Before you read, I just want to say that this story will take a lot of visualization! Thanks, and please, enjoy.

July 17th, 2009

It was just after sunrise when most of the group woke up. Everyone sat around the fire pit as they talked, occasionally glancing at the dried blood mustache Sheldon had going on. They were all starving and eager to begin their tasks so they could eat and drink. "Okay," said Leonard as he took off his glasses. "This fire…" He held the lenses over the dried sticks as he spoke. "Will be…" He paused as they waited for the point that the bright sunlight was beaming on to smoke. It momentarily caught fire, and he took his glasses away and put them back on. "Our meeting point. Once it really gets going, we should be able to see the smoke from a good distance." A few of the others nodded.

"Wait, what if it goes out?" Penny asked, looking at the fire and back up at Leonard.

"I think we'll be alright for a little while when we do our jobs, but at some point, someone will need to watch it. That, and, we'll have to build a safe place to leave my glasses in case it goes out, and if it rains-"

"Don't you need your glasses?"

"Well, yeah, but I think I'll be okay. I can get around fine without them, but it's really important that we have them handy in case we have to light it again. I don't know how often it rains here, either."

"Then, I guess all we can do is hope it keeps going," said Barry as he looked around at everyone.

"Now," Leonard said, standing up. "Let's get to work. Penny, you find the water, Barry, Howard, and Raj, you get the branches and logs, and Sheldon and I will look for food." There was a mixture of nods, "okay"s, and "alright"s, and everyone headed to the jungle. The groups eventually parted ways to cover more ground. The jungle was huge and dense, and they didn't know where it ended. Raj, Barry, and Howard were the luckiest, though. There were trees and fallen trees everywhere, and they had to find branches. Penny was the second luckiest because there were many different freshwater pools throughout the jungle, but she did still have to figure out which one was the cleanest while being close enough to their "base." As for Sheldon and Leonard, it was almost like finding a needle in a haystack to find fruit. And they didn't know which fruit would be edible, should they find some. They walked through the jungle, climbing over and ducking under the twisting trunks that were covered with moss and vines. It was an endless maze of lush green plants, big and small. And it was hot. The two men were constantly wiping their brows in a useless attempt to get rid of sweat as they walked. Leonard finally gave in to his body's prayer to cool off and removed his grass-stained t-shirt, sighing in relief as he held it in his right hand. His relief lasted only a few moments, though, for the heat just came right back to him. He frowned at Sheldon with his mouth open, breathing heavily. "How can you wear that?" he asked, looking up and down at Sheldon's usual long plaid pants and two shirts.

"Honestly," Sheldon panted and wiped his forehead again, "I have no idea…"

"Then take the shirts off at least - I think you're making me sweat more by looking at those clothes," Leonard exaggerated.

"Yeah," said Sheldon as they both stopped walking. "I will." He removed his blue t-shirt with a darker blue superman logo on it and took off his green undershirt after that. He sighed and wiped his saturated chest with the shirts. Leonard started walking again, and Sheldon followed, his clothes dangling from his right hand. They were trudging through the hot jungle for about an hour, complaining every now and then. All of the effort it took to look for food was only making them hungrier, and Leonard was starting to get annoyed every time Sheldon's stomach growled. "I'm so hungry…"

"What," Leonard panted as his own stomach growled, "you think I'm not?" He climbed over a huge tree root. Sheldon did the same and rolled his eyes.

"No, but I still can't believe we have to do this. All of us should be at home, able to have shelter, food, and water whenever we need it."

"I know, Sheldon, but that's not how it's gonna be… probably ever again," Leonard said, surprisingly calmly. Sheldon made a weird face and looked at the ground. He kind of forgot about that part - the fact that they would probably never get back. It sounds ridiculous to forget such a thing at first, but to be him at that moment, it still caused some shock. He absentmindedly looked around at the various plants to either side of him and looked back at Leonard. He quickly realized what he had just seen and looked to his right, stopping immediately.

