A/N: I finally got around to drawing a picture of Jason...granted it was
just a quick sketch that I didn't even bother to colour, but...at least
you'll get the idea of what he's supposed to look like ^__^ Stupid
fanfiction.net won't let me post the URL of it in here . So I'm putting
the URL as my homepage on my author info page, so if you'd like to see it,
head over there. Um...this picture is particularly poorly drawn...Someday
I'll actually draw a good picture of him, coloured and everything, along
with all the other IAHB characters ^^;; Erm, but anyway, enjoy Chapter
Four.
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"Well, what do we do now?" Jamie kicked a pile of dead leaves frustratedly. "Lost in the woods...this was NOT how I wanted to spend my Thanksgiving vacation."
"No kidding," Hank agreed. "Do you think we could try calling someone? My cell's dead...I knew I should have recharged it before we left for the airport, but of course I didn't expect something like this to happen..."
"Cell phones!" The other four teens eagerly pulled out theirs and turned them on...but they only beeped once and shut back off again.
"I don't believe this," Tyler said faintly. "No signal. Satellite not found. This is perfect." He picked up a branch and angrilly snapped it in half over his knee. "This is fucking perfect!"
"I knew there was a reason why I shouldn't have gotten Sprint," Jamie shook his head disgustedly.
Caitie ran nervous fingers through her dark hair. "Now what can we do? Just sit here and wait for the mosquitos to pick us clean?"
"Well...let's go over what we know so far-" Jason suggested.
"But if we already know it, why do we need to go over it again?"
Ignoring Caitie's comment, he continued, "We were in a plane wreck, we're in some forest, probably in the Appalacian Mountains, cut off from all civilization, no supplies, and it doesn't look like we'll be making it out of here alive."
"Wow, aren't you the optomist?" she smiled wryly.
He shrugged. "Well, it's true."
"If only there was some other phone we could use..." Jamie wondered alloud. "Like in the airplane or something..."
"I'm not going back in there," Tyler quickly refused. Images of Val's cold body, both her tanned skin and blonde hair flecked with crimson blood, flooded back into his mind, and he turned bitterly away from his friends. He couldn't let them see the pain he (and most likely his other three friends) felt inside. They were already in a stressful enough situation, he couldn't crack now. And besides, the last thing he wanted to do was cry in front of Jason.
Hank immediately understood (as he usually did), and jumped to his rescue. "It's too risky anyway. If the back engines exploded, the front could too. What about those few houses we flew over?"
"That's not a bad idea," Jamie brightened considerably. "There's bound to be one near here, and they'd absolutely have to have a phone..."
"It's worth a try," Caitie sighed dejectedly. "Which way do we go?"
"Um...pick a direction," Jason shrugged. "We'll eventually have to end up somewhere, right? A road or stream or something we can follow that can lead us to someplace of some signifigance."
"True...well...it's a plan..." The others half-heartedly agreed. As unstable as it sounded, it beat anything else they had come up with so far, and it was certainly better than just sitting back and waiting for death.
Taking reluctant deep breaths, the meager band of teenagers began their ascent into the woods.
* * * * * * * *
Meanwhile...
* * * * * * * *
A faint moan escaped Val's throat. The first thing she woke up to was a head-splitting pain which throbbed with such intensity at first she thought her skull had been cracked open. She hadn't even opened her eyes yet and already she wasn't sure if she wanted to. But the incesent twittering of birds and insects finally got to her and she knew she would eventually have to get up.
Steadying herself on the arms of her chair, she finally opened her eyes and looked around. At first, her surroundings seemed unfamiliar. And airplane? Of course, an airplane...that radio contest...the crash...She sat up quickly, which caused a massive room spin. Her hand immediately shot up to the burning cut above her forehead, then back down again as her touch sent millions of sharp, tiny needles pricking all over her tender skin. Her hand felt sticky, and, upon closer inspection, she wasn't surprised to find it covered in blood. Grimacing at the thought of ruining a perfectly good sweater, she reluctantly used her sleeve to wipe the blood off her face. Okay, had to focus here. What about the others?
Her eyes quickly jumped to Tyler's seat on her left...but it was empty. That Jason guy on her other side was gone too. "Caitie? Hank?" She shakilly stood and checked the row behind her, but all she found were three empty seats. "Hello? Is anyone else alive here?" But the only reply she got was the low buzzing of the millions of flies which swarmed around the many mutilated corpses.
