Island Rush (66 page)
Authors: Marien Dore
“What?” I asked, wiping the tears away for a moment.
“Do you hear it?”
We listened for a moment more, my ears straining for a sound he had apparently heard.
And then… “Oh my god,” I breathed. I heard it.
I sat up in an instant, trying to listen more as Casey did as well, laying in the grass in front of me. On my knees, ears straining, a low buzzing sound reached me. I couldn’t see anything as my eyes frantically searched the area. But the sound was there, teasing and calling for us to find out what it was.
Is it a plane? It sounded like one. Or a helicopter? Some kind of help? Yeah right. I told myself it wasn’t because it couldn’t be.
“What is that?” I asked. My eyes tearing from the empty sky and the surrounding forest, I looked back down where he was laying on his back in the grass.
We both were thinking that this sounded like help. Doubt filled his face, though, hesitant to accept the idea that there is hope. He didn’t want to believe it was help, especially at this point. He didn’t want his hopes crushed when he didn’t have that kind of energy.
I knew that we both wanted that more than anything, wanted help especially now. But no matter how much he wanted that to be true, he wouldn’t allow himself to think that. “Janice,” he said in warning, knowing what I was thinking. We sat there, me looking around and straining to hear but I couldn’t hear it anymore. It faded and seemed to be gone, whatever it was. However, that sound did give me hope. That hope wasn’t going away.
Looking down at him again, I cringed at the doubt that was growing on his face. This would just hurt him, me having hope that it was help. I knew where he was coming from. He figured it wasn’t help because it just couldn’t be. Not with our luck and the extremely slim chance. He was sure it was something else. There is no way help would show up. It would be too ironic, too close.
Impossible, though? No.
Every moment spent sitting here, that chance for help was fading. That noise had faded, and if that was a help, it was probably moving away. I didn’t know what to do. Whether or not to start looking around or to go to the beach and look up in the sky…
At that thought, I knew that I had to do that. The beach didn’t have trees in the way, blocking my view of the sky. I could see, maybe. That was a big maybe too. Such a small chance but… Casey could live. That is if I could find the sound of that source… If it was in fact, help… If they saw me and if they actually helped.
“I need to go,” I muttered, knowing if I wanted to find it, it was better to leave now. I started getting to my feet, but I felt Casey grab my arm with a weak hand from where he was laying. I looked back down at him, his face scared and stubborn.
“Where are you going?”
“To find whatever that was. I’ll look from the beach and maybe be able to see it. I need to try. It could be help. We need to know, need to see—”
“It’s probably a bird or something,” he said, eyes begging.
His eyes in mine made my stomach twist. I saw he was hurting. I also felt in my gut that with every second staying here, our possible chance was leaving.
That’s when I heard it again. Just barely but it was there, a soft buzz and that same noise. It wouldn’t leave my mind that maybe it could mean Casey would live.
“That sounds like a bird? Have you ever heard a bird like that?” I said in a rush, needing to leave, to find it. I needed to act! All we have done is wait. Wait and wait and for what? Him to die! There was nothing we could have done about it and it drove me nuts. All we could do was just sit here. But now, with the smallest possibility, I could act and maybe make a difference. The biggest difference in our lives.
He sighed. “No, but we can’t get our hopes up like that —”
“And what if it is a plane?” I pushed.
“Then, where the hell is it? I don’t see it or hear it anymore. It’s not a plane,” he said. As he said that, that noise, the sound it made, whatever it was, was gone. The ringing or soft buzzing had faded away, and I could no longer hear it. Meaning it may be further away now, leaving. I needed to go look for it.
“You want us to take that chance to save a little hurt? Casey,” I scoffed. “We are already hurting. What’s a little more if it is not a plane? We need to know. Please.” I needed to go! Why couldn’t he understand, or at least let me try to find it? “The more seconds that pass, the further away it could be!” That is if it was indeed a help.
His grasp on my arm began to shake. “The more seconds that pass, the more seconds I’m losing with you!”
