42

They were in Rangeley, Maine for survival training. There were eight of them in their group, John and Alan had been put together along with Chloe and Katie. They were all sat in the back of an army chopper getting ready to deploy, they were being dropped in the middle of the forest. "Right; look ready!" Shouted their instructor. Alan and John sat opposite each other and began to make last minute checks to their gear. John slid on his goggles over his helmet. Alan adjusted his harness. They stood up swaying slightly whilst holding on to the webbing. John was the first to work his way over to his instructor. The plan was they were to parachute into a clearing where they would then begin their survival training. John approached the edge of the open door with apprehension, he couldn't say he was that comfortable with throwing himself out of helicopter. Give him suspended animation any day but not freefalling, it was unnerving. As he neared the instructor, he stood patiently ready to listen to instruction. "Get ready son, you're in for a bumpy ride." The instructor pitched John backwards straight out the open door. Alan yelled and didn't even hesitate before jumping off after his brother. The instructor internally commended his bravery or at least stupidity, which one it was only time would tell. He peered over the edge to see Alan had managed to dive hard enough to grab his brother's wrist as they plunged into the lake together whilst he was still chucking students out. They had thrown them out so low they hadn't had time to pull their chutes. Katie flipped out screaming.

John and Alan broke hands once they realised it was water below. John quickly crossed his arms and held onto his shoulders; Alan followed suit. They then crossed their legs at the ankles and braced before impact. They both hit the water six foot from each other. Their brother had actually explained what to do in this scenario so they were confident in their ability. The risk was trying to come up too early and expending your energy against the resistance of the water. John tried to relax until he felt himself come to a natural stop. Then he slowly released his limbs and began to float up again using his legs to propel him. Alan hit the water a bit faster but recovered quickly and calmly as he rose to the surface thanking Gordon for all the times, he'd tried to dunk him in the pool as a kid. It had made him very water confident even if it had terrified their mother. John broke the surface first before being quickly followed by Alan, the spray splashing over John again. Both took gasping breaths as they shook their heads and swiped the water from their eyes. They both looked at each other. "You ok?" John asked. Alan nodded. They trod water as they tried to get their bearings. They had been told that the rescue point was due south but that was before they got chucked into the middle of the large lake instead of the wilderness. John heard spluttering next to him, A head of brunette hair popped up as an arm clawed desperately at the water before sinking under again. "Katie!" Alan cried. He sucked in a breath and dove straight under again. John looked around desperately trying to sight them. He had faith in Alan but that didn't mean he wasn't anxious. A few tense moments later Alan surfaced holding onto to Katie and swimming them both over to John on their backs, one arm propelling them whilst the other was securely around her chest. She was crying.

"Katie are you hurt?" John asked concerned.

"No. I tried to come up too quick and got exhausted and I panicked." she sobbed hysterically.

"It's ok I've got you, take some deep breaths for me." Alan calmly reassured her, slowly her panic attack began to subside. John was impressed, he hadn't seen this responsible side of Alan before. He had performed exceptionally well under stress so far. John flicked his annoying mop of blonde hair out of his face, his blue eyes looking determined.

"Right we need to swim to shore, some of the other students have made it already but I'm pretty sure they are on the wrong side of the lake." He looked at his analogue wristwatch. His father had always taught him to wear one for this reason. He pointed the hour hand at the sun, South would be halfway between the 12 and the hour hand. "By my calculations we need to head this direction. John pointed to the bank furthest from them. Katie was now managing to tread water herself "Are you sure?" She looked at everyone on the other side of the lake.

"My brother may be wrong about many things" Alan winked. "but navigation is not one of them. He's exceptional when it comes to having a sense of direction."

"Wow! Alan are you well? That almost sounded like a compliment!"

"Shut up John, I've got plenty of time to drown you from here to the bank."

"That's more like it!" John led the way the other two swimming behind him. A drone whirred overhead, it was how the instructors assessed their survival abilities and monitored their safety. The fire department and search and rescue were on standby to intervene if needed. They reached the bank in good time. At the moment the weather was sunny which was good because they only had the clothes on their back, it was going to take time to dry. As they scrambled up the bank a familiar voice called out. "You took your time." John grinned back at her.

