Chapter 1: Bus Ride

Courtney is taking a bus on a field trip today. Her class is going on a trip to New York City. It is a three-hour drive from her school in Massachusetts. She is sitting in a seat next to her best friend, Nicole.

Courtney looks around at the other passengers on the bus. Far in the front she sees Ben sitting with his girlfriend Lauren. She is trying to talk to him, but he is turned around talking to his friends; Chuck, who is right behind him, and Tim, who is one seat back and one to the right of him. Tim is sitting with his girlfriend Kate. Anna, Kate’s friend, is sitting in front of Kate with her boyfriend Eric. Behind them a little ways Elisabeth and her boyfriend Adam are sitting together. In the back of the bus, Jerry, Mark, Jen, and Steve are all sitting by themselves. Rachael and her friend Danielle are sitting in the back of the bus as well.

The bus is somewhere between Massachusetts and New York. They are about fifty minutes into their trip. Courtney looks outside. It is about eight AM and the sun is shinning in her face. They are driving on a bridge over water right now.

Courtney turns around and looks at the bus driver. She can see his face in the mirror above. She thinks he is lost because he has a weird look on his face.

There is a loud noise and something flies in through the bus driver’s window. The window shatters. The bus driver is knocked unconscious and collapses to his right, and he takes the steering wheel with him. The bus skids off the bridge and falls into the water below.

Chapter 2: Getting Out

The bus tips to one side and begins to fill with water. Some people were injured during the crash. Some are already dead.

Courtney opens one of the emergency exits and her and her friend Nicole get out of the bus. They wait on top of the bus in case other people need their help.

Lauren was one of those injured in the accident. As the bus turned to its side, Lauren slipped and fell leg first against the other side. When he sees her, her boyfriend, Ben, helps her up and they make their way out. They begin to climb out on top of the bus and Courtney helps them up. The four see an island close by. Ben, Lauren, and Nicole begin to swim to that island. Courtney decides to stay with the bus in case someone else needs her help.

Jen was thrown when the bus crashed. Her face smashed against the wall and is now bleeding badly. Jerry sees this and helps pull her out of the bus. They climb on top and Courtney tells them where the others went. The two swim together and reach the island.

Tim was smashed hard against the wall. He is not moving and Chuck goes to pull him out. Chuck tells Tim’s girlfriend, Kate, to get out, and Eric and Anna pull Kate out of the bus. The bus is now filling with water quicker than before.

Elisabeth looks over at her boyfriend Adam. He is unconscious and is not breathing. She shouts his name and tried to wake him, but he does not respond. She is too weak to carry him, so she has to leave. She sees Eric, Kate, and Anna leaving so she follows them. The four climb on top of the bus and talk to Courtney. She tells them where to go and Eric, Anna, and Elisabeth go. Kate does not. She waits with Courtney for the people still in the bus.

Rachael looks and sees that her friend Danielle is lying dead on the floor. Rachael goes to leave but decides to first see if there are any survivors. She sees Mark and Steve but they are both dead as well. Rachael exits and Kate calls out her name.

“Did you see Tim or Chuck in there?” Kate asks.

“No, why are they still in there?” Rachael asks.

“Yes.” Kate says as she begins to climb back into the bus. Courtney grabs her and stops her, though. Courtney points at how high the water is. The bus is nearly filled.

Chapter 3: Chuck

Chuck is having trouble lifting his friend Tim. Tim is still unconscious but Chuck is determined to help him. The bus is nearly filled with water now, and Chuck can barely keep his head above water. Tim’s head is now below the water, and Chuck doesn’t have the strength to lift him. Chuck takes one last breath and the bus is now full of water. He quickly looks for an exit and finds one all the way at the other end of the bus. He swims in that direction but loses his breath before he reaches that point. He slams against the roof trying to try and get some air. He moves to a nearby window and tries to quickly kick it open, but he is too weak underwater. He gives one last kick before passing out.

Chapter 4: Island

Courtney, Kate, and Rachael see that the bus is now sinking. They jump off the bus and begin to swim to the island. The three find the other eight lying on the beach.

