Flight 203

CHAPTER 6

Tom screamed. He fell down with the dirt. A root scraped his leg, and he grabbed it. His chest whacked the side of the canyon, and he cringed.
The dirt continued to fall, but without Tom. It hit the bottom with silence.
Tom sighed. He was trapped; dangling scarily on a flimsy root.
"Darn..." He whispered. "I'd better not look down." Then he looked down. "Oh my god!" He cried. The bottom of the valley wasn't able to be seen.
Tom shook on the root, hoping to go high enough to grab on to the ledge above. He was, however, unsuccessful.
"Crap."
"Here! Grab my hand!" A high voice called. Tom jumped and the root snapped. Someone's hand grabbed his flailing one firmly, and began pulling him up.
"There you go." The person said, setting Tom down on his back. He got a sight of the person.
It was a medium sized woman, about 6.4. She had long, dark flowing hair. She wore a gray t-shirt with black jeans. Her socks had pink flowers with a blue background. The shoes were white, but covered in mud.
"What were those things?" She asked. Tom gasped, "I don't know." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of water. "You have food?" The woman said with surprise. Tom twisted the lid to the bottle and popped it off, drinking about a quarter of it.
"Can I have some?" The girl asked. "Tell me your name first." Tom said. "Maria." She replied.
"Tom" he said, handing her the precious water. She guzzled it in seconds.
"Thanks." She said as she wiped off her face. "No problem." Tom said.
"I have a little camp set up, if you want to see it. We could probably stay there for the night."
LSure." Tom replied.
He and Maria began to walk toward the line of trees that towered over the canyon.
"About how far away is the camp?" Tom asked.
"Probably a quarter mile." Maria answered. "There is a raspberry bush and apple tree inside it."
Half an hour later, Tom and Maria reached the camp, and Tom's mouth hung open in awe.
Thick branches stood up, reaching for the sky, while smaller ones were intertwined between them. A rectangle of weaved palm leaves made a makeshift door.
"Holy crap!" Tom said. "None of those things will be able to get in here!"
Maria smiled and pulled the door away. A large, open area surrounded by the walls stood in front of a large cliff side. A small inclove was mounted in the wall, and a apple tree and raspberry bush were against the wall.
"How long did this take you to make?" Tom asked. "About two days. We've been on the island for three, but the last day I spent searching for survivors and food. I've set up a small bucket in the back of the cave for food, and a stream runs through the ceiling." "Well, its amazing."
He walked into the cave and unloaded his pockets into the basket. After he finished, two apples, five bags of peanuts, and three bottles of water filled the basket.
"Thanks for bringing me to this fort." Tom said, walking out of the cave.
"No problem." Maria responded. "A group is better than one person."
Something scraped against the wall. They both turned.
"What the heck was that?" Tom whispered.
"I have no idea, but I don't think that I want to find out!" Maria whispered back.
Tom took his axe out from his belt, where he put it while they were walking, and held it up.
Another scratch echoed a few feet from the last. Tom took a step forward to get beside Maria. "Do you have a weapon?" He asked quietly.
"Only a sharp stick." She tip-toed over to the cliff, and grabbed a stick; rejoining Tom who moved in front of the door.
The palm door moved an inch. They could see a minuscule bit through a crack made when the door moved. All they could see was a human arm. Then the door got flung open, and they screamed in horror.