So-o-o-o, I'm stuck in this hell-hole for 10 more days and the power goes out a lot and then the wifi dies and it makes me so upset! Ugh.. ok, I'm done ranting. Please read on the next chapter, in which you will (hopefully) be in suspense of!

Enjoy.

~x~

He couldn't help it. With every step came a burst of pain, both physically and mentally. His leg had began to hurt again, in quick, sharp, stabs of pain that made him wince and gasp. His mind kept whirling back to the plane crash, and if his dad was ok. Where were the rest of the passengers? Did they survive? Was he alone on this island? Did Dave know his plane had crashed?

He could imagine the blonde sitting on his couch, his crimson eyes shining with tears as he stared at the TV, watching the report of the plane crash with horrified eyes, wishing he hadn't been so—

John stopped himself when he realized he was crying. Hot tears cascaded down his face as he collapsed in a heap. If he kept losing himself like this, he was never going to make it off this island alive. He had a small hope that maybe someone in the crash made it back to the mainland and called for help, and there was a search and rescue team out right this minute.

But he didn't even know where he was, or how far away from the States he was. All he knew was this island might lead to Hawaii possible, because he could see land far off in the distance, a couple of miles away, maybe. He took a deep breath, pushing these thoughts away, and began to walk again.

One foot first, then the next. Step, step, step. One foot in front, then the next. Step, step, step. He concentrated and walked to a constant beat, his fee moving faster and faster to keep up with the mental rhythm he was stepping to.

It reminded him of Dave's raps; they were so weird yet so familiar. He could imagine the blonde scowling and demanding him to stop laughing, but they were both smiling. John held on to that memory like a lifeline, as if that memory was the only thing moving him forward.

He saw a shadow on the sand, and then another and another, all wavy and distorted thanks to the uneven ground.

He craned his neck back, trying not to wince at the stiffness, and was immediately in awe of the towering green and brown trees he was staring at. They were a mix of palm trees and another spiky tree, which looked very dangerous.

John squinted his blue eyes and peered through the jungle. He could make out more tree trunk shapes. Birdcalls and animal growls echoed somewhere deep past the trees. It wasn't really that appealing of a suggestion at all, but there was no other option.

He steeled himself, his hands shaking as he covered up his leg wound with more ripped cloth; it was still bleeding, and the dried blood was starting to flake off. He wrinkled his nose in disgust, pinching the wound slightly in order to stop the flow. The gash wasn't long, just deep, almost to the bone. The metal shards pushed deeper and deeper with every step, but he was still too afraid to pull them out.

He bit his lip and pressed the cloth against the injury, applying more pressure in hopes of stopping the bleeding, but it only stemmed the flow a little.

~x~

"Bro. I need a ride." Dave said, startling the blonde who was sitting on the couch, messing with his puppets.

"To where exactly?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow at his younger brother, focus not entirely on him.

"The airport," Dave replied, tapping his foot to demonstrate his impatience. This got his attention; the oldest Strider pushed his shades down and gave Dave a disbelieving look.

"Yeah, as if. Look, the airport is at least 3 hours away, without traffic. There's no way I can-"

"What if it was Jake?" Dave interrupted, playing his last and desperate card. Bro stopped, stunned, squeezing his eyes shut and taking deep breaths.

"Don't you…dare mention him, or—" he looked like he was on the verge of breaking down.

"I'd drop everything for you if it was Jake and you know that!" Dave yelled.

"…get in the car." Bro answered, standing up and grabbing the keys from the table. Dave felt a bit guilty, as he thought he could see a few tears in his brother's eyes, but he pushed the feeling down and went outside. Jade was waiting for him, green eyes wide in worry, and he gave her a slight smile.

"C'mon," he told her, opening the door and letting her slide in. He did the same, and appreciated when Bro didn't give her a second glance. He started up the car, adjusted the mirror, and backed out, almost hitting the curb. Clearly, his mind was somewhere else.

