Survivor
Chapter 5
"You look pretty," Nick laughed, looking up at Kevin.
"Shut up," Kevin growled, his eyes narrowing.
Bailey covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to laugh at Kevin's attire, then she remembered her hands were covered in fish slime. She shook her head and spat on the snow.
"Oh gross! Ewww! Yuck!" she exclaimed, wiping her mouth with her arm.
"That's what you get for laughing at me," Kevin muttered, moving close to the fire. He was wearing a pair of Bailey's sweatpants, which were about 4 inches too short, and a soft, fluffy, red cashmere sweater. He was also wearing a pair of her socks, which barely fit over his feet, and left several inches of bare skin between them and the bottom of the sweats. Kevin sat down on one of the chairs and propped his feet up on a few pieces of wood in front of the fire.
Bailey picked up the fish she had dropped put it back up on the makeshift table. She closed her eyes. This is just like biology class, this is just like biology class. She kept repeating this mantra in her head, hoping she wouldn't get sick when she opened up the fish. She cut the fish's belly open and the guts spilled out. She had to fight the urge to gag as she picked up a piece of wood and scraped the guts out of the fish and off the table. She tried to scrape off the scales, but they wouldn't come off. She felt tears welling in her eyes. She wanted to do this so bad, to prove to these guys that she wasn't a ninny, but she was so out of her element.
"Nick," she said quietly, trying not to cry, "can you help me, please?"
Nick hopped up and came over to the fish-cleaning station Bailey had set up. She was elbow deep in fish guts, and he had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at the horrified look on her face.
"Good job," he said, smiling down at her. She looked up at him, and he could see the tears in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" he asked, his face suddenly clouded with concern.
"These stupid scales won't come off. Look!" she said, scraping the fish again.
Nick smiled gently. "Bailey, you have to scrape them in the other direction. Go against the grain," he said, trying not to laugh.
"Oh," she said, embarrassed. "Well I've never done this before. I'm inept. I'm a moron. So sue me."
"You're not a moron," Nick said, putting his good arm around her. "You're being really brave. I'm proud of you."
Bailey looked up at him again and smiled a little. "Are you really?"
"Sure am," he replied, nodding his head. "You're being a trooper. Your daddy would be proud, too."
"I miss him," she said quietly.
"I know, you do, baby. I miss my family, too."
Bailey sighed. "Ok. I guess I'll finish the fish now. I'm so hungry I could eat them raw."
She finished scraping the scales off as best she could, and she took the fish over to Kevin.
"Here," she said, placing them in the snow in front of him. "I don't know what to do now."
"Grab a few sharp sticks," Kevin said, smiling. "We'll roast 'em."
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Later that evening, after they had eaten their meager meal, Bailey sat in her chair, hugging her knees. It was so cold when the sun went down. She wanted to cry so badly, but she couldn't let them see that she was so scared. She was so sure they would have been rescued by now. Why hadn't daddy sent anybody out there to find her? Maybe he had given up hope. Maybe he thought she was dead. No. That wasn't possible. She shook her head to clear that thought from it. She had to get her mind on something else. She went to her suitcase and brought out her manicure set. She had to do something with her nails. They were atrocious.
Nick and Kevin watched silently as Bailey washed her hands with Sea Breeze and slathered them with lotion. She stared down at her hands and shook her head. They looked terrible. They were all scraped up and chapped. Oh well. She'd have to get her nail girl, Suki, to give her an extra good parafin treatment when she got home. WHEN she got home, not IF. She pulled out her nail file and smoothed the rough edges, then took off the old polish. She put a nice coat of clear polish on them and began to blow them dry. She glanced up and saw Nick and Kevin staring at her, and she stopped immediately.
"What?" she asked, innocently.
"You're hilarious," Kevin chuckled. "We're stuck out here in the middle of nowhere, no way to get out, and you're worried about your nails. You are such a girl."
"Well excuse me if I need a diversion!" Bailey exploded. "I'm sorry, but I just can't stand sitting here, staring at the fire, waiting to see which one of us dies of hypothermia first! I have to get my mind off of this whole situation, and if doing my nails makes me happy and helps me forget that we're going to fucking DIE out here, then let me do it in peace, ok?"
Kevin and Nick were both taken aback by her outburst, and their eyes grew wide.
"I'm sorry," she said meekly. "I didn't mean to yell."
"It's ok," Kevin said, smiling. "We all do it from time to time. You keep doing your nails if it makes you feel better."
"And we're not gonna die out here," Nick muttered, looking back at the fire. She could tell from his tone that even he didn't believe his own words.
Bailey walked behind the plane and opened her suitcase. She couldn't stand looking at her ruined sweater anymore. She changed into a clean sweatshirt and brushed her hair back into a ponytail. She pulled out her mirror and looked at her face. Her cheeks were red and chapped. She frowned. She hated looking like this. She put some lotion on her face and went back to the fire, a little cleaner, and a little happier.
