Hey its chap. 7. This one is a good one so be patient. It will get better and better.
Chapter 7: Switching to Survival mode
The Arwings canopy grew frost as Will and the others entered Fichina's atmosphere. There was a blizzard going on so they all stayed high up. Alana stayed to Wills right. Five minutes of flying and they were out of range of the blizzard. They dove and flattened out a couple of meters above the snowy ground. Will looked down at the radar and saw a fast moving object heading in from behind them.
"SCATTER!" Fox yelled. Before Will could act an explosion came from his left. The force of the explosion knocked him right into Alana breaking off his right wing and Alana lost her left wing and G-diffuser. They both spun out of control.
"Alana!" Will yelled trying to straighten out his Arwing. There was no answer and her ship disappeared behind a tall mountain. He braced for impacted as the ship came down hard on the soft snow.
"Will! Alana! Are you two ok?!" Foxes voice came through the COM with static.
"I'm fine." Will said.
"Hello. DAMN! We lost them. Krystal, Falco, form up and take them out. We will have to worry about Will and Alana later." Fox said as Will pressed the button to pop the shattered canopy open. The snow was deep and felt weird against his covered leg.
Well, the COM's out. What now? I have to find shelter… and Alana. He walked to the storage hatch on the side of the Arwing and grabbed they survival kit and his weapons. He found a knife too. I'll get the seat cover for warmth. He jumped back in the cockpit and started to cut the back of the seat, the result was a nice blanket that could hold one person. He jumped back out and wrapped himself in it as he grabbed his gear and walked towards the smoke to the east. He looked back at the Arwing and saw it was beyond repair. The nose was bent upward, both of the bottom G-Diffusers were missing, the right and left wings were gone, and the ship was quickly being covered in snow. I need to find Alana. He thought. He looked up and saw the raging battle above. The ships Fox and the others were fighting were familiar. Is that Star Wolf? Can fox see me? Will thought some more. He kept walking towards the rising smoke. He reached the mountain within about five minutes. As the source of the smoke came into view Will sprinted in pure will-power to find Alana. As he reached the destroyed Arwing and jumped onto the wing, Will stopped and looked at her through the smashed canopy window. Her head and right hand was oozing blood rapidly. The bleeding hand still held the yoke with the vice like grip she had from when Will saved her from the car crash. Will reached in and pressed the hatch button and lifted it as the hiss of compressed air sounded. He picked her up carefully and slipped, falling backward into the snow. He took out the medical kit and wrapped her hand and top of her head in sanitary wrappings. He picked her back up and put her near the thrusters to keep her warm. He jumped into the cockpit of the Arwing and did the same to her pilots seat as he did his. He came out with one more blanket and wrapped it around Alana.
Now to find shelter until the search party comes. He looked around and saw nothing to be used. He could pile snow around the thruster and make a warm igloo. He decided against it thinking it would take to long, and they needed a fire and there was no wood around. He took out the range finder he had and put it to his eyes. He spun around slowly and stopped north northwest. He found a couple of dead trees and what looked to be a hollowed out part at the bottom of a cliff facing them. Alana stirred and woke. She was shocked to see what was wrapped around her and the battle overhead. Will stood above her looking into the distance.
"What happened?" She asked.
"We got shot down and are now in a frozen hell hole." Will said with no frustration in his voice. "I found a possible place we can camp out though. Are you up to walking?" Will asked. Alana stood and the seat cover blanket fell. Will took a good look at the black jacket, blue jeans, and knee high boots she wore. The boots would come in handy. She wrapped herself in the seat cover again and walked to him. He picked up the med kit and bag full of food he found in Alana's Arwing. Alana looked at her hand which was wrapped in the medical fiber weave. They walked north west leaving the ship and maybe their lives behind.
"Is there any hope we could make it back?" Alana asked.
"It's unlikely." Will shivered at the thought. "But we could have a chance. I found a cave and some dead trees we can use as fire wood. The problem is food." Will seemed so calm.
"How are you not cold or even afraid of our lives?" Alana asked getting shoulder to shoulder with him.
