Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2007 00:34:04 -0800 (PST) From: Pear III David Subject: Crash Survivor Chapter 8 CRASH SURVIVOR By Drake General Disclaimer and copyrights: This is just a fantasy work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons or places is a coincidence. If you aren't old enough to read this in your country, don't read. If it's a criminal offence to read this in your country, don't read. If male to male relationships and sexuality offend you, don't read. If you think the story will be lame and boring, don't read it either. All rights reserved. NOTE: Hi folks! This one is dedicated to two friends I made during the writing of this story. First, my editor, David of Hope, and second, Scribe1971 who's the author of the very good story "Substitute Dad" in the Adult-Young section of Nifty. Without them, this chapter wouldn't be as excellent as it is! I must say that my editor asked me to overcome his normal part of the work and to write some of the chapter, since he had some interesting ideas. I must say it was worth it, and that I'm almost ashamed to say that he's nearly doing a better job than me! ;-) Anyway, I think with the three of us, contributing our ideas, we were able to bring out a very good chapter that I'm sure you'll all enjoy. I would like to thanks each of you that had took the time writing me. I always read all your emails with great delight. Since it's winter now, we have more snow than we would want here, I would like to take the time to wish you a Merry Christmas and give you my best wishes for the year to come. The songs I listened and that inspired me during the typing of this chapter were: - Liar by Three Dog's Night - Alive by P.O.D. - All my Life by the Foo Fighters - La Grange by ZZ Top - Silent Lucidity by Queensriche Hope to see all of ya in 2008! Drake From last chapter: I took them by surprise. "Well since Matt fixed Jake and that he proved to us that Jake seems to feel much better...." that introduction brought giggles from the boys, "I think we should go somewhere tomorrow..." "Where dad?" Jake asked. "Where do you think?" I replied. "The military base!!!!!!" he yelled. "Right you are! So boys, it's time to get to sleep if we wanna be in shape for tomorrow. We should start at the crack of dawn." I replied. We let our fire die out on its own and after our last pee, we all crawl into the tent. Since it was a hot day, Wil and I mimicked the other two and removed our clothes for the night. We stacked ourselves against each other for the night, skin on skin, snuggling the one next to us. Soon we were snoring like bears, exhausted from the productive day we had. -------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 8 The next morning, it wasn't I, that was up at the crack of dawn. I awoke to a gentle rocking of my shoulder. When I opened my eyes, Wil was staring at me with a bottle of water. "Com'on you two, it's time to get up if we're going to get to that military base." he said excitedly. "Yeah, you too Matt, it's time to rise and shine," Jake said as he kneeled beside his groggy mate. "Up and at 'em!" I smiled as I recalled their eagerness from last night. "Good morning boys." I said as I took the bottle from Wil and took a swig to wake up my mouth. "Is it time already?" Matt groaned. "Yes it is my best friend," Jake replied. "Wil says we need a few hours just to get to the road to the base and back. We don't know how long the road is up to the base and we want to see what's there and that may take a fair bit of time in itself." "Oh all right," Matt sighed after he'd taken a swig or two of water. "Have you figured out what we should take with us?" "Water for sure," Wil said, "and maybe some fruit and nuts to eat for lunch. Jake and I have some all ready for breakfast and we've started to get some more to take with us. Now com'on.... let's get this show on the road!" "Good for you Wil," I said with some pride in my voice, "Let me go have a pee, have something to eat real quick and we should be on our way." "Me too!" Matt said with a smile, now with some enthusiasm. Naturally, before he left the tent, he had to give Jake a peck on the lips - I suppose just to say 'Good Morning'. I was thankful to get to the pee tree and relieve myself. The sun was just sitting on the horizon. I thought this was going to be a very full day. While we stood there, Matt asked, "Do you think Jake is well enough to make this trip?" "I think he is, but we may have to stop a few times just to let him rest if his wounds get sore, so it's better that we start off as soon as we can." I reaffirmed our original plan for this hike. "We don't want to end up coming back in the dark and not find our campsite again." "Well just in case," Matt said as we walked back towards the tent, "we can follow the ocean shore from the military base road even in the dark. Now if we put some markers by the shore down here, maybe a line of coconuts or rocks that we can feel with our feet.... that might work to get us from the shore back to the tent." "Matt, I think your right. Good plan. Let's you and I do it while Jake and Wil get our provisions ready." I was beginning to think this kid was really a genius as we approached the camp. "What's Matt right about now?" Wil asked with a grin and a bit of sarcasm in his voice. "Oooh, you'll see!" I said teasing him. "Well it better be good," Jake exclaimed, "Com'on, let's have something to eat and get ready to go!" Matt didn't say anything while we ate. He just kept grinning at me while we munched away at the fruit and nuts. Of course, I grinned back just to keep the tease going. Wil and Jake kept shaking their heads, curious what we were up to, but they didn't say anything. It didn't take long until all the crumbs were gone from our usual breakfast feast and Matt and I stood up. "OK Matt let's get started. Wil, Jake, could you guys get some provisions ready to take with us... you know more fruit and nuts and I guess four bottles of water. Matt and I have a little project to do." "Huh! A project? What are you talkin' about? We're going to the base, aren't we?" Wil asked rather surprised. "Yup, we are, but Matt and I want to make