fA/N: Posted 7/11/2011

This chapter was supposed to be posted last night, but as I got things ready I was hit by an avalanche of alerts for stories I have been following. Some really great stuff is came out; Fogh's Rome, Lot's Wife's Handle, Grey Alchemist's Recalled, Wepdiggy's Breaking Out and clspokbrazil's Missing You.

Sorry, if I did not mention someone's story, these were just last night's alerts!

And then there's a new one by Bdaddyl and Quistie64. It's great to see Bdaddyl back. This ought to be real interesting as Quistie64 always has some fun stuff to read.

And then there's Jaytoyz. With about a dozen current stories. Good grief.

A lot of reading to do. And reviews to leave. It's going to be a busy, busy week.

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I noticed an uptick in people reading The Old Man. If you do check that story out, I promise you, it will be continued and finished. Chapters are in the works. But be forewarned; it is quite a dark story.

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The reviews and PMs for this story have been really great! Again, many thanks! I just hope I can keep the great advice on storytelling in mind with my next story.

Okay, back to the reason you're all here, or you wouldn't be reading this; Chapter 3.


Chapter 3

Somewhere Sandy

Chuck rolled over, off of his arm and got a mouth full of sand. He opened his eyes and saw a small crab crawling towards him. When he tried to sit up he found he couldn't as his arm was stuck or asleep. Not stuck. His hand was holding something. He tried to let go, but his fingers refused to open. He turned his head to his other side. Sarah! His hand was wrapped around a strap on her preserver.

"Sarah." There was no response. A little louder the second time, "Sarah!" He heard a slight murmur. Thank God.

He got up into a crawl position and reached over with his free hand, coaxing his fingers to relax. Whatever had happened out there, at least he hadn't lost her. She's safe. The bargain is still good.

He felt the water rushing in from the sea up on to the shore, pulling away the sand under his toes. That's what woke him, he realized. He tried to stand, but his legs refused to obey. He crawled up towards her head, grabbed her by the life preserver and pulled her up higher onto the beach.

She moaned, "Chuck?"

"Yeah, I'm right here."

Then he noticed that the raft was gone. So were the pant legs he used to tie her arm. The top clasp of her preserver was broken and the beacon was also missing. S&R wouldn't know they were here. He looked along the shoreline in both directions and saw nothing but sand on the shore, from water's edge along the beachfront up to the greenery of the jungle. They'd lost everything. He smiled down at her. Almost everything.

Chuck sat down, crossing his legs and cradled Sarah's head. "Sarah, how do you feel?" He reached down to undo the clasps of her vest.

"Like hell." Her voice was rough and her throat felt worse than it sounded. She blinked a few times and brought her hand up to brush something annoying off of her cheek. Sand. She looked up at him and smiled. "But we're in one piece. Right?"

"Pretty much."

"Help me up, I feel like a turtle on its back."

He laughed, as he slid his hands under her shoulders and lifted. "You look more like a raccoon."

She struggled, using her right arm for support, to push up until she was sitting up. "Not funny, buster." She remembered his refusal on the raft.

"Laugh or cry, sweetheart. Laugh or cry." He moved up, letting her rest against his chest, and brought his arms around her. He could still smell the remnants of vanilla in her hair. Or was that his mind playing tricks?

Sweetheart? Oh I like that. "Chuck, help me out of this straight jacket, will you?"

"I'll get your right arm free first, then we can slide it around your left. Ready?"

"Yeah."

"Lean forward."

She shifted her weight forward a bit, letting out a low groan. She brought her right hand up by her shoulder.

He pulled the vest towards her right, took her right hand and guided it towards the opening. "So far, so good?" he asked as she got her right arm free.

"Yeah, now the hard part."

Chuck folded the vest inside out holding it over her left shoulder and held it with his right hand. With his left hand he reached below her arm and grabbed at the bottom of the vest, pulling it downwards slightly and waited for her reaction.

"Go ahead."

He slid the vest down and off of her arm, getting it free.

"Wow. That went well. Hold on a sec." He shucked his vest and pulled her back to his chest. He just wanted to feel her next to him; he was looking for some assurance that she was really there, before he started to deal with the next set of problems.

"How do you feel about standing up?"

"Give me a minute." I finally have him alone and I can't do anything about it. Sarah started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. Help me get up on my feet.

