Falling into Obscurity

[Kiowa Warrior]

Just use one of Kate's maps to find it Actually better not, or it'll still be lost several years from now...

I'll try and knock out a chapter when I'm watching The Apprentice in a bit!

[firebreathingfishies]

I think Kate stole it actually

Cool

[Kiowa Warrior]

For anything anyone doesn't like about this chapter, I blame The Apprentice for taking up most of my attention


When night is the blotting paper for many sorrows


I never thought I’d miss the hospital food I’d quickly choke down during my all too brief breaks there, but it seems that I’ve been proven wrong.

After a rather large guy called Hurley handed me a foil wrapped container of airplane food I winced inwardly, since my stomach had churned when the guy I’d been sat next to on the place had eagerly opened his. I’d refused then, but this time I smiled and thanked him and stored the container under my jacket.

I wasn’t hungry but my Dad, who was in the Army for the best part of two decades, always liked to repeat one of his favourite lessons learnt in it: that you should always eat at a meal, since you can never guarantee when your next one will arrive.

So I took it and kept it, since who knows when my next meal will be? Come to think of it, how much food do we have left? Enough to last until the rescue party comes? Maybe I should go and ask Hurley, or have a check through the supplies myself…

No, no not yet.

I’m sure someone else has got all that sorted out, and I don’t want to get in Hurley’s way. I’ve got enough for myself for now, and it’s not so terrible to be ever so slightly selfish now and again is it?

I smile, and am slightly surprised to find that it’s from contentment.

From doing an un-selfish thing that, in my view, is advance payment for what I’m feeling now.

I stretch my arms above my head and stare upwards, at the ink black sky with its twinkling stars and follow the spitting sparks from the half dozen fires that have been set up.

After the pregnant woman - some Australian girl called Claire - jumped me at the shoreline I was hardly in a position to turn and run away from her - I’m not that heartless - and so, my heart beating thick and heavy in my throat, I gently laid her down and examined her.

I instinctively ran through the normal procedure I would have taken with such a patient, but since there was a distinct lack of the usual examining machines I make my living from using, I had to rely on nothing but my senses and training.

I could have tried to find someone else, but if there is another medic with us no doubt they’re in the thick of things: pulling people out of the burning wreckage, giving CPR, stopping the flow of blood and tears and fear in their tracks while I effortlessly attempt to side-step them all.

So I checked her over and to my intense relief - I swear that I was more relieved than she was - I find that the baby is just fine; that they’ll both be fine, and that Claire’s pure smile and heartfelt thanks warmed my aching soul.

I told her it was no problem, and that she can come and see me any time she needs to.

She walked away safe and happy and I walked away feeling that maybe - just maybe - I can do some of this.

That I can actually do something here, other than cry and bury my head in the sand. That I’m not as useless as I think - as useless as others have been all too willing to tell me recently - and that my training has not all been for nothing.

Feeling inexplicably cheerful and near light-headed I headed back to the carnage of the plane determined to help, but my intentions - intentions I tried so hard to grasp onto - silently imploded and began to trickle like oil - slow and heavy and inexorable - from my heart and down my fingers to drip drip drip behind me as I spun on my heel and headed in a different direction.

My guilty trail of breadcrumbs, scorched into the sand for everyone to see and follow.

I sat in the shade of the tree line, wishing that no-one would approach me.

But still hoping that they would.

***

No-one did approach me, and when a sudden downpour fell from the sky I took shelter under the nearest hunk of jagged metal that I could find.

Two girls and a guy squeezed under it with me, but for the life of me I can’t remember their faces, let alone their names. I think one of the girls was a blonde; some blonde that complained and moaned a lot to the young guy next to her.

But what I do remember clearly is one older bald guy that didn’t join in the general stampede for shelter and instead just sat there, on the beach, as if this moment was the best thing to ever happen to him. At one point he turned to the four of us and winked.

Freak.

The rest of the day passed faster than I thought, and before I knew it I was once again sitting by myself and being offered a disgusting airline meal as night fell rapidly around us.

