Will of Man - Part Five Read online

  WILL OF MAN - PART FIVE

  by

  William Scanlan

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FOR WILLIAM SCANLAN

  This publication is property of William Scanlan. All rights reserved for William Scanlan. Copyright 2013.

  No part of this book shall be copied, reproduced, distributed, or transmitted without permission.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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  Tyler's Journal Entry: 426

  Date: September 21

  Day: Saturday

  Weather: Cool and cloudy

  Miles to go: 581

  So the last couple days have been quite eventful; I escaped a prison ran by a crazy priest, lost a good friend, found my other friend, said goodbye to the other friend, was chased by wolves, escaped a nest of poisonous rattlesnakes, and now I'm stuck here on top of this wrecked military plane surrounded by wolves and rattlesnakes. I miss going to school.

  I lay here, fifteen feet in the air, on top of this plane and I can't believe the things I've seen and done. I think about what my parents and Tanner are doing. Are they alright? I hope they made it to Grandpa's, or at the very least, are safe. I wonder if Mom or Dad have been PULLED. I'm terrified at the thought of Tanner being PULLED. He's just an innocent kid. The PULLED can't be escorted or even followed. Tanner can't survive on his own yet. Let alone fight for his life. However, he had a lot of practice during all our pirate/Jedi sword fights. I had a light saber, and Tanner had his pirate sword. We'd run all over the house, jumping over furniture, throwing pillows at each other, but then our epic sword battles usually ended with one of us getting hit too hard and Mom or Dad would take our swords away. One can't be an effective pirate or Jedi without their sword.

  Anyways, I would kill for a real light saber right now. These wolves would see the dark side of Tyler and face my wrath. But for now, I am stuck here on top of this plane with no food or shelter. The clouds are darkening in the distance and that could mean a storm. It gets cold at night, and I need to find shelter.

  After surveying the area, I noticed a tall pine growing next to the remaining wing of the plane. The wing is huge, and could fit my neighbor’s entire house on it. The jet engines (two of them on the single wing) are huge also, about the size of a small bus.

  I decided to walk the long wing to the tall pine tree. The tree was snug against the wing and was easy to climb onto. I looked around for the wolves and noticed two of them patrolling under me near the base of the pine. I was careful when climbing onto to the pine. It was sticky from sap, and smelled like Christmas. The pine smell reminded me of my Grandpa's Christmas tree. He was traditional, and preferred a real tree. My parent's preferred a fake one. I don't think Dad wanted the hassle of the pine needles and the daily watering of the tree.

  Anyways, I climbed as high as I could - nearly to the top of the tree. It was very tall and I could span the horizon easily. I can see a cut in the trees which is the river way off in the distance. Other than that, it was mostly pine trees and hills. However to the northwest, I spotted a tall fence and beyond that was an airport surrounded by the tall fence.

  The plane made sense now; it must have been coming in for a landing when it lost power about a quarter mile from the landing strip. If the plane would have had just a few more seconds, it may have landed and those soldiers may have survived. But they didn't make it, and as a result, their crashed plane is now helping me survive.

  I studied the airport for a long time and looked for any activity. I saw none and came to the conclusion the airport was empty. I imagine it has been ransacked of any food. The pirates aren't too far away and I imagine they found it a long time ago.

  But if I can get to it, maybe I can find something of use. I also notice the airport is completely surrounded by the fence I mentioned. If that fence has no tears or openings, it will keep the wolves away from me and I can roam freely. However, the fence is about a quarter mile away and that is plenty of distance for the wolves to catch me.

  On a flat track, I can run the four-hundred meters in under a minute. However, the path is covered by dipping hills, thick vegetation, fallen trees, and anything else you'd expect to find in a forest.

  I will have to buy my time until the wolves give up and leave. I remember my science lesson on the four basic needs of living things. All living things need food, water, shelter, and air. I have one of the four. I know if I am to stay here, I will have to evict those rattlesnakes, and move into the cockpit. Then I will have to find food. Water will come soon with the incoming storm, and I will use the cockpit for shelter. If I can accomplish all that, then I will have my four basic needs to survive.

