When I Met You (LadyAwesome & Silence)

Silence

Silence

Anonymous Me
Francis (Frank) Silberstien
Age 31


@LadyAwesome


Red eye flights. They were long and the cheapest way to fly. That was the connection that Frank had to take to make this last minute flight to Italy. Shifting in his seat he peered out into the aisle. The flight attendant was taking forever to bring the peanuts and water. All the passengers had already received the one meal as required by law. Still it hadn't been very much to eat.

Finally the woman looked like she was about to come out of her little flight attendant hut. Leaning back in his seat again he peered out the window. It was dark outside and not much to see. Frank was trying everything he could not to be irritated. All the other passengers seemed to be a little irritated as well. So he looked about the same. A sudden shaking jolted him to attention. The flight attendant fell out of her cabin space. All he could see was the edge of her black heels.

Leaning almost into the woman's lap that occupied the window seat he squinted. As the lights above them began to flicker he caught a glance at what appeared to be a military grade jet fly under them. Either the signals were scrambled or they just got hit.

"Shit..." Muttering under his breath, Frank started to unbuckle. He ignored the stupid emergency oxygen masks that dropped from the ceiling. They weren't going to be doing anyone any good. It was the middle of the ocean and he was going to make sure when they hit he wasn't strapped to anything at all. Bracing himself against the back of the seat he assumed the crash position. The lady next to him seemed far more concerned with the oxygen mask and she was going to get herself killed. Broken neck at the least. "Forget the oxygen. We're going down too fast."

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The lack of oxygen had Frank passed out. His body was limp and flopped more easily in his seat as they hit the water. Passengers who tensed suffered far more injury. There was a smattering of blood about the main cab.

Water started to run up along his ankles and Frank woke with a start. Jumping up he noticed that the violence of the impact had thrown him out of his seat and onto the floor. The tail end of the ship was sinking first. Tearing the seat cushion off from his seat in the plane he held it under one arm and started toward the emergency exit. Almost everyone in the plane had lost their minds during the panic and forgot to assume the crash position.

It all happened so fast. That was normal in his life. Pushing the emergency exit open he watched the door fall into the water. Frank jumped in after it and started to swim as fast as he could. The pull from the jet would drown anyone not fast enough to get away from the vacuum.
 
Thalia Hunt
Age 27

Thalia jolted awake as the plane lurched and a big black rocket-shaped blob flew under them. "What the hell...?" She looked around, realizing quickly what was happening: they were crashing. How, she wasn't sure. She couldn't believe this was even happening to her. More chance of dying in a car crash. Her cousins words rang irritatingly in her head. "Car crash my ass," she muttered to herself.

The oxygen masks sprang from their positions in the ceiling and she quickly put hers on. Relax. Just try to relax, she tried to calm herself. She knew that this would hurt far worse if she tensed up. Her life depended on her relaxing while plunging towards the ocean. Great. Thalia leaned back in her uncomfortable seat and closed her eyes. She took deep breaths, silently whispering I love you's to her friends and family - just in case.

The water was freezing when they hit, and Thalia's eyes once again jolted open. She ripped off her mask of oxygen and tried to get her bearings. Luckily - for her anyway - she was sitting towards the back of the plane and only the front was sinking in for now. As fast as she could, she climbed out of her seat and grabbed her backpack. She noticed a man shoving open the emergency exit and swim through it. "Beats dying here I guess." On his tail, she sped into the crowd of people struggling to get through the tiny door.
 
The water only felt colder the longer that Frank stayed in the water. He was slightly surprised to wake the next morning. Though almost everything in the commercial jets were pathetic he had to admit that the flotation device inside the seat cushion had worked well enough. It wasn't the Pacific and he knew that. This had to be the Mediterranean or the Atlantic. Maybe the Irish Sea. At any rate he was lucky. If it was the Pacific he would have froze to death before sunrise.

