Flight 703

Alice stretches her back and looks around the beach. It's quieter than yesterday, and people seemed to have calmed down a bit. But there's an eerie feeling lingering in the air after what happened last night.

Looking down the beach, a man catches Alice's eye. He's sitting down by the water, his head on his knees.

She makes her way over to him, and recognizes him from last night. "You're Sam, right?" He turns his head to look at her before nodding and returning to his position.

"Yup," his speech is muffled through his legs.

"Would it be okay if I sat?" She asks and he shrugs.

"Go for it."

She sets herself down slowly, letting the water cover her feet.

"What are you doing?" She asks him, trying to feel out how she should go about the conversation.

"I'm sinking." He says, lifting his head, looking out at the horizon. Alice raises an eyebrow at him.

"Sinking?" He nods before looking down at his feet.

"The tide comes in, water goes out, takes the sand with it and you sink." She watches as it does just that. Sure enough, little by little, sand covers their feet more and more.

"I see," Alice says leaning back on her hands.

Sam looks over at her stomach. "Your husband, was he on the plane?"

Alice shakes her head, "Oh, no, I'm not married." Sam finally looks at her, and she can see his face. It's red, but not from a sunburn, because he's been crying.

"My cousin, Ethan, was with me," he explains, running a hand through his brown hair. "He was the one that-" he stops, turning back around. "They haven't found his body yet." He chokes back a sob, placing his chin on his knees.

A few people went out this morning to try and find where the creature took Ethan's body. That was two hours ago, still no luck.

"I am so, so sorry. I can't possibly imagine what you're going through," Alice tries to console him, and he shakes his head.

"I just don't understand. What was that thing? Where did it go?!" He cries and Alice doesn't know what to say.

"He was my responsibility! I told his mum I would take care of him!" He throws his hands out to the sea. "But then we got stuck here! Stuck on this stupid island, with it's stupid creatures that come in the night and kill people. How was I supposed to protect him against that?!" He looks over at Alice tears streaming down his face and she shakes her head.

"I don't know..." She looks back towards the crash site. "How are any of us supposed to protect each other in a situation like this? We can't possibly know what is going to happen." She looks back at Sam, taking his hand, "You couldn't have known." Sam holds her hand tightly, and she can feel him shaking.

"How far along are you?" The change of subject catches her off guard, but she goes along with it.

"Seven months," she answers, placing her other hand on her stomach.

"My sister was pregnant last year," Sam explains. "She was one of those, 'I'm gonna have my baby at home' moms. Which was fine, I mean, until her inflatable pool she had set up in the living room popped and flooded her flat." Alice smiles at him, but is clearly confused. "All I'm saying is, if you need anything," he says, wiping the tears from his face.

"Thank you," she squeezes his hand. "Seriously."

Sam smiles and looks back out to the ocean.

Suddenly, Alice gasps, pulling her hand back. "What? What's wrong?" Sam asks, turning to face her.

Alice doesn't answer and instead holds up her hand, and Sam stays quiet. After a second she gasps again and laughs. "Oh my god."

She quickly grabs his hand and places it on her stomach. "What?" Sam asks her again.

"Wait..." She holds his hand still and soon enough, they feel a small kick from her stomach. Sam's eyes light up and he looks at Alice who's now crying.

"That's crazy," Sam says, and Alice laughs.

"Yea it is." They return to their positions, engaging in conversation, and continue to sink, a little happier than before.

"Where are you going?" A voice calls out from behind Sirius. He turns to see Remus limping over to him.

"Caradoc and I are going to see if we can find some fresh water. The bottles from the plane are getting low, and if no one comes by tonight, we're all going to be dehydrated." Sirius explains, showing him the bag full of empty bottles.

"Do you want another set of hands?" Remus asks, "I can go get my bag-"

"What about your leg?" Sirius asks and Remus shoots him a look.

"What about my leg?"

"Well, you hurt it. Yesterday. It's okay to rest for a while." Sirius says cautiously, not trying to offend him.