Ben is lying next to his girlfriend, Lauren, who has a broken leg. Nicole is trying to help Lauren’s leg with anything she can find. Anna and her boyfriend Eric are together sitting on the beach. Anna stands up when she sees her friend Kate. Jerry and Jen have left the beach and were looking to find a food source. Elisabeth is sitting by herself facing away from the beach. The others on the beach can hear her crying, but they did not know a way to comfort her, so they did not try.

Anna walks up to Kate and Kate begins to tear up. Anna knows that Tim isn’t coming. Rachael walks over to Elisabeth to try and calm her down, though she seems like she would rather be left alone. Courtney goes over to help Lauren. She knows nothing about broken legs, but she figured it might help just to be there.

Chapter 5: Food

Jerry and Jen are walking together to see if they can find any food on this island. In the top of some of the trees Jen sees some coconuts.

“I thought coconuts only grew in tropical places.” Jen says. “Where are we?”

“I don’t know.” Jerry says. “But I have a feeling we’re nowhere near New York.”

Jerry climbs a tree and gathers some coconuts.

“Oh well. Who’s complaining?” Jerry says.

They walk still looking for anything else to eat. Just then, the ground gives way between the two and they fall into a hole. It is a deep hole, but Jerry thinks he can climb out.

“I will climb out and get the others.” He says. “Stay here.”

“Was that last part really necessary?” Jen asks as Jerry reaches the top.

“I will be right back.” He says.

Jerry begins to walk away but stops to try and remember which direction he came from. He takes a guess and walks that direction.

Chapter 6: Nightfall

The beach begins to get dark. The nine people still at the beach are waiting for Jen and Jerry.

“They must have gotten lost.” Rachael says.

“That or they found food and are eating it all.” Ben says laughing.

“In either case there is nothing we can do now.” Anna says. “We should try to build a camp.”

“It is too late to start anything like that now. We’ll have to rough it for today and make one tomorrow.” Courtney says.

“Ok, but let’s at least make a fire tonight so we can have some warmth.” Anna says.

They all agree and they build one. When they are done, seven of the nine still at camp fall asleep. Elisabeth was still sitting up thinking about today. Eric was still worried for Jen and Jerry. He walks over to Elisabeth and begins to talk to her.

“Are you feeling any better?” He asks.

“Not really.” Elisabeth says. “I can’t believe all of them are dead. I can’t sleep.”

“I can’t sleep either. I have a bad feeling. I think something bad may have happened to Jen and Jerry. They would be back otherwise.” Eric says.

Nicole wakes up from the two of them talking. She begins to listen to what they are saying. “Let’s look for them then.” Nicole says.

Both Eric and Elisabeth agree and the three of them look for their friends.

Chapter 7: Sunrise

As the light begins to come out, the three begin to see the path better. They don’t know exactly where the two went, but they are hoping they stuck to the main path. Eric tells the others to stop. He sees a larger hole in the path ahead. He walks up and looks in it. He screams and tells the others to go back. The others don’t listen and decide to see what he is looking at.

“Oh my God!” Nicole scream.

In the hole was Jen’s mangled body. Her eyes were gouged out and arms looked chewed off. Her mouth is open as if she was screaming. The three turn around and run but see footprints leading away from the hole. Elisabeth points them out and the three decide to follow them to try and find Jerry. Soon, though, the footprints become a mix of dirt and blood.

Eventually, the footprints lead to a tree. There is a large blood pool surrounding that tree. Nicole looks up and finds Jerry. His back is wrapped around the tree about halfway up. His mouth is slightly open and blood is dripping from it. His eyes are still open and look like they are staring right at the others.

Elisabeth and Eric run away, but do not notice that Nicole is not following them. She is still staring at Jerry. She cannot see how this was done. His back was wrapped all the way around the tree and his legs wrapped around his neck. His body is holding itself up around the tree.

Eric and Elisabeth get back to camp. They wake up the six others and tell them what they saw.

“Where is Nicole?” Courtney asks.

“She’s is…” Eric says. “I don’t know where she is.”

“Well let’s go look for her.” Rachael says.

“You can all go but I can’t even walk. I am going to have to stay.” Lauren says.

“I’ll stay with you.” Kate says.

“Me too.” Elisabeth says. “I don’t want to see that again.”

