Here's a sort of calm chapter... lol.
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The howls go on for a few minutes, causing everyone to wake up. Dannie and Sammy hug each other, and Wanda stops them from making any noise that could give us away. The howling stops suddenly, and the noises come back.
"There's a whole pack out there." Frank whispers.
Thomas gets up and sits next to the twins, they actually look up to him as an older brother, well it seems that way anyway, the way they treat him and act around him. He takes good care of them, too. It's a side of Thomas I've never seen. But I've only seen two sides of Thomas; the side of him when he's in school, and the sweet side of him when we had that conversation the other day.
"Will they go away?" Austin asks quietly.
He nods, "I think so. We haven't left any food outside, so they won't find much." He says.
The noise continues, and it's just so eerie and terrifying, knowing that there is something outside that could decide to rip you to pieces at any moment. I start to shake, not being able to control it. I get freaked out very easily, and I can't ever hide it. Sure, I keep things to myself, but I can't keep emotions to myself very well.
Frank keeps still, resting one leg on his knee, and the other is on foot, ready to run at any moment, or fight for his life. If it wasn't for this piece of plane, we would be getting eaten right now. I don't think any of us would have been able to make much of a shelter, except for maybe Frank. I want to ask him about his life, find out how he's so smart, but I don't think he's in the mood for any conversation like that.
Austin looks at me, studying my face and I look away, trying not to let him find out how afraid I am, but like I said, I'm easy to read. He scoots closer to me, if that's even possible, but that's all he does. I don't really understand why he did it in the first place, but I don't question it. When I hear a noise closet to me, I realize that my broken window isn't covered, and a wolf head could easily fit in it. I gasp at the realization and Austin follows my gaze. I look at him, and his face drops. He jumps up, and pulls me with him. We stumble backwards and I fall on top of him, just as the familiar wolf from the woods sticks his head in. The twins scream, totally giving us away to the rest of the pack, and the scratches and noises become louder.
Frank gets a piece of metal scrap in the back of the plane and hits the wolf on top of the head, making it whimper and back away. We wait for it to come back, but it doesn't. I start to hyperventilate at everything that has happened. Austin turns me around and faces me, rubbing my back gently. But my breathing doesn't slow down, and I feel like I am having an asthma attack, even though I do not have it.
"Calm down Ally!" Austin yells, but I can't.
Frank hands me a paper bag, from where, I don't know. But I start to breath in and out of it, like I've seen in the movies and T.V shows, but I don't know if it will work. Eventually, it does, and my breathing slows.
I see Thomas is blocking the window up securely so I will be able to sleep there again. And Tiffany and Wanda are trying to calm down the twins. Austin is seated right in front of me, and he's staring directly at me, his face full of horror, even though I'm calming down.
After Thomas is done with the window, and the noise outside stops, Frank tells us all to go to sleep. He and Thomas move over near the twins to help them keep calm, and I lay back down on my spot, even though I'm hesitate to be right here.
I lay under Austin's blanket, still shaking from everything that happened. I feel Austin's hand touch my back and I roll over on my side. He's on his side too, watching me with calm eyes. He puts his hand on my arm, and I pull myself over to him, and lay my head under his neck, and my body presses against him. He wraps his arm around me, and for once I am warm, I am calm, I feel safe; all in the arms of Austin Moon.
The morning comes quickly, and Austin and I jump away from each other when we wake up and realize how close we were. As I sit up, I realize Frank isn't in the plane anymore, but everyone else is. I jump over Austin, ignoring his questions and run out of the plane, holding my breath, thinking the worst.
But I let out a huge sigh when Frank is sitting at the fire pit, studying plants. I look around cautiously, imaging a wolf appearing out of nowhere and ripping off my head. Austin comes running out behind me, practically running into me, "Why did you run out like that?" he asks.
"Frank wasn't in there, I was worried. I didn't know if it was safe out here or not." I say.
Frank notices us and walks over, "The wolves were gone this morning. I reckon they won't come out during the day, well not there pack anyway. We just have to go inside the plan as soon as the sun sets." He says.
"What about our fires?" Austin asks.
"We'll just have to have them earlier." Frank says.
"Did they damage anything?" I ask him.
"No, seeing how there really isn't anything to damage out here. It's a good thing we keep everything inside." He says.
"Who wants to go to the river today?" Thomas asks while coming out of the plane.
"Is that a good idea?" Austin asks.
Frank nods, "I don't see why not."
I won't admit it out loud, but I'm kind of afraid to go anywhere. Maybe the wolves won't be together during the day, but I saw that one wolf by himself and it was daylight. Plus there are jaguars out there, and rattlesnakes, and who knows what else. Any one of us could die at any time, and that thought won't leave my head.
"I think I will stay here." I say.
Austin turns to me, raising an eyebrow, but Frank beats him to the questioning, "Why?" Frank asks.
"I don't feel like swimming." I say.
"You don't have to swim, you can watch." Sammy says.
I shake my head, "I just don't want to." I say. I turn around and head back to the plane, not wanting to answer any more questions.
Going over to my spot in the plane, I hear someone behind me, and I knew who it was of course. I sit down and grab my songbook and stare at it, and without looking up I say, "Go. You don't have to stay here."
"But I don't want to leave you here alone, it could be dangerous." Austin says, taking a seat next to me.
"It's more dangerous out there." I say.
"Oh, so that's why you don't want to go?" He asks.
"It doesn't matter." I say.
"Yes it does." He says.
"Just go." I tell him, slamming my book shut and stuffing it back into my bag.
"Why are you acting like this?" he asks me.
"Because I don't need you like you think I do." I say and walk out of the plane. Everyone's gone already, and I walk over to the fire pit and pick up a stick and start ripping it apart slowly, trying to occupy myself.
Austin comes outside too, but he doesn't come over to me. He goes in the direction of the river, and doesn't even look back. I can tell by his face he's upset, angry even. I know I blew it big time, whatever "it" is, but it doesn't matter. I just want to be left alone, I think that is understandable.
I walk back in the plane and lay down, staring up at the plain, boring ceiling I lay my eyes on every damn night. I want to be found, and I want to go home. I don't know what to do with myself here. I think I'm falling for Austin, but that can't happen, not here. What if he was to like me and something happens between us, and then we get rescued and go back to our old lives and he forgets about me? I wouldn't be able to handle that.
I remember thinking that we shouldn't stay in our high school clichés here, but maybe that is how it should me. From now on, I'm keeping my distance from Austin, even though I have to sleep right next to him. But that night that I fell asleep in his arms can't happen again, no matter how much I crave it and need it.
I fall asleep fast, and when I wake up, Austin's laying next to me, sleeping. Everyone is sleeping. I must have really passed out, and slept through them coming home.
My stomach starts to rumble, but I ignore it. If I get up I might wake everyone up, and I don't want to do that. I roll over to my side and look at Austin. He's in different clothes; a black and red striped collared shirt, and long shorts. He's lying on his back, but he doesn't really look too comfortable. The light from the small lantern in the middle of all of us shows off his slight goose bumps.
His blanket lays weightlessly on me, but I take it off slowly and lay it over him. He moves slightly, his eyebrows raise, but he doesn't wake up. I lie back down and sigh, realizing how hard it's going to be to push that boy out of my life, I mean, just look at him. I hug my legs and try to sleep, the slight chill keeping me up. I want to cuddle with Austin under that blanket, but I know after today he won't want to talk to me.