Suddenly feeling sick to her stomach, she tore her gaze away from the horrible scene and stepped out into the aisle, making her way to the front of the plane. The door between the cockpit and the lavatory had been forced open, and was wobbily hanging on its hinges. So that's where her friends had gone, of course. They had been okay and had done the most rational thing - left the wreck. She jumped down to the leaf-covered ground below. Now which way had they went? She spent some time scouring the area searching for any hint that could lead her in the direction that her friends had gone, but there were no signs that any people had walked through there at all. Of course not. That would be way too easy.
Well, what else was there to do? There was no point in waiting there; why would they want to return to a scene of such carnage? And, more importantly, why had they just left her behind like that? "Surely they didn't think I was dead," she said alloud to herself. "I mean, we're paramedics! We should be able to tell the difference between someone who's dead and someone who's unconcious. That's what we were TRAINED to do." Oh yes, she was going to give her friends a piece of her mind once she caught up with them...IF she caught up with them.
She firmly shook that thought out of her head. No, not if. When. It was times like these when intrepidity was necissary. And she certainly wasn't going to catch up to anything if she just stood there talking to herself, so, putting on a grim face, she picked a path through the trees and started off, praying that she had chosen the right direction.
* * * * * * * *
"We've been going around in circles!" Caitie loudly complained.
"We have not!" Jason said irritably.
"Come on, we've passed that tree at least eight times by now!"
"How would you know?" Hank joined in the fray. "Everything looks exactly the same."
Jamie rubbed his temples exasperatedly. "Can we please stop jumping down eachother's throats? We're trying to make the best of a bad situation here."
"We've been walking for hours!" Caitie groaned. "Can't we stop and rest yet?"
"Will you stop whining already?!" Jason rounded on her.
"Enough with the fighting!" Everyone quieted down at Tyler's sharp tone, especially since that had been the first words he had spoken since they started on their hopeless expedition.
"Sorry," Caitie muttered.
Jason fell silent as he led the way though the woods, then his eyes fell upon something quite interesting. On the ground, the long weeds had been broken and pushed down in two endlessly long, unmistakable strips. Tire tracks. They were barely visible as the grasses had nearly mended themselves back to full height again, proving that this make-shift road hadn't been used in quite a while. But still, it was a road, it had been used once upon a time, and it had to lead somewhere. What a stroke of luck that his sharp eyes had noticed it! However, he had to keep the others from finding out.
Making sure his back was exactly perpendicular to his discovery, he stopped and turned around. "Um...did you guys hear that?"
"Hear what?" Jamie asked.
"Er...I heard something from over there...it sounded like a car or something...Maybe there's a house over there...Come on, let's check it out."
Caitie cocked an eyebrow at him. "We're completely changing directions just because you 'thought' you heard a sound? And what if it's not even a car you heard? What if it's some sort of animal, like a bear or something? And we're walking straight to it? Is this really a smart move?"
"Button it, Miss Priss," he said without turning around.
Hank, who had been abling along quietly at the rear, his hads crossed over his chest, trying to ignore the squabbling of his friends, stopped for a moment. Out of the corners of his eyes, he noticed many red speckles among the endless green of the foliage.
"What's up, dude?" Tyler noticed he was lagging.
"I..." he stammered. "I just...have to go to the bathroom really quick. You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up."
Hank waited for them to walk a little further away, then he pounced on the bushes. Yes! His eyes had not decieved him! Berries! They had absolutely no supplies, and who knew how long they would have to go without food. Thank God he saw these! But...the bush was small and rather meager, and there only seemed to be enough for one person. That's why he had to be so secretive about it.
He plucked one off a branch and rolled it around between his thumb and forefinger for a second before he popped it into his mouth. He had prepared himself for something bitter and nasty, but it was far from that! It was a perfect blend of sweet and sour, much like an unripened grape, and he eagerly stuffed more into his mouth. Yes! They were perfect! As quickly and as quietly as he could, he gathered all the visible ones, filling his pockets as well as his mouth before he ran back ahead to his group of friends. He laughed victoriously to himself, as no one questioned his actual intent. Oh, how foolish were the ignorant! Well, if they weren't smart enough to deep a wary eye out for berries or any other source of food, they didn't deserve a part of his new found rations.
