Chapter 2
Claire woke up in total darkness.
She was slightly unaware of where she was, but she did remember the crash. Well, what she'd heard of it anyway. She didn't know where the others where, how badly the plane was damaged (although she was sure it was beyond repair) and how badly she and the others were damaged. She tried to move, but she had either broken all of her limbs or she was in shock, and she didn't feel broken. She tried again, and slowly, she lifted up into a sitting position. She could hear the soft pitter-patter of rain overhead, and a quiet breeze washing over. It was raining, that much was true, but Claire didn't feel cold. She was shaking though, but only because of the shock. After getting her brain into gear, she searched her pants pocket for her lighter, which Chris had given back to her. He had explained about Rodrigo, and how he died. And with all that had happened with Steve, she was extremely saddened that he had gone too.
But, as painful as it was to admit, that was then. Now she had to do everything she could to make sure that the others were OK. She flipped the lid open on the lighter and thumbed the wheel. Small orange sparks jumped in the lighter and a bright yellow flame burst out through the darkness. Claire winced at the sudden light and moved it around. The first unconscious other she found was Rebecca. Claire shook her until she woke up. Rebecca was a little frightened; this was notable from the tone in her voice. Claire quickly explained to her what had happened, and they searched for Chris. They found him a short way from where they had been laying, and were happy to find that he was Ok, and had only hit his head slightly. They all embraced at their survival, but soon remembered Barry. They couldn't get to him. How could they check if he was all right?
They all tried to smash the door down, but there was too much damage done. Besides it was too strong anyway. Chris turned to Claire and Rebecca.
"We've gotta find a way in there," he said. "You two go outside and see if there are any holes made from the crash. I'll stay in here and keep trying at the door. Maybe I can bust a hole big enough to get through with my handgun."
Claire looked back at him "But Chris, the door is reinforced. There's no way your handgun will be able to penetrate it."
"Well we've gotta try something. I'm not going to lose Barry, got that? I'm running out of options here, Claire."
Rebecca looked on as the siblings looked at each other in despair.
"Claire, Chris is right. We don't have any other solutions available to us right now. He may as well try."
Claire looked at Rebecca and, seeing that she was right, gave in to Chris's idea.
"Ok, we'll go outside and see what we can do," Rebecca said calmly. "And you just keep trying at the door."
Chris nodded, and Claire did the same. The two women searched for the door while Chris looked for his handgun, hoping that it hadn't fallen down some crack.
Claire and Rebecca found the mutilated handle sticking out from the door at an awkward angle. Claire grabbed it and twisted it as hard as she could. She then signaled to Rebecca to take the lighter. She gripped the handle with two hands and twisted even harder. The damaged metal pole finally gave way as it turned and with a metallic click opened the door.
Claire and Rebecca stepped outside. The hard rain hammered down on them and a cool breeze swept over them. They appeared to have crashed on some isolated island.
Great, Claire thought. Another island.
She and Rebecca looked around. Lots of tall dark trees towered over them, looking ghostly in the rains haze. The cool breeze washed over them, driving the rain directly into them. Rebecca turned to Claire.
"Let's go and check the front of the wreck."
Claire nodded and they both jogged to what appeared to be the front of the damaged plane. As Claire had expected, it was beyond repair.
At the front of the plane (it was fairly clear that this was the front as it was the only side which appeared to be in the soft mud) some of the trees had been taken down, and by the way they had landed it looked as if they may have left some gaping holes in the hard iron of the plane. Claire turned to Rebecca and told her what she was going to do "I'm going to go check around the other side. You stay here and see if you can find anything under some of the lighter debris."
Rebecca gave her the thumbs up and Claire turned to go round to the other side. As she passed the mangled door she could hear some muffled handgun shots from Chris. She shuddered slightly because it reminded her of all of the previous incidents which had happened to her and the others.
The other side of the plane was almost completely covered with broken trees. Claire sighed and walked forward. She looked around for an opening in the tangled tree heap, and climbed through it carefully. She hoped that it didn't all of a sudden decide to collapse on her. She used her limbo skills to weave through the thick trees until she could smell burning rubber. Claire wasn't all too brilliant at navigating by smell and it was way too dark to see anything, so she carried on with her blind search. The harsh gritty dirt from the trees bark flaked off into Claire's eyes and mouth. She had to stop every now and then to rub her eyes or spit out dark brown muck. The thick hot smell became much stronger, giving Claire a headache, and she could soon hear the silenced crackling of fire. She climbed about until the smell was unbearable and the sound was less muffled, and she could in fact see a soft orange haze not far in front of her. A comforting warmth hugged her and she knew, right there and then, she had found what she was looking for. She clambered towards it and what used to be comforting warmth was an intense heat. Soon the tangled labyrinth of dead trees ended, and Claire found herself looking at something of a nightmare.
It was the Pilots' section. A tremendous amount of metal had been ripped away in the crash, and fire was dancing on the trees and some of the planes controls. And there, in the pilots seat, was Barry's limp body. He was sprawled over the controls in an awkward position, his right hand twisted around his seat, his left still clutching the gear stick. He was bleeding and unconscious. Claire gasped and hurried to his aid. She rested her right hand on his left shoulder and shook him lightly, calling his name.
"Barry! Barry! Oh god, please answer me Barry!"
She moved her index and middle fingers under his chin and felt for his pulse. Only a few light beats trembled against Claire's fingers. She scanned the inside of the Pilots' section for any medical equipment, but if there were any before it had now been burned in the crash. Remembering that Rebecca was the medic for S.T.A.R.S Bravo Team, Claire climbed to her feet and cupped her hands over her mouth.
"Rebecca! Rebecca come here quickly!"
