Into the Jungle

By:
Ean Atchley

©May 17 2012
 Chapter One

Alex
It was a beautiful day outside; the sun was shining, and there was not a cloud
in sight. I was steadily flying at 37 thousand feet above the Atlantic, taking about
58 people to Portugal. It would have been perfect flying conditions, but I was
flying head on into a jet stream. I was running out of fuel faster than I should be,
and if I were to continue on, I would risk going dry. I decided to take a slight
detour to the Canary Islands. It would put on an extra hour, but we were already
ahead of schedule. I relayed our new route to the control tower and turned 35
degrees north.

About 45 minutes into the flight toward the Canary Islands, I was
blinded by extremely thick, dark, moist fog. I could not avoid it by going above or
below it, and I had lost all communications with control. I could not land anywhere,
for there were no islands below me within a three hundred mile radius. I was
forced to make my way through the fog by myself. It didn’t seem like it would be a
problem, just follow my compass. Plus, we were over the Atlantic; there should be
nothing to block our path.

I told my copilot to tell our passengers that we were just experiencing minor
fog issues but it should be nothing to worry about. It was much more serious than
that, of course, but it’s best never to worry our passengers. As he walked into the
aisle of the plane, I saw the pressure gauge go off the top of the chart. I felt the
aircraft dropping in altitude and glanced at our altimeter. It confirmed the worst;
we were dropping at a dangerously fast rate, plus, we were flat, not tilted the
slightest bit. I switched the plane to manual and pulled up on the throttle to no
avail. We were heading straight for the ocean and I could not do anything about it.

I looked at the pressure gauge again, and took in a short, quick breath.
The gauge had already gone around the full circle once and was on its way to do so
again. A normal pressure would be one fourth of the circle. I did not think the
plane could take this kind of pressure, and I was right. I heard a massive groan
behind me, and then heard the rushing of air. I peered behind me and saw that the
back of the aircraft had snapped off.

Now that I didn’t have the back of the plane to stabilize the front, we were
nose diving straight down. The fog finally gave way, and we burst into daylight
again. I saw what looked like plants, trees, and other green things coming at the
plane with incredible speed. I fumbled with the seat eject rope; my hands finally
got a grip on it, and I yanked with all my might

The glass above me gave way, and I shot up out of the plane into the dark
sky above. My parachute deployed from the seat, and I slowly coasted down toward
the now wrecked half of the plane I had been in. I felt a sense of deja vu,
remembering when I was in the air force and had been shot down behind enemy
lines.

Chapter Two

Ethan
I awoke with a start, I was scrunched up against my seat and the mangled
wall of the plane. My legs were bent in an awkward position, and I could barely feel
my left arm. I was confused as to where I was, but then it all came streaming back
to me-the screams of passengers around me, the sudden rush of air as our part of
the plane broke off from the front, the quickly approaching ground.

I moved my fingers slowly making sure nothing was broken-then my arm,

feet, and legs. I was astonished that I had not broken anything. I thought surely
that I would have died in the crash. I worked my way out of my seat and into the
main hall of the plane. I moved slowly, avoiding the luggage strewn about the floor.
I pushed aside a bag of luggage with my foot, and saw a man lying motionless on the
floor; his face was covered in blood, and there was a bone protruding from his arm.
I pulled back in horror before pushing on faster than I had before, eager to get
outside.

I pulled myself out of the plane, and my foot touched something slimy and
slightly warm. I didn’t dare look back at what I had stepped on. To my relief, I saw
movement outside and recognized Ace and Shenna (the man and woman who were
sitting in the opposite row as me in the plane) tending to someone I could not
recognize. I caught Shenna’s eye, and she came rushing toward me. She seemed to
move incredibly fast and caught me just as I passed out.

