The Plane

Chapter 1

I walked across the boat to chat with two girls. They dared me to talk to one of the head guys, a colonel, named Ben. I wasn't afraid or shy so I agreed to the dare. I walked up, my dress swaying and my hair falling next to my face, and stood in front of Ben.

"Ben?" I asked, not being formal.

"You aren't being formal?" He said, taken aback.

I assumed he wasn't used to people calling him by his name, not 'Sir Colonel' or 'Sir'. "No," I said bluntly, not bowing either. "What's the point? You're just like us. Going to the same place, talking the same language." I left out ethnicity because it meant nothing to me.

"You are right about that." He said, chuckling. His guards eased up after he chuckled.

The boat stopped and we all exited, boarding a plane. The two other girls, Kristen and Amelia, were impressed by my braveness to talk so casually to Ben. The two girls sat together and I was seated, ironically, next to Ben. He smiled at me and I nodded, looking away.

"Are you shy?" He asked, touching my hand.

"No. Why would you think I am?" I responded, looking at him.

"Because you turned away after I looked at you, and blushed. Do I make you nervous?" He was worried about making me uncomfortable.

"I'm not uncomfortable," I said to reassure him. "I've just never felt this way about a person."

"Felt what way?"

"Like there's butterflies in my stomach, or, like it's hard to breathe when you're near the person." I replied, looking into Ben's eyes.

"It's as if you like me, and me to you." Ben responded to me.

"Maybe I do, I'm not sure." I turned away again to look out the window.

We started to land from what it looked like but the captain started to talk on the speakers.

"Guys, we have a technical issue and will not make it to the next airport. Please stay seated, the plane is crashing, if the plane starts to separate in half, please jump into the first half, the end will explode or get severely damaged when it makes contact with the ground. Thank you. Please say your possible goodbyes and prayers."

I looked at Ben, fear in my eyes. He grabbed my hand but I pulled away. "I'm not going to fall in love with someone just to be pulled apart."

"I never got your name."

"Faye." I responded. I heard the plane start to rip in half. The passengers started to run to the front. A little girl fell to the ground, still in the second half.

I just up, racing towards her. I picked her up and stood for a second, thinking of what to do. I murmured in her ear to calm her crying before running full speed to toss her to the others. I tried jumping but slipped and grabbed onto a cord from the plane. Ben grabbed my hand and began to pull me up when his hand slipped, and I fell.

I hit a log and my eyes closed.

Ben helped passengers off after the plane crashed, helping the injured find shelter and help from the others. He ran through the trees to try and find where my body was, looking for the end of the plane. He found it and searched around, scanning the area.

I awoke after a few hours, my back and head throbbing with severe pain. I sat up and looked around. Dizziness tried taking my body but I shook it off. I stood up and walked out of the trees and to some sand nearby. I sank down to the ground near the water and splashed some on my face. I stood up again and walked back to the top of the sand line and sat down. I made myself a little shelter and fell asleep, my head hurt like crazy.

Ben wandered around, searching through everything. Fallen luggage, chair, and more. He found a puddle of blood and foot prints. He began to follow the footprints before they trailed off due to the sprinkling. He tried to follow more but was unsuccessful. He kept going, refusing to sleep until I was found.

I awoke when dawn struck, standing up to move. I began walking again, a trail of blood following me. I had cut my shoulder open and a little gash on my head, my hair covering it. I held my right arm, my wrist hurting and to keep weight off my shoulder. I walked fairly fast, still dizzy. I made good progress and followed where I thought the rest of the plane and crew were. My dress was torn and barely fitting, my shoes were gone, and my hair was a mess. I found a trail of ruined plane parts but sat to rest. I was losing blood and quickly, it became harder and harder to stay awake.

Ben found sand and then footprints, following the prints up to a little shelter. He found the blood and started to follow it, it becoming more and more as he did. Finally the blood became little pools of it. He feared that I was losing too much. "Oh Faye." He whispered, hurrying his speed. He came across pieces of the plane as well as blood. He found me, crumpled up and bleeding out. "Faye!" He fell to the ground and checked my pulse, as well as my breathing.

"Ben," I whispered, too weak to move or keep my eyes open. "I.." I trailed off, unable to talk.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm here now, I'll help you." He ripped part of my dress and scrunched it in a little ball, applying it to my shoulder.

I flinched at his touch and tried to pull away. He gently set a hand on my cheek and then moved it to my neck as a way to tell me it was okay. He checked my wrist and then my head. My wrist was sprained and head would heal just fine.

"Faye, we need to get you to the others."

"No... I can't." Pain overwhelmed my voice.

"I have no choice, you'll bleed out."

"Don't leave me." I whispered, tears in my eyes.

"Oh sweetie, I won't. I'll be with you as much as I can." He took the pressure off my shoulder and lifted me.

My eyes closed and my right arm fell, my neck became heavy and I rested it against Ben's chest.