Chuck looked up at the sun, "We have a few more hours of daylight. Yeah." He put a hand on her back, to hold her up, pulled his feet back towards himself and pushed up off the ground with his other arm. "Give me your hand."

Sarah reached her hand up to him, feeling him take it and pushed herself up with her legs. She turned around and put her good arm up to touch his face. "Okay, protector mine."

He bent down to retrieve her life preserver and inspected the straps that encircled it. Picking the longest one he carefully began ripping it from the preserver. "It's not perfect, but it should help keep your arm in place." He tossed the preserver to the ground and looped the strap over her neck, under her right arm and across her chest to her broken arm. He pushed the two ends of the clasp together with a 'snap' as it looped back up over to the top of her shoulder.

"First thing need is water." He started to walk towards the stand of coconut trees about 40 feet from the shoreline.

Sarah watched him as he walked away from her, the muscles in his legs flexing and releasing with each step, like steel springs. Her eyes followed the tension disappear up his cut-off pants. Oh, damn. I could watch him walk away all day. She huffed at her hair, but it was still damp and clung to her skin. She knew where to find fresh water. But Chuck? She started after him.

Chuck reached a tree just where the sand ended and the earth began. He dipped a finger into a low hanging frond and waited for Sarah. He cupped his hand and slid it into the base of the leaf by the trunk. "There's lots of it after that storm." He held out his hand with a little water.

She smiled and took hold of his arm as if it were ladle and sipped. "That feels good."

Watching her lips touching his hand gave him goose bumps. He closed his eyes in the hopes of minimizing his arousal as he felt her lips, but it only made it worse. He cursed himself, shook his head and bit his lip. Chuck cupped more water out for her. Enough! I have to stay focused, here. I have to keep her safe.

"I think we're going to be stuck here for the night, so I'd guess our next priority would be a fire."

"Agreed." She patted his shoulder to encourage him.

He started collecting coconut husks and tossing them into a pile on the sand, away from the wooded area. "The coconut husks should make a good smoky fire that might attract some attention. We'll burn those during the day and burn cleaner stuff at night." He looked at her. "How do you feel about coconut for dinner? Oh, and we can make some sun screen with the oil."

Sarah listened to him babbling for a while, smiling throughout, "Chuck?"

"Do you have any knives left?" He blushed at the thought of where his hands had been; up her dress. Her skin was so soft. He gulped. Crap! "In the morning, maybe I can catch some fish. Or some crab." He was so busy trying to distract himself, he never heard her speak.

"Chuck!"

He moved towards the pile of coconuts in the sand, knelt down and started shredding some of the material off of the husks, making a pile of kindling.

"Hmmm?" he responded in a far off manner, and mindlessly continued, "You know, if this weren't life or death, this might all be a little fun."

He stopped and looked out at the ocean with his mind beginning to wander. He thought about her lips on his hand earlier and still wanted to grab her and kiss her. That last kiss, on the raft, that was no cover kiss. Of course, she was thanking me. How much more of that 'under the cover' stuff was just her being nice. She was being nice. I just keep taking it all wrong. She says I babble. I babble in my own mind now. His shoulders drooped. Awww jeeez. I'm doing it again. She needs me to be strong right now, not a puppy.

Then it struck him; it felt like a truck stripping gears, "Ellie! She must be going crazy!"

Sarah walked the few steps over to Chuck and put her hand on his head, pulling him up against her leg.

He didn't resist. She knows. She always knows when I need to be calmed. He sighed, "I'd best get this fire started."

"Okay." She wanted to talk to him, but she didn't know what to say or if she should dare.

He leaned back down over the husks, continuing to shred pieces into a pile. When he was satisfied that he had enough, he placed several whole husks close to the kindling. He looked up and Sarah and smirked. He could feel it in his pocket. "It's the only thing I've managed to hold on to." And don't lose that Captain's letter!

She gave him a quizzical look, "What's that?"

He pulled an object out from his back pocket and held it up for her to see, "A Bic lighter." He pushed the flint wheel back and forth in an attempt to dry out the flint, until he saw a spark. He leaned down and lit the kindling, which caught quite easily. He pushed the husks closer together and sat back, watching as the fire slowing began to spread. After a moment, the husks were burning on their own. He pushed a few more husks inwards and watched as the fire got bigger.

