Title: Chaos amongst them.
Rating: T for now but that may change as they story progresses.
Summary: The survivors of flight 29 DWN have survived storms, sicknesses, injuries and each other. But when tempers run high, and the stress of it all becomes too much for the survivors to handle they begin falling apart one by one. Will they be able to band together before disaster strikes or will they be too late to save one of their own?
Disclaimer: I don't own the charters, the show, or any of the songs and artist that I choose to use. This is just for fun.
A/N:This chapter skips around a lot like from Jackson, to Nathan, to Daley ect. I tried to make it as less confusing as possible each part will be marked off with the line as usual so it shouldn't be to confusing, also when they split up, all the sections are happening at the same time which is why they all hear the same thing. (You'll understand that later) It's just telling everyone's views and what their going through. Let me know what you think and as always I hope you enjoy reading it.
Chapter five: The search
Taylor looked around the forest. She'd been sitting on a large bolder for a while now trying to let the pain ease up a bit before she continued back to camp but it just seemed to be getting worse and worse. Her ankle was throbbing, her entire right side felt like it was on fire, and her knees felt like they were going to give out on her with every step she took. It took every ounce of strength she had in her to keep from sobbing. She could barley see now she knew if she began sobbing now she would never get back to camp.
"HELP ME SOMEBODY! PLEASE?!" She screamed as loud as she could.
Her voice echoed back at her like it was teasing her reminding her how far from camp she had actually walked. She let out a small sob as she looked around her. It seemed like she was still a thousand miles from camp and she felt like she couldn't even walk one more step. She wasn't even sure which was camp was anymore. She knew it was obviously down hill since she walked up hill to get where she was but everything looked the same everywhere she went. She was lost, hurt, and scared. She knew no one back at camp would notice she was missing. If they didn't notice she was working it was a long shot to think they would notice that she wasn't around.
"Somebody please! Help me!" Her voice cracked to where it was barley auditable even to her.
She broke down into a sob, her body trembled and ached. It would be getting dark soon and she was still stuck in this stupid forest. At that moment she would have been happy to see anyone even Daley of all people. She didn't care wither they saw her hurt or not all she cared about was getting back home, as messed up as that thought was but the camp had become home to her, to everyone. She hated being alone and being surrounded by trees, giant bugs, mosquitoes, and lizards. Her bottle of water was barley a third of the way full and she was starving. She sniffled back her tears and wiped them from her eyes. She took a deep breath and braced her self with her hands as she slowly slid off the rock which turned out to be an even worse idea because she scrapped her back against it. She winced and let got of the rock and fell straight to the ground scraping the rest of her back on the rock. She groaned in pain and leaned forward.
No wonder Daley freaked out on me I can't even get off a stupid rock without hurting myself. Taylor thought as she sat up. She stopped her self from breaking down in tears again despite the pain and the fear she needed to be able to see at least somewhat in order to stop from walking in circles and most importantly to get home. She forced her self to stand and gripped a three to help her keep her balance. She began limping down the hill fighting the urge to fall on her knees. She grabbed a hold of every tree she came across to help stay on her feet. God I'm such an idiot!
Eric was still sitting on the ground where Daley had jerked him back. He was scared to stand up, he'd never seen Daley this mad before other than the time she flipped out on Taylor and frankly he didn't want to become the next one to suffer from her spiteful yelling. Jackson was standing ten feet from him with his hands in his front pocket. He didn't even seem to notice that he had a bloody nose. Nathan walked over to the first aid kit and grabbed enough gauze for Jackson, Eric, and Melissa. The piece she had was already filled with blood and she needed a new piece but Lex was too scared to let go so she could get a new one. He walked over and handed a piece to Melissa. She smiled thankfully. He smiled back and walked over and handed two to Eric, one for his eye and one for his nose then handed one to Jackson.