"Look!" he said, pointing at a group of trees a few hundred feet away. Leonard stopped and turned around, opening his eyes widely when he saw the fruit trees.

"Oh, my god, Sheldon, you found it!" he shouted as he joyfully ran up next to Sheldon. They looked at each other for a split second and were soon sprinting toward the trees as if they had already regained all of their energy. As they ran, a sharp branch briefly caught Sheldon's pants, but he was running with such great force that it didn't phase him, and it had only torn a hole above his knee. He and Leonard reached a small clearing about six feet from the fruit trees when they stopped and heard a noise. It sounded like an animal was shaking leaves around. Sheldon and Leonard quickly crouched, looking past the bushes they were behind and up at the yellow-green leaves of a fruit tree. But those leaves were still. There was no time to look at another tree when they heard a thunk. Following the noise with their faces, Leonard and Sheldon looked at the grass that was surrounded by the trees. A red and green fruit, about the size of a baseball, had just fallen onto the jungle floor. Their stomachs urged them to run and grab it, but they both knew that some creature was over there. They stayed crouching behind the bushes. Suddenly their eyes were directed at a large rodent that was making its way down the trunk of a distant tree. It had light brown fur, and its body looked almost too big for its skinny legs. A stub of a tail followed behind. Sheldon squinted at it as it walked toward the fruit.

"What the-"

"Sh," Leonard told him quickly as he kept staring forward. Sheldon glanced at him and looked back at the animal. It perked up its little ears and froze for a moment. They could see its dark, rodent-like eyes look around, and it put its head back down to the usual height as it proceeded to walk to the fruit. Once it stopped, it cautiously bit into the fruit, sending its mouth wildly chewing. It was like watching a giant hamster eat. Leonard and Sheldon looked at each other. "I guess if he can eat it, we should be able to," Leonard whispered, shrugging. Sheldon nodded, and they both looked back at the rodent. This time, at the sound of Leonard's voice, it sat up, looked around, grabbed the fruit, and darted in the opposite direction of them. "Yes, it left," said Leonard as he eagerly stood up and climbed through the bushes. Sheldon followed, his mouth watering. They stood in the middle of the trees and marveled at the thousands of fruits above them. The sunlight that beamed through the leaves made the sight seem even more heavenly. Sheldon and Leonard even almost forgot that the jungle had been cooking them since they entered. "Well, come on, let's grab some!" Leonard said excitedly as he held out his shirt. "We can carry them back in our shirts."

"Okay." Sheldon was already picking fruit and couldn't help but eat some. But, to be fair, Leonard was eating some, too. It had a soft white inside, and it was sweet and juicy. They picked and picked until they had to climb the trees to reach more. Eventually, they jumped out of the trees, and they had three shirts full of food. Leonard threw his shirt over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and Sheldon carried his two at his sides. They were both smiling proudly as they made their way to the column of smoke. The fruit had refreshed them enough to make the long trip back, but they were still hoping Penny had luck with the hunt for water.

After about a half an hour, Leonard and Sheldon had already made it back to the meeting area. They walked up near the fire and lowered the fruit onto the ground, sitting down afterwards. A few minutes later, they saw Barry, Howard, and Raj carrying a big log out of the jungle to a pile of branches on the beach. "Hey!" said Leonard, waving his arm at them. The three saw the fruit and dropped the log onto the sand. They bolted up the slope and sat down, exhausted from the heavy lifting they had been doing for hours.

"Finally!" Howard said as they all grabbed some fruit. He took a large bite and sighed in relief when the juice cooled his hot, dry tongue. Barry and Raj were eating as well. They had also taken off their shirts and had left them near the fire.

"We've been lifting those damn things," Raj chewed, "for hours," he said, pointing at their pile of wood and swallowing. Barry nodded and wiped his forehead.

"Yeah, and where the fwick is Penny? We need water." Sheldon shrugged as he ate more fruit, and Leonard looked at the jungle worriedly.

"I don't know… we didn't come across her at all," he said, looking back at everyone else. "I'm sure she's fine." Raj nodded, grabbing more fruit. "So, do you think we have enough branches to build a shelter?"

