Stranded

“Jeeezuuus.  Is anyone there?  Heeellp!”

In the near distance, he heard voices amid the popping sounds of burning.  “Hey.  I hear someone over there.  Keep hollerin.  We’re comin.”

“Please help me.  I can’t move.”

Daylight poured inside the remnants of the cockpit as the roof lifted away.  A huge silhouette reached in, touching, probing.  Pain shot through his leg.

“Stop.  Please stop.”  He saw a man’s face.

“Hold on.  We gotta get that outta there.”  The big guy pointed somewhere underneath the pain.

“Oh my.  That’s...oh my,” said a female.

“OK, buddy.  This is gone hurt.  Just get ready.”

The big guy leaned in and POW!  The pain before that moment was nothing.  Now it was vicious.

“Help me get’m out,” he said.

A few yards out of the wreckage, pilot Todd Garrison finally saw the damage.  A older woman kneeled next to his head.

“Young man, I’m a nurse.  You are going to be alright, but you must stay awake.  We don’t want you succumbing to shock.”

“Stay here.  I’m gone see what I can find,” said the big guy.

“Hurry.  He is losing blood fast,” she said.

“I can’t feel my legs.  How bad is it?”

She tallied the damage and said, “It’s not good.  If we don’t get you patched up, you’re going to lose your leg.”

“Jesus.  How many more are alive?”  Endorphins started kicking in.

“Just you, me, and Carl so far.  I’m Susan.”

“I don’t know what happened.  I lost all my gauges, then no power.  I tried.  I really tried.”

“Don’t upset yourself now.  Save your strength.”

She began wrapping torn fabric around Todd’s leg.  Carl walked up.

“I found these.”  He held scissors, a computer keyboard, and a watch, maybe a stopwatch.  “How is he?”

“Better than he was.  I need the cord off that keyboard.”

Carl jerked the cord out of the keyboard and handed it to Susan.  She tied it around Todd’s upper leg.  He winced each time she tugged.

“As long as we don’t move him, he should be fine.”

“Hey, buddy.  Names Carl.  You gone be fine.”

“I can hear her, and my names not buddy.  It’s Todd.”

“My bad.  Didn’t mean nothin by it.”

“Gentlemen, please.  We need to stick together to get through this.”

“Sorry, Carl.  I didn’t mean to snap.  The pain...”

“It’s all good.  We gone make it.  Right, Ms. Sue?”

“We made it this far.  I don’t intend to quit now.”

“Hey, Carl.  Did you happen to see a bright orange box?  It’s got a cylinder on one end.  The flight recorder.  It should send out a signal so they can find us.”

“Naw.  I’ll go look again.  How big?”

“Couple of feet long.”

Carl took off.  Susan looked at Todd and smiled.

“Do you think they’ll come?”

“If the flight recorder is intact, they should.  Those things don’t always make it though.”

Her smile faded.

Minutes passed.  Carl yelled in the distance.

“I think I found it.”

As he approached, Susan’s stomach tightened.  Carl was carrying what she thought was the box, but in two pieces.

“Oh my,” she said.

“Is this it?” asked Carl

Todd looked it over.  It was definitely smashed.  His training kicked in.

“OK.  You need to do exactly what I say.”

Carl nodded.

“See if you can get that cover off that piece.”

Carl took the scissors out of his pocket and began turning screws.  In moments, the cover was off.

“Good.  Now bring it down so I can see.  Hmmm.  You see that there?”

“The blue thang?”

“Yeah, the blue thing.  If we can energize the blue thing, it should start signaling again.”

Carl thought for a moment.  He picked up the keyboard and smashed it against the ground.

“Carl!  What are you...?”

“It’s alright, Ms. Sue.  I’m gettin some wire.”

Then he removed the battery from the stopwatch.  He connected the battery to the blue thing with a short length of wire.

“Who are you, MacGyver?  Good thinking, Carl,” Todd said.

In no time, the blue capacitor energized and a small red LED began flashing inside the box.

“Is that right?” Carl looked at Todd.

“That’s exactly right....buddy.”

Carl smiled at the joke.

Susan let out a huge breath. “Thank God.  Now what?”

“Now we wait.”