Chapter 322: Into the Forest (2)
By the time Everly regained consciousness, the plane had already crashed.
She coughed violently, spat out a mouthful of blood, and struggled out from beneath the mangled seat. What greeted her was a scene of utter devastation.
The aircraft’s nose had plunged into the earth at an angle. The tremendous impact had crushed it down to a short, narrow section, like a soda can flattened underfoot.
The first-class cabin had fared somewhat better thanks to the nose absorbing much of the impact. Even so, the cabin ceiling had been ripped away during the crash, leaving the first-class seats completely exposed to the open air.
Twisted metal fragments, broken branches, leaves, and scattered luggage littered the cabin.
Since seat belts only secured passengers around the waist rather than holding them firmly in place, several people had been hurled from their seats during the crash. Some hung limply from the twisted wreckage like discarded rag dolls. Others had died outside the aircraft with broken spines and grotesquely twisted limbs. One passenger’s abdomen had been ripped open by a flying sheet of metal, spilling intestines and internal organs across the ground.
The thick scent of blood permeated the air.
The scene was so horrifying that it was almost impossible to look at.
Everly had been fortunate.
At the last moment, she had chosen to curl up beneath her seat. The first-class seats were larger and sturdier than those in economy, and during the crash they had shielded her from most of the impact and falling debris—including a snapped steel support rod that now protruded diagonally through the seat.
She gave herself a quick examination from head to toe.
All of her essential belongings were still with her, and she was in surprisingly good condition. Aside from the inevitable cuts and bruises, the only serious injury was her right little finger, which had gone completely numb. It was probably broken.
An injury this minor didn’t warrant using the Panacea.
Suppressing the pain, Everly pulled on the finger and roughly set the bone back into place. Then, stepping over the wreckage strewn across the floor, she walked out of the first-class cabin.
Beyond it lay the much larger economy cabin.
The sight there was even more horrific—
The aircraft’s main fuel tanks were located inside the two wings. In addition, beneath the middle section of the passenger cabin—where it connected to the wings—was a central fuel tank.
The moment the plane crashed, all three fuel tanks exploded simultaneously.
The force of the explosions completely tore apart the middle and rear sections of the aircraft. The sturdy metal fuselage was blasted into countless fragments. Aside from a handful of passengers seated near the first-class cabin who survived, everyone else had either been killed by the explosion or incinerated by the fireball that erupted in an instant.
Even now, the flames in the rear of the wreckage had yet to die out.
The entire economy cabin was blackened beyond recognition, transformed into a living hell. The few survivors left there lay sprawled on the ground, groaning in agony.
Everly herself was still in relatively good condition.
Seeing several first-class survivors who were still able to move rushing toward the back to rescue people, she hurried over as well. She pried apart the twisted metal frame pinning a young woman beneath a seat and managed to pull her free.
There weren’t many survivors.
After a frantic round of rescue efforts, everyone gathered in a clearing near the wreckage. Everly counted them.
Out of everyone aboard the flight, only fourteen people—including herself—had survived.
Most of the survivors had come from first class, which was also the best-preserved section of the aircraft.
After helping the injured onto a patch of level ground outside, one of the male survivors suggested they search the wreckage for anything that might still be useful.
Everyone agreed.
So, anyone who wasn’t too badly injured to move—including Everly—made their way into the relatively intact first-class cabin, picking through the debris in search of salvageable supplies.
Everly headed straight to her seat and retrieved the backpack she had stuffed underneath it.
Inside a zippered compartment were her driver’s license, bank cards, and other important documents. Although the backpack itself had been damaged and most of its contents had spilled out during the crash, everything stored inside that compartment had remained intact.
Everly converted the damaged backpack into a makeshift waist pack and carefully stored the documents inside. With those intact, she wouldn’t have to spend extra time and money replacing them later. That would have been a real hassle.
After securing the backpack, she began searching the wreckage inch by inch, following the route she remembered. Some time later, she successfully recovered her pocket mirror from beneath a sheet of twisted metal.
The mirror had a metal frame wrapped in a layer of soft foam padding. Thanks to that protection, despite being tossed around repeatedly during the crash, it had suffered only a single crack and remained perfectly usable.
As long as she wanted to, Everly could use the mirror to contact Bloody Mary at any time.
For now, however, there was no need.
The plane crash was over, and she was still alive and in one piece. Until a new life-threatening situation arose, she was perfectly capable of relying on herself.
The roof of the first-class cabin had been torn away during the crash. The pressure difference between the inside and outside of the aircraft had caused many items to be sucked out during the descent, leaving relatively few supplies behind. Most of what remained was little more than clothing.
Everly searched thoroughly but ultimately found only a few packets of crushed biscuits, a flattened sandwich, several pieces of candy, and an opened bottle of mineral water.
Carrying her meager haul, she returned to the area where the survivors had gathered.
The injured who had previously been lying on the bare ground were now resting on blankets salvaged from the aircraft. The man who had first suggested searching for supplies was crouched beside them, treating their wounds with first-aid supplies recovered from the wreckage.
Everly watched him for a while.
His technique looked highly professional.
She walked over and asked, “Are you a doctor?”
The man glanced up briefly, looked at her, and shrugged.
“No. I’m not a doctor—just a military veteran.”
Everly raised an eyebrow slightly.
