Flight 703

The heat beamed down on the group as they made their way through the trees, the smell of the ocean mixed with smoke growing stronger by the minute.

Dorcas has her pants rolled up to her knees and Remus is wearing his shirt around his neck.

"Nice tattoo," Dorcas says from behind him.

Remus gives a light laugh, "yea, thanks, it was a drunken mistake." Sirius slows his pace to see.

It's a decent sized piece in the middle of his back of a man and a cobra. They're tangled up, the snake wrapping its body around the man's neck, the man's hands wrapped around the cobra's throat. There isn't a clear indication of who's winning.

"Why'd you get it?" Sirius asks.

"I didn't pick it," Remus looks over at them, "my friend did. I woke up and he was grinning like an idiot, telling me to look in the mirror." He reminisces the memory, fidgeting with his shirt. "I'm just glad it looks alright. Could you imagine waking up to a tattoo that looked like it was done by a 3-year old?" They laugh and he pulls his shirt back down over his torso.

The earth below them slowly starts shifting from dirt to sand, and the trees start to become more scarce.

Eventually, they reach the beach, and they can finally see the wreckage. People crying, small fires and debris scattered everywhere. It looks and sounds like hell.

"Christ, it's worse than I expected," Sirius mumbles to himself and the others nod slowly, taking it in.

Suddenly a man shouts in the distance. "No, stop! Get away from there!"

An explosion rips from one of the engines. The sound is deafening causing them to cover their ears and shrink in their spots.

They can see people go flying near the wing and Sirius shouts out, "Come on!" Him and Dorcas take off flying down the beach through the wreck and Remus follows, slower, but with the same purpose. Help anyone they can.

James shoots up and his head is instantly flooded with immense pain. He clutches his head with both hands and groans.

"Lie back down," a voice guides him and James listens, keeping his eyes closed and lying down.

James cracks an eye open and sees Peter sitting across from him.

They're underneath a part of the plane that's been propped up to create a lean-to style structure. He's lying on some seat cushions and he can feel a large bandage on his head.

"What happened?" James asks, looking over at Peter.

"I guess someone got too close to one of the engines. They said he got sucked straight into it and it, y'know, blew up," he explains, sorting through a trunk.

James winces. He can't imagine being ripped apart like that. Then again, he couldn't imagine surviving a plane crash either but here he is.

"How long was I out?" James asks.

"Not long, maybe an hour and a half. I guess one good thing from catching a 3am flight is having more daytime to adapt when your plane crashes." Peter laughs slightly, but his face looks sad.

A tall man limps over to them, sitting himself down on the cushions next to Peter, Frank just behind him.

"I told you, it's-"

"-not that bad," Frank nods, and kneels down next to him. "I know, but it's better to have it be not bad at all though, isn't it?" He looks up and the man sighs, pulling his pants down to his knees, exposing a gash on his thigh.

James makes a face. "What happened to you?" he asks, propping himself on his elbows.

The man looks over at him. "The crash. You got that from the explosion," he points at James' head. "You're welcome by the way."

James furrows his brows and the man also looks confused. "I helped carry you here after. You were pretty out of it though. I guess I thought you'd at least remember a face, you were talking after all," the man explains, flinching as Frank blots the blood off his cut.

"Talking?" James asks rubbing his head, he didn't remember that.

"Yea, you kept mumbling something. A name. Faye, I think? Oi, will you be careful!" The man swats at Frank's hand that was touching his wound.

Frank rolls his eyes. "Just sit still, yea?"

"It's hard to when you're poking and prodding at me like that."

"What's that?" Frank asks, pointing outside the tented area.

"What's, what?" The man turns and Frank pours a liquid on ther cut that makes it bubble up and the man yells. "What the hell?!"

"See? All better," Frank says with a coy smile, bandaging it up. Peter is laughing silently next to him, holding his side to try not to rip his stitches.

"You're a dick," Remus mumbles, pulling his pants back up.

"Yea, yea, you're welcome," Frank replies over his shoulder, leaving the area.

James and Peter share a look of amusement, but the man catches it. "What, is my pain funny to you?"

