Chapter 26
Derrick and Dane are back now with two long lizards on a stick. I guess
that’s dinner. “What do you have there, Dane?” I inquire.
Dane states, “These are Blue-tongued lizards. They are very easy to catch and will provide us with some much needed protein tonight. I hate to catch and kill these friendly creatures, but we are in survival mode and need a food source. I’m going to clean these guys way over there, because I don’t want the smell of their insides attracting any unwanted visitors later on tonight. I’ll be right back.”
Dane puts the stick of lizards over his shoulder and heads away from the camp. Derrick comments on how easy the lizards were to catch, and how calm they were while he was holding them. “What an awesome pet these lizards would make if we weren’t trying to eat them to survive,” he comments. He’s such a Zoologist!
Henderson comes back with an armful of wood and drops it next to the fire. He takes a swig of water and suddenly remembers that located in the back of the tail section is a small compartment that contains a desert survival kit.
“The company decided to equip all of the airplanes with a mini-desert survival kit, since we fly back and forth to Perth. I totally forgot it was back there. Hang on, I’ll be right back.”
Henderson gets up and walks to the tail section of the airplane, retrieves an orange duffel bag and brings it back to the fire. He opens the bag and removes its contents:
Knife
Condoms, for water storage
Signal mirror
50 feet of heavy cord
A space blanket
Flint and steel
Sunblock 50
Transpiration Bag and some water purification tablets
Compass
Immediately, Derrick realizes that the space blanket can be used to provide much needed shade. All he needs is to find some sticks to use as stakes. He holds up the blanket, and I am surprised to see it is quite large. If it can be staked and used as a canopy of some kind, it will really help with the heat factor. Dane has finished cleaning the lizards and is pleased to see the survival kit Henderson found. Dane and Derrick drink some water and start looking for the sticks they need to secure the blanket.
Henderson gets the sunblock out of the bag and tells me to put some on my arms and face. He needs to put some on, as well. Located in the bottom of the duffel bag is a small booklet with some instructions for desert survival. Here are a few things the booklet recommends: First rule of thumb, find shelter. Okay, we don’t have any of that. Cover as much of your exposed skin as you can. Don’t travel during the day, because it is difficult to keep yourself hydrated, especially if you don’t have a lot of water. If you must leave your vehicle (plane), travel only at night when it is cooler. That makes sense.
We are in a predicament here because we have no shelter, and we don’t want to leave the plane. Do we stay by the plane and hope to be rescued, or do we leave the plane and seek shelter? Henderson really thinks we will be rescued, but admits if no one has found us within the first 24 hours, it could take days, because that would indicate that the emergency locating equipment on board the aircraft is inoperative. We will sit around the fire tonight and discuss our options, whether we should stay or leave the aircraft; the pros and cons.
Derrick and Dane come back with some sticks and start securing the blanket with the cord that was in the kit. Henderson and I grab some of the clothes we have been sitting on and place them under the blanket canopy. The four of us decide to rest for a while, so we all crowd in under the canopy, and what a difference this blanket makes. It is so much cooler under this thing.
“Everybody take out your water bottle and drink some water. We need to stay hydrated, especially right now, in the beginning,” Dane insists. “I’ve been doing some thinking this afternoon, and I think we should stick around the airplane until tomorrow evening, like Henderson suggested. If no one has come by the time the sun sets, we should leave the crash site and head north. Eventually, we will hit the coast.”
Derrick, Henderson, and I look at each other and unanimously agree with Dane’s suggestion. I just wish we knew where we were. There were some maps in the front of the airplane, but the fire has completely destroyed them, I’m sure. After resting a couple of hours, Dane sits up and suggests that we cook the lizards and eat supper. We all agree, so he skewers the lizards and places them directly over the fire. Derrick takes the pocket knife and cuts up the apple, and peels an orange. I have laid out a clean shirt under the blanket to use as a table for our supper. We have nine bottles of water, five juice boxes, and two sodas left for drinking. We will use the jelly beans, trail mix, and peanuts when we need to travel, if we are forced to abandon the aircraft.
The lizards are finished cooking and Dane starts removing the meat from the bones. I am really surprised how much meat he is able to get off of one lizard. The meat is in a big pile on the shirt next to the fruit. We decide to have a juice box each with the meal. I reluctantly take a bite of the lizard expecting it to taste awful, but much to my surprise, it is quite tasty. I take my portion of the meat and fruit and sit down by Derrick.
Henderson takes a bite of the lizard and says, “It tastes like chicken.” Then he starts laughing.
“What are you laughing at Henderson?” I ask.
“On survival, everything tastes like chicken. It’s kind of a joke.”
The sun is just starting to dip down below the horizon as night falls upon us. Henderson puts some more wood on the fire, and we decide to come out from under the blanket and sit a little closer to the fire and talk. Dane starts to talk about what he thinks the plan should be for tomorrow.
“The first thing I am going to do in the morning is find us some water. If we are going to leave here tomorrow night, I would like to leave with all of the water bottles full. If I can find a creek bed, I can probably find water. Even if it appears to be dried up, if you dig deep enough, sometimes you get lucky and find water. Derrick, you coming with me?”
“Of course!”