Spotting a solid form he started to kick his legs. Francis wanted to get to land. He needed to make some kind of contact. What were the chances he would land on an uninhibited island? There were still a few uncharted islands but, that was highly unlikely. Gradually the un-moving mass came into view. Given a new ambition he kicked harder. Finally as he came closer he could see the beginning of the ledge. It was a long ways out into the ocean. At least several meters into water before the land rose above the ocean level. The odd shape told him that it was a shield volcano that had formed the island. Typically that would mean there was low viscosity and possibly fertile land. Couldn't be too dissimilar to parts of Hawaii if he was lucky.

Once he was on shore he laid in the sun only long enough to dry off and then he began his exploration. The first and most important thing to locate was a fresh water source and then he could begin to create a shelter out of what he found useful of the foliage on the island. What he had last expected to find was some woman on the island. Normally it would have been a good thing, except she was also from jet.

Walking over to the body he nudged it a few times with his foot. "Hey!"
 
Thalia laid in the sand, the coldness of the water still soaking into her bones. She felt a slight nudging to one side and her bright baby blue eyes flittered open to reveal a man standing over her. She sat up a little too quickly because the world started to spin as she clutched her head. "What..? Where..?" Her throbbing head calmed slightly and she was able to stand with help from the man. Her long flame-red hair hung in ringlets down her back under her backpack. She stood straight and glanced around, noticing the ocean being full of plane parts that no longer had a purpose, and the vast amount of sand.

"Um, Hi? I'm sorry..I'm a little dizzy still. We crashed right? In a plane?" Thalia pointed to the ocean, her fair skin gleaming in the sunshine, "That plane..."
 
The woman was a bit disoriented to start with. That was never a fun thing to deal with. Frank waited with a feigned patience. What and where were some of the same questions he had for himself. If he had a few pieces of equipment he may have been able to determine that by now. Instead it was going to take a while longer and that would also determine if there was anyone else living on this island.

Not only was the woman rambling she was just asking a bunch of questions that seemed to be rhetorical if you used your brain. The thin layer of pretend patience wore off and Francis smiled. "Yes we did crash and technically that is a jet." Following her pointed finger he nodded to wreckage that was light enough not to sink. Obviously this was where the tide had brought it too. In that case they wouldn't be too long in the rescuing. All the scientists and rescue teams needed from here was to triangulate the last known communication from the pilot and then they could study what the currents had been and where any likely survivors would be. That was if there hadn't been an unusual pattern or if the main current swept off somewhere else. Sighing he answered her last question with a great deal of sarcasm. "I don't know if that's our jet. Pretty sure at least 3 others went down in the same spot. This must be the new Bermuda Triangle."

Shaking his head he reached for her backpack. "What kinda stuff you have in there?" If he had a fellow survivor it would help to know what they had to work with.
 
She could tell that this man had little patience with people and already thought a bit poorly of her. He made a reach for her backpack and she quickly moved it away, her eyes meeting his, "Nothing useful, I assure you." Thalia made sure her pack was secured and took another glance around the island. "Have you seen any more survivors? It can't be just the two of us who survived, there was a whole group who exited the jet before me."
 
When the woman jerked her backpack away he rolled his eyes. "Then why would you grab it and risk drowning over the damn thing?" He was half tempted to just tackle the lady and take the backpack. However, he restrained himself for the moment. "You would be the first survivor that I've run across and I'm not worried about finding any others. What I want to do is find a fresh water source. Even if there are other survivors nobody will live without fresh water." Turning on his heel he started off without further consultation. "Do what you like. I've got a few things to take care of before it gets dark."

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By mid afternoon Frank had found his fresh water supply and he had a little to drink before he started to pick through the undergrowth in the forested area. If he was going to be here for a while he wanted to start getting comfy. Trudging back out to the beach he stripped his pants and shirt off to go wade into the water. There were few pieces from the wreckage that he didn't want to float away just yet in an outgoing tide. Such as chunks of metal.