Chuck stood and smirked at Sarah, "Og make fire." He walked back to the coconut tree and started tossing more husks towards the fire.

She laughed, although she wondered what he would've done if he hadn't had the good fortune to hold on to the lighter. "Chuck, do you know how to start a fire without a lighter?" She lowered her ass onto her heels and got into a sitting position.

"Sure. I spent lots of time as a kid camping with my dad. He'd tell me that you always had to be ready to get by on your wits alone."

He looked over at her, "Hey! Hey! If you wanted to sit, all you had to was say something. I wouldn't want you hurting your arm again." He rushed over to her, only to have her wave him off.

"Chuck, I am not helpless." She felt frustrated with him, but bit her lip. "I feel bad enough that I can't help." This must be how I make him feel. I treat him like a helpless little lamb.

"Okay, but please, stay put." He turned away and headed back to the coconut tree.

Finding a large, flat rock, he grabbed a coconut and shook it. "Ooooh, this one still has some milk. We won't have to do any climbing yet." Placing the coconut on the flat rock, he grabbed another large rock and held it on top of the coconut. He brought the rock up over his head and smashed it down on the coconut. He had to hit it twice more to get the husk to split. He ripped the actual coconut from inside the husk and shook it, smiling. He found a small rock and used it as punch to knock out one of its 'eyes'. He got up and carried it over to Sarah.

Handing it to her as he looked off to his right, he noticed the rocky outcroppings by the shore. He commented, "If I could get a bunch of these submerged by those rocks over there, we could drink this cold in a few hours."

"Well, this is delicious as is. It just needs some rum and a little salt," she deadpanned.

Chuck smiled at her, "I could use one of those." He got serious; "It looks like coconuts for dinner tonight. I guess it'll have to wait 'till morning for me to make a survey of the island."

He got busy with the coconuts, repeating the process of cracking open the husk on each one. His mind began to focus on his task and he started to hum.

Sarah looked over at him, listening; she couldn't quite place the song, but it sounded familiar.

On the next verse, Chuck mindlessly added the lyrics;

Suddenly,

I'm not half the man I used to be,

There's a shadow hanging over me,

Oh, yesterday came suddenly.

Why she

Had to go I don't know, she wouldn't say.

I said,

Something wrong, now I long for yesterday.

Yesterday,

Love was such an easy game to play,

Now I need a place to hide away,

Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Why she

Had to go I don't know, she wouldn't say.

I said,

Something wrong, now I long for yesterday.

Yesterday,

Love was such an easy game to play,

Now I need a place to hide away,

Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm.

"Hey, Sarah, if you were stuck on a deserted island, what one, single, album would you want to have with you?" It was one of those party questions you asked when things got slow. If he had been at home with Morgan, he might have asked about sandwiches, but he was already too hungry.

He was about to smack another coconut, when he realized he hadn't gotten a response. As he lowered the rock, he looked over at Sarah and queried her, "Sarah?"

He heard a quiet "hmmmm?"

There was a brain tickle at the back of his head and he knew something was wrong, he wasn't sure what it was or how he knew, but he knew Sarah was crying. He dropped the rock, stood up and walked over to her, "Sarah?"

He sat down next to her, bringing his hand up to her back and rubbed.

She looked away to find her voice, "Yeah, what was that you asked?"

"I said, if you were stuck on a deserted island, ha ha, what one, single, album would you want to have with you?"

"I didn't know you could sing. You have a beautiful voice." She still hadn't heard the question or she chose to ignore it.

"Yeah, I'm an old shower singer." He furrowed his brow; he knew that wasn't the problem. He took his hand from her back and brought it around, reaching over to Sarah's face, gently palming her cheek and pulling her face towards him.

She quickly tried to wipe her face with her hand, but Chuck could see the streaks her tears had made down her face.

"Why are you crying?"

"I'm not." She was a little too insistent.

He gave her a face that said, 'Yeah, right.' "Tell me."

She sucked her lips in and brought her hand up to Chuck's face. She gave him a soft kiss and told him, "I have never heard someone sing with such pain." She started to cry again, "I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

Chuck was confused, "When did you hurt me?"

She just looked at him, with a sense of exasperation. No, of course he wouldn't think I did. "This past year." Sarah couldn't look at him and turned her head away.

