Alright, here's chapter 7! :)
Chapter 7: Six Days Alone
Day 8
It had been six days since Charlene burned down the jungle. Six days of crying. Six days of wallowing in her mistake. Six days of mourning over her four lost friends.
The fire had finally stopped early yesterday morning, but the smoke still lingered.
Charlene sat on the beach and stared out at the waves. She would have cried, but all of her tears were gone.
All Charlene had energy to do was stare out at the waves. The tide was coming in. The waves were becoming more vicious and relentless, washing the sand away after breaking it down. Charlene knew she deserved such a fate, to be dragged away after beaten for her mistakes.
Except the sand didn't do anything to the waves, Charlene reminded herself. It's innocent. I'm not.
Charlene continued to stare at the waves. After hours upon hours of doing so, like she had done for six days straight, a small black dot appeared on the horizon.
At first, Charlene figured it was her eyes betraying her. She had been sitting in the brutal heat for six days with no protection—no shade or sunscreen. She figured she was just hallucinating.
But the dot grew bigger.
Charlene scrambled to her feet. It wasn't a dot, it was a helicopter. And it was headed toward her.
Charlene couldn't help but smile. She jumped up and down, waving at the helicopter, shouting for rescue.
The helicopter flew closer and hovered above her. A rope ladder was thrown overboard and a soldier began to climb down.
He got to the bottom and jumped onto the sand. Charlene ran and tackled him in a hug.
"Oh I'm so glad you're here! Please take me away from this evil place! I want to go home!"
Charlene's tears suddenly reappeared, staining the man's uniform.
The soldier held her close as she cried for a few seconds but then pulled her back.
"Where are the others? We heard there were five here."
It was hard for them to hear each other with the helicopter looming over them.
"I…I don't know…I'm all alone."
The soldier gave her a weak smile. "Don't you worry, miss, we'll find them. How about we get you back into the 'copter?"
Charlene glanced back at what was left of the shelter. She took a deep breath. She knew they wouldn't find Maybeck or Philby, but there was hope for Finn and Willa.
She turned back to the soldier and held back tears. She nodded and the soldier led her over to the rope ladder.
Once she got into the rope ladder, she saw two more soldiers. One was the pilot and the other was sitting in the back. The one sitting in the back was a female who immediately gave her a water bottle. She pulled out a clipboard and asked Charlene a few questions.
"What's your name sweetie?"
"C-Charlene Turner."
The soldier checked off something on her clipboard. "Alright, Charlene, my name is Elizabeth. The pilot is James and the soldier who got you is Michael. We're going to fly over the beach and see if we see any of your friends before heading back to the boat. Okay?"
Charlene nodded.
"Do you need something to eat?"
Charlene nodded again, this time much faster-like a child who was just asked if she wanted candy.
Elizabeth searched through her bag as James moved the helicopter down the beach. Elizabeth found a granola bar and handed it to Charlene, who inhaled it.
"Do you have any aloe?" Charlene asked Elizabeth. "My skin's on fire."
Charlene hated being so needy, but she had been alone for six days with barely any food. She couldn't help it.
Elizabeth searched the bag again, but this time she didn't find what Charlene had asked for.
"No sweetie, but we'll have some on the boat. We'll get you some when we get there, okay?"
Charlene nodded.
They were on the chopper for another hour. Michael came back and asked her questions about her health. Did she have any broken bones? Did she get injured at all while on the island? How much had she eaten over the eight days on the island?
Michael even pulled out a small flashlight and waved it in front of her face, checking her eyesight.
After the questions were over, Charlene stared out the window. All she saw was a burned down jungle and beach.
They flew past the half of the plane that was plunged into the sandbar. Charlene's heart sunk lower in her chest. Maybeck and Philby were dead because of her. Finn and Willa were nowhere to be found…
James slowed the helicopter, bringing her out of her thoughts.
"Michael," James called back. "There's two on the beach."
Michael nodded and started to throw the rope ladder out of the window, repeating the same exercise that he had when rescuing Charlene.
Charlene moved to the other side of the helicopter and looked down to see two of her friends waving at the helicopter.
Charlene waved back, a huge smile on her face. She thought they were dead, but here they were right below her.