After he had a good pile of things that he figured might come in hand he got dressed again and began hauling them back to his potential shelter.


(I actually do like your character. Just he's indifferent to her survival at this point. Frank doesn't have a reason to like her so far.)
 
Thalia grunted from frustration with this man. She didn't know what his problem was, and she didn't care. If he wanted to go off on his own and try to live on the land, she wasn't going to stop him.

Instead, she turned and went in the opposite direction. As she walked along the sandy shore, she studied the beach and the trees around her. After about half an hour of walking, she thought she heard voices, "Shh, it'll be okay. You're going to be okay, just hang in there..." She paused a moment, straining her ears to listen to the soft voices. She walked a little farther along and came to an underground cave at the end of the beach. There was a fire going inside and shadows lining the walls; she had found the voices. Slowly and cautiously she approached the cave, "Hello?" she asked and the voices hesitated. "In here!" they called out to her.

She picked up her pace and reached the inside of the cave to be greeted by 5 other soaking wet and beat up looking survivors. One - a little girl who looked about the age of 12 or 13 - was lying by the fire, tears in her eyes and a piece of sharp metal sticking out of her left hip. Thalia ran and drop beside the girl, "What's happened to her?"
"We were sitting near the front of the jet when it crashed. A shard of something got lodged in her. I didn't want to remove it incase of making it worse." The woman was sitting next to the young girl with tear stained cheeks and her hand in the girl's.
"Are you her mother?" Thalia asked and the older woman nodded a yes. "I'm a doctor. I can help your daughter if you'll let me." The woman nodded, a look of pleading in her eyes. "Right. I need someone to find me some cloth, long enough to wrap around her." One of the 5 people quickly jumped up and began to search for some cloth. Thalia unstrapped her bag from her backpack and rummaged through it, "Aha. I knew I brought some." She pulled out a big bottle of sanitizing alcohol and a sponge and placed them on top of her bag.

"Okay," she took the girl's hand, "This is going to hurt. But I need to get the shard out of you. Will you be brave for me?" The girl nodded, tears rolling down her face. "Good. It's okay to scream. Just try hard not to move, okay?" The girl nodded, closing her eyes and preparing for the pain. "Just try to relax. It won't hurt as bad if you relax." Thalia poured some alcohol onto the sponge and held it in one hand. In the other hand, she grabbed onto the metal shard, "On 3. 1..2.." quickly she yanked the shard straight out and pressed the sponge against the hole in the girl's skin as she screamed out in pain. "There. That's it. You're okay."

Thalia let out a breath of relief. "You should be fine. I don't think there's any internal damage." She wrapped a ripped piece of cloth around the girl's waist with alcohol pressed against the wound. "So, all you survived the crash? Have you seen any others?" She looked around the grave faces of the people, all different ages and features she noted. They shook their head, confirming that, no, they were the only other survivors.
 
(Oh good. Some people get hurt feelers and I didn't want you to feel that way.)



The shelter was coming along nicely. Frank pulled the few pieces of metal that he had to help create a more solid wall on the side. He figured that if he could make the shelter fairly broad that it could hold a good amount of supplies. Later on he might consider getting some a bit more permanent like a dug out or something along those lines. With the fresh water nearby and a shelter that covered the two greatest concerns. Looking over the scraps he shook his head. Only bummer was that he didn't currently have anything that would function as a barrel for water. If he needed to cook anything it was going to have to be over the fire or sun dried with some salt. Getting salt wouldn't be too hard. All he needed was some water from the ocean and something to for it to lay in and evaporate. After the water evaporated he would have salt.

Slowly walking out of the makeshift shelter he stared a careful examination of the island. He'd walked for quite a ways before he discovered that it likely was an island. There wasn't any other land connected and all he could see was more water. From his estimation the island was around 5 miles in one direction. No telling how large the rest of it was. Still he hadn't seen the absolute proof that this was an island yet. However, for worst case scenario that was what he assumed. It would mean that any wildlife here would be limited and he wasn't sure if he'd find any. It could be living by plant life which was never much fun.

