Page 14

Chapter Fourteen

M ackenzie finally pushed to his feet and looked at Abigail. She’d at least had the sense to take her heels off. She looked as crushed as he felt. Her eyes had lost their glimmer. He strolled to Charlie and the old man looked up at him with expectant eyes, as if Mackenzie had the solution to their problem.

“I’m going to get your satchel. Are you okay for now?”

Charlie nodded and Mackenzie turned from him, grabbed the backpack, walked through the clearing and into the bushes. He felt hollow, empty of all emotion.

But he couldn’t give up.

He’d suffered complete hopelessness before and survived.

And he would just have to do it again. He’d take each day as it came and pray that one day soon, they’d be rescued.

His eyes fell on the thick, woody bark wrapped around a large tree’s lower trunk and the white, semicircular fungi that jutted out like wing-nut ears. Mushrooms .

He flicked out the knife and sliced one off. The underside of the mushroom was a curtain of layered brown flesh. Its strong, earthy aroma made his mouth water, but he resisted the urge to bite into it, knowing many species of mushroom were poisonous. He cut off the others, dropped them into the backpack and took a sip of water before he carried on .

His senses seemed heightened, maybe from hunger. Smells were more prominent; sounds were louder, and he was pleased he could both hear and see birds for a change.

Mackenzie stopped short. Ahead of him a small, four-legged animal crawled along a willow branch. Mackenzie smiled in awe as he noted the thick, grey fur that covered the bulk of the animal’s body, its white belly and the long furry tail.

He let out a little laugh. “A sugar glider. How about that?”

At the end of the branch, the sugar glider pushed its pink nose into the red tubes of a eucalyptus flower, and he heard it licking the juicy nectar. Its ears flicked backward and forward. As he stared at the creature, he couldn’t remember a time in his life when he stood so close to a wild animal.

The sugar glider lifted its nose from the flower, turned back on itself, slinked up the thin branch, and disappeared into the tree canopy. Mackenzie continued on, buoyed by his brush with nature.

A little further on, the tail of the plane appeared in the distance, its smooth manmade surfaces totally out of place to the natural surroundings.

Reluctantly entering the wreckage, he suppressed a wave of nausea as he glimpsed Tom’s grotesque body.

How do we get him down?

He was grateful when he spied the tan-coloured satchel, taking his mind off macabre thoughts. Wedged by the toilet wall, the satchel’s broken strap lay like an outstretched arm as if reaching for him. He squeezed below the corpse on his hands and knees to reach it. He pulled it onto his lap, resisting the urge to open it and see why Charlie wanted it so desperately.

The toilet door hung open and the seat dangled above from one hinge. He reached up and removed the toilet roll. “I’ll come back for you later,” he said, without looking at the body. Then he retreated from the cabin with the satchel under his arm. He trotted back along the path, only pausing to gather the tin of powdered milk and the can of oil.

Arriving back at the clearing, Mackenzie checked on Charlie who had a damp cloth over his forehead and looked quite comfortable as he slept. Abigail was by the fire, knees to her chest. He could tell she’d been crying.

“I found his satchel and I brought back those tins of food we found yesterday.”

“I can’t do this anymore,” she sobbed. “The waiting. And all this death …” She cried into her hands.

He sat cross legged on the grass beside her. “Abigail, I need you. I can’t do this alone.”

She shook her head, her face still concealed by her hands.

He put a hand on her wrist. “Hey,” he whispered as he gently pulled her hand into his.

She blinked rapidly at him, flicked away her tears, then after a moment of pause, nodded her head. “Okay.”

“Oh, I almost forgot. I found this for you.” He reached into the backpack and removed the toilet paper.

Smiling, Abigail took the roll. “Thank you.”

“You know we still have to bury them, don’t you? We can’t wait another day.”