"No, definitely not." James shakes his head, "besides I don't think either of us is in any position to be laughing at you when you're in better condition than us."

He chuckles a little when another man comes over. This one's wearing dark clothing, and carrying a jacket which he tosses onto the sand before sitting down. "I see you've met Remus," he says, smiling at them, "I'm Sirius."

James and Peter introduce themselves, and they all exchange greetings.

"Good to see you awake," Sirius says to James, drawing in the sand with his finger.

James looks over at him confused, and Remus explains, "You didn't think I could carry you by myself did you?"

James makes an "o" with his mouth and thanks them.

Wait.

"What happened to Alice?" James asks, sitting up. It's their turn to look confused.

"The pregnant woman with Frank and I?"

"Oh!" Peter exclaims, "she's fine, don't worry, she's with that red head." James feels himself relax. He didn't know what he would do if she-

He shakes the thought from his head while Remus and Sirius bicker.

"Her name was Layla." Remus insists.

"No, it was Lonnie!" Sirius protests.

"Her name is Lily," James says, lying back down.

"N- oh, yea, that's right." Remus realizes and Sirius nods.

Peter leans back, smiling and they all immerse themselves in conversation.

It's strange. You'd think that after going through something so traumatic, they wouldn't be able to feel so calm. But they did. In that moment they felt content.

Marlene opens another compartment to reveal a new trunk. She's in the fuselage of the plane, wearing a shirt over her nose because the idea of the bodies smelling in the heat makes her want to vomit.

She lugs the trunk out onto the ceiling of the plane, which is upside down, and starts to go through it. Nothing of importance or value, so she lays the lid closed and moves further into the plane.

A few bodies are stretched throughout the section of the plane that landed with them, so she is careful not to touch them.

She gets to another compartment and kneels down to open it. She pulls out the duffel inside and starts rummaging through it. Travel bottles of hygiene products, toiletries, a passport, and a travel pillow.

She sighs, zipping the bag shut and kicking it back into the nook when suddenly a hand grabs her forearm from behind her. She screams and falls backwards. When she opens her eyes, a man is above her, dangling there.

Her breathing is fast as she tries to move away slowly, but when the eyes shoot open she is almost immediately in an upright position. "What the fuck?!" She mumbles, bent over holding her legs.

She looks at the man and can see his chest slightly moving.

She slows her breath and leans over slowly. His lips are moving faintly. She puts her ear up to hear him better. "Help me."

"Shit." She stumbles across the metal, trying to jump over the luggage she left scattered.

Once she reaches the end she spots a tall woman with braids sitting near the water. "Hey!!" She calls out, cupping her hands around her mouth.

The woman turns and Marlene waves her arms. "Go get help! Someone's still alive in here!" The woman rushes to her feet and sets off down the beach in a run.

Marlene quickly makes her way back to the man. "Hey, it's okay, we've got a doctor here, you'll be okay." The man doesn't respond, so she runs her hands through her hair until Frank and Fabian show up.

"That's not real," James says, tilting an eyebrow at Sirius.

"Yes it is! I swear, it's the craziest thing I've ever heard of, but it's real!" Sirius insists, moving to face James.

"Chess boxing?" Peter questions, and Remus looks equally unconvinced.

"Yes! They go back and forth for like eleven rounds! Chess then boxing then chess again! The way they win is by checkmate or a knockout!" Sirius explains talking dramatically with his hands while the others laugh.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard, you can't be serious." Remus says, which makes Sirius deadpan.

"I'm always serious."

Silence fills the area for a moment before they all erupt into laughter.

"Hey!" Dorcas comes rushing over, a serious look on her face that makes the others straighten up.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asks, standing.

"Some girl found someone in the wreckage. The doctor is bringing him over now." She explains and James stands up slowly. He moves over next to Remus and Peter and Sirius steps outside.

Sure enough Frank is following a tall ginger guy who is carrying a man from the fuselage, a blonde girl shortly behind them, a shirt tied around her face.

