Ash

6.

"What's this one?"

I asked pointing to a green, leafy plant. It looks like a weed.

"That's a weed."

Jim responds laughing.

I huff, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Oh lighten up! This is fun sis, don't be such a stiff."

He shouts, opening his arms like he's king of the world. He's making me nervous, standing at the edge of the cliff. I step closer to him looking down at the rocky drop-off. At the bottom, waves crash into the cavernous area below, surrounded by sharp, ragged, teeth like rocks. My knees nearly buckle. I back up, tripping on a root and fall flat on my butt right into a mud puddle- great.

"Oh....My...Gosh, are you okay....?"

My idiot friend asks between short spurs of laughter.

"I'm fine. My pants are wet, that's all."

I snap. Not how I really feel like spending my hiking trip, with wet pants and relentless teasing. I sit down on a log, pulling my back pack off my sweaty back and unzip the biggest part. I dig to the bottom looking for my extra shorts.

"Hey, I'm gonna go change, stay here okay?"

He nods. Turning on my heels, I start off to get changed. After about 5 min, my hair begins to stick to the back of my neck and I slow down.

'good enough.'

I peel off my back pack, along with my shorts and slip the new pair over my boots. In the process, I fell over twice, bumped my head on a tree and got my hair caught in a few branches. I'm taking the boots off next time, I make a mental note. I grab my stuff and head back to Jim. When I get back, I don't see Jim. I call out...

"Lauren? Can you her me? Lauren!"

I shoot up, out of a dead sleep, regaining consciousness. My shirt is drenched in sweat, once again, and I can't control my breathing. I don't know where I am, and it takes me a minute to realize who's surrounding me. My eyes search through the crowd that's formed around me, passing unfamiliar faces and concerned eyes until I reach a familiar blue. My breathing slows and I start to unwind, letting go of the death grip I had on some poor guy's shirt. My eyes stay locked with Johns', until the people in the crowd slowly disperse.

"Hey, hey, are you okay? I came back to camp and saw you passed out in the sand."

"I'm okay, thanks. I don't know what happened, it was weird. I just got really dizzy and that's when I blacked out. I had a weird dream though...."

I pause, trying to remember anything from my dream. All I can remember is a hiking trip with Jim. I don't think it's very significant.

"...Its weird. I remember a hiking trip with Jim, just like an old memory. But I don't know if it means anything."

He stares at me in shock. I blink, trying to figure out what he's so shocked about.

"What?"

"Your memory! You're getting it back!"

Oh. Yeah, I guess he's right.

"You're right, probably. I think I forgot everything when the plane crashed, might've hit my head a bit too hard."

"Well I'm glad something's coming back"

He smiles, scooting a bit closer in the sand.

"How's the woman from last night?"

His whole demeanor changes, his face falls and he stares into the sand. Still holding the same shell in his hand.

"That's why I had originally come over to talk to you about. The gash, it was strange. It was more of a, uhm, scratch. Not like an animal scratch, but like a human scratch..."

My gaze is fixed on the ocean as he continues, twisting the shell even more.

"...it got infected last night. We asked her how she got it, she said she was gathering fallen bananas when someone in ratty clothing came out snarling, and thrashing. He tried to grab her, she said, but he scratched her instead."

He points over to the new tent that must have been set up last night.

"She's over in that tent. She's not doing very well, last night she developed a fever and has blotches on her skin. We have nothing to fight the infection, what medicine we found on the plane is useless. I tried to clean the scratch as best as I could, but it turned a dark red."

I nod. Maybe I should go see her, offer if I can do anything? I'm not good with words, and I'm definitely not a people person.

"Where is the guy who scratched her now?"

He shakes his head,

"We don't know, a few of us went out looking, but we didn't find anything. Not even a trace."

"Where there any doctors on the plane?"

"We don't know, we haven't found the list of passengers yet, but right now my training for the Navy is the best we've got. I have basic field med training, hopefully that counts for something."

Nodding, I start to stand up. I can finally put a little more weight on my ankle, the swelling has gone down and it's just a bit bruised now. I start to make my way over to the tent, just as I open the tent flap, a small woman comes out. She's pale, and has a light glisten to her forehead from sweat. Once I look inside, I gasp, bringing my hand up to my mouth. She's laying on a small tarp, turning her head side to side. Her skin has turned a lucid green color, with blotches covering her arms and continuing up her neck. She's sweating, and her feet twisting under the make-shift blanket. I bite my lip, not sure of what to do for her. I grab a rag and dip it in some water, dabbing it on her forehead. Her eyes shoot open as she grabs my wrist. I gasp, falling back.

She groans, and closes her eyes, resting back on the tarp.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you, I was just trying to help. Is there anything I can do ...ma'am?"

Silence.

"Don't call me ma'am it makes me feel old."

I crack a smile, apologizing I ask,

"Sorry, what should I call you then?"

"Mrs. Duboe, can you hand me that cup-over there?"

She coughs, and I turn to grab the small paper cup half filled with brackish water. When I hand her the cup, the rag she had been coughing into was stained with red. Blood. I start to panic, that's not usually a good sign right? I've watched enough medical mysteries to know, coughing up blood isn't good. She takes the cup and gulps down the liquid. Coughing again, she covers her mouth with the cloth. I rush out of the tent in search for John; he'll know what to do. So far, he's the only calm one here. We're surrounded by the woman who talks to her dead husband and the teenage boy playing with three Legos he found. Then there's me of course, seeing and talking to a girl who isn't actually there. Great, we're all losing it. I look around the camp, bringing my hand up to shield the bright sun. People a just milling around, sifting through luggage and trash. I search frantically for John, when finally, I see him down by the water attempting to use a makeshift net. I call out, waving my arms as I shuffle my way through the sand. He turns around and drops the net, racing towards me. Just as I open my mouth to tell him about Mrs. Duboe he tackles me to the ground, throwing his body onto mine. I land on the ground with an 'oomph' as I hear an animal like growl. John pulls himself off of me and struggles to restrain the growling creature. I look up, breathing heavily and spitting sand from my mouth, to see John holding the once small and fragile body of Mrs. Duboe, now thrashing and bloody.

A/N: Hi! The reads are going up! I am going to try to make chapters longer...? Sorry, this one was really long lol. Thanks loves <3