I woke up to Shenna violently shaking me. As I opened my eyes, she started

to talk to me. I moved into an upright, sitting position and listened to what she was
saying. “You have been out for about a day. The eight of us that were alive and
moving all tried our cell phones, and we do not have service. So we held a meeting
and decided that it would be best to try to find some shelter, food and water.
There is none where we have crashed, and the salt water of the ocean is not
drinkable. There are mountains to our east with what looks like snow on top. We
figured there would be drinkable water coming off of the mountains.” I opened my
mouth to speak, but nothing came out. My throat was too parched to speak. Shenna
held up a hand to silence me, and said “I’ll take that as an ok. We will move toward
the mountains tonight when it is not too hot. Get some more rest until then.”

Chapter Three

Ethan
The darkness overtook the land faster than I had thought it would. It
became eerie with the animal cries and other sounds that came out of the trees.
But with the darkness came relief from the sun. I thought it was a fair trade.
 We gathered all our belongings that would be of use and moved on. I
grabbed both my water bottles, my iPhone and put on a jacket I had found in a
stray luggage bag. We found a well-used game trail and decided to take that
because it would most likely lead to food or water. However, because it was a game
trail, that meant that other animals used it, and we did not know what we would run
into. Because Ace and Michael had pistols (Ace is a cop, and Michael grabbed one
off of some dead guy’s body) they took front and back of the line.

We had been walking for the best part of six hours. In that time
we had got to know quite a lot about each other. There are three men: Caleb,
William, Ace, and Michael. Two women: Cyra and Shenna. About three hours ago, it
had begun to rain, and we were all exhausted. When we came upon a clearing, we all
decided it would be best to rest. We were all sprawled around the ground, oblivious
to the movement in the trees to our left.

Suddenly people ran out of the trees howling and wielding weapons
of some sort. They were upon Michael first; he responded by whipping out his
pistol and firing a shot at one of the men. The man dropped to the ground and
stared confused at his stomach, the red warm liquid staining his white, ragged
clothing. This made the others hesitate. It seemed like they had never seen a gun
before, or they realized they might be unmatched.

I was wrong. While our attention was on the first attack, another
larger, quieter group crept up on us from behind and grabbed us, binding our hands.
I was toward the back, so I was the first one to feel the strong, firm grip around
my neck and the rope around my hands. I shouted in fear, and the others swiveled
their heads and saw the main attack. At that moment more men swarmed out of
the brush, and we were surrounded by these strange men. They bound all of us and
put sacks around our heads. They led us on a long, tiring, painful journey through
the jungle.

Chapter Four

Alex
 I was out of the seat and searching for the emergency transceiver so I
could signal for a rescue team. Then, I realized that it was in the back half of the
plane that had broken off. I grabbed anything that could be of use and headed off
to search for the other half of the plane. I had to hurry in case there were any
survivors. I looked at the angle and position of my half of the plane; it was nose
first in the sand, and landed at a slight angle pointing south. So, I figured the
other half of the plane would be north. It was as good of a guess as I was going to
get.

I started bush whacking my way north. By sheer luck, I found the wreck
of the plane and sprinted to a body lying in the sand. I could tell he was dead by
the smell of rotting, his eyes gone, probably picked out by some kind of bird, and
there were maggots moving freely about his flesh. I said a silent prayer and moved
on.

It was strange; there was no one alive in the area, and the dead count
was about 10 less than the number of passengers in the plane. That meant some
must have moved on somewhere else. I decided I would look for their trail right
after I found and sent a transmission with the emergency transceiver. I went to
where it should have been, at the back of the aircraft. It was accessible by both
the outside and inside of the aircraft. The hatch was covered by a piece of stray
metal from the wing, and it was lodged into the ground. It was extremely heavy. I
could not move it by myself, so I needed to find the remaining survivors to help me
get the piece of wing out. I quickly found their trail, a piece of fabric caught on a
branch here and there and footprints all over the place, and headed off in the
same direction.

Chapter Five

Alex
It started to rain about two hours into the walk, it made for a more
uncomfortable walk as the ground was now muddy and smelly. I was on the watch
for any animals coming out to attack, but once the rain set in I became lazier with
my work. I was rounding a corner to a clearing and saw a large tree that created
shelter from the rain without being totally in the jungle. I decided to take a small
rest, only fifteen minutes or so. I had not rested since the start of the journey.
 I was sitting against the trunk of the tree cleaning the inside of my
shoes, which were stuffed with mud. I was working on the second shoe when I
heard rustling in the trees behind me. I stopped what I was doing and did not move
a muscle. The noise was moving toward the trail I had not yet covered. I listened
even closer, and determined it sounded like humans moving among the trees. This
worried me, as the team was still ahead of me, yet here I was hearing people.

