I literally just got a yes from the girl I asked to Prom ;DDD
Chapter 8: Traces of Civilization
"—And then the turbines would convert the bananas' rich stores of potassium into pure electricity, hundreds of times more effective than nuclear power, and much less dangerous, too!" Isabella felt her lips twitch upwards, and had the faintest urge to laugh at Phineas's nerdy fascination with physics and electricity. Not even she, knowledgeable ex-leader of the Fireside girls, understood even half of Phineas's technical jargon when he went into inventor mode. However, she couldn't bring herself to smile. She accepted Phineas's helping hand to climb over yet another upturned tube-tree, not looking him in the eye.
They had been in the same canyon for nearly 3 days now, and Isabella's morale was deteriorating. They had managed to find many more abnormally large crevices in the side of the valley—Phineas reasoned that the crevices must have been created by earthquakes—but not even sharing the sleeping bag with Phineas had lightened her mood. At night they had tried to build a fire with the tube-trees, but not a single branch could be found and the plasticy green surface of the trees was too hard and obviously not wood. At least their sleeping bag could withstand the cold; they probably wouldn't have survived the first night without it.
Two more earthquakes had surprised them during the previous night, the latter of which triggering an avalanche that made it nearly impossible to make it out of their crevice a few hours later. Isabella hadn't slept a wink and was surprised her fearful shaking hadn't kept up Phineas as well. Her initial concern had developed into what she convinced was seismophobia, or in short, a serious fear of earthquakes. After all, they had never experienced an earthquake in Danville before. Plus, she wasn't exactly at home in a foreign planet with potential alien species lurking around.
And on top of that, they had already used up half of their food. If they couldn't get help in another three days, they would have to go hungry.
Phineas, unlike Isabella, had quickly recovered from the previous day's bad luck, and was already back to exuberantly explaining his latest energy idea to her as if they weren't in mortal peril. He seemed completely oblivious to her serious anxiety and was happy, even jubilant.
"And what will you do with the leftover bananas?" she asked, more to fuel his optimism than to actually understand the concept of "banana-tricity".
"Oh!" he exclaimed, his blue eyes flashing vivaciously, "It's simple, really! We just truck the peels off to the compressing facility, then load them into…"
That'll keep him going for a while, Isabella thought mischieviously, sporting a slight grin as Phineas made some technical reference about pressurized bananas. But even though she tried to listen and show interest, she was much too on edge to catch more than a few words at a time.
Even as her mind wandered in and out of Phineas-land as it often did, Isabella couldn't force out her growing feeling of dread. She was trying to become light spirited and happy like her partner, perhaps even engage in the one-sided conversation, but fear was holding her back. She just wished they could be home. She had given up hope that Ferb and the others would find and rescue them, even if Phineas kept repeating it to her.
The weather wasn't helping. A brisk wind was had picked up, and with only one direction to go in such a narrow canyon, it seemed to double in strength and frigidity. Thus, Isabella had to fold her arms tightly around herself to stay warm. The sweat lightly beading on her forehead would sometimes freeze before she could use her coat to rub it off.
As they walked, the walls of the ravine they were in grew smaller and smaller until they drew away and opened up to a huge, new expanse of lightly blanketed snow. It was covered with more of the deep, ominous cracks zigzagging across the ground and she was trying not to imagine slimy green aliens creeping out of them to attack. Phineas seemed optimistic about the new change of scene, but Isabella felt strangely sick to her stomach at the prospect of being so targetable and helpless, even if they would be easier for rescuers to spot. She had grown used to the canyon's claustrophobic feeling and wasn't ready to give it up yet.
"Hey, are you doing okay?" Phineas suddenly asked out of the blue. Isabella's eyes snapped to his instinctively, but she kept biting her lip to cope with the stress. Tell him! she yelled at herself inwardly, but for some reason, perhaps because she wanted to show courage, she just nodded her head vaguely. She was still trying to be the fearless leader and couldn't let herself look weak. Especially in front of Phineas.