"Oh." He scratched his head a moment and with a level of sadness he continued, "The past year was 'painful' as in unrequited love painful. Pitiful."

She held her tongue, It's not unrequited, you big idiot.

"Don't get me wrong, it hurts, but that isn't your fault." He was able to give her a smile, "It might hurt, but I'm happier with you in my life than without."

"Okay, enough of the 'lady feelings'. At least this song is funny."

Rocky Raccoon

He laughed at Sarah at 'raccoon' and she gave him a smack for it.

checked into his room
Only to find Gideon's bible
Rocky had come equipped with a gun
To shoot off the legs of his rival
His rival it seems had broken his dreams
By stealing the girl of his
fancy.

He leaned over and kissed Sarah at 'fancy' and she kissed him back.

Her name was Magil and she called herself Jill

He emphasized the name change he'd made from 'Lil' to 'Jill' and she rolled her eyes.

But everyone knew her as Nancy.
Now she and her man who called himself Dan
Were in the next room at the hoedown
Rocky burst in and grinning a grin
He said Danny boy this is a showdown
But Daniel was hot-he drew first and

Chuck slowed down as he sung the next word, shot

And Rocky collapsed in the corner.

The hairs on Chuck's neck went up and gave him the chills. He and Sarah looked at each other with the same uncomfortable look. For neither, was it because of the other and neither knew what it was that suddenly made them uncomfortable. "I think I'm going to stop singing for a while."

He shrugged the feeling off and got up, walking back over to the coconut tree and looked for a large, flat rock to cook on. Finding one he thought would do, he dragged it over towards the fire, close enough to heat up but far enough away that he could lay coconut shards on it without burning his fingers.

Chuck got a few more coconuts freed from their husks and brought them over to the fire. He opened two coconuts and handed one to Sarah, 'clinking' his against hers and smiled. "Raw or Fried?"

"Let's try fried."

He cracked open his 'drink' and laid the open pieces on the now hot rock 'stove' top, moving the pieces around as he saw a little browning appear at the edges. He took a piece off of the rock and hopped it a few times in hands, exclaiming, "hot hot hot". Ripping a shard of fried coconut flesh from the shell, he popped into his mouth. "Hmmmm, tastes like chicken," he deadpanned as he fished another shard off of the rock and hopped it to cool it. The shell came off a little easier from the meat and he handed to Sarah, "Its still hot, so careful."

"Okaaay, this is quite good." She looked towards the water, "I've been trying to think of ways to catch some fish, but have come up a bit empty. Without line, hooks or netting, it going to be a little difficult."

Chuck hot hopped another shard for her, reaching over to hand it to her, "Yeah, same here." He looked back towards the tree line, "I just thought we'd see something fly over making any long term survival needs on this island a moot point." He felt her hand graze his and he almost jumped. Crap, after everything we've been through, you'd think I be over that.

Sarah noticed and smirked.

He took her empty coconut and cracked it open, laying the shards on the 'stove'. "Let me collect some firewood for the fire. It should be cleaner fuel as we will want flames not smoke at night." He got up and walked over to the tree line and started picking up various lengths of bamboo that seemed to have fallen over during the storm. He knew it would be tough going to get at the still standing bamboo. Much of it seemed to have branches growing into its neighbor.

As his arms filled with material to burn, he would bring it to the fire and return to the tree line. On the last trip to the fire, he thought he'd heard a low, throaty call. And now he saw it. A bird. It was about the size of a chicken with the peak of a parrot, dark iridescent feathers and pink feet. The bird did not see him, as it was busy picking at the roots of the grass. Chuck took a step towards it. He bent down and picked a short length of thicker bamboo and took another step closer. He looked down at his feet and noticed that there were quite a few twigs for him to step on and alert the bird.

With each step, he landed his foot just above the ground and slowly pushed the debris to the side using the outside of his foot. There was just enough room for the ball of his foot. He was now five feet from the animal and it still had not spotted him.

Sarah missed his presence and turned around to find him and saw what he was doing. She held her breath, amazed at his stealthy approach towards the bird.

I have one shot. He brought the bamboo up over his head, swinging it down, as one would do with a golf club. He made solid contact with the bird's head. But the bird was still not dead and began to wobble away. Chuck was terrified that he had only hurt the bird and panicked and let out a 'meep'.

