Page 21 of Final Approach

“Who needs medical attention?” she called out, opening the box to reveal tapes and gauze. “Nikki and I will tend our wounds, and then we’ll move out.”

Stepping back, I watched her kneel by Danny’s side first to examine the gash in his thigh. I wasn’t letting her anywhere near my ribs or my skin.

I wasn’t going to get home. My promises to Ravi would never be met, I’d never turn my company around, and my father’s entire legacy would be dishonored by the incompetent son who disappeared in a plane crash because he’d chosen to fly economy.

I had zero survival training. I’d attended science camps, not Boy Scouts. I was fit, but I didn’t have the bulky muscle like Torres or the people skills like Nikki. I was about as useful as Danny with his torn-up leg.

The icy panic melted into a much more manageable emotion. Hot rage.

Marley West had completely fucked me over, but I wouldn’t live without her.

Clenching my teeth until my jaw popped, I turned on my heel and walked away from the group, farther down the riverbed where she’d pointed. She called my name, but it was muffled by the pounding of blood pumping in my ears. If I unleashed my rage right now, it would be every bit as damaging as a plane explosion.

I couldn’t risk it.

As I strode farther away, each step compounding the pain across my ribs, I became more assured of my strategy.

I’d play ball. I’d do everything she asked of me, everything the group needed. I’d survive the jungle.

Then, when we made it out of this hellhole alive, I was suing Captain Amelia West and Aileron for every cent it was worth.

Present Day – Day 1

Of the eight, five pairs of haunted eyes stared back at me.

Diaz didn’t look haunted. He looked malicious, like he’d kill every one of us because the plane crash had failed. Our prisoner beamed with elation, as if our circumstances were the best thing to ever happen to him. He kept shaking his hands and feet, waving them around in glee while the two women, Tessa and Vanessa, stayed as far away from him as possible. Brooks had barely said two words after vomiting all over the sand as soon as their feet hit the soil.

And Nikki—Nikki’s patient stare and aura of calm in the chaos was my tether to reality.

Thank God he’s still alive.

Choking back the swell of emotion clogging the back of my throat, I cleared it aggressively and turned my attention back to Danny seated in front of me, his thigh a shredded mess.

First, the gash had to be cleaned. I poured precious water from a freshly opened bottle over the wound. His screams echoed through the emptied riverbed, scattering the watching birds and making our presence known to every other curious creature waiting in the dense canopy.

Not like they could miss the falling metal ball in the sky, Marley.

A jagged piece of aluminum had sliced open the muscle tissue down to the tendon. I bit the inside of my cheek while my stomach quietly convulsed at the sight. He needed stitches, and I had none. Alcohol antiseptic could damage the tissue even more in this state, so I slathered a small packet of antibiotic cream on the torn skin, packed the wound full of sterile gauze, and wrapped it tightly around his leg as a tourniquet.

“Can you stand?” I asked in Portuguese. With a pained grimace, Danny nodded, and I was relieved when Nikki and Ambrose both stepped in to assist him. Ambrose’s gritted teeth told me he was hurt, too, but he hadn’t asked for any help when I’d offered it to the group.

Nine of us had survived the plane crash, but how many would survive the few days we’d have to wait for rescue?

Could I survive this again?

Suppressing the shudder that threatened to jar my bones from their sockets, I stood.

These passengers had trusted us to get them to their destination safely, and we’d failed. I wouldn’t let them die out here, not as long as I was alive.

Was Jamie in the jungle right now, disoriented, but alive? Was he injured?

Dwelling on him took away from the urgency of our situation. Wherever he was, I had to trust he could keep alive long enough until I came back to find him.

“Alright, everyone.” I stepped into the heavy uniform of the group leader and the lead weight settled on my shoulders. “We’re going to travel upriver until we find a suitable spot for camp. Grab your things—if you need help carrying something, ask.”

Grabbing my small travel bag to roll behind me on the thankfully dry riverbed, I tapped Nikki on the shoulder, drawing his attention.

“You have the gun,” I murmured, the gratitude at having a loaded weapon and the hatred we’d even needed one warred within me. “If it looks like you need to use it, I trust you to use it.”