x

Left Behind

Nobody gets much rest overnight – if any at all. Aubrey somehow finds herself crushed between Chloe and Beca as they all try to share a single blanket for warmth and possibly a little bit of comfort. She drifts off once for about five seconds only to snap awake embarrassed when her head lolls against Beca. Beca barely seems to notice – or, if she does, she's unbothered. Aubrey vows to stay awake after that to avoid further humiliation as well as being eaten by whatever is out there.

By the time the first sunrays peak out from behind the endless ocean, Aubrey is more antsy than she is tired. She sits up and throws off the blanket, getting looks from either side of her when the blanket is torn off Chloe and Beca too. "What? It's mornin'. We're going to need a full day's worth of sunlight." She gathers the blanket back up and drapes it over Chloe.

"I'm going with you." Chloe pushes the blanket back off.

"Like hell," Aubrey blurts out, "Did you not see what happened last night? It's not safe."

"I'm still going," Chloe decides and stands up.

Aubrey gets up too and folds her arms tightly across her chest. "What if they need a doctor here?"

"I'm more worried about you needing a doctor out there."

Please. Aubrey rolls her eyes and turns away.

"Your blatant concern for each other is sweet and all," Beca cuts in, "But none of us are going if we don't find some bags to pack and maybe some different shoes, unless you plan to go in those."

Aubrey looks down at her wedges. Her feet are aching and blistering enough as it is.

"You promised we'd stick together," Chloe says, "I'm going to find us some backpacks." She turns to walk backwards so she's facing Beca. "Make sure she doesn't leave without me."

"You got it."

"I never said the word promise," Aubrey mumbles and watches her go. It would figure that she makes a friend then less than 24 hours later she's eaten by a wild animal. She tugs off her shoes now that the night has cooled down the sand enough to walk on and treks barefoot to the unclaimed luggage with Beca in tow.

"So you care if she gets eaten but not me?" Beca asks.

"No." Aubrey looks up from digging through bags with a deep frown. "That's not-"

"Dude, relax, I'm kidding." Beca smirks. "I know you're bringing me along so I can slay the dragon."

Aubrey rolls her eyes. "I'm far from a damsel in distress."

"We're all in distress," Beca points out.

That much is difficult to argue. "I don't see a sword." She tosses a bag back onto the pile. "Or shoes."

"Well," Beca says, "There is one other option."

Aubrey looks at her then follows her gaze toward the bodies laying scattered across the sand. Just the thought turns her stomach. She can't just steal from the dead – but she also isn't going to last in her own shoes, not even just walking another day in the sand.

"Do you want me to?" Beca asks.

"No." It's just a pair for shoes. It's not as though whoever is wearing them is going to need them anymore. "I'll do it." Aubrey abandons her old pair of shoes in the unclaimed luggage and walks slowly down the beach toward where the majority of the bodies lie. She kneels down next to a woman wearing boots that look to be about her size and whispers an apology under her breath. It doesn't do much to assuage how lowly and dirty this feels – and Beca watching her makes it worse.

She can't put them on right there. She needs socks anyway. A boot in each hand, she averts her gaze away from Beca and carries them toward the infirmary where her luggage sits.

Beca plops down in the sand next to her and leans over her suitcase while she digs out socks. "I could slay it with this." She grabs Aubrey's teasing comb from her bag and waves the pointed end around in the air.

"Give me that." Aubrey snatches it back and returns it to its rightful spot.

"Is that a pack of toothpicks?" Beca laughs as Aubrey tackles her away from her suitcase and onto the sand. "I could give it acupuncture."

"Don't you have somethin' you need to be doin' to get ready?"

"No. I wore normal shoes." Beca leans back over her suitcase when she resumes trying to get socks and shoes are. "Oh my god, are all your shirts identical white button downs?"

Aubrey pauses tying her laces to zip up her suitcase. Not all of her shirts are identical button downs. She has a few t-shirts thrown in there as well. "You know, I almost regretted shovin' you at the airport, but now I've changed my mind."

"You were never going to regret shoving me at the airport." Beca leans back on her elbows.