"You look nice," Nick said, scooting closer to her.
"Thanks," she said, smiling a little. "I just couldn't stand looking nasty anymore. I'm sure I smell terrible. I wish we could take a bath."
"Yeah, me too."
"But you don't smell bad," she said, laughing.
"Neither do you. Still smell like Tea Rose," Nick said, putting his arm around her and giving her a big hug. Kevin watched the two of them across the fire and shook his head. Two kids... they acted like this was a campout or something. But Kevin was getting worried. He had seen the clouds rolling in as the sun went down, and he knew they were about to get covered in snow. He was beginning to have his doubts that they would be rescued. The canopy of trees that covered them was so thick, it would be a miracle if anybody saw the wreckage.
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"I've got to do something," AJ muttered, looking across the table at Howie. "I can't just sit here and wait for them to find Kevin and Nick frozen out there. I know they survived that crash, but man, it's gettin' cold out there."
"I know," Howie agreed, nodding. "I think I'd just know it if they were already dead. I don't know. Maybe we're in denial or something, AJ."
"Nah," AJ said, shaking his head. "I know denial, and this ain't it. They're alive, man. They are ALIVE."
"Ok, enough talk. Let's go," Howie said, grabbing his keys off the counter.
"Where?" AJ questioned.
"To find them," Howie said quietly, heading for the door.
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The snow began to fall softly at first, then steadily picked up the pace. The wind began to whip around, fanning the flames of the fire toward Kevin.
"Whoa shit!" he exclaimed, jumping up and running away from the flames. "That was close."
"Oh man," Nick moaned. "Not more snow."
"I'm freezing," Bailey moaned, hugging herself.
"Guys, we've got to get some shelter or something," Kevin said. "I think we're in for it tonight."
"We should have thought about shelter before the sun went down," Nick muttered.
"SHUT UP, NICK!" Kevin yelled. Bailey kept her mouth shut, but inside, she agreed with Nick.
"Kevin, you're barefooted," Nick yelled back at him. "Go sit down and I'll get your shoes. You're gonna catch pneumonia."
Bailey smiled to herself. They really did care for each other, even if they annoyed the hell out of each other. She walked around, trying to find any substantial pieces of metal from the wreckage to so they could make any kind of shelter. It was useless. The pieces of the plane were just too small, except for the cockpit, which was crushed. She took out her flashlight and shined it around. She sucked in her breath as she caught a glimpse of the pilot's body. She slapped her hand over her mouth and had to fight the urge to scream. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer for him. She had known he was dead when he didn't show up after the crash, but she had forced the thought out of her mind. Now... here it was... staring her in the face with lifeless eyes... the body.
"Poor man," she said softly, shaking her head. Something under the pilot's seat caught her eye.... what the??? Blankets! Wool blankets! Without thinking, she grabbed the blankets and pulled them out. Under the blankets was an emergency first aid kit. Finally... she had done something good!
"GUYS! LOOK!" Bailey yelled, running back towards the fire. Kevin and Nick turned and saw her arms full of blankets.
"Oh thank God," Kevin sighed. He got up took the blankets from her. He draped one of the blankets over a low-hanging branch, making an a-line tent.
"Guys, go see if you can find a few big rocks for me," he said. "Hurry. This snow's picking up pretty fast."
Bailey and Nick ran in opposite directions, returning a few minutes later with several bowling-ball sized rocks. Kevin sat the rocks on the ends of the blanket to hold it down.
"There we go. A tent," Kevin said, triumphantly. "Small, but at least we'll be out of the snow. Bailey, put one of the blankets on the ground inside. We'll use the other ones to cover up with. Thank God we won't freeze to death."
They all crawled in and huddled together under the blankets.
"These itch," Nick said quietly.
"Get over it," Kevin muttered. "At least you're warm."
"I'm tired," Bailey said, yawning.
"Well, go to sleep," Kevin said, shaking his head. God, did he have to tell them everything?
Bailey laid down in the middle of the tent and pulled a blanket over herself. Nick laid down beside her, and he could feel her shivering. He threw his blanket on top of her and crawled under them with her, wrapping his arm around her.
"What are you doing?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Just sharing body heat," Nick said, smiling mischeviously.
"Uh huh," Bailey replied, rolling her eyes. Kevin laid down on the other side of her and rolled over on his side, his back to her. She pushed the blankets over Kevin, and draped her arm over his waist.
"Back up," she said. "I'm cold. If I have to share my body heat with Nick, you have to share yours with me."
"That makes no sense," Kevin muttered, but he moved back against her. He was actually glad she had invited him under the covers with them. It was warmer that way. Bailey fell asleep with her nose pressed into Kevin's back to keep it from freezing off. Nick slept with his face on Bailey's soft hair to keep it off of the itchy blanket. Kevin couldn't sleep at all. He was worried.
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