stranded (closed for asetikish)

[MrGoatee]

John Mason closed his laptop. The week had been long and tiring. No contract like this was going to be easy, but the idea of upgrading a runway on a pacific island was appealing. Problem was it was a military contract, they had a way of adding stipulations and moving boundaries but also paid up at the end.

He stood, walking to the window to see the view, the pure blue sky, clear sea, if only this had been a holiday. He caught sight of his reflection, six foot tall, lean and only slightly muscled he had a runners body, with a clean jawline and dark eyes.

The plane home would be leaving shortly, john had finished his report to the base commander and hopefully ironed out the last niggly details that had caused some friction. He looked into the office I've sent the report major ' he smiled and turned away, he didn't want another stand-up row.

Lugging a bag and his laptop he walked briskly to the plane, just himself, the pilots and a drink on board if he was lucky....

 

[asetikish]

Jesse Irons had just finished speaking with the pilots and headed to the back of the plane to take a nap before heading home. In a way, she did want to be back home even if she didn't exactly have a family to go back home to. Her father was dead and her mother had run off with some man and started her own family. Her only brother had been in and out of prison and she was almost certain he'd be there when she got back again. Life was hard living in the ghettos and having immigrant parents from Brazil.

Military positions were the best thing she could get a job in considering the economy and that she only graduated from community college. It was a good thing that she was active in so many extra-curricula to keep herself from drugs unlike her brother, that she was drafted into the medical squad. At least she didn't have to face fire.

Though in all honesty, life there was still hard. With men surrounding her looking for some 'fun' every now and then, her group had always been the go-tos. And while she loathed the idea of screwing a man she would later find injured or dead, she did go out with them and had a great time. She had lost count of how many times she dodged advances, but it had been so many. Most of them went for the direct approach, commenting on her perfect figure, her sizeable chest and her long legs. Others, tried to play it safe by telling her how pretty she was with her hazel eyes and light-olive skin. No tactic got through her. Not even when they got more physical. Some called her frigid while other called her a tease. Either way, she didn't care. She wasn't going to screw someone just because they wanted to. They could call her old-fashioned, but she wanted a meaningful relationship to go with that.

Making her way through the plane, she saw the private contractor and her face scrunched up at the man. She had to admit, he was quite an eye-candy, but she couldn't help but feel contempt for private contractors. Like mercenaries, they siphon off money from the government into their pockets, leaving less resources for caring for the veterans who need it more.

She knew it wasn't his fault but she just couldn't help but feel like smacking him as she remembered all the veterans who couldn't walks and couldn't find jobs.

 

[MrGoatee]

Stooping to get in the plane Mason turned when he heard the footsteps. He smiled at the woman joining him on board and moved to a seat in the middle of the plane.

He had noticed her before, one of the nurses on base who got all the attention from the troops, he'd seen the groups in the mess and heard the rumours. Was this the 'ice queen' he wondered.

He slipped the bags into storage and sat strapping himself in. As he heard the door close he turned and nodded to the woman, 'going home?' He asked

 

[asetikish]

"What's it to you?" The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. She was still thinking about how annoying private companies were when he asked. She knew she should take the words back, but she didn't. It wasn't her duty to apologize for her opinions.

Besides, they were going to drop him off soon enough. She wasn't going to see him again.

Jesse moved past him and went to take a roll of blanket and a pillow trying to get as far away from him as possible, not wanting any confrontation or doing any more damage than she already did.

The plane jerked a few times but she didn't pay it any mind. That was normal during air travel. Besides, the pilots would be warning them if there was going to be any trouble, anyway.

 

[MrGoatee]

He prickled at her response, maybe the reputation was right. John shook his head and closed his eyes. Flying was a chore he never enjoyed, turbulence was normal but he never relished the feeling. Some could look out the window and marvel, but he never liked being so high up.

The bumps became worse and worse, John began to become more concerned. It was unrealistic he knew, turbulence was routine for the pilots and he just had to trust them.

After a few more minutes he couldn't stop himself. He stood and walked to the cockpit, ' all ok?' He called through the door, 'fine, just keep belted in' came the voice, apparently unflustered. Mason turned, catching the eye of the other passenger, hoping she didn't think him weak for worrying.

 

[asetikish]

As Jesse settled herself under her blanket, she saw the contractor grow concerned until he finally left and checked up on the pilots. She smirked. Probably one of those who hated flying but had to because of work. Or he could be one of those cowards forced to fly because there was no choice. Either way, it was fun seeing him squirm like that.

Their eyes met and she couldn't help but grin wider. "Scared?"