"I am. I have just been in so many of these situations that I'm used to it. But they were all in hotter areas." Will said back, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "And I grew up in a very cold area so basically I can barely feel the cold." They walked in silence. They reached the cave and sat in the entrance of the cave. "We need wood. I'll be back, stay here and stay warm." Will said.
"You don't have anything to cut down wood." Alana said after him. Will reached back and tapped Avenger. "Come back safe!" Alana sat there, feeling abandoned for the first time. She curled up and laid her head in her arms.
-
Will aimed at a considerably large branch. He switched Avenger to double shot and fired. The branch fell with a thud and he dragged it to the next tree where he shot another branch. He then repeated the process and headed back to the cave. He stopped as a bird landed in the tree behind him. He twisted around trying not to move his feet knowing it would scare the bird away. He aimed and switched Avenger to single shot. As he aimed, he didn't notice a black silhouette behind him. He shot the bird and turned quickly to see a vixen covered in snow laying in the snow. He turned the person over and saw it was Kara. "What the hell are you doing here?" Will said under his breath as he lifted Kara and the wood on different shoulders. He looked and saw more smoke to the west. She must have gotten shot down, too. He walked back to the cave, slipping on hidden pockets of ice under the now two foot high snow now and then.
-
Alana sat in the same spot Will had left her in. She heard a noise come from deep in the cave. She curled tighter. She then heard the crunch of snow and Will came into view with someone in a black thermo suit on his shoulder.
"Hey look who I found." He said laying the person down. He wiped the snow from the persons face and She gasped as she realized she was staring at Kara.
"How did she get here? Is she ok?" She asked wrapping her in the seat cover she was using. Will put the wood down and snapped them in half to make a nice pile and shot it with his holstered pistol. A small flame flickered from the middle and it spread.
"She is fine. She's just tired." He said calmly, placing small branches in the now medium sized fire. "We just have to hold out until Fox decides to see if we lived or not, which will be soon I hope."
"How do you kn…" Alana was about to ask.
"I don't. People don't ever forget about others." Will said before she could finish. She nodded and put a hand on Kara's forehead. Another noise came from inside the cave. "What… was…that?" Will said slowly.
"I don't know." Alana said curling up tighter.
"Lets go check it out." Will got up and held Avenger at the ready. Alana also stood and grabbed one of Wills pistols. They rounded a corner and found a pack of wild animals. They looked as though they were normal wolfs, wild untamed wolfs. The wolves turned to look at Will and Alana and growled. Some of them moved from the circle they made and formed a wall between Will and the other animals. Will looked at where they were last in a circle and saw a young girl. She coughed and turned. She seemed frightened. One of the wolves walked to her and nudged her arm. Will pointed the gun down and patted Alana who had her attention on the wolves in front of them. He pointed to the girl and she seemed to know what to do immediately. She slowly put the gun down, Will did the same. The wall of wolves walked slowly towards them and circled them. One walked slowly towards them and stepped back as Will stuck out a hand. It then moved closer and sniffed his hand as though it were completely foreign and was about to kill it. It then moved closer as did the others and nudged them towards the girl as though they were kids wanting an adult to fix a broken toy. The girl curled up and moved closer to the wall.
"Hey we aren't going to do anything." Alana said soothingly "It's ok." She reached out and touched the girl, trying to get her to talk. One wolf growled and almost pounced as the girl turned to Alana and looked at her stunned.
"How did I get here?" The girl said, a tear rolled from her eye and froze on her cheek.
"That's what we wanted to know." Will said. The girl looked at him and bent her head down in sadness.
"Where do you live?" Alana said.
"I lived on Corneria. My parents…" she stopped and sobbed. "My parents are gone. We were going to Kew to start a new life. We were attacked here. He had to land but was shot down before we could. When I woke up…" The girl started to cry. "When I woke up they were dead." She stopped and leapt over to Will hugging him as she cried. Will held his arms up expecting to be knocked over, but then wrapped his arms around the girl to comfort her. The wolves growled and then walked over to the two. Alana scooted over to them and wrapped her arms around them both as the wolves laid around them.
