Chapter 2: You're Alive
The heat of the sun baked down on the body lying on the beach surf. Gently the foamy white edge of the earth's bluest blanket, lapped over the unconscious man. As if the ocean wished to spit out the invasion, a hefty swell crashed over the cast away. A groan emitted from the man.
Blue eyes cracked open and immediately squeezed shut against the blinding gleam of sun and white sand. Cheek pressed into the soft pillow of wet sand, K groaned as if he'd been run over by a Mac truck. He lay there as panic swirled in the pit of his stomach…the cabin, the dead pilots, being locked behind the cockpit door, lights shinning in the direction of impact. K felt a wave of nausea as he recalled his moments before the crash.
As soon as there was sign of something wrong, K went to check with the pilots. Stricken, he found the windshield broken and the pilot's dead, they looked as if they'd been asphyxiated. Not by human hands but from lack of oxygen, seems they never had time to grab their masks before the plane lowered less than twenty thousand feet. Anything above that would choke a person to death from lack of oxygen, something K learned in the military. He had to count his lucky stars that he'd gotten there while he could still breathe, but that meant the plane was falling fast. What in god's name broke the glass in the first place? They'd never know.
The cockpit door got slammed shut so hard it jammed. For the entire descent K tried to get out of the door and at the same time trying not to get sucked out the gash in the plane. He found himself grabbing onto some overhead hatch, which he was sure was going to break off and send him flying. But it didn't and K kicked at the door but to no avail, it wasn't going to budge. They fell so fast and the roar and shaking was so loud. Then he heard an explosion. He'd never felt so weak and scared in his life. The whole time he thought of his son and choked back sobs, K didn't want to die either.
He couldn't even move enough to call for mayday; if he had he would've got sucked out the window. If only he could send out one distress signal!
He'd never forget that image, the plane's front beams pointed at the blackest water before crashing into it. The shocking cold took even more breath away than the descent had already done. Momentarily stunned and having to leave the bodies of the dead pilots behind, K tried to swim against the current. He had to struggle to use the grips on the control panel to pull himself towards the broken windshield and escape the sinking plane.
Coming out of the reverie, K pushed himself up on his hands and knees quickly and vomited. The aftershock was coming on strong, not only that but the beating his body took. He recalled having to kick off his shoes and socks in order to float and swim. God knows he swam, swam until he could barely breathe. By the time the sun began to kiss the horizon, his limbs so weary and tired, K thought he spotted an oasis. With every bit of strength left, he aimed for the beach in the distance.
He guessed he must've passed out by the time he got there and sat back on his legs. "Ugh," he groaned as every bend of his joints felt like a rusty hinge. Scooping up a handful of water K washed his mouth out and made a face…salt water. He looked around.
He was all alone…
The only company was the loud crashing of the ocean or the lowly cry of a sea bird. Other than that there wasn't a soul to be seen. K wondered where the hell he was, were there really such things as remote islands in the world. Of course it was true but after spending much of his life in huge cities, swarming with people, it was hard to believe his situation right now.
But they couldn't have crashed to far away, could they? Surely someone will find them, he hoped. Them…there was no them…it was only him! With two fists clenched and pressed into the sand, K hung his head as a flash of pain crossed his face. Everyone was dead. Had they all drowned with the sinking plane when it hit the water? And there was nothing he could do…nothing!
K couldn't help himself from feeling utterly hopeless for a moment. Without standing he crawled away from the surf, and made way to a sunny hot spot on the white sandy beach. Defeated, he lay down and once more placed a cheek to the now hot sand. It actually burned but he didn't think he'd feel anything ever again.
How many hours went by, he didn't know, the whole time he watched the surface of the bluest water of the ocean. Even in despair, one looked for hope subconsciously. K's eyes were the only thing that moved, back and forth over the horizon of the water, in some small hope. Inside he knew that he wasn't going to be spotted by just laying here, he should make a fire, create an S.O.S, just like in the movies. But at the moment he had no will to move at all, what for? Everyone was dead and it was his fault.
Sighing he sent a wisp of sand into the air, which came back in the breeze and right into his eyes. He blinked at the grit in his eyes but it wasn't helping. Groaning like an old tree K sat up and rubbed at his watering eyes. But rubbing also revealed one side of his face had gotten burned from the sun. It was the only thing that made him grin just a bit. How funny he must look with half a face sunburned. But it didn't matter.
Standing on his bare feet, the sand soft and hot between his toes, K glanced once more at the ocean. Mother Nature called and that force alone was strong enough to bring one to their feet. K looked to his left, away from the ocean and took in the endless line of palm trees edged with ocean debris. Deeper in, there was bushes and thicket, vines hung from branches of small young trees. Even from here K could see the lush green of the extensive vegetation growing near the coastline. Maybe there was fresh water further in? Wandering towards the brush, he wasn't watching where he was going and stepped on a long dried out piece of bark. "Damn," he cursed and winced.
Being a bit more careful he ventured a little further and inhaled the fresh scent of vegetation. But a gnarly black tree peaked his interest and K walked towards it. It was dead and leafless, but still standing out among the crowd on the shoreline. It also provided a good amount of shield to relieve himself. As thirsty as he was, K couldn't believe he even had to pee at all. There had to be some water on this dreaded island…or was it even an island? Maybe he'd shored up on some resort and a few yards in he'd come across a huge hotel, with three swimming pools, and bikini clad beach bunnies.
