Hey guys! Well, here's the next chapter! Just to let you know, this is going to be the second to last chapter. I'm writing a sequel, but I'll have more info on that after. Here's the chapter!
The next day, everyone woke up feeling the best they had felt since the plane crash. Daley was content in knowing that she had worked things out with both Nathan and Lex, Melissa was happy that she and Jackson no longer had to sneak around to be together, and Jackson was just happy to see everyone else happy and conducting themselves wonderfully in their work. Even Eric didn't complain as he lugged all that water from the well, for he had confessed to Taylor his true feelings for her, and she had felt the same. A feeling of mutual happiness could be experienced throughout camp, and because of this, everything was going well.
It was mid-morning, and everyone was busy. Eric was lugging water and Taylor was boiling it. Melissa and Daley were collecting fruit and fishing. Nathan was sawing down trees and Jackson was trying to figure out how those trees could be of use to them.
Lex, meanwhile, was roaming the beach, looking for materials that they could use around camp. He wasn't having much luck, and he was about to head back to camp when he looked up at the sky and saw a massive, dark gray cloud rolling slowly toward the little island. Lex gasped, and turning around, he ran back to camp and screamed, "Guys! Come quick!"
Nathan, Daley, and Melissa heard him and came running out of the jungle. Jackson looked up from examining the trees, Taylor abandoned the fire, and Eric dropped the water jugs. All of them went over to Lex and began to question him.
"Lex, what is it?" Jackson asked.
"Look!" Lex cried, and the others looked up at the sky, where he was pointing. The enormous cloud was getting darker and approaching them, slowly but surely. They were all frozen and speechless, staring at the sky.
"Oh, man," Nathan said, the first to recover.
"That doesn't look good," Taylor said in awe.
"It's not," Lex told her. "A storm is coming, and it's not just any storm, either. It'll be worse than any we've had yet- if I'm right, it's a hurricane."
"Oh, no," began Daley. "That's not good. How long do you think until it hits, Lex?"
"I'm not exactly sure," Lex said carefully. "With a storm like that, it'll be likely to last for days, and it could come any time within a day or so."
"How does he know so much?" Eric asked of the others.
"That doesn't matter, right now we need to get ready for this storm!" Jackson said. "Mel, Daley, start collecting as much food as you can, we're gonna need it." Melissa and Daley nodded and got to work. "Eric, get as much water as you can carry, and Taylor, you boil and filter it."
"You got it, chief," Eric said, and they ran off.
"Lex, start gathering all our things together, but don't do anything else with them, and when you're done, come see me," Jackson told him, and he immediately set to work. Jackson then looked at Nathan and said, "You come with me."
Nathan followed him into the jungle, where Jackson began to collect three vines at a time and braid them together. Nathan watched Jackson work and tried to figure out what he was doing; he remembered doing that, but what it was done for… he couldn't remember. Jackson looked up and saw Nathan staring at him, and said, "Come on, Nathan, help me out here. You must know where I'm going with this."
Nathan found three vines and began to braid them together, still thinking. A few minutes later, however, he slowed down, looked up at Jackson, and then stopped braiding altogether.
"Jackson, we aren't going to move the plane, are we?"
"Yep, you and me, buddy," Jackson said, grimacing at him.
Nathan just stared at him with a dropped jaw as he continued to braid the vines.
"Nathan," Jackson said to him, "You know I can't do this on my own."
"What," Nathan asked of him, "you and me, by ourselves?" Jackson nodded. "Are you crazy?!"
"Come on, man, think about it!" Jackson said, walking over to him. "The storm's coming, and we have no idea when, which means that we have to get everything done as soon as we can." Nathan opened his mouth to interrupt, but Jackson didn't give him the chance. "Now," he said, raising his voice, "We need shelter to wait out the storm, and the only thing big and stable enough is the plane, which is down on the beach, and if we're not careful, it'll be swept away again, this time with us in it. But we also need to save all our things, and we need food and water. The others are taking care of that. That's their job. But our job, it's the most important one. There's no one else to do it but us. And if we don't do it, we're all done for." Jackson looked at him, waiting for him to answer. But Nathan just stared at Jackson, who said after a moment, "Do you think we can do it?"
"You bet we can!" Nathan said, getting back to braiding the vines.
Jackson smiled and also got back to work.
29DWN
The others were all busy with their tasks, as well. Eric was going double the speed than usual on the trips to and from the well, Taylor had about twenty bottles of water ready to go already, and Daley and Melissa had a good sized pile of fruit going near the shelter. Lex was just finishing gathering all their things together when Jackson and Nathan emerged from the jungle, each carrying a few long vines braided together.
"Jackson, I'm done," Lex called.
"Oh, good, help us out here, Lex," Jackson said as he and Nathan headed down to the plane.
When they got there, Jackson told Lex to tie the vines to the plane while he and Nathan went to fetch the logs that he finally found a use for- skids to help move the plane.
Soon the vines were tied, the skids were in place, and everything had been removed from the plane.
"What exactly are you two doing?" Lex asked cautiously.
"We're moving the plane so we can use it as a shelter," Nathan said.
"By yourselves?" Lex exclaimed. "No, not a good idea, I'll go get the others…"
"Lex," Jackson said, taking his arm, "They need to keep up with the food and water, and you need to help them."
"But-" Lex began, but Jackson cut him off.