sure we get back OK." I said as Matt and I headed for the shore. Very quickly Matt and I found a lot of loose rocks and gathered them together into a makeshift two-foot-high cairn about three feet from the edge of the shore, then started to put some individual rocks on the sand about two feet apart in a line directed at our campsite. We were about halfway there, when Jake and Wil came and stood in front of us - both with their arms crossed - with a VERY indignant look on their faces. "Alright, just what are you two idiots up to?" Jake asked, "we haven't got time for playing in the sand. We gotta get goin'." I just kept grinning and Matt burst out laughing. "I'm sorry Jake," I apologized for our laughter, "but this was Matt's idea and it's a good one." Jake and Wil then listened carefully while I explained what and why we were building the trail back to the tent and our campsite. "RIGHT ON!" Jake exclaimed. That's my Matt, always thinking ahead!" "GENIUS!" Wil yelled as he went rushing around gathering more rocks and helped us finish the trail of rocks. With Wil's help and Jake's supervision, we had the job done in no time. Wil and Jake had done a great job of packing the two backpacks - one with water and the other filled to the brim with food for the trip into the new territory. I took the heavy one with the food in it and Wil took the one with the water. Down the beach we went, each of us eager to see what was at the end of the road. We did stop once, about halfway to the turn-off to the military base. We were only about a half-hour out from our campsite. I found it amazing, the fellowship between these boys. It was like an instinct. Wil was in the lead; it seemed he was measuring his pace carefully. I was just a few paces to his side; Matt and Jake were just two paces behind me. Without a word of complaint or suggestion from anyone, Wil slowed his pace to a stop, turned, and simply said, "Rest." Bless his heart - he said it like a gentle command, but I knew he was doing it for Jake's sake. We did rest. We sat down, took off the backpacks, and then lay comfortably on the warming sand. Towards noon time, I knew the sand may become too hot to even walk on, but right now, it was just the right temperature. "You know, we don't even know if this is a real island or not. I mean it could be quite big and we'll never get to explore it all," I said. "Maybe if we could find some high ground or a very tall tree to climb to get a better view, we'd get a better idea." Wil suggested. "I think you're right Wil," Jake said, "but I also think it's a smaller deserted island or it would be filled with hotels and tourists with a beach as nice as this." "I agree. Surely we would've seen some sign of life around here." Matt said. "I'm pretty sure we're on the south side of the island, judging from the way the sun sets and rises... and that's where they'd be putting any settlement." "You could be right there Matt," I assured him. "But maybe the shipping lanes are on the north, east, or west side of the island." "Then Wil's right... we need to get to the high ground and have a look and see what we're living on." Jake said confidently as he started to stand up. "Com'on Matt, let's take the lead and show these lazy guys how to march the sand." "Right on partner," Matt grinned, "Hell, we'll be to the road before they get their sorry asses dusted off." "Oh yeah!" Wil exclaimed. "Fair enough, you two take the lead for a while. We'll be right behind you." As Matt and Jake took off westward, Wil and I put the backpacks on again and took off after them. It took less than a minute and we were just a few paces behind them. About another half-hour into the trek, Wil nudged me, put his index finger to his lips as we came to the overgrown road to the military base. Together we stopped as Matt and Jake continued their trek west, their heads looking down at the sand in front of them as they plodded along. We let them carry on about another forty feet. "Hey turkey heads, wait up!" Wil finally yelled. I had to stifle a laugh as Jake and Matt turned around and looked at us with their hands on their hips. "YOU LAZY BUMS, IT'S NOT TIME FOR A REST YET!" Jake called out. "Oh yes it is," I yelled as I dropped to my knees on the sand right where we were standing, my arms raised skyward as if I was pleading for mercy. Slowly, Jake and Matt started walking back towards us as Wil and I sat down on the sand. "We'll never get there at this rate if we keep resting," Matt said as he reached us. "Well if we keep going at your rate we're going to get lost," Wil retorted. "Huh! We aren't going to get lost... the shore's right there," Jake argued. That was all I could take - I couldn't hold my laughter any longer. Both Wil and I were enjoying the indignant protests that we got from Matt and Jake as the result of our little tease. "All right, what's so funny. You guys are up to something.... what is it?" Jake asked obviously very perturbed with our humour. Finally, although I couldn't speak from the laugh I was enjoying, I pointed to the roadway off to our right. Jake gasped with wide eyes. "WE'RE HERE!" He exclaimed. "YEAH!" Matt exclaimed. While both of them were very excited, they too sat down now grinning and giggling with the little joke Wil and I had played on them. Jake pulled a bottle of water from Wil's backpack that we all took a few swigs from. Although we were supposed to be resting, all of us were fidgety, each of us rather anxious to see what was up the road. Anxious to get going, we approached the sign to the road. Just beyond the sign, we looked down at some rusted barbed wire that was strewn about the ground. It appeared that it may have been stretched between some trees and the sign post some years back, but now it was just a rusty remembrance of some old security measure. We stopped looking down at it. It was beginning to dawn on me that we may have some additional concerns about the overgrown roadway. "Whoa!" Wil exclaimed. "This place... this roadway used to be closed with security barbed wire!" "You're right Wil. It didn't seem like it was too secure though... just three or four strands of barbed wire." Matt commented. "Yeah but