The people were no longer audible in about two minutes, but, to be sure,
I waited, unmoving, for another couple minutes. I moved out after them; chances
were that they were focused on whatever they were doing and would not notice me
until I was upon them. I moved silently behind them on their well covered trail; I
could tell these men were professionals. I was at a fork in their trail; it looked like
one group had moved on the general way they were headed, another had moved off
to the left, and the other right. I decided to follow the one that was going the
same direction. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. It seemed like the only
reason they were moving so quietly, covering their tracks, and branching off into
this tactical form is when they were stalking something. I just hoped it was an
animal, not humans.

I drew my knife that I always kept strapped to my thigh and crept

silently on. I heard cries of fear not far ahead and then more yelling. I discarded
any efforts of concealment and sprinted headlong in the direction of the screams.
I reached another clearing and saw the team and the men who had been stalking
them. All the team members were bound and gagged. I dove behind a tree and hid
behind its massive trunk. I peeked my head out and counted the attackers. I saw
roughly ten men, and there were others already making their way back into the
forest. I was greatly outmatched, so leaping out and attacking was out of the
question.

I decided to follow the men and see where they were heading. For all I
knew, these men could be cannibals, preparing the fires for their dinner. I had to
save what remained of Manchester United. I followed them until they reached the
natives’ village. I could not go any closer because there were simply too many
people, and there were men in the forest, foraging and hunting for food. I would
have to wait till night to get further.

Chapter Six
 Ethan
It was about 45 minutes before we hit solid ground. Once we did, I could
hear voices all around me, not just from the attackers, but from others, also. Of
course, I could not understand them, but I was sure they were talking with each
other. I shouted out, “Does anyone understand me?” I shouted it again. The only
response I got was something hard to my back. I stumbled and was yanked up by
someone. I just hoped that no one had understood me, so I quickly said “Ace,
Michael, hide your guns!” Once again, I was rewarded with a blunt object to my
back.

When the bags around our heads were removed, out captors shoved us
into a small, dark tunnel. A large rock was rolled into place behind us. We tried to
move it, but it didn’t budge. The natives did not bother to take any of our
belongings, so we still had two guns.

We decided that we might as well move on through the tunnel. We

walked slowly for about five minutes until we saw a feint light farther on. We
rushed on toward the light, hoping for freedom. We reached the source of the
light; a small hole in the ground. There was a rope leading down to what looked like
grass, a long, long way down. Going back wasn’t an option, so we shimmied down the
rope.

Once we touched down, we heard a small chuckle and saw a body above us
in the hole. He took the rope and cut it so we could not go back up the way we
came. I yelled at the barely visible figure, and he responded, in English, “Good
luck,” and disappeared from sight. I stood there in awe, having so many questions I
wanted answered.

Ace asked, “How could he have known English? Do they all know English?
Good luck for what?”

Shenna responded, “We don’t know, but whatever is in this cave, we

most likely need the good luck. We should grab the rope and move on. See if we can
find some food and water.” We all agreed with Shenna and kept moving on, but this
time we were very careful where we put our feet and of our surroundings.

The ten of us had not spoken for what seemed like an eternity; we just
trod on at an easy pace. Caleb broke the silence with a whisper, “Quiet. Does
anyone hear that?” We all became statues as we tried to listen for what Caleb had
heard. Standing still was a mistake as it just made us easier targets for the archer
in the trees. I was standing by Caleb, and I heard a low, barely-audible whizzing
sound. Caleb abruptly was struck down by a great force. Confused, I looked more
closely at him. In horror, I noticed the wooden shaft protruding from his chest. I
heard Ace’s low, powerful voice call out, “Into the woods! NOW!” We reacted
instantly, not needing further encouragement.