"I'm fine. Consider this physical therapy or something." Remus insists, and Sirius sighs.

"Fine, go grab your stuff, we're leaving in 20." He zips his bag and pulls it over his shoulder. "We'll meet at the treeline there," Sirius points to the spot behind where they moved all the unclaimed luggage.

Remus nods, before heading off down the beach. Sirius scratches his head.

"Deep in thought?" Caradoc walks over, his bag in his hands.

"I guess so," Sirius says, tossing him a full bottle of water. "Remus wanted to come too, I told him he could."

Caradoc gives a half smile, shoving his water bottle away in his pack. "Fine by me, more hands means more help."

Sirius finds himself looking over at the ground where the attack happened last night. "Do you think they'll find that guy?" Caradoc follows his eyes until he sees the bloody sand. His gaze falters and he stops.

"I dunno. Maybe, I guess, but it's not likely." Sirius looks at him, curious. He sighs, "I'm just saying, whatever that thing was, it didn't kill him quickly. It used it's claws, tearing into him. But then it carried him away. I don't know why it would do that. The way it clawed him up, had to, y'know, ruin the meat." He cringes at his choice of words, but continues. "If it wanted to eat him, I don't know why it would tear him apart like that, but I can't think of another reason to take him. So I don't know if they'll find him or not."

Sirius looks over to where the search party left this morning. He didn't see the attack because he was trying to calm himself down, a ways down the beach, but when he got back it was like something out of a horror movie.

Blood all over the spot where he was killed. Some people screaming, while the others were still hiding.

Caradoc looks over to see Alice and Sam sitting together by the water. "For his sake, I hope they do." With that, he heads off towards the luggage pile to wait for Remus, Sirius right behind him.

"How the hell did you even get up there?" Dorcas calls out to Marlene, who is now at least 15 feet up in a tree. They, along with Lily have gone out to try and find some fruit to bring back to camp.

"I'm nimble!" She tosses down a mango that Dorcas slides in her bag.

Lily laughs and tries to find a tree with more limbs so it's easier to climb. "How many do you think we should take?" She asks the others over her shoulder.

Dorcas shrugs, hoisting herself up, "Probably fill our bags, that way there's enough for everyone to have a few. We just didn't want to eat all the stuff from the plane and not have a backup plan." Lily nods, twisting and pulling one of the bright fruits off the tree she climbed into.

Marlene repositions her bag and scoots her way up towards where the fruit is more plentiful. She looks down to see Dorcas and Lily immersed in their own conversation and can't help but smile.

After last night, they stayed up together, with Alice, keeping each other company. They talked about what they do for work; Lily is a waitress at a little cafe in her hometown, Dorcas works as a radio host, and Alice is a second grade teacher. She liked getting to know them, but when the question of what Marlene did came around, she didn't know what to say.

So she lied.

Telling them she worked at a boutique downtown, seemed easier than telling them she was a drifter. She hasn't been able to stay in one place because her ex keeps finding her and ruining things. But they didn't need to know that. It's not like they're going to stay in touch after they get rescued. They'll all go back to their jobs and Marlene will go back to running away.

She reaches out for another fruit when a flash of white catches her attention.

She looks to her left and sees a bird perched up a few trees over. It's beautiful, but it doesn't look like anything she's ever seen before. It's a silvery-white and almost looks fake. There's something about it that keeps her gaze. It stares back at her, hopping around the branch a little bit.

She creases her eyebrows a bit and the bird takes off again. She follows it as far as the trees will allow, but eventually she loses sight of it and Marlene suddenly has an empty feeling in her gut. She has to find it.

She makes her way down the tree and Dorcas calls out to her. "Hey, you okay?" Marlene nods, pulling her bag up her shoulder.

"Yea, I'm just going to go drop these off and get some more water." She says, already heading off.

"Do you want company?" Lily asks and Marlene waves a hand.