That was the law of the jungle, after all. Eat or be eaten. Every one for himself. Only the strong and cunning survive.
* * * * Two Hours Later * * * *
A chilled wind whistled though the air, blowing right through Caitie's thin clothes, sending shiveres down her spine. It was now past seven o'clock, according to her wrist watch. The sky, what little portions they could see of it through the tall, leafy branches of the trees, was dark with the presence of night, and not a single star could be found to aid their visibility. It was nearly jet black where they were walking, when Jamie finally stopped.
"I think it's time we pitched camp," he said. "We can barely see two feet in front of us. We might miss something."
Everyone quickly agreed, besides Jason, who eventually gave in.
"Hmm, no cars here," Caitie said, taking a seat on a rotting log. "I KNEW this was a bad idea. You know, Jason, I don't think you should get anymore piercings. I think that last eyebrow ring went right through your skull and let all your intelligence leak out." He shot her a contemptuous glar and she grinned smugly.
"Should we start a fire?" Tyler suggested. "You know, for warmth?"
"How?" Hank slumped down dejectedly on a pile of leaves. "We have no matches. Don't tell me you were thinking of rubbing two sticks together."
Tyler smiled guiltilly. "Well, it always works in the movies."
"You people are idiots," Jason muttered, lying down on his back with his hands folded over his stomach and his eyes closed.
Ignoring his snide remark, Tyler picked up two branches. "So...we just...rub them against each other?"
"You can try it," Hank looked doubtful.
"You can rub 'em together till the cows come home and nothing's going to happen," Jason said without looking up. "You're doing it wrong."
"They why don't you show us the right way, Mr. Outdoorsman?" Tyler snapped, sick of his snotty ego.
But the bleach-blonde punk only replied, "Poor conditions for a fire tonight anyway. A strong wind's blowing all the dead leaves around; it would most likely spread quickly, causing a massive forest fire that would burn the whole place down. Just...lay back and try and get some sleep. We'll be fine for now."
The others tried to follow Jason's suit, but Tyler was having trouble. Thoughts of Val still lingering in his mind, along with the loud rumbling in his stomach he supposed everyone could hear, were doing a good job defending his body from any thoughts of slumber that tried to invade him. He could hear Hank tossing and turning somewhere to his left, and, out of boredom, called out, "I'd give just about anything for a Big Mac right now, how about you, Hank?"
Hank felt a pang of guilt as his hand absentmindedly fingered the many berries he still carried in his pocket, but he quickly shrugged it off. He shouldn't feel any sort of remorse. Which was the smarter choice; to give everyone three or four berries and have them all eventually die from malnutrition or starvation, or to keep all the berries himself and at least possibly save him? Having one survivor was a lot better than having none, right?
He didn't say anything back, and Tyler finally gave him up to sleep as he rolled over on his other side. He could see Jamie and Caitie curled up for warmth a few yards away, and he couldn't help the feeling of resentment that was swelling in the pit of his stomach. It just wasn't fair! Of all people, why did Val have to die? What did he ever do to deserve losing his girlfriend? He watched Jamie slip his arm around Caitie's waist and felt a sharp stab of red hot anger. Why was Jamie lucky enough to have Caitie spared? Everything was screwed up! It wasn't fair at all! Jamie had a criminal record! He never tried in school, indeed, he hardly ever showed up at all! As for responsibility, he didn't think Jamie was capable of spelling the word, let alone having good sense of it! And he, Tyler! He always put 100% effort into his academics, he played for the school football team, and never once had he ever broken the law, been thrown in Juvenille Hall, or been sentenced to probation. Yet, he had been the one who had lost his true love.
So they saying was true. Nice guys do finish last.
Tyler was thankful for the nighttime; for the absence of light. It meant that no one could see his tears as he silently cried himself to sleep.