I leaped to the nearest tree and crawled away from the still figure of
Caleb. I heard a gunshot followed by Michael’s voice ringing out through the trees.
“It’s all right. I got him!” We all appeared out of the brush and back onto the trail
one by one. Michael was sitting on the stump of a tree with the hunter sprawled
out next to him, coughing up blood.

“What did you do to him?” screamed Cyra “You are a murderous low life!”
She broke down in tears and started shaking violently. Shenna ran over to offer
some sort of comfort.

“This man was hiding in the trees right in front of us, and he took
Caleb’s life.” said Michael. “What’s your name?” The man did not respond. “What is
your name?” he asked again, but this time it was in a loud, firm voice. The man
moved less and less.

The man uttered three words: “More will come.” His head fell to the
side, and he stopped breathing.

“My guess is that he’s right, and more are going to come,” I said.

Chapter Seven

Ethan
The nine of us left the trail as it was too easy to track us and see where
we would end up. We moved off to the deepest part of the brush. That way, it
would be harder to follow our tracks. We found a nice place that we could camp for
the night; it was a rocky overhang with dead braches covering up the front. There
were moss and other plants growing on the rock and swinging off the top of the
overhang. It was nearly impossible to see inside, and first, you would have to find
the overhang. It looked just like a small hill. It made for a great spot to watch
without being watched. It was nearly nightfall, and we had no food. We hadn’t
eaten for over two days. We decided that three of us should go hunt and forage
for food but be back before dark. The remaining three would trade off shifts
watching for danger.

“Ethan, Ace, and I will go hunting,” declared William. “Michael, you stay
here and watch while the ladies get some rest.”

“Just because I am a woman doesn’t mean I am not as good as a man,”

protested Shenna. “Treat me like an equal as we are all in need of rest. It is a life
and death situation here; I will carry my own weight.”

“Same goes for me,” uttered Cyra. “I had one breakdown back there but
I am over that now. I know I need to be strong.”

“Well then, its settled,” cheered Ace.

We gathered our things and left immediately. I had a knife that William
gave me from his standard police off duty uniform, and Ace had his pistol. William
had a knife that he had in his jacket pocket from a hunting trip he had went on in
an earlier week.

The knife I had proved quite useful when Ace shot a rabbit. I skinned
the rabbit far away from the camp so we would not attract predators. But as I
skinned it, I accidently cut an intestine, and fluids spilled on the meat. “Great,”
said William, “Now the meat is spoiled.” It reeked of dead animal.

In about thirty seconds, dog-like creatures came out of the brush from
all directions. They ran for the dead rabbit and fought over it. After about five
seconds, the rabbit was gone, and the very muscular dogs turned on us. Ace fired
one shot at the nearest animal and dropped him like a bad apple. “Run!” he
screamed.

Ace turned to flee but a dog was upon him before he could take five
steps. I spun around and sprinted headlong into the thick brush. A dog caught me in
about ten seconds and bit at my foot. I fell and felt the dogs weight on my body.
He snarled once, and I swung my arm around and lashed out with the knife at its
body. I struck home and blood poured out of the beast onto my stomach.

I got up but seeing another dog made me stumble back in fear, and I
tripped over a log. It was upon me in seconds, thrashing my clothing and slilcing my
skin. I screamed and whipped the knife at the creature. The dog did not let up. I
rolled onto my stomach, closed my eyes, and covered my neck.
 Ace’s familiar cry rang out, and I heard two or three gunshots. The dog
hesitated for a moment, and I quickly glanced at his neck. I thrust the knife into
his neck as hard as I could. William yelled, “Get up! Climb into the tree!” I sprung
up and felt a searing pain shoot down my back. I screamed out in pain, and William
dropped from his spot in the tree and came to help me, He worked quickly, holding
me up as we stumbled through the jungle back to our temporary hideout.

“Ace?” I groaned.

“There were too many dogs, but he saved our lives by killing five of
them.” he replied.

We made it back in about forty minutes as the going was slow because of
the condition that I was in. When we reached the opening of our camp, it was well
after dark. Three people came out to greet us, and they laid me on a bed of leaves,
I fell asleep almost instantly.

