Stranded Ch. 01

Chris sat in the bow of the boat, looking out at the waves crashing below him. He was by no means a world traveler, and he hadn't been on a boat more than twice in his life, neither of which had been at sea. He was only on this boat because it was the only way to get to the small tropical island that his brother was now living on. Jay had been in the military for seven years, and while stationed in Guam, he met a girl. Now they were living together, and Jay had told Chris that they would be getting married.

Jay's new fiancé had no citizenship, even in Guam, so it would be nearly impossible for them to visit Chris in America. Chris hadn't seen his brother in over a year, so he had decided to go to them. First, he had taken a 13-hour flight, and then another two-hour flight, and then a long drive, and now he was finishing the journey off with a seventeen-hour boat ride out to the island they were on. There were many other islands on the way as they sailed through the pacific, and Chris could see why his brother had fallen in love with this place. The ocean was crystal clear, and the islands all looked amazing.

Chris was sitting alone on the boat because the other people had already gotten on his nerves. They didn't all seem so bad, but the loud mouth named Anthony had nearly gotten Chris to hit him. Anthony was a man in his mid-forties, traveling with his wife and daughter, both of whom were quite attractive. Anthony had accused Chris of staring at his wife, and then at his daughter. He hadn't been staring at either of them at the time, though he had checked them both out when no one was looking. Chris had no intention of getting into a fight with a drunk guy on a boat in the middle of nowhere, so he had taken up his spot on the bow, watching the waves.

He could hear everyone else on the boat laughing and drinking down below. Besides Anthony and his wife and daughter, there was a newlywed couple. The man was a rich guy in his forties, named Jim, and his wife was an incredibly sexy woman in her twenties, named Stacey. Chris could tell that she was a trophy wife, and Jim seemed like a bigger asshole than Anthony. The other two passengers were an older man and his daughter. They seemed ok to Chris, but he didn't want to deal with the others, so he had secluded himself.

They were about halfway to their destination, giving them about eight hours left. But Chris could see dark ominous clouds forming to the east, where they were headed, and he wondered how that would affect their journey. He waited another half an hour, watching the clouds now as much as the waves. The clouds were only getting more ominous, so Chris finally got up and walked down to the cabin, to ask captain Marcel about it.

When he stepped down into the cabin, he heard everyone fall silent. He noticed both Anthony and Jim glaring at him, as well as Anthony's wife. Everyone else was looking away awkwardly. Chris could only wonder what they might have been saying about him, but he didn't care. He walked over to where the captain was seated, having himself a glass of wine with his dinner.

"Hey captain," Chris said, ignoring the dirty looks he was getting from some of them. "We have some pretty nasty looking clouds coming up ahead of us."

"The forecast says we'll be fine," Marcel said nonchalantly, taking another sip of his wine.

"You might want to check it again," Chris suggested, "the clouds that just formed look bad."

"I'm sure the captain knows what he's doing," Jim said, with an annoying air of authority. "This is his job after all. What was it you do again Chris?"

"I'm a park ranger," Chris said, shooting Jim an angry look. "I used to be in the army."

"And is there an ocean in you park?" Jim asked, and Anthony snorted laughter.

"No, but there are sometimes clouds," Chris shot back, which made Stacey and Anthony's daughter both smile. "And sometimes those clouds make storms. And the clouds I'm seeing outside right now look like the kind that make storms."

"I'll take a look when I'm done eating," Marcel said lazily. Chris could tell he wasn't going to get any better from the captain, and he was still being glared at, so he went back up to the deck. He resumed his watching from the bow, now focused fully on the clouds. He didn't want to be proved right, but he could already tell he would be. The clouds had gone from grey, to nearly black, and were getting larger every minute.

Twenty minutes later it began to drizzle. Twenty minutes after that it began to pour. Chris went back down below deck. Everyone was still laughing and eating. The men didn't look worried at all, except Howard, the older man. The women all seemed to be taking it a bit more seriously. Chris knew that they were in a bad storm, even if no one else did. He still felt safe enough, but he had no illusions about what a bad storm at sea meant.