Courtney, Ben, Anna, and Rachael follow Eric as he brings them to where they last saw Nicole.

Chapter 8: Creatures

As it grows later and later, Elisabeth, Kate, and Lauren begin to worry about the other five’s safety. The sun begins to set and they start to believe that the others are either lost or worse.

The three don’t know what to do. They know they can’t do anything now, and they consider sleeping. Elisabeth is already asleep and the other two are having trouble staying awake. Lauren is staring at the night sky while Kate watches the forest, hoping to see the others.

Lauren turns her head away from the fire to try and sleep. She feels uncomfortable sleeping with her head that direction. She turns again toward the fire. She closes her eyes to shield them from the light. She hears a noise and by instinct opens her eyes to see what it was. She screams.

Elisabeth wakes up and Kate turns to see why Lauren is screaming. Standing above Lauren is a creature they have never seen before. The serpent glider stands over Lauren. It is five feet tall, has sharp teeth, wings, fish-like eyes, and lizard-like skin. It stands on two legs and is holding it’s two arms over Lauren’s neck. Its claws are nearly a half-foot long each. The creature lets out a shriek and two more serpent gliders join him.

Lauren screams again and one of the creatures cuts off Lauren’s head with its claws. That glider continues to attack Lauren while the other two turns to their other prey, one going for Elisabeth, and one for Kate.

Kate heads toward the forest, though the creature is catching up fast. Elisabeth tries to run but gets attacked before she can. It leaps onto the back of her head and digs its claws into her scalp. It bites into her head and she begins to bleed. She tries to bat it off her, but his claws are in too well. The glider takes another bite into Elisabeth’s head ad she collapses to the ground. It continues to feast on her corpse.

Chapter 9: Nicole

Eric leads Rachael, Ben, Courtney, and Anna to the spot with Jen’s body. She lies in the same spot and looks exactly how she did before. Eric continues the path to where he last saw Nicole, and to where he last saw Jerry.

They get to the spot but neither Jerry nor Nicole is there. They see Jerry’s blood puddle on the ground and a trail of blood leading away from the tree. There are markings on the ground like something had been dragged. They call out for Nicole and she shouts back.

“I’m over here.” She shouts. The others follow her voice and find her dragging Jerry’s body.

“I couldn’t just leave him up there.” She says.

“It’s not safe over here, Nicole.” Rachael says. ”Something killed him and could kill us too if we’re not careful. Lets go camp and in the morning when we can see better, we will bury him.”

Nicole agrees and they begin to leave the forest.

Chapter 10: Kate

Kate is running through the forest. She now has all three of the serpent gliders chasing her. She can hear them catching up to her and she knows she has to react fast. She sees a long stick on the ground and picks it up. She stabs the closest glider in the head. He flies off a little ways and falls to the ground dead with the stick still in his head. Kate is now unarmed again against two serpent gliders.

Kate begins to run again but she trips. She covers her face with her hand. One of the two gliders reach her and begins attacking her arms. It rips off a piece of her flesh and she begins to bleed. She hears the other glider shriek and both gliders stop attacking her. The two gliders are now working together to attack a bigger threat.

Together they swarm the minotaur and try to kill it. The minotaur is eight feet tall, has a bull-like head and legs, but a human-like body.

The minotaur grabs one of the gliders and rips it in half. He throws the glider’s body on the ground and starts at the other glider.

Seeing this a possible chance to escape, Kate gets up and begins to run away.

A while later she spots the others. Her arm is still bleeding from when the glider attacked her.

“What happened? Where are the others?” Ben asks.

Kate explains to the best of her knowledge of what had happened. She explains the creatures on the island, and the deaths of their two friends.

Chapter 11: Sunrise-Day 3

The seven survivors are discussing where they should go. None of them wanted to go back to their old camp, none of them wanted to stay here, and none of them wanted to look for anywhere new.

It is still dark. They hear a loud shriek and Kate tells them that those were the beasts she was talking about. Two serpent gliders and a lizard glider fly above the seven. A lizard glider is a lot like serpent gliders except it is almost twice as large.

The two serpent gliders begin to attack Eric. One bites his neck and he begins to bleed. The other grabs onto the top of his head and begins biting into it.