"Definitely," said Raj.

"Yeah, we all agreed that that log was our last," Howard added.

"Oh, good, we should get started, then," said Leonard, and he stood up.

"Woah, let us have our break, Hofstadter," said Barry as he bit into another fruit. "You two might have had an easy job, but we had to carry all of that stuff."

"I know, I know, but I don't want to have to sleep out in the open again, that's all." Leonard glanced at the pile of branches and looked down at Sheldon, who was still eating. "Come, on, Sheldon, you can help." Sheldon looked up at him but didn't have time to say anything before Barry spoke.

"It's alright, let the man eat," he defended. "I mean look at him, he's a twig." He nodded toward Sheldon.

"It's true," said Sheldon, and he swallowed his food. "My ribs are already beginning to show." He pointed at his chest and continued to eat.

"Sheldon, your ribs are always visible," Leonard laughed. "...But, you guys are right - I guess we can wait a bit."

"Yeah, and I think I should be the one in charge of building our shelter since I'm the engineer," said Howard. The others nodded in agreement. Leonard sat back down and had to double take when he looked at their food supply. They had already emptied one shirt. But now that he thought about it, it made sense. And he could see it in Sheldon's stomach. Sheldon leaned back a little on his left arm as he rubbed up and down his stomach with his right hand. He let out a big belch and sighed when some of the fullness went away.

"We're not doing too bad for our first day... Could you imagine if we never found all this?" he asked, trying to hold back another burp. The others shook their heads.

"No, yeah, we're actually pretty lucky," said Raj. "But I wish Penny was here. She's probably starving."

"Unless she found some fruit while she was looking in the jungle," said Sheldon. He turned and laid down on his back with his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, but I hope she's alright," Leonard said, looking at the jungle again. Raj nodded. It was only just after the middle of the day, so they'd have a little more time to relax until they would have to start building the shelter. They sat in mostly silence for a little while before Howard decided to stand up.

"Alright, are you guys ready?" he asked, looking around at everyone. Barry, Raj, and Leonard nodded and got up. Leonard looked down at Sheldon, who was laying on his side by now.

"Sheldon."

"I'm too tired and full," Sheldon said wearily. "You guys," he yawned, "you guys build it without me - I'm not much help anyways." Raj shrugged and Leonard looked at him.

"True." The four of them went down the slope onto the sand and walked to the pile of branches.

"Okay," said Howard, clasping his hands together as they stood around the branches. "Let's start by mounting some of those thick ones into the ground." He pointed at a bundle of large branches. Everyone got ready to pick some up when Leonard started to talk.

"Wait," he said, and everyone paused. "What's that huge one you were carrying when we got here for?" He gestured to the large log.

"Oh, that? That's for the inside," said Howard. He bent down to pick up some branches. "Something to sit on other than the sand, you know?" His lips formed that half-smile as he lifted the sticks.

"Ah, I see," said Leonard as he joined the others in picking up branches. Raj planted a branch onto the ground and leaned on it.

"How big should it be?"

"Just, uh," Howard began as he ran around and traced an outline in the sand, "Something like this." He had made a rectangular shape about twelve by eight feet.

"Oh, then we'd better get started," said Barry. "Do you want the thick ones in the corners?" He said, glancing at Howard as he walked to the nearest corner.

"Yeah," Howard said. "And it's not gonna be perfect - remember, we don't have any tools whatsoever, so it'll probably turn out pretty rough looking." He started to dig a hole where a corner would be. "But it'll be safe."

"Cool," said Leonard. They each dug a deep hole for the corners and mounted the thick branches in them, burying the sides to keep them up. That part alone took a little while, but when they were done, they started to take the longer, thinner sticks and weaved them with some branches of other thicknesses until they formed walls, leaving an open spot for a doorway. And, just to make sure the walls were structurally sound, Howard had everyone put heavier logs against both sides of each wall. Soon, they had a roofless little hut. Howard stood back to admire it.