Or maybe there was a tribe of cannibals, who wore shark tooth necklaces and loin cloths, carrying spears and with scary make up on their faces. No, it was better to think of the bikini clad beach bunnies than cannibals, he thought.
Sighing K realized he'd lost his gun in the crash. That sucked. But it would've been waterlogged and it wouldn't fire anyways. Water came back to mind urgently, especially after that long swim. Watching his steps carefully, not wanting to stab his bare feet through, he pushed aside some vines and ducked under a knot of tree limbs. Completely surrounded by gigantic leafy bushes, some red and green, some bare and spiny, he thought the eerie quiet was almost disturbing.
"Don't get yourself lost in here," K told himself and felt a branch snag his hair. Swiping at it, he barely noticed a tiny movement next to his hand. There was a green snake! He jumped away as if poked with a needle and turned to look at the snake that seconds ago, was right next to him. Geez, he felt his heart pound. It wasn't like he had a fear of snakes but he didn't want to get bitten either.
Great, what sort of strange creatures or bugs did he have to watch out for? But then, you could eat snakes, he wondered if that green snake would taste any good. He'd only had rattlesnake but not some jungle snake, besides how would he kill it?
No, no, no!
He wasn't going to be here long enough to worry about eating snakes! Water, he only needed to find a watering hole until someone came to his rescue…yup that's right. That's when something bit his toe. K yelped and hopped around holding one foot. A few feet away a small crab scurried under a rock. The thing had chomped on his toe!
Fucking crazy place, everything was trying to bite, pinch and pull the hair out of his head! In his momentary madness, K didn't hear the garble of a stream nearby. Walking backwards, still grumbling about feral crabs, he tripped backwards and landed on his butt, right into a fresh water stream.
Ohh, how shocking…
His whole bottom got soaked through with cool water, but he stood up and realized this was water. Yay water! He knelt and scooped up the clear liquid like it was gold and drank. After filling up, K splashed his face and already felt much better. Nothing like a good a rest at the pit stop to re-boost the ole engine, K thought.
But he still felt so tired and decided he better return to the beach. He felt in his pockets to see what he still had. Amazed he still had a pack of smokes—which were soaked—and a lighter which was waterlogged. There was his keys and lo and behold a Swiss army knife!
"Now this could come in handy," he spoke to himself, already starting to think about survival. It was natural to think so, even though inside K kept telling himself he'd be found in no time. Probably the most twenty-four hours. A couple of hours for people to realize they did not show up in New Zealand. A few more hours to go over the path of their flight, they had to have shown up on someone's radar, he thought. Then the boats would come, search nearby waters, maybe even find the plane, possibly find the black box. It's too bad the black box didn't work as a tracer as well, it would only reveal why the plane had crashed. But then they would spot the island and come to see if there were any survivors, right?
Avoiding crabs, snakes and bugs that were buzzing all around, K made his way back. Feet assaulted by hot sand again, he looked out over the water once more. Shielding his eyes from the sun to get a less strained view, he spotted no boats…no nothing. Only endless miles of blue water that got darker the deeper the sandbanks got. He was about to sit down when suddenly a descending swell did reveal something floating on the water.
K started and strained to see if he was imagining things, it could be nothing more then driftwood or a dead sea creature, its pearlescent body shimmering under the sun. But the object was red; it looked sort of like a life jacket! Without a second thought he ran towards the surf, fuelled by the hope that it was a person. Splashing over the shallow water, the depth increasing the farther he ran, K found he was up to his knees and was forced to slow down. Walking as far as he could go before the water was up to his chin, K was forced to swim the rest of the way.
By the time he got close enough to decipher what the floating object was, he was elated to find that it was Hiro. He was not conscience though, his head resting back, half his red hair swirling around him. The only thing keeping him afloat was the lift jacket. Spurred, K grabbed him and with all his reserve strength, swam them back to shore. He was panting with exertion by the time he reached a footing. But he was thankful for the end of the swim and used the water as far as he could to hold Hiro in his arms easily. Once at thigh depth, K picked up the guitarist and carried him to the warm beach.
He dropped to his knees, feeling weak, and placed Hiro roughly to the sand. Almost wheezing with the extent of swimming, his body already weary and abused, he looked at Hiro's face…then his chest. K couldn't tell if he was breathing and felt terror once more. Maybe his lungs were full of water? Not hesitating he placed his palms down on Hiro's chest and pumped once really hard. Nothing…
"Please don't be dead Hiro." K heard himself say. Maybe he needed some air? K knelt down, so close to Hiro's sunburned face, about to place his mouth over parched lips. But before he could blow air down Hiro's lungs, grey eyes opened and widened. A yip of shock emitted from Hiro's throat.
"Why are you trying to kiss me?" croaked Hiro.
"Resuscitate Hiro, resuscitate," K said quickly and blinked "I thought you were…" but he paused and smiled, "Thank god you're alive."
A/N: I'll update soon Hope you enjoyed.