The lizard glider attacks Anna, though. He grabs onto her neck and gets a good hold. Rachael sees this and grabs onto Anna’s arms.

The sun begins to rise, though it is impossible to tell in the forest. Eric is now on the ground, the serpent gliders attached to his back. Kate hits one off Eric, but it goes right back.

Rachael is holding onto Anna as well as she can, but she is not strong enough; the lizard glider pulls Anna away from Rachael’s arms and begins to fly off with her.

The sun now shines in the forest. The lizard glider shrieks and drops Anna. She falls twenty feet and lands on her stomach. She isn’t moving. The two serpent gliders stop attacking Eric and fly off. He isn’t moving either.

Rachael and Courtney run over to help Anna while Kate, Ben, and Nicole help Eric. Anna is bleeding from where the lizard glider held its claws, but she is fine. Rachael and Courtney help her up and they help walk her to the others.

Eric is dead. He hadn’t moved since he first hit the ground, even though the gliders were still on him. Anna sees her boyfriend dead on the ground. She begins to tear up but says they need to move on.

“We need to go back to our original camp.” Anna says. “These things don’t seem to like the sunlight, and that spot has the most.” The others agree and they begin to go back.

Chapter 12: Walk Back

The six survivors realized that the sunlight was the gliders’ weakness, however, they also assumed that it was a weakness for the minotaur. They were wrong.

They are nearly back at their camp when the minotaur charges at them. He grabs Rachael by the neck and pins her against a tree. He bashes her head against the tree until she is knocked unconscious.

Kate looks around quickly for something to use. She sees the glider she killed and she takes the stick out of its head. She runs at the minotaur and swings at the back of his head. His head is too strong and it doesn’t seem to hurt him. He turns to Kate, but she attacks again. This time she aims at his human-like body. She pierces his skin and he lets out a roar. She removes the stick and stabs it again in the same spot. This time he falls forward after getting stabbed, which pushes the stick in even deeper.

Courtney checks to see if Rachael is alive. She is still breathing, yet she is unconscious. She asks Ben to help her and together they carry Rachael to their camp on the beach. Anna and Nicole follow them, but Kate stays behind.

She kicks the minotaur to its side. She pulls out the stick. “I have a feeling I’m going to be needing you.” She says. She catches up with the others.

Chapter 13: Camp

Elizabeth and Lauren’s bodies were no longer at the camp. The lizard glider took them away after the serpent gliders killed them. Nobody seemed to notice though, since everyone had something else on their mind, escaping.

“Where are we?” Nicole asks in a panic.

“I have no idea.” Ben replies.

“I think we might be in another world.” Courtney says.

“What do you mean another world?” Kate asks.

“Well, do any of you remember right before we crashed? We were driving over a bridge right?” Courtney asks.

“Yeah, so?” Anna says.

“Well did any of you see the bridge after the accident? I didn’t, and I looked for it.” Courtney says.

Nobody responds.

“I think that when we crashed we went though a portal to another world. I don’t really know how or if we can get back, but I think that’s how we got here.” She says.

“Do you really think we entered another dimension?” Anna asks, “There are no portals, no other worlds. Just our own.”

“Is it really that hard to believe?” Ben asks. “Just look around. These aren’t normal animals. I’ve never seen anything like these things, especially not around here.”

“I can’t see anything else it can be. Even look at the trees around us. They have coconuts in them. Coconut palm trees only grow in tropical areas, not in Massachusetts.” Courtney says.

“Even if we did go though a portal how could we possibly go back?” Anna asks.

“Maybe if we go through it again we will be back to our own world.” Kate says.

“And how would we do that?” Anna asks.

“We could swim out and look for it.” Kate says.

“No, we can’t.” Courtney says. “It is too far away.”

“We all did it once before we could do it again.” Kate says.

“Yeah, but if we are wrong we have to swim back, which makes it twice as far. We don’t know exactly where it is so we could be swimming out there for a long time. Plus, when we originally swam here we were well fed. We’ve barely eaten or drank anything since we’ve been out here. We are all much weaker than when we first came.” Courtney says.

“We could build a raft and paddle to it.” Nicole says.

“That could work.” Courtney says.

Chapter 14: Rope

“Kate and Nicole, you two try to find something we can use for rope.” Courtney says. “Ben, Anna and I will look for some wood.”