Over time, the clouds diminished into light wisps, but Isabella's distress only grew stronger. She was beginning to feel as if hundreds of eyes were watching her from just out of sight, and frequently spun around to face nothing. She glanced over at Phineas in hopes of some sort of comfort, but he was once again completely incognizant.
The wide ravines they were encountering now were only making it worse. Phineas wanted to peer down one and examine what lay below, but Isabella wouldn't go near it and pulled him away in fright. She could feel herself going slightly schizophrenic, remembering some of the symptoms from her health class, but couldn't bring herself to encroach upon Phineas's happy mood. So instead, she just followed him, pining to hold his warm hand.
Just as Phineas began explaining his favorite type of screw, Isabella heard something snap behind them—or had she imagined it?—and spun around breathlessly. Something was out to get her, and she knew it. Her breath was beginning to come out in heavy pants.
Phineas finally took notice of her less-than-happy behavior. He turned around, eyes filling with confusion at the sight of her petrified look. "Are you sure you're doing alright, Izzy?" he asked.
Isabella was trying to convince herself to answer him, but when she was almost ready his attention was again drawn away. "Is that smoke?!" he said eagerly, pointing far away into the sky.
Sure enough, an unnatural column of grey-white smoke was drifting up to their far left. The source was hidden beyond a set of rolling hills, but Isabella knew it couldn't be more than a few miles away. A part of her felt relieved and excited to have an obvious destination.
A puff of smoke wasn't enough to calm her attitude, however. Not when Isabella was seeing things in the corners of her eyes. A shadow passed over them, and she couldn't contain her cry of fear. She felt as though everything was slowly closing in on her, as if the huge plains around them were being folded in half like a book.
"It's only a cloud," Phineas commented nonchalantly, raising his eyebrow imperceptibly at her. Isabella took a deep breath in an effort to calm herself, trying to tell herself that this was not how an ex-Fireside girl should behave, but at that moment, the most minute of tremors gave the ground a tiny vibration.
"No, no no!" she whimpered, grabbing Phineas's hand and expecting the worst. A slightly stronger shake came next, but despite its subtlety, Isabella let out a scream of absolute terror and fell into a fetal position on the icy ground. She couldn't take any more earthquakes. She would rather die than endure through even one more.
No more shocks disturbed the craggy plains, but she continued trembling, whimpering uncontrollably. Suddenly the ground shattered, literally shattered, as a gaping crack opened up directly under Phineas's legs. He cried out as he slipped and fell into the crevice, sending a dagger into Isabella's heart. She screamed again as the ground beneath her tilted and she began to slide towards the crack. Then a purplish slime began bubbling out of the crack, inching closer and closer to her fear-struck form until—
Somebody was shaking her. "Isabella, what's wrong?!" Phineas shouted, in a quandary. She was back to the real world, still clutching herself on the firm, solid ground. Her hallucinations were going extreme.
Isabella wanted to give up and sink into the ground right then and there. She couldn't take any more of this drama, not alone.
"Are you shivering, are you too cold? Do you need to take a break? —Ooohh…" A look of sympathy swept over Phineas as he began to fathom her concerns. "Izzy, are you afraid? … Afraid of the earthquakes?" he asked her not sarcastically, not jestingly, but gently. She didn't reply, every muscle in her body still quivering with fright. He knelt down and reached out to touch her arm, looking sweetly concerned.
Isabella felt her lower lip wobbling and nodded weakly, moving forward into him. She fell apart in his strong embrace, her racing heartbeat failing to slow down. He pulled her up to stand but continued to hold her.
"I d-don't want to b-be here, Phin," Isabella got out, her voice cracking. She felt tears streaming down her face and barely stifled a panic-stricken sob. "I want to g-go home." She was very near her breaking point.
Phineas said nothing, but began to caress her trembling shoulders, and for a moment they just stood there. Isabella could barely keep her balance and leaned into him, but he held her up in his tight embrace. The small, sane part of her mind scrutinized her for wasting valuable time and for showing so much weakness, but she desperately needed the comfort.