Gradually he made his way around the edge of the island. One night wasn't going to kill him to be out in the open. At least he would find out what the elements were around here. It must have been long and narrow cause it stretched on for seemingly forever. 5 miles was the short part it seemed. Finally he laid down and used some of the foliage as insulation.

Early the next morning he got up again. It wasn't terribly cold at night. So he could assume that they were closer to the equator. Plant life told him that, but so did the weather. Some of the plant was edible and if need be he could collect some seaweed and start to check out the fish in the area. Weaving a net with the vines would be a good thing. Most of the vines were not quite the nice flexible green kind. They were rather woody. Still he could get them to soften up with a soaking in the sea water and then he could bend them and weave baskets or other things. Along his way he started to collect the vines. It was all going to be just fine so far as he was concerned. By mid afternoon he had reached his starting point where he set the vines in the water to soak. With a little further exploration he stared out toward the direction the lady went. More than likely she was going to be sitting huddled in somewhere hungry and incapable as most folk would be in this situation.

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There was a bit of murmuring not far off. Sounded like there was more than just the one lady. Francis helped himself up the slight grade to the cave and peered inside. "Well none of you are gonna do so hot if you stay in there. Water will be stale more than likely, humidity will only make infections worse, and its drafty in here." Not that his shelter offered that terrible much more. However, it did offer fresh water nearby, some insulation so it didn't feel quite as drafty and it was less humid.

Catching the lady's gaze from yesterday he smirked. "Its still up to you." Stripping his suit jacket off he handed it to the woman sitting with the little girl. "Use it to keep her warmer." The kid was probably going to have a harder time maintaining body heat at this point. Loss of blood, shock, and other elements would kill the child quite easily. "Anyone want to eat you'd better follow me." He already had the vines soaking and they could make a decent weave and capture at least a few fish tonight. Evening fishing always worked great. Lots of little bugs would sit on top of the water and they could practically scoop the fish out of the water.
 
Thalia slept inside the cave with the others, next to the little girl and her mother. When morning approached, she was up early and out searching. She had found a mini-waterfall around the back of the cave and gathered some in an empty water jug from her backpack. She brought it back with some bowl-shaped sea shells she collected from the beach. She poured everyone some water, and poured some extra down the girl, "Drink. You need to build up your strength." Her voice was gentle and calm.

Around late morning, the man greeted her once again. Who doe this guy think he is? She stood, looking the man in the eye, "Look, Captain Survival. I don't know if you've noticed, but this girl can't walk just yet. I patched her up," she nodded to the seaweed around her wound; it had some odd looking plaster stuff on it. It was an old healing recipe she had learned, and made from the elements. "and she needs to heal fully before shifting around so much."
 
The lady had to be the most ungrateful woman that he had ever met. She couldn't say thank you for the jacket or even admit that perhaps her little survival plan wasn't turning out. How many times did she have to fill the little sea shells to make a decent sized drink for someone? It was a waste of time. If hand's didn't leak they would provide more water than the shell did. "Well, Mrs. Einstein have you ever considered that the girl doesn't have to walk. Somebody could carry her." Francis didn't know why he felt so annoyed by her. It was as if he'd run into a person for the first time in his life that didn't just do what he said when it came to survival. That wasn't a good thing either.

"If carrying her isn't a good idea I'm sure I could make a dumb cot. Just from experience I'll tell you that cots aren't much more comfy." Without waiting for an invite he ventured into the cave a bit further and stared at the kid. "Doesn't look like it was anything fatal." While she was pale the child didn't have that dying expression in her eyes. It was just pain and a little of that was survivable. "So..." turning to the woman again he raised an eyebrow. "Make up your mind. I've got things to do."
 