Yeah, well… Aubrey looks up as Chloe joins them with three backpacks. "What took so long?"

"I was gone like…five minutes." Chloe tosses the bags into the sand. "Did you miss me?"

"No, I – what are you doin'?!" Aubrey holds up both hands to stop her as she closes the distance between.

"I'm hugging you because you missed me."

"You seem very prickly," Beca adds, "Maybe you could use a hug."

Aubrey falls backward into the sand. "Are you two enjoyin' yourselves?"

"Yes," Beca answers firmly as Chloe smirks and nods, "Are you wearing a white button down under your sweatshirt?"

Aubrey slaps Beca's hand away before she can lift her shirt up then takes Chloe's hand for assistance getting up. "I am more respectable than that." She grabs one of the backpacks and swings it over her shoulder, doing her best not to flinch at the pain in her side. "You have to earn that privilege."

"I'm sensing some serious sexual tension here," Chloe comments.

"Gross," Aubrey quickly tries to cover for herself.

"Yeah, no, that's not – wait, gross?"

"You heard me." Aubrey abandons her on the ground and sets off toward the trees. She waits until she's a firm ten feet in front of both Beca and Chloe to allow herself a smile at their friendly now-post-airplane banter. That's all it is though – jokes. She keeps that in mind and her smile turns back into natural annoyance as they jog to catch up. "You guys are wastin' daylight hours."

"You know, that's my shirt she's wearing," Chloe mumbles to Beca then picks up the pace to walk directly next to Aubrey.

Beca remains a full two feet behind them. "Wait, what?"

xxxxx

"You're humming one of my songs," Beca says as they push their way through a patch of tall grass.

"This is like one of those 'my parents to sold me to One Direction' fanfics," Chloe states and Beca busts out laughing, "Not that I read those or write them or anything…"

"Take a picture and get an autograph after we're rescued." Aubrey places her hands on Chloe's shoulders and steers her forward. "You're slowing us down."

"Jealous?" Beca inquires.

Jealous? "Of what?"

Chloe breaks free of Aubrey's hold to walk backwards, facing them. "I bet I have enough cell battery left for a selfie when we get back to camp."

Aubrey spins her around for again. "You're goin' to waste whatever battery you have left on a selfie?"

"I wanna remember the experience," Chloe claims.

"You're stuck on an island, trekking through the jungle with her, after a plane crash," Aubrey reminds her, "I don't think you're goin' to forget."

"If you want a selfie too, all you have to do is ask," Beca says.

Aubrey rolls her eyes for the millionth time since they woke up. "I think I'll wait until after the pity sex." She shoves Chloe forward before she can turn around again.

"So we're still on for that then?"

"Why wouldn't we be?"

"Can you believe we're bonded for life now?" Chloe asks, "I bet we'll all three be having sex by the end of this."

"Where did you find her?" Beca mouths in Aubrey's direction with a wide grin.

"Why?" Aubrey doesn't bother to conceal her thoughts. "You think they'll give me my money back?"

Chloe must know they're talking about her because she holds up her pointer finger. "No returns. No exchanges."

"Is that what your parents tell One Direction in those self-inserts when they try to give you back?" Beca replies.

"The fact that you know what a self-insert is tells me all I need to know about you, Beca Mitchell." Chloe pauses. "Wait, do you read fanfiction about yourself?"

"Can you blame me for being curious? Dude, do you know how many people out there write about me having a penis?"

Without missing a beat, Chloe answers, "Yes."

"Are you one of them?"

"No. Maybe. What are you – the fanfiction police?"

Beca's response is somewhere directly in between a silent laugh and a scream. "I need to know your username."

"Shhh." Aubrey holds up her hand. "Did you hear that?" They both stop, Beca next to her and Chloe, unfortunately, directly in front of her so she's forced to stop as well, defeating the purpose.

"I don't hear anything," Beca whispers.

"Exactly. We'll get there faster that way." Aubrey rests her hand over her makeshift stitches and pushes forward, disregarding the throbbing in her side. The sooner they find the cockpit, the sooner they'll be back at the beach where she can raid the unclaimed bags for pain relievers and some poor, unfortunate soul's Xanax.

