The Native Code (Co Written By CTHands)

The Rescue Awaits

Dustin stayed up, searching the plane. It was dark out, only the fire and the moon showed the slightest light, along with the few stars that were shown in the dark nights sky. Dustin had been pretty successful with his task, finding life jackets, an inflatable raft, A flare gun with a box of flares. the first aid kit from before, flash lights, emergency blankets and a small amount of emergency food and water rations. They also had the things that they came with. Each having come with a back pack and a suitcase. Dustin separated the emergency rations from the plane and what they came with equally between the three of them. 

The morning seemed to come as quickly as night, and Carol-Lynne woke up. She looked over to Dustin-Lee who had the apparent look of exhaustion on his face. She then noticed the bags by the corner of the plane. "You were busy..."

"Yeah, well I had to stay up. I couldn't sleep."

"Dusty, people should be looking for us by now, right?"

"Soon, they'll find us soon."

"We should make an SOS, you know, so that a rescue plane can see us..."

The two looked over to Mike who was now awake. "Yeah, good idea Mike. Carol and I will go do that, you stay here."

Carol took out her creations bag and took out three whistles. She handed one to Dusty, one to Mike, and kept one for herself. "If either of us need anything, we blow the whistle. They're loud, they'll do the trick. Once to meet up here, twice if you're in trouble." Dustin and Carol walked off to start on the SOS. 

The two gathered rocks and stones of all sizes, from the size of their fist to as big as they could carry. They placed the stones on the beach, close together and in the shape of the SOS symbol. Although Mike was in pain, he wanted to help. He sat by the fire, and with the wood nearby, he kept the fire going. 

It was mid afternoon, and the three sat on a log by the fire. Dustin had a peanut butter sandwich from his bag and a bottle of water. "We can't eat everything now. We divide this between the three of us for today. Tomorrow we start looking for things on the island to eat, that is, if we're still here..."

Carol took a bite of her third of the sandwich, and a small sip of water. "SOS sign is good and all, but we need something else..."

"Like what?"

"Something colorful..." Mike thought. "A scarf! Carol, you got a scarf in your luggage? A pink one or something, something reflective even?"

Carol reached into her bag and pulled out a pink sequenced scarf. She grabbed a long stick and drove it into the ground near the SOS sign, and tied the scarf to it. It sparkled and moved like a flag in the breeze.

"How'd you guys sleep?"

"Not good. It was uncomfortable sitting up like that all night..." Carol said honestly. 

"Today we can make a lean-to. we can tie the raft to those two trees over there, use it as a roof..." Dustin suggested.

"You'll want to use as little energy as possible..." Mike stated. "Conserving energy is important." 

"Noted..." Dusty smiled and stood. He started work on the shelter. He tied the raft to the trees as a roof, and tied the tarp to the ground on one end and the raft on the other to add a back. They finished the lean-to in perfect timing. As the clouds roll in, they hear the thunder in the distance, coming in like a lions roar. Not seconds later the rain pounded against their skin. Carol helped Mike to the newly made shelter as Dustin grabbed their bags. It was amazing how the storm ended as quickly as it began, and just as quickly, the ground showed no signs of rain.

Mike asked Carol if it would be possible to help him make a crutch. "I want to be able to help you guys."

Carol went for a walk in the jungle area. She was on the search for a strong and solid stick to use as a crutch of some sort for Mike. She came across a giant red cedar. Mike had been sharing information from one of his books once, and she remembered him saying that it was a good wood for carving, so it would be doable. She found a branch with a Y at the tip, it was perfect. She carved out the Y to make it smoother for him, and she carved the stick itself to the perfect length for Mike's height. She also made the crutch smoother for appearance, just to make it nicer for Mike. She walked over to him, crutch in hand. He smiled. She helped him stand and he struggled with the first few steps, but quickly it became easier for him to walk with the crutch.