95. Rescue me.☆▪︎☆▪︎☆▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
1361 Words
The weather finally cleared after two days of raging rain and wind.
The beautiful sun came out.... Hall and Beth were getting close to finding the lost survivors.
Drake was on a jet ski going around each small island, looking for them, calling for them.
" Stella! Cash!" He was getting hoarse from shouting so much.
His heart beat faster and faster like a tight drum. Boom, boom, boom, boom. He hadn't slept for days, he was determined to find them.
Ash and Storm worked together to find a place on dry land to set up the drones.
They got them up and into the air. It was difficult to see under the canopy of trees, they had to stick to the shore line.
Sam coordinated everything from a large private boat anchored just off shore. He spoke with the coast guard.
" We need to work faster, they are running out of time. If they are alive, it won't be for long." Sam told everyone.
Hall and Beth were almost to the last island in the line of small islands that dotted the coast line.
They were exhausted.
Beth saw something, a small whisp of smoke snaking up through the trees.
As they rounded the corner, she could see a large tarp maybe?
She gave the binoculars to Hall.
Beth called Sam who notified the coastguard.
The helicopter went up and rejoined the search.
Hall accelerated the boat towards the shore.
Drake heard the news on the radio, he flew across the water towards Hall and his mother Beth.
Ash and Storm had been directed by Sam to the coordinates of the smoke and tarp spread out on the ground, a signal for help?
They flew their drones that way. Ash was shaking, he was so nervous. "Please let them be OK."
Storm put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Believe brother, just believe."
Cash and Stella...
" Stella, we are almost out of food, that precious life saving snake that you caught you crazy girl." He still couldn't believe it.
" I think we should try to swim to another island, look for help." he said, seeing her waste away in front of his eyes.
" I don't think my leg will let me, it feels heavy and this titanium rod is aching from the cold."
I'm fading fast here, she thought.
She was giving up all hope.
Her mood had taken a turn. Cash could see it in her eyes, the light was going out.
" If we die...well, I want to go out in a blaze, not like this...just wasting away. We should just do it quickly. Like a pact.
We go together. Maybe just swim out into the water. I'm not in any condition to swim, it will be quick." He said.
Stella ignored him. She stood up. Damn that leg hurts.
" I'm going to get a fire going, you are going to collect seaweed and clams.
Then we are going to drink some water and work on our shelter." She said flatly, rejecting his last words.
She was angry at what he had said. To commit suicide, together? No way!
Cash grinned, his face was thin, his eyes were gaunt, he looked like a skeleton.
He had lost 30 pounds.
" I knew that would get you out of your funk!" He laughed, then coughed.
He was feeling sick from being wet and cold for the past two days.
I'm not letting you die after me. We go together, he thought.
He could not grasp the idea of Stella being all alone out here in the wild.
Stella was just a bag of bones, she had lost 18 pounds, she looked like she had gone through a long excruciating illness herself.
She stood up and tightened her pants with a long stretch of parachute cording.
Stella collected wood slowly as she limped through the brush.
Damn that leg, I thought it was healing. She hoped it wasn't infected.
Cash did as he was told, clams and seaweed.
After breakfast they lay exhausted on the beach, soaking up the warmth of the sun.
" Ah, just like an expensive vacation!" She teased.
Cash heard a large mosquito buzzing around.
He covered his eyes from the sun to look at the bohemith bug coming at them. Stella did too.
" That sounds like a monster." She said standing up to swat at it.
She was amazed, it wasn't a bug. It was a small black drone, followed by another.
She looked at it, smiled and waved.
She had tears running down her sunken cheeks.
Cash sat up and put his face in his hands and cried. They found us, they are coming!
They were being rescued today.
Ash and Storm sat down hard, holding eachother.
They were so happy. They saw them. They found them both, alive!
They were crying so hard the drones fell to the ground in front of Cash. He picked it up.
" We are okay, come get us the hell out of here." He spoke into the camera.
Hall and Beth saw the pair on the beach and waved at them yelling,"Hey!"
Hall was so excited he took off his shirt and dove right into the water.
Stella was horrified. "No, Hall...No!" She screamed at him as he splashed and made a bunch of noise trying to get to his oldest son.
She jumped into the water to warn him to go back to the boat.
" No, there's a crocodile, go back!" She yelled.
He didn't hear her and kept swimming.
Cash yelled at Stella. "Come back here, he can't hear you, Stella please come back to me!"
He ran to get his spear and waded in.
He was too weak to go get her, he knew he would drowned.
He stood and watched as Stella risked her own life to warn his father.
After everything he had done to her, all he had said about her, she was swimming out there to save him.
Hall was swimming fast, splashing in the water, his eyes were on his son, Cash.
He looked to see Stella swimming towards him, yelling at him.
Wow, she just left Cash to get rescued herself, what a b***h, he thought.
Then he heard her words.
" Go back, crocodile. Please Hall! Go back danger!" She yelled.
Just then bubbles appeared in the water front of Hall as he stopped there... treading water.
He quickly turned to swim back to the boat. He was moving frantically, scared to death.
Drake came at that moment, his jet ski was nearly out of gas. He saw his dad panicking, he saw Stella treading water, she pointed to Hall. "Save your dad!" She yelled.
The crocodile surfaced just behind Hall, Drake was able to get between them and put his hand out, yanking Hall to the surface and onto the jet ski just as the crocodile jumped up to bite him.
It's large, powerful jaw bit the air instead making a loud claping sound. Beth screamed seeing it, it was a monster.
Hall was slumped over, exhausted, but safe now. He looked at Stella with new eyes.
She came in the water to warn him, knowing that monster was near, putting her fragile life in danger.
Stella nodded and started to back stroke back to Cash, back to dry land.
She was going slow, trying not to make noise, trying not to splash.
Beth started to splash the water, to distract the large monster away from Stella.
Drake turned to go to her, but he ran out of gas. He yelled.
" Faster!...swim faster Stella!"
The coast guard was hovering over head, causing a wind storm as it approached to land.
The croc started to follow Stella, honing in on her gentle movement.
She saw it's big head. She turned and swam, diving under water to go faster.
When she nearly got to shore, the crocodile caught up to her.
Stella popped up and let out a terrified screamed as the crocodile's mouth opened and chomped right down onto her leg. Cash grabbed her hand. He pulled like hell.
- Writer