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A/N: Sorry Winter*Rose, Val's back by popular demand ^^;; Erm...well, actually it has nothing to do with any sort of demand. I always planned to bring Val back. But one character will die before the story's finished, I promise you that. Anyway, I hope you all realize now that Jason is not to be trusted, and as for Hank, he's just being a big jerk right now ^^;; Oh, and just to let you all know, I've finally decided on a plot for this story ^__^ Erm...yes, when I started it, I originally wasn't sure where I'd go with it once I got past the plane crash scene, but I do know now, so...rest easy everyone! ^_^ Erm...yeah...so please review, hmm, 31 reviews this time and I'll continue? Thanks a bunch ^_^
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"Well, what do we do now?" Jamie kicked a pile of dead leaves frustratedly. "Lost in the woods...this was NOT how I wanted to spend my Thanksgiving vacation."
"No kidding," Hank agreed. "Do you think we could try calling someone? My cell's dead...I knew I should have recharged it before we left for the airport, but of course I didn't expect something like this to happen..."
"Cell phones!" The other four teens eagerly pulled out theirs and turned them on...but they only beeped once and shut back off again.
"I don't believe this," Tyler said faintly. "No signal. Satellite not found. This is perfect." He picked up a branch and angrilly snapped it in half over his knee. "This is fucking perfect!"
"I knew there was a reason why I shouldn't have gotten Sprint," Jamie shook his head disgustedly.
Caitie ran nervous fingers through her dark hair. "Now what can we do? Just sit here and wait for the mosquitos to pick us clean?"
"Well...let's go over what we know so far-" Jason suggested.
"But if we already know it, why do we need to go over it again?"
Ignoring Caitie's comment, he continued, "We were in a plane wreck, we're in some forest, probably in the Appalacian Mountains, cut off from all civilization, no supplies, and it doesn't look like we'll be making it out of here alive."
"Wow, aren't you the optomist?" she smiled wryly.
He shrugged. "Well, it's true."
"If only there was some other phone we could use..." Jamie wondered alloud. "Like in the airplane or something..."
"I'm not going back in there," Tyler quickly refused. Images of Val's cold body, both her tanned skin and blonde hair flecked with crimson blood, flooded back into his mind, and he turned bitterly away from his friends. He couldn't let them see the pain he (and most likely his other three friends) felt inside. They were already in a stressful enough situation, he couldn't crack now. And besides, the last thing he wanted to do was cry in front of Jason.
Hank immediately understood (as he usually did), and jumped to his rescue. "It's too risky anyway. If the back engines exploded, the front could too. What about those few houses we flew over?"
"That's not a bad idea," Jamie brightened considerably. "There's bound to be one near here, and they'd absolutely have to have a phone..."
"It's worth a try," Caitie sighed dejectedly. "Which way do we go?"
"Um...pick a direction," Jason shrugged. "We'll eventually have to end up somewhere, right? A road or stream or something we can follow that can lead us to someplace of some signifigance."
"True...well...it's a plan..." The others half-heartedly agreed. As unstable as it sounded, it beat anything else they had come up with so far, and it was certainly better than just sitting back and waiting for death.
Taking reluctant deep breaths, the meager band of teenagers began their ascent into the woods.
* * * * * * * *
Meanwhile...
* * * * * * * *
A faint moan escaped Val's throat. The first thing she woke up to was a head-splitting pain which throbbed with such intensity at first she thought her skull had been cracked open. She hadn't even opened her eyes yet and already she wasn't sure if she wanted to. But the incesent twittering of birds and insects finally got to her and she knew she would eventually have to get up.
Steadying herself on the arms of her chair, she finally opened her eyes and looked around. At first, her surroundings seemed unfamiliar. And airplane? Of course, an airplane...that radio contest...the crash...She sat up quickly, which caused a massive room spin. Her hand immediately shot up to the burning cut above her forehead, then back down again as her touch sent millions of sharp, tiny needles pricking all over her tender skin. Her hand felt sticky, and, upon closer inspection, she wasn't surprised to find it covered in blood. Grimacing at the thought of ruining a perfectly good sweater, she reluctantly used her sleeve to wipe the blood off her face. Okay, had to focus here. What about the others?
Her eyes quickly jumped to Tyler's seat on her left...but it was empty. That Jason guy on her other side was gone too. "Caitie? Hank?" She shakilly stood and checked the row behind her, but all she found were three empty seats. "Hello? Is anyone else alive here?" But the only reply she got was the low buzzing of the millions of flies which swarmed around the many mutilated corpses.