With this simple act of kindness, Isabella could feel all her doubt and worry draining away into the snow. His warm friendship and love was replacing the coldness and fear that had been there before. With his protection, she felt as though a weight was being lifted from her shoulders.
Several moments later, Isabella reluctantly pulled away, having finally regained some of her composure. She began to straighten her disheveled hair and, mustering up all the emotional strength she had, gave Phineas the tiniest, yet most genuine smile of gratitude.
"Better?" he asked simply. She nodded again and blinked once, her eyes glued to his.
"Has you been like this all morning?" he inquired again, and she let out a feeble "Mhmm" in response. Phineas looked crestfallen. "Please tell me if something's bothering you," he pleaded, "I'm not very good at noticing some things."
He paused for a moment, trying to be sincere. "We can talk about it, that's what I'm here for. I'm not going to laugh at you, Izzy, it's really okay." His cheeks reddened slightly, and it took a few seconds for him to continue. "I know this is really corny, but … Being together with you has made me realize that... I can't express how much I care about you, and if something were to happen—"
He broke off, apparently embarrassed, but Isabella was touched. She felt a tear welling up in her eye, but didn't bother to wipe it away. Without so much as a single thought going through her brain, she leaned up on her tippy-toes and gave him soft kiss on the cheek.
"I hope you know that I love you, Phineas," Isabella told him, feeling the tear roll down her face. She wasn't trying to reveal her ever-present crush to him, wasn't confessing her undying love for him at long last. She simply wanted him to know, at that moment, how much she appreciated his heartwarming friendship.
Phineas hugged her again, and she melted into his sturdy frame. "I love you more," he whispered endearingly, making the butterflies in her stomach positively burst with elation.
The aura had changed to that of serenity. Isabella no longer felt a sliver of worry, but was instead severely struggling not to kiss Phineas right then and there. A real kiss. Even the weather seemed to be cooperating, with huge, perfect snowflakes beginning to fall all around them. I wouldn't care if we got home, she thought impetuously, If I could stay with Phineas like this forever.
But alas, forever turned out to be only a few minutes. Whilst enjoying her best friend's comfort, Isabella began to hear a faint buzzing noise. She lifted her head from his warm chest, looking for a fly to swat, only to remember that no insects lived here. The buzzing grew continually louder, and she disentangled herself from Phineas to find its origin.
Phineas saw it first, and nudged her to look. Isabella's jaw fell open.
Far to their right, two jet-black snowmobiles were speeding across the snowy plains, spewing up long tails of snow behind them. They looked huge even from a distance, and could definitely carry two, if not three people each.
The two watched in petrified silence as the two snowmobiles continued skiing over the snow, and away … from … them. Finally breaking out of their trance, they turned their heads to look wide eyed at each other, and in an unspoken agreement, knew what to do.
"Hey! HEY! Over here! HELP!"
Phineas and Isabella bolted towards the distant machines, waving their arms and yelling wildly to get attention. They ripped off their makeshift backpacks as they ran, and in a moment, were sprinting as fast as possible through the snow, shouting all the while. They made little effort to avoid the crevices in the ground, even jumping a rather small one.
The pair ran and ran, trying to get the riders' attention for nearly a full minute, but despite their efforts, the snowmobiles got smaller and smaller, and slowly faded into the growing snowfall. They kept chasing, but it was for nothing.
Isabella slowly stopped running and buckled over, gasping for breath, but still desperately searching for the black objects.
"Help..." she faintly called one last time, her shoulders slumping in defeat. They had missed their golden opportunity. Now she were even more exhausted, on top of cold, hungry, and—aside from the couple's previous moment—depressed. Isabella let out a small whimper and stared at her pathetic snow-covered boots.
"Hey," Phineas started, trying to cheer her up. But he couldn't think of anything else to say; he probably wasn't feeling any better.
"...At least we know where their camp is," he finally muttered in an attempt to make her feel better. It didn't work.
Isabella looked up to eye him angrily, then turned to walk back to retrieve their meager belongings. The mutual happiness and elation had dissipated, replaced with disappointment. Phineas sighed and hurried to catch up to her. He was always trying to be happy and optimistic, but that was not going to work this time.