still, I was wondering about something else...." Wil said quietly. "Wil, are you and I thinking the same thing?" I asked with some concern. "Well I was thinking that maybe the road may have some land mines in it." Wil announced. "LAND MINES!!" Jake exclaimed. "It could be," I said with some concern. Wil spoke up and announced, "Now listen, I'm going to take the lead up this road. You guys stay at least ten feet behind me. I'll be the guinea pig. If something should happen to me, the three of you'll be able to rescue me. No sense in all four of us falling into the same trap." "No Wil," I protested, "it's my job to protect you boys. I'll TAKE THE LEAD! If anything was to happen to one of you boys, I'd never forgive myself. You boys have a whole lifetime of experiences ahead of you and I'm not going to allow any of you to even think of forfeiting that." "No dad." Wil said with a sigh. "We don't know what's up there. Who knows... maybe they booby-trapped or even put some land mines in the road or something before they left. Greg, if something was to happen to you, how would the three of us survive? I don't think we'd be able to without you. If something happened to me, well.... you'd still be here to look after Matt and Jake and that's far more important." Suddenly I realized what a dangerous situation the four of us could be walking into. I stood there, with my jaw dropped open, shaken and amazed at the reverence, honesty, and - love - that overwhelmed me by Wil's words. "Wil.... I love you son." I said as I pulled him into a hug, my eyes filled to the brim. "I love you too much to let you do this." "Dad, I have to.... just to prove that I can. I'm not smart like Matt or Jake or you, but this is something I know I can do. Please.... I've got to..." "Please be careful," I said as I nodded my head, understanding how he felt. After I released Wil, Matt took his turn to pull him into an embrace. "Wil, you're a very brave guy. I love you too." "Wil, you're really the older brother I never had. I love you," Jake said as he kissed Wil on the cheek. "Lead on, my brave bro." "Wil, let's get some long sticks that you can poke the ground with in front of you as you walk." I suggested. "Excellent idea dad!" Jake exclaimed. Just past the sign, we carefully stepped over the rusty barbed wire. The road became overgrown and there was only an overgrown trail of two wheel tracks left. The growth between the tracks and about three feet outside the tracks was about two feet high. Wil took a stance in the centre of the two tracks and started to probe the ground with his ten-foot stick. And so we carefully followed Wil as he studiously probed the ground inch by inch in an arc of about five feet on each side and in front of him. His steps consisted of just one foot in front of the other. Our steps matched his and as he directed, we stayed about ten feet behind him. Jake was on my left and Matt was on my right. I kept my hands on their nearest shoulder, allowing a squeeze of my hand to be a signal to them to take another short step. Although the jungle around us was teaming with squawking, singing, chirping birds, we maintained our concentration, in total silence. You could cut the tension with a knife. I was so aware of every move that Wil made, but my eyes stayed concentrated on the probing end of the stick, watching and concentrating for any variation or innuendo of movement that I might see in its movement. As soon as we'd passed the sign at the beginning of the road, the jungle growth grew tall and thick. The amount of direct sunlight on the ground in front of us was diminished from what we'd been used to on the sunny beach. Sometimes I was squinting so hard that I was starting to get a headache. I was aware of Wil's form, but my eyes stayed glued on where the end of the stick was as it poked into the ground. Racing through my mind was the thought, 'Is the next prod going to go BOOM in his face.' After about forty-five minutes on the trail, I noticed a certain brightness as I concentrated on the end of the stick. I was feeling tired and I wanted to look around us to give my eyes a rest. "Wil, stop." I said in an even voice. He did stop and carefully laid the stick on the ground pointing at the spot where he'd made his last probe. Slowly he turned and walked towards us. As he approached me, I saw him shaking; his legs, his arms, and his shoulders were trembling from exhaustion. I reached for him and held him fast; his breathing was hard and laboured. "Wil, I am so, SO proud of you," I said as I kissed his forehead. Once he quit trembling and had his breathing under control, I lowered him gently to the ground. Any tension that I'd been feeling was little compared to the stress that was being released from Wil at that moment. We were all tired and exhausted just from the tension each of us had exerted on this slow trek. We sat in a circle in the middle of the trail. The brightness I'd been seeing when I was concentrating on Wil's prod was a clearing about forty yards in front of us. We were almost there! "It.... it's not hard going... b.... but it's just.... well, you don't know what it's supposed to feel like?" Wil said as he closed his eyes and laid down. Matt went over to him and started to massage his legs; Jake his arms and shoulders. "OH, ooooh, that feels sooo good," Wil exclaimed. "Hey bro, you deserve it. It's the least we can do. You're the one up there risking your life for us." Jake said seriously. "Wil you gotta know as much as I love Jake, you're my hero too." Matt said softly. "What you're doing for us takes more guts than I could ever expect of myself sometimes. Someday I'm going to remember this day and know what a family does for each other." "Family?" I questioned the thought aloud. "Yes boys, we are family.... each of us looking out for each other in our own way. We have love.... we have caring and that goes a long way towards giving each of us the trust we need to survive. All those things together with a bit of hope, maybe some blind faith too, we'll get rescued and be very happy for the experiences that we're sharing." Wil sat up and opened his eyes and started grinning. "Dad, that is soooo mushy, but