Thalia stared at the man, her mouth agape. She couldn't believe how uncaring and self-centered this man was acting, like he didn't care if the rest of them survived or died as long as they did things his way. "Hey, Mr. Muscles, just calm down, alright? The wound isn't fatal, you're right, but if we move her around too much, it could get infected which in turn, could be fatal." She stood up and handed the man back his jacket. "The rest of you can go with him. The girl isn't moving until she's better. I will stay here with her and nurse her."
"I'll stay too," the girl's mother spoke up from beside her daughter, a stubborn look in her eyes.
"It may not be even a Motel 6 here, but I promise you sir, I can take care of myself and others just as well as you can." All the survivors but for Thalia, the girl, and her mother stood and grabbed what little belongings they had with them to follow the man. "Go if you must. We will find you as soon as she is well enough to." With that, Thalia turned on the man and bent over the girl to change her makeshift bandages.
 
"Because motion causes infection?" Frank shook his head. It was more like environment caused infection and with the humidity in the cave being greater than it was in the little shelter he had and the girl was more likely to get an infection here. While the others prepared to leave he walked over to the lady and grabbed her by the arm. "Look I let you find all the people you wanted. Obviously you know something about wounds, but you've got this sterile environment idea in your head. It might work like that back home. This isn't home lady!" Taking a deep breath he went on, "I'm trying to help you. Medicine in the field is extremely different than traditional methods." Peering around the cave he pointed to the sea shells. "Nice idea. Did you clean them first? If you did it with anything from your backpack then it was damn waste. Save it for people. Survival isn't really a nice thing and I don't have a lot of time. This kid isn't going to do well in an environment this humid. Cave only makes it worse. Moving her a mile isn't going to kill her. It'll hurt like hell, but plenty of folk survive that sort of thing. None of this is about comfort, it's about survival."

There was an added incentive to move them. Since there were more than one or two survivors he wanted to keep track of them. Couldn't be having anyone loose that could draw attention from the wrong folks. Softening his gaze he waited for a moment. "I'll admit I've got lousy people skills when there's a bit of pressure. People don't usually like to do what's necessary and that's why I'm here." Probably sounded rather proud and he didn't care what they thought of him. "Give the kid to me. I'll be gentle."
 
Thalia's eyes hardened and she yanked her arm away, "Don't ever touch me like that again." She stared into his eyes, her baby blue ones dim with anger seeping through her bones, though she kept her calm well. "Obviously I cleansed the shells. I used salt water and heat and some cleansing plants I found around the back of the cave. I realize that we're not in a hospital and that modern medicines are very scarce here, but I'm not stupid. I know my way around traditional medicine, and I damn sure know what I'm doing thank you very much."

She looked between the girl and her mother before kneeling next to the girl, her facial expression gentle now, "Annabeth," she took the girl's hand, "This nice man is going to lift you up. I won't lie to you, it's going to hurt a bit. But you'll be okay, I promise. And when we get to his camp site, I'll change your bandages and get you some more medicine. Does that sound okay?" The girl looked up to Thalia and nodded, taking a deep breath. Thalia looked to Annabeth's mother, Julia, "Is that alright with you, Julia?" The mother nodded and smiled down at her daughter, "What ever helps my Beth."

Thalia nodded and stood back up, turning back to the man, her face and eyes cold once again, "Have it your way then. But be gentle, she's in enough pain as it is." She picked up her backpack and secured it on her person. She snuffed the fire and gathered the young girl's belongings. She turned to the man as he was ready to lift the girl, "And maybe if you weren't so concerned with 'what's necessary' and more concerned with what people actually need, they might be more inclined to listen to you." With a last glower at the man, Thalia walked past him and out the mouth of the cave, awaiting the rest of the group.
 
At least the lady could hear reason though she did it with great pomp and show. Francis hated it when the women seemed to think that they were going to show him. Didn't matter what they knew. Only thing that mattered was that they listened when they were out of their element. He was the reason they were all here anyway. If he hadn't basically showed them how to get out of an airplane they would have drown. Everyone forgot those safety doors and it had to be fast because the water was quickly rising to meet it that night.