An hour into the storm, no one was laughing anymore. The whole boat was rocking heavily with the waves. Jim was trying to tell everyone that it was all fine, and that nothing could possibly happen to them. They had all paid well to be on this boat, and therefore nothing bad would happen. Chris knew better though. He knew Marcel was not a great captain, and he had seen the clouds, and how fast they had formed. He knew they were in some real trouble, but he didn't know what to do about it.

Chris was thinking about going up to Marcel, to see if there was any way he could help, when he felt and heard a loud crash. The whole boat lurched, and everyone was thrown to the floor. The rocking of the boat stopped for a moment, and then resumed. Water began to flood in from somewhere, and then everyone began to panic. Anthony's daughter was crying, while her mother tried to console her, and Anthony shouted at no one. Stacey and Jim were shouting at each other, and Howard and his daughter were huddled together, looking scared. Chris knew they all had to get above deck fast.

"Everyone up, now!" Chris shouted in his old military cadence he rarely used anymore. "We need to get up top!"

"Marcel is handling it," Anthony shouted back. "We should stay here until he tells us otherwise. If we go up there we could be thrown off the boat, and then we'd drown."

"This boat is going to sink," Chris shouted. "Look, you see all that water? If we don't get up there now then we'll definitely drown. Come on, move!" Howard and his daughter quickly followed Chris. Anthony's family got up as well, and Anthony started shouting at them, but they didn't listen. Stacey came too, and then Jim. Everyone but Anthony ended up following Chris to the deck of the boat.

They all began to get pounded by the thick rain. The boat seemed to be going sideways now, and Chris could see a large rock coming out of the water up ahead. He looked to where Marcel was meant to be manning the wheel, and didn't see him. Chris ran to the wheel, and looked around frantically, but didn't see Marcel anywhere. Chris realized Marcel must have been thrown from the boat when they hit whatever they had hit, and he quickly grabbed the wheel. He tried to steer them away from the rock they were sailing towards, but it was too late. Chris shouted at everyone to take cover, and then he watched and felt as the boat slammed into a sheer rockface. The boat crumpled against the rocks, and he knew they were going down. Chris saw two of the women already in the water, and knew they needed help. He jumped in, and swam to them, glad he was such a strong swimmer.

When he got to them he saw that it was Anthony's wife and daughter, the wife only semiconscious. Chris grabbed her, and told the daughter to follow. She seemed like a decent swimmer as well, and they swam towards the rocks. When they got there, Chris had to be careful not to get slammed against the rocks by the waves. He carefully pulled the woman onto the rocks, and then helped her daughter up as well. Once they were on the rocks, Chris dove back into the water, looking for others. He could see Howard and his daughter in the distance, climbing up onto the rocks. He looked around some more and saw Stacey splashing about. She didn't seem to be a good swimmer at all. Chris dove in and swam to her, and then pulled her to the rocks where he had put the others. He looked around for Jim and Anthony and Marcel, but couldn't see any of them.

Chris looked for them for another twenty minutes but couldn't see them anywhere. The girls were all crying, and shivering, and Chris knew he needed to get them to better cover. The rocks they were on were jagged and clustered, but he knew they could climb them. He began to lead his small group up, helping them all as they went, until they found a small cave halfway up the rockface. They all huddled together in the cave, and Chris went back to search for the others. He spent most of the night on the rocks, looking for any signs of the missing parties, but never saw them.

When the storm finally ended, it was the following day. Chris led the small group up the mountain. When they reached the top, he could see that they were on one of the many tropical islands. He had no idea if there were any people on this island, so he led his group off the rocks, and onto the beach. They were all still terrified, but they were safe, at least for the time being.

"What happened to my husband?" Anthony's wife demanded.

"I don't know," Chris sighed, "I couldn't see him anywhere."

"So, what do we do now?" Stacey asked, looking disheveled and distraught.

"I don't know," Chris said again. It seemed that they were all much more willing to listen to him now than they had been last night.

"Someone is going to come for us, right?" Anthony's daughter asked, looking scared.

"I'm sure they will," Chris tried to reassure her. "But I don't know when. We might want to get some kind of shelter while we wait. And I'll try to get us some food. It may be a while before anyone finds us."

"You mean we're stranded here," Stacey said.

"For now," Chris sighed. "Ya, we are."