"Just one more thing…" Chloe falls behind her, letting her lead. "Is it normal for it to be getting dark literally right after we just woke up? Maybe we crashed in one of those places that only gets a few hours of daylight?"

"If that was the case, it would have already been dark yesterday when we crashed." Aubrey turns around in a full circle, still walking, and surveys the sky. It's difficult to see anything beyond the trees that surround them, but she's guessing rain. "We need to pick up the pace or we're gonna get soaked."

"You need to go slow with those stitches," Chloe replies, "You should let me check on them when we get back. I should have done it before we left."

"Do you think we're in the Amazon rainforest?" Beca asks, "Maybe we crashed on the South American coast?"

Geographically, that doesn't make any sense. They'd have to have been coming at South America from the opposite direction or they would have had to fly over it to reach any part of the Amazon Rainforest bordering the coast. Good guess, but, "No. Honestly, I have no idea where we are."

"Well-" Whatever Beca is about to say is cut off by the sky opening up and Aubrey and Chloe shrieking in unison as they dart toward thicker foliage. It does little to protect them from being pelted by large, cold drops of rain.

"Fuck." Aubrey presses herself up against the trunk of a tree where the rain is taking a little longer to break through the leaves.

"Hopefully people on the beach are smart enough to collect water," Chloe muses.

Maybe if Chloe had stayed on the beach like Aubrey told her to… A few people in their predicament have to have at least a shred of intelligence, right? "That guy" - she starts snapping her fingers – "what's his name?"

They both stare at her – simultaneously wiping water away from their faces.

"The guy!" Aubrey repeats, "From last night."

"Jesse?" Chloe guesses.

"Him!" Aubrey has to shout over the rain. "I bet he'll think to collect water!" Or so she hopes.

"Do you think we should go back?!" Beca yells.

"Why?! We're goin' to get wet no matter which direction we go!" It's coming down hard out there, but not hard enough that Aubrey doubts her directional skills. They can't just stand around, waiting for it to slow down. She grabs Chloe's arm in a feeling of responsibility for her safety and drags her out from under the safety of their palm tree. "We keep movin' forward!"

xxxxx

She should have been in LA by now. If she was, she'd probably be putting on a fancy dress and heels, rehearsing exactly what she was going to say to everyone who showed up to her father's service. Instead, she's in the middle of Mystery Fuckin' Island. Cold. Wet. And with soggy socks that squelch with every step. This wasn't what she meant every time she thought to herself she'd rather be anywhere but in LA.

"Aubrey!" The rain is no longer coming down in defeating sheets, but Beca is still shouting. "Look!"

Aubrey looks up from trying not to get stuck in deep patches of thick mud and stares straight ahead at where the cockpit is lodged among the trees at a steep angle.

"We found it!" Beca holds her hand up for a high-five.

Nowhere near as elated, Aubrey releases Chloe's arm and brushes past her. How the hell are they going to get in there?

Beca turns to high-five Chloe, who gladly reciprocates.

"How strong are you guys?" Aubrey turns to look at them.

"Physically or emotionally?" Beca asks.

"Is it possible to disown people you just met?"

"Hey!" Chloe objects while Beca doesn't even change facial expressions.

"Did you get your answer?"

"Physically. I don't care about your inner turmoil or whatever."

"Right. Uh. I go to the gym," Beca claims, "Like once every month. Maybe more like every two months. I do have a membership though and I have used it."

"So you're a sloth with a Planet Fitness card. Great."

"Well, I wouldn't say that… And also, it's an Equinox membership, but-"

"I'm strong. I hit the gym three times a week and have walked a Beauceron without getting dragged across the grass on my face." Chloe pauses. "It's a heavy breed of dog," she adds when Aubrey says nothing.

"Yeah, I figured that out. I think you should stay here with Beca."

"You ever think you'd get pawned off on me in real life while writing about my imaginary penis?" Beca nudges her arm.

"It's actually a lot weirder now that it's really happening. I'm not complaining though. I don't think Aubrey should go alone, however, or at all." Chloe steps forward to address her. "You're going to rip your stitches."