Quietly he stood by and waited for the women to make room. They took their precious time telling the girl that it was going to hurt. He was pretty sure that the little girl could have figured that out. A slight grin came to his face as the woman gave him her icy glare. It was such a funny face on her. The doctor got a little squint to her eyes and her nose seemed to turn up on its own accord and then her lips pulled into a straight line. How she could talk through that serious pinched face he didn't know. Looked a bit too tight to be natural. Now that she was out of the way he kneeled next to the girl. Francis couldn't even get his arms around the girl to pick her up and the woman was chiding him again for his style. Necessary and need kind of went together in this situation. She was angry and she needed to vent so he let her. What mattered was that she quit trying to be the high and mighty.

Frank carefully helped the girl to sit up first and then bent her knees. That was the part that he knew would hurt the most. Watching the little girl's face he carefully pulled her closer till she was against his chest. Seemed the kid had some grit. Her face had gotten a red blotchy tone to it and her eyes watered some with a slight downturn of her mouth. At least she didn't cry. "Well that's the worst of it." Giving the kid a wink he started for the entrance of the cave.

The girl winced at the bright light but, still she didn't make any sound. Obviously she was in discomfort. It wasn't something to be cured over night. For the sake of the girl he chose all the ground that was level.

By the time they reached the shelter Frank's arms were getting tired. It was only natural after approximately a mile of carrying a kid in front to feel like that. So far he only had one bed in the shelter so he set her down on it and let the doctor take over with the mother. Looking over to the guys he nodded. "We got a few things to do." Mainly it was going to be adding onto the shelter and then they needed some fish.

A few minutes after he had the guys working on constructing a second shelter for the men he returned to the small section of water that he had set the vines in to soak. Frank picked the dripping vines out of the water and carried them back to the women. "We'll be doing a lot of this stuff over the next few days. You might as well learn." Twisting the vines together he started to weave them and then handed the started end to the doctor. "After you get the first line done you'll add another just like it was started. In a few minutes it will be big enough for two of you to work on it." Standing back up he walked away from the shelter. It was about time he started fishing.

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Francis picked at the fish bones for a few minutes after dinner. Everyone pretty well got enough to satisfy their hunger. No one was stuffed. However, it wasn't a good thing to feel stuffed and it was wasteful in this area.

They had enough fish that he figured he could work on drying some it along with some seaweed. It would make a fine protein to be stored and eaten later. A few times he caught the women staring while he worked on the carcass of the fish that he had just laid out to dry. For tonight the men didn't have a complete shelter so they were out on the ground with the makeshift beds.

Gradually Frank fell asleep along with the rest of them and he didn't wake until early the next morning with the sun shining in his face. Getting up he stretched and then started to rouse all the adults. The kid he planned to leave alone. She would heal faster if she slept more.
 
The man seriously irked Thalia. She didn't know why he was so Mr. Take-Charge-Accept-Help-From-No-One. All she wanted to do was make sure no one died while they figured a few things out. No matter, she followed the man back to his shelter. When he told the women to weave, it lit a burning fire inside her. Who did this man think he was? Why did the women have to weave and the men fish? What made him think that it couldn't be the other way around? As peeved as she was, she chose to stay silent, noting that she was obviously going to need to pick and choose her battles with this man.

As she weaved, she stayed silent and let her mind wander. Sometimes her eyes would follow her mind and land upon the man. Who was he? How did he know all this? Why did he think he had to be in charge? What was his name? His name... Thalia's mouth fell open slightly as she realized she didn't even know his name. And he didn't know hers, though she very much doubted he cared. It was a silly thought after all that's happened, but it had never occurred to her to ask.