  I scavenged through my backpack and laid everything out so I could survey my supplies. I had my atlas, a knife, a roll of duct tape, a bag of zip ties, a machete, a compass, a zip lock with five lighters in it, a bottle of pain/fever reducers, a bottle of water purifier, a book on survival skills, a thermo-blanket, a box cutter with extra blades, my wetsuit, thermo gloves, water proof seal-skin socks, a hundred feet of climbing rope, one small cooking pot, a small thermos, some other miscellaneous things, and the pistol Dad gave me.

  I picked up the pistol and realized how heavy it was. I smirked when I realized I carried that useless thing this whole time. I never did fire it. Part of me is glad I never had to use it. Another part of me wanted to shoot it just to shoot it. I didn't see any future use for it, so I threw it at one of the wolves - I missed.

  I looked at the sky and saw the sun was directly overhead. I figured I had about four to six hours to rid the cockpit of those rattlesnakes. This was not a task I wanted to rush. I remembered studying reptiles and remembered they are most active during the sunny part of the day and like to venture out just as the sun is going down.

  Today was particularly cool and cloudy. This hopefully meant the snakes were snuggled in their warm nest within the flight suit I found them. I slowly peeked into the broken windshield of the cockpit. I scanned for any movement and saw none other than a slow moving bulge within the belly of the dead pilot. It still creeped me out.

  I left my backpack on the wing and stuck five zip-ties in my mouth. One for each sleeve, each ankle sleeve, and one for the collar. My plan was to zip-tie shut any openings the snakes might try to exit from, then pull the flight suit (with snakes inside) out of the crushed window and down onto the ground beneath.

  I brought my rope with me to pull the flight suit out of the cockpit. After taking a deep breath, I slowly lowered myself into the cockpit. The cockpit was silent and I listened for any rattling. There was no sound, but there was a little movement in the snakes nest.

  The ankle sleeves would be my first task. If the snakes were to crawl out from there, I may not see them while I was securing the other exits. I slowly wrapped the first zip-tie around the skeletons left ankle and then slowly pulled the zip-tie. I know snakes are sensitive to vibration and I could feel every click the zip-tie made as it zipped shut. The ankle sleeve slowly closed and I gave it an extra firm, but gentle tug to secure it.

  The other ankle sleeve was a little harder to reach since it was positioned under the control panel. It was a dark spot, and a perfect location for a snake to be hiding, but it had to be done. I peered into the darkness of the dark spot under the control panel and slowly crouched down beneath it. I was relieved to find no snakes, but now I was in a position that left me vulnerable i
f any snakes crawled out of the suit from above.

  My lungs began to burn since I forgot to breath. I slowly took little breaths and kept one eye on the pulsating belly of the skeleton. The left ankle sleeve was complete and I moved to the right arm sleeve. As I went to wrap the zip-tie around the arm sleeve, I noticed a rattle hanging slightly out of it. I didn't want to zip-tie the snakes tale and tick it off, so I decided to gently push it up into the sleeve. As I did, it began to rattle slightly. I stopped and waited a minute, then tried again. It rattled again, but moved its way up the sleeve slowly. Realizing my luck was running out, I quickly (but gently), closed up the right arm sleeve.

  That left the left arm sleeve and collar. All was going well, when all of a sudden a loose pine cone fell into the cockpit. It bounced on top of the cockpit, in through the crushed windshield, onto the control panel, and then finally onto the nest of resting rattlesnakes. Instantly, they began to rattle and squirm violently. Having the zip-tie already half way around the arm sleeve, I quickly zipped it tight and moved to the collar. It was do or die now.

  As I panicked to grab the next zip-tie out of my mouth I noticed a snake head exit the collar. I unknowingly spit the zip-ties to the ground as I grabbed the snake by its head.

