The Blood I Carry

Stranded

I wake up to my ears ringing and light hitting my eyes like lasers.

"What the fuck!!" is the first thing i hear being repeated, then i hear high pitched screaming.

I open my eyes to see a blue sky, and not a cloud in sight. I quickly sit up, to see I am on sand. I am covered in sand. And small lines of blood.

I am confused, and in some pain. I look at my hands, cuts, so many little cuts, all on my hands, and my face is stinging. This cannot be happening. I should have never trusted the pilot. We got drugged.

Shit shit shit.

My eyes immediately dart around this place for my brother. He is nowhere to be seen. Dread fills my gut. I stand up wobbly, getting a little bit light-headed when I do. I see the others, Brooklyn, who is non-stop screaming, Grayson, who is looking at himself and his blooded body, probably panicking as much as I am right now. And Hayden, who is sitting on the floor, burying his head in his hands, knees up to his chest.

"Arlo!!!" I scream at the top of my voice.

"ARLO!" I shriek.

"Where are we?!" Brooklyn screams. I dont reply. I don't know who she was talking to. I wipe my nose with my hand, a smear of blood appearing. My mind is overloaded with thoughts, I can't focus. I look to the ground and suddenly realise I'm standing all around a bunch of plane parts. Bits of leather seats, the maroon carpet, the controls, bits of wing, glass, metal.

"Olivia." Grayson says. I stare at the plane parts, still trying to focus on what's going on and why I'm here and how I'm alive and how we literally just fell out of the sky.

"Olivia." he repeats, two hands resting on my shoulders. I snap back into reality and look at Grayson.

"Come sit down, you look like you're gonna faint." he says. It barely hits me what he's saying. I point to his face.

"You have a cut on your lip and your cheek and your forehead and eyebrow." I stutter.

"Thanks, didn't notice." he raises his eyebrows slightly before grabbing my hand and pulling me over to a sandy area, away from all the glass and plane parts.

"Where's Arlo?" I start to panic again. "Oh god oh god he's dead I've lost him."

"Hey hey don't think like that, I'm sure he's okay. Dont worry." Grayson says.

Tears start to streak down my bloody face. "I can't lose him." I say, now sobbing. I hide my head in my hands as tears run down my cheeks. I feel a hand rubbing my back, but I don't react to it. I keep crying and think about how my brother could be dead right now and how I have lost him forever.

"Olivia, look at me." Grayson says. I attempt to control myself, and look at him. He holds my wet and bloody face in his hands and looks me in the eyes. "Your brother is not dead, he is somewhere out here probably passed out or looking for you, he will come."

I take in his words, take a deep breath, and nod. I continuously nod, silent tears still staining my cheeks.

"Now I'm going to go help the others, you stay here okay in the shade." he tells me. I nod again. I take deep breaths and hope that my brother is still alive and looking for me, just like what Grayson said. He is alive.

I focus on myself more, my lips are dry and cut, I have sand in my hair, on my clothes, in my shoes, on my face, in my cuts. It hurts. My face and hands throb constantly in a way that makes me want to rip my skin off. I can feel minuscule bits of sand gritting against my teeth, making me shiver slightly. This whole thing is so fucked. There is a warm breeze blowing, moving my hair in the direction it's going in. I look around and behind me, only to see a place full of trees, palm trees, and other vibrant green trees. It's tropical here. Which is bizarre. I've never seen this type of scenery in real life. Only in magazines or online. I say to Arlo and my Uncle Bailey that I always want to go to a tropical island, to feel the sand on my bare feet and feel the warmth on my sun-kissed skin. Then go into the ocean, feeling the cold water hug my body. But right now, I would do anything to be at home, in my room, viewing the dark forest from my big window.

I can hear birds behind me, squawking and squeaking. It makes me more on edge, for some reason, because we rarely hear birds where we live. Or should I say lived? Am I going to die here? Or be stuck on this island forever? I still wanted to live, even if there wasn't much to live for. I love, sorry, loved, my life.

I shiver suddenly as I remember what is happening with my brother and the others. Grayson and the others come over and sit on the sand in the shade with me. I swallow a lump in my throat and speak, "Does anyone actually know where we are?" There is quiet around me, the only noise being the ocean crashing on the sand and everyone's breathing, harsh and quick.

"End Point?" Hayden says. Grayson lets out a breathy laugh, before looking at Hayden and raising his eyebrows.

"You really think that's real?"

Hayden just looks at the sand in front of him and sighs. Brooklyn takes a deep breath in before releasing it. "End Point is not real, i may not know much, but i know that that isn't real."

End Point is rumoured to still be here, but it isn't, it was never real, it is only The Intelligent, no one else. They took over the world, got rid of anything to do with End Points people.

"It could be." Hayden argues back.

"Well it's not kid, get over it." Grayson tells him. We then all sit in more silence. But it's not quiet to me because my head is so loud. So so so loud. I can't stop the thoughts from running through my mind, 'Arlo is dead.' 'He isn't coming back' 'Your own your own now' 'Your going to die here'

Another wave of panic washes over me, and my breathing starts to get faster again. My heart is pounding through my chest like a drum. I stand up and hold my arms up to the back of my head, and I pace. I pace for who knows how long, trying to steady my breathing, trying to stop the salty tears from splashing down my cheeks. Trying not to pass out or have another panic attack, which it feels like I'm about to do and have both.

"Olivia." Graysons voice makes me stop pacing and face him and the others. I look at him, though he is blurry from the tears filling my eyes.

"Stop pacing, you're making me and I'm sure the others, dizzy. Your brother isn't dead." He attempts to reassure me. It doesn't work this time.

"How do you know that? Oh wait, you don't! You don't know if he's alive or dead. You're just..." I take a few quick breaths and stutter, "trying to make me feel better." My head starts spinning, and I know that the others notice I'm wobbling because Brooklyn and Grayson get up and hold me up, then sit me back down. I bury my head in my hands again and let the tears spill, and let the sobbing noises explode from my mouth. I sound like a dying horse, but I don't care. I cannot be bothered to listen to how someone thinks End Point is real, or how no one knows where we are. I know that. I know we don't know where we are. I know we could die in the next few days. I know someone could rescue us. I know I know I know. I don't need reminding. Someone rubs my back as I let the horrid noises escape my mouth. I have so many questions that I cannot ask anyone around me because they won't have the answers because they are probably wondering the exact same things as me. My main question is, 'Why us?' because why did this have to happen to us? Out of everyone, we just had to be put on this random plane that had nothing to do with The Intelligent, and then it fucking crashes. Because I definitely planned for this to happen today. My plan for the rest of the day was to just sleep, have dinner, read, and sleep more. But no, now I am stuck on an island, sobbing, in front of people I don't know. I only just met them. I don't know how many hours ago.

I'm so scared, I might have just lost everything and everyone I love in less than 24 hours.