"You guys stay here and do your little Meet and Greet…thing. I'll be fine." The angle the cockpit is sitting at looks worse from afar. Up close, the seats in first class are only a little steeper than a normal staircase, making it easy for Aubrey to use them for support. She climbs sideways, her feet on the sides of the seats, hands gripping the backs.

"I'm coming with you." Chloe pulls herself up on the same side of the aisle.

"Don't worry," Beca says from below, "I'll bark if I smell intruders."

It might actually be helpful to have a lookout with whatever they heard the night before lurking around out there. "Try not to get distracted marking your territory."

"…was that a penis joke?"

Aubrey smirks and climbs a little higher.

"So, Aubrey…"

Here it goes. "Mhm?"

"Do you have a favorite dog?"

"Yeah. The kind that runs around the entire house, bumping into things while sucking up dust. Wait. That's my Roomba."

"Does it have a name?" Chloe asks.

"My Roomba?"

"Yeah."

Rosie. "No."

"My Roomba's name is Dustbin Bieber."

"This is really high," Aubrey says, "Are you sure you don't want to go back down there with Beca?"

"I'm alright."

A high pitched shriek contradicts her words, and Aubrey loses her footing in surprise. She digs her nails into the head of the seat above her and catches herself with her knee on the seat below her.

"Everything okay?!" Beca calls.

Aubrey looks down at Chloe. She is still a few seats beneath her, and Aubrey breathes a little easier knowing she didn't fall.

"Sorry," Chloe whispers, "I touched – um…"

Yeah, Aubrey is actively trying to ignore the times she grabs a human shoulder instead of the seat above her. Maneuvering around the bodies is more difficult than the climb itself. "We're almost there." She gives her a reassuring smile that she hopes doesn't look as fake as it feels. "You got this. Just watch where my feet go and grab there." If she pays attention to the limbs she's grabbing with her hands, she can remember where not to put her feet. Her stomach churns the first time she has to fully accept her fingernails are digging into a human arm; after that, she reminds herself she's on a mission and she is capable young woman who could have been a marine if she had tried.

"Careful," she tells Chloe once she reaches the cockpit door, "There could be debris. Ready?"

Chloe leans inward over a body, and while Aubrey can't see her face, she can imagine it. "Yeah. Ready."

Aubrey's fingers grip the metal handle and she gives it a hard pull and then another one. It flies open on the third, nearly hitting her in the face, but also shielding her from something large falling out. She's about to ask Chloe if she's okay when Beca cuts her off.

"Dude! What the fuck, you guys? Dude! Fucking hell!"

Aubrey pushes the door upright without latching it and leans over to look down. It wasn't something that had fallen out but someone. Either the pilot or the co-pilot. It's difficult to tell. "Sorry," she calls down in a weak voice.

"Yell 'duck' or 'four' or 'get the hell out of the way' or something next time!"

"…man down," Aubrey says a little too late.

"That isn't funny," Chloe tells her.

Beca stares up at her, mouth agape, and it's a little funny. "I'll make it up to you. Later, you can look when Chloe lifts up my shirt to check my stitches." Aubrey lets the door fall back, verifies that no one else is falling to their second death, then stretches her leg over to the second row of seats. This is the part she was worried about. If she falls...maybe Beca will make a good crash pad, so long as she doesn't scream and alert her to get out of the way on her way down. She grips either side of the cockpit doorway and pulls herself up that way until she's high enough that she can grab one of the seats. Chloe says something about her stitches again, but her words are drowned out by the ringing in her ears caused by the pain in her side.

"Take my hand." She turns on her knees and reaches down for Chloe. Their palms press together and her fingers lock around Chloe's wrist to prevent her from falling until Chloe is sitting next to her on the back wall of the cockpit. "We just need to find a transceiver or somethin' else useful and get out. I'll look by the pilot's seat." The pilot is still strapped in. "You look over there." She gestures toward the empty co-pilot's seat. "We'll meet back in the middle."

"I'll try not to get lost," Chloe assures her.

