CHAPTER SEVEN
everyone knows CPR.

LENNON.

None of us uttered a word as we walked through the forest. There was nothing we could say. Ethan walked a little ahead of the rest of us, his shoulders rigid and it made me feel sick each time I looked at him. June and I had lost our mom too, in a way we had thought to be horrific—but how Ethan's mom had died was worse. I had noticed the look in June's eyes when Ethan came barrelling through those trees, she had already known Coach was gone and I knew it wasn't just from the explosion. Her eyes were haunted, like she had saw it herself. I couldn't imagine how Coach had died and I hated to think of her in any kind of pain. But now, the only pain I could feel myself obsessing over was Ethan's. I wished I had the power to make everything okay—to bring his mother back. But I didn't.

At the far back of the group was Kitty and her younger sister Evie. They were total opposites from what I had ever witnessed. Evie was sassy like her sister, sure, but she had also seemed extremely kind within the time I had known her. I wondered if they'd had each other when the plane went down, if they had clutched tight to one another and made peace with what was about to happen—because they were together. Which had me glancing across at my sister.

Her bleached hair was covered in soot and her knees were cut open, the material of her jeans grazed into her skin. She held onto Eden the entire time, refusing to allow anyone else to carry her in her catatonic state. The thing about June was, she cared a lot about people more than she thought she did—especially people like Eden, people who didn't have anyone else to take care of them. June was a protector, more than I ever was and I was relieved that she had survived, not just for myself but for the sake of everyone else. We needed June, more than she realised.

The other member of our group was Hattie. I knew her slightly better than the other girls from the Red Devils. She had once lived two streets down from me before her father passed away. Her parents had been separated and when her father passed, she had no choice but to move in with her mother who lived in Red Devil. Her mother was a dead-beat as far as I was aware and was the reason for the divorce in the first place. She was an addict of sorts—which kind, I didn't know. But Hattie's life had changed drastically when she moved with her, giving up the life of luxury she had once known and instead, living in her mothers trailer without her beloved father to care for her. Hattie had never been the competitive type, she was far too nice for it. She always shook our hands before and after a game and would congratulate us on a win. She didn't care about any of the petty bullshit—she was a really good person who had been dealt a shitty hand in life.

"What are we gonna do?" I heard Evie ask Kitty, trying to keep her voice down. But the forest was so quiet I could hear them. "We don't even know where we are—how is a rescue team going to find us?" She continued, her voice shaking. Evie was tiny in height, compared to Kitty who was at least five foot eight—or maybe nine. I wasn't sure if Evie even reached five foot.

"The plane has a transmitter. If it was working, they should have our last location before the plane went down," Kitty told her. "Isn't that right, Lennon?" I perked up at the sound of her voice calling out to me, realising I had been caught eavesdropping.

I glanced behind me, looking between the siblings, "If we're lucky, yeah," I agreed, nodding my head, stepping over fallen logs as I went. "Yeah. They'll find us." I clarified, turning to look straight ahead. But I could feel June's eyes burning a hole into the side of my head and I realised my voice must not have been very convincing. But I hadn't known what else to say. What was there to say? I didn't know what happened when a plane went down or how survivors were found. Was it pure luck that the search teams were in the right place? Or had a transmitter sent out the location? I didn't know the answer. I could only hope.

I knew we were getting closer to the crash site when I could smell fumes and smoke and hear voices with crying. I glanced to my side, catching June's gaze, silently warning her what we were about to walk into. I hadn't been at the main crash sight long enough to fully see what had happened—but I had seen snippets. And it had been pure carnage.

Poking through the trees, I could see the front of the plane. I pushed branches out of the way, stepping into the clearing the plane had made upon crashing. I stopped in my tracks, taking in the sight in front of me. There were people huddled together in groups or standing alone. Some were injured, some were crying, others were doing absolutely nothing. I made sure to do a quick head count, trying to figure out who I was looking at.