"It's alright, I'll be back!" She says over her shoulder before disappearing through the trees.

She waits until she's sure they can't see her and looks up into the canopy. "Come on... come on, where are you?" She whispers to herself, turning.

The bird swoops low, just in front of her face, before flying off in the opposite direction of the beach. Marlene swings the other strap on her bag over her shoulder and takes off after it.

Fabian ducks under some branches before turning and hiding them out of the way for Amelia and another man who joined their party this morning, Benjy.

They've been out all day, trying to find Ethan. After Sam was yelling at Frank to let him go, Fabian insisted that he lead the search, as he said he was a hunter back home. Amelia and Benjy offered to help, but Frank still urged Sam stay back at camp, which he irritatingly agreed to.

But even with Fabian's experience, they haven't been able to find the creatures trail. Up by the beach, the steps and breakage were prominent, but once they got further into the brush, it's like it just disappeared. So instead of following a trail, they've been just sweeping area after area to see if Ethan's body got left behind.

"What are we going to do if we can't find him? What do we tell him?" Amelia asks, referring to Sam. Fabian stops, running a hand through his hair before re-tying it up out of his face.

"I don't know, I didn't know what to say last night or this morning either." Fabian sighs before continuing on his way.

Benjy steps over a log, looking over at the two. "Maybe we can just have a funeral without his body? They do it all the time for people in the military." He offers and Amelia tilts her head slightly, thinking.

"Yeah that could work, but it would be up to Sam in the end, I suppose." She says opening her water and taking a drink.

"We could, I dunno, dig a grave and he could bury something of Ethan's in it?" Benjy says, mostly to himself. "We should probably do something about the bodies in the fuselage too. They're going to start to stink soon, and if help doesn't come-"

Amelia nods and looks over at Fabian for his input, but he isn't next to her anymore. She stops turning to see Fabian a few paces behind them staring intently into the jungle.

"Fabian, what is i-" Amelia starts, but Fabian holds up a finger to his lips, and her and Benjy look at each other. It's quiet, but they hear footsteps in the distance. Amelia tucks her water away, before turning to try and find the source of the noise.

Benjy and Fabian are holding the pieces of scrap metal they grabbed from the crash site before they left, and look ready for anything.

Suddenly, the brush to the left of them opens up quickly and they all turn to see Caradoc crouching through. "Whoa!" He holds up his hands seeing the makeshift knives the boys are holding. "I come in peace." He holds up two fingers on each hand and they relax.

Sirius and Remus emerge from behind him, carrying big backpacks. "What are you guys doing out here?" Amelia asks them.

"Looking for a fresh water source," Caradoc explains, "you seen any?"

Fabian shakes his head. "Nothing that way," he throws a thumb back towards where they came from. "We can help you look if you want." Fabian says.

"What about Ethan?" Remus asks looking between the three of them.

"There's no trail," Benjy explains. "We've just been canvassing really"

"And?" Sirius asks.

Fabian shakes his head. They all drop into a silence, maybe they're giving a moment for Ethan, or maybe they just don't want to be the one to change the subject. But eventually Caradoc speaks up.

"Well, if you're alright with it, you can canvas with us. Cover more ground that way and have more eyes for water lookout." He suggests and they all agree.

They make a line, the six of them covering more space as they make their way through the trees.

James opens his eyes slightly, just for them to be met with the bright sunlight coming through the far end of their medical tent. He squeezes his eyes back shut, an ache splitting his head. He rolls over and opens an eye, searching for the pills Frank left by his bedside. He finds them and pops two in his mouth, chasing it with the lukewarm water that's been there since last night.

He finally opens both his eyes, slowly, and sees Peter sleeping down by the entrance to the lean-to, and Sirius' brother across from him.

He can see that he's awake, staring at the metal above them, laying perfectly still. James can see he's shirtless under the blanket he's wearing, and he can see some of the bandages Frank had to use on his torso.

