People Of The Storm [ORIGINS]

Thunder

The sun had risen high over the horizon, drying the wet soil. A few snarls could be heard from nearby by shrubs and bushes, along with up in the trees. It was dangerous to be out here so early. Ryan stood at the mouth of the cave, spear in hand. A small part of me wished he would sit next to me again. I felt vulnerable sitting by the wall by myself. Mack was standing next to me while I sat, but still. His focus was on the couple we pulled out of a crash. Julie was wrapping their wounds as they lay there unconscious. Her forehead was scrunched up, thinking hard. Wrapping layers of white bandages around the woman's arm, she kept her eyes down. I saw Julie cringe a little when her hand brushed across the woman's skin unintentionally.

Clara was at the mouth of the cave, talking to Ryan. She had put her scarlett hair into a braid and thrown it over her shoulder. I wanted to join them, but my legs refused to move. I was feeling pretty lazy, moreover. Turning my gaze back to the couple laying down, I wondered about where they came from. How far away was the place, or how close? It's just amazing, knowing there were more people like you outside of this small island. Suddenly, the woman stirred, moving her head from side to side slightly. Her raven black hair was messy, spread out behind her as she lay. Julie backed away from the woman over to Mack, clinging to the sleeve of his shirt. The woman's eyes were now open, revealing a crystal blue color. A flash of panic crossed them, and she then started to hyperventilate, her chest rising up and down quickly as she looked around at us. Once she saw the man lying next to her, the woman started to shake him awake.

"Roger! Roger, wake up!" Her breathing was rapid, and she backed away from us quickly. The shock in her eyes was great, as if she thought we were going to eat her. (Ryan had told stories about people who eat other people. I don't know where he gets that stuff.) The man next to her, named Roger, opened up his eyelids, showing dark brown pupils. He looked up at her tiredly, flinching at his wounds once trying to move. "Mary... What happened? Where are we?" he questioned, holding onto one of Mary's arms. Clara cut into their conversation, her voice echoing through the cave. "Your.... Thingy crashed. You're on Cio, now."

I rollrd my eyes at the words she used. She could have said something else, but no, she said thingy. It amused me slightly, though. Roger sat up at the sound of Clara's voice, struggling slightly as he pushed himself up. "Our... Thingy?" His voice was raspy and tired, understandable since he was recently in a crash. Mack nodded at him, his bow hanging by the string from on of his fingers. "The big machine you were... Flying in." Even Mack struggled to find the word for it. We've never encountered such a thing before on this island. Cio had always been so isolated. Mary shook her head, her hair flowing over her shoulders. "Our helicopter, Roger. We must have crashed." She looked as if she was calming down. Like she finally realized we weren't going to hurt them. A small nod came from Roger as he looked around at us. "Did you kids fix us up?" I gestured over at Julie, who was standing behind Mack. "She did."

Julie nodded, her curly brown hair bouncing as she did. "I'm Julie." Mary gave a suspicious look to the four of us, not convinced we weren't going to hurt her. It annoyed me to think so. Roger held out his hand to Julie, making Julie take a step back. "Nice to meet you Julie, I'm Roger," he said, his voice raspy. Julie stared at the gesture he was making for a few moments before he awkwardly put his hand back down. Looking at the rest of us, he cleared his throat and spoke again. "And what about the rest of you?" Mack tilted his head at the man, stuffing his hands into his pockets while setting his bow on his arm. "I'm Mack," he answered softly, gesturing towards himself. Clara walked over, saying her name to the couple. Ryan shouted his name from the mouth of the cave, his back turned to us. I guess it was my turn to introduce myself. I hesitated a little, but eventually smiled and gestured to myself. "Quinn." I said simply, my voice a bit awkward once I said my own name. It had been a while since I've had to introduce myself. 13 years, actually. Roger nodded at me quickly, sitting up a little more. "Well, it's nice to meet you all. Now if you don't mind, I have a few-"