Imani, sitting beside Brooklyn, trying to calm her down as she yelled about something with clutching her arm. Maggie, tending to an injury on Abigail's leg, wrapping it in what looked like the sleeve of a ripped-up shirt. Nora, one of the Red Devils, sitting on the ground with Hailey beside her, rubbing at her neck, her eyebrow etched together in pain. Coach Stratford sitting against a tree on his own, eyes wide and sipping from a flask. I felt my heart sink. Most of us had survived, but from the look of things, we had lost a lot too. I realised there was more of us Pirates than Devils.

"Fucking hell." June whispered from beside me, taking in the crash site. She looked up at me, eyes wide. "What—what do we do?" She asked me.

I refused to look at her. I didn't know the answer to her question. I had been made the Captain of the Pirates because Coach said I had good leadership skills and all of the girls relied on me. But how could anyone rely on me in this kind of situation? I didn't know what to do. I wasn't sure if anyone knew. And I didn't want to let anyone down.

"I—I don't..." I trailed off, looking around as I felt my eyes burn. Panic was building up inside of me, threatening to burst out of my body as I felt my heart race and my breath hitch in my throat.

I felt myself moving without realising it. June reached for me but I was already out of her reach, "Len..." I stumbled away from her, away from everything. I couldn't handle it. Everything was too much. I could feel my ears ringing, my chest tightening.

I found a tree away from everyone and slid down it, putting my head in my hands as my chest began rising and falling, "No, no, no." I whispered to myself, feeling my throat begin to clamp up. I knew this feeling. I was about to have a fucking panic attack.

When it happened, I felt like I was going to die. I felt like I couldn't breathe, no matter how quickly my lungs pumped to get air. I tugged at my hair, my ears ringing and eyes watering. Everything was too much and I couldn't take it. I wasn't strong enough to deal with this shit—I wasn't June. I didn't know how to cope when shit got rough.

"Hey," A sharp voice suddenly said in front of me and I looked up, still struggling to breathe, panting as I tried to suck in air. Imani was crouching in front of me. "Don't freak out on us now, Len. Come on, get a grip. Breathe with me. Come on, fucking breathe, you bitch." She said, grabbing onto me, making a show of breathing along with me.

I shook my head, my heart feeling like it was going to burst. I tried to speak but no words would come out, "Hey," Imani said, more sternly this time. She grabbed onto my face, her acrylic nails digging into my skin. "It's a fucking shit-show out here and we need our Captain—your sister needs you, everyone needs you. Now, pull yourself together and fucking breathe." Somehow, the harshness in her tone worked and I felt myself begin to breathe along with her, my laboured pants slowing down as a wave of dizzy relief washed over me.

I closed my eyes, leaning the back of my head against the tree as I came to terms with the fact that I wasn't dying—I was fortunate enough to be alive and I couldn't waste it by hiding away and feeling sorry for myself. Everyone was suffering, it wasn't just me.

Imani smiled, "There's my girl."

A scream knocked me back to my senses and I quickly got to my feet. I rushed towards the clearing with Imani in tow, "What's going on?" I exclaimed, approaching where Brooklyn was yelling at Maggie whilst holding her arm away from her.

"Her arm is broken, she won't let me put it back in—"

"Because you're not a fucking doctor, Maggie!" Brooklyn screamed over her, clutching tight to her left arm, keeping a distance from Maggie. "You are not touching my arm!" She yelled, pointing in Maggie's face who shrunk back from her, never the one for confrontation.

Imani sighed, "Brooke, you can't just sit here with a broken arm, you need—"

"Are you the one with the broken arm? Huh? Then shut the fuck up, Imani!" Brooklyn yelled at her, tears pouring down her face whilst Imani glared at her.

Maggie turned to face me, "Lennon, will you just tell her that—"

"No, Lennon, don't you dare say shit! She is not touching me!" Brooke yelled over her, eyes wild. I sighed heavily, running my hands through my hair. Everyone was watching the argument unfold around us and I wasn't sure what the best move was.

