Survival Pt 01

Story is purely from my imagination and is not based on any known person.

===

Sometimes I wonder how I'll ever be able to do it. Sitting here in my junior year of microbiology, Jenny and I are always competing for the best grades. We are always neck and neck, but this semester Jenny is pulling ahead. Don't get me wrong, I always get good grades, but, this semester is really important. Lillian Elise Zola is a local biology research firm that is offering a once in a lifetime internship to work in a remote tropical location for the summer to two students one from each of the colleges in our town. I have heard of the students from the other college that are in the running. Xemena is really good in science and Josh is a bit of a jerk.

I shouldn't get down on myself. I grew up pretty privileged went to a charter school. I excel at a lot of the sciences. I knew I wanted to do micro-biology when I won the local science fair with a project on how different disinfectants reacted to bacteria. I have dark brown wavy hair and I'm medium build. I'm not fat, but, I'm not a tall skinny blond like Jenny is. If you like the nerdy type who can't see a thing without her glasses, I'd be your girl. Being in the top of my class, I don't have a lot of time for relationships... I'm a bit of a loaner.

Class was over and I went to rush home to study for the final exam that was tomorrow and would be the final decision of who was going to go on the trip. I left the classroom, but Jenny stepped in front of me.

"So Katie". My name is Katherine, but my friends call me Katie. "How do you feel about the test tomorrow?" she asked.

"I think I'll do pretty well." I said, "Do you want to study together tonight?"

Jenny replied "No, my parents are in this week and since I may not be coming home this summer..." her voice trailed off not wanting to continue that part of the conversation.

We wished each other luck on the final and went our separate ways.

===

I studied for two hours and I couldn't study anymore. But I had to. This was so much in the interest of my future. I determined that if I looked at the brochure for 15 minutes, it should give me enough motivation to study for another hour, then I'd head to bed early to get a good night's sleep before the test.

Lillian Elise Zola invites the two top performing students one each from Cumberland University and Mercer College an extraordinary opportunity to study with one of our founders Dr. Elise Rosenstein. You will study a mucus excretion from the once nearly extinct guaimaro tree in a remote tropical location. The exact location is top secret due to the possibility of looting. This trip will last 9 weeks during the summer break. You will gain field lab experience in a diverse remote tropical rainforest as well as access to state of the art equipment and custom equipment designed exclusively for Lillian Elise Zola. Good luck!

The pictures are amazing. Beautiful dense rainforest, waterfalls, and mountains. It really was a chance of a lifetime but with Jenny it could be slipping thru my fingers. I have to get back to studying.

I studied for two more hours until I couldn't keep my eyes open any more... I have to be rested to do well on the final if I even want a chance at it.

===

rhizosphere: The soil region subject to the influence of plant roots and their associated microorganisms... There the test was finally done... now all I can do is wait until the results are in.

===

Friday came and I went to my college counselors office to get the news... I couldn't wait for the answer. Dr. Reed came in and sat down across from me.

"Katherine," he started. "I want to commend you on all of your hard work, but Jenny's grades were just slightly higher. I'm sorry, but we had to give her the internship. Your grades were so good that Lillian Elise Zola has offered to you work in their labs here in town for the summer working on another project with Dr. Lillian Brooks. You can start the first week of June."

I was devastated. I really wanted to go on the trip, but working in their lab would still give me a great experience... Or so I told myself.

===

These two weeks went by fast and I was ready to start my internship on Monday, just two days away. Saturday is always my day to sleep in. My apartment was empty because all of the other students went home for summer break, so I was really planning a lazy day. I was thinking about Jenny and knowing all of the packing and getting ready she must be going thru. I wanted to call her, but I hadn't spoken to her since she got the field internship.

My phone started ringing and saw that it was the colleges main number. I picked up the phone and it was Dr. Reed.

"Katie, This is Dr. Reed. I've got some news. Jenny's father had a heart attack and the family felt that it would be best for her to stay stateside for the summer. Are you interested in going in her place?"

I paused for a bit, not knowing exactly what to say..."Y Y Yes! I'll go."