Chapter Eight

Alex
Darkness overtook the land quickly, and I was thankful because I had to
wait until dark to get a closer look at the native’s camp. It was a risky thing to do,
but there was no other way to find out what happened to the surviving passengers.

I stretched my muscles to get the soreness from sitting in a tree for

the past three hours out of them. I moved with haste but made sure I was not
being detected. If I got caught, it would be all over. I made it to the outskirts of
the town in no time. I peered at the wooden wall surrounding the small town,
looking for any sentries. Seeing none, I hoped that they were all tucked into bed
and sound asleep, as I made my way to the wall. The wall was a half circle with
mountains making up the east side of the barrier.

I had a small stroke of luck when I made it to the wall. I noticed it was
not a very sturdy barrier, most likely made to hold unwanted animals from running
freely throughout their village. It was slightly too large to climb over, but I had a
better idea.
 I noticed a small hole in the wall about 20 feet to my right, and I moved
to it. It was a little too small to crawl through, but that’s not what I had in mind. I
couldn’t cut away the boards because they were buried straight into the ground,
and I could not pull them out. But, because there was a small hole in the bottom, I
was able to cut the boards away, and they fell away from the main frame. I pulled
out my knife and sawed on the twine that held the boards together. I cut out two
boards and slid through the small gap. I replaced the boards so no one would
notice.

The town was larger than I had imagined. Part of the mountain was cut
out, and there were buildings everywhere. I looked around to make sure I was not
spotted. I was still safe, so I snuck toward the building with animal heads mounted
on the walls. I figured this building would have information to the whereabouts of
the surviving men.

There was a large door to the main entrance, but it was too risky to
waltz right through the front door not knowing what lay behind them. I scouted
around the building and heard footsteps approaching from around the side. I went
prone as quickly and quietly as I could, shriveling up against the side of the wall and
quieting my breathing.

The man who appeared was short, well built, and carried an axe of some
sort. I hoped he would not notice the human figure lying against the wall. As he
walked past, he stumbled and spilled some liquid from a canteen he was holding onto
me. The man mumbled something inaudible under his breath, and moved on, walking
clumsily down the dirt path.

I realized that I had been holding my breath this whole time, and I let it
all out. I felt life come back to me as the man disappeared from sight, and I got to
my feet. A pungent smell filled my nostrils, and I realized that the liquid he had
spilled on me was some sort of alcohol. I have had some luck, I thought to myself,
that man was drunk! I just hoped my luck would last.

I found a back, smaller door to the building and decided to try that one.
I slowly opened the door and peered through the small crack I had made. A dim
light came from another room in the building, but that was all that was of interest.
I went inside, and carefully closed the door behind me. Once inside, I could make
out voices coming from the other room. My heart skipped a beat when I could make
out the language they were speaking-English.
 I listened to them for ten minutes, and by then I had enough information
about where the team was, and what they were up against. They were in the middle
of a hollowed out mountain, (I am not sure how these natives managed to hollow it
out) that was filled with natural wildlife, except they captured all the more
destructive, and aggressive animals from their island and put them into the
mountain. They believed that whenever humans who were not from their island
arrived, it is a gift from their god. They put the “offering” into the mountain, and
send hunters in to toy with them until they died. It was an immense, horrifying
ceremony.

I also learned that small war party was going out tomorrow to the
mountain from the back. I got out of there and waited till sunup when I could
follow the small party going to the surprise entrance. I slipped through the door
and made my way to the two previously cut boards while making sure to evade
detection. I was out of the town just as the moon rose in the sky and brought a
calming light to the land.

Chapter Nine

Ethan
I woke up feeling much better with nothing very serious-just some cuts
and bruises. I looked around and realized our hideout looked slightly different.
“We did some work while you were out,” explained William. “We searched around
for a better spot to make a defensive camp, and we found a cave in a rock wall that
can be easily defended. We cleared out most of the trees and plants so we can see
around easily, and it will be very hard to sneak up on us.”

“How long have I been out?” I inquired.