"Put him in here," Frank instructs, opening the first aid kits he's accumulated. The man lays him down carefully and steps outside, waiting to see if they need more help. With him out of the way it's a clear view to the man they brought over and Sirius feels his heart sink.

"Oh my god," he mumbles.

"What?" The blonde asks, pulling the shirt off her face.

"Oh god."

Dorcas looks at him now, and quickly realizes what's wrong. She puts a hand over her mouth and takes a step back.

"No, no, no," Sirius whispers to himself as he takes a few steps closer to the man Frank is hovering over.

"Fabian, hand me that." Frank points to a pair of scissors on a box nearby and the tall man grabs them and hands them to him before retreating back out of the way.

"Than- hey, can you back up, I need to be able to see," Frank says to Sirius who doesn't hear him.

"Will he live?" Sirius asks quietly, looking at the face of the man in front of him.

"What?" Frank asks back, distracted with his work.

"Will he live? Will he be okay?" Sirius asks again, louder this time.

Frank shakes his head, "I don't know, it's been hours since we crashed, it's hot as hell in that plane, and his wounds are extensive. It's too soon to tell, why?"

"Can you save him?" Sirius asks, looking at Frank now.

"I just said it's too so-"

"Can you save him?!" He shouts grabbing his shoulder to make Frank face him and the others hold their breath, watching it all unravel.

"I'm going to do everything I can." Frank says slowly, before turning back around to work.

"You'd better." Sirius says. "That's my brother." He walks out, the others watching him go. Dorcas and Remus exchange a look and Frank takes a minute to take a deep breath before continuing.

The sun set creates a beautiful array of red, yellow and pink light that hits the beach as the survivors start building fires and settling down.

Dorcas pokes at her small fire with a stick, watching the ashes float around. She's so lost in thought she doesn't realize the blonde from earlier sit next to her.

She fidgets for a second before deciding to make her presence known. "Hi," Dorcas looks up and gives a half smile.

"Hey," she replies looking her up and down. Her clothes are wet, as is her hair. "Go for a swim?"

"Yea, after crawling around in the fuselage and sweating all day I wasn't smelling the best. Plus I needed a distraction." She says, pushing the hair out of her face as she digs her feet in the sand.

Dorcas couldn't help but stare. Her clothes were sticking to her body, and she was quite pretty. The fire light as well as the sunset make her features really stuck out. She knows her priorities should be elsewhere, but like the woman said, they all need distractions.

"Anyways, we'll be out of here soon enough," she says and Dorcas snaps out of her daze.

"Yea, I mean the plane had to have had a black box, they'll find us," Dorcas nods, laying the stick down and tossing some more grass into the fire.

The fire quickly burns away the greenery and they sit watching the edges brown and light. There's a comfortable silence, something Dorcas isn't used to, and she can't help but notice how close they're sitting.

"I'm Marlene," the woman finally introduces herself, holding out a hand, which Dorcas takes.

"Dorcas, it's nice to meet you."

Marlene smiles and folds her arms back, staring back into the fire.

"Do you think he'll make it?" Marlene asks, playing with the hem on her sleeve.

"The man you found?"

"Yea, his brother said his name was Regulus."

"Well, Frank seems to know what he's doing. He'll probably be okay," Dorcas tries to sound convincing but she saw him. Frank looked worried and Regulus looked... bad.

Marlene seemed to be thinking the same way because she sighed shrinking down a little bit. "I was in the wreckage for like half an hour before I even found him. If I had just gone through the other way-"

"Hey, no, you can't blame yourself. By the time you'd even got in there we had been crashed for hours. It wouldn't have changed much." Dorcas assures her, turning her body to face Marlene.

"But what if it would have changed something. If I found him earlier maybe he wouldn't have been so dehydrated or something."

"You couldn't have changed anything. No one could have. It was an accident. Our plane crashed, it's not your responsibility to find everyone."

Marlene looks at her, and nods slowly. "Yea, I know. I just can't imagine what it's like."

Dorcas puts a hand on her shoulder. "He'll be okay."

Much to her surprise, Marlene finds herself lying her head on Dorcas' hand. Being around her provides a comfort she hasn't felt in a while, and she doesn't want to let it go yet.

