Ava's eyes snapped open, the crashing waves washed into her face as she lay helplessly on the beach. Her mouth opened as she coughed, throwing up the water that had previously tried to fill her lungs.
She crawled far away from the water onto the land just to the entrance of the forest close to her, before taking in the new environment she found herself trapped in. A part of the plane floated on the water she just came out of before it sank into the depths. Clothes and bags scattered across the land and water.
She was alone, she was helpless and she was afraid.
She cried out in a loud voice calling to anyone who could hear her for help but there was no response. The only sounds louder than her voice were the bird calls in the trees behind her and the waves in front of her. She winced at the throbbing pain from her side, looking down to see blood trickling down from underneath her ribs. She had a cut on her side and she was slowly losing blood.
She ripped her shirt at the section where she was wounded and pressed down hard on her wound. She crawled close to a shirt, picked it up and used it as a compress on her wound.
Her eyes trailed around her as she searched the leaves and trees for something, a herb she could use to stop the bleeding just like Sophia had previously taught her to do months ago.
"Think Ava," She thought to herself as she tried to remember what the herb looked or smelt like. She moved closer to the leaves and trees and rummaged through them in hopes of finding something for a quick cure.
"There" She exclaimed, pulling the leaf from the stem, and grinding it in her mouth before pressing the chew-up contents onto her skin. The pain was almost unbearable but she persevered, wrapping the shirt around her body before tying it to the side.
It took a while for the pain to subside but she was on her feet anyway, looking for her bag amongst the series of bags and clothes on the beach close to her.
Her search came up short as she sighed and then screamed in defeat. She looked around hoping to see anyone else before she proceeded to call out names as loud as she could again "Sophia!! Zara!! Mia!!"
As much as she yelled there was no response. She called out till she was almost out of breath before crashing to the sandy floor on her knees "Where are you guys?" She whimpered, tears gathering in her eyes before falling down her cheek to the ground beneath her. "Somebody help me" Her cries barely a whisper now.
Holding on to her injured side, she laid on the ground with her eyes fixed on the clouds above. In her mind, she was the only one. In her mind, she was lost and would probably die alone. In her mind, this was the end of her. Her eyes closed briefly as she slowly slipped into a state of unconsciousness due to the amount of blood she had lost. When she opened them again, she weakly pushed herself up and then moved inside the forest, looking for something to eat as her stomach rumbled. She fell on her knees after walking for a while, munching on the berries in the shrubs
The thought of whether or not the berries were the edible kind or the poisonous kind seemed to escape her mind as she grabbed handfuls and stuffed her mouth. One would think she was a squirrel with how much food she had in her cheeks. After clearing the shrub of its content she then began to process if she was about to die or not.
Ten minutes passed and she showed no signs of nausea or diarrhoea. A sigh of relief escaped from her lips as she got up on her feet, looking around her and examining the forest she was in. It was dark, with very tall trees blocking out the sun but not completely. Owls hoot and bird calls filled the air but she was more focused on surviving than trying to identify where the sounds came from.
She had found food but the juices from the berries didn't quench the thirst in her throat. Her new objective was water, but how would she get water on an island surrounded by salty sea water? She looked left and then right, she could see nothing but darkness past through where she stood. Nothing in her line of sight stood out so she needed to move.
She turned right and walked deeper into the forest and soon after a clearing came into sight. She found herself standing at the centre of the forest, with a massive tree standing alone in the middle. She moved around the tree, observing its width, feeling the rough exterior of the stem and its outstretched roots.
"Is that you Ava?" A voice called out to her
Her head snapped to the direction and a sigh of relief washed over her "Professor Turner" A smile stretched across her face "I never thought I'd be glad to see you?"
She ran forward, throwing her hands around the 50-year-old professor who had red mixed with her long grey hair
"Where are the others?" Professor Turner asked taking in the embrace
"I don't know. When I woke up I was all alone" Ava sniffled, the tears slowly began to fall
"We'll need to find them and think of a way to get out of here" Professor Turner said as Ava stepped back from the hug
"Are you okay?" Ava asked, now noticing her bloody hair
"Just a slight head injury," She said touching the side of her head "I'm fine now"
"Any idea where Dr. Bennett could be?" Ava asked turning around to scan the environment
Professor Turner took several deep breaths before she managed to speak "Dr Bennett didn't survive the crash"
The relief on Ava's face from seeing another survivor quickly turned into grief as she cupped her mouth in her hands trying to stop herself from crying out
"I found his body floating in the ocean along with the air hostesses. It didn't take long before they sunk into the ocean" She wiped a tear from her eye "There was nothing I could do to save him"
Ava walked up to her and pulled her into another hug as both ladies tried to comfort each other as much as they could.
