91. Cash gets lost
1298 Words
Stella was intoxicated by this man, their bond grew even stronger after this night, she was feeling his strength, his love.
She knew he would die to protect her, she would do the same for him.
" Cash if something happens to me, and I am done for, I want you to use my body as nourishment."
" What the f***, you mean eat you? Like canabilsm?"
She sat up and got very serious. "I'm weaker than you, I will probably die before you, if eating my flesh will give you life, I want that. That's all I'm saying. I mean I will be dead anyway."
Cash got angry. " No!"
That was all he said.
" No you won't do it?" She asked.
" No, you aren't dying, hell no!" He said.
Stella said,"I hope not, but we need to be realistic here.
We are on borrowed time, we should have died in that plane crash.
Which I don't quite understand. Why would everyone be dead except us, why was there smoke in the plane?"
Cash understood her concerns.
" Stella, do you think we were targeted to be murdered?" He asked.
" We've flown internationally many times, this time...well I saw something just before we took off.
I just put it aside, you know being paranoid...but, the first flight attendant that took my bag looked different from the rest, he had an angry look on his face.
I could have sworn that he sneered at me when I greeted him.
It was just odd, you know. But come to think of it, I never saw him again after that.
You said there were two dead, plus the pilot and copilot right. So where was the third stew?"
Cash took her into his embrace.
" I think we might have been targeted, but why Stella, why us?"
" Cash, I wonder if it has something to do with our nationality?"
" You mean terrorism?" He said.
They both pondered their situation.
" Cash, you said you made a distress call before we went down?"
" I did, I didn't get any response, but I didn't wait around for one either. I just knew that we had to get off that plane."
Stella nodded as she stood up and brushed the sand off of her body.
" I'm going for a quick dip to get freshened up, you coming big guy?"
Cash nodded. The sun was up now, they got out and noticed the fire was out.
Stella ran into the water and washed up. Cash did the same.
They went back and got dressed.
It was going to be a busy day. Cash wanted to explore a bit of the island, look for civilization.
Stella agreed. They left camp and headed inland.
It was full of thick vegetation, very difficult to get through. They were both sweating and feeling dehydrated.
Stella said," I need to rest for a moment."
He agreed and they sat down together.
" I think this place is the same all the way through. It's futile to go much farther Cash."
" I know, but I want to see if we have any options here, I have to go on.
You go back Stella, see if you can get that fire restarted and drink some of that spring water you found yesterday, I will be back as soon as I can."
Stella nodded. " Cash be careful, watch for crocs, don't go into the waters. They will ambush you."
He smiled. "A regular crocodile hunter you are!"
Stella said,"When I broke my leg I had time to watch all of those survival shows. I learned quite a bit."
" I'm sure that was a very hard time for you love, but look at us now, where would we be without all that knowledge?"
They hugged and kissed, a kiss that lingered. " Come back safe please, I will try to get some lunch for us, do you like clams?" she said.
" I don't, but I will enjoy anything at this point. Oh what I would do for a steak."
" I'm wishing for coffee." She admitted.
They parted ways there in the thick vegetation.
" Now, how do I get back?" Stella wondered.
She tried to follow the path they took, but got lost on the way.
She started to mark the trail by breaking branches as she went.
After an hour of hiking, she came back to the same broken branches that she started at.
" Well damn, I'm not good at navigating."
Stella tried a new tactic, she looked at the sun, listened to the crashing waves.
She moved through the brush getting cut up by branches as she went, finally she saw the color of the parachute tent.
Stella fell down on the soft sand. Her head was pounding from dehydration.
She knew she had to get water. She hiked to the spring and drank for a while.
Stella picked up firewood on her way back and a thick glob of that tree resin.
She had a roaring fire going.
It was such a sense of accomplishment for her.
She took the sharp stick that Cash had made for her and dug for clams. They were everywhere.
She had a large pile of them that she held in her parachute pouch.
She set them on the flat rock near the fire. Soon they opened up, revealing their tender meat inside. Stella ate every single one of them.
She felt quilty, but energized. She went back to collect more.
When she got to the water she saw something floating towards shore, it was a piece of the plane. She felt sad seeing it.
Stella grabbed pieces as they floated in to the shore. There were pieces of plastic, foam, a water bottle, some trash.
She saw a man's body then. It was naked. Stella jumped into the water to get him.
She was almost to him when a very large crocodile jump up and chomped into the floating remains of whomever that was.
Stella hurriedly swam backwards, she was utterly horrified.
When the crocodile jumped out of the water and grabbed the body with its powerful jaw, she saw the person's bloated grotesque face. It was a terrible site to see.
Stella began to sob. She made it safely to shore, but felt sick.
She threw up all of those clams.
It was nightfall now, Cash had not returned to her.
She was scared and all alone. Stella went into the tent and lay down, but she did not sleep all night.
Every little noise made her jump, thinking that beast in the water was coming for her. Where the hell was Cash?
Stella stoked the fire all night, she made sure it was large enough for Cash to see it, if he was lost.
Cash was lost, terribly lost. He was dehydrated and starving.
He sat under a tree, but he couldn't sleep thinking of his girl all alone. He found the other side of the island, she was right, it was all the same, thick vegetation.
He would head back in the morning light.
Stella saw the first light of day finally peak through her vision.
She packed up a small bag of items in the parachute pouch, some seaweed she had dried, a few dandelion leaves, she filled that plastic water bottle and headed out to find Cash.
" Cash!" She yelled.
She found the spot where the broken branches were from yesterday. " Cash!" She cried as she walked.
He was nowhere to be seen. She stripped off pieces of the parachute material and tied it to the branches to mark her way.
It was getting towards afternoon, she hiked all morning.
" Cash!" She yelled.
- Writer
