Suddenly I had a strong feeling of nausea. My eyes jerked open. My right eye was covered with red, presumably blood. I remembered the horrifying crash and looked over to Mitchell. He was unconcious. The nausea came back. I vomited. It must have been the shock that caused it.
I tried to move. I felt a searing pain in my right leg, which forced me back down. I looked behind me. The door sectioning the cockpit and the cabin was gone. Completely ripped out. I saw it lodged in a window.
I looked forward and wiped the blood from my right eye. The windshield had shattered, the howling wind and rain pouring in. I knew I had to move. Our lives were dependant on it.
I shifted my weight around in my seat. "Howie" creaked. 'Crap', I thought, as I saw the branch sticking in the windshield, 'we're in a tree. No, make that 4,' as I saw more trees.
I managed to haul myself up. I was going to face the excrutiating pain that I was going through. I went over to Mitchell. He wasn't in the best of shape, so I lifted him off of his seat and put him in the recovery position in the cockpit. I hobbled to the door, avoiding the few holes in the fuselage, and I nearly stepped on one propellor as it came off and lodged in the aircraft.
I swung the door open and cursed.
It seems I was going to be here for quite a while. I bellowed for help, which caused me massive pain. I closed the door and found the medical kit, which I took to the cockpit and bandaged up Mitchell and I. I prayed and sat in my seat, calling for help.
****
I awoke in the back of an ambulance. I looked back to see many Royal Marines setting up a defensive outpost around our crash site. They were recovering parts. I found Mitchell, awake, in the bed next to me. This was a big ambulance.
"Hello," he groaned, "are we dead?"
"No," I replied, "but we crashed the plane."
"Oh God, is it okay?"
"I dunno." I paused to cough up some blood. "We're probably heading back to Delhi."
"Okay....what will happen then?"
"I dunno....we take what comes to us. But remember one thing: stay alive."
Amusingly, the Bee Gees song 'Stayin Alive' came into my head. I think we were going to make it, but I couldn't say the same about "Howie".......
So, the boys survived, but what will coem next?......