Ben, Anna, and Courtney go to the forest to find some wood.

“What can we use as rope?” Nicole asks. Kate lifts a coconut and tears off some of the outside.

“This might work.” Kate says. She twists the fibers around itself and pulls. It is strong.

“We’re going to need a lot of coconuts.” Nicole says. “Can you climb those trees?”

“Yes, can you?” Kate replies.

“No.” Nicole says

“Ok the, you stay here and make the rope. I’ll be back with more coconuts.”

Kate begins climbing trees, gathering all the coconuts she can find.

Chapter 15: Afternoon

Courtney, Anna, and Ben have made several trips back and forth with wood to build the raft. They still need a lot more wood to make it big enough for all of them.

Rachael is no longer unconscious and begins helping Nicole make the rope. Rachael rips the strands off the coconuts and Nicole twists the strands together to make them stronger. They have a decent amount of rope, but they are unsure if it will hold.

Courtney, Anna, and Ben get back to the beach with another woodpile.
“If we want to leave before tonight we have to start making the raft.” Courtney says.

They still don’t think they have enough wood to build it, but they have to start it now. Kate returns to camp with more coconuts. The other five are already working on the raft.

Together, the six are able to make a small raft, tied together by the rope they had made. It is getting late and the sun will set in a few hours.

“I doubt we can all fit on that.” Kate says. “We’ll be lucky to fit two of us on there.”
“I think we can fit four.” Ben says.

“Four of us should go and see if we can find the portal. If we can then us four go through it, drop two off, and come back for the others.” Courtney says.

“I’ll stay.” Rachael says. “I am still weak from earlier. Just make sure you come back before its dark.”

“We will.” Courtney says.

“I’ll stay with her.” Kate says.

“No, you believe in this portal thing, I still don’t. I’ll stay with her instead, you can go.” Anna says.

Ben, Kate, Nicole, and Courtney carry the raft over to the water. They begin paddling, hoping to find the bus in the water.

Chapter 16: Raft

The water is a deep blue, which makes it difficult to see what is underneath. The four paddle around until Nicole thinks she sees something. They paddle over to it and Courtney looks up to try to find the bridge. She cannot see it so she knows they haven’t gone through a portal.

“Maybe we have to jump in the water to go through it.” Nicole says. She jumps in the water but the others can still see her.

“Or maybe not.” Ben says.

“I’ll try swimming more toward the bus.” Nicole says. She dives under the water and starts swimming to the bus. The others wait for her to return.

“What’s taking her so long?” Ben asks.

“She must have found it then.” Courtney says. Kate gets up to jump in the water but she begins to see blood in the water.

“I don’t think she found it.” Kate says.

The morkoth swims to the top of the water and begins to attack the raft. The morkoth has shark like teeth and jaws, and squid like tentacles. The beast is 30 feet long and still has pieces of Nicole’s flesh and blood in its mouth.

Kate, Ben, and Courtney jump into the water. They begin to swim to the island while the morkoth attacks the raft. They safely make it back to shore before the morkoth can finish. When it finally does, it dives beneath the water again.

Rachael and Anna had seen the whole thing as well.

“Still think we’re in Massachusetts?” Courtney asks.

“Still think there’s a portal?” Anna asks.

Chapter 17: Prepare

The five survivors know they have to prepare themselves for the night ahead. The gliders come out at night. Kate still has her stick with her, and she tells everyone else to find his or her own weapons. Courtney grabs a few branches off the palm trees and carries them back to camp. The rest find strong sticks that they can use. They pile them up back at camp.

The sun is nearly set so everyone regroups at camp.

Chapter 18: Nightfall-Day 3

Hours passed and the gliders still have not attacked. Some of the survivors are starting to wonder if the gliders are even going to come.

Kate accidentally dozes off for a second, but Ben catches her and wakes her up.

“We need to stay awake just in case they come.” He whispers.

Each of the five is armed only with sticks. A few extra sticks lay on the ground just in case they need them. Courtney also gathered three palm tree branches. She plans to light them on fire and hit the gliders with them if things become too bad.

“Maybe they’re not coming.” Rachael says.

They begin to hear a bird like flapping around them.