"But how could this have happened," the mother demanded, glaring at Chris as if he had done this.

"Because captain Marcel didn't listen when I said a storm was coming," Chris said angrily. "And then we hit a rock and the boat sank."

"This is all your fault," the mother said angrily. "Everything was fine before you came down and ruined it."

"You think I made a storm happen?" Chris said, almost amused.

"Diana, please, don't be ridiculous," Howard said to the mother. "Obviously Chris had nothing to do with what happened. Other than saving our lives of course. Thank you, Chris."

"You're welcome," Chris said, nodding to the old man in appreciation. At least someone understood what had happened.

"Ya, thank you Chris," Stacey added. Howard and Diana's daughters both thanked him as well, and Chris nodded to them all. He looked around at each of them, trying to judge what kind of a team he had here. They didn't look very prepared to live the way he knew they would have to live until help came. The women all looked quite beautiful, but not very capable. And Howard was too old to be of much help, although Chris knew he might have some helpful knowledge.

"Ok, here's what we're going to do for now," Chris began, addressing the whole group. "I'm going to go get us some food. In the meantime, you girls all go gather as many sticks as you can, and any rocks that look like they might be useful. Howard, do you think you can handle that?"

"Yes," Howard nodded.

"Why do we have to look for sticks," Diana's daughter asked.

"Because we'll need to make a fire," Chris said. "If you want to try to find some food, go ahead, but it's going to be hard. And watch out for poisonous plants while you're at it."

"Come on now ladies," Howard said. "No back talking now. Chris is the only way we're going to make it out here, so do what he says."

They all went about the new orders, and Chris marched off to look for food. On the way he thought about his small group. Howard was going to be helpful, but probably not in any physical way. He was in his seventies as far as Chris could tell. His daughter looked to be in her early twenties, and would hopefully be competent enough to help with things. She did appear to be fit, from what Chris had seen. She was somewhat tall, maybe 5'6 or 7, and looked like she worked out at least.

Stacey appeared to be in the best shape of the girls, but Chris didn't think it would be the helpful kind of in shape. She looked like she went to the gym quite often, but mostly focused on making herself look sexy. She would be more use than Diana, but it looked like she spent more time making her ass sexy and plump than working on her arms. Diana would be useless. She was in her forties, and had big fake boobs and lots of plastic surgery. Her daughter would hopefully be more helpful. She looked like she was around twenty, and was in decent enough shape, but Chris doubted she had any experience at all.

Chris spent well over an hour walking down the coastline, collecting anything that looked useful, but also trying to survey the island. It looked to be a bit bigger than he had first thought, and he didn't know if that would be a good or bad thing. There was enough land on the island that he knew there would be game somewhere inland, and he decided he would try hunting the following day. In the meantime, he found several coconut trees, and a clean source of water. He decided they should make their camp further down than they had.

When he returned to the group later, he found them all sitting somberly in a circle, with a decent pile of sticks beside them. Chris dropped the four coconuts he had carried down in the sand, and began bundling the sticks to make a fire.

"Is this all you brought?" Diana said, sounding annoyed.

"That's all I could carry," Chris said, feeling annoyed himself. "But I found a few trees down that way, and a stream with fresh water. We should make our camp down there."

"But what if they come searching for us here?" Diana demanded.

"Who is they?" Chris asked.

"The travel company," Diana said, as if it were obvious. "And our husbands. They must have made it back to the boat. We're only on this island because of you."

"Ok," Chris shook his head, having had enough of her. "I'm going to go make a camp down by the coconut trees and water. Anyone who wants to join me is welcome. And anyone who wants to stay here is more than welcome to." He stood up, picking the bundle of sticks up. He left the four coconuts for Diana and whoever else would want to stay with her.

"Come on Kelly," Howard said, getting to his feet as well. "We're staying with Chris." Howard's daughter quickly got to her feet, and picked up some of the sticks Chris couldn't carry. He liked their attitude so far.

"I'm coming too," Stacey said, getting up as well.

"You can't," Diana said to her. "We'll be all alone here."

"Then come with us," Stacey suggested, but Diana just glared at Chris.