 

[MrGoatee]

Great, now she was getting on his case. He shook his head 'Concerned is all'and stepped back to go past.

The plane dropped, the pocket of air they hit was huge, Mason was thrown upwards, hitting his shoulder on the roof and landing on his face. 'get strapped in people' came the pilots voice and he scrabbled into the seat opposite the woman, quickly fastening the belt. 'very concerned' he muttered.

The engines began to whine, the pitch getting higher, the the cabin lit up as lightning passed a few feet from the fuselage.

Then everything went black.....

 

[asetikish]

Jesse was goign to make a comeback, but she was thrown off her position, hitting her head. Quickly, her instincts told her that something was horribly wrong. She knew these men could fly circles around turbulence and low pressures, but this was a different matter altogether.

As the man strapped himself in, she held on to a seat, the buckles in her chair failing. "What's going on?" she demanded, but it was drowned out by the lightning and the noise of the engines. The plane shook violently, throwing Jesse off to the floor barely catching herself on a chair leg as the plane pitched.

Jesse cursed feeling the plane fall. She looked up and saw her companion black out. Probably hit his head or something.

It wasn't long before the plane hit the ground in a nosedive and Jesse was thrown off again. Her brain felt fuzzy. And she smelled something burning. Her whole body was in pain and she didn't want to move, but smoke meant one thing. Something was on fire.

She slapped herself a few times trying to get her bearings, and saw it. The wing was burning and right across it was the engineer, still out cold. Beside him, one of the beams came crashing down and would have skewered her if she wasn't thrown out of the way.

Groaning, she picked herself up feeling her whole body protest and cry out. There were definitely bruises, but she hoped her ribs weren't cracked. She made her way to the man slowly and unbuckled him. Hardly able to take his weight, she dropped him to the sand in the opening near his seat before dropping down herself, ungainly and dragging him off a few meters away just in case the plane blew up before collapsing beside him.

 

[MrGoatee]

The pain was the first thing he noticed, the sand on his face the second.

Mason opened his eyes, he saw the woman lying next to him, her breath strong and regular. He rolled over and looked around, the plane was half submerged, one wing burning fiercely, the waves rolling around limiting the fire. 'shit' he exclaimed and struggled upright.

The plane was broken in two, the front end buried partly in the beach with the rear broken off and half on the water, the wings in the back section. Parts littered the beach and Mason knew they had escaped something Serious

His head pounded as he sat there, trying to make sense of what had happened. He looked at the woman, seeing she was conscious. 'what happened?' He stammered.

 

[asetikish]

Jesse's head was throbbing like mad and even breathing hurt her. She just wanted to close her eyes and sleep. So far, Hollywood was wrong. There were no big explosions when something crashed. But then again, having been in the military for so long had jaded her to anything Hollywood produced.

Unfortunately, the man had come to and asked the most stupid question Jesse could think of at the moment. "We crashed, genius." She was surprised that her voice was ragged and weak. Every word she said reminded her of her ordeal causing pain in part of her body wholly unconnected to her voice.

For now, all she wanted was to lie down and do nothing. Wherever they were, they were certainly not within reach of any help. But if the pilots were smart enough, they should've sent a distress signal and told HQ where they were.

IF they were smart enough.

 

[MrGoatee]

Mason stood, 'shit! Shit! Shit' he shouted. ' at least that hasn't blown, the fuel will burn off but the water should stop it spreading too far' he stepped forward, looking around.

Where they had landed was empty, no sign of footprints in the sand, no bars in the treeline. He guessed this was no tourist trap.the only saving grace was the fire and the smoke, but the light was fading fast. If any distress call went out they would only have a short window to find the crash easily.

Mason sighed and sat down heavily. He turned 'you hurt?' He asked determined not to let her attitude defeat him

 

[asetikish]

Are you hurt? The man was full of hairbrained questions! "No, I just like being tossed around the fuselage li--Rick! Steve!" Jesse tried to stand up remembering the pilots, but pain shot from her back making her cry out in pain. She slumped on the sand, using her arm as support and forced her body to at least go on all fours.

It was a painful effort, but she needed to move anyway. She grit her teeth as she tried to stand, but with her adrenaline gone, she could barely even push herself out of her cat-like position.

She looked at the crash site and groaned, trying not to let the pain she felt get to her. Those two were some of the nicest people she met, not even having hit on her. They were friends and the more she stayed there, useless, the less the chances they were alive, if they even survived it in the first place.

Jesse seized a handful of the man's shirt. She didn't like what she was going to do one bit, but she had no choice. "Please see to the pilots. Take them out if you see them." She didn't add the part that if they were dead, they had to be buried.