“No, they’re not coming.” Courtney says. “They’re already here.”

Chapter 19: Gliders

The only light the survivors have is from the fire that sits in the middle of the five of them. They have no idea how many gliders there are, nor do they know that they killed the gliders only predator, the minotaur. Now, the survivors must fight off all the gliders on their own.

A serpent glider flies next to the fire near Anna. She picks up her stick and stabs it through its head. It begins to fly off with her stick but she is able to grab the stick back at the last second.

“Be careful to hold onto your weapons,” Anna says. “They seem to try to fly off after they are stabbed.”

Anna is right. The gliders’ natural reaction to danger is to fly away. Unfortunately for them, the gliders are not the easiest things to scare.

More serpent gliders land and begin attacking them. Each of them is able to hold their own against the gliders until a lizard glider comes. It lands near the fire and heads toward Courtney. Luckily, she had planned for this. She ignites a palm branch and swings it at the lizard glider. She hits him and he ignites. He begins to fly off and they can see him on fire until he collapses into the water. Courtney uses her new weapon until it becomes too short. Then she switches back to the stick.

Kate has two serpent gliders attacking her. She stabs one and it flies off with her stick. The second one lunges at her and she covers her head. Ben notices that she is now unarmed and he stabs the second glider for her. When she realizes that the other glider is dead she grabs another stick from the pile. There are only two left in the pile.

The gliders are coming more frequently than before. The gliders now know they are there.

Four attack Ben and he is surrounded. Kate decides to return his favor from before and she helps him. Together, they are able to kill all four.

Anna is frequently being attacked. She smacks one over the head then stabs it as it lies on the ground. Another one comes and she stabs it straight on. It flies off with her stick leaving her defenseless. Another glider comes and she kicks it back to the fire. It ignites and collapses in the fire. Anna grabs another stick leaving only one in the pile.

Three gliders are attacking Courtney. She knocks one glider back and stabs another. The glider she knocked back gets up and Courtney stabs it before it can fly away. The third glider gets behind Courtney and begins attacking the back of her head. Courtney lowers her head trying to cover it and she screams. Rachael hits the glider off of her and then stabs it as it lies on the ground. Two more gliders attack Rachael while she is focused on Courtney. One begins attacking the back of Rachael’s head while the other goes for her neck. Courtney gets up and hits one off of Rachael’s head. She stabs it on the ground. While she kills that glider a lizard glider comes. It grabs Rachael and begins to fly off. Rachael drops her stick in the distance. Everyone can hear her screaming as she is flown over the ocean.

Courtney picks up a second palm branch and ignites it. She begins attacking every glider she can find, even some of those that are already dead. The others cannot pay any attention to her though. They all have their own problems.

Most of the gliders are now attacking Courtney, but some still attack the others. One attacks Ben from behind. He hears it before it strikes, but he still was not ready for it. He stabs it in its head but Ben loses his grip on the stick. The glider flies off with his stick and Ben grabs the last extra stick.

Courtney’s palm branch is now too small and she goes back to get her stick. When she goes over to grab it, though, another glider attacks her. She quickly picks up her stick and stabs the glider, though she didn’t remember to hang onto it. She loses her stick and there are no more extras. She knows where one more stick is.

Courtney grabs the last palm branch and lights it on fire. She begins walking along the side of the water, fighting off gliders along the way. She knows Rachael had dropped her stick near the water, but not in it.

A serpent glider and a lizard glider attack Anna. She doesn’t notice the lizard glider at first, but she sees the serpent glider. She hits and kills the serpent glider but her back is turned away from the lizard glider.

Courtney manages to find the stick. She doesn’t want to pick it up because it is covered in Rachael’s blood, but it is the last stick they have.

Kate sees the lizard glider sneaking up to Anna. She gets up and runs behind the glider. She stabs the lizard glider before it can attack.

“Move closer to us Anna.” Kate says. Anna agrees and Ben, Kate, and Anna form a triangle to make sure that no gliders will attack them from behind.

Courtney walks back with the palm branch in one hand, Rachael’s stick in the other. She hits gliders along the way with the palm branch. She sees the other three in a triangle so she decides to sit near them.

