Tao felt himself awaken with a startled jolt, his adrenaline running high with alarm as he sat upright and glanced around for the sudden danger his mind was sensing. To his relief and slight displeasure, he found himself alone in one of the first class sleeper seats with no signs of any possible danger.

Heaving a sigh, he ran a jaded hand over his eyes and down the right side of his face before creasing his eyebrows in confusion, his mind trying to fathom how he ended up here when he was just in economy a moment ago.

"Hey, you're awake." The acquainted voice scared the hell out of Tao. He shifted his languid gaze over to find JongIn walking down the aisle towards him. The younger held a half empty bottle of water and a plastic container in his hands.

Tao gave an enervated nod. "Yeah, I'm awake." He glanced around once more, "How...did I get in here? How long have I been asleep?"

"For about three hours, maybe." The younger answered, taking a seat on the floor in front of Tao. "LuHan Hyung and I brought you in here so you could stretch out." He lifted a plastic container containing a half of a peppered turkey sandwich and a small bowl of grapes in front of the older, "I figured you'd be hungry when you woke up so I got you some food I managed to find in the back. It should still be good."

Tao gave a curt nod of appreciation as he took the container and popped it open. Edible or not, with him not having had eaten in possibly a day or two, his stomach was practically wheezing for something to fill it.

Once Tao's teeth sunk into the sandwich, he began to devour it. His taste buds barely savoring the peppered taste before he was taking another large bite and shoving two to three grapes in his mouth all at once.

"Slow down, Hyung don't choke yourself." JongIn advised leaning back on his hands and watching the older continue to stuff his cheeks with sandwich and grapes, the action making him resemble that of a Chipmunk eating an oversized peanut. Moving from Tao's cheeks, his gaze faltered on the older's bandaged temple. "KyungSoo Hyung did a good job." He commented pointing to his own temple.

Tao slowly rose a hand to his temple as he now remembered the gash on the left side of his face. Gently, fingertips brushed against three skin closures and the laceration. He reminded himself that he needed to thank Kyungsoo for fixing it up.

KyungSoo.

Swallowing down the mush of food resting in his mouth with water, Tao dropped his hand to his side and looked at JongIn with concern. "Hyungs...where are they?"

"They're outside on the beach. LuHan Hyung and JongDae Hyung just came back from their search."

"Did they find any...one...else..." Tao's voice de-escalated as he watched JongIn lower his gaze down towards his lap and shake his head heart-sickenly. He glanced down at the remains of his sandwich, no longer was it appeasing to his taste buds. With a sigh, Tao dropped the morsel into the plastic container it came in and sat the receptacle to the side. "Come on JongIn, let's go outside and join Hyungs."

JongIn picked himself up from the floor and his heels. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure Tao was standing behind him before sauntering through the plane towards the crack that lead outside. Reaching his arm back, JongIn interlaced his and Tao's fingers together before hopping from the plane to the ground.

The air was cooler than it was earlier, the sky was tinted in an intermixture of pastel yellow, dull red and pale warm orange from the remaining bits of the sun's light reflecting off the fluffy cumulus and thin, wispy cirrus clouds. Tao tilted his head up towards the sky, admiring the firmament's multicolored hues. It was so beautiful and inspiring. "Over here." JongIn replied tugging him in the direction of their Hyungdeul, all whom were seated in the black sand feet away from the beach's edge watching the sun settle behind the sea.

"How about calling someone?" They heard JongDae suggest as they neared the small semi-circle the older boys sat in. Kris sat in between JongDae and LuHan, the former on his right, the latter sat on his left with KyungSoo seated next to the right of LuHan.

"Wouldn't you need a cellphone tower and a cellphone for that?" LuHan countered, unfolding his legs and bringing his knees up to his chest before wrapping his arms around them and clasping his left hand around his right wrist. "I vote building a raft. That could work, right?"

KyungSoo shook his head as he interposed on the conversation. "Too dangerous. We could be drifting in the ocean for days before help arrived and by then we could all be...Hey." He smile amiably as he spotted JongIn and Tao walking up behind Kris. He directed his attention to Tao and pointed to his own temple. "How's your head?"

"It's better Hyung, thank you." Tao smiled back earning a nod from KyungSoo. Releasing JongIn's hand, he took a sit in between Kris and JongDae while JongIn settled in between KyungSoo and LuHan.

Kris looked up from playing with his ring on his right hand and draped his arm around the younger's shoulders before pulling him to his side.

JongDae sighed, his shoulders sagged and eyes downcast in defeat. "So what do we do now?"

"Hey Hyungdeul," JongIn began, scooting closer to KyungSoo and wrapping his arms around the older's waist for comfort. "I know we want to get off this island, but shouldn't we go search for the others before deciding what to do?"