"I'll let Lillian Elise Zola know and give them your contact information. You should be hearing from them within the hour so you can get the supplies needed. You're leaving in 36 hours."

I left out a scream the moment I heard the phone hang up. I wanted to call Jenny, but I needed to get things packed up. I literally had nearly no time to let everything sink in.

I got the call from the Lillian Elise Zola and had to run to the colleges infirmary to get some shots as boosters for malaria and other required shots... I had a full round last year when my parents took me on a missions trip.

I was only able to take 1 backpack full of belongings. Basically just clothing. No makeup, perfume, jewelry, or electronics (ugh). I had to go to the store to get basic plain soaps, bug spray, unscented lotion, baby powder (to use on the days (emphasis on the "s") between bathing (what?!)... Clothes! I need to get some clothes! Most other supplies would be supplied by Lillian Elise Zola.

===

I arrived with no moments to spare Monday morning at Lillian Elise Zola. Elise met me at the door along with Xemena. Wow Xemena really changed in the couple of years that I've seen her. She got tall and has really slimmed down. Her creamy dark skin was flawless.

"Katie," Elise began "Because you've missed a week of orientation, we'll have to give you a crash course on the plane ride. We'll be going from here to Panama City, then Quito, Ecuador. We'll take a smaller plane into Columbia, where we will board of 2 4 seater single prop plane for about 800 miles into the rainforest deep into the interior of Columbia ... Months by foot from civilization due to the dense forest and extreme terrain. We'll go to a small grass landing strip about 1 km from the makeshift lab that has been setup and stocked for our stay."

"I know this is a lot of information, but, it is really important." Elise's voice got very serious. "Over the past few weeks, the local natives have gotten more curious and are unsure of what we are doing. They have not shown hostility, but, it is worth being cautious. It is important that you stick together. Xemena is fluent in Spanish so you will be buddies."

The first leg of the trip was uneventful and we headed to Quito. In Quito we would be meeting up with others who would be making the trip with us. In Quito, we learned that a storm was heading towards our next destination were we would be picking up the small planes we decided to spend the night in Quito. We decided to go to "Mitad del Mundo" a monument that sits on the equator.

We had a restless night, but, we boarded a smaller jet to our next destination. We arrived and we were escorted to our two small single engine plane quickly because another storm was heading in and we had a short window of time to get off the ground. Xemena and I were sent to one plane. I sat in the front with the pilot a very handsome man named Jose. Xemena sat in the back with some other supplies making this trip. Jose ran through is checklist and made sure we were buckled in. We took off just after the plane that Elise and the other two scientists were on.

Jose talked about how he liked to be in this part of the rainforest and that he was going to go camping for a few weeks when we landed, but wouldn't be too far if we needed to fly out in an emergency. He assured us he had enough food and supplies to last a couple of weeks and would leave for a few days to fly back and get us supplies since there was no other way of communicating to the outside world.

We flew for a couple of hours when the pilot pointed out towards the horizon to our north where we could see what looked like another nasty storm was brewing. Jose in our headsets said that we should be able to outrun it to our landing strip before the storm hits.

"I've flow through thousands of storms so there is nothing to worry about." Jose said. "These planes are made to handle them."

As we flew, the storm got closer and closer. It overrode us and started raining pretty hard. It was hard at times to see the other plane in front of us.

"I need to go higher to get above the storm." Jose said.

Just at that moment a bolt of lightning hit the plane. The plane shook violently. Jose expertly smoothed out the plane and started our ascent. Another lightning strike hit the plane, and another. Jose was starting to look concerned. A fourth strike hit and the engine started to sputter. Jose reached to flip the switch on the radio to transmit. I heard him start to say "Mayday, Mayday" but the radio and the electronics in the plane shorted and all instrumentation went dead.

Jose took off his headset and looked over to me. I took mine off also... He told me to hold on tight and make sure Xemena was calm. I turned around and Xemena's eyes were wide and she was holding on for dear life. I turned around just as the engine cut out.

Jose called out "We're going down!" as the plane started it's decent. That is the last thing I remember.