Earlier, when the man had been directing everyone, his face had been smeared with dirt, making it difficult for Everly to get a good look at him. Now that he’d wiped some of it away, his features came into view.
He was handsome, though weathered by experience.
His face was sharply defined, with a broad forehead and prominent brow ridge. His deep blue eyes were quiet yet resolute, fine crow’s feet lined their corners, and a faint scar ran across one cheek. Coupled with the stubble he hadn’t bothered to shave, he looked like a man with plenty of stories to tell.
His appearance, his practiced first-aid skills, his broad shoulders, and his powerful, well-built physique…
He was practically the textbook rugged hero from a Hollywood action film.
Could he be the protagonist of this horror movie?
Too soon to tell. Better keep watching.
Everly’s little finger was still fractured. It wasn’t easy to splint it by herself, so since the man clearly knew how to treat injuries, she asked him to help immobilize it with a pair of sticks.
While he worked, the two of them chatted casually.
According to the man, his name was Anthony. He had once served as a special forces soldier. After leaving the military, he became a professional wilderness guide, spending his days leading wealthy but inexperienced clients along several of the country’s famous hiking trails.
The other survivors had already finished searching for supplies and had nothing else to do. Hearing Everly and Anthony talking, they gradually drifted over and joined the conversation.
Before long, all fourteen survivors had introduced themselves.
There were too many names to remember all at once, but aside from Anthony, one person left a particularly strong impression on Everly.
A woman named Sophia.
Not because of anything she’d said.
Because of her face.
Sophia was a classic blonde with blue eyes, probably in her thirties. She was strikingly beautiful, carrying herself with an air of maturity and quiet intelligence. Even after surviving a plane crash that had left her looking somewhat disheveled, her unique charm remained undiminished.
At first glance, Everly had merely thought Sophia looked vaguely familiar.
But when Sophia brushed a lock of hair behind one ear, revealing a tiny red beauty mark on her left earlobe, a long-forgotten memory suddenly resurfaced.
She had seen that face before.
In her previous life.
It had been in one of those “Most Beautiful Western Actresses” compilation videos. One of the actresses featured there bore a striking resemblance to Sophia—and she, too, had a tiny red beauty mark on her earlobe. It was such a distinctive feature that Everly was certain she couldn’t be mistaken.
So… Sophia is actually the heroine of a horror movie?
Everly’s gaze swept across the other survivors before she boldly reached a conclusion.
Yes.
Excluding Everly herself, there were thirteen other survivors, and quite a few of them were attractive. There was even a young couple who were obviously head over heels for each other. The girl was gorgeous, with striking features and a stunning figure. Anyone would have called her beautiful.
But compared to Sophia, everyone else’s good looks felt… ordinary.
They lacked that unforgettable quality.
Sophia’s profession was equally distinctive.
She was an anthropologist at a university, and she’d been on the flight because she was traveling to Dalifer State to give a lecture.
Anyone who watched a lot of horror movies knew the trope.
In films built around mysterious or supernatural settings, directors loved including a scholarly expert. Sometimes that character was cannon fodder. Sometimes they were one of the protagonists. Whenever the plot required it, the director would use them to explain ancient legends, decipher mysterious totems, reveal the origins of monsters, or provide other obscure bits of lore that moved the story forward.
Everly suspected Sophia was exactly that kind of walking exposition.
The thought weighed heavily on her.
A simple plane crash didn’t require an anthropologist to explain anything.
The crash they had just survived had probably served only one purpose: to strand everyone in an isolated forest.
The real horror story…
…hadn’t begun yet.
Whether she was right or not, a little more observation would tell.
After all fourteen survivors had introduced themselves, they sat together in a circle and began discussing what to do next.
Some people’s phones had survived the crash and were still functional.
Unfortunately, there was no signal in the forest.
Everyone had already tried, but not a single call could get through.
Everly’s satellite phone hadn’t fared any better. It had been flung out of her backpack during the crash and was now nothing more than a pile of shattered pieces.
For the time being, they were completely cut off from the outside world.
They had fallen into a familiar stranded-on-a-desert-island scenario.
Fortunately, no one seemed particularly shaken by the news.
A commercial airliner packed with passengers crashing on a domestic route was an incident of enormous magnitude. You didn’t need to be a genius to figure that out.
When the accident occurred, the plane had been only thirty minutes away from its destination. Even if the airline were incredibly slow to react, it would realize something was wrong within half an hour at most.
As long as the aircraft hadn’t strayed too far off course, locating this forest—and the crash site—wouldn’t be difficult using satellite imaging or other search methods.
After some discussion, the group generally agreed with Anthony’s proposal:
Stay where they were and wait for rescue.
There was, however, one problem with that plan.
Their supplies were woefully inadequate.
There were fourteen people in total, three of whom were seriously injured with broken limbs. Surviving in the forest would require a considerable amount of food and water every day.
Most of the plane’s food and drinking water had either been destroyed or scattered during the crash. After searching for quite a while, the survivors had managed to recover only a few scraps of food, two 500-milliliter bottles of drinking water, and one of those bottles had already been opened, with only half the water left inside.
It wasn’t even enough for a single meal.
To be safe, Anthony suggested they gather additional food and water from the surrounding forest.
After all…
Everyone knew what the U.S. government’s rescue efficiency was like.