"Lex, trust me," he said seriously, and Lex nodded and ran up to camp.
Jackson and Nathan exchanged looks. "Well," Nathan said, "You ready?"
"Let's do it," Jackson said, and they each took hold of a vine.
"One…" Nathan said.
Jackson flexed his hands and counted, "Two…"
Nathan braced himself and exchanged looks with Jackson, and they both shouted,
"Three!" and pulled as hard as they could.
29DWN
Back at camp, Taylor could see the sky getting darker, and she began to worry.
"Eric," she said, "Look at the sky."
Eric looked up and said, "Oh, man, if Jackson and Nathan don't get that plane up here soon-"
"I don't see why they won't let us help them," Taylor said. "It doesn't make sense!" Taylor and Eric's getting together had done wonders for both of them, and Taylor was now more caring than she had ever been.
"Because," Eric said, putting his arm around her, "We don't wanna starve, do we?"
Taylor sighed. "You're right. But I hope they can handle it."
Eric kissed her forehead and said, "Me, too," and they sat there together, thinking about their predicament.
29DWN
Meanwhile, Melissa and Daley were picking fruit in the jungle when Lex came up to them.
"Hey, Lex," Daley greeted him. She noticed the look on his face and asked, "Is anything wrong?"
Lex told them about what Jackson and Nathan had said, and Daley went crazy.
"By themselves?! Are they crazy?! They could get hurt! Why would they do that? Why didn't they ask us?"
"What did they say, Lex?" Melissa asked, calmer than Daley.
"That they were the only people that could do it, because we need food and the rest of us needed to get it, and to trust them and they'd be fine," Lex told them.
"Daley, that is true," Mel said. "They'll be fine, you don't need to worry."
"I guess so," said Daley after a moment. "But that doesn't stop me from worrying."
"Me, neither, Daley," Melissa said. "Me, neither."
29DWN
"You okay, Jackson?" Nathan called to him.
"Fine," Jackson answered with a grunt, lifting the log off his foot, which was now a little swollen.
Moving the plane had been, more or less, what they'd expected. They had managed to get it about halfway to where they'd wanted it. Although, Nathan was still nervous about moving it, for he had once been trapped beneath it, and only a few days later, cut on the ankle.
Nevertheless, they worked away, pulling the plane and moving the skids, pulling the plane and moving the skids, pulling the plane and moving the skids, with only a few cuts and bruises along the way. When they became discouraged, they simply looked up at the ever-darkening sky and set to work again.
Finally, they had gotten the plane far enough up the beach so that it wouldn't be washed away. Nathan dropped the vine and fell backwards, breathing a sigh of relief. Jackson collapsed next to him. Though exhausted, they were both proud of their accomplishment. The others all ran over to them when they noticed the plane up on the beach.
"You did it!" Daley cried, throwing her arms around Nathan.
"Of course we did," Nathan told her. "We told you we'd be fine." He looked around at the others, and then at Jackson, who seemed to be thinking what he was thinking.
"You guys weren't doubting us, were you?" Jackson asked them.
There was a pause, and then Melissa said, "Well, what's important is that you did it!"
There was suddenly a loud rumble of thunder that made them all come to realize that they didn't have much time. They began to load everything into the plane, which surprisingly didn't take much time. Just as they were finishing, it began to rain, and they all made a run for the plane.
"Oh, man," Eric said as he stretched out with a yawn. "That was some day. I'm beat."
"Me, too," Lex agreed.
"Well, it was all worth it," Jackson said.
"Yeah," Taylor said. "Now we can…" She broke off, looking around the plane carefully. She suddenly realized that something was wrong. "Where's Nathan?"
Everyone looked around and at once realized the same thing; Nathan was gone.
"Oh, no," Daley said, looking around wildly. "Oh, no, oh, no! Oh, Nathan!" She got up and went to the far end of the plane and called his name, but no luck. She ran around, screaming his name over and over. She even opened the plane door and ran outside. There was no sign of him.
"No!" she screamed. "Nathan, where are you?"
Jackson and Lex came outside and ran to Daley.
"Daley!" said Lex, trying to calm her down. "Day! Day! Listen to me! He's gone. He can't hear you."
"Where is he?" Daley demanded, now in tears. "Nathan, come back!" She ran to look down on the beach, then back. "Where could he be?" she asked Jackson and Lex.
"I don't know," Lex began, "But, Day-"
"What if something happened to him? What if he's lost out there? We have to go look for him!" she exclaimed, trying to run for the jungle. "We have to-"
"Daley," Jackson said, holding her back. "We can't go looking for him now. It's too dark to see. We have to wait until morning, that is if the storm's gona away-"
"No!" Daley cried. "Jackson, what if-"
"He'll be fine," Jackson cut her off. "I know Nathan, Daley, and he can take care of himself."
"But-"
"Come on, you two," Jackson said, and Daley reluctantly allowed him to take her inside.
That night, everyone was silent and no one could sleep. Jackson himself was having a hard time containing himself from taking off to look for Nathan, but he knew he couldn't at least until morning, because that would only make things worse. As he looked out into the storm, he hoped that Nathan was alright, for that was all he could do.
Hope you guys liked it! Next chapter is the last! I'll get it up soon, plus more info on the sequel! And reviews would be much appreciated!!! This is the most important time for reviews, since I don't really know what your views on the story are right now. Thanks, guys!