I took a moment to look around, my eyes momentarily caught Coach Stratford's but he quickly turned away, looking into his flask, telling me he was going to be of no help. I threw my hands up, "Does anyone know First Aid? Or anything slightly helpful?" I asked, making my voice loud enough for everyone to hear.

  Abby held her hand up, "I know CPR." She said, trying to be helpful.

"Everyone knows CPR." Hailey said with a roll of her eyes, dust smeared across her cheek.

Imani rolled her eyes as she turned to face Abby, "She's not fucking dying, Abbs."

"I was just trying to be helpful!" Abby exclaimed, narrowing her eyes.

Imani turned to face her, irritation etched in her brows, "Well, it's not fucking helpful—"

"Alright, enough!" I yelled over the bickering, throwing my hands up. I looked around as everyone stared back at me. I let out a humourless laugh, looking around the faces. "We have no clue how long we're going to be out here, alright? With all we know, rescue is already on the way or maybe they have no fucking clue we've even crashed."

I took in a large inhale, "Truth is, we don't know enough about this kind of situation. But what I do know is, if anyone can help in any possible way, you have to. I don't give a shit if you only know how to put on a fucking plaster—you are going to help," I called out, my voice booming through the clearing. "We need to help each other, alright? So, for the love of God—sorry, Eden—can we just get along for long enough that we can all be okay?" I stared at the faces looking back at me whilst some wouldn't meet my eyes.

Before I could say any more, a large crash filled the clearing and everyone screamed. I stumbled out of the way as the plane fell from where it perched a little off the ground in the trees, bringing some of them down with it. The ground had rattled upon impact, smoke and dirt blowing out from beneath the plane. I stared at it, my chest rising and falling, frustration building up inside of me.

I threw my hands up, spinning around, "Will someone just fix Brooklyn's fucking arm?!"

Everyone stared at me like I was crazy, like I hadn't just witnessed the plane almost crush us. But I had. I was just choosing to ignore it and focus on a bigger problem—our injuries.

Hattie took a hesitant step forward, "Look, I'm not a Doctor or anything but my dad was and I know enough to help out," She began saying before glancing at Brooke, looking slightly weary to offer a helping hand to the girl—despite her kind offer, we were still from opposite sides of town and different teams and that still lingered between us even after what had happened. "Brooklyn, I can fix your arm. It will hurt but it will only be for a second, okay?" She said, attempting to speak gently towards her.

Brooke looked like she was going to argue but I held up my hand, "Not another fucking word." I snapped, immediately clamping Brooke's mouth shut as she sat down on a fallen log, accepting her fate.

I looked around, "Anyone else with injuries, line up beside Brooke. Hattie will try her best to help," I ordered before taking a few steps closer to Hattie who was approaching Brooke. "Is there anything you'll need?" I asked her, wanting to be as helpful as possible, and to keep myself busy.

Hattie took a look around, gnawing on her bottom lip, "Some injuries are pretty bad, like Brooklyn's broken arm and Hailey's sprained ankle. Others only need a little TLC. Preferably, I'll need a First Aid kit—but if we can't find that, then rags will do. Alcohol too, or anything to sterilise a wound." She told me as I nodded my head along with her. I didn't know where the sudden confidence had come to boss everyone around, but I was on autopilot, trying to do my best so that everyone could be made more comfortable.

"Alright, I'll see what I can find." I said, earning an appreciative nod from Hattie before she knelt down in front of Brooke who was glaring at me passionately, like I had killed her fucking Labrador.

June joined my side, "Alright, Boss. What's the plan?" She asked me, resting her hands on her slender hips.

I glanced towards the plane, where smoke still lingered, "We need to go inside the plane, try and find whatever we can. First Aid kit, anything helpful," I began telling her. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Could you grab whoever is in good shape and have them search the land for anything that might have fallen from the plane? I can't imagine everything still being inside." I said, feeling a sigh escape my lips.

"I'll grab Imani and Abby," She said, making me nod my head in agreement before I attempted to make my way towards the plane but she caught my arm. "Hey, are you sure you're up for that?" She asked me, her voice small as she snuck a look at the plane.