Two hours later, they were approaching the exit to the airport. It wasn't that much of a rush, but all the taxis and huge bus/coaches made it difficult to navigate through the streets and find parking. Bro finally found a space in the parking structure, on the 4th level. He turned off the ignition and twisted around so he could face Dave and Jade in the back.

"Listen kids. I'm going to wait here while you do whatever you have to. You have an hour before I flip out and come after you, here me?" Bro instructed fiercely. Dave was already climbing out of the car his thoughts on exactly where he was going to go first. Jade quickly followed him, her long brown hair almost getting caught in the door when Bro reached over and slammed it shut.

The two quickly walked across the road, dodging buses and angry drivers in order to reach the solid gray platform. Jade almost slipped but grabbed onto Dave's blue hoodie. It was a bit small and tight on him, as if it belonged to someone with a smaller and more slender build. The brunette didn't need any more info to know ho it belonged too. She didn't say anything about it though.

They approached the airport's main glass doors and went inside; they walked down the long hallways until they were stopped

"This way?" an uncertain look passed over Dave's face as he stared at two signs over two different doors that led inside the airport. One was for people boarding, and the other was for people with extra luggage. Jade bit her lip before pointing to the boarding sign. They both ducked inside, realized the security guard was eyeing them suspicious, and tried to blend in with the crowd.

That plan went wrong very fast.

~x~

John's first thought was that it was hot. Really, really hot. He limped slowly past the first couple of trees, ducking in order to avoid the giant fronds, and squinted through the hazy light. Suddenly everything came into focus. John let out a little gasp and lurched backwards, trying not to make any sounds. The creature—he couldn't tell what it was—was the size of a large dog. It had sharp fangs, pointed ears, and resembled a wolf by its maw. It was black and sleek, with huge glowing yellow eyes. it sniffed and let out a snarl before darting off between the trees again.

John let out a shaky breath and moved away from the tree, striding forward into the clearing and spinning around. He could hear birdcalls, growls, and other various sounds. He began to walk again, stepping over broken branches and jumping over the giant red ants crawling all over the ground.

He didn't know exactly how to map out this jungle he was in, but decided to mark every 4th tree he passed with an X. reaching down and grabbing a stone with a sharp edge, he dug it into the base of the nearest tree to him. The bark was sticky and sweet-smelling, kind of like vanilla. John inhaled it, taking great gulps of the sweet air as he carved a crude X into the tree. He steppe back reluctantly, still wanting to smell the vanilla, before turning around.

He had only taken a few steps when he heard that inhuman snarl again. He froze in place, his breath immediately coming in short rasps, and very, very slowly, turned to face that same creature again.

This time, its yellow eyes were locked on him; its fangs dripped hot saliva and it let out a loud growl. The hairs on John's arms and legs stood straight up; shaking, he took a step back, then whirled around and ran as fast as he could. His leg slowed him down though, and he could hear the snarling as the animal crashed through the jungle behind him.

John could hear a rushing sound, like water over rocks, and he ran faster, ignoring the burning pain in his leg, thinking if he made it to the water source he could escape the creature chasing him…

But suddenly there was something wrong, very wrong. He felt light headed and weak, and stumbled over his own feet and fell. He gasped, feeling as if his lungs were slowly filling with acid gas. He couldn't breath, he couldn't move, all he could do was let himself roll down the hill he was on. He hit rocks and branches and collided with a tree. His vision was blurred and he felt lethargic and sleepy. For a second, he forgot who we was and what he was doing, and closed his eyes.

No, John! Stay awake!

His eyes flew open as a familiar voice echoed in his brain. He was still rolling, and the rushing sound was getting louder, but all his concentration was on Dave's voice.

Stay awake you dork. You have to get back to me, ok?
His mind was covered with a hazy fog as he tried to slow himself down. But it was no use, the rushing of water was suddenly loud in his ears, and growls seemed to erupt right next to his face, and he could feel the hot saliva slowly dripping on his face, and then John fell into the abyss of darkness, smelling sickenly-sweet vanilla.

Sorry this took so long guys.

Please review and tell me what you think?

~samx