There was hope for them yet. Michael hurried down the rope ladder toward them.
Day 3
Finn woke up and accidentally knocked Willa off of his shoulder.
They both sat there for a few seconds, taking in the severity of their situation. Based off of the sun, Finn figured it was at least noon.
Willa stood up. She turned her head behind her, as if searching for something, and gasped.
"Finn…"
She turned around, her eyes wide with fear.
"We've got to run."
"What?"
"RUN!"
She took off past him, back down the mountain. Finn looked where she had been looking and saw trees being consumed by a giant forest fire. Or is it a jungle fire?
They had at least ten seconds before it reached them. Finn was not determined to stand there and time it, though.
Finn took off in the direction that Willa had gone in.
Down the mountain they ran, jumping over fallen trees, ducking under low branches, swatting away the bugs.
They ran for a long time, but Finn never looked back. They kept running and running and running.
Until suddenly they ran out onto a beach.
Finn saw Willa collapse on the sand, breathing heavily. Finn took a deep breath and did the same.
The sand felt so good compared to the hard jungle soil. The wind along the beach carried the smell of the ocean. Finn felt like he was in heaven.
He glanced back at the jungle and saw that the jungle was erupting in flames. Being on the beach, he knew they were safe.
Finn laid his head back down and slept.
"I told you this was going to work," Jess said to Amanda.
Finn propped himself up on his elbows. "What's going on?"
He searched his surroundings and saw that he was in Magic Kingdom. To say he was confused was an understatement.
"We crossed you over," Jess stated as if it was obvious. She rolled her eyes and looked at Amanda. "Your boyfriend's an idiot."
"Shut up Jess." Amanda kneeled next to Finn and helped him sit up. "Do you know where your plane's crashed?"
"Uh…an island?"
"Anything specific about the island that can help us find it?"
"There's a huge mountain…but otherwise no."
"How far into the plane ride were you when you crashed?" Jess asked.
"Uh…seven hours?"
"Okay," the sisters exchanged a look. Jess nodded and stood up, leaving the couple alone.
"Finn, sweetie, how are the others?"
"Willa's with me and she's fine…but I have no clue where the rest are. The plane broke in half before we crashed."
He saw Amanda hold back tears. Finn wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. He could smell her perfume, a smell he was determined to keep in his memory until he got back to her.
"We're going to find you," Amanda reminded him. "They haven't stopped looking yet."
"It'll all be okay, Amanda." He kissed her on the cheek. "We'll be back before you know it."
Amanda let go of him and stood up. She offered a hand to help him up, which he took. He winced in pain as he stood.
"What's wrong Finn?"
"I think I broke my leg. Willa said she fixed it, but we just ran from a fire, so…I guess it's re-broken."
"WHAT?"
Finn wrapped his arms around her, mostly for balance. "I'm fine, Amanda."
Amanda nodded, but he knew she wasn't convinced. "I miss you, Finn. Please make it back alive."
"I told you I'd come back in a week, right? It's only been three days. Somebody needs to calm down." He winked at her in a playful way, but she obviously wasn't in the joking mood.
Amanda gave him one quick kiss before Jess came back over.
"We've got to cross back over. We've got work to do." Jess turned to Finn. "Try to stay on a beach. It's easier to spot people on a beach."
Finn nodded and gave both Amanda and Jess a quick hug.
"Four days at the most," he whispered into Amanda's ear.
Jess pressed the button the fob and he crossed back over.
Finn woke up and immediately wanted to be back in Orlando.
At least they're still searching for us, Finn concluded.
Finn saw Willa sitting at the edge of the water, head in her hands, probably crying again.
Finn limped over to her, wincing at every step. He plopped himself down next to her.
"What's up Willa?"
She didn't answer. She pointed out to the ocean and Finn hesitated before following her line of sight.
The other half of the plane was sticking out of a sandbar. At least half of the plane was underwater.
"They're gone," Willa whispered.
For the first time in three days, Finn actually believed it.
Hmm...so who do you think gets saved right after Charlene? Are Maybeck and Philby even alive? Who's the girl who took Philby capture?
Find out next chapter! Please review! I'll have the next one up asap! Have a lovely weekend!