He got torn up in the crash. He had multiple lashes on his chest and stomach, likely from things flying out the back of the plane when it got ripped in half. He had a cut on his face, running from his lip to his right eyebrow, it was bright red, but no longer bleeding.

James could see him mumbling to himself, twisting his expression and talking too quiet to hear.

Finally, he gave in and asked, "are you okay?" The man stops, turning his head to look over at James. He looks at him intently, and James feels himself shrink slightly under his gaze.

I shouldn't have said anything, I should've just left him to his thoughts. James thinks to himself as the man stares.

"You talk a lot," he eventually says and James cocks an eyebrow.

"I've said three words."

"No, you've said more than that. Way more." He turns his head back to the ceiling. "You talk in your sleep."

James feels a ping of embarrassment flood through him. That's the second time someone's said he'd been talking while unconscious.

"Oh..." he says sitting up slowly. "Sorry."

The man shakes his head. "It's fine. Gave me something to listen to other than his snores." He lazily points a finger over at Peter and James smiles to himself slightly.

"Who's Faye?" He asks and James' smile falls away.

His eyes drop and the man raises his eyebrows, looking over again. "You don't have to answer, I was just wondering." He says and James nods slightly.

"Are you going to answer?" James asks meeting his eyes.

"Answer what?"

"Are you okay?" James repeats and the man's gaze softens for a second, before looking back up at him.

"Yea, I'm great." He says and James' mouth thins into a line.

"You're being sarcastic."

"No! I-" He stops looking back down at himself lying on the cushions. "Really, I'm fine." James thinks he catches something of a smile flitter across the man's face but it's gone as soon as it registers.

"Are you going to answer now?" The man asks.

James sighs. "Faye was my brother's girlfriend." He says quickly, and the man looks over at him again, but James doesn't look back. He keeps his eyes drilled into the sand.

"His girlfriend?" He asks, and James nods.

He hums to himself. "You got a name?" James finally looks over.

"James. You?"

"Regulus."

"Well, Regulus, you had your brother in a right mood." Regulus' eyes widen for a second.

"Sirius, is he-"

"He's fine. Don't worry. He's out looking for water with some other people, they'll be back later." James says holding out a hand so Regulus doesn't get ahead of himself.

He relaxes, lying back into the travel pillow they tucked behind his head.

"Okay."

"Do you need anything?" James offers and Regulus shakes his head.

"No, I'm alright, thanks," Regulus says and James lays back down.

"Okay."

"Okay."

Marlene pushes another branch out of the way, and gets the bird back in her eyeline. They're pretty deep in the jungle at this point, and it's started to rain. Her hair is sticking to her face, so she pulls it up and out of the way before rushing to catch up to the bird, which zips through the trees like it's nothing.

Running through the rain, her foot catches on a root and she is sent instantly to the ground, barely able to catch herself before flying face first into the mud. She groans, standing back up and wiping the mud off her hands and onto her pants the best she can.

Looking up, she realizes she's lost sight of the bird again. She makes her way forward, slower this time, trying to find it.

The rain makes it hard to see too far up in the canopy, so she covers the top of her eyes with her hands.

She's so immersed in looking for the bird, she doesn't hear the person behind her.

She walks over a fallen tree and finally sees the bird again. She sighs and walks over to it, now sitting on a branch.

"Why do you keep running from me?" She asks it, placing her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.

"Because it's coming back to me." A voice says from behind her and she spins around quickly. Right behind her is a tall man, his red hair plastered to his face, which sports an intense expression. She stumbles backward a bit, but the tree behind her doesn't allow her to go far.

"Who are you?" she asks him, her eyes scanning his face.

He doesn't answer, and instead looks up at the bird. "Her?" he asks it, and Marlene looks up. The bird chirps quietly and cocks it's head to the side.

He finally looks back down at her and Marlene swallows hard. It's his turn to scan her face now, and she keeps backing up into the tree.

His eyes snap back to hers and she stops. In an instant he throws a bag over her head and she screams.