Sarah struggled to get to her feet and let out a whoop! "Yeah, Chuck, you got it!"

He brought the bamboo back over his head and took another swing and missed. His third try succeeded in putting the bird out of its misery. He bent down and lifted the bird up by the head and turned back towards Sarah carrying his trophy. He looked down and saw the bird's nest filled with three perfect multicolored eggs. He laid the bamboo down and grabbed the eggs with his now empty hand. Triumphantly, he returned to Sarah's side and dropped the bird at her feet.

"Og hunt."

Sarah stepped towards Chuck and put her good arm around his neck, pulling him down towards her and gave him a kiss. His mind swam and it was over before he realized it was happening. He then turned a bright red.

She mock gushed, "My hero." Looking down she saw the eggs he had. "Wow! Dinner and breakfast!"

"About that. I haven't thought about where we would sleep." He extricated himself from her arm and handed her the eggs. "And you can't keep doing that, Sarah. It muddles my thinking."

She smirked at him, "Does it, now?" What does he think he does to me all the time?

He walked off towards the bamboo stand, trying to get his mind off of Sarah and onto the work at hand. He selected three bamboo poles, as long as he was tall, and spied a vine growing towards the stand. He bent down and pulled at it after deciding that it was not poisonous.

Wrapping the vine around one end of the three poles together, he looked for more of the vines and found it in abundance. He moved a few steps past the fire, planted the bamboo poles into the sand in a tripod shape and tightened the vine. He picked the dead bird up from the ground and turned away from Sarah, snapping the head off. From the end of the vine, hanging down from the top of the bamboo tripod, he tied the bird's feet.

"Um, Sarah, so, ah, would you mind handing me one of those husks. I think I did the proverbial painting of one's self into a corner." He looked at the fire, the husks, even back at the chicken, but not at Sarah.

"Sure. What's it for?"

"I want to collect the blood. I killed an innocent animal for our survival. I'll be damned if any of it goes to waste."

Sarah brought the husk over and asked, "On the ground, I gather?" She gauged the center of the tripod and the set husk down. Something was wrong, he seemed quite nervous.

"Yeah." He let the bird dangle and watched as the blood drained out of the bird, splattering into the husk below.

She looked up at Chuck, "Are you okay?"

"No." His hands were shaking. "Um… I… aww… It's just that…" He didn't finish his sentence. He just ran his fingers through his hair and stared at the bird, puffing up his cheeks and then let out a sharp exhale.

She reached out to Chuck's arm, "You've never killed anything before, have you?"

"No." He felt silly about the whole thing. "Well, yeah. I've gone fishing. But that isn't the problem."

She smiled, "Okay. Then what is it?"

"You'll think I'm pathetic."

She shook her head in frustration, "You're very cute, but that won't save your ass if you don't 'fess up."

"Okay, okay! I just feel bad that it had to suffer because I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn."

"Is that it?" He wants to be a spy and he's worried about the feelings of a bird? She smirked. That's my Chuck.

"Yeah."

She gave him a warm smile, "Chuck, I don't think it's pathetic or silly. It's how you feel and that's fine." She grabbed his hand and looped her arm around his, "Take me for a walk. When we get back, we'll cook that bird of yours." She turned him away from their encampment, towards the east.

"Good idea. There isn't much else to do except collect more material for the signal fire." For a while, Chuck let himself pretend. Pretend that her cover feelings were real, it calmed him and right now he needed to stay calm to protect her.

...

They came around a point along the shore that curved inwards making a view of their camp impossible, except for the dark gray/black smoke rising up above the trees from the signal fire. As the wind pushed westward it broke the column of smoke, dissipating it.

Chuck slowed a bit and turned to look back towards their camp site. That's not good, a plane or ship would only see it if they were almost on top of it. How long would they continue to look for us? And what would Ellie be thinking? She'll be in full panic mode.

"That looks like a boat up there on the beach," Chuck pointed down the shoreline ahead of them. The sides had, what were at one time, multi-colored lines of paint along the strips of wood that made up the hull. The colors were quite faded from the sun. There was a short length of rope hanging from the front.

Spotting some white string along the shore, he bent down to pick it up. He snapped a portion between his hands and it didn't break. It was made of nylon and looked new. The ends were buried beneath the sand, so he began pulling on it and found an end after about ten feet. He started looping it around his forearm and kept walking as he unearthed the string. "Well, this might come in handy."