Jackson nodded at him but didn't say anything. He put the gauze to his nose and sat down on the sand with his legs propped in front of him and his elbows resting on his knees. He put the gauze over his nose and put pressure on it. It didn't hurt, Eric hit like a girl and he was horrible at aiming. He looked over at Melissa and Lex and a sense of dread washed over him. They both looked completely crushed and just to make matters worse Melissa got hurt while trying to break up the fight. He couldn't remember much about it, most of it was just a blur but he remembered enough to know that Melissa had grabbed a hold of him to pull him off of Eric and unless Eric had arms three feet long and missed drastically he was the one who hit her. He didn't mean to hurt her; that was the last thing he wanted to do was hurt someone else but it happened.
"Alright who started it?" Daley said jerking Jackson from his thoughts.
"I asked if anyone seen Taylor and Eric flipped." Jackson said looking up at Daley.
Daley looked over at Jackson worriedly. "What do you mean?"
Jackson looked at her confused. "What?"
"No one has seen Taylor since she left this morning?" Daley asked looking around the group everyone shook their head no. "It's been hours, she should've been back by now. Does anyone know which way she went when she left?" Daley said trying to remember her self.
Everyone looked as clueless as she did everyone but Jackson. He looked behind him and pointed at the woods behind him. None of them had been up that way to far. After a short distance it became a steep hill that looked way too dangerous to climb. Why couldn't she pick a less dangerous place to pout? Daley thought burying her face in her hands. She took a long and deep breath before looking up at everyone else.
"We have to go find her, we'll deal with this later…and we will deal with it!" She said looking from Eric to Jackson. "But right now, we have to find her. Melissa, do you mind staying here with Lex? I don't want him walking up that hill."
Melissa nodded and looked around at everyone. "Be careful." Everyone nodded.
Lex stood up and took a couple steps towards them but stopped before he got to close. "Search for about a hour then come back and just walk straight. You guys don't want to get lost out there especially when we only have a couple hours of day light left. Take a couple bottles of water with you just in case you do find her. I don't think she took any water but that one bottle." Lex said looking around at the whole group.
Everyone nodded. "We'll split up to cover more ground and to keep Jackson and Eric away from each other. We'll each take a point in the woods about twenty feet away from each other and we'll take some supplies from the first aid kit just in case she's hurt." Daley explained handing out two bottles of water out to everyone before taking some herself.
Everyone put some gauze and aspirin along with a few other items in their pockets then split up and began walking into the forest at first they could hear each other walking and yelling for her but after a couple hundred feet alls they could hear was the noises coming from their own feet and the birds flying around above them. Daley and Nathan made sure that they were both in between Eric and Jackson to keep anything else from happening today. They all had enough excitement for one day.
Melissa sat on one of the logs by the campfire holding the piece of gauze to her nose. She didn't blame Jackson for hitting her or even Eric for starting the fight. It was an accident, it wasn't like he knew she would run up behind him right when he was about to hit Eric again. She felt bad that Lex had to see it though. He looked up to the older kids to keep everything together and here recently they were destroying more than they were fixing. Lex knelt down beside the first aid kit and got an alcohol swab out. He walked over to Melissa and stood in front of her. He ripped the alcohol swab open, Melissa looked at him for a moment before taking the gauze off her nose. Lex winced and looked up at her.
"Has it stopped bleeding?" She asked.
He slowly nodded and began to clean the blood off her face. "Yeah but your eye looks really bad."
"It'll be alright." She said giving him a reassuring smile.
She put her hand on his shoulder and rubbed it with her thumb for a moment before standing up. She grabbed the bin they made into a trash can and walked around camp picking up all the paper's and pieces of gauze laying around. Lex walked around helping her. Once they were done Melissa put the lid on the bin then put it back beside the tent. She checked their food and water. They had enough food to last them at least a coupled days but only enough water to last them till night fall. She frowned and looked over at Lex. He was staring up at her; his eyes were full of pain and sadness. She'd never seen him like this even when they first crashed he seemed calm and collected. She gave him a slight smiled and picked up two empty jugs.
