, now. "It's almost sundown, so we should assign jobs." He looked around at everyone as they nodded.

"We should elect a leader," said Sheldon as he started to stand up.

"Shut up, Sheldon," Howard snapped. Sheldon nodded and sat back down on the hot sand. They both looked back at Leonard.

"We don't need to elect any leaders," Leonard said. "But we should try to assign jobs as soon as possible. We don't know what lives on this island…" Everyone looked at each other and the jungle worriedly.

"Raj, Barry, and I can find some sturdy branches to build some kind of fort. It'll at least get us through the first night," said Howard.

"Good, but don't leave until we all know what we're doing. I don't want anyone to get lost," said Leonard. Raj and Barry nodded. Penny looked at Sheldon worriedly, but he didn't notice. He was still looking at Leonard, his mouth open only the slightest bit in concentration. He shut it completely when Leonard turned to them, and Penny faced him as well. "You two," he said.

"Yes?" asked Penny, hoping she wouldn't have to find food. Water was easy. You could hear water. You can't hear food.

"Penny, you try to find some water that isn't too disgusting, and Sheldon and I will try to look for food. She nodded, and Sheldon threw his arms up.

"Why do we have to find food?" he complained.

"Because I'm finding the water," Penny said teasingly. Sheldon just frowned at her.

"That," Leonard began. "And because our best bet in this kind of environment is a fruit tree, and you're tall," he joked, smiling. Everyone else smiled, but Sheldon, of course, took it too seriously and stared at the ground, confused. Before he could make some smart-ass comment, Barry started to talk.

"So, about getting lost… how do you think we should go about preventing that?"

"That's what we have to figure out," said Leonard. They all sat in silence and tried to think of ways to keep from getting too far from each other when their tasks would be performed. After a few moments, Raj jolted up as he realized an obvious solution. He leaned over to Howard and whispered in his ear. Everyone watched as Howard listened.

"Oh, duh," he said. "A fire."

"The smoke will show where it is, and it'll be our meeting point," said Barry. Sheldon made a weird face.

"But won't it be too dark to see the smoke once night has fallen?"

"Probably, so that's why we have to do this quick," said Leonard, standing up. "Where should we build it?" Everyone else was standing up as well and looking around.

"How about right where the grass meets the beach? Up on that ledge over there," Penny said as she pointed to the land.

"Looks good," said Leonard, and they all started to run the few hundred feet to the small ledge. It was a good thing they all had shoes because the sand was very hot. It would have been even hotter if it were the middle of the day, but since the sun was starting to go down, it had cooled a bit. The air was also a little hot, and most of them had already started to sweat. Once they reached the small slope with grass on the other side, they climbed onto the top and stood there.

"I'll get some rocks," said Barry as he ran to the outskirts of the jungle. He came back a minute later with some large navy blue rocks and a bundle of dry sticks. Penny and Raj ran over to help him carry them the rest of the way to save time. "Thanks." They dropped the sticks into a pile and put the rocks down. Leonard kneeled down and formed a circle with the rocks, putting the sticks in the middle. He then stared up at the sky, frowning.

"What's the matter?" Penny stepped closer.

"Well, I don't know how to start a fire other than using my glasses, but there's not enough sunlight," said Leonard, looking down at the fire pit.

"What? I thought you guys were brilliant scientists."
"And I thought you were trained in the ways of a man when it comes to camping," Sheldon interjected.

"Sheldon, just shut up-"

"Guys, stop arguing," Barry snapped. "We're running out of time."

"We still don't know how this is gonna work," said Leonard calmly. Everyone just looked at each other. Leonard thought of something, but he knew they wouldn't like it. "...Maybe we can wait until tomorrow…?" he said hesitantly. Sheldon, Raj, and Howard made noises in complaint.

"Hey, we can survive one night, okay? We're not starving just yet," said Barry, looking at them.

"Right," said Leonard.

"Fine," said Howard. "So I guess we're not building a shelter tonight, either?"

"Not just yet," Leonard responded. "But I think we'll be safe out here - not too close to the jungle, and definitely not too close to the ocean." A few of them nodded.

"So, what, we're just supposed to sleep out in the open?" Sheldon protested as his stomach growled.

"We have to," said Penny. "Just for one night, Sheldon, I'd rather get everything going tomorrow than lose people in that jungle."

"...I guess you're right. But I'm sleeping down here in case something does come out of there," Sheldon said as he got up and made his way down the short sandy slope.

"You do that, Sheldon," Howard said as he just laid down where he was. They were all exhausted to the point where they didn't really care if they had to sleep in the grass. And it wasn't exactly uncomfortable. Sure, it was hot and dry, but there was a softness to it as well. Penny cozied up to Leonard, and he put his arm around her. Raj and Barry just laid where they had been standing, and Sheldon was laying on his side in the sand. As the sky grew darker, everyone eventually fell asleep to the sounds of the jungle and the cool breeze from the ocean.

In the thick of the night, Barry woke up to a tingling sensation on his left forearm. He had been laying on his stomach with his head on its right side, facing that arm. He wearily opened his eyes and squinted at a long black figure that was slithering around his arm and immediately sat up, shouting and waking everyone up. "Ah! What the hell!?" He was shaking his arm around, trying to get the thing off of it.

