I've barely done any writing for almost all of October… Anyway. I wrote and posted Captain Bob's chapter at the start of this story. But deleted it again and re-wrote it some. This chapter is now the last chapter before the epilogue. Most of it is the same as it was when I posted it the first time.

I hope you like it.

Captain Bob Russell

My memories from the island, especially the last few days we had been there were very brief for me.

Still, I had been told about the last few moments. How I had threatened to put the whole island on fire, most likely killed us all. If Jackson and Eric had turned up just a second later and grabbed the torch. If the wind had sounded louder than the airplane…

So much could have been differently for this past month. And from the beginning, it would all have been my fault.

During the whole travel back to Los Angeles I hadn't spoken a word to any of the kids. And how was I supposed to ever look them in the eyes again? When I would never be able to forget how I had steered the plane around the storm, crashed landed the plane when no one knew where we were. And almost started a fire…

How was I supposed to ever look them in the eyes again?

When we had all gotten on the last plane that would take us to Los Angeles I'd gotten in the far back seat of the plane…

Well, that was after I had been awake all night. Doubting I would even be here instead of running away. Lord would know I would even return home if it hadn't been for all material things still left in my flat…

"Captain?" All the while we travelled I had looked down in silence, and when a flight attendant came through the whole mid aisle and up to me I finally looked up. "You're going to have to move now. We have to take care of the plane." I nodded. "Well…" The young man continued while I heavily got up from the seat. "Congratulations or whatever on being home."

If he only knew what he was saying…

Walking up towards the doors of the airport I knew very well I couldn't just turn around and run away. But I very much would have liked to, and wanted to even more when the doors opened in front of me and I went inside.

And in the waiting hall were even more people were than what I would have expected.

I would gladly have come in here to find no one was waiting. Who would be waiting for me anyway? But where I came in there were people, cameras and voices all around. Due to me coming in after the kids several of the kids had started leaving along with their families by the time I came in.

"Captain Russell…"

The thought had just hit me that maybe I should have been just a tiny bit relieved when all of a sudden I had a video camera right up my face along with a microphone. Meanwhile the man who had spoken my name's voice and words were all blurred out into one, long mess that was only interrupted by one voice louder than all others'.

"Bob?"

In the mess of kids, family members, friends, journalists, cameras and microphones I could hear the word of a girl I had met as we were studying to become pilots. We had remained friends, even so as I became a pilot and she chose to stay on the ground as a skycap, and there was no one here except for her that I could even think of being here.

"Lola?"

In the mess of everything I saw her coming towards me, but my slow, concussion- ridden mind didn't even know what to do

"Mr. Russell..."

How many journalists had been involved in this actually?

I suddenly noticed I had at least fifteen journalists with notebooks and cameras and microphones around me.

With the questions that I had already asked myself a million times the past four weeks.

"How come the plane went down in the first place?"

"How did you feel when you realized you were so far away from any people and civilation?"

"What did you think about being the only adult among a class of teenagers?"

Every single one of the questions made my head spin worse and worse and I couldn't answer a single one.

I didn't want to answer a single one. I hadn't admitted the answers even to myself.

Then there was that feeling that had been spinning around and around and around about how much that could have been done differently. Maybe I could have prevented the crash all along. Maybe us four weren't supposed to break away from the rest of the group. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten hurt and been all confused for the past week...

And maybe everything would have been of another story.

"Captain Russell..."

Camera flashes were doing my head in and wherever I turned I couldn't take more than one step.

Lola Johnson had a way with getting things her way.

"Come on." I felt her grabbing my jacket. "We gotta get you out of here. Hello..." She pushed someone out of the way. "Get away, you can get your photos another day. Come on..."

I didn't have to do or say anything. Only come in the direction where Lola was pulling me while I didn't even keep my eyes open.

"Here you go."

I didn't even open my eyes until she let go of me, I was standing by the shotgun door of her car and while I slowly got into the seat she had started the car and was stepping on the breaks.

I only lived a few blocks away from the airport and not much was said...

"I'm guessing if I want to know more about what have happened for the past month I'll have to at least wait for a few days..."

I wasn't so sure if I'd ever want to talk about it...

"Here we go."

She pulled over in front of my building. I had wished many times that I lived in my house or at least a flat on the ground floor. But yet it have never been so heavy to pull myself up the three floors that led me to my flat.

I found my keys in a side pocket of my backpack, but it was like I was too weak to even do anything because I just couldn't push the key into the lock and Lola had to do it for me before she at last half pushed me into my home and into the kitchen.

"Should I stay with you?"

"No." With a sigh I slumped down on a chair in the kitchen. "I think... you know, I haven't been alone since..."

My confused mind couldn't even figure it enough to speak the words that I hadn't been alone since before I was at the airport the last time. Unknowing what was going to happen.

"Okay." Lola patted my cheek as the mother she was. "I'll go and get your stuff so it don't get lost on the other side of the Atlantic or somewhere… I'll come by after work tomorrow if nothing else. And you have my phone number, don't hesitate to call if there's anything you need- even if it's in the middle of the night."

She was only being nice I knew. Just like always.

"Go away..."

I could hear how rude I was...

"Just go away..."

"Don't hesitate to call me..."

"Go away..."

"...I will."

I'd have to apologize to Lola now too. Among all the people I had to apologize to I had pretty much forgotten it by the time I heard the door to the flat open and close behind Lola.

As on a given signal when I heard the heavy door downstairs fall closed I felt my stomach turning inside out and I had to half stumble half run into the bathroom...

It was like my body wanted to get rid of every little piece of what I had left behind. Because soon I had started dry heaving and throwing up only bile that painfully came through my body and into the porcelain bowl in front of me.

When it finally stopped coming I fell panting towards the bathroom floor for for certain fifteen minutes before I got up. I didn't even mind flushing the toilet or washing my mouth before I went- that could wait until I got up again and stumbled into the bedroom.

And right there finally, in a bed for the first time in a month I pulled a blanket tightly over my head and shut the whole world out. The feeling of wanting to run away had gone away. Instead I would have gladly stayed here for all eternity now I was finally home…

Random fact

Well, there you have it. Captain Bob's chapter and with that all characters have each chapter. Only the epilogue left. See you then!