"Do you want to help me get some water?"
Lex shrugged and looked up at her. "Sure."
He picked up one of the empty jugs and followed her to the well. He couldn't stop thinking about how everyone seemed so distant from the group. All of them so stuck in their own world and their own drama that they ignored everyone around them. It was like all of them were together on the island but no one was really there. He hated seeing them so vulnerable. One big disaster could whip them all out because they would all be running in separate directions. He couldn't get the image of Taylor laying somewhere unconscious and bleeding because she fell and hit her head. At the rate they were going, and the way they were all acting they would never find her. Lex and Melissa knelt down beside the well and began using a couple empty bottles of water to fill the jugs. They didn't say much, they didn't have to. They were both thinking the same thing.
"I'll be right back…I gotta do something…" He said looking up at Melissa.
"Alright." Melissa said looking over at him and nodding. "But don't go too far, ok?" She said looking at him worriedly.
"I won't." He said standing up and walking back towards camp.
When he got there he went straight to one of the plastic bins and took the top off. He glanced through it before he put the lid back on and went to the next. He picked up the video camera and got his tape out of the tent. He sat down on the tent floor and sat the camera up on Daley's backpack. He turned it on and pressed record.
Lex's video diary
"A lot has happened in the last couple of days so I haven't really had the time to add anything. Today has been the worst day we've had since we got stranded here. We've had bad things happen but nothing like this…even the storm wasn't as bad as this. Daley lost our family portrait and I guess it's no big deal but it got her really stressed out and she lost her temper with Taylor. I don't know the whole story or fact from fiction because it's all he said she said but from the sound of things it was really bad so bad that Taylor has been acting nothing like her self. Disappearing for hours at a time, not eating, and even when she is around camp she's not really here. She doesn't talk to anyone or even acknowledge that their there."
Lex sighed and whipped the tears from his eyes. "And now we think she may have gotten lost in the most dangerous part of the island that we've seen aside from where she and Melissa fell off the cliff. If that wasn't bad enough Jackson and Eric got in a fight today…not an argument but an actual fight…that's a first even for us. Melissa tried to break it up and ended up getting a busted nose and a black eye for it because Jackson hit her. I don't think he meant to but that doesn't change the fact that he did it and the whole thing started over Jackson asking about Taylor. It's so stupid, it's taking less and less to send the older kids over the edge and the more time goes by the more we fall apart. If things keep going the way they are were never going to last long enough to be rescued. I feel like the only person I can trust anymore is Melissa…she seems to be the only one who hasn't lost it or is out to get revenge on someone…"
End of video diary
Lex turned off the video camera and put everything back where it was supposed to go before rushing off back to help Melissa.
Jackson stopped and whipped the sweat from his forehead as he looked around for any sign that Taylor had been through there. There weren't any, not even some foot prints in the mud. His head jerked up towards the sky as thunder rumbled in the distance. The sound was muffled and it could barley be heard but the last storm came on pretty quick and ended up taking everything they needed to survive and scattering it across the beach and into the trees. He looked around one more time examining the ground and the trees around him so he wouldn't get lost.
"TAYLOR!" He yelled with his hands cupped around his mouth.
He waited for a few moments for a response when there wasn't any he continued walking. He half expected Eric to jump him from behind for looking for her after the way he flipped out on him back at camp for just mentioning her name. He couldn't believe that he had actually gotten into a fight with him. He managed to keep him self from fighting everyone else but for some reason Eric had been the toughest and after he flipped out on him he couldn't control his anger any longer. He regretted letting Eric get to him the way he did, that Melissa got hurt in the process, and that Lex had to see it all. The more and more he thought about it the madder he got at his self and at Eric. He about slipped but stopped his self by grabbing a hold of a tree. Pay attention before you're the one needing a search party. He thought to his self as he got his balance back.
