Desolation, J. B. Everett [reading a book txt] 📗

helicopters, but I do know one thing for sure.

This helicopter is going down.

To our horror, we watch as the helicopter violently jerks back and forth, lowering closer and closer to the tops of the trees. The black smoke continues to billow out of its back. Then, I gasp as someone jumps out of it.

We all watch in a stunned silence as the person free-falls from the helicopter. I clasp my hand over my mouth, silently screaming as the person plummets from the sky. Then suddenly, a parachute is released from the person's back, slowing their fall. The burning helicopter spiral downwards, crashing through the canopy of the trees.

I want to scream and run, but I physically cannot. I am rooted to the ground, paralyzed with shock and fear.

The person descends through the air, their parachute flapping in the wind. Then, we all watch as they silently disappear through the canopy of the trees. Chapter Thirty-Seven

For a few moments, we are all too stunned to say anything or move. We watch in pure shock as the parachutist descends through the canopy of the trees, disappearing from sight. The rain continues to pour down, soaking us to the bone.

"Holy shit" Dylan whispers under his breath, breaking the deafening silence.

I swallow hard, trying to clear the lump of worry  in my throat.

"Well what are we standing here for? Let's go!" Nikki finally exclaims, starting to run.

"Wait!" I cry out.

Everyone turns around, looking at me.

"What if it's one of them?" I ask, my voice trembling.

"What do you mean?" Dylan asks, raising his eyebrows in confusion.

"A few days ago, Tristan and I found a boat out in the ocean. We swam towards it, thinking that it was rescue. But it turned out to be them and they captured us" I say.

Everyone stares at me. As much as I want to go see who it is, a small part of my instinct has the bad feeling whoever it is is not here to rescue us.

"But what if it is someone who has come to rescue us?" Nikki asks.

Ian's eyes lock with mine. He stares at me with an impassive look on his face.

"Okay fine, we can go" I say reluctantly.

We begin to run towards the jungle in the direction of where the helicopter crashed. As we keep running, the acrid burning smell gets stronger and stronger. We must be getting close.

My heart pounds in my chest nervously. I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling about this.

"There!" Dylan shouts, pointing his finger.

We all slow to a stop and look to see the helicopter on the jungle floor. It's rotor is smashed into pieces on the ground and black smoke is still billowing from it's engine. We walk towards it slowly, as if it is going to blow up any second.

I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

As far as I can see, there is no Blair Institute painted on the side of the helicopter like the boat had. But still, I have a strange, unsettling feeling about this.

"Where is the person?" Tristan asks, looking around.

We all look around us, but there is no sign of the parachutist on the ground.

"What the hell? It's like they disappeared into thin air" Dylan murmurs.

"No. Right there" Ian says quietly, pointing his finger upwards.

We all look up, following the direction of his finger to see the parachutist hanging from the top of a tall tree. I gasp when I see that they are precariously hanging by the strings of their parachute, which are looped around one of the branches. They must be at least a good thirty feet off of the ground.

 I squint up at the person, shielding my eyes from the drizzling rain. By the looks of it, it is a female. Her hair is sticking out from underneath her helmet and she is wearing a black body suit.

"Hello!" Tristan shouts.

The person remains motionless.

"Are you okay?" Tristan cries out.

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Still, the person doesn't move.

"Shit. I think she's out cold" he mutters.

"What are we going to do?" Nikki asks.

"I'm going to go up to get her" Tristan replies.

He walks towards the base of the tree, gripping the trunk. Just before he is about to start climbing up, I cry out,

"Wait!"

He turns around, looking at me.

"Be careful" I say quickly.

He nods.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine" he says, giving me a small smile.

He then begins to climb up the tree. I honestly have no clue how he has the strength and agility to scale the tree as fast as he does. Within minutes, he is almost at the top. I watch, praying the entire time that he doesn't lose his grip and plummet to his death.

I remember the first day on this island, when he climbed up the tree to rescue me. If he could do it then, then he should be able to do it now. Right?

Finally, he reaches the girl. He sits down on the branch that she is hanging from, cautiously sliding towards her. My heart pounds in my chest as a horrifying thought pops into my mind.

What if the branch breaks?

I find myself gripping Ian's arms so hard that my fingernails dig into his skin. He glances at me and I glance back, my eyes wide with fear.

"Sorry" I mutter, loosening my grip.

"It's fine. And don't worry, he'll be okay" Ian whispers.

I nod, then look back up. Tristan has reached the end of the branch, where the girl is hanging.