===

"Katie, Katie... hey wake up! Are you ok?" ... It was Xemena. I barely heard her over the pounding rain. I start to come to. "I think we've been out for a couple of hours and it is starting to get dark." I looked blearily over at Jose. He was hunched over and lifeless. The front window was broken and a tree limb came through the windows and into Jose's chest. There was a lot of blood. "He's dead." Xemena said.

I held my hand up wipe the wetness out of my eye and saw that it was blood. "I'm bleeding!" I said.

"Already on it." Xemena said. "I saw a medical kit."

She handed me a towel that she found as I wiped my forehead. It was just a small cut at my hairline. Xemena looked around the now random pile that was in the area beside her seat. She found the medical kit and pulled out some antiseptic and band aids.

Xemena said "I know it may be a bit creepy, but I think we need to stay here overnight since the storm is not letting up."

I looked over at Jose and just slowly nodded my head.

"Move back here so you don't have to be up front. We can share the back seat" Xemena said. I moved into the back slowly as I was pretty banged up and knew I was going to be really feeling bad and stiff in the morning.

We shared the back bench seat as the rain continued to pelt the outside of the plane. It was very uncomfortable, but we did the best we could. It was going to be a very long night.

I dozed off for a short time and when I awoke the cabin had a terrible stench and I realized that Jose's body had started to smell I crawled over Xemena to open the door as she sleepily came to. She cautioned against opening the door because we didn't know what was out there when she realized the smell. Luckily we must have slept for a bit because we could see the dawns early light just creeping into the rainforest floor.

We got out of the plane to see what kind of predicament we were in.

We stepped out on the lush rainforest floor as the animals were just starting to awaken with us. We were surrounded by lush flora and the trees were magnificent, taller than anything I could have imagined. I looked back at the mangled mess of broken metal and fiberglass that used to be our plane.

"Do you have any idea of where we are?" I asked.

"Absolutely no idea." Xemena replied. "We were about 3 hours into our flight and should have had about another hour, but, with the rainforest, I would have no idea the direction and what type of terrain and obstacles we would run into."

Xemena looked at me and realized how much in pain I was in. "Sit over here... Let me get what we need out of the plane. It looks as if there is a clearing just a short distance away.

She got a small pile of supplies from the plane. "I found a shovel in the plane, I think I should dig a grave for our friend. We may need access to the plane in the future." I nodded slowly looking towards the plane.

====

Xemena returned a short while later and asked if I could walk a bit. I nodded and she helped me to my feet. We picked up our supplies and headed toward the clearing.

As we neared the clearing, we saw that it was not a clearing, but, a stream maybe 10 feet across racing and we were at the top of a nice 20 foot or so high waterfall. Near the top of the falls we could not see an obvious path to the bottom of the falls but we saw a small area that was brimming with moss and looked to be a comfortable place to set up camp. We found a way to the base of the falls.

Xemena found Jose's small tent and utensils for camping supplies. Our backpacks were in the other plane so we didn't have any of our personal belongings. Xemena brought some food from the plane. "The plain is just up on the ridge, so we can go back to get supplies as needed."

Xemena got some water from the stream and put it in a pot to boil. She found some wood and started a fire with the waterproof matches in Jose's belongings. "We need to make sure we boil water we drink.".

We sat around most of the day just talking about our lives and our interests. We also discussed our options. We decided that we should stay close to the plane so when the rescue party arrives we'll be able to hear them. But we also discussed that if the other plane went down, it may be a few weeks or more until they realize we are missing... And in the middle of nowhere it may take them some time to find us. We can't focus on that. We need to focus on surviving.

It started to get dark and the moon was out full tonight. Not a cloud in the sky. Xemena stepped out near the stream and took off her clothes. I looked away. I never saw anyone disrobe so casually in front of me. She waded out into the water a bit farther and turned to look at me.

"Aren't you coming?" she said. "The water is amazing." She took a dive under the water and surfaced near the waterfall. "Come on in!" as she climbed up on a rock just under the waterfall. She stood there naked with the water flowing over her body. When I said earlier that her skin was flawless, now seeing her full body, she was nearly perfect. I never saw someone with that creamy dark skin naked before. Not that same as my more curvy figure white as a sheet body. I stood up and walked to the water and put a foot in the water. It was warm and I was hot and sticky and smelled. I reluctantly removed my clothes.