I guess it's true. I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't love you guys." I giggled at the good natured comment as I stood up and started stretching some of the tension from my body; twisting at the waist, bending to the sides, bending backwards with my hands on my hips, bending forward trying to touch my toes, rotating my neck and head - you'd think I was preparing for a marathon run. When I started to shake and vibrate my legs one at a time and then my arms and hands, Jake said in a very simple deadpan voice, "Yup, the old man has gone completely to mush." "Either that or he's having a seizure." Wil laughed as he stood up stretching his arms to the sky. Smiling at the banter going on, I reached down, took hold of Jake's hands, maintaining eye contact, and pulled him to his feet. Holding my stare into his eyes, with a smile, I said, "I'm not TOO OLD to know how to give a good spanking to boys that don't show their elders the right respect." Releasing his hands, I went for his rib cage and started to tickle him. I only allowed him to squirm and laugh for a few seconds before I released him. I knew his wounds were still delicate to the touch. Matt stood up with a big smile on his face and gave me a big hug. "Thanks for making us laugh dad. It really helps us be a better family." I kissed him on the forehead. "Thank you son. I know you guys appreciate me and it feels good. Now look.... just ahead there... we don't have much further to go and I think that clearing is the base. You up to continuing Wil?" "You BET!" he exclaimed. It won't take us long now. Let's get at 'er" With that, we resumed our positions on the trail. Again the tension in our bodies built-up, our smiles returning to glares of seriousness, watching with concern for Wil's safety and yet, anticipation of reaching the clearing. My eyes glued again to the motion of the end of the stick. I knew we were getting close - and I blinked. ... just another five feet to go. Then Wil STOPPED, but continued to poke the same spot of ground directly in front of him. Then he stopped poking with the stick. I had a dreadful sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Slowly he lowered the stick to the ground as he knelt on one knee with his arms outstretched to his sides, his hands opened wide, indicating for the three of us to stop. We did. We watched as he crept very gingerly to where the point of the prod was laying. Slowly, he reached down with his hands and started to clear the brush from a small area. Bit by bit, twig by twig, he cleared a one-foot circle around an object that we couldn't see from our vantage point. "Wil, come here," I said with a firm steady voice. Slowly he backed away from the area, stood, turned, and came towards us. He was sweating profusely. "Whew! I think I found one. It looks like a big steel nut screwed into something." Wil reached into the backpack that held the water and took a long slurp from one of the bottles. "OK boys, stay here. I'm going to go and have a closer look. Don't worry, I'm not going to get any closer to it or set it off or anything." I gestured for the boys to sit down and they did. I followed Wil's steps towards the object he'd found. I stopped about five feet from it and surveyed the location. I was standing in the middle of what was the road, the object straight in front of me. I pondered, 'why would they bury it in the middle of the road bed?' It would take the weight of a vehicle to set it off, but this was not where a wheel would touch it. I wondered if there were three of them - one in the middle and one in each of the wheel tracks. I peered from my position into the clearing. I saw two rusty Quonset huts, one very large with an open end, and the smaller one, which was still quite huge, with a closed end and a man-door into it. Between the huts and me was an expanse of concrete with vegetation growing in the expansion joints that appeared to end about a foot from the object that Wil had cleared. I could see that this was an airfield with a runway, but if this roadway was used to supply the air field with equipment and supplies during the war, WHY would they put land mines in it? I went closer to the near end of Wil's prod stick. Now from where I stood, I could see the outline of the big steel nut he was describing. I planted my feet firmly so that I wouldn't casually move them onto the object. Now that I was at the edge of the jungle, I had a better view to the right and the left. To the left was the long runway that stretched beyond my view. Directly to my right was an object that made me smile. An island of raised concrete, about five feet wide and fifteen feet long with about six twelve-foot high pipes coming out of it. I gestured for the boys to come forward. Cautiously and full of trepidation, they approached and huddled behind me. I backed away from the object and pulled each of them in front of me, so they could have a good look at the top of the object. Matt and Jake were shaking slightly as they stared down at what they interpreted as an impending doom. Again, I put a hand on each of their shoulders. "Boys, I don't think we have anything to worry about. Look up, over there to the left.... it's a runway... now look to the right.... what do you see?" "I see two buildings..." Matt began, "that one with the open end seems to have an airplane in it... the other one might be a barracks or workshop." "What about that two storey building right across from us?" Jake asked. "I'll bet that was the control tower." Wil said. "You're right about that, but what I meant was, over here directly to our right." I said. Actually, I was hoping they could figure this one out for themselves. "Yeah, it's a bunch of pipes coming out of the ground...." Matt's voice drifted off. "Yes, now look back to the ground in front of us. If this was a land mine, why would they put it in the centre of the road where no part of a vehicle's wheel would run over it?" I questioned, "Think.... supply line and look over at the pipes again." Jake tilted his head still questioning my reasoning and for the same reason, Wil squinted his eyes and looked at me. They weren't getting the picture. Matt on