By a stroke of luck I had managed to find my jacket - badly singed and stinking to high heaven of course - and I folded it up and stored my meal in it before stretching out onto the sand, wondering what on earth the next day would bring.

But I shouldn’t have been worrying about the next day, oh no; that very night was what should have been forefront in my mind.

When the hideous metallic groaning noise assaulted our ears and the not too distant trees shook and crashed to the ground, I was one of the first to leap to my feet and start screaming.

*****

[firebreathingfishies]

I like it I like how for a moment she was all gung-ho to help, and then bottled it straight away Our characters really are useless aren't they?

[firebreathingfishies]

This chapter is pretty uneventful Ki we need to think of a relatively interesting meeting for our characters Unless we just wing it

*********
Getting Into the Swing of Things

‘Look, you’re going to have to pull harder than that, man. There’s about five hundred pounds of dead metal holding that thing down.’

I turn and scowl at the man who just spoke to me and get a better grip on the handle of the suitcase. The man who has decided he is my new slave driver had approached me earlier and recruited me to pull suitcases and luggage from the wreckage. He’s tall with big eyes and dark skin. He had introduced himself as Michael. He has a kid called Walt who was the kind of know-it-all kid you want to throttle within two minutes of meeting. I noticed earlier that Michael looks like he feels the same way sometimes. The two of them seem awkward with each other. I wondered whether Michael was even his dad.

‘I’m trying my best.’ I reply with a grunt as I pull on the suitcase again. ‘I’m not exactly Arnold Schwarzenegger you know.’

Michael frowns briefly. ‘Look, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. I’m sure there are other things to be doing.’

‘I’m helping, okay?’ I’m annoyed by his pushiness. Who died and made him the boss? Okay, that wasn’t entirely suitable. I pull again on the handle, harder than I had pulled before. The suitcase shifts and then there’s a crack as the handle snaps. I fall back, pin wheeling my arms, and then land hard on the sand. I lie there for a moment, dazed, staring up at the clear blue sky. This new POV is quite serene really. I stay where I am, now just wanting to be away from the madness. For a moment I’m actually relaxed. That’s until Michael sticks his big face in my eyeline.

‘You okay?’ he asks and holds out a hand.

I get up without his help, mostly out of embarrassment. ‘Yeah. I’m fine.’ I brush the sand off my clothes and look at the suitcase. Now that the handle is gone there’s no way to grip the thing to pull it out.

‘Just leave it.’ Michael waves a hand. ‘Lost cause. There are more up the beach anyway.’

‘Yeah, okay.’ I mumble, and begin to head away. Behind me, I hear Michael curse. I glance around to him, immediately assuming it was aimed at me. ‘What?’

‘He’s wandered off again,’ Michael cries, looking around. He turns to me. ‘It’s Ashley, isn’t it?’

I nod. I must have told him my name about eight times by now.

‘If you see my boy can you tell him to come here and wait?’ He looks pissed off. I nod and shrug. Michael stalks away up the beach, shouting ‘Walt!’

I watch him head away, actually surprised that I feel a little sorry for him. Being a person who has no kids, I don’t completely understand the over protectiveness parents have over their children, but I understand that it’s a hard job. And in this kind of situation… well… it’s hard.

Especially if your kid is a stuck up brat.

Okay, that’s pretty mean.

With my slave driver now preoccupied, I see an exit. Quickly I scuttle off up the beach towards the tree line, wanting nothing more than to just sit in the shade for a little while. Perhaps have a drink of water too, but I just finished off my bottle and I doubt I’ll be given some more so soon. I don’t really see the use in pulling suitcases out of the wreckage. What possible use would be inside apart from a few clothes and those little bottles of shampoo stolen from some hotel in Australia? I wonder if I’m being stupid. I probably am. Nothing new there.