"What's your name?" Alana asked.
"My names Penelo Krookshank." She said between sobs. "Or Penny for short."
-
Hours seemed to pass as the sun finally started to set. Will stared out into the orange half sun and snow reflecting the light. It was a beautiful sight. "Alana. Come look at this." Will waved her over. She knelt next to him and stared out into the endless snowy wasteland. Penny did the same and stared at it in awe.
"It is beautiful." Alana's eyes glistened in the orange light. Will couldn't take his eyes off hers. She stared back at him and cuddled on his lap. He stroked her side as he continued to stare at the sun as it sunk over the horizon. Penny curled up next to Will. Kara woke and sat up to see the three together.
"Well." She said holding the blanket closed. "This is unexpected. I never thought you two would like each other." She said. Will shot her a glare but it quickly faded to a smile as he returned his vision to the sunset. "Hey there." She said to the Penny. Day turned to night as Will fell asleep with Alana on his lap and Kara and Penny snuggled against his arms.
-
Alana lay in the snow, everything around Will was covered in blood. He ran to Alana and held her in his arms, blood oozing from her chest and mouth. She muttered something that Will couldn't hear and closed her eyes. She was dead.
"No." Will said silently. He got a tap on the cheek and he woke up to Alana's warm smile.
"What are ya dreaming about?" She asked.
"Nothing." He said. Alana walked to the fire where Kara sat, rocking back and forth. Penny lay still asleep against his arm.
"Calm down Kara. We're going to make it out of this." Alana tried to ensure her.
"No we're not. No ones coming for us." Kara said in a hurt and completely crazy voice. Will slowly lowered Pennies head to the floor and rolled his blanket into a pillow and put it under her head, He then walked over to Kara and patted her on the back.
"I'm heading out to try and find some food. Be right back." He said as he walked out favored rifle in hand. Alana scooted next to Kara and tried to comfort her as best as possible. He decided to try and find anything at his Arwing about a five minute walk away. He noticed something in the air, a small silhouette in the background of sky. He ignored it thinking it was a lost pilot. He continued his walk and came upon the now raided Arwing. "What the hell. Who raids a crashed ship in the middle of a blizzard?" He walked to the wing and climbed onto the side and looked inside. Almost the entire thing was torn apart. He looked at the front and saw an imprint five feet away. He walked to it and found his headset. "I didn't bring this with me." He said inspecting it. It was definitely his. He slid it on and found it was linked to a COM channel with Fox. "Hello?" He said cautiously.
"Will! Will is that you?!" Foxes voice came through the speaker. He spoke to someone in the background. "Steve! I found them!"
"Yeah it is. Me and Alana are fine, I found a little someone here." Will said giving him a hint.
"Kara? Is she ok?" Steve asked.
"She's having a mental breakdown but she's ok. Where are you?" He asked.
"Umm… I think I'm about five minutes away from your position in my shuttle."
"Awesome I'll tell the others. Mark my location and meet us here." Will said as he sprinted to the cave. He arrived at the cave maw agape as he saw Alana cower in a corner as Kara aimed one of his pistols at her head.
"Yeah. You think you can make fun of me. HUH!" Kara yelled.
"I wasn't I swear!" Alana replied as she moved her head away from the barrel. Will had Kara's weapon within a second and wrapped his arm around her neck.
"We're back to this, huh, Kara." Will said. He tossed her to the ground. "What the hell is going on here?"
"I'm so sorry!" Kara cried out tearing. "I'm so sorry! Everything's going to hell with me! I can't take it anymore! This is just too much!" She sat on the ground curled up in the fettle position and cried. They walked to her and picked her up. Kara wiped away her tears.
"Everything's going to be ok." Will reassured her. "Steve is here with a shuttle. We're leaving. It's ok." Will walked to Penny. "Penny." She sat up and looked at him. "I have good news. We're on our way out of here." With that Penny jumped up into his arms in pure happiness. They walked out of the cave and saw the shuttle come in and land about a half mile away. Will and Alana walked with Kara and Penny. Penny started to cry, this time they were tears of happiness.