the other hand was starting to smile, his eyes growing wider. "OF COURSE!!" he exclaimed. "RIGHT ON!!" He turned and looked down the trail, bent down and squinted at the beach and the ocean beyond. Grinning from ear to ear, he stood and looked at Jake and Wil. "WHAT?" Jake and Wil yelled. I winked at Matt with a smile and nodded that he should tell them. "Guys, turn around and look down the slope of this road." Matt began. "You can see the beach and the ocean. Imagine a big supply ship out there and they have to get their supplies to the base... you know, food and equipment. They'd probably use amphibious vehicles and drive up this road to the base right over this big nut thingy. BUT, what if it was fuel they had to get up here. I'll bet they would run a long hose from the supply ship up to here AND I'll bet that's an underground fuel tank under here and they'd unscrew that top and pump the tank full of fuel. Once it was filled they'd close the top of the tank and the planes would taxi over here and fill up from one of those pipes over there at the right. I'll betcha dollars to doughnuts that this isn't a land mine!" "OOOOH DOUGHNUTS!! I exclaimed laughing. "What I wouldn't give for a strong cup of coffee and a doughnut right now!" The boys started laughing. "Sorry Dad, you'll have to wait 'til we get rescued before we can have that." Jake said. "In the meantime, I'm hungry. Let's go over to that fill station and have a seat so we can have some lunch." Still with caution in our steps, we carefully walked around the fill point of the underground tank and walked onto the concrete apron of the runway over to the fill station curb and sat. We relaxed, the tension that had engulfed us for the past hour coming up the road was released. As we were munching on some fruit and nuts a bird with green, yellow, and blue, almost iridescent colours swooped across the runway and landed in a tree behind us. "Pretty bird!" Wil exclaimed, as he stood and watched it land in a tree behind us. "Pretty boy!" Wil said as he looked at it just above his head level. "Pretty boy! Pretty boy! Pretty boy! Pretty boy!" He repeated over and over again as he looked up at the bird. The bird jumped from the limb it was on and swooped around in a large arcing circle, then landed on a lower branch - eye level with Wil. It cocked its head and looked curiously at Wil. "Pretty boy! Pretty boy! Pretty boy!" Wil slowly repeated again. As we watched silently, we could see it was a parrot. "Scrrrrrraawk," the parrot finally replied loudly as it twisted its head, then looked at Wil again with its head tilted questioningly to the side. Wil took some nuts from his hand and held them to his own mouth, then put them back in his other hand. "Pretty boy! Pretty boy!" he repeated slowly again. "Paarrr!" the parrot squawked, then looked at Wil again while he moved his head forward. "Prrreetyyy boy!" he exclaimed. The three of us were watching in awe as Wil performed a miracle with this bird. Slowly Wil extended his hand with one nut in it towards the birds beak. Cautiously the parrot nudged its beak onto Wil's hand. "Pretty boy!" Wil said slowly and quietly and the parrot's beak opened and gently took the small nut from Wil's open palm. It only took a second or two for the parrot to crush the nut and swallow it. Then it spoke again. "Preeety.... pretty boy! Pretty boy! Pretty boy.... Henry's a pretty boy!" it said quickly, yet quite understandable. "WOW!" we all exclaimed. "Your name is Henry!" Wil exclaimed. "Henry, you're a pretty boy!" Wil extended his hand again with another nut in it. We all started laughing. When Henry had finished his nut, he started mimicking our laugher. "Hah! Ha! Ha! He! Hee! He!" On and on he went. As we enjoyed seeing the bird interacting with Wil, Jake stopped laughing then frowned his eyebrows, "Hey... there's something odd, guys," he said. "What?" we all asked him. Studying the bird, then scratching his head, "How comes this bird knows his name?" Jake asked. We were all speechless. "No, it can't be it..." I almost told to myself. "What dad?" Matt asked. "I... I think this bird was here during the Second War..." I continued on the same tone. "No, it's impossible!! No birds can live that long! He'd have sixty-something right now!" Jake replied. "Jake, you know nothing about parrots... Some species of parrots have a life expectation over 80 years!" Wil beamed. "Wow! So would it be possible then?" Jake added. Wil chuckled. "Jake, you're such a nut!! Do you expect Henry to tell you himself?" he asked. "Huh? well, no... but I got the point!" Jake replied, somewhat redder than usual. I began to think we had a pet that might stay with us. I approached Wil and studied the parrot as I stood beside him. I looked at the parrot's talons and thought they could be rather injurious if he hung onto someone's wrist. Matt and Jake approached behind me carrying the backpacks. I had an idea. I took the water bottles out of the one backpack and put them in the food backpack. Then I folded the empty backpack, reorganized the straps, and placed it on Wil's right shoulder, running the straps over his chest, under his other arm and fastened them around his back. "See if he'll come to your shoulder Wil." I said. Wil turned his padded shoulder towards Henry and put a small nut on the secured backpack. "Is Henry a pretty boy?" Wil asked as he pointed towards his shoulder. With a giant leap of faith, at least for a parrot, Henry jumped onto Wil's shoulder. "Henry's a good boy!" Henry squawked into Wil's ear. Wil winced at the sound. "OK pretty boy, don't scream in my ear. Just whisper if you can." Wil said with a smile. "Henry's a pretty boy." he said a bit quieter this time and then took off from Wil's shoulder, then once in the air, let go with one of the loudest wolf whistles I'd ever heard. Right away we started laughing. I don't know who taught all the expressions, but he did have a sense of humour. "I wonder who taught him that?" Matt asked between giggles. We started to follow him onto the concrete runway as he swooped around us in ever-larger circling arcs. We were headed towards the Quonset huts - where we wanted to go anyway. After about