I felt my heart go cold. He was dying, and we didn’t have much time left together. I understood, and it made my heart ache. I could either go and look for what could be help or stay here with him like he wanted.
“Please stay here with me. There is no plane.”
I didn’t want to leave him but what choice did I have? I felt tears return and fall again. I knew where he was coming from. But how can I take that chance and not look if it happened to be help?
It was hard. I didn’t want to leave him at all, but if there was even a small chance to save him, I was going to take it. I needed to go!
“Casey, you’re going to be fine by the time I get back. I won’t be gone for long, and we won’t lose much time between us. I don’t want to waste precious time with you, but there is a chance! Please let me go.” I swallowed hard. “If I don’t see it or hear it, I will be back. Very soon. Okay?”
“You know I am getting weaker each minute right? I need more time with my girl.”
I managed to speak through my tears which were falling harder. “That’s why I need to do this! I would regret not looking if there was a chance we could get all our time back!”
I felt his grasp loosen, and his hand slid down my arm, grasping my hand. He pursed his lips and nodded. “Then go. You can go, okay? I understand that this could save us. But go now and hurry.” He spoke fast, quickly and wanting me to go.
I nodded and started to move, knowing I had to hurry. As I began to turn and get up from where I was kneeling, I looked down the stream to where I needed to run. Though he told me to go, his hand tightened. I felt him pull me back down to the ground next to him and whipped me back in his direction. He swiftly grabbed my back and pulled me down, giving me a loving and sweet kiss. With him grasping my hand firm, he forced us to break away.
“I’ll be here when you get back… But get back quick. I need you. And… say you love me,” he asked with just a soft breath on my lips.
I nodded. “I love you.”
He swallowed hard but smiled. “Now, hurry.”
I forced myself to my feet, his warm hand slipping from mine as I stood. My mind was already racing with possibilities this entire time. One that involved getting my hopes up way too high. It led me to grab the first-aid kit as well as the flint and stone we use for fires. I swiped those off the ground as I rushed down the creek. I began to run.
My feet pounded against the ground, brushing hard above the cool grass we had walked over many times before. It seemed to take forever, especially without the sound of the buzzing. I knew that whatever it was had gone away. Whether into the distance or out of my range, I didn’t know. It was gone, and I was probably too late, but I still needed to look.
Funny enough, at that thought, I heard it again! I ran fast, moving past the shadowy trees and black creek. God, what is that noise? Please be help, please! That noise was coming from far away and off to my side, but it sounded high. I could have sworn that it was a helicopter or something.
I ran, the sound getting louder. Oh god, please be help. I reached the beach, breaking away from the dark woods and creek beside me and into a wide space.
The noise I heard… it had gotten even louder. However, stepping out onto the sand, looking up, that sound passed with the sight of what it was. My mouth dropped open, my heart spinning somewhere in space with my mind. My breath becoming hard to catch, the noise came again and louder. It was high up among the stars. A few dim lights glowed from it. I was overcome with… everything.
A helicopter. It was a fucking helicopter!
“Oh!” I gasped, so much going through me. My eyes following it in front of me, out over the dark ocean, I saw it was about to pass us and where we were. But I needed it! I needed help! Help!
“Help!” I heard myself shouting, running out towards it as I dropped the kit and stones in the sand. I didn’t know my feet had hit the waves of cold water until the water was up to my thighs and freezing as I was screaming. Waving my arms, subconsciously, I shouted and yelled. “Hey! HEY! HELP! HELP!”
There were so many things going through my mind, all coming together to make one thought: get the thing to see me! To see that we were here, alive, and needed — so desperately needed — help! That’s all that went through my mind as I watched it soar over the ocean, moving parallel to the shore. It took me a minute to realize that shouting and waving my arms wasn’t going to help.
I watched in horror as the helicopter passed where I was standing in the water, freezing. It kept going, following the water and moving away, further away. It was already far out over the ocean. The sound was fading as was the small dim lights on it. It was leaving.
I managed to think again and remember my idea before running to the beach. While I was debating with Casey, I tried thinking about what I would do if it were a plane or helicopter. It made me so happy that I grabbed the first-aid kit along with the stones.
