Chapter Text
A pilot was the last person that Jamie expected to find in the middle of nowhere. In most circumstances, that could’ve been their golden ticket out of that living nightmare. Considering the fact that the pilot was clearly dead though, there was no point in getting excited over the discovery. Nevertheless, their morbid curiosity yearned for answers.
From a first glance, they showed no signs of being tampered with. Their skin was a shade of red, though there were some darker patches predominantly on their right arm. Their attire was unlike any other pilot they had seen before, though. They wore a floral shirt, jeans and some old sneakers. Was this person really a pilot? Pretty tacky outfit if so.
Jamie noticed a bite just above the pilot’s right wrist. Based on the mushrooms forming around it, it was likely that they got bit by a zombie and died not long after. Good thing I didn’t get bit, then. The skin immediately surrounding the bite appeared to be rotting and was accompanied by an unpleasant smell. So that’s what that was.
They spotted a folded piece of paper sticking out from the pilot’s left pocket. It had something written on it, but they couldn’t tell what it was from where they stood. They reached out to grab it, but much to their dismay, Riley grabbed it first and read it to themselves.
Jamie paid particularly close attention to Riley’s face as they read it. They initially started out curious, but that curiosity developed into confusion, then into frustration. After reading it, they stared at the paper for a few more moments. “What the hell… That is… so messed up…” they muttered to themselves. Must be bad. They then offered the paper to Jamie to read, who quickly snatched it out of their hand.
They re-folded the paper to see what it said on the front.
In very neatly written cursive were the following words: For Pilot Romero.
Romero. Why did that name sound so familiar?
…
Some time after the flight took off—and after that obnoxious orange kid fell asleep—a slightly irritated voice came on over the plane’s intercom.
“Hello passengers, this is your pilot Romero speaking. I, uh, apologize,” The strange emphasis on ‘apologize’ did not fall on deaf ears. “For forgetting this message. We’re going to be flying to Hawaii today. Please make sure you stay buckled up and keep your devices in airplane mode for the duration of the flight and all that stuff.” They groaned before forcing a more chipper voice. “Thank you for choosing Bing Bong Airlines, and enjoy the flight!” A click indicated that the transmission had completed.
What a strange pilot. Who waits until after they’ve taken off to say this stuff? Are they even qualified to fly this thing? And why the hell were they so weird about it?
Jamie nudged Jade, who popped off an earbud in response. “Hey, uh, Jade. Am I the only one that has a bad feeling about this?”
Jade hummed. “Well, now that you mention it… I’ve got a bad feeling too. Maybe we’re just overthinking it though.”
“Hm. Whatever you say. I’m bored, so I guess I’ll just go to sleep. G’night Jade.”
“Good night, Jamie.”
…
Jamie rubbed their chin in contemplation. So this wasn’t just some random pilot, then. It was our pilot. How the heck did they end up all the way here, though?
They opened up the paper to read the contents. They almost wish they hadn’t, though. They really weren’t prepared for what was inside.
If you can, crash the plane on some remote island in the middle of nowhere. I don’t care which one it is. And make sure there’s no survivors. If there are, at the very least, make sure that orange little shit is out of the picture. I’d hate to have to deal with them again. They’re a stray I picked up and need to keep gone.
Once you’ve done all of that, just climb as high as you can and light the flare I’ve given you. DO NOT LOSE IT. It’s blue, so I will know it’s you specifically. I’ll pick you up and give you payment once I know the deed’s been done.
After all that, we go our separate ways and never speak of this again. Well… at least until the next batch of morons stroll into town.
-SME
They only stared blankly at the paper for a while. They struggled to fathom the thought that someone would pay to get rid of four people, or why they placed emphasis on getting rid of Luna. It did explain how Romero ended up against the tree, though. This “SME” must’ve had a lot of money to be able to convince Romero to do something as stupid as this.
Wait… the note mentioned a flare… where…? Their eyes landed on a blue flare that laid to the right of Romero. Aha! They grabbed the flare, but noticed it had already been used. They clenched it tightly out of frustration. For a brief moment, they considered throwing it against the wall with every ounce of energy they had, but instead they just tossed it back to where they grabbed it from.
“They must’ve tried to leave early when they realized they weren’t making it…” Riley sighed. Their eyes were locked onto the flare. “Dying was probably the best thing that could’ve happened to them.” You’re damn right it was.
Jamie could feel their blood start to boil. Who in their right mind would be swayed by money to leave anyone to die on a random island? And who would be depraved enough to even make that offer in the first place? Also, what was it with Luna specifically that this “SME” wanted them gone so badly? That was the most concerning part of all of this. Did Luna…? No. Nothing they could’ve done would justify this. They had so many questions and so few answers.
Their knuckles took on a lighter shade of yellow, so out of fear of accidentally tearing the paper to shreds, they shoved it back into Riley’s hands. It’d probably be a bad idea to tear up the only evidence we have.