LuHan nodded his head rapidly in agreement, fully intent on searching for the rest of their group members. "JongIn's right, we should go look for the others. They're probably in the forest or on the other side of the island most likely injured...or worse."

"Then we could split up." JongDae once again made a suggestion, "Have maybe one or two people stay here while the rest go out and search."

"As great as that sounds JongDae, finding them on this island would be impossible. It stretches for miles, it could take days maybe even weeks to find them." KyungSoo adversed, gesturing towards the terrain behind him to emphasis his point. He wasn't trying to deter them the idea, but he was thinking from a realistic aspect and realistically? It wasn't all that possible. "Not to mention the possibility of the ones searching getting lost as well. The best idea might be to just wait for help."

"But what if help never comes? Then what?" JongIn whispered, voicing the very question they all had in the deepest part of their minds.

Things grew silent after that. Everyone seeming to have given up on trying to come up with a solution.

The sun had settled farther behind the ocean. The sky was now a deep blue color with some pastel yellow and warm pale orange still visible from the fading sun. Kris felt Tao shiver when a cool light breeze blew against them. "It's getting late, we should head back inside the plane and get some sleep." Kris muttered, speaking up for the first time since the conversation began. He withdrew his arm from Tao's shoulders and stood from the sand, dusting grains off the back of his pants before reaching out his left hand to help Tao and JongDae up. "We can figure out what to do tomorrow."

With nods of agreement, the others stood before heading back towards the wrecked plane. Tao slipped his hand into Kris's as they walked side by side, shoulders lightly brushing. "Duizhang?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think we'll be rescued?"

Kris halted in mid-step to look at Tao, the younger looking back at him with worry-filled eyes. He was tongued-tied, unsure what exactly to say. He couldn't very well come out and give a definite answer because he didn't know. There was a good chance that they would be rescued and a good chance they wouldn't.

Kris sighed and tightened his hold on Tao's hand as he shrugged. "I honestly don't know, but I hope so."

                                                                           ********

SeHun collapsed against a tree in an intermixture of pain and exhaustion, a small hiss passing between his teeth as he accidently slammed his wounded right side against the trunk. He rolled onto his back before firmly pressing a precarious hand to his bloody side, wincing at the sharp bits of pain it sent through him.

With a fatigued sigh, SeHun rested his head against the moss covered trunk and glanced around at the unfamiliar territory he had walked himself into.

He had been walking for what he was sure had been hours through the green timberland pushing past low branches, trampling dead leaves, trudging through damp soil and stepping over raised roots and fallen logs and expecting to find either his Hyungs and/or the existance of people. However instead of people, all he had found were trees of different kinds towering above him like nature's skyscrapers as tangled shrubs, young trees and woody plants stand in their shadows soaking up the small bits of sunlight that managed to slip past the emergent and canopy layers.

SeHun would be lying if he said he wasn't scared. Here he was stranded alone on an island in it's forest instead of the beach with a deep gash on his right lateral and nothing to clean it with. He didn't know where his bandmates were, if they were on the island or whether they were even alive.

"LuHan Hyung! JoonMyeon Hyung! JongIn!" He shouted into the forestland, his voice echoing through the trees and fusing with the chirping of birds. He knew it was ineffective to call out, especially if he was miles from the nearest person yet he still listened intently hoping maybe someone would answer him. "Hyungdeul! BaekHyun Hyung! Anyone!"

As expected, silence.

He cringed as another flare of pain convulsed through him. Raising the bloodstained t-shirt, SeHun blanched at the sight of the damage. Black grains of sand were embedded into the cut, dried blood was encrusted around the outer layer while fresh blood continued to seep freely. He could tell it was getting worse. He needed medical attention fast, but first he needed something to stop the bleeding.

He stared down at his button up shirt-sleeve, debating if it could actually be used as a bandage like it is in the movies. Deciding to take a chance, he carefully took off his shirt and using his teeth, he tore into the fabric, ripping off just enough to wrap around his waist and cover the injury.

He carefully wrapped the makeshift bandage around his midriff before tightly securing it in place with a double knot on the left side.

SeHun tilted his head upwards towards the skyline of trees, taking notice of the sky's golden hue peeking through the branches. The sun was setting, meaning he had to use the remaining bit of sunlight he had to find a place to rest for the night. "Great," He muttered to himself, now regretting not staying along the beach. "Could it get any worse?"

Pushing off the tree, he continued to trudge his way through the foliage, hoping to come across someone or shelter soon.

                                                                           ********

Back in the vegitation SeHun just left, the bushes began to rustle. Low hisses and menacing purrs filled the area as several creatures stealthily made their way into the jungle, following after SeHun's bloody scent.