Captured
Chapter 5
D.C., We Have A Problem
A/N: Here's another picture of Haiti:
Fri 14: I've been sick the last couple of days...so I've pretty much been laying around all day. But now, I can actually go to the computer and type the stuff I wrote in my Black Notebook...I'd like to scan some Black Notebook stuff into my computer and put it on my site. One of these days I need to just go on that website editor, and fix some stuff. It's getting kind of boring. This chapter's kind of short, to first, save your eyes, and to second, save the suspense and the really evil cliffie I left. So, do me (and yourself, really) a favor and READ.
"PULL HIM UP! PULL HIM UP, HE'S HURT!" Riley was shouting frantically at the top of his lungs. "COME ON, WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING? PULL HIM UP!" Tom and Andy, almost too afraid and panic-stricken to move, regardlessly began tugging on the rope ladder, which Papi and a younger woman raced down the dock to help with. Riley was still standing in the helicopter with the twins, pulling the strongest of all, and was delighted, but not slowed down, when he saw the top of Ben's head reach the surface. Papi secured his part of the rope ladder and walked down the steps into the water, untangled Ben's leg from the rope, and swam with him up to the dock. Once he got there, he took off at a run down the path up to the town, and Riley and the twins leaped onto the dock. Riley kneeled down beside his best friend and began lightly tapping the side of his on, Ben...wake on, please..." Ben lay completely still on the cold, wet wood, but there was a sudden leap of his heart and he began breathing again, unsteadily at first, but it came. He could now feel a tiny splinter of the torn and chipped dock waning its way through his skin and the warmth of the Caribbean sun, and Riley's breath touching his face, and eventually, his voice, sounding about a million miles away. Riley gave a tiny sigh and smiled a bit. Ben was still afraid to move, and began to feel a burst of pain shoot through his hurt arm, which caused him to wrench his eyes together, and open them soon after.
"Welcome back." Ben forced a tiny smile in return and looked at his other hand, which continued to grasp firmly to the fuel can. The younger woman, clearly Papi's daughter, also knelt down beside Ben and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. Riley immediately frowned and stood, beginning to think that he should have pretended to be dead, and was angry and relieved all at the same time at his friend. Papi returned to the dock with bandages and a jar of clear fluid. His daughter stood and faced Riley.
"You know, you're not very bright," she said, with a heavy Creole accent, the phrase barely heard inbetween it.
"Thanks for the kind words of condolence," Riley said grudgingly.
"As if you need the condolence," Ben said, not expressing any pain as Papi worked on the repairing of his arm.
"Mika," the girl said.
"Riley," Riley said back, uncomfortable in her presence, still recovering from the insult. She shook her head, turned, and disappeared up the road.
---::---
"Are you sure you still want to fly this thing?" Riley said, climbing into the passenger seat after Tom and Andy situated themselves in the back of the cabin.
"Completely sure. I don't feel a thing." Ben looked at the full fuel gauge, gave a slight smile to himself, and fired up the helicopter.
"Okay," Riley sighed, slamming shut the door and making himself comfortable. Ben looked out the window at Papi's smiling face, and he waved, returning the smile. The helicopter gave a lurch back and took off upwards, and soon the island of Haiti was just a green speck in the water. A few seconds passed, and Riley slouched back in his chair, putting his feet up on the dashboard.
"Okay I'm bored," he said simply. Ben ignored it just as simply and adjusted himself so that his injured left arm was jammed securely in an indent in the door, and rested in the seat. Andy sighed and picked up the National Geographic magazine that was laying around on the cratered cabin floor.
"You know once we get there, we're going to have to find Ian," Riley pointed out vaguely, gazing absently out the window.
"I'm working on that," Ben replied, getting a bit bored himself from looking at and passing through cloud after identical cottony cloud.
---::---
Minutes passed. And as the minutes passed, hours went by; each one longer than the last. Ben looked over at Riley, who was now sound asleep. He turned the cockpit light off, and peered into the back where Tom and Andy were also both asleep, jumbled in the coarse blanket and the magazine. He yawned, checked his watch, and looked forward out the window, where the sun was just beginning to sink lower in the sky, giving it the lightest pink haze. But there was something else in the scene out the window: land. Ben's heart skipped a beat and he shook Riley awake.