I didn’t think it would actually come to this. I was so glad that I thought ahead though because sure enough, it was a source for rescue. And it could help if I moved fast.
I ran back up the shore, my wet feet and legs working over the dry and sticky sand as I moved. I quickly found the first-aid kit and the two stones that could give me fire.
After falling on my knees before the stones and the kit, I took a shaky breath. I looked up in the sky and could hardly see it anymore. That soft buzz was still there, but I knew that would be fading fast too.
I grabbed one of the bottles of the flammable solutions from the kit. Picking up the stone and flint, I ran back towards the trees and into the forest. I didn’t stop to see where it was at this point. I wasn’t even paying attention if I could hear it. I just moved faster towards my goal.
And that goal… was to grab the pilot’s attention. I was willing to put a huge chunk of this island through a firestorm if I had to.
Luckily, as I entered the woods, I found a lot of dead trees – many still standing and some on the ground. I found a lot of dry brush too. I knew the weather contributed, but I could thank that massive storm for the dead trees. It was perfect that they lined the beach, right in full sight. Not to mention when I get the fire going strong enough, it will spread through the trees, especially with many dead along the line. I just hope that it will catch the pilot’s attention.
To get it started, though, my shaky hands scrambled, pulling in dry brush and leaves at the base of one of the standing dead trees. Dry and dead branches laid all around too, giving me a lot of hope for this. I had a right to hope at this point too. This fire was going to grow – fast.
My breath hard and my heart breaking as every second passed, I got it together and stood straight over the dry pile. I unscrewed the flammable solution and dowsed the area with it. Hastily, I splashed some on trees further down before throwing the empty bottle in too. With the darkness making it hard to see, it made me feel antsy knowing it would be as bright as day in a moment. I just needed to get a spark.
When I raced to drop to my knees in front of the dead and dry nature, all that was going through my mind was that this had to work. As I was kneeling, I took the flint in one hand and the worn stone in my other. Panicking, I tried striking the two pieces together. But I missed because I was shaking so hard, so violently, that the stones didn’t even slide together.
I gasped and took shallow breaths, my tears still coming. I felt my whole body shake and knew that I needed to calm down. I shook my head, trying to get it together, but I couldn’t! Not with everything going through my head!
Calm down, calm down.... Calm. Just relax. Casey is fine, I am fine. We will be fine no matter what happens. We will be together again if the worst happens. We will be okay.
I repeated those words over and over again in my head, pulling myself together. I needed to be calm.
Taking a deep breath, my shaking slowed greatly, and I immediately acted. I raised the flint and struck it down along the side of the stone. I did that many times as fast as I could until I saw a few flashes of sparks in the dark. That was all I needed.
The sparks fell on my pile of brush. Instantly, the night was no longer dark. It spread the moment those sparks hit, making me back up several feet. Flames engulfed the dry nature and quickly jumped to the other dead trees I splashed too. It started to spread more, becoming brighter and brighter as my eyes grew.
I felt my smile grow at seeing the wild orange light become bigger. Brighter. More noticeable from a distance. I dropped my stones and grabbed the end of a long branch, the other end on fire. Picking it up, my feet swiftly moved to a dead tree a few yards down. I needed to speed up the process, making this fire as big as I could and as fast as I could.
A second or two later, the flames slowly started to expand to the dry bark of that tree. I smiled as the tree trunk started to burn, slowly moving up the branches. I did that to a few more dead trees until I realized I did not need to.
Everything that was dead and dry was now burning, moving along the tree line of what was dead. It wasn’t just the dead and dry burning, though. The fire grew and became so intense, flames began engulfing trees that were alive and flourishing with leaves. The licks of deep yellow and orange raised higher, became stronger, and traveled faster and wider. The fact that some spots of grass were also dead around here made it expand that much further.