"What? What's going on?" said Leonard's voice. It was almost too dark and foggy to see even his figure sitting a couple of feet away.

"There's something on my arm! Ow! It hurts! Get it off!" Barry was now trying to pry it off with his right hand. The thing was about three inches wide, and it was pretty flat and squishy. He pulled, but the more he pulled, the more a spot on his arm felt like it was being torn off. "Oh, my God, I can't get it off!" There was then a more high pitched scream.

"Penny?!" Leonard looked to his left where Penny was sitting. She shook her head and pointed next to Howard, where Raj was rolling around on the ground, trying to pry another thick, black band off of his calf (he was wearing shorts).

"Woah, woah, Raj! Stop moving - I can help!" Howard was reaching for his leg, and he stopped rolling around. He was breathing heavily, but he couldn't say anything. Penny went to help as well, and Leonard went over to Barry as Sheldon quickly hopped onto the grass to help.

"I think it's a giant leech!" Penny shouted as she angrily pulled at the one on Raj's leg. He squealed in pain. "Sorry, sweetie."

"It's gotta be!" said Leonard, grasping the thick worm on Barry's arm.

"I thought they only lived in water!"

"They can be terrestrial, too," Sheldon said as he looked at the leech worriedly. Barry frowned at him.

"Cooper, what are you doing?! Help!"

"I don't want to touch that thing!"

"Just shut up, and pull!" said Leonard as he tried to rip the leech from Barry's arm.

"Agh! Careful!" Barry yelled.

"Sorry, it must be latched on pretty good." Leonard was still tugging at it as Sheldon finally grabbed it. Sheldon gave one hard pull, and the leech was torn out of Barry's skin. He let it fall to the ground, and Leonard seized it, not allowing it to get away.

"Ow!" Barry rubbed the spot it had bitten and looked up. "I've been bitten by leeches before, and it didn't hurt."

"Yes, that's odd, but right now we have to worry about Raj," said Sheldon as he ran over to Raj, Howard, and Penny. The leech that was on Raj's leg was about five and a half inches wide, and it was very long. "Oh, lord! That one's huge!"

"Who cares, Sheldon? Just pull on it!" Penny and Howard were both pulling, and Raj was wincing, trying to keep himself together. Sheldon kneeled and leaned in between them.

"Okay, okay, I'm going…" Just as he reached for the leech, Howard and Penny pulled it free, and their hands hit Sheldon square in the face. "Ow!" Penny quickly looked at him.

"Sorry!"

"One thing after another!" Sheldon put his hand up to his nose, and blood flowed all over it. "Damn…" He stood up and tilted his head up, walking over to the jungle to get a large leaf. Raj was breathing deeply, lying on his back and smiling. 'Thank you,' he mouthed and shut his eyes. Penny smiled.

"No problem."

"Yeah, now help me kill this thing," said Howard, still holding onto the squirming black creature.

"Hold it on the ground," said Penny as she reached for a navy blue rock. Howard, making a disgusted face, held the leech against the grass, and Penny turned back to him. He saw what she was holding and quickly moved his hands lower on the leech's body to get out of the way. She smashed the rock down on the leech, and its juices splattered on the rock and on Howard's hand.

"Oh," he gagged, "God." Penny laughed and pointed as she lifted the rock away.

"Look, it exploded." She smiled with her mouth open at Leonard, who was carrying Barry's leech to her.

"That's great, now kill this one." He held it on the ground as Sheldon came back from the jungle holding a leaf to his face, and Penny forcefully dropped the rock onto the leech. Leonard pulled his hands away just before it exploded. Penny couldn't help but laugh again. Everyone else (but Sheldon) gave a sigh of relief and laid down. They were so tired, and that quick midnight scare only made them more exhausted.

"It's not stopping…" said Sheldon, dropping the leaf that was now completely red with blood onto the ground as he sat down and leaned forward. Blood was gushing out of both of his nostrils. "This is why you all should have slept down in the sand." He sniffed and coughed. "Those stupid things probably came out of the jungle grass." Leonard was turning to look at him angrily.

"Whatever, just get your blood away from our sleeping space - holy crap!" He only just realized how much was coming out. Sheldon looked at him as if there were nothing wrong, and he was wondering why Leonard was surprised. "...Wait, I thought you usually faint at the sight of blood," he said, giving Sheldon a confused look.

"Oh, I can't afford to faint right now. I've just recently trained myself not to faint when I have to survive on a deserted island," Sheldon said sarcastically. It was true, though. He learned to control himself and realized that seeing his own blood wasn't that bad. He yawned and looked at the ground wearily, wishing he could lay down and sleep without having to taste and feel the warm, thick blood run down to his throat.

"Oh," said Leonard as he turned away and continued to lay on his side. His concern quickly faded, and he fell asleep pretty quickly. Everyone else went back to sleep while Sheldon was still sitting up. He hoped his nose wasn't broken. And, man, did it hurt. Even if he could lay down without having to swallow blood, he probably wouldn't be able to fall asleep with all of that pain. He looked up at the bright white moon and studied the stars as the warm blood flowed down his throat. The sky was so clear, here - wherever they were. He wanted to keep looking at the stars, but the blood was too annoying, so he looked back down at the grass. It dripped down as he started to doze off. When he nearly fell forward from dozing off, he decided it was time to just 'screw it' and lay down. He then joined the others in their slumber.