One

(Icon of Liberty)

 

Nighttime was the time of day most looked forward to on the island. It was a time where everything was at rest: the sun and its heat, hiding behind a sky of ink; the air light, though thick with tension from the hours before. Even the ocean controlled itself, making only tiny waves that crashed out in the distance.

            And in the middle of it, Liberty Adams lounged against the curved metal of the plane wall. Well, she wasn't lounging, per say, for she had her head tilted down into her chest and her neck on the cool wing over her.

            Her folded legs were cramped under her body, her back jerked downward at a rather painful angle. Warm liquid fell from her eyes, smearing into her dark hair and dripping down onto her shorts and T-shirt.

            Despite her efforts to drive the mental movie away, Liberty could not erase Andy’s angry fists pounding into the lumpy blanket, or that strand of orange hair that flew out of it.

            Caroline’s quiet cries, floating from inside the busted plane, made it to easier to forget the scene, either. Someone was comforting her, Liberty could hear, and there was no sign of Andy’s fuming.

            Good, Liberty thought bitterly.

            Squeezing herself from under the wing, she rubbed the back of her hand across her face, removing the loose tears that lingered there. The outline of the forest was visible in the near distance, and Liberty headed off towards it.

            It was only a hundred or so feet away, she assumed. Breaking into something just faster then a jog, she got there in just a few minutes.

            At the lip of the forest, where two trees had fallen over the path that had once been there, and was now overgrown with weeds and mini trees, Liberties foot snagged something. The air was knocked out of her, clogging up her throat for five slow seconds.

            When she got her breath back, she searched the ground with blazing eyes. When her gaze swept across Andy, sprawled on the ground, she shoved her foot into the dirt and jumped up.

            Dragging air through her teeth in a hiss, Liberty pressed her fingers against her knee. Something rough prodded out from the side of it, barely touching the bone. Attempting to walk, she clenched her teeth through the pain, as she fell to the ground again.

            It was only then, when her good leg smashed into the side of Andy’s head as it slid under her, that he was unconscious.

Despite his violent temper and hatred towards the entire surviving group, Andy played an important part in their survival. Only he had been able to climb trees for fruit, rip the seat material from the plane seats and make a mattress large enough for their group of five, if they squeezed.

Liberty didn’t know why she automatically assumed the worst; that he was dead. Perhaps it was the cracked end of a needle tube, or the silver needle itself protruding from his arm. It was visible even in the dark of the night.

Crawling over, Liberty yanked the shot from his arm. The end glistened with blood and something pale; Liberty tapped it against her tong and spat out the foul-tasting liquid.

It was insulin, Liberty knew, for Andy had once said that he brought a needle and bottle of insulin ‘for his diabetes’.

After a minute of staring, it came to her. Andy had tried to kill himself, and by the looks of it, had gotten pretty far since Liberty had found him.

Reviews

[Calypso]

Very, very good! I just love this. Please tell me if you post a new chapter!