Looking around me, I saw it was taking everything up in flames. A foggy and huge cloud of smoke was now covering the sky. The helicopter would see this. The pilot had to. Despite how far it might be now, the flames were growing. Growing more and better than I had hoped. Then even more…
My eyes scanning over the burning woods before me, my heart jumped. It was growing too fast. Faster than I wanted it to. It was spreading out of control, going in every direction. Including Casey’s. Camp was up the creek a ways, and when I started the fire, it was even on the other side of the creek. However, the fire was already spreading deep into the woods. And I knew based on how intense it was getting, it could get across the small little divider of water.
I wasn’t done with what I had to do now that I was standing before this crazy fire. I needed to hurry. My initial goal was to get the pilot’s attention. Backing up on the beach a little, stunned, I looked up over the trees and saw the fire was covering much more than I expected and fast. I now had another goal because it would spread, move towards our camp, closer to Casey.
With hope, much more hope than before, I ran. Ran back to where the creek was parting the land. I knew that even through the stream parted the land, it wasn’t a wide creek. That fire could reach to the other side with how some trees hung over the creek. When that happens, I need to make sure he gets out of there alive and safe.
Racing the fire, getting to the creek, I froze instantly. I did not believe my eyes, and I felt myself gasp. The flames... it reached the other side. Our side. And they were spreading which it made much worse. I couldn’t even take our usual path along the creek; it was in flames!
Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Casey....
I felt my chin trembling and throat burning. I ran slightly more down the beach, and when I looked to the forest on my left, I saw the fire didn’t get too far yet. It was okay to run through the dark forest so I dug my feet into the cool ground, turned, and moved deep into the woods. I knew our time was getting close.
As I ran, to my side, I saw that deadly light in the distance. However, from where I was, I judged that the fire was moving closer to him.
Please, please, please. Let him be okay. Let him live, let me get there in time.
Whipping my head to the side again as I moved parallel to the creek, I didn’t see the fire nearly as much as before. With that, I turned and ran towards the creek. The trees started to thin, and it became grassier. Eyes wide, full of scared tears, I moved closer and broke into the familiar opening. I was standing along the stream’s bank, the water glowing from the reflection of flames coming up and closer. I beat it. I was here among the low trees that didn’t catch on fire. It slowed down a lot I noticed, that was for sure. I had to guess it was because there was nothing dead this deep in the woods to keep it as strong. Regardless, it was still easing closer.
I turned, moving to where I knew Casey was up the bank more. The few yards more I ran, my mind was pounding before I saw him. Ripping the hanging low leaves out of my way, I saw him. Lying in the grass, I gasped and froze for a fraction of a second. His eyes were closed, cheek against the grass… he looked unconscious!
I cried out as I ran to his side, dropping to my knees. Though the fire slowed, it was still coming. It didn’t help that we were under a tree blanketed in leaves and branches.
“Casey!? Casey, baby!” My sob ripped through my lips as I shook him. He was not gone yet. He was not that weak yet! “I’m right here, just like I said—”
His eyes opened that moment, looking tired. His lips turned up in a small smile for me too. I took in a huge gasp of relief. He was only resting his eyes. “You’re here,” he whispered lightly, eyes loving.
I nodded, moving away from him and looking hard into his eyes. “Yeah, I’m here,” I said.
He grasped my hand and spoke before I could tell him what was happening. “Honey, lay with me. Lie down with me and let me hold you.”
“No.” I shook my head. “T-There is a helicopter!” I got out, knowing we had no time. “Come on, we need to go!” I started to tug at his arm, gesturing for him to get up with me. He just stared at me, eyes wide. Shocked.
“What?” he asked.
“Yes! Now come on!”
I heard the fire, and it was closer now. It was only a few short yards from the tree! “What is that?” he asked, tilting his head towards where the flames were coming. His expression showed confusion and even more shock. Then, his weak and red eyes found me. “What is going on? What did you do?”
“The helicopter couldn’t see me so I needed to get its attention!”
“So you lit the fucking island on fire?”
I groaned. “Are you kidding me? Ask questions later. Get up! We needed to go!”
The flames moved in off to my side, into the forest more too. It was going to be surrounding us soon, especially when the fire was only a few feet from this tree’s leafy covering. He understood and nodded, trying to get to his feet and grunting. It made me pause for the first time in this entire situation.