five circuits around us, our flighty friend swooped down and landed on Wil's shoulder. "Hey look dad!!! LOOK!! He's on me!" yelled a proud Wil. No one said anything as we all enjoyed the moment. Wil walked slowly as if the bird was an unstable porcelain dish that might fall to the ground and break if it was shaken too much. After a couple of steps, Wil reached up and started to pet the bird. Henry took to the attention very well, cocking his head from side to side and bobbing up and down. After watching Wil play with the large bird, we were about to enter the smaller of the Quonset huts. "They must have left in a hurry! They didn't lock the door!" Matt said as he pulled on the handle to open the door. "No need to lock it, I don't think any thieves OR pirates would come here just to steal something..." Jake said smiling. "Thank you Mr. Poirot!" grinned Matt as we all entered the building. As the boys ran everywhere to see what we may find in there, I took the time to do a closer inspection of the place. We were able to see clearly, thanks to the sunlight that was coming through some plastic sky dome placed on the roof and through the wall's windows. Everything was old and dusty but seemed intact. As I found out, the structure was divided in three sections. The first section was a workshop that contained benches, tools, a soldering boot and even a lathe and a milling machine. This site seemed to be equipped as a self-sufficient installation. I remarked that there were electrical switches on the wall, so I looked at the ceiling to find here some industrial floodlamps. This place had electricity before!!! I resumed my walk and entered the second section. It was the barracks, filled with some desks, bunk beds, lockers and drawers. The mattresses were all but threads after the years of exposure. Somehow, they produced a very musty odor to the room. Off to one side was a kind of canteen area with a table and some cupboards around it, there was also and old refrigerator. When I entered the third section, which was the smallest area of this large building, I found an old diesel powered generator. Matt was sitting on a wood box beside the machine, his hands under is chin, concentrating with a furrowed brow. He jumped as I walked in, my footsteps announcing my presence. "Oh, it's you dad..." he said. "Yeah son... What do you think of this little beast?" I asked. "It's a generator attached to a diesel engine... The generator is so huge!! It must be able to supply the power to everything here! I never saw one that big!" "You seem to know something about it, how come?" I asked him. "My uncle was a mechanic. He had his own business.... mostly he repaired industrial machinery. Sometimes he had to repair industrial diesel engines too. Sometimes, I went with him to watch and I helped him too. I liked him.... he was the only one I liked in the family," he replied. "Oh..." I said, stumbling on my words. "Do you think it might start?" I asked him pointing to the metallic monster. "Battery's dead. I already tried." "So it's useless then...?" I questioned. "Hell no! Just have to find another way to start it, I'm sure it..." he started to say. "Sorry Matt but, we don't have any fuel to put in it anyway..." I stated. "There might be some in the underground tank? If they didn't lock the door, they probably didn't have the time to remove all the fuel from there. Do you think...." he asked me with a questioning look. "Matt, even if there were some, the fuel would be more than fifty years old, which may probably have varnished through the years. No need to say that it wouldn't work, but remember this is a diesel engine.... it can't run on gas or airplane fuel." "You'd be surprise to see on what it can run on. We could run it on eggs if it was a breakfast machine!" Matt chuckled. "Oh, okay, you got me! I think you know more about the subject than I do!" I smiled. "Maybe a little dad, and maybe enough to figure out a way to get it started. I'm pretty sure I can figure something out, it's just that I don't have any idea right now." Matt added. I left our little mechanic specialist and returned to the barracks where I found Jake, Wil, and of course, Henry fumbling among things that were found here and there. I started to look with the boys, curious myself about what we may find. We went toward a curious metallic desk located in one corner. It was covered with a military grey tarpaulin. As more we were approaching to the desk, more Henry made curious sounds and became excited. "Rrrrruuuuuck.... Ujelang Atoll approach runway 28, Roger!" came out suddenly from the bird. We all looked at Henry with astonishment. Did we really hear that? "Ujelang... Ujelang Atoll approach runway 28 for landing, Rrrrroger!" he repeated again. "Hey! He's mimicking someone calling the control tower!" exclaimed Jake. "Ujelang??? Atoll???" Wil asked. "I think it's where we are boys... on the Ujelang Atoll." I answered. "And where's THAT suppose to be?" he asked back. The answer came to me as my eyes wandered around the workspace and glanced at a card stuck to a folder that was left absentmindedly on a shelf so long ago. It said: "Plane landing records 1944, Ujelang Atoll, Marshall Islands" We're in the Marshall Islands... God! Slowly it dawned on me that was quite distant from where I thought we'd be. If I remembered right, some of the atolls in the Marshall's were close together, I hoped we were near one that was populated, maybe if we paddled around this atoll with the raft we could find one. Wil took me out from my reverie, "Dad? Da..... dad?" he questioned. "Huh? Hmm, what?" I replied, my mind still a little disturbed. "Do you know where this Atoll is?" he asked. "Yeah, we are in the Marshall Islands. That's a little south from Hawaii. "Oh..." was his only response. "Ujelang Atoll approach runway 28, Rogers!" Henry kept repeating. "Hmm dad? Why Henry's always saying that?" Jake asked. "Dunno... Maybe he wants to land himself on the air strip out there! He's asking the tower to be sure the path is clear and avoid a crash!" I chuckled. "Dad, be serious! He started to act completely nuts as soon as we got near that desk." Wil added. "Maybe we should