"Not all of us are former triathlon athlete's you know."

She smirked wringing out her dark blonde hair before re-plaiting it, resting her arms on her knees as she did so. "Looks like we're a team then."

"I guess so." replied Alan, he was looking around trying to scope a good base for camp, it was late afternoon. They all took a minute to do a quick inventory. They each had a small bag with one tiny ration back, an empty water bottle, water purification tablets, a first aid kit, a knife and an emergency flare. Their objective was to survive 72 hours on their own whilst traversing to the nearest road to attract attention to be rescued. They re-packed their bags, starting to feel uncomfortable in their wet boots and camo.

John straightened up from his crouched position by the lake where he had filled his flask and added the tablet. The others did the same. "Right the road is in that direction but realistically we are going to need to make camp before nightfall and gather resources to build a den for the night. Let's follow the lake for now and see what we can find."

The others nodded in agreement and trudged off their feet catching the large stones of the shore at odd angles, causing them to stumble on occasion. They walked for an hour in reasonably good humour but their wet clothes began to grate on them after a time and it wasn't long till they became irritable, especially Alan. He was generally very good natured but the smallest thing could tick him off. They reached a natural clearing five kilometers from the lake. Chloe looked around "This looks as good a place as any. Its sheltered, there's a stream just down the hill there and there doesn't appear to be any broken branches or obvious danger overhead." The ground was covered in dry pine needles and fairly soft, the trees provided some natural shelter from the elements and there were materials that could be used to make a shelter. "Don't you think we should find a cave or cliff outcrop? It would be a lot more waterproof." Alan suggested.

"Aren't there bears out here and don't they like caves?" Katie asked looking over her shoulder in worry.

"Yes, they do and we would run the risk of them disturbing us. We need to be mindful of them here too which means we will have to take it in turns to keep watch. I haven't observed any animal tracks here but you never know." John stated.

They spread out in pairs to look for materials to build their shelter. John and Chloe didn't have to go far until they found a large log. It was ideal as a pillar for their den. Together they managed to hoist it up and carry it the short distance back to the camp. Katie then started to collect ferns and moss to cover the den with, using her knife to cut the large ferns. Alan found another log and heaved it back over his shoulder, it not being as heavy as the last. Chloe realised they still had their parachutes so she set to work on cutting hers up so they could use the paracord to tie the branches together and use the sheeting as a tent cover to go over the frames of the poles. She gathered the remaining paracord and secured it to her bag, it would make a good rope. Eventually John and Alan came back dragging another large sturdy branch behind them. John and Alan (Being the tallest) Worked together to tie the three logs at the top with the para cord. John pulled on it tight to test its security. He impaled the ends of the poles into the soft ground. Satisfied he and Chloe then covered the tent with the parachute. Alan and Katie then worked together to cover it head to toe in moss and ferns to try an make it as watertight as they could. Inside they used another parachute to cover the floor and to provide some kind of bedding. They stood back to admire their handiwork. It looked good.

"Right time to make a fire." Alan declared. "These damp clothes suck!" He set about gathering some firewood whilst Katie and Chole gathered some large rocks to create a ring to hold the fire in. They placed them around a small old tree trunk which would be the perfect base for the fire. They also found a few flat stones for cooking on. John focused on striking the branch across his knee with a knife to create some tinder to light the fire. Once they had everything, they needed they reassembled and built up the fire together. "I'll light it!" Alan volunteered. He quickly dug a small nick out of the trunk with his knife before then snuggly fitting a tough round branch in place and placing the tinder his brother gave him next to it. He then pushed downwards hard and vigorously spun the stick backwards and forwards, building momentum. It started to smoke as an ember spat into the tinder. Alan tried to blow gently on it but it wouldn't ignite. Frustrated he tried again. After ten minutes and seeing the girls depressed faces John piped up. "Maybe one of us should try." John suggested.