I didn’t expect what just happened. I did not expect that he was that weak already, that he was struggling to stand. I knew time was closing in, but it was sure taking its toll on him faster than I thought it would. I saw that tiredness in that one attempt where he didn’t make it to his feet. He looked panicked now, looking up at me as he tried getting up. He fell back to the ground. Trying again, muscles tight and trying, his body seemed too weak. The evidence was in his tired and redder eyes, how frail his body was. We did not have time, though. I grabbed his shoulder and helped him stand.
He wrapped his arm around my shoulder for my support, his eyes wandering unnaturally. He swallowed hard, moving with me. Our feet moving through the grass, we went slower than I liked. His legs were weak, his whole body was. I was just happy he wasn’t weak enough to not walk at all.
We moved out from under where the tree began to burn and hurried up the bank of the creek as best as we could. He was struggling, and I had to pull him along. I wasn’t sure he would be able to make it to the beach at the pace we needed. That wasn’t acceptable, though. We made it this far; he had to live.
Moving up the bank, we got to where the lake met the creek and turned, moving towards where our shelter was. As we passed it, we turned and rushed through the woods, moving towards the ocean. As we moved along, in the corner of my eye, I saw the fire slowly coming closer, sweeping gradually over the forest in the distance.
We moved, struggling all the way. About halfway, Casey was done. His legs gave out. Too weak, too tired to be using energy like this. He collapsed on the ground, grunting as his arm that was around me slipped away and to the ground with him. Groaning, he looked up at me, and I didn’t stop. I knelt beside him, wrapping an arm of his around me and helped him up. He had a harder time getting up than before. So much so that he barely had enough strength to pick his body up.
“Casey! Come on, get up!”
He tried, glancing to his side and seeing the fire coming in the distance, burning through the trees. I knew our shelter was up in flames, and everything we had was gone. It had a while to travel until it would get to us but we weren’t exactly moving fast either. Finally, he managed what I was pleading for him to do. His legs moved, bending, and he got to his feet with my help. He moved a few more yards with me but fell back again, his whole body seeming numb.
“Get up!” I grabbed his arm, trying to get him up but he only grabbed my arm with his fragile hand.
“It’s okay,” he moaned, barely. “Go. It’s okay.”
Did… did he just say that? Did he just he just tell me to leave him? After we were so damn close?! My lips parted, jaw dropping and not letting his words sink in. He was getting his ass up, and we were going to leave this place. Leave it and have our life together. We couldn’t stop here.
“Go?” I asked. “Are you kidding me?! Get up and come on!”
He shook his head, eyes closing. “Sweetheart, I can’t move. I—” he tried again, just because he needed to, wanted to so bad. Wanted that future so bad, to live. He wanted it. This wasn’t him giving up. This was him physically unable to get up. He grunted, and it turned into a frustrating yell.
“We are so close!” The fire was coming closer, but it was still few feet away. “I’m not leaving you here!”
“You aren’t. You will always be with me,” he murmured, eyes wide and in mine. He wasn’t ready to die yet. He was just too weak. “Go. Go home. I’m okay.”
“No!” I growled and gripped his arm, pulling him up into a sitting position without much help from him. I wrapped an arm up and around his back. “You can do it.” I gripped him tighter, forcing ourselves up and trying to balance.
I was able to take most of his weight somehow as I began moving with him again. So close! So flipping close. The fire was closing in more as was the sweet sight of the ocean a few yards away.
“Janice, I love you. Go home. It’s okay.” He was mumbling now, and I didn’t think he knew what he was saying as we moved.
“You are my home,” I told him. How could he think I would leave him there? Why would he? He probably knew I wouldn’t leave him there without me dying trying, but he tried to convince me regardless. Even in such a weak state, I came first to him. “We are almost there. Stay strong.”
Not a few yards away - a few little yards - I felt myself lose the grip I had on him. I yelped, seeing the fire maybe a dozen yards away to our side or more. The clear and safe beach was a few yards ahead of us too.