"How the hell are you going to bring her down!" Dylan yells up.

Tristan looks down at us.

"I'm going to untangle these strings, open the parachute back up, then send her down!" Tristan calls down.

"Wait, what! Your'e going to throw her down?!" Dylan shouts up incredulously.

"I have to! I can't climb down with her; she's out cold! Don't worry, the parachute will slow her fall" Tristan says.

He begins to work on detangling the strings of the parachute, unraveling them from around the branch.

"This is insane" Dylan murmurs to us.

I watch as Tristan continues to untangle all of the strings. I don't know how he does it. If I were up there, I would probably tangle the strings even more.

"Okay, I'm going to open her parachute and let her go! I need one of you get below to catch her!" Tristan shouts.

"Not me" Nikki says, taking a step backwards.

"Me neither" I say immediately, taking a step back as well.

"Alright we'll do it" Dylan says.

Both him and Ian walk towards the base of tree, standing right underneath the girl.

"Okay, on the count of three. One...two...THREE!" Tristan yells.

On three, Tristan lets go of the parachute. She immediately begins to fall from the tree, her limp body sailing through the air. Luckily, the parachute opens, slowing her fall slightly. Before I know it, Dylan and Ian hold out their hands and catch her in their arms.

They bend down, placing the girl's body on the ground. Nikki and I run over, hovering over her. Within a minute, Tristan is back on the ground and we all kneel down beside her. Her dark brown curls escape from underneath the helmet on her head. She looks slighter older than us and has light brown bronzed skin. Her face bruised and scratched with cuts.

"Is...is she alive?" I ask.

Tristan leans down, pressing his head to her chest. After a few moments, he sits back up.

"Yes. Her heart is beating" he says.

Tristan leans over her again, shaking her lightly on the shoulders.

"Can you hear us?" he asks.

The girl remains motionless, her eyes and mouth shut. I look down at her then notice something I didn't notice before.

"Hey, what's this?" I ask, reaching down towards the pocket on her bodysuit.

There, sticking out slightly from the pocket is a folded up sheet of paper. I grab it and unfold it. Everyone leans over my shoulder, examining it. It is a neatly hand-drawn map of an island.

This island.

"She must of wanted to come here..." I murmur.

"Yeah, to rescue us!" Nikki exclaims.

I flip the map over to see something written on the back. In neat cursive handwriting, there are three words that make my blood run cold.

The Blair Institute.

"Guys, this is not good..." I whisper, dropping the map on the ground.

Before anyone can say anything, I jump when I hear the girl gasp for breath. Instantly, we crowd around her, watching with wide eyes as she gasps for breath, coughing. I recoil when I see that she is coughing up blood.

Suddenly, her eyes flash open, revealing her dark brown eyes. She looks around, her eyes unfocused and flitting around in all directions. Tristan leans over her, looking down into her face.

"Are you okay?" he asks urgently.

All of a sudden, she stops coughing and her eyes focus on Tristan. For a few moments, there is only silence as she stares at him with wide eyes.

Then, she murmurs in a rasped voice,

"Tristan?"

Chapter Thirty-Eight

My heart stops.

"Tristan?" the girl asks again, her voice hoarse.

I look up at Tristan, who is looking down at her with wide eyes.

"Er...yeah?" he asks, shock evident in his tone.

"Is that really you?" she asks dazedly.

Tristan nods, confusion and surprise painted on his face. The girl sits up slightly, propping herself up on her elbows. When she looks at him, her eyes light up.

"I can't believe I actually found you" she murmurs.

The rest of us all stare at each other, unsure of what to say. Ian's eyes lock with mine and he looks at me, raising his eyebrows.

"Um...you were looking for me?" Tristan asks hesitantly.

The girl looks back at Tristan, her dark eyes meeting with his.

"Of course I was. My name is Eve and I'm here to rescue you Tristan" she says.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a second. You're to rescue just Tristan?" Dylan asks incredulously.

Eve turns and looks at Dylan, confusion on her face.

"I don't know who you are. I don't know who any of you are actually" she says, looking around at the rest of us.

I am so confused right now.

"Tell me right now, what the hell is going on!" Dylan shouts.

"I'm here on specific orders to rescue Tristan Reyes. Age nineteen, blue eyes, dirty-blond hair" Eve says.

She then reaches into her pocket and pulls out a photo, showing it to us. I lean in to see a picture of a boy. Although blurry and faded, it is definitely a picture of Tristan. He is smiling, his bright blue eyes shining