"We would have the time to mourn but now we need to find the rest of your classmates," Professor Turner said as she turned on her heels, to begin her search
"Your leg" Ava commented, noticing the limp in her step
"I sprained my ankle" She confessed
"You shouldn't be moving on that injured leg" Ava said holding on to her professor
"I'll be fine" Professor Turner said, trying to sound reassuring but winced at the pain as she walked
"Doesn't look like it" Ava said "Take a break. God knows how long you've been walking"
"I'm fine Miss Mitchell" Professor Turner protested
"In the classroom, you're the boss but out here you're just another stubborn elderly now sit down and let me look at your foot" Ava said sternly, putting her foot down
Professor Turner went mute, watching her student as she spoke. She finally agreed and limped back to the big tree, sitting down on the space between the roots and the stem.
"One would think this is the entrance to a cave with the way the space here is structured" Professor Turner commented as she sat down
"Probably" Ava Mitchell added, now noticing it
The tree was a massive one indeed. It was big enough to rip the ground in two if it ever fell but the odd opening in the middle was the topic of observation. It looked like an entrance to a cave, though not so wide but deep enough to hide an average person, providing shelter if it rained.
"Stay there" I'll be right back Ava said "I need to pick a few things up"
***
"How's Ava doing?" Lucas asked Sophia who had not left her side since she was found
"Her breathing is back to normal. The bleeding has stopped, but she hasn't opened her eyes yet" Sophia responded
"She's getting better. That's really all that matters" Lucas rubbed her shoulders "You should get some rest, Sophia"
"I will. I just need to be sure that she'll be fine" Sophia yawned
"You've been by her side for two days straight now" Lucas said "You need to sleep. Nothing's going to happen to her"
With no strength left to argue Sophia nodded, pushing herself off the ground and moving over to the exhausted campfire, lying down beside it. Lucas sighed running his hands through his hair before taking a seat next to Ava's bed as she rested.
It's been two whole days since she was found and from that moment up until now, no one has been able to rest easy. Eyes constantly trailing to the forest, watching for something or someone or anything that might be staring, watching or observing them. No one was at peace. They all took shifts standing guard while others slept, or at least tried to sleep.
There hasn't been any exploration into the forest since they made their most recent discovery, confirming their previous theories which were now indeed facts.
"What happened to you in there Ava?" Lucas whispered as he stared at the bruises all over Ava's body
***
"How's your leg?" Ava asked Professor Turner, her voice growing weak from hunger and dehydration
"Feels better than it did a few nights ago" Professor Turner responded massaging her ankle
"I'm so hungry and thirsty" Ava cleared her throat, looking around the clearing
"We can't drink the seawater," Professor Turner said
"I don't think there's another alternative source of water around here" Ava mumbled, resting her back on the tree behind her
"Coconuts," Professor Turner said "If we can get some coconuts we could actually drink the water and eat the meat inside. Killing two birds with one stone"
"Coconut has meat?" Ava asked sarcastically
"You know what I mean Miss Mitchell" Professor Turner scowled at her "You'd have to climb the tree to get the coconuts or if you're lucky you could find them on the ground"
"I don't think I have the strength to climb up a tree" Ava groaned holding her injured side "I'll just have to pray I find some on the ground"
"Be careful out there" Professor Turner said leaning back on the tree
"I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere" Ava snickered
"Even at a time like this, you can still make jokes" A heavy sigh escaped Professor Turner's lips
Ava chuckled before walking away out onto the beach. It was already dark out. The moon has reached its peak, offering what little light it could provide to illuminate the beach. The cool evening wind greeted Ava as it sent chills down her spine.
She shivered, wrapping her hands around herself, and rubbing on her arms to offer some level of warmth to her dry skin. She walked up the side of the beach where she came out from, scanning the trees and the ground for coconuts. Her search took longer than anticipated but eventually, she came across a few coconuts on the floor. Four to be exact, freshly fallen.
She grabbed them with both hands and moved swiftly through the trees, following the pathway that led back to the tree in the middle. The forest carried the voices the closer she got to where she left Professor Turner. Her excitement thinking maybe her classmates had found their resting spot soon turned into a frightful scream as her voice echoed throughout the island.
***
"Can I talk to you for a second?" Caleb said, tapping Lucas on the shoulder
"Uhm sure thing" Lucas responded
He pushed himself up from the seat and called on Owen to take his place monitoring Ava who still hadn't shown any signs of waking up.
"What's up?" Lucas asked as they walked close to the foot of the beach
"Just a second," Caleb said just as the wonder twins approached the pair
"You called us?" Emma said as she arrived with Max standing beside her
"Something feels off" Caleb started
"Tell me something I don't already know" Max said rubbing the back of his neck
"No… I mean, the place where we found Ava. Something feels odd about it" Caleb replied
"What do you mean?" Emma asked
"I spent a week in that forest with the rest of the class that wasn't initially in your group. She searched all over the place and we never found that clearing but then all of a sudden there's a big ass tree just sitting there. It doesn't make sense. It just feels like it appeared out of nowhere" Caleb responded.