“About a day and a half. You slept soundly for the first night. In the
morning you bounced in and out of consciousness. Lucky for you, Cyra had a bottle
of Ibuprofen in her jacket pocket. You used up the whole bottle. Michael tended to
your wounds; you look much better. ”

“Thanks,” I uttered.
 The next couple of days were spent fortifying our defenses and making
snares for killing food without the risk of getting killed. We had not run into any
natives during the days, and we were getting worried that they were planning
something big, so we prepared for whatever they threw at us.

We improved at making snares and traps for animals, and we had caught
a good amount of food each day. I was sitting on a rock pondering the question
about how to be prepared for the natives when Shenna walked up and asked, “I can
make snares and traps for animals; why not make the same for humans? We could
make it on a larger scale with slight adjustments. I could do it, you know.”

“I’m not sure that would work,” I replied. “The thing with the traps is
that the animals are not smart enough to notice them. That would be a whole
different deal with humans. They would be on the lookout if they were to attack,
and they would surely notice the trap.”

“I can adjust them to work for humans, making them invisible to the
human eye,” she challenged. “Make trip wires and other things that they will not be
watching for. Besides, I am not doing much to help, and neither is Cyra. We can
work together,” she pointed out.

“Ok, but be careful,” I said.

She smiled and walked away calling for Cyra to help her. That night I
went out to check out their progress, I walked out on the game trail I had seen
them use earlier. I had only walked 30 or 40 paces when I heard Shenna scream,
“Don’t take another step! There is a trip wire!”

I stopped mid step and looked down at the ground. I made out a small
vine going across the path about three inches off the ground. It would be just
another vine hanging across the path to anyone who did not know it was there. Cyra
and Shenna came out of a tree off to my right.

“That was close, what does it do?” I asked.

“The trip wire that you were about to trip is connected to stakes holding
a net on the ground.” she responded “Once the stakes get pulled out of the ground
when you trip the wire, the bent trees that are pulling on the net yank up the net
and whoever is standing on it.”

“Where did you get the net?” I asked

 “Cyra wove it out of vines, it is super strong and it is very tough to cut
when you are standing outside of the net, and I bet it will be quite hard when you
are inside the net, possibly with another person” she stated “It can hold the weight
of up to three people”

“Great work,” I declared

Chapter Ten

Alex

I saw the war party exit the main doors to the town about two hours
after sunup. There were three men with close, hand to hand combat weapons, and
one man with a bow strung across his back. Those men would be easy enough to deal
with because of the military training that I had. The one person I was worried
about was the man who was in the center of the group, he was covered in red and
blue paint. He had throwing knives and a crossbow. The man looked like the leader
of the group. I knew I had to take him out first once they led me to the entrance
of the mountain.

I followed them for about six hours, keeping an easy jog the whole time.
They branched off from the main trail an hour into the jog and ran through the
jungle in no apparent direction. We weaved back and forth quite a bit, and I am
pretty sure we backtracked for a while. I was impressed that they knew exactly
where to go for six hours, with no trail and no way of checking where they were in
relation to their destination. Every 15 minutes they would yelp like wild dogs, listen
for a response call, and then move on. They kept this up until they finally heard a
response call. Without hesitation, they ran headlong into the direction of the call.

I was already tired from the constant jog, and now they pulled ahead
even more. I worried that I would lose them, so I summoned up the remains of my
energy and ran after them. I was lucky and found them stopped at a small clearing
sitting on the ground checking over their weapons.

There was one more warrior with them, presumably the one giving the
response call to their cries. I searched for the entrance to the mountain and found
it. It was covered in vines and leaves, and would be easily overlooked if there were
not men camped right beside it. I decided to wait and follow them until they led me
to the remaining passengers. It would be nearly impossible to find them by
wandering aimlessly around the jungle.

When they went through the tunnel, I trailed slowly behind them at a
safe distance. It took them only ten minutes to get out of the tunnel and into the
mountain.

I was temporarily blind as I came out into bright sunlight from the dark
tunnel, and I wondered how light was getting into the mountain. I quickly found the
answer. The top of the mountain was cut off, creating an oversized bowl. There was
no way I could scale the sides of the mountain. They were too tall, straight up and
down, and with few footholds.

