Stranded

Step by step Tom was making his long journey out of the scorching hot desert. Each step seemed to get harder, the never ending ocean of sand dragging him down. He had nothing to drink aside from half a bottle of water that was in his backpack. He was so tempted to just drink it all now but he knew that he needed to make it last as long as possible. In the distance tom saw water. But he was unable to reach it no matter how far he traveled, it was all an illusion.

Tom stumbled then collapsed. He was exhausted and dehydrated and there was nothing he could do about it. He forced himself to sit up and look around. High in the sky was a helicopter. In an instant tom was on his feet jumping, waving, yelling and doing everything he could to be seen. To be rescued. The helicopter kept on going, Tom watched it until it disappeared from sight. Tom dropped to his knees, and then fell face first in the sand. He fell asleep within the next five minutes.

He woke up hours later freezing. It was pitch black. It must have been sometime in the middle of the night. He even started to feel pain in his hands and feet. Everything was starting to get numb. It was easily below freezing and all tom was wearing was shorts and a short sleeve t-shirt. He was beginning to experience frost bite. Once again tom fell asleep, this time only half conscious.

When Tom woke up again he was sweating. He struggled to his feet. Then started walking. He walked for hours. Hoping to find something. He stopped looked to the left than the right, scanning his surroundings. To his left, nothing. Tom thought that he saw some vegetation a few miles in front of him which would mean food and water. Then tom looked to the right. About a mile away he could see the wreckage of some type of vehicle. That raised his spirits and gave him a reason to keep going.

Once tom got closer he realized that it was a downed helicopter. The cockpit was lying at least twenty yards away from the tail. It had obviously snapped off during the crash landing. All tom could see of the cockpit was a tangle of wires. It was half buried in the sand. Tom went and looked at the cockpit first. He was unable to see inside. He tried the door but it was jammed. He had an idea. Tom had to find something that he could break the window with. He walked around the cockpit, looking for something for him to use to break the window with. He found a small piece of metal that had been torn off the helicopter during the crash. He went back around to the window. With all he had he slammed the piece of metal into the window.

Nothing but a crack. He tried again, but had the same result. Three times after that the window shattered. He dropped the piece of metal, and then moved some wires out of his way so he could see inside. Once he got a good glance he wished he hadn't discovered the helicopter. Inside sitting in the chair was the dead body of what had once been the pilot. It was half covered in sand and had a large number of insects crawling on it. The insects had obviously been feasting on the body for at least a day. Tom was disgusted but he forced himself to look around inside the cockpit for anything that may help him. He found a first aid kit, an empty water bottle, and a pocket knife. He kept all of it assuming that it could help him in the future.

Tom abandoned the helicopter and kept walking. He was no longer headed in any specific direction. The sun beating down on him, it was easily over ninety degrees. All of the sudden he felt a searing pain on his right ankle. He collapsed. Coiled up in front of him was a rattle snake. He had been bitten. Tom was starting to get dizzy. He was losing his vision. The world was spinning. All of the sudden everything went black. It was over.