They had only gone a few feet, however, when Isabella sensed something. Looking back once more, she saw … nothing.
And then, out of the snow, came the two snowmobiles, traveling directly towards them! Isabella nearly shrieked with excitement, causing Phineas to turn around as well.
"They're coming! We're getting saved!" she gasped in relief. She literally couldn't believe it. She had gone angry and defeated in one second to shocked, ecstatic, and once again, nearly emotional in the next. Phineas was excited too, and let out a shout and fist-pump of victory. They were going home.
Isabella watched as the objects speedily approached them from afar, her eyes brimming with even more tears, then turned back to Phineas, ready to hug him, even kiss him. But Phineas's expression of excitement was gone.
"What's wro-"
"Shh." he interrupted abruptly, startling her. He was again staring at their rescuers, listening. Isn't he overjoyed too? she thought. But surely there had to be a reason for him behaving like that, so Isabella listened as well.
Along with a steadily increasing hum of the two motors was a succession of little patters. No, not patters, more like cracks. And then they stopped. One of the engines is probably malfunctioning, Isabella thought, Good thing Phineas is here to fix it.
"Something's not right," he said slowly, staring fixedly at the snowmobiles. Isabella was about to raise an eyebrow at him when the cracks started again, and she was interrupted by a slightly louder whizz and pop.
Isabella heard a sharp gasp, and then Phineas slammed into her, knocking them onto the cracked dirt. His torso battered into her side painfully before he crawled off, pressing his face against the blanket of snow.
"What are you-"
"They're shooting at us!" he whispered furiously, gritting his teeth in concentration.
"They're wha-"
"Be quiet!" he snapped, listening intently. Isabella recoiled, as Phineas never barked at her like that. But as they lay, Isabella gasping in pain from her bruised waist, the gravity of Phineas's claim began to crash down on her. They were getting shot at? Their rescuers were trying to kill them?
It suddenly occurred to Isabella that the noises and cracks they had been hearing weren't from a sputtering engine, but gunshots. Panic shot through her veins, but Phineas sensed that she was about to hyperventilate and grabbed her.
'No!" he whispered maliciously, his eyes full of temerity. "Get a grip Isabella, we have to run!" He stole a glance up and saw that the enemy snowmobiles had stopped moving. They were backtracking to avoid a wide ravine that cut across their path, but would be around in another minute to get them.
"Now! Run, RUN!" Phineas yelled, pulling her up harshly and booking it away. Isabella sprinted after him, willing herself more energy even though she had depleted most of it. She shot a glance back at their pursuers and saw that they were gaining quickly, having found a way past the last ravine. She felt a bullet whizz by her ear as her muscles screaming in protest. But there was nowhere to run. They were in the middle of a several mile-wide field, with no escape routes or cover.
Isabella looked back once more, and saw that the snowmobiles were nearly upon them. She could now see another man on each, reloading terrifyingly big guns. They were going to die. These people were going to murder them for absolutely no reason—
Suddenly, Isabella heard a strangled cry of terror, and looked forward to see Phineas disappearing from sight into the ground.
Isabella's horror was paramount. "No!" she screamed, and without another thought, she dived in after him and plummeted into a horrendously deep, dark ravine.
Cliffhangers. Love 'em, don't ya?! These chapters keep getting longer...
Please review if you enjoyed it, I always respond :)
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~Word of the Week~
Paramount • Pear + a + mount• Adjective
- supreme; more important than anything else.
Something paramount is something of utmost importance or something to the highest degree. This word can also be used to describe leadership positions. For example, a president of presidents could be referred to as the paramount president. From the story: "Isabella's horror was paramount." She had just seen Phineas falling into a ravine, and because him dying was one of the scariest things she could imagine, her horror was paramount, or the most extreme possible.
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Guest Review Responses:
Disney Channel: I have one a disclaimer at the beginning and it explicitly states that it applies to every chapter in the story, so I think I'm good ;)