"Riley! Wake up, we're there!" Riley responded with a small moan, lifted his head from the side of the door, and wiped a smudge of drool from his face.
"Tom, Andy - get up!" The twins stirred, and sat up in the cabin.
"Whoa!" Tom said, looking out the tiny window in the back.
"We did it, dad!" Andy said.
"Okay, I'm going to land it." Ben fastened his hand on the collective and pushed it forward, but it wouldn't move. He checked around the lever, making sure a loose screw or piece of plastic didn't find itself in the way. When he found this idea negative, he looked up at the fuel gauge, where the pin was ticking back and forth dangerously. Riley saw this as well and looked out the window.
"Uh-oh...D.C. - we have a problem." Ben's mind jumped into action, thinking of what they could do, and as usual, trying to ignore the obvious option, and looking around him for others. Out the window, the nose of the copter was becoming horribly close to the water's surface, and a creaky gurgling sound came from somewhere behind the cabin, followed by a loud Bang!
"Dad!" Tom cried, panic in his voice, calling his father back from his mind. Ben still stared into space, still trying to avoid his idea. The helicopter lurched forward, and another violent clanging sound came from the back.
"DAD!" Tom said louder, his voice cracking.
"Okay," Ben said calmly, raising his voice above the noise. Everyone listened. "Here's what we're going to do. Put everything in the sack."
"Then what?" Riley asked.
"We jump."
"Whoa, no way, Ben. Your arm - " Anger began to build up inside of him. If he felt a little bit of pain, it wouldn't affect him the least bit. What he was thinking about was Tom, Andy, and Riley.
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT MY ARM, JUST DO IT! WOULD YOU RATHER WE DIE?" he snapped back. Riley backed off, sighed, and started clearing the floor off along with Tom and Andy. Ben did as much as he could with one hand and soon everything was packed. He opened the door and looked below. Riley came up behind him and looked at his friend's face, screwed up against the wind and the noise.
"What are we waiting for?" Riley shouted over the rushing wind.
"We need to get closer," Ben yelled back, as an even louder clanging sound erupted and a few tiny sparks passed by their noses. Riley squeezed the pilot seat as the helicopter lurched again, his knuckles turning from a bright red to white. Ben stepped an inch forward.
"Now?" Riley called hopefully, his other hand grasping the sack tightly.
"Now!" And the four jumped, one by one, out the door, towards the dark ocean, just as an explosion of fire, char, smoke, and metal filled the pink tinted sky. The saltwater was cold, and Ben's mouth became filled with it, as his head slammed past the surface tension of the water following his feet. His arm had indeed ached immensely at the impact, and he squeezed his eyes shut trying to endure and forget about it, trying to think more about the three other members of his party, praying that they had all made it out of the mess of smog as he had. When the thunder of the explosion subdued, he found himself above the water again, where he took in an enormous gulp of air and coughed out the ocean water.
"Ow!" Ben spun around, looking at the bobbing head of Riley, that had just gotten hit by a falling piece of metal. His purple palm was rubbing through that wet, messy forest of black hair.
"Good, you're alright!" Ben said proudly, though unable to smile. "Hanging onto that sack still?"
"Yeah, I've got it," Riley said, "Where are Tom and Andy?" As if on cue, there were two simultaneous gasps from behind the pair, and the twins emerged from the water.
"Dad!" Andy said, clinging to his father for dear life. Ben put his good arm around his son, and Tom fought hard on his own for the water to stay below his ears.
"Now what?" Riley said.
"What else? We swim to shore," Ben said. Riley looked in the direction of the shore, which seemed miles away. What he saw really was the effort and work they'd have to put in after just jumping out of an exploding helicopter. His soaked shoulders fell.
"Ben, it's far. It's like, 40 feet." Ben felt that wave of anger rise inside him again.