Riley hesitated for just a moment then tucked the paper into one of their coat pockets. “Well? Pretty messed up, right?”
Jamie only clenched their fists even tighter, though it wasn’t because of Riley. “’Messed up’?! Yeah! I’d say it’s pretty ‘messed up’ to pay a pilot to try to kill us and single out Luna!” Riley only nodded in agreement.
They knelt down and stared at Romero’s cold, lifeless eyes. “You’re lucky you’re already dead.” Their fists trembled and they felt tears roll down their face, but they didn’t care. They were too angry to care. “I… I hate you for what you’ve done.”
They rose up to leave. There was nothing left there that they wanted to see. It was likely for the best anyways, since based on the lighting, the sun appeared to be creeping closer to setting by the minute. They’d prefer not to be lost in the dark on top of everything else going on.
Just as Jamie stormed outside of the tree stump, a strong gust of wind nearly knocked them off of their feet. They were yanked back inside by Riley by the collar of their tank top. From within, they could hear the wind howling, though they were safe from its effects. Riley still—likely subconsciously—held on to Jamie’s collar, though Jamie chose to say nothing about it.
Once the wind dissipated, Jamie attempted to leave the tree stump once more. Much to their dismay, though, Riley was still holding onto their collar. Now it started to get on their nerves. “You gonna let me go, or…?”
Riley let go of Jamie’s collar. “Right… uh, sorry. Let’s get out of here. I don’t really want to stick around, and I’m assuming you don’t either.”
“Yeah. I don’t. I’m mad enough without even looking at their face.”
Jamie once again walked outside of the tree stump, but collided directly into Luna. Luna started giggling and apologizing almost immediately, but once they saw that Jamie was not reciprocating their laughter, they stopped.
Jade appeared to be slightly concerned. “You two were taking a while, and the wind spooked Luna, so we came looking for you.” They looked down at Jamie and Luna, who were both still seated on the ground. “Seems like you two were doing the same.”
Jamie stood up and offered a hand to Luna, who graciously accepted. They then rubbed their nose and whined at the slight discomfort it caused. Today really isn’t my day, is it? Almost immediately, Luna appeared to be panicked. Jamie cut them off before they could say anything, though. “Relax. I’m fine. Can we get going already?”
“What did you two find?” Jade asked inquisitively.
Jamie met Jade’s question with a very agitated glare. “Nothing. Let’s go.”
Jade was only more concerned by Jamie’s response. “Jamie…”
“Jade.” Jamie growled. They really weren’t in the mood for this. “I dunno if you forgot, but we’re in the middle of a creepy forest. Can. We. Leave. Now.”
Jade once again attempted to contest. “Ja—”
A gust of wind suddenly cut Jade off. They were able to grab on to a nearby tree, but unfortunately, Luna crashed directly into Jamie. Jamie was able to re-stabilize quick enough to save them both, but it still gave them quite the scare.
After the wind dissipated, Luna clung onto Jamie for a little while longer. The fear and fatigue in their eyes were very apparent. Poor kid… You don’t deserve to be dealing with any of this. Luna eventually let go, but subconsciously, Jamie reached out and grabbed their right hand. Luna appeared to be confused initially, but then shifted more towards gratitude.
Jade sighed. “You know what? You’re right. We should get going. Sorry for being pushy.” Their eyes drifted down to Jamie and Luna’s hands, which were now interlocked. They smiled softly at the sight. “Just… tell me when we get somewhere safer, okay…?”
Jamie didn’t understand Jade’s shift in expression, but they still rolled their eyes in response. “Fine. Can we leave now?”
Fortunately, Jade appeared to get the hint and nodded in response. Finally. Neither Luna nor Riley seemed to have any objections either, so they all headed off with Jamie leading the pack.
They didn’t really ask to take charge, but assumed that role regardless. They didn’t mind it; it gave them some time to think while also scouting out some routes up ahead.
Scouting a route proved to be a challenge, though. The trees obstructed most of their vision the higher they looked. And those red clouds… What do they even do…? To make matters worse, with the sun setting, they’d soon have very little light to work with.
They eventually approached a small hill they wanted to climb. They attempted to pull their left hand towards the wall to climb… but it was met with some resistance. They looked to their left and… Luna was holding their hand. Luna? When…?
Jamie echoed their confusion out loud. “When did you…?” They shook their head, then immediately blushed once they fully processed what happened. “Uh… Can you… let go for a minute…?” For a minute…? What am I saying???
Luna let go of Jamie’s hand on command. “Y-You, uh, g-grabbed it earlier. I d-didn’t want to say anything, b-because…” Luna looked at the ground bashfully. “I… I k-kinda liked it.” Some kind of feeling bubbled in Jamie’s chest, which they attributed to… Affection. Ew. Gross.