 

[MrGoatee]

Her reactions sparked him, shit, the pilots he thought and immediately ran to the broken front end of the plane. The cockpit and half of the forward door were buried, making and view inside impossible. He ran down towards the broken end section, about four windows back and peered round the jagged metal.

No sign of the fire reaching this section yet, so he stepped round to assess the damage.

The plane seemed intact, a mess inside, with kit and broken metal scattered about. He picked his way to the cabin door, testing the handle. It was locked.

Mason placed his palm flat on the metal, testing for heat and found it ice cold. Only way in was force, he mused and began searching for a bar to pry it open.

It took some pressure but he finally bent a gap to peer through. The cockpit was apparently undamaged and totally empty. The seatbelts open and no sign of the pilots.

Mason reached through to grab the green first aid box, grazing his forearm as he pulled it out and returned to his fellow survivor

 

[asetikish]

Jesse managed to sit, but the pain in her back didn't let her sit straight up. Looking at the carnage, she prayed that the pilots were alive, but she wasn't hopeful. The way the plane crashed meant that the cockpit took a direct hit. A fatal direct hit.

She saw him return alone without the pilots. Her heart sank. "I take it no survivors?" it was a rhetorical question and she didn't expect him to answer. "Did you see the tracking device? Was it on?"

The tracking device was their only hope for rescue. Likely they told HQ what was wrong, so search and rescue was going to be quick. That is, if the tracking device wasn't damaged.

The gash on his arm, though caught her eye. "What happened to that? Here', give me the kit." She held her arm out, and pain shot through her back, but she did her best not to let him know.

 

[MrGoatee]

He sat next to her offering the kit and his arm. The gash was small and not deep, but he knew infection now could be lethal.

"its totally empty, its like they got up and walked away." He looked at her. " the door was locked though, no way out" he paused. "I couldn't get in all the way, the tracker could be on, the cockpit seems intact. It just makes no sense"

He watched as she tended his arm, seeing her move more tentatively than when she walked onto the plane. "you ok? You look like you're not moving well"

 

[asetikish]

Jesse nodded grimly. They were gone. There was no way to know if they were alive or dead, unless they or their bodies turned up.

She disinfected the wound and put some band aid on it. No use wasting gauze for such a small injury. She moved as best as she could but apparently, nothing escaped his eye either.

"You ok? You look like you're not moving well"

"Got pretty banged up in there." She sighed. "Anyway, it seems like we're stuck here so you have to go back to the plane yourself. Get the parachutes. Also get some knives, some metal sponges and flashlight. If you can find anything with a 9-volt battery, get it too. Heck, if you can get duct tape, that would be great. And don't forget to cover your head. You can get heat stroke out here.

True to her word, she removed her army jacket excruciatingly slowly, trying not to aggravate the pain, leaving her in her white tank top, to turn it into a kind of turban.

 

[MrGoatee]

Mason nodded, "Ok, but we should get you up into the treeline. The shade could be a lifesaver" he paused, his eyes catching her body shape for a moment.

He stood and headed toward the plane, looking back and hoping he had her drive. Cautiously he entered the plane again, the list of provisions running through his head.

He stripped off his shirt as he walked closer, not trying to mimic her turban, just dropping it on his head to provide some shade.

Once in he rooted around and found the liferaft, parachutes and a survival box. This would all be useful, but other sections were sparce. The survival box had a knife, flares and a few other essentials, but he knew that I was a short term thing. He stood and checked the cabin, seeing the woman's bag wedged between two seats. He pulled it free, thinking that this was at least one win.

Gathering some metal bars and even a flight jacket he bundled the finds and moved them to a pile by the plane

 

[asetikish]

She watched him walk away, hoping that he could find something in there that could save their lives. The least she could hope for was a knife and a parachute. Shelter food and water can come out of that.

Sighing, she tried her best to crawl her way into the shade of the trees. She had to admit, he was right. There was no better place to hide under the sun than under the trees, but that was easier said than done. Touching her shoulder, she found that it was dislocated, so she sucked in breath and clicked it back. She almost screamed in pain, but it was better to have that short moment of extreme pain that to have it become worse later.

Her legs weren't too bad, though they did hurt, so she could at least go to the shade on her knees slowly trying not to disturb her twisted ankle too much.

Halfway through, she stopped. It certainly was hard work, plus the humidity was really draining. She looked to the plane and saw him gathering a lot of things. She had to admit, he looked even better without his shirt on. And maybe he wasn't such a bad guy, after all.

But then again, it was obvious they needed each other to survive. He probably would fumble around and hurt himself without her and she wasn't exactly in the best shape.