It makes it easier when Dorcas doesn't move. They just sit like that for a while, hoping the other feels the same.

Lily looks over at Alice who is sitting on a seat they pulled from the plane across the fire. She seems distracted, absentmindedly rubbing her hand on her stomach.

Lily drops her eyes down to the book she's been pretending to read. She can't focus on anything, she's too worried about Alice, about being rescued.

The wind blows her pages around and Alice looks over. "It's gonna be a little hard to keep the story straight when you keep losing your page." She smiles and Lily gives a light chuckle.

"Yea, I'm not really reading it anyways, it's fine." She closes the book and lays it back in her bag.

"You okay?" Alice asks her.

"I'm fine, just thinking."

"What about?"

"Everything I guess." Lily stands up grabbing more wood from the pile nearby. "Just... everything."

"You want to talk about it?"

Lily smiles. "We just got into a plane crash, you're pregnant, and you're asking me if I'm okay."

Alice laughs, "I'm just checking on you."

"You don't have to, I'm okay," Lily says tossing some more wood on the fire.

Behind her, a loud chorus of calls erupts from the jungle. It sounds animalistic...

almost.

Alice stands up, looking over to see trees being knocked aside. The calls are growing louder and whatever is making them is getting closer.

"What the hell is that?" Lily asks, stepping back a few feet, putting herself between Alice and the trees. The others have joined around them, looking into the dark. Murmurs ripple through the crowd as Frank comes up behind them.

"What's going on?" he asks Lily, and she holds up a hand.

"Listen."

After a few seconds the calls came again, and a few people move back away from the treeline.

Frank starts walking forward and a few people follow him. Lily goes too, but not before telling Alice to stay put.

They walk closer to the trees using small flashlights to try and get a better look.

Lily can hear the blonde woman next to her mumbling about how stupid it is to follow the creepy noises. She smiles to herself when something catches the corner of her eye, but when she goes to look, there's nothing there.

They continue further, just breaching the treeline when a branch snaps ahead of them. They all stop, holding their breath as they drag the beams of their flashlights around.

They don't see anything until Frank tilts his light to their left. As soon as the light hits the creature, it spins around and lets out a horrific call that pierces through the air.

The group jumps back as the creature takes off in a dead sprint towards them.

After a slew of curse words is exchanged, they start running too, back to the beach.

They emerge from the trees and everyone seems relieved, but it only lasts for a second.

"Run!!" Frank shouts, and the others start pushing each other to move.

Lily rushes up to Alice and grabs her forearm, pulling her away. "Come on!"

"What happened? What's wrong?!" Alice asks her, trying to stay on her feet.

Lily pulls her behind a part of the plane and they kneel down, peering over just in time to see the creature burst through the trees. Screams rip through the camp, as people disperse.

The creature barrels towards a group that's standing in shock. They try to run, but it's too late.

It grabs one of the men by the leg and they fall hard into the ground. "Sam!!" He calls out as he gets dragged backwards. The other man who was with them starts to go back, but the three women pull him back.

"You can't!"

"It's going to kill him!"

"Sam-"

"Let me go!!"

But they don't. And they stand their in horror as the creature brings a clawed hand down into his back. He screams in pain as Sam falls down, the women doing everything they can to get him out of there.

The fire lights up the area enough to see the creature, but its strange. It's like it's changing. One second there is fur covering its body from head to toe, and the next it's feathers. Its height keeps shifting from short to tall. The only thing that stays the same are it's eyes. Cold and white as snow. They're staring intently at the man it's ripping to shreds, who is no longer moving.

Lily covers her mouth as Alice turns around, pressing her back into the metal with her eyes squeezed shut.

The creature stops, just for a moment, taking a look around at everyone hiding from it, before lugging the man over his shoulder and walking back into the woods slowly.

Everyone stays where they are for what feels like forever, the silence is deafening. No more talking, no more calls from the jungle, nothing. Just quiet.

Slowly people come out from their hiding places, walking over to stand together.

Lily looks over at Frank, "What the hell was that thing?"