I continued following the war party for about twenty minutes until they
stopped in the middle of a trail. I could faintly hear them talking to each other so
I edged a little bit closer until I could make out what they said.

“They have only five people-three men and two women. They should be
easy enough to kill. They cleared out the trees where they are camping, so it will be
hard to sneak up. They have the mountainside their back so they cannot retreat,”
whispered the leader of the group. “We have the element of surprise on our side; it
is almost sundown, and they have just had a hard day’s work. They will be
exhausted. We will rest for a bit and then attack.”

I held my knife close, feeling a sense of security and took the time to
rest. I was going to need all the energy I had to survive. I heard the five men
moving around. Two of them were going to attack from the right side, two from the
left, and the leader from the front. I decided to go after the leader, and then help
out however I could.

When the four men attacking the sides were gone, I chased after the
leader. I had to get close enough so I would be too close for him to use his loaded
crossbow. I was about thirty feet behind him and undetected, and knew he would
notice me soon, so I abandoned all attempts of concealment and sprinted as fast as
I could toward the man.

He swiveled on the balls of his feet and lashed out at me with incredible
force. I expected this blind, strong blow and easily ducked under his fist. I leaped
up and drove my shoulder into his stomach. I heard the man grunt as I knocked the
air out of him. He stumbled back and fell onto the ground, gasping for air. I
grabbed this opportunity and leaped onto the man, forcing my knees into the man’s
ribs. He cried out in pain, but because he did not have much air in his lungs, it was a
weak attempt. The man struggled to free a throwing knife from its sheath on his
waist, but I caught his wrist and tore it away from his knife. I drove my knife in
between the man’s ribs and punctured his heart. The man gasped and stopped
struggling, his eyes losing their light. His head rolled to the side as his chest finally
stilled.

I stripped the man of his weapons: five nicely balanced throwing knives,
and his crossbow that had fifteen or so bolts. I drew the bow string and knocked a
heavy bolt. I ran after the group of two men that went to the right, and caught up
to them in no time. As I aimed the crossbow at the man with the bow strung around
his back, a net suddenly swept them off their feet and flung them into the air. The
men shouted and struggled with the net, attempting to free themselves, but had no
success. I strolled cockily over to the net; it was at about head height. I admired
the cleverness of the person who came up with this contraption; it worked
perfectly and the woven vines held strong. I left these men to struggle and moved
on.

I walked off the trail so I would not trigger another trap. I made it out
of the trees into a clearing and saw the two remaining natives charging the camp. I
heard two gunshots in rapid succession and both the natives dropped onto the
ground.

A woman screamed and pointed at me. The man who had shot the gun
turned and ran across the small clearing toward me.

“I am a friend,” I hollered. “The trap you made in the jungle worked quite
well; there are two of them stuck in it. They are not going anywhere. It was well
made.”

The man with the gun pointed at me was now only fifty meters, and I
could feel the cold look in his eyes more than I could see it.

“Put your gun down; I am here to help you,” I stated again.

“Prove it,” he responded

“I am the pilot of the plane you were flying in. I am not dressed like
them; I have my uniform on. I found out where you were as soon as I could and
came here to rescue you.”
 The others gathered around me, lowering their weapons as realization
sunk in that I was on their side.

“How did you get in?” asked one woman

“There is a second entrance, just 20 minutes from here. We should

gather what we need and get out of here as fast as we can. They will keep sending
more attackers until we are all dead.”

“Where exactly are we?” asked the man with the gun.

“They put you in a hollowed out mountain. It is essentially a very large

arena. Now how many bullets do you have left in your gun?”

“I used the last ones on those men,” he replied. “But we have another gun
we took from a dead man. It has six bullets left in the clip.”

“That should suffice,” I confirmed. “Let’s get moving. Gather your

essential belongings, and let’s get out of here.”

Chapter Eleven

Alex

We were on the road out of the mountain when I remembered about the
men who were trapped in the net hanging from a tree. I could not let them get out
and warn others of my presence in the mountain. They would know have come into
the mountain from the outside, and that I could help the survivors escape. I told
William about my problem, and he volunteered to go back with my crossbow and
some throwing knives to take care of the problem.