She tried her best to move again, but the sand constantly nudged her ankle and the pain made her stop. As much as she hated to admit it, she really needed him if she wanted to survive despite all her training.

 

[MrGoatee]

As he emerged from the plane one last time, carrying a roll of duct tape he had found in a tool box, he saw her struggle.

Mason lifted as much of the salvage he could and carried it up the beach, as he approach he called forward " stay put, you'll do more damage." He put the boxes down and walked closer, "you've got to be truthful, no macho military bullshit. What have you done?" He held out the duct tape and winked "treasure"

 

[asetikish]

Well, there goes her efforts for not relying on him too much. She hated owing people anything, and this was piling up on her. As annoyed as she was of her situation, he was right. She couldn't do much.

Jesse looked at his "loot" smiling. At least they had a lot to work with. They would be able to survive even if she couldn't do some of the stuff that needed a bit of practice.

"Jumped out of the plane and dragged your knocked-out ass out of there." She looked at him. "Oh, you meant after? Readjusted my shoulder and tried to crawl to the treeline. Fat lot good that did with a sprain..."

Looking at the things he gathered once again, she found her bag among them, blushing unexpectedly. "You didn't look into my stuff did you?" she asked a little worried.

 

[MrGoatee]

He looked puzzled, "why would I do that? I just thought you'd want to know it was safe" he helped her to the shade and sat her there. "look, I know this is a shitty situation and I'm totally out of my depth. But I need you - if we're getting through this we need to pull together" he placed her case by her, with the life raft"I'll get the rest of the loot" he laughed "then start building a signal fire, I still cant see a tracker so I'm nit happy leaving this to chance"

He turned and walked slowly back to the plane. One more trip should do it.

 

[asetikish]

Jesse grit her teeth as he helped move her to the shade. "Thanks..." was all she could say after he helped her and not looked through her stuff.

As he left, she twisted and rummaged through what could pass for making fire. What she found were things that she could use to make fire, but with her shoulder still on fire, striking the flint together was not an option. Instead, she dismantled one of the flashlights, thankful that it was using a 9-volt battery and took out the steel wool from her pack that she used to clean. Gathering a handful of dead leaves and dried coconut husks around her, she piled them to the side and started rubbing the battery to the wool, igniting a spark which she quickly covered with the dry material that she found until there was a small fire.

She knew she had to find something else to burn it with so she eased herself, moving once again to get small pieces of wood and other things. It was excruciating work and she only managed to get a handful, but that was enough. At least, until the man came back.

Which reminded her, what was his name anyway?

 

[MrGoatee]

Mason stepped back into the plane, he had a realisation that if they were there for more than a few hours they'd need more than just shelter and warmth. He searched the boxes, cargo and waste being sent back to a nearer base he suspected. The cargo was useless, equipment retuning for repairs, but the waste had several empty plastic bottles and rubber inside. The rubber would help if added to a signal fire.

By luck he spotted two more plastic bottles in the main cabin, these were warm but full and unopened. Worth more than gold to them right now.

As he trudged back up the beach with the final salvage he grinned, " got lucky. I found some water" he passed her the bottles and sat down by the fire. " I'm John, John Mason by the way" he shrugged, " not the best way to introduce myself, I normally would ask if your wanted a vodka" he laughed

The situation was absurd but he felt I was a time to be happy they had survived.

 

[asetikish]

"Jesse Irons," she snorted a laugh and grinned, "Normally, I leave people who's first instinct is to buy me a drink to lessen my inhibitions. But as it is, leaving isn't an option is it?"

She took a took a bandage from the first aid kit and removed her boot. Her foot was swollen from the sprain, but otherwise, no broken bones. Wrapping the bandage tightly around it to prevent it from moving was a pain, but it was the best she could do without ice.

"I'm not sure how high the tide goes, but we should move a little more inward just to be safe." She wiped the sweat off her brow. "This humidity is killer...How much water have we got? And can you and me one?"

 

[MrGoatee]

"well nice to meet you Jesse, I have no vodka anyhow" he smiled. "you're right, we need to get inland a bit, I cant see a high tide line down the beach do I guess this is it. Only two water bottles with contents I'm afraid, but I have a couple more empties. I'll bet we have enough metal to make a still and purify some water if we find it"

He stood and turned to face the trees, the island looked quite large and surely there would be some way of getting water. "look, can I get you a crutch or something? I'm not confident I'd find us a safe spot back there without you, I'd probably camp us in a patch of poisonous plants or something stupid. He felt she didn't want his help, a pride exuded from her. It wasn't unattractive either, but he also felt a reserve that made him not want to push hard