Survival of the Fittest

Chapter Nine

I tried to stay strong but I eventually broke down into tears. This was all too much for me to handle, Ivy was gone and now Liam is wounded. “We need to do something!” Niall cried as he held Liam’s hand. “What can we do? We are in the middle of nowhere and nobody else is around but us!” Louis said while tears streamed down his face. “We have to do something, I am not going to sit here and watch my best friend die!” Niall shouted. “Niall please calm down, yelling won’t help the situation” Rachel said trying to comfort him the best that she could. I stood next to Harry silently crying, he was crying as well, but still trying to comfort me. I then began to cry even harder because of how much these boys cared for the ones they loved.

“Isn’t there something in the supply packs we could use?” Kate said wiping the tears from her cheeks. “It’s only basic first aid” Zayn replied. “Well isn’t that better than nothing?” Kate cried as she began unzipping all of the bags looking for a solution. I watched as she frantically chucked things out and searched for a first aid kit, she found nothing. “THERES NOTHING!” she screamed as she placed her head in her knees and cried. Zayn bent over and sat with her, he held her tight and rubbed her back. “This is all my fault” Harry muttered. “This isn’t your fault Harry, it could have happened to any of us” I said. “No you don’t understand” He sobbed. “The supply pack we lost in the ravine was the one with the first aid kit, I didn’t catch it in time and we lost it! And now Liam is hurt and we can’t save him because it’s gone and it’s all MY FAULT” He said crying even harder now. “Haz, it’s not your fault, it was hard to catch all of the bags, we will find something, don’t go blaming yourself” Louis said trying to make his best friend feel better. Harry nodded and sat down trying to stop his tears from falling; I sat beside him and cradled him in my arms as we all tried to think of a way to save Liam.

“The only way we are going to help Liam is if we go out and find help or a first aid kit” Niall said still holding Liam. “Niall’s right, the longer we sit here, the worse Liam is getting, we have to go out and find something” Rachel agreed. “Well I can walk along the ravine and try and see if I can spot the supply bag” Harry said as he stood up. “That’s a good idea Haz, I’ll go a little further into the woods and try to find something” Louis added. “We’ll go with Louis” Zayn said still holding Kate as she tried to stop crying. “Well I’m staying with Liam, there is no doubt about that” Niall said. Rachel sat next to Niall obviously choosing to stay with them. “You coming with me babe?” Harry asked hopefully. “Of course Harry, I’m not letting you go alone” I said as I got up and ran to his side.

Harry and I quickly walked away from the group trying to make up as much time as we could. “Check every square inch of the water, if you spot something let me know” Harry said seeming very determined. I nodded and went to work looking. The river in the ravine wasn’t very wide but it was very long, we couldn’t even see where it ended. There were lots of rocks poking out of the water and I hoped that the supply bag had caught onto one of them. I watched as Harry walked ahead of me and scanned the water, I could tell he was still blaming himself, and I really wished he wouldn’t.

“I can’t seem to see it anywhere” Harry sighed as he stopped walking. “It’s still light out, we can keep looking, I said as I approached him. “I don’t think we can.” He said as he pointed to the water. I followed his finger and realized that the river dropped and became a giant waterfall. There was no way we would find the bag now. I walked over to the edge and looked down; we were immensely high up, even higher than we were when we were standing on top of the ravine.  I backed away trying not to shake as Harry passed by me and peered over the edge. “Joanna!” he yelled. “WHAT?” I screamed thinking he was going to fall. “Look!” He said. “My gosh Harry, you almost gave me a heart attack” I sighed as I walked over next to him. I looked over the edge again and there it was, the supply bag was hanging off of a branch that was poking out the side of the river.

