Shallow Grave

Chapter 4

The chipped watch on my left arm indicated that it was 01:34am. Being unconscious for most of the day had made everything disorientating. I had not the slightest idea of what time we had crashed, let alone how long it had been after the crash that I had woken up. I was beginning to think that Simon and I were the only survivors on the beach. After all, since being awake the only living person I had come across was Simon. I wanted so desperately to go in search of others, but I didn't want to leave Simon, in fear, that something might happen to him whilst i'm away. I knew that we couldn't stay on this part of the beach for a few hours longer. The smell of burnt bodies was getting carried downwind, towards our direction, and every so often the stench would make Simon and I, both wretch.

I sat for ten minutes in completed silence. We were both trying to come up with a suitable plan. We needed to find water and food, water being the priority. The only place where we could find both would be on the food and drink trolleys that the air stewardess' were carting up and down the aisles. The possible locations of the trolleys would either be strewn all over the beach, just like the wreckage, or in their original places at the front and back section of the aircraft. Simon came to the same conclusion - we needed to move and start looking for essentials.

The pale pink cardigan that I was wearing had to be used as a sling for Simon's badly injured shoulder. So, without another care for it, I begun tearing bits off to make it into a suitable support. It seemed to work as Simon was relieved for a little pressure of his own arms weight to be taken away. Without wasting any more time, I stood up, stretched off and helped Simon to his feet. He was a little unsteady to begin with seeing as he had been lying down for the majority of the afternoon and night. Although, it didn't take him long to re-adjust his balance and carry on.

We started by heading to the waters edge. We were both in desperate need of washing away the excess blood and getting some salt water in to the minor cuts to clean them out. It stung like hell, but it was the right thing to do and, to some degree, we felt a little cleaner. Simon had small cuts on his arms and bruising around his lap from where he broke out of his lap belt. I was hoping that it was only bruising externally and not internally, but, I was sure that Simon would have shown other symptoms by now if it had have affected internally.

The washing didn't take long, so we headed back up the beach in search of the tail section of the plane. From the amount of wreckage scattered across the beach and forested area, the whole plane must have landed here. That was a positive sign. At least we wouldn't have to travel far to find the other sections of the aircraft.

"When we come across the different parts of the plane... maybe we should scower them for survivors? I'd want someone to do that for me if I was still lying out there helpless.." Simon let his voice trail off.

"I think we should too!"

I started collecting loose clothing items from broken suitcases. If we did come across survivors, the chances were that they probably would be injured and may possibly need rags to bandage them up. Amazingly, in one of the suitcases we had come across I had found a large green box which turned out to be a first aid pack with quite a lot of essentials within. It felt wrong to do so, but I took a further look in the suitcase from which I found the first aid kit. Inside I found more medical equipment and some strong painkillers, which I guessed meant that a doctor was onboard our aircraft. This filled me with hope, but at the same time it meant that if the doctors case was just lying here, then where was the doctor? Especially if he knew what importance his case would be to the survival of other passengers.

I took a step back for a moment, and let the scene of wreckage sink in. Only small sections of the fuselage had remained intact. A sombre mood was hanging in the air, with a sheer sense of desperation and hope to find others. I could see Simon supporting himself on deserted rows of chairs whilst leaning over the back of them. He repeated this many times over, finding nothing of any use. I knew that I should begin looking, but I couldn't find any strength to move. Shock was slowly setting in, when I had averted my gaze from Simon back to the beach and saw a row of three chairs that were occupied. The bodies were lifeless. Each slumped forwards with their limbs in unorthodox positions.

My legs gave way beneath me and I threw up into the sand. I heard Simon's feet scuffling towards me. Tears fell uncontrollably from my eyes whilst Simon held me in a tight embrace. He repeatedly kissed my head and rocked me gently. I couldn't believe it. 

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