He wondered wither anyone would come and look for him after what happened. He even had his doubts about Melissa. If he was the one who hit her, even if it was an accident, she wouldn't be any rush to be alone with him again or risking her life to save his. Eric and Taylor were defiantly out for different reasons, and from the looks of it so was Nathan and Daley. He began walking again once he was sure he was steady enough. He cleared his mind of everything accept for keeping up with the time and looking for Taylor. He couldn't think of anything else right now, not without getting his self killed. He took a small drink of water and continued walking up the hill. He stopped for a few seconds and looked around. He cupped his hands around his mouth.
"TAYLOR!" He yelled again looking around for any sign of movement and listening for her to yell back.
Nathan walked up the hill fighting the urge to stop and rest. They only had an hour to look for Taylor before they all headed back to camp and she'd been gone since breakfast she had a huge head start. He took a drink of his water before sticking the bottle in his back pocket. He grabbed a hold of trees, and vines to help pull his self up the hill because his legs were felling heavier and heavier by the minute. He was hot, tired, and angry that things got so out of hand so fast. He never even saw it coming; it seemed like over night everything went from being ok and working to complete chaos. Everyone was turning on one another, loosing their tempers, plotting revenge, and taking off into uncharted wilderness. He sighed out of frustration and looked around.
"TAYLOR!" He yelled as loud as he could before continuing up the steep hill.
He didn't think there was any reason to stop there was too much ground to cover and not a lot of time. Maybe everything he heard about Daley loosing it on Taylor yesterday was true. Taylor wasn't the wilderness type; in fact she complained the whole time she was in it. She wouldn't just take off to view the scenery and after what happened at breakfast. Everything was adding up and he didn't like the answer. He couldn't believe that Daley would just go off like that without reason and even with a reason he still couldn't see Daley doing something like that. He groaned and stopped on one of the very few places that was actually flat ground. It was only about two feet wide but it was wide enough for him to catch his breath. He took a long chug of water then looked around. Taylor really knew how to maximize the drama around camp. It was automatic with her and Eric or at least it seemed that way. They didn't even have to try all the time, just their absent mind and their self centered personality was enough.
"TAYLOR!" He yelled again as her began to walk up the next endless steep hill.
His ribs were beginning to hurt and his heart felt like it was going to beat right out his chest. He couldn't catch his breath for long and the further he walked the hotter it seemed to get. He still didn't seen any sign that Taylor had been through there although it could've been hours since she'd been that close to camp. He almost fell again when he heard thunder. He looked up at the sky but alls he could see was glimpses through the trees. This was getting ridiculous not only did they have to deal with the constant drama they had to deal with a storm coming as well. He shook his head and continued up the hill. God I really hate this place!
Daley walked up the hill grabbing a hold of anything that would help her get up there faster. She hid it well but the guilt was eating away at her inside. She couldn't get the image of Taylor laying unconscious somewhere all bruised and cut up. What she said to her was burning in the back of her mind replaying over and over and each time it did the closer she got to crying. What had she done? Ever since she lost it the other day it seemed like a chain reaction everyone started loosing it. She started all of this just because of a picture. Yeah it was important to her but not if it caused the group to fall apart. Their survival depended on them sticking together. She had said it to the group a million times but she was the one who needed to hear it the most. They were all under stress, and they all had their issues but that didn't mean that they could walk around snapping at the first person that walked by.
The look on Taylor's face enraged her before but now it haunted her. She looked crushed, like someone had just broken her. Being on this island was turning them all into cavemen, the only ones who seemed to be unaffected was Lex until today. He would never be able to trust Jackson and Eric again. They shattered his trust along with his respect and most likely they shattered some of him as well. Why couldn't they just get along? They all know how important it is for them but it doesn't seem to matter. Daley stopped and leaned against a tree. She took a drink of her water, stuck in back in the small pack she was carrying, and looked around. How long had it been since we all left camp? Daley shook her head clueless. She'd been so lost in her thoughts that it seemed like only minutes ago she was racing through the forest towards camp. She sighed and looked back down the hill. She walked a long way; she couldn't even see the sand or the tent anymore.
