can you see me," he shouted.
McChesney frowned, looked at him. "Of course I can see you, I'm not blind?"
"Miss Willis is hurt. I can't carry her. You've got to help me."
McChesney stared at him blankly. Alvin couldn't stop the anger. Here was this...giant and he wouldn't help. He punched McChesney as hard as he could.
"Damn you, wake up. I've got to get her out of the plane, it could blow up...don't you smell the gas?"
McChesney still stared at him. Alvin hit him again.
"What word did you not understand! Mr. Stupid. Mr. Useless Coward!"
Mr. America woke him up. "Hey, quit punching me ya little runt, what did you say?"
"Miss Willis is hurt, back there. We've got to get her out of the plane. I smell gas everywhere. I can't lift her."
McChesney looked genuinely concerned and struggled to his feet. He swayed for a moment, looked around. He shook himself. He didn't know what was wrong, he felt fuzzy-headed, out of contact.
Alvin moved to the rear of the plane. "Back here, c'mon, hurry."
McChesney finally sensed Alvin's urgency and followed him back to where Sherry lay on the deck. He knelt to pick her up.
"Be careful, she has a head injury."
Alvin followed McChesney back through the plane shouting instructions all the way. He made him wait by the door while he found a blanket and together they wrapped it around her and covered her head.
Alvin leaned out the door. "Mr. Genoa, where are you?" He shined the flashlight around the area.
"On my way." They heard his voice through the trees. He pushed the folds of the slide out of the way and stood near the door.
"Is she all right?"
"I don't know. She banged her head. I'm going to give you the flashlight. Find a place out of the rain and make sure she stays dry. I got another flashlight in my pack. I'll get it and my camping stuff. Don't go too far."
"Okay. Don't you stay in that plane, boy. The smell of gas is real strong."
"I won't."
Tony led McChesney off into the woods. Alvin watched them for a moment and wished he were big and strong so he could carry Miss Willis. He didn't dwell on it. There were a thousand things to do and he had to remember them all.
The thought that he would forget some important thing, something that would help them survive gnawed at him constantly.
First get the pack, find a fallen tree, make a shelter, get a fire going. She has to be kept warm. I must not forget anything!
The interior of the plane was dark except for light from the occasional bolt of lightning. The door to the flight deck was buckled. He looked at it and understood too easily what must have happened. He told himself he would go back as soon as he had the others safe.
Alvin struggled to get the pack over his shoulder and the straps locked in place. Before he left he filled his arms with blankets and zipped three of the small airline pillows inside his jacket.
Outside it was raining so hard he couldn't smell the forest. He wanted to smell the forest. It was a known thing, familiar, comforting.
"Mr. Genoa, shine your light."
Fifty yards ahead he saw a light waving about. When he reached them the three survivors were huddled under the branches of a huge fir.
"Are you all right, Mr. Genoa?" Alvin put his hand over his heart unconsciously.
"I'm fine son. I don't have to take that stuff very often and it works pretty good."
"Great. How's Miss Willis?" They had her propped against the base of the tree with the blankets covering her. McChesney was standing nearby, shivering.
She looked up from under the blankets. She tried to smile. "I'm okay, Alvin. I could sure use an aspirin."
"Darn, of course, I should have thought of that. I’ve got to remember." He struggled out of his pack. McChesney made no effort to help.
Alvin dug around in the pack and came out with a first-aid kit. "How many? I think two now, and two more in an hour. You shouldn't take too many until we know if you have a concussion."
"You're the doctor, Alvin."
He smiled shyly. "I wish I was. Just hold them for a minute, I'll see if I can find water." Before he left Alvin removed a hatchet from his pack.
"What's the matter, kid, afraid you'll meet up with a bear?" McChesney said.
Alvin ignored him. He took a deep metal pot from the pack, part of a set of four, and walked off into the trees.
McChesney grumbled. "We should have stayed in the plane. If it was going to catch fire it would have done it by now."
Alvin found a newly formed brook within fifty feet of where he left the others. He filled the pot and set it down near the brook. A crash of lightning speared down into the forest nearby and he glimpsed a large fallen fir tree another fifty yards up toward higher ground.
He nodded as he ticked off one of the key items on his internal `to do’ list. From his pocket he removed a metal tobacco can and dug out half a dozen inch long plastic rods. He selected one, bent it into the shape of a `U' and let it snap free. The plastic rod immediately gave off a pale yellow glow.
They had been his own idea. He'd found them in a sporting goods store in the golf section. They had these special golf balls with a hole drilled through the center. The promo said they could be used in the dark. He tried them out and they worked a treat.
He wedged the glowing plastic rod on a tree near the brook, crossed to the other side, shut his flashlight off and looked back. Sure enough there it was plainly visible like a firefly in the dark.
Alvin moved up hill as fast as he could toward the downed tree. It was a big northern spruce and it hadn't been down long because the limbs were still green and thick.
"Great, this will be perfect. I can make a shelter big enough for all of us."
He snapped another one of the glowing markers and placed it in a tree near the fallen spruce.
Back at the stream he picked up the pot and made his way back to the others, stopping along the way to mark another tree. When he got there McChesney was still grumbling about having to stand in the rain.
Tony looked at him with disgust. He took the pot of water from Alvin and helped Sherry drink.
"Thanks, Mr. Genoa. I'm going to be all right, really."
"Tony, Miss Sherry, I've found a place where I can make us a shelter. Soon as I get it built, I'll get a fire going. I'm sorry it's taking so long, I'll go as fast as I can."
"You're doing fine, Alvin. Don't worry about us, we can wait until you finish," Sherry said.
"What