“You better not be thinking of do anything drastic” I said pulling Harry away from the edge. “I’m not crazy babe” Harry said smirking at me. We both stood there puzzled. How in god’s name were we going to get the supply bag out without hurting ourselves? And why on earth did we not bring a supply pack with us? I swear to god, none of us think! Harry looked around trying to find something we could use to haul in the supply bag. “There is nothing here we can use to our advantage” He said frantically. “Harry wait, maybe there is” I said while walking over to a broken tree branch. It was perfectly shaped into a hook at the end so we could use it to lift the supply bag and haul it over. I grabbed the branch and ran back to Harry, we carefully placed the branch over the edge and slowly positioned it under the strap of the bag. It hooked perfectly and we pulled it in. “We did it!” Harry said happily while lifting me off the ground and hugging me. “Yes we did!” I said as he kissed my cheek. “Now let’s open it and bring back the first aid kit ” he said while unzipping it. I watched excitedly as he peered inside the bag, but his face didn’t give off the expression that I wanted it too.

“There’s another note.” Harry said as his face dropped. My heart stopped as I stared at the little piece of paper he was holding in his hand. “W-what’s it say?” I stuttered. He cleared his throat and began to read,

Dear survivors,

Good job overcoming the quicksand! You’re friend Kaitlin is a smart one isn’t she? Anyhow, I thought you might be needing this, but as you can clearly see, there is no first aid kit inside your  supply bag. It won’t be hard to find one though; you can find everything you need to help your friend as long as you follow these simple steps.

1) Turn towards the woods and stroll in

2) Find the red ribbon tied to a tree

3) Good luck

“THATS IT?” I shouted as I fell to my knees. “That’s all they are going to tell us? How do they even know what’s happening? Are they watching our every move? What if something bad happens in there?” I cried. “Please don’t cry sweetheart, I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise” Harry said pulling me to his side. “But what if something happens to you?” I argued. “We will be fine” he assured me as we both stood up and made our way into the woods.

If it weren’t for Liam’s life being in danger, I would not be doing this right now. I was scared enough as it was when we got stuck in the quicksand and I have no idea what awaits us once we find the red ribbon. I clutched Harry’s arm as we walked further into the woods, scanning every tree we saw. “Ahh!” I screamed. “What? What is it?” Harry said shocked. “I’m sorry, I walked into a spider web and the spider fell onto my shirt, I’m absolutely terrified of them” I said blushing. Harry laughed and pulled me along. We finally reached a large oak tree with the red ribbon wrapped around the trunk. “I guess this is it” Harry stated as he approached the tree.

“Pull here” Harry read. “Harry wait, what if it’s a trap?” I said worried. “And what if it isn’t?” He responded. “If what we need to help Liam is here then we have to do it, he’s one of my best mates, I’m not going to run away now” He continued. I moved up closer to Harry and watched as he pulled the ribbon away from the trunk. There was an open hole where the ribbon had once been and I assumed we had to look inside. I moved up closer to have a look when suddenly a moving black patch swarmed out of the hole. “No” I cried. “Joanna calm down, It’s just spiders, please don’t freak out” Harry said as I began to tremble. “Harry you don’t understand” I yelped.

The spiders just kept pouring out of the hole and they had now reached my feet, I crushed them as they got closer to me but it didn’t stop them from crawling up my legs. “Harry please hurry!” I yelled as I began to jump around to shake the spiders off. “I’m trying!” He called back to me. I saw him sticking his arm into the tree trunk and searching for something. The spiders were making their way up my torso now and I began to cry harder than I was before. I shook and shook but they wouldn’t fall off. “HARRY PLEASE!” I shouted. “I’ve got it!” He hollered as he ran over to me. “GET THEM OFF!” I yelled again. Harry pulled out a bottle and sprayed me from head to toe with it. The spiders curled up and began to fall off of me; I continued to shake myself off as Harry inspected me for any more creepy crawlers. “You’re good” He said pulling me in for a hug once more. I shook in his arms and wiped my tears as he stroked my hair. “You’re okay now, don’t worry, there will be no more spiders bugging you for awhile” He said soothingly.