have a look under the tarp on that desk then?" I proposed. We got near the desk, and anxiously, yet carefully, removed the sheet to reveal an antique radio transmitter-receiver linked with a microphone. Beside it was what's looked like a small radar screen. There was some unknown electric equipment scattered on the back end of the table. "That's why he was calling the control tower, he heard it from there!!" Wil almost yelled. "Shhhhh... Yeah probably... but it was a long time ago..." I said quietly, still with a dozen thoughts going through my head. "Maybe but... Dad? Could this thing still work?" he asked. "Nope!" Matt replied as he came toward us. "It can't work until we get electricity to power it," he added a little discouraged. "Do we have electricity here?" Jake asked with some concern. "Look around Jake, there's electric lamps everywhere, there's a lot of electrical equipment here. And you still have this old lamp radio here... Yeah, this place used to have electricity before. It was provided by a big diesel generator that I found in the back end of this building." I replied. "And are we able to start that geriatric?" Jake asked seriously, unknowing his mistake in the words. "It may look geriatric, but it's a gen-er-a-tor goof!" Matt told to his friend. "Oh, huh! Okay then... that generator goof!" Jake chuckled. "I'm working on it Jakey... nothing's impossible. I found some fuel barrels over there." He said pointing back to the generator room. "There should be sufficient fuel to power the generator for days..." "So why don't you put some fuel in it and start the thingy?" Wil asked. Knowing the answer, I replied before Matt. "Well Jake, we need some kind of electricity like a battery to start the engine. The batteries around here are all dead..." "Ohh..." Jake and Wil replied in unison, somewhat disappointed. "Listen boys... I know you're disappointed. I know we have everything here to communicate our position then be able to be rescued. We even know where we are now but..." Then I choose my words carefully, knowing the frustration we all had regarding to our situation. "But we have plenty of time to find a solution. Considering we've been able to live here up 'til today, I'm pretty sure we'd be able to stay here a couple more days and figure something out." I said. Confident of his skills, Matt added, "There are a lot of things that could be used here, we have roof over us, there's fuel, and maybe we can have electricity sooner than expected..." "And we have some food too!" added Wil proudly. "FOOD!?!?!" we all asked. "Yeah, there's plenty of SPAM cans in a cupboard over there." He said pointing to the small canteen area I'd glanced at before. "Yuk!!! It'll be rotten by now!! It's 50 year old food!" Jake said. "My pappy told me that if it's stored properly , SPAM may last forever!" Wil added. "It can't, it would be all rotten with some mold or something in it!" Jake said "Nooo! Wanna try some?" Wil asked "No way!" Jake replied. "It's OK Jake, we'll have a look at the SPAM and if it's no good, we won't eat it. We're way past our lunch time and we really need to eat. I'd be glad to have a change in our diet!" I said. We retrieved our backpacks filled with our food and water then made our way to the little canteen area. For the first time since we'd know each other, we were able to eat all together sit around a table It felt like we were a family in a vacation camp. Wil opened one of the cupboard doors and got some SPAM cans. Then he rummaged in a drawer under the counter to find a can opener and some forks. He came back to us with a victorious smile. "There ya go! Dig in my friends!" he told us. First, we opened only one can. It smelled like SPAM. The texture seemed right, there was no discoloration in it or sign of mold. Wil carefully put his fork in it, then brought the ham mix to his mouth. "That's not bad, quite good I must say!" he added after chewing it. It took no more encouragement for the rest of us to us to open our own cans. Jake, who was reluctant to consider it before, even opened his own can. After a few tastes, we started to eat like pigs, glad to have some kind of meat to swallow. We ate our entire snack silently, enjoying the change in our diet for once. We finished by eating some of our coconuts and punky fruits. Finally, we rinsed everything with some water. After a big belch from Jake that made us laugh uncontrollably, I made a proposition to the boys. "Ok boys, so do you think we should move our camp here?" "Yeeeaaahh!" they all replied. "OK then. What I propose is to go back to our beach camp then..." I started to say, but Wil interrupted. "Dad, we have to check out the rest of this place! We haven't seen all of it yet. There's no need to get back to our camp that early, is there?" he asked. "No need to hurry, but... once we get our belongings moved here, we'll have plenty of time to investigate." I replied. "Oh... That makes sense. I think I'm too excited about what we might find next..." he added. "Yeah, I understand son. So that's why I want all of us to get back to our camp, and sleep there for a last night... then tomorrow, we'll put all of our belongings into the raft and drag it back here." I told them. "We really have to leave this early?" Jake asked. "I enjoy being there..." "Yeah, we have to leave soon son... by the time we get back to our site, we'll be in a complete darkness." I replied. "Not as dark as you may think..." Matt interrupted with a grin. "Huh?" Then seeing the look on Matt's face, I asked, "What do you have in your magic hat now young man?" "Wood sticks, old clothes, fuel... and a MAGNESIUM BAR!" he said, insisting on the last word using a ghost voice. "Torches!!! You'd make us torches?" Jake asked taking his lover in his arms. "Yup!" "And we have all theses goodies here?" Jake asked again. "Yup!" "OH MATT! You're starting to sound like Henry... yup, yup, yup." Jake said, fainting to be discouraged. "Oh, well then... Definitively YES!" Matt replied with a big grin. "Then, what's the manganesium for?" Jake asked, again not realizing his mispronunciation. "It's mag-nes-i-um my love... Chipped into small flakes, it can be lit if we strike a flint near