I hesitated. I knew what was on that plane—blood, charred bodies, death. It terrified me. But we had to do it. There was no point in surviving a crash to just allow wounds to get infected and be the cause of death—no, we had to do everything we could to survive until rescue arrived. If rescue arrived.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I said before putting my hand over Junes. "Don't go too far okay? And the moment you're back, please have Hattie give you a look over." I said, giving her hand a squeeze.

June nodded to my forehead, "You too."

June grabbed Imani and Abby and told them the plan. Imani had attempted to argue but had immediately stopped when I shot her a quick glance. Imani was my bestest friend in the entire world—but she could be so self-centred. And we couldn't afford to be like that. We all had to help.

I stood rooted to the spot, looking up at the plane with my hands settled on my hips, trying to build up the courage, "How bad is it in there?" I turned my head at the sound of the voice, my eyes landing on Ivy who stood in line beside me, looking ahead at the plane. I looked at her and she gestured with her hands. "I was at the front and there was no fucking chance I was looking back." She clarified for how she hadn't known how bad it had been.

I inhaled sharply, "We lost a few in there—I can't even tell you who some of them are, they were so badly... burnt." I said. I knew who we were missing and that helped me know who hadn't made it; but speaking their names aloud would be too hard for me.

"Any... any of them ours?" Ivy dared to ask, glancing at me slightly.

I swallowed hard, "Some of them were wearing Red Devils clothes." I told her, looking down to watch her jaw clench as she nodded, coming to terms with what I was saying. We had known members of our teams were missing—but it was easier to pretend that somehow they had made it out and we just hadn't found them yet than to accept they had died when the rest of us had survived.

"I'll come with you," Ivy said, surprising me and she must have known from the look on my face. She let out a low, humourous chuckle. "I don't like you, dude, let that be clear. But it's not just your teammates in there—mine are too. So, I'm not letting you do it alone. I'm still their Captain." She said as I stared at her smaller height.

"Alright." I agreed after a moment, giving her a nod.

Together, we hauled ourselves up through the open door. I offered Ivy my hand but she ignored me, pulling herself up. We both stood still at the front of the plane, looking forward. The fire had stopped but the smell was enough to make me want to gag. It was a smell I had never known—and I knew it was the bodies of those that hadn't made it out, mixed with fumes from the plane.

I glanced at Ivy, exchanging looks. She was the first to move, wandering down the aisle and looking at the storage spaces above the seats. I ignored what she was doing and began looking under the seats, trying my damndest not to look at the bodies that stared lifelessly at me. I had fucking known those people—and now they were nothing but human remains.

I let out a small gasp when I found one of the suitcases that had ripped open during the crash. I grabbed it, about to rummage through the belongings before I paused. There was a name tag on the suitcase and it read 'Rebecca Faulkner'. I hesitated, glancing over my shoulder and down the aisle to where I knew Rebecca's body was, the pole lodged inside of her. It felt wrong taking her things but I knew better than to think like that. We had to make smart decisions now, not just ones from the heart.

I began rummaging, tossing clothes aside, hoping to find some kind of medication, even an Ibuprofen to help relieve pain but the only thing I could find was her own belongings, protein powders and a teddy bear.

Ivy and I searched for what felt like forever but we couldn't find the First Aid kit we knew our Coaches carried—or the one the plane surely came with. However, between us, we managed to find multiple mini bottles of alcohol. It would be the only thing we could use to sterilise wounds. And we agreed to use Rebecca's clothes to make rags, even though it made my heart feel heavy to rip them apart.

Defeated, we left the plane, not speaking another word to each other as I approached the group. Everyone had slowly but surely come together, making it easier for me to talk with them, "We couldn't find the First Aid kits," I began saying, catching everyone's attention. "These were all we could find." I tossed the mini bottles at Hattie's feet who had been giving Kitty a once-over.

"What about the other half of the plane?" Evie spoke up, sitting beside her sister. "Your Coach was on that side, right? Maybe she had the kit on her." At the mention of Coach Grayson, Ethan immediately got to his feet and stormed off into the brush, his hands bundled into fists at his side.