"Chuck."

He was still busy with the string and didn't look up, "Yeah?"

"Look over there." Sarah was pointing by the tree line about thirty feet away.

He looked up and saw what she was pointing to. "Would you hold on to this?" he asked her as he handed the loops of string to Sarah. He ran up to the object but slowed down when as he realized what it was; a complete human skeleton with scant remnants of clothing. The body was laying face down, a pair of dog tags around his neck.

He reached down and carefully opened the steel balled necklace and freed the tags. He spied a canteen and picked it up and shook it. Empty. But, the cap was still screwed in place. Chuck walked back to Sarah, reading the stamped wording aloud, "Michael Murphy, DOB 5/1/1911. He was a Marine Lieutenant and a pilot."

She took them from his proffered hands and read them again. "Casey will want to bring the remains back. Hold on to them." Sarah handed them back to Chuck.

He looped the necklace around his belt and stuffed the tags into his pocket. Chuck took the loops of string back from Sarah and continued looping. "His family never had closure." He probably died during World War II and no one ever found him. He kept that thought to himself. What were their chances? "Let's see if there's anything of value by the boat, then we'll head back."

They walked along in silence until they reached the boat. Most of the far side of the boat had fallen over, the wood rotted through from countless days in the sun. There was a serviceable bucket, most likely made of aluminum, with a simple rod going from side to side to serve as a handle. Several fishing hooks were still stuck into the bow of the small boat where the owner of the boat had stuck them.

There was a small piece of metal peeking up out of the sand. Chuck dug around it a bit with his finger and was able to get a hold on it and pulled. "Hey, a machete! Rusty, but the metal is quite thick." He looked at Sarah and asked, "Do you think I could get an edge on this?"

Sarah took the machete and examined it, "I'd heat it up in the fire first and then push it on your 'stove' edge forward. You'll never get a perfect edge, but it'll be sharp enough for those coconuts and bamboo shafts." She sighed, "Damn arm limits my usefulness to you."

He laughed, "Aw, consider it partial payback for everything you've done for me!"

She returned his smile but thought, To you, not for you. You never asked for any of this.

Folding the string loops, he started to wrap the string around the loops, forming a ball. He dropped it on the ground and carefully pulled out the hooks from the bow of the boat, putting them in the bucket. There was a knife lying inside the bow. When he picked it up, the handle fell off. "An old knife, but no handle." He tossed it along with the canteen into the bucket as well and handed it to Sarah. He tucked the machete under his arm and retrieved his ball of string and continued wrapping. "Dinner time?"

"I thought you would never ask."

Chuck snaked the string on the fingers of both hands, made fists and snapped them apart breaking the string. "I can come back tomorrow for the rest. There are a few things I need to do before it gets dark." He tossed the ball of string into the bucket and relieved Sarah of the burden. Holding out his hand to her, he offered, "Allow me to show you to your table."

She laced her fingers through his and grabbed tightly, "Lead the way." She idly rubbed the top of his hand with her thumb.

...

"That was very good, Chuck. I hope we can find some more of those parrot-chicken things."

"Yeah, it was. You know, that was one ugly bird." He laughed, "I hope this isn't a nuclear test island and there are other weird cat-dog creatures."

"As long as it isn't Jeffster like, I could live with it." She snorted at her own joke.

Chuck just looked at Sarah and his eyes went wide. He would be in love with her, just over her snort. He chased the thought away.

The sun was beginning to go down and a cooling breeze started to pick up when Chuck stood up, "I have to get some more fuel for the fire, before it gets dark. Oh. Ohohoh."

"What?"

"Let me go get those life preservers. We might find a use for those straps and they'll make better pillows than the sand."

He stood up and raced off towards the waterline and grabbed the preservers. One had already gotten caught in the water as a wave broke and pulled back out.

She smiled as she watched him chase down the preserver and come back running to her.

"Ha! That was close." He dropped the preservers down near Sarah and moved towards the tree line to gather more husks.

"Um, Chuck. I have a small problem."

"What's the matter?" He dropped his load by the fire. "Are you okay? Is it the arm?"

"No." She blushed. "I have to go to the bathroom."

