Chapter One
There was no noise, but no sense of peace. Something in the air was unsettling. He realized that he should be in an air plane, with the vague buzz of conversation around him, the slightly smell of precooked meals in the air.
He slowly opened his eyes. All he could see was green. The branches were too thick for him to see the sky. The sky was far away. And only moments ago he'd been in it. Had it only been moments?
Lucas slowly got to his feet. Around him was a lush green jungle, untrampled and full. He began to run.
He passed trees, rocks, but no sign of human life. There was none, until he reached the beach. Slowly, as his eyes scanned it, it was revealed in pieces. The redheaded girl, screaming nonsensical words. The boy who'd been with her, his attention now focused on the various injuries around the beach.
The vast, burning plane section, the whirring engine, occasionally stopping and starting again.
He'd had no desire to step in and take charge, but as he saw one high, raised wing of the plane, sticking up at ninety degrees to the ground, he ran toward the scene of chaos.
He ran past a dark haired man, looking around in disinterest, and straight for a heavily pregnant brunette girl. Looking pannicked, she had her arms clutched around her stomach.
"Are you having contractions?" he demanded. She looked at him in surprise.
"I think so," she said, wincing as she spoke.
"Don't worry, it'll be okay. Just take deep breaths, try and calm down. Hey, you!" said Lucas, calling out to the brown haired man he'd seen before, with the preteen girl.
"Yeah?"
"Stay with..." Lucas trailed off awkwardly.
"Brooke," she said.
"Stay with Brooke, keep her away from all this," instructed Lucas. He ran off again, shoving away a young man to do CPR on an older woman.
As he finished this, and the engine stopped it's whirring, and the flames gradually died, he felt safe enough to run.
Far away, in a small enclosure created naturally by a circle of trees, he felt safer. He stripped off his shirt, feeling tempted to run into the ocean, until he saw the gash under his ribcage.
He winced. He could handle other people's blood, but never his own. He attempted to reach it, but found he could not.
He quelled his sigh of frustration as the blonde woman came in to view, the same one from the plane with her sad eyes. She looked around distractedly and messily tied her hair onto her head.
"Hello?" he called out to her. Her eyes sought him in surprise, as if shocked that someone had envaded her personal space.
"Yeah?" she said.
"Do you have any medical experience?" he asked.
"What?"
He half turned to show her the wide, deep gash on his side. She flinched.
"I need you to sew it up."
"What's happening over there?" asked the girl eventually, focusing on the needle the was threading in and out of the gash.
"Everyone's freaked out. No one knows what's going to happen."
"You seem okay," she said.
"I'm not." He was silent for a second, and winced as the needle once again pierced his skin. "I'm good at hiding."
"Yeah? That fits. I'm good at running."
He almost smiled. This was fitting somehow. Amidst the chaos and the pain, he would much rather be alone with this girl, pretending nothing was happening.
"You're all done," she said proudly. He glanced at the long row of neat black stitches.
"You're a pro. Good job," he said. She smiled, looking white.
Back at the beach, the situation was considerably more calm. The tall man was beginning to build a fire. The redheaded girl and the boy were sitting together in silence, the pregnant girl had ceased to contract, the man and his daughter were alone together.
"Are you making a signal fire?" asked Lucas curiously of him.
"Yeah. But there's a lot of smoke in the jungle over there. I think it's probably the cockpit," he said.
"I'll go. Try and find the tranceiver," said Lucas thoughtfully.
"I'm going with you," said Haley immediately. He nodded distractedly.
"Be careful."
"What's your name?" asked Lucas.
"Cooper Lee."
Lucas waited, poised to state his name. But he did not ask.
The two of them set off for the jungle. At the edge of the beach they were met with the dark haired man from before.
"You coming with us?" asked Lucas in surprise.
"I haven't gotten anything better to do."
The blond looked between the two men as they headed off into the jungle. The dark haired one didn't talk much. The blonde was probably nicer, but he didn't seem nearly as interesting.
Author's note: Laley. Please, remember who you're dealing with.