Stranded

Chapter 1 ~ Cassie

 I ram the door of the compartment with my shoulder until it breaks open letting the heat inside flood out into the night.

"I got it!" I yell to all of the other girls crowded in here behind me. We climb out of the wrecked plane into the dark forest, only lit by the fire of the plane that is then met with the downpour of rain.

"Come on, we need to get out of here!" someone yells. The youngest of us rush into the forest, a few of the older of us stay behind to make sure everyone's out. I am the last to leave rushing away from the planes seconds before it explodes. I make it to a dark beach where everyone else has gathered into a huge black mass.

"Where are we?" a young voice asks sobbing. All of the younger girls are crying. Some are hugging each other sobbing. Others are calling out names looking for older siblings or parents over the sound of the storm.

"I don't know, but don't worry," an older voice says.

"We need to stick together," another older voice says.

"Who got us out?" another person.

"Let's calm down and wait until morning," I say loudly to be heard over all the voices.

"This is crazy!" a voice I recognize from earlier says. She was screaming the loudest while we were trapped. I was the only person the kept my head.

"Hey, everyone!" I say as I stand away from most of the group. Nothing changes. I see black shapes start to leave. "HEY!!" Everyone freezes. "We need to stick together. We don't want to get lost panicking, do we?" There are murmurs of no. "Okay then, is anyone hurt?"

"I have a few scratches...."

"I hurt my knee...."

"My hand hurts...."

"Mommy!"

I sense that the younger ones about to burst back into sobs from the tone of their voices.

"Hey, don't worry, we're going to be fine, okay?" I say, my voice kind now that I don't have to get everyone's attention. "Let's just wait and sit in the sand, okay? Now, does anyone think they know where we are?" Murmurs of no from the older girls. "Okay then. Let's just wait here until morning or go a little into the forest for cover, then we can figure out where we are." There are murmurs of agreement. Many sit down while a few older girls stay standing. One comes over to me.

"So, you're the one who got us out, aren't you?" she asks.

"Yes," I say.

"Good job."

"It's nothing."

"I'm Hannah."

"Cassandra, but everyone calls me Cassie." We shake hands.

"Do you think anyone else made it?"

"I don't know."

"I saw at least one more plane. Boys were getting on it."

"The more that's here, the better chance of survival," I say, thoughts running through my mind. We need to get food. We need shelter. We need fire. We need to find out where we are. If we're on an island, then we need to get up signals for planes and ships if there are no other people here.

"Where do you think we are?" she asks.

"The way we were flying, we could have landed on any number of islands, marked or unmarked. And with a war going on, I'd doubt that their sending anyone to look for us if this island is uninhabited."

"That's bad."

"If we work together, we'll live. They'll find us eventually."