Suddenly feeling sick to her stomach, she tore her gaze away from the horrible scene and stepped out into the aisle, making her way to the front of the plane. The door between the cockpit and the lavatory had been forced open, and was wobbily hanging on its hinges. So that's where her friends had gone, of course. They had been okay and had done the most rational thing - left the wreck. She jumped down to the leaf-covered ground below. Now which way had they went? She spent some time scouring the area searching for any hint that could lead her in the direction that her friends had gone, but there were no signs that any people had walked through there at all. Of course not. That would be way too easy.
Well, what else was there to do? There was no point in waiting there; why would they want to return to a scene of such carnage? And, more importantly, why had they just left her behind like that? "Surely they didn't think I was dead," she said alloud to herself. "I mean, we're paramedics! We should be able to tell the difference between someone who's dead and someone who's unconcious. That's what we were TRAINED to do." Oh yes, she was going to give her friends a piece of her mind once she caught up with them...IF she caught up with them.
She firmly shook that thought out of her head. No, not if. When. It was times like these when intrepidity was necissary. And she certainly wasn't going to catch up to anything if she just stood there talking to herself, so, putting on a grim face, she picked a path through the trees and started off, praying that she had chosen the right direction.
* * * * * * * *
"We've been going around in circles!" Caitie loudly complained.
"We have not!" Jason said irritably.
"Come on, we've passed that tree at least eight times by now!"
"How would you know?" Hank joined in the fray. "Everything looks exactly the same."
Jamie rubbed his temples exasperatedly. "Can we please stop jumping down eachother's throats? We're trying to make the best of a bad situation here."
"We've been walking for hours!" Caitie groaned. "Can't we stop and rest yet?"
"Will you stop whining already?!" Jason rounded on her.
"Enough with the fighting!" Everyone quieted down at Tyler's sharp tone, especially since that had been the first words he had spoken since they started on their hopeless expedition.
"Sorry," Caitie muttered.
Jason fell silent as he led the way though the woods, then his eyes fell upon something quite interesting. On the ground, the long weeds had been broken and pushed down in two endlessly long, unmistakable strips. Tire tracks. They were barely visible as the grasses had nearly mended themselves back to full height again, proving that this make-shift road hadn't been used in quite a while. But still, it was a road, it had been used once upon a time, and it had to lead somewhere. What a stroke of luck that his sharp eyes had noticed it! However, he had to keep the others from finding out.
Making sure his back was exactly perpendicular to his discovery, he stopped and turned around. "Um...did you guys hear that?"
"Hear what?" Jamie asked.
"Er...I heard something from over there...it sounded like a car or something...Maybe there's a house over there...Come on, let's check it out."
Caitie cocked an eyebrow at him. "We're completely changing directions just because you 'thought' you heard a sound? And what if it's not even a car you heard? What if it's some sort of animal, like a bear or something? And we're walking straight to it? Is this really a smart move?"
"Button it, Miss Priss," he said without turning around.
Hank, who had been abling along quietly at the rear, his hads crossed over his chest, trying to ignore the squabbling of his friends, stopped for a moment. Out of the corners of his eyes, he noticed many red speckles among the endless green of the foliage.
"What's up, dude?" Tyler noticed he was lagging.
"I..." he stammered. "I just...have to go to the bathroom really quick. You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up."
Hank waited for them to walk a little further away, then he pounced on the bushes. Yes! His eyes had not decieved him! Berries! They had absolutely no supplies, and who knew how long they would have to go without food. Thank God he saw these! But...the bush was small and rather meager, and there only seemed to be enough for one person. That's why he had to be so secretive about it.
He plucked one off a branch and rolled it around between his thumb and forefinger for a second before he popped it into his mouth. He had prepared himself for something bitter and nasty, but it was far from that! It was a perfect blend of sweet and sour, much like an unripened grape, and he eagerly stuffed more into his mouth. Yes! They were perfect! As quickly and as quietly as he could, he gathered all the visible ones, filling his pockets as well as his mouth before he ran back ahead to his group of friends. He laughed victoriously to himself, as no one questioned his actual intent. Oh, how foolish were the ignorant! Well, if they weren't smart enough to deep a wary eye out for berries or any other source of food, they didn't deserve a part of his new found rations.
That was the law of the jungle, after all. Eat or be eaten. Every one for himself. Only the strong and cunning survive.