Thalia greatly ate the fish she was given in silence and content, as it had beat out last night's meal of berries she found on the island around the cave. They were safe to eat, of course, but still they didn't do much in the way of filling up a hungry stomach. She was indeed very grateful for the fish and fell asleep soon after her meal.

In the morning, she was awake early, before anyone else. She checked on the girl to make sure her wound wasn't infected and that she didn't have fever. Everything being okay, Thalia headed out towards the beach and began to explore a bit. On her search, she found some big fallen leaves that she rolled and gently crammed into her back pack. They could use these as blankets on colder nights. She came across a cluster of rocks at the edge of the ocean and decided to examine them closer. To her delight, she found some oysters, ready to eat. She gathered all she could find and placed them gently inside her bag.

She went back to the cave and picked some of the same berries they had a few nights prior - and she made sure to pick enough for everybody. Next, she ventured into the trees, not too far from camp, and found some herbal remedies she used to work with. Never know when we might need healing, she thought.

After what felt like a few hours, Thalia headed back to camp. Her bag was full of new goodies to help them when they needed, and she was starting to get the lay of the land. That, she would call, a good morning.
 
Frank moved from the guys to the women's shelter and he discovered one of them missing. That woman! If anyone was going to give him a heart attack she was the one. They all needed to be together to stay here until the situation was resolved. He was working on that. Mostly for now he was making sure they were set and had a routine. It wasn't a good thing for her to have this kind of routine. "Shit!" Squinting his eyes he curled both hands into fists and shook them slightly before he opened his eyes and started back toward the men.

"Ok we'll get some of the other parts of the shelter finished up today." It was going to be the men's bunk house and then the girls had their own. "I'm going to start on a tower so we can see anything incoming." That idea seemed to make everyone happy. Of course they wanted to be rescued. He wanted that too, but only by certain people. By now analysts had likely gone through and figured out possible ranges for the crash. This was going to turn into a big race to see who could get to him first.

Taking his shoes and socks off Francis stood at the base of a tree that had pretty good coverage from leaves. Now he needed to climb it. Had been a while since he'd tried it on a tree like this. On second thought he stripped his pants off too. Climbing in boxers was a far better choice than ripping the crotch out on his pants. While he was at it he rolled the sleeves up on his shirt and reached into the ground to get his hands dirty. He would have better grip with a little dirt. Giving his hands a quick rub together he then started to climb. If he could get one of the ladies to toss up some of the rope he could get this thing going. "Hey I need some rope."

At least the mother of the daughter was far more helpful and compliant than the other. She came with the rope and tossed it to him. When Francis looked down he noticed a slight smirk on her face. She obviously hadn't thought of the reason to strip down to his shirt and boxers only. Irritably he began to tie loops in the rope and fasten it too the tree. "Now I need a net." About time the woman returned with the net Frank saw the other woman return to camp. Of course she'd gone out goody hunting and put them all at risk. He missed the net the first time it was tossed but he caught it the second time. Francis fastened the net to the rope and tested his perch out. It worked very well to watch for approaching ships. It was somewhat like a mini hammock. So far this was the best place to approach the island from. Rest of it was too rocky. Taking the rest of what dangled from the rope he used it to let himself slowly down the tree till he was only about five feet from the ground.

Now that he was on the ground he grabbed his pants and shook them out to make sure he wouldn't have any company in them. Scrambling into the pants and grabbing his socks and shoes he started to march right back over to where the woman was. "Don't wander off like that ever again. I need to know what kind of route you want to take and where you're going!" Naturally he was going to have to justify this somehow and the most logical was safety. "It could be dangerous and if you don't come back in a reasonable amo........"

A hum had started to sound in the distance. Francis knew that sound. It was a plane. "No don..!" Reaching for the person nearest himself he tried to hold them back. "Stay here." From the edge of the forest he yelled at the rest. "Get out of sight!" Of course nobody listened and they waved like a bunch of idiots. Frank watched the plane fly over. He couldn't change it now. The hum sounded stronger again as the craft turned to come around again. This time the last person he'd restrained didn't listen and seemed to think they should all try and get the plane's attention.