I lean against a tree and sigh heavily. People on the beach seem to have formed little groups already. Most of them are talking about the sounds from the jungle last night. I overhear someone suggest that it could be a dinosaur and I smile. Being the loser that I am, I hope it is a dinosaur. I always wanted to see one for real.

I glance up and see a man approaching me. He’s tall, very tall in fact – must be about 6 and a half feet or something. He has dark floppy hair. I notice almost immediately that he doesn’t appear to have a scratch on him. I find this odd.

‘Hey there.’ He smiles, quite broadly. ‘How are you holding up?’

I want to roll my eyes but don’t. ‘Okay I guess. Well… as okay as you can be after dropping a few thousand feet out of the air.’

The man chuckles. ‘I know what you mean.’ I watch him as he casts an eye over the rest of the crash. He has a funny look about him. Kind of squashy face. He’s broad though, and looks like he is quite strong. I wonder if he was one of the helpers and not the hinderers, like myself.

‘How about you?’ I ask, feeling like I should really attempt to continue the conversation. I haven’t really spoken to anyone yet, and it probably won’t work in my favour if we end up being here for a while.

‘Same.’ He replies, still smiling. ‘Bit shaken up but it’s wearing off a little now. It’s hard to believe this actually happened.’

I half nod in agreement. ‘I remember getting the plane and seeing someone reading Alive – you know, about those people who crashed in the Andes? I mean, that’s just asking for a plane to crash, right?’

The man laughs quite heartily and I find myself smiling a little. It feels weird. I hope I don’t look like one of those creepy grinning clowns with the rubber faces. When he looks at me I know I mustn’t look freaky because he doesn’t recoil in horror. Instead, he holds his hand out.

‘I’m Ethan, by the way.’

I introduce myself and shake his hand. I’m getting a bit sick of saying my name every ten minutes. Maybe I’ll make myself a nametag.

‘Do you feel up to a bit of salvaging?’ Ethan asks, pulling his hands in his pockets.

I shrug and smile, feeling a little better. ‘I guess so. Although I’m not going to be much use. I’m not a fan of the heat.’

‘Trust me, you get used to it.’

I find that comment strange, but allow it to pass. I follow him down the beach, putting my own hands in my pockets. ‘You’re not going to make me try and pull suitcases out from underneath the wreckage, are you?’

‘Course not. We’re not recruiting the tunnel diggers until later.’

I smile. His joke is lame but at least he’s trying. He takes me to a bigger group of people who are laying out suitcases. There’s a sour smell of sweat lingering in the air that makes my nose twitch.

‘It’s a simple system really.’ Ethan tells me. ‘Three piles; one for suitcases, one for water, one for food.’

‘Don’t you have a miscellaneous pile?’ I ask.

‘Feel free to make one.’ Ethan laughs. ‘I’ll let you get on.’ He moves off to a few other men and begins talking to them. I look at the growing piles and scratch my arm, trying to figure out where to start. I decide just to plough on, and make my way towards the wreckage.

[Kiowa Warrior]

Nice to see you Ethan, I missed your squashy face That was good fbf: nice to see some other characters being introduced!

Lol I think both our characters are pretty unmotivated when it comes to helping their fellow human beings...

Hmm, first thing that sprang to mind when it comes to our characters meeting is that they somehow end up in the jungle, lost, together (don't ask me how they get there yet) and have to do something/get back to the beach. Or they're forced into a position where they have to help someone because they're the only ones that can: like they have to face their fears and get over it. Or they're the unlucky ones that get taken by the Others one night and are either taken back to Othersville or escape.

Or yes, we could just wing it, lol.

[firebreathingfishies]

lol i love ethan's squashy face

Yeah it has to be some kind of drama... I'm bring Chuck back into it so maybe that can be something... the lost in the jungle senario sounds like best to me

[Kiowa Warrior]

Ethan is great...bloody Charlie for killing him!

Yeah, what has happened to Chuck? Both characters could go into the jungle for different reasons (with different groups of people) and then somehow get seperated from them, and then we meet up and face...something dangerous and exciting!