Alternatively

Flight 12 Down

Day One

Annabeth would never admit that the first and only coherent words that crossed her mind were, "I love you." The moment was almost perfect; they were desperately holding each other's hands as they plummeted from the sky, no one would walk away witnesses to her confession, and most importantly, that heavy secret she had been harboring would be lifted. She sure was glad panic kept her silent, because they did not die as intended and living with the shame of knowing that he knew would be worse than death by plane crash.

"Is everyone alright?"

Dazed mutters and groans filled the cabin, the small bunch of passengers slowly realizing they were in fact alive. Percy's hand was still tight around hers, his eyes squeezed shut and muscles tensed beyond belief.

"No one's bleeding or broken?"

"What the hell just happened?" Clarisse yelled from the back.

"Either I'm still alive," Percy muttered, still closing his eyes. "Or I've died and gone to Hell."

The scrawny boy poked his head out from the cockpit, worry etched on his face. "I think it's okay to move around now."

"Is the pilot okay?" Hazel called, but her voice said she already knew the answer.

"Mr. Brunner."

Percy's fingers flexed around hers.

"Mr. Brunner, are you okay?"

She couldn't feel her legs.

"Oh my god, he's not moving."

Her head began to throb, adrenaline running low and reality setting in. There was glass and metal twisted all around them, oxygen masks and bags strewn throughout the cabin. If she tilted her head, she could see the engine that had been blown to bits and the wing it tore apart in the process. The small plane never stood a chance against the type of storm it faced.

White sands stretched out of the corner of her eye and despite a twinging nerve in her neck, she managed to shift enough to see the beach extend as far as one could see. Bright waters crashed on the shore in a sort of picturesque way and if it weren't for the chunks of metal, it would have been a tropical paradise just itching to be slapped onto a post card.

"You don't think we have enough good luck to have landed on Oahu, do you?"

"Not a tourist in sight," she grumbled, peeling her hand apart from his as she stood up.

Everyone was awake and alert, but the nervous chatter hushed.

Annabeth could still hear a faint ringing in her ears from impact and her legs were shaky as she wobbled to the emergency door. No one questioned or stopped her, watching in a tense silence while she fumbled with the hatch. By opening the door, she would be opening the flood gates. The situation would stop being surreal and start solidifying.

She pushed it out, bracing against the frame as the door fell to the sand below.

Day Two

"Conserve water," he mocked, hugging the bottle to his chest. "We don't need to conserve water."

"Yes," she propped her hands on her hips. "We do."

Travis shook his head. "We don't because we won't be here long."

"We don't know that, so it's smart to plan for the worst."

"Who even said you could tell us what to do?" Drew sneered.

"I'm listening to her."

They looked over as Percy dropped another bag to the sand, a frown creasing his face. He and Leo were going through luggage, trying to find anything useful, but that apparently entailed eavesdropping on the conversation on the beach.