Claire woke up in total darkness.
She was slightly unaware of where she was, but she did remember the crash. Well, what she'd heard of it anyway. She didn't know where the others where, how badly the plane was damaged (although she was sure it was beyond repair) and how badly she and the others were damaged. She tried to move, but she had either broken all of her limbs or she was in shock, and she didn't feel broken. She tried again, and slowly, she lifted up into a sitting position. She could hear the soft pitter-patter of rain overhead, and a quiet breeze washing over. It was raining, that much was true, but Claire didn't feel cold. She was shaking though, but only because of the shock. After getting her brain into gear, she searched her pants pocket for her lighter, which Chris had given back to her. He had explained about Rodrigo, and how he died. And with all that had happened with Steve, she was extremely saddened that he had gone too.
But, as painful as it was to admit, that was then. Now she had to do everything she could to make sure that the others were OK. She flipped the lid open on the lighter and thumbed the wheel. Small orange sparks jumped in the lighter and a bright yellow flame burst out through the darkness. Claire winced at the sudden light and moved it around. The first unconscious other she found was Rebecca. Claire shook her until she woke up. Rebecca was a little frightened; this was notable from the tone in her voice. Claire quickly explained to her what had happened, and they searched for Chris. They found him a short way from where they had been laying, and were happy to find that he was Ok, and had only hit his head slightly. They all embraced at their survival, but soon remembered Barry. They couldn't get to him. How could they check if he was all right?
They all tried to smash the door down, but there was too much damage done. Besides it was too strong anyway. Chris turned to Claire and Rebecca.
"We've gotta find a way in there," he said. "You two go outside and see if there are any holes made from the crash. I'll stay in here and keep trying at the door. Maybe I can bust a hole big enough to get through with my handgun."
Claire looked back at him "But Chris, the door is reinforced. There's no way your handgun will be able to penetrate it."
"Well we've gotta try something. I'm not going to lose Barry, got that? I'm running out of options here, Claire."
Rebecca looked on as the siblings looked at each other in despair.
"Claire, Chris is right. We don't have any other solutions available to us right now. He may as well try."
Claire looked at Rebecca and, seeing that she was right, gave in to Chris's idea.
"Ok, we'll go outside and see what we can do," Rebecca said calmly. "And you just keep trying at the door."
Chris nodded, and Claire did the same. The two women searched for the door while Chris looked for his handgun, hoping that it hadn't fallen down some crack.
Claire and Rebecca found the mutilated handle sticking out from the door at an awkward angle. Claire grabbed it and twisted it as hard as she could. She then signaled to Rebecca to take the lighter. She gripped the handle with two hands and twisted even harder. The damaged metal pole finally gave way as it turned and with a metallic click opened the door.
Claire and Rebecca stepped outside. The hard rain hammered down on them and a cool breeze swept over them. They appeared to have crashed on some isolated island.
Great, Claire thought. Another island.
She and Rebecca looked around. Lots of tall dark trees towered over them, looking ghostly in the rains haze. The cool breeze washed over them, driving the rain directly into them. Rebecca turned to Claire.
"Let's go and check the front of the wreck."
Claire nodded and they both jogged to what appeared to be the front of the damaged plane. As Claire had expected, it was beyond repair.
At the front of the plane (it was fairly clear that this was the front as it was the only side which appeared to be in the soft mud) some of the trees had been taken down, and by the way they had landed it looked as if they may have left some gaping holes in the hard iron of the plane. Claire turned to Rebecca and told her what she was going to do "I'm going to go check around the other side. You stay here and see if you can find anything under some of the lighter debris."
Rebecca gave her the thumbs up and Claire turned to go round to the other side. As she passed the mangled door she could hear some muffled handgun shots from Chris. She shuddered slightly because it reminded her of all of the previous incidents which had happened to her and the others.
The other side of the plane was almost completely covered with broken trees. Claire sighed and walked forward. She looked around for an opening in the tangled tree heap, and climbed through it carefully. She hoped that it didn't all of a sudden decide to collapse on her. She used her limbo skills to weave through the thick trees until she could smell burning rubber. Claire wasn't all too brilliant at navigating by smell and it was way too dark to see anything, so she carried on with her blind search. The harsh gritty dirt from the trees bark flaked off into Claire's eyes and mouth. She had to stop every now and then to rub her eyes or spit out dark brown muck. The thick hot smell became much stronger, giving Claire a headache, and she could soon hear the silenced crackling of fire. She climbed about until the smell was unbearable and the sound was less muffled, and she could in fact see a soft orange haze not far in front of her. A comforting warmth hugged her and she knew, right there and then, she had found what she was looking for. She clambered towards it and what used to be comforting warmth was an intense heat. Soon the tangled labyrinth of dead trees ended, and Claire found herself looking at something of a nightmare.
It was the Pilots' section. A tremendous amount of metal had been ripped away in the crash, and fire was dancing on the trees and some of the planes controls. And there, in the pilots seat, was Barry's limp body. He was sprawled over the controls in an awkward position, his right hand twisted around his seat, his left still clutching the gear stick. He was bleeding and unconscious. Claire gasped and hurried to his aid. She rested her right hand on his left shoulder and shook him lightly, calling his name.
"Barry! Barry! Oh god, please answer me Barry!"
She moved her index and middle fingers under his chin and felt for his pulse. Only a few light beats trembled against Claire's fingers. She scanned the inside of the Pilots' section for any medical equipment, but if there were any before it had now been burned in the crash. Remembering that Rebecca was the medic for S.T.A.R.S Bravo Team, Claire climbed to her feet and cupped her hands over her mouth.
"Rebecca! Rebecca come here quickly!"