Her face was red and dripping with sweat. She felt like she was about to dehydrate but she knew that wasn't true. She was just exhausted and hot. She needed to conserve all the water she could if they found Taylor….when they found Taylor. She put her hands on the tree and pushed her self up. Once she got her balance she continued up the hill walking as fast as her lungs and feet would allow.
"Taylor!" She tried to yell but her voice cracked.
Fine I won't yell I'll just look for her. She was annoyed with her self; she couldn't even yell how was she supposed to find Taylor? Come to think of it she was probably better off not yelling. If Taylor heard her looking for her she would probably run in the other direction. She heard thunder in the far distance. She rolled her eyes to her self but kept hiking up the hill. Can't we just get a little break! Is that too much to ask for?!
Eric slowly walked up the hill. He could barley see out of his one eyes, his rids were killing him, and his head was throbbing in pain. He wanted to turn around and go back to camp but he was determined not to let Jackson be the hero this time. That would defiantly seal the deal between them and he would become invisible to her again just like back at school. He wasn't willing to go back to that not in a million long years. He would find Taylor, become the hero, and in return for saving her life she would become his girlfriend or at least that was the plan. That would show Jackson whose better! He nodded satisfied to his self. It would make him a hero back at camp too. No more lugging water, no more work for that matter. Everyone would forget that he had anything to do with the fight and Jackson would get all the punishment. Hopefully it's a vote right off this island! That would serve him right. He thought as he took a long chug from his bottle of water.
He sighed happily to his self as he fantasized about his return to camp with Taylor in his arms. They would all yell and cheer, even Jackson would envy him. They would appoint him leader and he would be Taylor's arm candy when they got back home, or better yet she would be his. He would get a medal for his bravery and brilliance. He would even get his own movie contract. Hello Hollywood. He smiled but it quickly faded when the pain in his face multiplied by ten. He sat down on a rock to rest. He hadn't even broke a sweat yet, but hero's needed their rest for the rescuing not for the search. He thought about what would happen when he got to her. She would probably kiss him the moment she saw him and thank him. She would swear to be his and only his and she would hate Jackson for hurting him. He shook his head; he was turning it into a cheesy romance novel. Once he felt like it he stood up again and began up the hill.
He hunkered down like he was being shot at when he heard the thunder in the distance. It sounded pretty far away. He stood up and began walking up the hill again. But if it gets any closer Taylor will have to wait for a little while to be rescued.
Daley's legs felt like they weighed a thousand pounds and she had to slow her pace drastically. The hill only seemed to get steeper and steeper the more she walked and it wasn't get any easier to save her water. She could feel her chest twisting into knots and her body ached. She refused to give up until she absolutely had to. It was her fault Taylor was out there and if she got hurt…she would never forgive herself. She had to find her despite what her body was telling her she couldn't stop and rest, not even for a second. Once she found her and found out she was ok she would rest but not before. She took a small sip of her water then put the lid back on it tightly and tucked it inside her pack. She heard another crash of thunder this time it sounded a bit closer. She wasn't sure wither it was because it was closer to the sky of if it was closer to her. She came to a drop off in the hill, it was only a couple feet tall and about a foot wide but it was nothing but rock. She must be closer to the mountain than she thought.
She took a deep breath and walked up to it. She had to get up it wither she wanted to or not. Taylor is waiting! She told her self as she put her feet on some jagged pieces of the rock and pushed her self up. After a few steps she was able to reach across the ledge and grab a vine that was sticking from the ground. She held it tightly with both hands and walked up the rock with her feet. Just like climbing the wall in gym She thought as her feet got closer to the top. Suddenly the vine broke and she went crashing down to the ground. She hit her head on a rock and just as sudden as her fall everything went black.