The four manage to fight back the gliders until the sun rises. As the gliders begin to fly off, the four survivors look at each other without saying a word. They had all made it one more night.

Chapter 20: Courtney

Once they are sure that the gliders are gone, Anna, Kate, and Ben decide to get some sleep. Courtney, however, decides to stay up. She stares at the ocean. “How could we have gotten here if there is no portal?” Courtney asks in a whisper. She picks up Rachael’s blood soaked stick and tosses it into the water.

“We’re never getting out of here.” Courtney whispers to herself.

She watches the stick in the water. It begins to drift to the right.

“A current.” Courtney says stunned. “It drifted.”

Courtney gets up and heads to the others. They are all asleep but she feels this is important. She wakes everyone up.

“What is your problem now?” Anna asks.

“I know why we couldn’t find the portal before.” Courtney says.

“Because it doesn’t exist?” Ben asks. Anna laughs.

“No, there is a current in the water. It drifted to the right of where we first crashed.”

“Yeah, I ‘m sure the portal drifted on us. I bet you want us to go out there now right? You already got one of us killed by doing that, now you want to kill the rest of us.” Ben says.

Courtney looks stunned at how she is being attacked. “The portal didn’t drift. The bus did. The portal stayed in the same spot, which is why we couldn’t find it before.” She says.

“Do you know how stupid you sound right now? You woke us up for this? There is no portal and there is now way out. Now get some sleep, you need it.” Anna says.

“Yeah, Courtney. Something is not right here, but to risk our lives, again, just to feed your fantasy would be insane.” Ben says. He lies back down to go to bed.

“Risk your lives? What lives? How long do you think you can survive here? A week if you are lucky. If there is even a slight chance that I am right, isn’t it worth the chance?” Courtney asks.

There is silence amongst the other three.

“I am going to try and escape with or without all of you. I just wanted to see if I could get any of your help.

“I’ll help. I think it is worth the risk to try to get back home. Plus, I don’t think I can take another night here.” Kate says.

“Ben?” Courtney says.

“Ok. I’ll help too.”

Courtney turns to Anna and stares at her. Anna waits a while but finally responds. “Fine. I’ll help you, but I still think you are wrong.” She says.

“So do I.” Courtney says.

Chapter 21: Ben

Luckily for the survivors, they still have extra rope from the first rope they made. Now all the four have to do is gather wood. The four split up into two groups. Anna and Ben go together and Kate and Courtney go together.

Anna and Ben are having trouble finding any wood. They search everywhere near their camp and find very little wood that they can use. They begin to look out further.

“I can’t believe Courtney wants to go out again.” Ben says.

“Yeah, I know.” Anna says.

“She better hope we find that portal, or I am going to make her pay.” Ben says.

“Yeah, she is going to outcast herself if she acts like that.” Anna says.

“No, I mean I will make her pay if she is wrong. I am not spending another night here. If she is wrong I think that I am going to kill her myself. I will shove her head under the water until she stops breathing. Her and that backstabber Kate.” Ben says.

Courtney and Kate are having an easy time finding wood. They went further out than they did last time.

“Courtney, I’m sorry I didn’t speak out earlier. I just didn’t want to be singled out.” Kate says.

“You wouldn’t have been singled out I would’ve been there with you.” Courtney says.

“I know, but 3 vs. 1 is easier than 2 vs. 2. I’m sorry.” Kate says.

“It’s ok. We’re all working together now, that’s all that really matters.” Courtney says.

Courtney spots a nice pile of wood ahead of her. She lifts up one stick and underneath it lays an arachnect. Arachnects are insect like creatures with eight legs, claws, and wings. It is about one foot long and has a three-inch stinger. The arachnect flies up and stings Courtney in her arm. She falls to her knees before Kate can react. Kate runs over to help but the arachnect flies off before she can help.

“What was that?” Kate asks.

“I have no idea, but it stung me.” Courtney says.

Anna and Ben see Courtney and Kate in the distance they catch up to them and tell them they are having trouble finding wood. Kate shows them their spot that they have been using. Ben grabs a load of wood and walks back to camp. Kate begins picking up a load as well but Anna stops her. Once she is sure Ben is gone she talks to the others.