Jamie sighed. “Whatever. I’m gonna check out what’s at the top of this hill. You coming or not?” Luna nodded eagerly in response. What a weirdo.
They then pointed at Riley and Jade. “You two, stay down here and make sure nothing catches us off-guard. Got it?”
“Sure, but if you wanted to spend more time with Luna—” Riley nudged Jade before they could finish. “…We’ll stay down here.”
Jamie chose to ignore the first half of what Jade said, instead shifting their focus towards climbing.
The hill wasn’t particularly tall, so it only took a minute to get to the top. Luna was a bit slower than them, so they offered a hand, to which Luna accepted. Jamie let go once Luna made it to the top. Luna’s smile faltered for a moment, which Jamie noticed, but they forced it back to where it was. For some unexplainable reason, Jamie felt a twang of guilt. They decided to reconnect with Luna, who appeared to brighten up at the gesture. The guilt faded just a little bit.
A random question popped into Jamie’s head. Why do I suddenly feel like I need to look out for Luna…? They already knew the answer, though. Right… this… “SME” person.
They pushed that concern to the back of their mind for the moment. They were at the top of the hill for a reason: to find a way up. They weren’t going to figure that out if they just stood around and sulked in their own head.
Out of the corner of their eye, they spotted some kind of entrance. Maybe it’s to a cave…? They tugged at Luna’s hand to get their attention. “Hey Luna,” Jamie pointed towards the entrance. “Let’s go check out whatever this is.”
For a moment, Luna hesitated. They appeared to be… scared? You’re such a big baby. Why’d I get stuck with you? Jamie gave their hand a reassuring squeeze, which appeared to ease their tension a bit. “Uh… y-yeah. I’ll… go with you.”
Jamie lingered around no longer in case Luna decided to change their mind at the last second. With Luna in tow, they arrived at the entrance and peered inside. It was a quite small cave, though it appeared to be safe from any threats from the outside. As a bonus, there was nothing hiding inside. Even if it didn’t serve as any kind of path up, it was safe at the very least.
The idea of resting did contradict Jamie wanting to leave as soon as possible, but… they were starting to get tired. At the very least, they wanted to get off of their feet for a moment. They turned to face Luna, who was noticeably less tense once they realized it was safe. “Make yourself comfortable. I’m gonna get Jade and Riley over here too.” They motioned for Luna to go inside.
Luna gave Jamie a scared look. Now what? “Y-You’re… not gonna l-leave me here… are you…?”
Jamie rolled their eyes. “Yes, of course I’m gonna abandon you in the middle of nowhere.” They groaned. “No, you doofus! I’m just gonna shout for them! Did you really think I was gonna just dump you somewhere and run off?”
“…I-It’s… happened b-before…” Oh… I don’t like the feeling in my chest I just got.
Jamie struggled to formulate a response to that. How do you even respond to something like that? “…Look. I’m just gonna go back outside and shout for them. I’ll even stand by the entrance so you can see me. How’s that sound?” Luna gave a hesitant thumbs up in response, then entered the cave. “Cool. Be back soon.”
Just as they said, Jamie stood right outside of the entrance and called for Jade and Riley. “Hey! I don’t know if you two can hear me, but, we found a cave up here! Nice and roomy and safe from the wind!”
Within minutes, Jade and Riley scrambled up the exact hill that Jamie and Luna had. Without a word, Jade entered the cave. However, much to Jamie’s confusion, Riley remained near the entrance. Riley must’ve noticed Jamie’s confusion, so they explained why they’re not moving. “I’ll keep watch, make sure no zombies or who knows what shows up.” They grabbed a nearby branch as if they were trying to prove a point. “Get some rest. Who knows when you’ll have a chance to again.”
Jamie didn’t bother to argue with Riley on that. They definitely weren’t going to say “no” to getting some rest, especially when the opportunity presented itself.
When they re-entered the cave, Jamie noticed that Luna had settled down into a corner of the cave. Jade was close by, fidgeting with a random twig they found. Luna was hugging their Bing Bong plushie tightly, but they did momentarily free up a hand to wave at Jamie. Jamie waved back in response.
They settled down beside Luna and felt a sudden surge of fatigue wash over them. They hadn’t been on their feet for an unusual amount of time, though the forest had taken quite a toll on them mentally. Something rested on their shoulder, and they would’ve missed it had they not noticed movement out of the corner of their eye. Once they turned their head a little bit, they realized it was just Luna.
Under any other circumstance, they likely would’ve tried to push Luna away. Holding hands was one thing, but getting comfortable like this was another. They were too tired to care, though. It’s kinda nice, too… Instead, they just rested their head on top of Luna’s and closed their eyes.
I’ll just get a little rest, I guess. No big deal. Not like I wanna leave, or anything…
Yeah…
Just…
…
A little…
…
…
Rest…