  With my hand around its thick neck, the poisonous snake opened its mouth and let out a nasty hiss. I noticed another snake trying to escape the collar so I grabbed the collar with my other hand and squeezed it shut.

  Not being able to let go, I hastily decided to abort the final zip-tie and drag the flight suit with its dangerous cargo up and out the window.

  Never letting go of the snake or collar, I stumbled my way to the top of the control panel. As I took my final step to exit, I stumbled and fell. As I fell, I ignored the oncoming impact of the ground and fully focused on keeping the snakes bagged up in the flight suit.

  I hit the floor of the cockpit with a big thud. My head hit hard and I could feel the instant burn from the impact. For a moment I went numb, but never let go of the flight suit.

  After shaking off the hurt, I dragged the squirming, rattling, furious snakes to the outside of the plane. I nearly fell off the front of the plane, but managed to toss my furious friends to the ground beneath. The wolves trampled the skeleton, but quickly jumped back when they realized its cargo. I watched the snakes crawl out of the flight suit and scurry for cover.

  I wondered if they knew of a way back inside the cockpit. I went back to the cockpit and looked for any opening the snakes could find their way through.

  I lit a torch I made before hand and carefully crawled into the cockpit. I looked around for any cracks or openings in and under the control panel. Keeping an eye out for any rouge snakes, I read a label describing how the cockpit is basically airtight when the door is shut.

  After double checking for any openings, I came to the conclusion that the only entrance to the cockpit was through the door. I made sure it was closed tight, and then left for a while. I still didn't trust the confinement of the cockpit and wanted to see if any snakes returned.

  I passed my time making a spear out of a long and sturdy branch and the knife my Dad put in my backpack. I cut a length of rope and duct taped it to the end of my spear. I figured I could throw it at the wolves anytime they neared the plane. My hopes are that the wolves will decide I am more trouble than tasty and will leave for other prey. We'll see.

  The clouds were getting darker and I knew a storm was unavoidable. I needed to decide whether or not to venture in the cockpit and stay the night. If I stay inside, I run the risk of encountering any returning snakes. If I stay outside, I will certainly get soaked by the incoming storm. The temps have dropped significantly at night and I don't think I will be able to tolerate the cold. I will have to take my chances inside the cockpit.

  I wanted to make a couple torches that are ready to be lit immediately when needed. I knew that a plane’s fuel is mostly kept in its wings. I looked around the intact wing for any way of accessing the fuel within. The plane was too well built for a kid with a machete to crack it open.

  I went to the other side of the plane where the wing was ripped off. I noticed exposed piping that was bent and pulled in every direction. I figured I could drain some fuel from some of the pipes into my empty thermos.

  Getting to the mangled wing was a bit tricky. I had to slide down to it. There was only about a foot of remaining wing to catch my foothold. I used my rope and looped it around one of the plane’s antennas. Then I used the rope to lower myself carefully down to the exposed pipes.

  The pipes were of all sizes and diameters. I was able to grab one that was about a half inch in diameter and crimped on its end. If any fuel was inside, it wouldn't have evaporated due to the crimp. I straightened the pipe, stuck my thermos under it, and then tilted the pipe downward.

  With great excitement a gush of fuel poured into the thermos. There was plenty to fill the thermos and more if I needed. After giving a cheesy fist pump, I climbed my way back up to the top of the plane.

  I went back to the cockpit, and peered inside. Grabbing my fashioned spear, I poked around the inside of the cockpit listening for any rattling. The nice thing about rattlesnakes is that they let you know they are there by rattling.

  No sound of rattling ensured me it was alright to enter. I still lowered myself down carefully looking for any creepy crawlers. The other dead pilot creped me out, so I shoved his dead carcass out the window and down near his partner.

  I cut cloth from the pilot chairs and wrapped them tightly around the end of my pine branches. Then I dipped the ends in the thermos of fuel and made my torches. Now if I needed them, I could light them quickly with my lighter.