Aubrey smiles more genuinely this time. They'd be lucky to fit inside the room lying head to toe with each other. "Don't try too hard." She narrowly avoids being hit in the arm by the back of Chloe's hand.

Chloe goes straight for a cabinet labeled First Aid. It isn't exactly what Aubrey is looking to find, but she can't deny it might be useful. Hell, anything might be useful to them now – and if taking as much as they can carry means they don't have to make another trek back here...

There is a tree branch sticking out of the pilot's stomach. He's wearing an oxygen mask with blood trickling down the side of his cheek. It takes all of Aubrey's nerve to lean over him and pry the transceiver from his hand. "Foun-" The plane creaks and groans.

"Why is it doing that?" Chloe whispers and meets her back in the middle.

"I don'know." But it isn't something to mess around with, no matter how much they should look around. Aubrey leans over the doorway. "Beca, we're comin' back down!" She's turning to lower herself back over the edge when some sort of cloud turns everything around them the color of twilight. Whatever was in the jungle last night knows where they are. She can't see it through the darkened plane or through rain and humidity fogging up the windows, but she can hear it.

"Guys!" Beca calls back up to them. She's bouncing on the balls of her feet next to the entrance. "I think we should go now."

Trying to get down is a whole new level of difficult, especially with the transceiver in one hand.

"Slide," Chloe says.

Aubrey looks between her and the aisle way of the plane. No one in their right mind would try to slide down anything that steep. The transceiver won't fit in her pocket – fuck whoever designs women's pants – so she tries to put the antenna between her teeth to free her hand. The plane jolts and she loses her grip on their one chance at contacting rescue, and in a frantic attempt to catch it, is nearly knocked over the edge of the cockpit by Chloe.

"Aubrey, go!"

The transceiver is sliding downward through the center of the aisle, and that's enough motivation. That and she can't see Beca anymore. "Beca!" There is only a deafening, mechanical grinding that answers. She lowers herself to the nearest seat on one side while Chloe grips through edge of the doorway, about to slide backwards on her stomach. Above them, a sudden blow to the windshield splinters the glass. A second blow has the trees supporting the entire structure cracking like bones. She loses her grip and crashes into Chloe then tries to cover both of their heads on the way down. They slide and fall at the same time until the plane hits the ground flat, showering them with luggage from the overhead bins.

"Are you okay?" Aubrey scrambles upright.

Chloe throws someone's purse off of her as she sits up. "What is that thing?"

Whatever it is, it doesn't like company. It slams into the windshield again. They can't stay here. "Run." She pushes Chloe toward the gaping whole that was oncee the plane's fuselage.

"Run where?"

"Guys, come on!" Beca appears from the side of the plane and grabs Chloe's arm, pulling her the rest of the way out.

Aubrey jumps out behind them and is about to follow them when she stops. The transceiver is propped up against somebody's sneaker. She looks at Chloe's and Beca's backs then dives back into the plane and scrambles up the aisle. The grinding becomes a quieter clicking and that thing slowly travels around the plane toward the opening. It's looking for her. She grabs the transceiver and crawls beneath the seats, squeezing herself between the wall and a slew of suitcases that all tried to land in the same place then slid beneath the seats landslide style.

The darkness itself seems to move – like a shadow being cast over the entire plane. If that's the case, whatever is out there is bigger than anything Aubrey's imagination can conjure up. She crawls forward on her stomach to get a better look, but can't see a damn thing. Her best guess is that it's flying. She's not exactly a bird expert, but no bird she knows of could cast a shadow large enough to cover the entire front part of an airplane. The second thought that comes to mind is 'dragon' – which is abso-fuckin'-lutely ridiculous.

The shadow lifts and makes the regular rain clouds look like a bright, sun-shiny day. By the time she manages to climb out from beneath the seats, it's gone. She topples from the plane to the mud and sits there for a good minute, just staring at the sky, trying to come up a logical explanation. Any logical explanation. Buy she's got nothin'.