Frank irritably chewed on his lower lip. They looked so pleased to have been found. "Yeah congratulations you're gonna have a boat load or maybe a few helicopters full of Russian military here by tonight." Why couldn't they listen when he told them not to go out there and try to wave at the plane? "And no they're not here to save anyone. They could care less about you and this whole damn thing is about me. Cause I'm just so..." Looking over at the little girl sitting in her shelter he decided to modify the original statement. "Soo important!" It was more like what he knew. "You all bought a ticket to hell. Go team." To burn off the rest of his anger and have a few minutes to think he took himself to the water front and began throwing rocks into the ocean.

Now that he had finished his adult sized and carefully monitored fit he returned to the camp and all the stares. "So we're going to need to make a trip. I've got a few places that would be a little easier to hide. We're still going to need fast access to the beach. If you want a chance at getting out of here you're going to listen to me. I will ask you to do things that might get you killed or me. If you make a mistake you will die. Is that clear?"
 
Thalia stared at the man, her rage towards him stacking up. "I was looking for supplies. That's just as important as shelter. And don't ever tell me what to do." She marched past him, towards the others. Soon after, there was a helicopter over head. She looked up to the sky, "What the..." It didn't look like the ones they normally use to rescue a plane load of people. She stepped farther out onto the beach, as the people around her began waving and jumping frantically.

When the man gave his little speech, she stared at him in disbelief. After a few seconds, she looked at the scared faces around her and her face grew stern. "No." She told the man. "We're not going with you. We have zero reason to listen to you - someone who won't even take the time to know our names and refers to us as 'You.' Until you explain why you want to go into hiding and why we should risk our lives for you instead of spelling out an SOS on the beach, then we're staying put." The other survivors around her nodded in total agreement, and she locked eyes with him, stubbornness suggesting that there was no way they were leaving without some answers.
 
Having a woman clearly defy him when he had given them perfectly good reason was entirely frustrating. The man stared at her in return. He felt that his return had been far more reasonable than his leaving. "I didn't ask you all to die for me. What kind of man do you think I am. This whole damn operation has been to keep your arse out of the fire." Pausing for a moment he realized this was not a winning statement. Taking a deep breath he met the gazes of the mostly angry people.

"Fine then. Typically you're responsible for what you know and I will hold you to it. My name if Francis, or Frank. If you haven't heard of me then that means your in good shape. I work for MI7." It looked like several folks had a hard time believing him. Well he wouldn't blame them if they didn't. Not like he had given them reason to think he was that kind of person. Just came off as a jerk so far. "Day 1 we crash and I began to set up camp. Somewhere safe and out of line of vision for incoming aircraft. By day 2 they were likely closing in on location. I searched the island and started insisting you join. It was too risky to have people wandering and getting attention. Day 3 I made a little outpost to view planes from. Day 3 was supposed to be involving a small tutorial on the kinds of aircraft we wanted to draw the attention of and when to hide." Frank paused for a moment. "As it is we are now stuck with a less than pleasant operation. They will be here by nightfall. All of you were on the same flight as me and they will do whatever it takes to get to me. It is in my best interest to keep you out of their hands. It is in your best interest to listen to me. Like it or not that is our position. None of you will be given any information that will put my mission at risk. If you happen to choose to go it on your own then so be it. You can tell the Russians whatever you like."

Bending over he started to put his shoes and socks back on. "I'll be preparing for plan C. My worst case scenario. Remember any of you could be considered dead in the crash. There is no incentive for the Russians to keep you alive and a ransom isn't something they would be interested in." Once he had finished tying the shoes back on he grabbed a few of the nets that had been woven together and he shrugged. "So take what you will from the situation. I did my best to help and I'll do what I can from here on out. Messy jobs and unnecessary casualties are not something I like."
 
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