  The cockpit is about seven feet by ten feet. There are two pilot chairs and a navigator's station with one chair for the navigator. In the far corner, opposite the navigator's station is a pull down chair.

  The area was cramped, but is better than being outside when the rain comes.

  Now that I had two of my basic needs (air and shelter), I needed to focus on the other two (food and water). I noticed a half empty water bottle lying under one of the pilot chairs. I opened the bottle and sniffed the water inside. It smelled good enough and the color was normal, so I drank it. The water felt good running down my throat. I hadn't realized how thirsty I was.

  Using my thermal blanket (which looks like a huge piece of tinfoil), I made a rain- catch outside the windshield leading into the cockpit and into the bottle.

  Since I figured I had the third basic need covered, I decided to work on the fourth (food). I was hoping there was an MRE inside the cockpit since this was a military plane. But there was not. However, I could almost guarantee there was one inside the cabin of the plane amongst all those dead soldiers.

  Grabbing my spear, I crawled out onto the wing of the plane. It was time for the wolves to taste a little of their own medicine. The wolves noticed me and ran up to the plane below me. I picked one of the wolves and threw my spear at it. The spear had my rope duct taped to the end, so I was able to retrieve it.

  With my first try, I stuck one in the shoulder! It yelped and ran away. I yelled a few words at them (words my parents probably wouldn't like to hear me say) while pulling my spear up. The tip of the spear was frosted with wolf blood.

  Running down the length of the wing, I spotted my next target. I let my spear fly and hit another one. Two for two! My third and fourth try weren't so lucky, but it made the wolves run into the woods and out of sight.

  I went back into the cockpit feeling triumphant. Knowing the wolves were away in the woods and temporarily scared of me, I unlocked the cockpit door and peered into the cabin. It was dimly lit by the crack in the side of the cabin. I could see the skeletal remains of the soldiers and four large pieces of cargo wrapped individually in plastic wrap. The pieces of cargo were tied down with cargo netting.

  Listening for any wolves, I carefully crept my way around the cabin. At the feet of the dead soldiers, I noticed camelback
s. Camelbacks are are small backpacks that have a bladder inside to hold liquid. Sprouting from the camelbacks is a long tube with a bite nozzle on the end. Camelbacks could mean water. I grabbed one and found what I was looking for, an MRE and plenty of water.

  Not knowing if the wolves would return, I grabbed the camelback and two others, and quickly took them back to the cockpit. I knew I had limited time before the wolves returned, so I hurried to grab the other camelbacks and put them in the cockpit.

  I could hear rustling outside the cabin, so I aborted exploring the rest of the cabin. My curiosity was killing me of what was in the cargo nets, but I was happy with my find and anxious to eat some MRE's and drink some water.

  As I ran back to the cockpit with my loot, I noticed a knife strapped to one of the soldiers, so I snatched it up as I passed.

  Not long after I returned to the cockpit and locked myself in, it started to rain hard. Lighting lit the inside of the cockpit and thunder shook the plane. I kept a watchful eye for any returning snakes as I ripped open one of the MRE's. I didn't bother looking at the expiration date, since I would have eaten it even it was from the civil war.

  The MRE was chicken-ala-king, which was actually pretty good. There was a flameless ration heater included, but that requires water, and I didn't want to waste any water. So I ate it cold. Inside the MRE package was a desert, crackers, spreadable cheese, fruit flavored powder to add to my water (yummy!), cocoa (yummy!), a spork, chewing gum, matches, a napkin (yea! toilet paper), a moist towelette, seasoning, and a tiny bottle of Tabasco sauce. I couldn't believe so much could be packed in an MRE. So cool, and so welcome.

  I feasted on the chicken-ala-king, made a fruity drink with the drink mix, and ended it with a desert (which was some hard candy). The cocoa I would save for later and heat up over a fire I will make on the tale of the plane.

  The meal doesn't sound like much, but before my time in prison, I was eating grubs, worms, and fish that taste like pond water. I felt like I had sat down for a Thanksgiving feast. Ok, maybe not that good.