Thanks to luvtaread for editing
Total Ruin.
That was the way Brandon found the camp that had, up until a few days before, been his home. As he stood with Ashley, he stared in raw shock, despite the fact he had been expecting it, seeing this amount of damage was still overwhelming.
The situation was too much for Ashley and as tears streamed from her eyes he did his best to comfort her. It was apparent she had the same realization he had. Not only were the things they had made for comfort gone, but all chances of long term survival were virtually gone.
Although the island would recover eventually and its fruit trees and the fish would come back, it would not be soon enough. Which meant two staples for Brandon and his friends' survival where now gone. Even the water in this place was undrinkable due to the amount of dirt and debris that had flowed into the steam.
In that moment Brandon made his decision, he would dig up the raft and rebuild it if necessary and he would set out for help. No longer could he fool himself that all would be okay, that help would eventually come. Help, like the trees, required time, and that was a luxury they no longer had.
As Brandon left with Ashley he made his plans. He would take her back to the new camp at the cave then he would set out to locate his buried raft. He would restore it and in a few days, set of to find help.
When he and Ashley reached camp they did their best to put on happy faces to soften the news. They were unsuccessful because as they entered the cave Katy took one look at them and her usual cheerfulness disappeared. It was like watching someone turn out a light.
She went into a sort of trance looking back and forth between them for some sign they were joking. As Ashley hugged her best friend to comfort her, Brandon's eyes met Mel's as she too came to hear the news. He did not need words though as she seemed to instantly understand.
"Totaled?" She asked in a quiet voice and Brandon just nodded.
"The hut, the fruit tress, and my fishing area, all are gone or unusable. Even the stream is undrinkable for at least a few days. It's not just the camp either, half the island got wiped out by the storm."
After that sunk in she asked, "So what now?" Brandon smiled internally, typical Mel, tough and practical. The next step needed doing and right away.
Having thought this out himself he said, "Well, first thing is that we'll need more food. Given the winds it will be hard to find but, we need to search anyway. Next, thing is water, as most of the stream is now unusable I suggest we look for another source. Fortunately we caught enough during the storms to hold us over for a few days, but we need another source should that run out before the stream cleans up." Then after a pause he added, "So what I think we should do is have you three look around here."
"And you will be?" Mel asked.
"Going out long range with one of the weapons seeing if another beach survived enough to allow fishing or has food still around. Also, I might see if any useful debris washed up. That reef the speedboat crashed on for instance might have caught something." She nodded and, as she went over to help Ashley in cheering up Katy, Brandon gathered supplies to go exploring.
Once clear of the camp he made straight for the spot where he had hidden his raft. After some digging he was pleased to find it intact. By early afternoon he had pulled it out of the ground. The storm had helped his cause by eroding quite a bit of top layers of soil.
Once he had the raft on the surface he began searching around. He was looking a wide variety of things fish, fruit, water, materials for the raft, and useful debris on the reef. His results were not great. He did mange to find some fish, which he managed to catch for dinner. The search for water and fruit was a complete bust though.
What he found in abundance though were raft materials. The strong winds had downed several trees and littered the ground with usable wood. As he had hoped it appeared the storm had carried some debris with it. He found mostly pieces that had broken off of larger boats or things that had been washed over board.
Useless items to most, but great treasures to Brandon's raft effort. Rope, life rings, coolers, nets, lanterns, flashlights, and even what looked to be the mast and ripped sail of a windboard. This last find was a real treasure because it could potentially provide the push the raft needed to clear the islands tides as well as the means he would need to reach a trafficked area of the sea.
He brought back the fruits of his search in the form of the fish and a few of the more useful items from the reef. The girls' trip had not been as successful, but they did manage to locate a clean water source. As they ate the fish Brandon brought and enjoyed the light of the new lanterns the mood in the cave was far better than it had been when he and Ashley had come back. Full of fish and tired from their work all four collapsed together and fell asleep immediately.
The next few days passed much the same, each day Brandon went to work on the raft and to get more fish, now their primary food source, at least until the ladies could find more fruit or other food. A search which took up most of their day, the good news is they were able to find some, but it depended on the day. Brandon also kept a signal fire burning each day still hoping to avoid using his raft.
However, once he had finished repairing the windboard's sail he was out of excuses, it was time. The weather had cleared, the raft was ready, and even the storm had apparently not brought their island outside attention. His dilemma now was how to break it to his companions that he intended to leave them alone while he set off to find help.
After all, he had to admit to himself it was a little stupid and suicidal, but he believed in playing odds a bit. If he should reach help, he could send them help. If help found the island by some chance they could look for him. Either way there was a good chance that they would soon be off the island. One thing he knew was that there was no way they could survive on the island for too long. It was a miracle they had made it this long, not to mention survived a hurricane. He knew another disaster like that and they would be in dire straights.
His problem was solved a bit when he reached camp that night. Upon entering the cave he was pulled aside by Ashley and Mel who informed him that tomorrow was Katy's birthday and that they had surprises ready for her big day.