"Okay." He wasn't sure what the problem was. As a guy, he never thought about it.

She was a bit exasperated, "Chuck. Think about it. I'm a girl. No toilet. One arm."

"Huh? I won't look. I promise." His eyes widened and he hung his head. "I see." He moved closer to her and held out his arm. "Would you feel more comfortable doing this in the water?"

"Yes. But, I'll need some help with my panties and skirt."

Oh crap! Don't freak out! The blush started below his neckline and rose up to his ears. 'Eyes front, soldier!' he could hear Casey's voice in his head. Chuck closed his eyes and nodded. This has to be worse for her, being helpless. An odd calmness came to him as he opened his eyes and looked at her; the redness faded.

He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. Getting on his knees, he gently moved his hands up her skirt feeling for the top of her panties, grabbed the elastic and pulled them down with a minimum of fussing letting them fall to her ankles.

Standing up, Chuck looked her in the eyes and held them as he reached down to the side of the skirt and opened the clasp and pulled the zipper down letting her skirt fall. "Ready?"

She bit her lip and then whispered, "Yes."

He led her out to the water and they stepped in. Giving her as much privacy as could be afforded, he stood to her side, held her hand and studied their campsite.

"Okay," she murmured.

They walked back to the shore and Chuck gulped. Putting everything back is going to be tougher. He let go of her hand when they got to her clothes and bent down to retrieve her skirt. He opened it so she could step into it and kept his eyes down at her feet.

Sarah placed her hand on his back for support and stepped into her skirt. Chuck lifted the skirt up and felt for and then closed the zipper and clasp. He grabbed her panties and held them open for her. Sliding them up was easier for him than it was removing them.

He stood up, gave her a huge smile and playfully advised her, "Mrs. Carmichael, it'll be getting dark soon. I'd like to check out that canteen and collect some water." They walked back towards the fire and he told her, "Sit." She took his hand and lowered herself to the sand.

She watched him as he walked back to the water's edge with the canteen in his hand. She laughed to herself, thinking, Even Bryce would have been a letch. She hung her head and held it with her hand and had a quiet cry of frustration. This is not fair to him. To us. She went back to her favorite pastime, Chuck watching.

He'd opened it and sniffed the opening. Satisfied, he submerged the canteen under the water and filled it, recapped it and shook it. He reopened the canteen and emptied it, shaking it as he returned back up the beach towards the shoreline.

As he passed Sarah he said, "Thank you, Lt. Murphy," lifted the canteen as if in a cheer and smiled.

He tried to fill the canteen with the first leaf and lost most of it. He took the leaf from the tree and formed a crude funnel into the canteen opening and went from tree to tree, carefully bending a leaf, slowly draining the water into the funnel, not losing another drop.

"Oh, wow, look at that sunset!" Chuck sat down besides Sarah, opened the canteen and handed it to her.

She took a few sips and handed it back to him. She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed, "Thank you, Chuck. For everything." Especially, for being you.

As the last of the sun disappeared, Sarah lay back on the sand and settled in, quickly falling into an almost sleep. Chuck stood up and picked up the life preservers and then lay down next to Sarah. "Lift your head a bit."

She complied and he slid a preserver under her head. "See you in the morning, sweetheart," she sleepily mumbled.

Chuck smiled; leaning on his elbow he looked down on her darkening face and brushed some of her hairs out of her face. He yanked his hand back when he realized what he was doing. What are you doing? He sat up and hugged his knees. When we get back, I have to get a life.

The breeze cooled them off from the hot day, but the warmth of the sand still radiated up. He rolled away from Sarah and raised himself up onto his feet and debated feeding the fire. They'd probably suspend S&R until daylight, and then he would get the fire going again, burning for maximum smoke.

Then he had a terrifying thought; what if others were searching for him, for the Intersect? He surveyed the beach, down to where they had first awakened on the beach. He had to figure out how he could defend Sarah and himself. They would have to survey the island, find whatever goodies there were to be had, possible weapons and possible hiding places.

He walked towards the water, laughing as he remembered Gilligan's Island. The professor made batteries using coconuts to power the radio. They even made a car out of bamboo. It was so funny when he was a kid, but it wasn't so funny now, was it Chuck old boy. First things first, he told himself, they'd have to find more fresh water and food. It was going to be a busy day tomorrow.