“I think this island is driving Ben insane. He is talking about killing you two if you are wrong about the portal.” Anna says.

“What?” Courtney says.

“Don’t worry. I won’t let him do anything but I just wanted to let you both know so you can watch your backs. Please don’t say anything to Ben, if you do he might just snap.” Anna says.

“Don’t worry, we won’t say anything. Thanks for telling us.” Kate says.

“Yeah, thanks. I’m a little surprised you are telling us, though.” Courtney says.

“Courtney, I disagree with a lot of what you say, but that doesn’t mean I want you dead. We have to work together to get out of here. It’s our only shot.” Anna says.

Anna grabs a load of sticks and walks away. Courtney looks back at her arm. It is burning. The stinger left a large lump under her skin.

“Wow, I hope that wasn’t poisonous.” Courtney says.

Chapter 22: Build It

Kate and Courtney get back to camp with another load of sticks.

“We should start building the raft.” Courtney says.

They begin the raft, but halfway through Courtney has to stop. Her arm is killing her from when she got stung. She looks back at her arm and the lump nearly doubled in size and now moved further up her arm. She walks away toward the fire to sit down.

“Courtney?” Anna says.

“What the hell Courtney, get over here.” Ben shouts.

Courtney gives her arm a break then helps the others with the raft. They manage to finish it with plenty of daylight left.

“Everyone ready?” Kate asks.

Chapter 23: Water

The four carry the raft over to the water and they get ready to take off. Anna is sitting in the front left seat, Kate is sitting in the front right seat, Ben is sitting in the back left seat, and Courtney is sitting in the back right seat. Courtney was hoping to find a seat further away from Ben, but everyone else wanted to sit away from him as well.

The four paddle out using their arms. They head toward where the bus remains are now. They then head against the current figuring that eventually, if the portal exists, they will go through it.

Courtney’s arm is still bothering her. She looks at it now, but it is nearly all gone. The lump is much smaller now but is now up near her shoulder. Courtney begins to feel sick. She begins to faint and nearly falls into the water, but catches herself before she does. Nobody notices.

They continue paddling for a while. They begin to wonder if they should head back, but the four see a flash of light and feel a jolt of energy.

“Whoa, what was that?” Kate asks.

Courtney looks up and sees the bridge and she can see it. She looks back if she can see the island still. It is no longer there. She looks to see if she can find the bus, but she doesn’t see it.
“That was the portal. We’re home.” Courtney says.

“No way.” Anna says. “I guess I owe you an apology then Courtney. You were right.”

“Thanks. I was starting to doubt half the stuff I said too.” Courtney says. Everyone laughs.

They paddle underneath the bridge until in the distance they can see a way up to the road. They can hear some cars driving by.

“I can’t believe we’re home.” Kate says.

Courtney begins coughing. Something is blocking her throat. She is having trouble breathing.

“Courtney?” Kate asks.

Courtney coughs again and a small arachnect flies out of her mouth and jumps into the water. Soon enough swarms of arachnects are climbing out of Courtney’s mouth, eyes, and nose. A few arachnects manage to bite their way through Courtney’s throat and climb out. Courtney grabs her neck and falls to her side, falling off the raft.

A few of the arachnects still lie on the raft. They climb on Ben and begin biting him. Kate and Anna jump off the raft and begin to swim to the shore.

Ben now has four arachnects on him and more are swimming his way. One bit through his arm and has already made its way inside. Two are biting through his eyes and one went up through his nose. He screams and tries to bat them away. It is no use for soon he is covered in the arachnects. He falls back and lies motionless on the raft.

Anna and Kate reach the shore. They look back and see Ben lying dead on the raft. Courtney is nowhere in sight. A couple of arachnects followed Kate and Anna to shore, but they are still ahead of them. They can hear a car driving over the bridge above them. They run up the hill and signal the car to stop.

“Are you two ok?” The man in the car asks. Both Anna and Kate are covered in blood and dirt. Anna’s clothing is ripped and her neck is cut. Kate has a deep cut on her arm.

“We need a ride please.” Anna says.

“Ok, get in the back.” The man says.

They get in the back seats of the car.

“Where are you two heading?” the man asks. He begins to drive off in the direction that he was going.

“Anywhere but here.” Kate says.