I did not want him to go back and risk being killed, but I did not have
much of a choice. If we all went back, we would be wasting precious time. I
reluctantly gave him the crossbow, and three of the throwing knives. I gave him
quick directions to get out of the mountain then he could follow our tracks to the
plane. He ran off into the brush, and we moved on.

We made it to the tunnel safely, and we moved through it quietly. When

we exited the tunnel, I searched for the tracks that would lead us back to the
town. From the town I could find my way back to the wreckage of the aircraft. The
tracks were barely visible as they were almost a day old. We moved along rapidly,
following the tracks. We made good time before stopping for a rest.

“We are going to have to move very quietly once we make it to the
outskirts of the town,” I stated. “We will arrive after dark, so they should be
asleep. That will make it easier to go unnoticed.”

“Why can’t we just avoid the town and go around it?” asked Cyra.

“I would not be able to find our tracks back to the plane,” I explaned.

“And how exactly is getting back to the plane going to help us get off
this island? inquired Michael.

“There is an emergency transceiver in every aircraft, but the one in our

plane is stuck behind part of the plane, and I can’t move it by myself.” I responded.

“How long will it take for help to arrive?” questioned Ethan.

“Anywhere from six hours to two days. That is, if it comes at all.” I
cautioned.

“Well that’s reassuring. So, we might be stranded here forever,” said

Ethan.

Cyra’s eyes widened, and she whispered, “Shhh!” “Do you hear that?”

We immediately stopped talking and heard the plants rustling behind us.
Someone came out of the bushes, and Michael leaped on him, driving him into the
ground. He raised his fist to strike a hard blow, when I noticed the crossbow he
was holding.

“Stop!” I yelled.

Michael stopped mid punch, and looked at me with questioning eyes.

The man groaned and croaked, “It’s me, William.”

Michael flew off of him in a second, helping him up and checking to see if
he was hurt. Luckily, he wasn’t, and Michael apologized, explaining how he thought
he was a native hunting them down.
 “It’s all right. I would have done the same, and I think you should be a
football player when we get off this island.” William commented. “Now down to
business. The natives escaped from the net. The net had a large hole in the bottom.
They must have cut the net and slipped out.”

I concluded, “We have to get moving then. There will be people chasing
us soon.”

We were up and moving in seconds. We picked up the pace and jogged,

making it to the village in good time. We hid behind trees and searched for a good
spot to cross the trail leading into the town. We glimpsed an opening when two
natives broke out into a fist fight, and the others gathered around to watch. We
broke from the cover of the trees and sprinted across the footpath. We made it
across, unnoticed, found my old tracks, and followed them back to the plane.

Chapter Twelve

Ethan
The plane was just as we had left it. We had worried that the natives
might go to the crash site and ransack it. They still might be there. We hurried to
the spot where the emergency transceiver was covered by a piece of stray wing.
We heaved with all our might on the broken piece of wing, and it slowly started to
budge. We gave it one last shove, and it fell away from the emergency transceiver.
Alex was on the ground working on the transceiver in no time. He fiddled with the
buttons, and it buzzed to life. The beeping was music to our ears as it sent out the
emergency signal.

We waited nervously for for about eight hours, but it seemed like an
eternity. Finally, the hum of a boat motor rolled across the water. My heart soared
with hope. Rescuers had arrived. A skiff shot from the main vessel, and it slid up
on the sand. As we ran to the boat, men jumped off to greet us. They helped us
aboard, and asked if there was anyone else alive on the island. We told them no,
and they pushed off to sea, back to the main ship. The six of us finally let down our
guard. Slowly, we let ourselves believe the truth. We survived
 Our story was the top news item all over the world. The newly discovered
island was documented on maps and was noted to be dangerous and hostile. Alex
and I returned to our previous lives. It took a while to adjust, and we suffered
some from PTSD. A therapist encouraged us to write about our experience to help
us process the horrors of the ordeal. As each new day passes, our souls heal a little
more and hope lightens the horizon.