ISLAND

CHAPTER TEN: DISCOVERY

ONE WEEK AGO
Ava's eyes snapped open, the crashing waves washed into her face as she lay helplessly on the beach. Her mouth opened as she coughed, throwing up the water that had previously tried to fill her lungs.

She crawled far away from the water onto the land just to the entrance of the forest close to her, before taking in the new environment she found herself trapped in. A part of the plane floated on the water she just came out of before it sank into the depths. Clothes and bags scattered across the land and water.

She was alone, she was helpless and she was afraid.

She cried out in a loud voice calling to anyone who could hear her for help but there was no response. The only sounds louder than her voice were the bird calls in the trees behind her and the waves in front of her. She winced at the throbbing pain from her side, looking down to see blood trickling down from underneath her ribs. She had a cut on her side and she was slowly losing blood.

She ripped her shirt at the section where she was wounded and pressed down hard on her wound. She crawled close to a shirt, picked it up and used it as a compress on her wound.

Her eyes trailed around her as she searched the leaves and trees for something, a herb she could use to stop the bleeding just like Sophia had previously taught her to do months ago.

"Think Ava," She thought to herself as she tried to remember what the herb looked or smelt like. She moved closer to the leaves and trees and rummaged through them in hopes of finding something for a quick cure.

"There" She exclaimed, pulling the leaf from the stem, and grinding it in her mouth before pressing the chew-up contents onto her skin. The pain was almost unbearable but she persevered, wrapping the shirt around her body before tying it to the side.

It took a while for the pain to subside but she was on her feet anyway, looking for her bag amongst the series of bags and clothes on the beach close to her.

Her search came up short as she sighed and then screamed in defeat. She looked around hoping to see anyone else before she proceeded to call out names as loud as she could again "Sophia!! Zara!! Mia!!"

As much as she yelled there was no response. She called out till she was almost out of breath before crashing to the sandy floor on her knees "Where are you guys?" She whimpered, tears gathering in her eyes before falling down her cheek to the ground beneath her. "Somebody help me" Her cries barely a whisper now.

Holding on to her injured side, she laid on the ground with her eyes fixed on the clouds above. In her mind, she was the only one. In her mind, she was lost and would probably die alone. In her mind, this was the end of her. Her eyes closed briefly as she slowly slipped into a state of unconsciousness due to the amount of blood she had lost. When she opened them again, she weakly pushed herself up and then moved inside the forest, looking for something to eat as her stomach rumbled. She fell on her knees after walking for a while, munching on the berries in the shrubs

The thought of whether or not the berries were the edible kind or the poisonous kind seemed to escape her mind as she grabbed handfuls and stuffed her mouth. One would think she was a squirrel with how much food she had in her cheeks. After clearing the shrub of its content she then began to process if she was about to die or not.

Ten minutes passed and she showed no signs of nausea or diarrhoea. A sigh of relief escaped from her lips as she got up on her feet, looking around her and examining the forest she was in. It was dark, with very tall trees blocking out the sun but not completely. Owls hoot and bird calls filled the air but she was more focused on surviving than trying to identify where the sounds came from.

She had found food but the juices from the berries didn't quench the thirst in her throat. Her new objective was water, but how would she get water on an island surrounded by salty sea water? She looked left and then right, she could see nothing but darkness past through where she stood. Nothing in her line of sight stood out so she needed to move.