"It's interesting you say that, Riley. It's like you think we have another choice. If you have one, I would be pleased if you'd enlighten me because all I see here is door number one, staying here until we drown and die, or door number two, where we swim that 40 feet, go to sleep, and the next morning find Abigail and eventually make our way safely home. Now, what would you like to do?" He waited a few minutes, and let himself cool down a bit, looking at Riley, who was now looking away at the shore again.
"Swim," he muttered, when he figured out that Ben wanted an answer, or thought that he did. Ben stared at Riley for a while, his face softening. He put a hand to his head and took a deep breath.
"Look, I'm sorry. This isn't easy, okay? Everything has to be done fast or...no go, you know? We die, Abigail dies, and - and it's just over, we did this for nothing. This whole trip for no product. I'm sorry I yelled at you back there and - and just now, but I just can't afford - I just can't - we just can't - " Riley shook his head.
"No, I know."
"I just need you to cooperate..." Ben trailed off.
"I know, I know. I'm sorry. Come on, lets just do this." Riley turned, shivering, and led the way towards the green.
A/N: Okay, peeps. If you've seen Matchstick Men, please read my fics. Cuz they're beginning to collect dust lol.
I've had this done for quite some time. About 2 weeks actually. But I've been too lazy to type all of it lately, and I can't really use the excuse that I was sick since Thursday because I went home that day and stayed home again on Friday, and I could have done a little more when I was able to sit at my computer on Friday. I had all weekend to and Martin Luther King day....laziness. Sorry about it. Hope you liked this chapter as much as you liked the others! I have the beginning of chapter 6 written as of now and I need to type that later, I can't forget. Don't want to lose readers like I did with my Harry Potter fics, which are also beginning to collect dust. Please read those too if you feel like it. IF YOU HAVE THE HEART! lol.
Congratulate me, I'm History Club President. Woo! lol. (has a National Treasure movie field trip set up) RIGHT LIZ? (cough) field trip (cough)
Reviews are cool, so be a cool kid and review. :-)
REVIEW REPLIES FOR CHAPTER 4:
Liz - Wow. Didn't know it was THAT good. hmm. lol thanks bud. (cough) (cough) (HACK)
chibi-youkai - It's kind of funny you say all this because as I write this, I think how it would flow AS a movie and not as a story. Riley is VERY fun to write because of his craziness...Ben's a little harder because of HIS craziness. And it's also funny you say that Creole looks like French because the two main languages of Haiti are Creole and French, so the two are very, very similar. I hope you keep reading for the rest of this, it's going to get good. I have no idea how long it will be, however, I'll just keep writing until I finish. Hopefully no more then 12 chapters. Thank you so much for your review! Only 3 more to post chapter 5! (Wish you had me on author alert, but I'll suppose you'll come back for the next chapter...) Oh yes and I bet you'll feel good that I said your review made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!!!! These things make my day in a huge way.
butterflykisses71 - Hahahaha It makes me very happy to see that people actually like my writing because believe it or not, I don't! I think I'm close to horrible! I write for everyone else, really. Thanks for reading!!
Mercury Gray - LOL I don't like Ian but I think that icon sounds funny lol. You should give me the link to your blog, I'd go! Yes we are all friggin geniuses hahahaha!! Thanks again!! Talk to you on AIM!
DragonTamer - As of now, I have 5 reviews and I haven't finished Chapter 5. That's a bit of a problem, isn't it? lol I'm glad people are reading at least. Hahaha Riley. He's so weird. Anyway, thank you much!
Lia-L-Leonardson - Wow! Thanks so much! I hope you enjoyed chapter 5!!! 6 will be out soon I hope! But ITALICS add me to your author alert list ITALICS That is if you don't check as frequently....but STILL DO! lol. Thanks again.
Scifi Kane - Hahaha I'm glad you enjoyed it! Good luck with exams! I just had a few state tests last week. blaahhh. Eighth grade sucks. heh.
sonsofpitchesfangirl - Hey, thanks!! See? This proves that it's worthwhile to read people's fics! lol. I'm glad you liked it!!