"Are you sure about this?" Lucas asked
"I didn't want to say anything before because we happened to find Ava there but I'm certain. That tree wasn't there when the rest of my initial group was lost" Caleb said
"Trees don't grow overnight and most definitely they don't grow that size overnight" Max sighed
"Maybe you all missed it" Emma said to Caleb as his eyes darted about the camp.
She turned abruptly looking at the entrance of the forest from where their campsite was and then over to Owen who was watching over Ava. He seemed to have said something to her or might've just been speaking to himself as he rubbed the back of his neck
"Everything okay?" Max asked her, placing a hand on her shoulder
"Oh uhm yeah. Instinctive motion I guess. I can't shake the feeling that I'm being watched these days" She chuckled nervously
"I know how you feel," Max said
"Alright back to the matter at hand, we need to find out more about the tree in the middle" Lucas said to the three of them
"We… don't need to do anything else but survive. There's no reason for us to go back into the forest" Max said gruffly
"Lucas right now, we just need to come up with ways to get out of this place. I for one" Emma said placing a hand on her chest "I'm in no mood for exploring the island anymore. I just want to go back home"
"I didn't think environmental studies majors would pass off the chance to study their environment" Lucas arched his brows
"When the environment is out to kill them, they leave the environment the fuck alone" Max huffed
"Right now, until Ava wakes up, we can't act rashly," Caleb said looking over to Ava "We need to know what she knows"
Max turned to look at Ava "And until then, no more explorations" and then back to face Lucas who raised his hands in defeat
The four dispersed from the circle and rejoined the group by the campfire with Lucas heading over to Ava's bed to resume his watch. He tapped Owen on the shoulder, announcing his presence before sending Owen off to rejoin the group.
The moon was already high in the sky at this time of night and unlike every other night before now, there was complete silence around the campfire. No one spoke. Everyone either just stared at each other, at the forest or the night sky.
Sophia yawned as she pushed herself up from the ground. Her bones ached from sleeping on the floor constantly but in this situation, there was no point in complaining. She turned around to face Lucas and Ava before standing up to join them
"How's she doing?" She asked as she got close enough for him to hear her
"Still sleeping" He responded looking up so their eyes met
She crouched down so now they were both at eye-waist level as she held on to Ava's hand "I won't forgive you if you don't open your eyes" She sniffled as she spoke
"She's going to wake up" Lucas said with a reassuring tone in his voice
"And what if she doesn't?" Sophia asked
"She will" Lucas sighed before standing up to leave the pair "I need to sleep"
Just as Sophia replaced him looking after Ava Lucas walked over to the campfire to rejoin the group "Who has the first watch tonight?"
Elijah, Max, Caleb and Natalie had their hands up as Lucas finished speaking before standing up to pick the makeshift spears the group used for spearfishing.
"How long are we gonna keep working shifts?" Zara asked
"Till we're sure that nothing's going to come out from the forest and torture us or worse," Lucas said
Zara said nothing else as she got comfortable lying down on the ground. The rest of the night went by in a flash with the group rotating their watch.
Morning came and went with the activities of the day. Spearfishing and coconut harvesting were the key tasks of every day, obtaining food and water for survival. The highlight of the morning was Max getting pinched on his nose by a crab he was trying to catch which made the group burst out laughing but their humour only lasted a couple of minutes before it slowly died off.
Random conversations flew by within cliques and pairs. It was one of those uneventful days where nothing seemed thrilling or exciting. Everyone was already at their wit's end and we were eager to go home. Max set up the campfire as the night slowly approached, just as everyone gathered around it to keep warm from the harsh night cold.
Sophia maintained her place beside Ava who seemed to show signs of awakening during the day. Her expression changed as if her mind was replaying the events she just experienced. She tossed and turned, groaned and moaned. Her abrupt actions called the attention of the rest of the group as they all ran towards her
"Ava, it's me, Sophia. Wake up" Sophia shook her friend and she continued to struggle
"What do you think she's dreaming about?" Elijah asked trying to hold her down
"Whatever it is, it's enough to scare her shitless" Max yelled
Ava continued to struggle until her eyes snapped open. She jolted up managing to break free from Max and Elijah's grip
She sat up, her eyes scanned around the group. Her breathing was intense as sweat trickled down her spine. She was terrified and in pain but more scared than hurt. She only calmed down when she finally recognised her classmates
"Guys" She cried
"Ava" Sophia sniffled as she threw her hands around her friend "You're awake"
"Ow ow ow ow ow" Ava whined
"I'm sorry" Sophia chuckled as she let go
"Welcome back Ava" Lucas said with a smile on her face
"We need to get out of here" Ava said clutching onto her side