it." "But we have some matches don't we?" Wil asked. "I forgot to bring them, didn't think we'd need them..." Matt replied shyly. "Anyway, we're running out of them. I think this stuff will be a great replacement," he added. "But we don't have flint do we?" Wil asked again. "I found this little fire starter kit over there. It's a small magnesium bar with a flint rod on one edge. All we have to do is to chip a small amount of it with a knife, put the little pile on a fuel soaked cloth, then strike the knife blade on the flint and the sparks will land on the cloth." Matt explained. "That won't work at all, it's... it's too complicated!" Jake exclaimed in disbelief. "How do you think I knew what to do with it then?" Matt grinned. "Huh... I dunno." Jake replied. "He'd learned it while he was in the Scouts, didn't ya Matt?" I was smiling at the smarts this kid had. "Yeah, anytime we went camping and it was raining, we lit our campfire that way. I must say that the flame coming out of the magnesium pile is over 1800 degrees." He told us. "We used a fire starter kit that was almost the same as the one I found." "1800 degrees, wow!!" Wil added almost for himself. "OK, so while you're making those torches, I think the rest of us should gather our belongings and clean up our mess before leaving." I said. "No need to clean dad, it's already all dusty and..." Jake started to say. "Young man! We'll be staying here, so I expect everyone to clean after we eat. We're not a bunch off slobs. I'm sure you'd all like to live in a comfortable clean place." I waited for all the boys to nod then continued. "And as for the dust, if you don't mind, everyone will have to remove some, at least in the barracks and clean around so it looks more like a home One of our first chores will be to get rid of all the remnants of those moldy mattresses." I explained. "Yeah, dad's right Jake. For once, it would be nice to live in a comfortable place. It would be keep us from being depressed if the place was clean and livable." Matt added. "Then, pitter-patter, let's get at 'er, then we can leave!" I chuckled. In less time than it took to say, all the work was done. Matt gave each of us, a stick with a roll of cloth attached with some wires to it. He'd filled a small jerry can with lamp fuel, so we could pour on the cloths later. As soon as we were outside again, Henry jumped off Wil's shoulder and started swooping around us again. As we were leaving the base, Henry followed us until we were near the trail leading to the beach. "Wil, Wil!" Henry squawked loudly. "Hey listen dad," Wil said happily. "Wiiil" the bird said again. "He knows my name!" Wil said. "Come here pretty boy! Come with us!" he beckoned with a warm smile. Henry didn't move from the tree where he was perched. "Come on big boy, come on with us!" Wil called again. Then seeing that the bird was unwilling to come. "Dad, why doesn't he want to follow us?" "I'm not sure son... but I think your little friend there has never left the base before. I think we'll have to leave him here. I'm sure he'll wait for us to return." I replied. "Oh... I don't want to leave him. It's kind of sad... What if he's not here when we come back?" Wil asked, tears forming in the corner of his eyes. "I'm sure he'll be safe Wil... After all, he was able to survive around here for more than fifty years, I'm sure he'll live one more day, ya think?" "Yeah, you're probably right." Then Wil left us and made his way back to his bird. As soon as he came near the tree where Henry was hanging on, Wil extended his right bare arm. I was about to say something, knowing that the bird claws may hurt him, but held my breath as I saw Henry landing gently on Wil's arm. We weren't able to hear what they were saying (yeah the bird's side of the conversation too) but we saw Wil talking to him, petting his head softly. After their little chat, as Wil removed his hand and came back to us, the bird took a small flight and resumed his position on the tree. "Now he knows that I'll be back!" Wil told us with a ear to ear smile. "See ya, see ya soon, see ya soon!" the bird chirped. That made all of us laugh. I was amazed at how well this bird mimicked our language. I doubted that he understood the reality of what he was saying though. "See!" Wil chuckled. So we resumed our walk, without any fear of explosions on the path this time. It took us an hour to go from the beach to the base, now on the way back, it took only ten minutes. When we reached the beach, the sun was setting, something told me that we'd be in complete darkness shortly. Matt soaked only one torch with the lamp fuel. No need to light every one. God that fuel stunk! Then he retrieved the magnesium bar in the back pack, and started to chip it with a knife he took from the utensil drawer. When he thought he'd made enough, he swept the bits still on the cloth to form a pile that was the size of a quarter. He struck the blade on the flint, getting some sparks. After a few attempts, one spark hit the pile and the magnesium burst into a very bright flame. That's all it took to light the fuel and provide us with enough light to see our way. I could tell that Wil and Jake were very impressed. More than impressed, I was rather proud of this young man. After our long walk, we arrived at our camp in a complete darkness, the last torch giving its last breath fifteen minutes ago, and no more fuel to soak another one. Thanks again to Matt, with the dim light of the quarter moon, we saw the pile of rocks he'd made earlier and just followed the path we'd made on the ground. After we removed our back packs, our clothes and went for our last pee, we all climbed into the raft for a needed rest. We were all exhausted from the day we had, and felt asleep easily. Tomorrow would be the start of a new life for all of us... --------------------------------------------------------------------- To be continued... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- If you want to give your feedback, put Crash Survivor in the subject line so I won't think it's a spam and won't delete it. As usual, let me know where you're from and how old you are! ;-) Cheers, Drake drakanian32@yahoo.ca