"It's small, but it'll do the job," he said proudly. Barry, Raj, and Leonard stood back to look at their work as well.

"What's your guys' plan for the roof?" asked Leonard.
"Ah, yes, the roof. That will be made of layers of some of these long, thick leaves we found in the jungle," said Howard as he led them to a pile of leaves a few feet away. "Raj found them really early on, so we left them out here to dry up. They're basically like leather, now." Leonard smiled and nodded.

"I'm impressed."

"Thanks," said Howard as he ran back over to the hut. "Now, let's use the rest of these lighter sticks to make a sort of skeleton for the leaves to lay on." The other three followed him over and got to work. Eventually, they fit their roof skeleton onto the walls and stuck a few layers of leaves on it, making sure they wouldn't blow off too easily. After they pushed the big log in through the doorway, they sat on (or next to) it, satisfied with their work and thankful for the shade.

"We did good," said Raj. Barry looked around at the walls and ceiling, smiling.

"Yeah this place actually seems a little more roomy than I thought it would be."

"I'm glad it worked out," said Howard. "...Now let's enjoy it before Sheldon wakes up," he joked. The other three laughed a little and relaxed on the cool sand, some with their heads against the log. It was silent for a while until Howard looked at Leonard. "You think Penny died?" Leonard opened his eyes wide at the thought of Penny's death and quickly stood up. Howard sat up after him. "Hey, I'm joking."

"No, this seems really bad for me to say, but I forgot she was even still out there," Leonard said worriedly as he paced and rubbed his forehead and chin. "I'm going out to look for her."

"I'm coming, too," said Raj as he got up and followed Leonard out of the hut. Barry and Howard felt like she was okay and probably just taking a while to find clean water. To be fair, it was probably pretty hard to find clean water in the jungle. It wasn't that they didn't care about her. They just knew that she'd be alright on her own. It was Penny.

Just as Leonard and Raj left the hut, they saw Penny sitting by Sheldon up on the ledge, and they ran up to her. "There you are!" Leonard shouted as he dropped down and hugged her. She barely even had time to hear them running up there.

"Hm?" She was eating a fruit. "Oh, hey Leonard. Hey Raj (he smiled waved), sorry I didn't tell you guys I was back - I'm starving." She wiped some juice off of her mouth and kissed Leonard on the cheek, smiling. He smiled back.

"We built a shelter," he said, pointing at the hut.

"Yeah, I saw! It looks great." Leonard faced her again and remembered why she was in the jungle in the first place.

"Oh! Did you find any water? We're parched." Penny nodded as she bit her fruit.

"Yeah, I think it's okay, I mean," she chewed, "I haven't died yet, and I drank it a while ago."

"Why were you gone so long, then?"

"Well, come on Leonard, you know how hot it is… I went for a… swim," she said, smiling.

"In the drinking water?"

"No - It's actually pretty cool. There's like a really big pool of water that's like right next to the one that we can drink out of. It's really nice looking, too. The jungle's actually pretty beautiful." Leonard smiled at her, but she frowned at him. His smile faded, and he gave her a confused look.

"What?"

"Ugh, you guys are so lucky," she said, gesturing at the three men. "You get to take off your shirts - it's so hot." Raj looked at her worriedly and whispered in Leonard's ear.

"What? No, Raj you don't have to put your shirt back on." Leonard looked at him weirdly as he backed away and shrugged. He turned back to Penny "And, Penny, if you want, you don't have to wear a shirt. This is a deserted island."

"I know, but… Howard…"

"Oh, yeah, that…" said Leonard as he looked at the hut. He looked back at Penny. "Don't worry about him. I'll tell him to control himself, and if he doesn't he'll be the first one to die," he joked. Penny smiled, laughing a bit.

"Okay, cool." She took off her sweaty tank top and her bra and tossed them onto the grass so that she was only wearing shorts and underwear just like the guys (except Sheldon, who was still managing to survive wearing long pants). Raj nearly fainted. Leonard noticed it and hit him on the leg. Penny looked at both of them like nothing was different. "Guys, it's okay. Think about it - animals don't wear clothes."