I never really compared myself to other girls as I just didn't care, but, somehow I felt very self conscious. I was pale white with large D cup and Xemena was a very perky B or C cup and a very athletically nice body. I moved to the deeper part of the water so she wouldn't see me for too long, but, as I got there I could see how clear the water was. Because I was now closer to the falls and to Xemena I even got a closer view to her amazing body.

The water felt very good after what we've been through. I glanced over to Xemena a couple of times and I could see that she was staring at me. She leaped off the rock and landed near me and splashed me. She could see that startled me, but, she splashed me a few more times playfully. She dove down to the bottom of the pool and brought up a very smooth stone and rubbed it over her body. She handed me another rock and said "Here this will help get some more of the dirt and smell off."

She walked towards the shore rubbing her hands over her breasts. She really was an exotic beauty.

She got out of the stream, picked up our clothes, and walked over to camp. She dropped our clothes and placed a couple more logs on the fire as I started heading to exit the stream also. Walked over and picked up my bra and panties.

"Those are so dirty, let's wash them and let them dry overnight. We can sleep like this tonight. It's just us girls." She said.

I agreed and we slipped into the tent. The tent was really only big enough for 1 and there was only one blanket. "This is going to be cozy." I said as I laid down.

Xemena laid beside me our backs together, with our butt cheeks touching when we moved. I drifted off to sleep.

====

I woke up while it was still dark, but, I could see the embers from the fire were still glowing. As I became fully awake, I realized the Xemena had rolled over during the night, pulled the covers up over us and put her arm around me and her hand was on my stomach. I could feel her perky breasts touching my back. It took me a bit by surprise but I didn't want to disturb our little nest because I could feel on my nose that it was a bit chilly. Besides we were just girls and needed to stay warm. But somehow it felt "comfortable".

I never had an interest in boys or girls for that matter because I was always studying for something. I'd even go to science camp during the summers. But this was a little different. I'm not sure what I was feeling, but it felt maybe a little more than comfortable. I was feeling butterflies in my stomach and my breasts were a bit tender. I could feel my nipples a bit hard, but I chalked that up to being a bit cool.

Xemena stirred a bit and when she did she squeezed my breasts a bit and then rubbed her hand between and around my breasts. I think I was getting turned on. I could feel my pussy starting to get wet and the need to be touched. I didn't want Xemena to wake up fully to the realization that it was a mistake, so I laid as still as I could.

We were both off and sleeping again.

===

The next time I woke up I heard a noise and felt that Xemena was not in the tent. I peered out of the tent screen to see Xemena putting another pile of wood on the fire. She crept back into the tent and when she saw I was awake, she said. "I'm sorry if I woke you, I wanted to keep the fire going in case there were any animals in the area.

She got back in under the cover and turned on her side facing me. I was on my back. Xemena said "I'm hope you don't mind if I cozy up to you at night, at home in my own bed I can't sleep unless I'm hugging the death out of some pillows. It gives me comfort."

"I'm fine with it." I said "It makes me feel not so alone and scared. It is comforting to know someone else is in this with me."

She placed her arm across my body just under my rib cage and placed her head on my shoulder cuddling up to me. I could feel the butterflies start up again. I could feel her breath on by breast. I placed my arm along her back with my hand on her hip.

We both started to doze off. My arm was starting to feel numb with the pressure of her head on my arm, so I slowly turned towards her with our breasts meeting. The feeling of our mutual breasts touching and rubbing each other as we breathed made my nipples harden.

"Katie, we will get through this. We will be rescued. I'm glad you are with me." She leaned in to give me a reassuring hug pressing her breasts hard against mine. I could feel her nipples hard too. I hugged back.

She lifted her head and said "What is two science majors know about survival in the rainforest ... and... all of the...animals ...and ...". She leaned in and kissed me on the lips. It was just a small kiss, but I didn't know exactly what to do so I panicked and kissed her back.