"Mom, I want to go with them too," Diana's daughter said. "No one is going to be looking for us right here, and I want to stay with the group. Besides, Chris seems to know what he's doing better than the rest of us."

"He does not," Diana shouted. "He's the reason this all happened in the first place." Chris could tell she wasn't thinking straight. She must still be in shock.

"We're going to be just down the beach," Chris said to the daughter, who seemed far more reasonable. "Just follow the beach, for about an hour or so, and you'll find us. I'll come check on you sometime tomorrow."

"No," the daughter said, getting to her feet. "I'm coming with you. Come on mom, we're going with them." Diana looked like she wanted to argue more, but huffed her defeat, and began to follow along. Chris led them all down to where the trees were, and found what he thought was a nice place for a starter camp. He knew he would have to do better if they were going to be here very long, but for now this would do.

He went about making a fire, while the girls began to make a sort of camp. Kelly and Heather, Diana's daughter, went about clearing the area, and looking for bugs and such, while Stacey and Howard went about making up little cots for everyone to sleep on. By the time it was dark, they had a nice fire going, and were all sitting around it. Chris was the only one who could open the coconuts, so he did one after the other, letting the girls have as much as they wanted. He knew they would need to ration better moving forward, but he thought they all deserved a small bit of comfort after their incredibly traumatic day.

They were all still hungry when Chris put the fire out, but they had eaten enough. He knew that the next day he would need to find them more substantial food. As he lay down, trying to fall asleep, he couldn't help but think about his little group. He wished one of the girls were sleeping beside him, instead of a few feet away. He hadn't really paid attention before the crash, but since then he had definitely noticed how attractive his companions were. He knew they were all traumatized to one degree or another, but he also knew they might be on the island for a long time, certainly much longer than they might think.

The following morning Chris awoke to the pleasant smell of a fire. He was a bit surprised, but quite pleased, to see that Kelly and Stacey had managed to make a new fire without him. Heather and Howard had already gone off to look for more coconut trees. Chris walked over to the fire, and Kelly handed him a piece of coconut. He ate it, noting how little sustenance it gave him.

"I'm going to look for better food today," Chris said aloud. "Should I go inland, and look for some kind of red meat, or try to go fishing?"

"Do you really think you can catch food out here?" Stacey asked him, looking skeptical.

"I'm going to have to," Chris nodded. "We need something better than coconuts."

"Do you think we're going to be here long?" Kelly asked, and Chris could tell how much the idea frightened her. How much it frightened all of them.

"I really don't know," Chris sighed. "But that's out of my control. If they come for us today, great. But I'm not going to wait for them. I'm going to treat this like no one is coming for us. If they come, perfect, if they don't, I'll keep us alive and well for as long as I can."

"We're all really lucky you're here Chris," Kelly said, not quite meeting his eye. "I'm not sure what we would do without you."

"We would starve" Stacey said. "She's right, we're very lucky to have you. I'm sorry for the way we treated you on the boat. My husband was a real jerk sometimes."

"He might still be out there," Chris said, noticing that she had referred to him in the past tense. "I mean, we are."

"That's true," Stacey smiled. "You're right though, we should worry about what we can do, not what's out of our control."

"Right," Chris nodded.

"So, what do you want us to do today?" Kelly asked him. It was the first time anyone had directly asked him for instructions, and he knew he had become the official group leader, and was now responsible for these women.

"Well, you can always look for more sticks," Chris suggested. "We'll need them, especially bigger sturdier sticks. And we'll also need lots of palm branches. See those," Chris pointed to some palms on the ground in the distance. "Try to collect as many of those as you can, and I'll make us some shelters, for when it rains again." Both girls nodded eagerly. They seemed happy to be given instructions. They finished eating their small breakfast, and then Chris headed into the jungle island, in search of food.

He hunted for most of the day. He saw a few larger animals, which made him feel better, knowing he would get them eventually. He also found some sticks that he knew he could turn into proper tools, maybe even a good spear or two. In the end though he returned to the camp with three tree squirrels he had killed. He didn't know how they would taste, but they would be more nutritious than coconuts. He certainly wasn't looking forward to Diana's almost certain negative reaction to his days' worth of hunting, but that was unavoidable. He just hoped the others would be happy for today.