"She's right," said Leonard as he looked at Raj again. "And when have we been more animal than we'll be on this island?" he asked rhetorically and smiled at Penny. She smiled back and stood up.

"So, shall we go to get some water?" she asked as she clapped her hands together.

"Please," said Leonard, standing up. "Raj, go get Barry and Howard while I wake up Sheldon." Raj nodded and ran down onto the beach to the hut. Leonard and Penny both looked down at Sheldon.

"He looks pretty tired," said Penny.

"Yeah, but he needs water." Leonard gave Sheldon a soft kick to the stomach.

"Ow."

"Get up. Penny found water."

"Really?" Sheldon asked excitedly. He stood up and looked at her expectantly, but the three of them just stood there. He looked to both sides and back at Penny's face. "Where did you find it?"

"Hold on," she laughed. "We have to wait for the guys."

"Oh," said Sheldon, and he looked at the hut and smiled. "Hey, we have a shelter… Oh, lord, how long have I been asleep?"

"It wasn't that long," Leonard said as he looked at the doorway to the hut to see if they were coming out yet. "We actually put it up pretty fast."

"Oh, good," said Sheldon calmly, and they saw Barry, Raj, and Howard emerge from the hut. Leonard watched Howard's every move to make sure he didn't make Penny uncomfortable as they walked up to them. He actually took Penny's shirtlessness quite well and even managed to make it look like he didn't notice. He just smiled at Leonard, and the five of them followed her into the jungle.

The pool of water she told them about was actually relatively close to their starting point, and it was a sure relief. Water was the most important thing, especially on an island as hot as this one. Penny led them to the small strip of land that was in between the two bodies of water. "Okay, so this one," she said as she pointed to the smaller one on her left, "is the one I drank from and didn't die, and that one," she turned and nodded to the larger pool, "is the one we can swim in. The water's pretty cool, and it feels nice once you get past the gross plants."

"Cool," said Barry as he crouched down in front of the drinking water. He cupped his hands and lowered them in, bringing them back up to his mouth and drinking some. "Not bad." He went in for more, and Raj, Howard, and Leonard followed. They each tested the water before drinking it thirstily and splashing some on their faces and hair. Sheldon watched them like he was watching monkeys playing in water.

"Go on, sweetie, I drank it, and I'm fine," said Penny as she sat down and joined them. Sheldon looked at her worriedly. But it felt like he was on fire. He crouched down and drank. It felt so nice to finally feel cool water go down his throat as opposed to the warm blood he had tasted the night before. And although it wasn't apple juice on an airplane, he enjoyed it. When they were all done rehydrating themselves, they got up and walked over to the other body of water. Penny was right - it was beautiful. The water was surrounded by vibrant greens, and since there was so much of it, there was no room for trees to have grown, so they could see the sky above them. Raj quickly removed the rest of his clothes and hopped in. In all honesty, it was still a bit weird for them to see each other naked, but they were quickly getting used to it. After all, it was natural. Everyone watched as he came to the surface. He put his thumbs up and smiled, submerging himself again. Penny took her shorts and underwear off and dove in, everyone else (but Sheldon, of course) following her. She came back up and smiled at Sheldon, who was sitting at the edge of the water. "Come on!" She said joyfully, beckoning him.

"I don't know…" he said. Penny swam around in circles showing how lovely the water was.

"You're missing out…" Sheldon smiled a little and stood up.

"Alright, you got me. It does look nice," he said as he took off his pants and underwear. As soon as the underwear came off, Penny smiled evilly and splashed him. "Hey!" He threw his clothes at a nearby bush and made a playfully angry face at her. She put her hands up to block the splash as he jumped in close. He shook his head around and smiled at her. "It feels so good."

"I told you," she said as she swam away. The others were further along more towards the middle of the water, and that's where she was headed. Sheldon followed her, thinking about how different he was acting than even he would have thought. Here he was, having fun swimming naked with a bunch of people without a care in the world. Maybe this island wasn't so bad, after all.