"I can do this!" He frowned stubbornly at the stick. If fires could be lit with glares then Alan would have had it going long ago. His hands were starting to redden with the friction. After another five minutes he chucked it down annoyed. "Fine if you think you can do better!" He stood up and threw himself down on a log next to Katie. John just shook his head, Alan losing his rag when he couldn't do something was a common occurrence. Its why they refused to play board games with him, it was no fun when the game ended up on the floor. John whittled the stick faster and faster and within two minutes a fire was beginning to be coaxed into life. John tried to keep his smug look to the floor but he heard Alan huff in disgust in the background. The girls cheered.

Soon a raging fire was roaring. They had completed a food and water itinerary. They only had supplies for twenty hours but if they were careful, they could eek it to forty-eight then if they were on track for rescue, they would only have to go without one day if they couldn't find anything else to supplement their diet. Chloe had laid some snares with the paracord but she wasn't hopeful that they would actually catch anything. Alan had been picking at the log he was sat on and was extracting a large white fat grub. Katie squealed. Alan laughed as it curled back towards his thumb and forefinger. "Alan don't you dare eat that; I'm never kissing you again!"

"If I kisses gave me subsistence Katie then by all means I wouldn't have to eat this gross thing." He cut the head off with a knife, at least he thought it was the head it was still moving. He cocked his head to one side.

"Maybe I could sustain you in other ways." Katie suggestively flicked her hair. "But not if your going to eat that!"

"Hmm, now there's an offer" He winked.

John gave a strong look of disapproval as he stoked the fire roughly. Chloe tried not to laugh at Alan as he was seriously considering the offer. He shrugged, pushed the large grub on a stick and handed it to John.

"No thank you, I wouldn't want to deprive my little brother. He needs to keep his strength up apparently."

Katie blushed. Alan went back to roasting the grub. John was pretty grossed out but there wasn't a lot to eat and sense told him they needed to conserve their rations. He went over to the log and pulled one out for himself. Chloe followed suit. It looked like Katie would rather starve.

There was a chill to the evening air now as the sun began to set, they were grateful for the fire that had almost dried their clothes. They had each pitched their socks and jackets onto sticks to dry and put their boots as close to the fire as they dared. The sun dipped below the horizon brilliant pinks, oranges and yellows torched the sky above them. Soon they had all roasted their grubs and cooled them down.

"Right together?" John asked.

"Together"

"All for one and one for all!" Declared Chloe clattering their sticks together before they broke away and took a bite each.

"Eurrgh!" Chloe swallowed but immediately started retching hard.

"Eww that's nasty!" John looked offended as he tried to swallow as quick as he could. To his credit he finished it.

Alan looked like he had marbles in his mouth. He tried hard to maintain a cool composure but soon he was vomiting it back up behind some bushes. "Ugh! That's bad." Katie had gone white just watching them. She patted Alan's back soothingly as he continued to wretch.

In the end they ate a quarter of a ration bar. It was full dark now and the stars could be seen through a tiny gap in the canopy. To take their minds off the hunger they lay down as John took them through the star constellations they could see and the ones they couldn't see with the naked eye. Alan looked across at his brother. His face was lit by the amber hues of the fire his expression animated as he talked about what he loved most. Alan always moaned it was boring but deep down he loved listening to his brother talking about the heavens, this was the first time since Alan was a child that his brother had spoke in this manner. It reminded him of when they used to camp out on the farm.

After a while they figured they better turn in as they probably weren't going to sleep well and someone needed to keep watch. John insisted he would go first and that they should all get some sleep. They all crawled in, it was tight but they managed. Alan lay in the middle (Being the tallest he needed the widest diameter of the tepee to fit. The girls curled up either end under the parachute using their bags and parachute bags for pillows.

John sat as close as he could to the fire and hugged his knees it was chilly, the damp clothes from earlier hadn't helped but he was almost dry he just hoped he didn't get hypothermia. He listened out intently for anything that would suggest danger but the night was quiet. He continued to look at the stars. He had asked his dad for advice before they came out here and he had said that you needed to believe in your abilities and take your time. No good came from rushing into a situation panicked. He also said remember Water, food, preservation, shelter and make sure you make it known you want to be rescued. John's lips quirked into an involuntary smile. Day one was over he wondered what the next two days would bring.