I watched him go, a solemn look on my face. I brushed my hair out of the sweaty skin on my face, "I mean, sure—maybe. But it was in pretty bad shape. We'll have to wait until June and the others are back to check." I said, taking a moment to glance out into the woods, unable to see my sister anywhere. It made me feel uneasy, knowing she was there somewhere and I just couldn't see her, showing us how dense the forest truly was. It terrified me to think of exactly where we had landed.

"If only we had our phones to call them,"  Nora said with a scoff, her Red Devils hoodie by her feet. She immediately froze. She looked up, her eyes wide. "Wait, does anyone have their phone?" She asked the group, looking around as I cursed myself in my mind, outwardly cringing. How had all of us managed to forget the things we never left home without? The things were always glued to our hands. But somehow, during all of the madness, it hadn't even occurred to us to call for help.

             I knew that I had lost lost mine when the windows had smashed open, sucking my phone out into the sky as we plummeted. But surely, someone had a phone—or at least, one had been hiding somewhere after all of the madness.

"I lost mine when we crashed." Maggie said.

"Yeah, me too." Evie added.

Hailey threw her hands up, "Mine got sucked out the window." She said as though the words physically pained her. Hailey was typically glued to her phone, always updating her Instagram and posting TikTok's.

Before I could even think it through, I immediately ran back into the wreck of the plane. Surely someone's phone had to have been there? If there was, we could call for help. We could get saved before we'd ever have to find a fucking First Aid kit.

                 I began searching again, going through the things I had already looked at just in case I had missed something. But still, I came up with nothing. How was it that the one thing we needed so desperately was nowhere to be found when there were so many of us left?

I grabbed a shoe from Rebecca's suitcase and launched it at the wall, letting out a scream of frustration before sitting back against one of the seats, bringing my knees to my chest. I sat like that for a while before bringing my head up, my gaze slowly trailing to where I knew Rebecca's body was. My stomach stirred. I hadn't checked where her body was because I had been too afraid to look at it, but maybe, just maybe she still had her phone.

I nimbly got to my feet, shuffling slowly to where her body was. When I saw it again, the gasp escaped my lips before I could stop it. Even after already seeing it, it still made me feel sick to my stomach. Rebecca had been a good person—kind, thoughtful and smart. She had wanted to be a Veterinarian. But now she was dead and I was about to frisk her fucking corpse.

I stared at her, my hands shaking as I slowly reached out, beginning to pat down the seat around her, trying to avoid banging into the pole sticking out of her. I swallowed hard when I felt nothing around the seat, knowing I would have to search her pockets. I tried to calm myself before reaching my hand in her left-side pocket. Nothing. I checked the right.

My fingers grazed something, my heart racing. I grabbed it and pulled it out, a laugh of relief escaping my lips at the phone I held between my shaking fingers. I hurriedly tapped the screen and the phone lit up. I didn't feel so happy anymore when I saw the phone-screen. It was a picture of the whole team, everyone alive, everyone smiling. Rebecca's smile was one of the largest, lighting up the room.

I swallowed hard, looking at Rebecca's body. I reached out, putting my hand on her shoulder, my eyes burning, "Thank you, Becca." Without another word or look at her body, I turned on my feet and stumbled out of the plane as quickly as I could, relieved to tell the good news.

"I found one! I found a phone!" I exclaimed upon barreling out of the plane. Those who could stand were immediately on their feet, rushing towards me to gather around the holy grail in my shaking hands.

"We're saved!" Brooke exclaimed from where she sat, a makeshift sling around her arm.

Ivy snatched the phone from my hand, tapping the screen. It brought up the password verification and everyone's faces dropped.

Ivy looked up at me, "Well, what's the fucking password?"

          AUTHORS NOTE.

           this is one of the longest chapters ever so i apologise! but there was just so much happening that it felt weird to cut it off anywhere before the point i did!

              i hope y'all enjoyed this chapter!

              — taylor xx