"Chloe!" she calls when she's sure it's gone. Every inch of her is soaking wet. She stands up and shakes her hands and arms then turns to look at the mud clinging to the back of her shirt and pants. The universe must hate her, because the clouds part just enough to shine a spotlight right down on where she's standing. "Thanks a lot," she mutters at the sky.

If she's lucky, which she's pretty sure she's not, Chloe and Beca kept running straight. If they veered off in another direction, she's going to have to waste valuable daylight hours putting her tracking skills to work. "Chloe!" Everything is going to be fine. They ran in the opposite direction of that…thing. That's what's important. Nobody died or got eaten…

"Are you fucking insane?" Beca stumbles out of the bushes not long after the plane is out of view. "You tell us to run and then you turn around and go back?!"

Aubrey holds up the transceiver. "Did you see what it was?"

"No, I didn't see it. I was too busy trying to survive."

"And I was tryin' to save us all."

Beca stares at her, mouth half open, before saying, "And you have a plan for how to do that if you're dead?"

"I didn't die." Aubrey lifts up her arms, cringing a little at the pain in her side. "Where's Chloe?"

"Right here."

Aubrey turns around.

Chloe is standing behind her, arms folded stiffly across her chest. She looks just about as happy with her as Beca does. Neither are particularly threatening with their glares, however – Beca is too short and Chloe is too…something. She marches up to Aubrey and, without warning, lifts her shirt up to her belly button.

Blood is slowly trickling down Aubrey's side and disappearing into the fabric of her pants. From what she can tell, the stitches don't look torn, however. "They're fine." She tugs her shirt back down. "We should get going."

"They're not fine. You're bleeding." Chloe puts her hands on her hips, once again rendering her anger benign.

"They're fine." They just really hurt. But that's to be expected after falling out of the sky then being sewn up like some little old lady's quilt project. She fiddles with the buttons on the transceiver as she walks away from them, back toward the way they had come from. "It's not working."

"Do you think you can fix it?" Beca asks.

Maybe.

"I mean, you're an engineer, right? If you can build rockets, you can fix a walkie-talkie."

"Who says I build rockets?" It isn't a lack of knowledge Aubrey is worried about; it's a lack of supplies. The likelihood of finding the tools and materials she needs in the wreckage of some airplane is a little slim.

"What else does NASA do?" Beca asks.

"Robots," Chloe answers her, "You know the ones they send to Mars?"

"Dude, right." Beca points at her, "And those massive telescopes."

"I'll look at it when we get back, okay? Maybe the crash just knocked something lose." Best case scenario, it's something a makeshift screwdriver could fix. It's too bad she doesn't have access to google for some ideas on how to make a screwdriver. There is a downside to having access to some of the best technology out there; she feels like an idiot without any of it.

"Uh, Aubrey…" Beca says.

What now? Aubrey stops and turns to face her. "What?"

Beca looks down at her feet.

Aubrey looks down as well. Her reflection stares back at her from a puddle of water she's standing in, which would be completely normal if the water wasn't tinged red. She looks around them at the various red puddles and streaks in the otherwise brown mud.

"Is that blood?" Beca asks.

Chloe nods. "That's blood."

A lot of blood. Aubrey grabs them both and drags them deeper in the jungle until they're no longer standing in the middle of a crime scene. "Did you grab anything from the first aid kit?" she asks Chloe.

"I don't think putting a band aid on whatever lost that much blood is going to fix it," Beca comments.

Aubrey rolls her eyes. "You guys keep on goin'. I'm gonna-"

"Not be an idiot," Beca fills in, "You're not going back there again."

"We could use-"

"I don't care what we could use! Did you not see what we were just standing in? Do you want that to be you?"

They can always come back. Aubrey glances in the direction of the cockpit.

"I'm sorry," Chloe says.

"It's fine." It's not her fault they were attacked by a monster of a shadow…or a shadow of a monster.

"One of you please tell me you know how to get back to the beach," Beca says.

Aubrey nods. "This way."

"How do you know?" Beca asks.

"I just know." Aubrey has to take a breath. "I just know." Beca and Chloe stand beside her, ready to follow. And she prays to Jesus that this isn't the first time her internal compass fails her.