* * * * Two Hours Later * * * *
A chilled wind whistled though the air, blowing right through Caitie's thin clothes, sending shiveres down her spine. It was now past seven o'clock, according to her wrist watch. The sky, what little portions they could see of it through the tall, leafy branches of the trees, was dark with the presence of night, and not a single star could be found to aid their visibility. It was nearly jet black where they were walking, when Jamie finally stopped.
"I think it's time we pitched camp," he said. "We can barely see two feet in front of us. We might miss something."
Everyone quickly agreed, besides Jason, who eventually gave in.
"Hmm, no cars here," Caitie said, taking a seat on a rotting log. "I KNEW this was a bad idea. You know, Jason, I don't think you should get anymore piercings. I think that last eyebrow ring went right through your skull and let all your intelligence leak out." He shot her a contemptuous glar and she grinned smugly.
"Should we start a fire?" Tyler suggested. "You know, for warmth?"
"How?" Hank slumped down dejectedly on a pile of leaves. "We have no matches. Don't tell me you were thinking of rubbing two sticks together."
Tyler smiled guiltilly. "Well, it always works in the movies."
"You people are idiots," Jason muttered, lying down on his back with his hands folded over his stomach and his eyes closed.
Ignoring his snide remark, Tyler picked up two branches. "So...we just...rub them against each other?"
"You can try it," Hank looked doubtful.
"You can rub 'em together till the cows come home and nothing's going to happen," Jason said without looking up. "You're doing it wrong."
"They why don't you show us the right way, Mr. Outdoorsman?" Tyler snapped, sick of his snotty ego.
But the bleach-blonde punk only replied, "Poor conditions for a fire tonight anyway. A strong wind's blowing all the dead leaves around; it would most likely spread quickly, causing a massive forest fire that would burn the whole place down. Just...lay back and try and get some sleep. We'll be fine for now."
The others tried to follow Jason's suit, but Tyler was having trouble. Thoughts of Val still lingering in his mind, along with the loud rumbling in his stomach he supposed everyone could hear, were doing a good job defending his body from any thoughts of slumber that tried to invade him. He could hear Hank tossing and turning somewhere to his left, and, out of boredom, called out, "I'd give just about anything for a Big Mac right now, how about you, Hank?"
Hank felt a pang of guilt as his hand absentmindedly fingered the many berries he still carried in his pocket, but he quickly shrugged it off. He shouldn't feel any sort of remorse. Which was the smarter choice; to give everyone three or four berries and have them all eventually die from malnutrition or starvation, or to keep all the berries himself and at least possibly save him? Having one survivor was a lot better than having none, right?
He didn't say anything back, and Tyler finally gave him up to sleep as he rolled over on his other side. He could see Jamie and Caitie curled up for warmth a few yards away, and he couldn't help the feeling of resentment that was swelling in the pit of his stomach. It just wasn't fair! Of all people, why did Val have to die? What did he ever do to deserve losing his girlfriend? He watched Jamie slip his arm around Caitie's waist and felt a sharp stab of red hot anger. Why was Jamie lucky enough to have Caitie spared? Everything was screwed up! It wasn't fair at all! Jamie had a criminal record! He never tried in school, indeed, he hardly ever showed up at all! As for responsibility, he didn't think Jamie was capable of spelling the word, let alone having good sense of it! And he, Tyler! He always put 100% effort into his academics, he played for the school football team, and never once had he ever broken the law, been thrown in Juvenille Hall, or been sentenced to probation. Yet, he had been the one who had lost his true love.
So they saying was true. Nice guys do finish last.
Tyler was thankful for the nighttime; for the absence of light. It meant that no one could see his tears as he silently cried himself to sleep.
*
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*
A/N: Sorry Winter*Rose, Val's back by popular demand ^^;; Erm...well, actually it has nothing to do with any sort of demand. I always planned to bring Val back. But one character will die before the story's finished, I promise you that. Anyway, I hope you all realize now that Jason is not to be trusted, and as for Hank, he's just being a big jerk right now ^^;; Oh, and just to let you all know, I've finally decided on a plot for this story ^__^ Erm...yes, when I started it, I originally wasn't sure where I'd go with it once I got past the plane crash scene, but I do know now, so...rest easy everyone! ^_^ Erm...yeah...so please review, hmm, 31 reviews this time and I'll continue? Thanks a bunch ^_^