Stranded

Brandon Dean, Marita Bos and Kyle Chen

Ready for takeoff. Brenden said, turning toward me.
Ready. I said nodding. Wait Brenden, wheres the notebook that
were supposed to use to record our data?

Dont worry Anastasia, I have it right here, he said, holding it up. I

took the notebook, and grabbed my pen out of my bag.
Ready for takeoff. Repeated Brenden, impatiently.
Go. I gave him the signal and started to record in the notebook. Our
plane left the ground. A nuclear test missile had been launched and was
bound to strike near an island in the Pacific. We needed to fly over the test
sight to record information that we get from viewing the blast of the missile.
There was a slight delay to our take off due to some mechanical issues with
the plane, plus the strong winds didnt really help. On board: Brenden, Kyler,
Trevor and myself: Anastasia.
We had reached the area where the missile had been set to hit, and
the radar indicated that we were almost on top of the detonation coordinates
we were given during the briefing.
Were too close Brenden, I said into my mic. Take us out a couple
klicks.
Just as I said that, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a spec of
flickering light moving through the sky. I turned so I could get a better view
of what it was, and noticed how quickly it was moving. But the radar was
clear, so it couldnt be an aircraft. That only left one thing for it to be.
The missile.
Uhh. Brenden?

Yeah?
Does this scrap heap go any faster?
With some convincing, maybe
Can you possibly do that convincing right now? I turned to look at
him, and he looked back at me, clearly seeing that I was worried. Then he
looked outside and realized what was going on, he sped the plane up a little.
Brenden hurry please. I knew we should have told headquarters that we
took off late.
There was a sudden jerk and then I felt my stomach go up in my
throat. A bright light shone through the window, blinding us. Brenden tried
to control the plane, but there was no way someone could recover from the
dive we were in. Not in the time we had, anyway. As we fell, my head felt
fuzzy and my stomach churned.
***
I woke up, still in the co-pilots seat, and felt a sharp pain in my back,
head, and shoulders. I looked over to my left, and saw Brenden passed out.
I reached out and shook him a little. Brenden, Brenden. I couldnt wake
him up but I could tell he was still breathing. Brenden! I shouted. His eyes
shot open, and he gasped and looked around.
You good? I asked.
He nodded, with his mouth still open.

I unbuckled myself, got up out of my seat, and walked over to the

main cabin. Trevor was in the first seat right behind the pilot. Trevor?
Touching his neck and wrist, but I couldnt find a pulse. His neck was also
bend in a weird way. I thought it best not to cry. Kyler was already awake
and looked over at Trevor. He got a sad look in his eyes but didnt cry either.
Slowly, we all worked our way out of the plane, and I saw that the only
reason we survived was because the plane landed in tall bushes that most
likely cushioned our fall.
We made our way through the bushes, and finally found our way to
stable ground, where we are now resting. No one is talking.
Well, said Brenden, breaking the silence. Remember the survival
course they had us take? The first thing we need to do is try to find water.
He was right, without water we wouldn't last too long.
You're right. Brenden, how about you go get the water? Kyler will stay
here with me to help me find firewood. And remember, we cant drink any
water, or eat anything for now, because of the radiation that may have come
from the missile. Any radiation we consume will start poisoning our cells,
then theyll start to decay. We arent exactly sure what the half life of the
chemical that was in the missile was, it would take a lot of testing to know.
And we dont know the half life of the element, so it could be years until this
place is radiation-free.
What? asked Kyler.

Radiation is what happens when the atomic nucleus of an unstable

atom decays and starts releasing ionizing particles. Its like-
I know that but what is the other thing you said? asked Kyler
impatiently.
A half-life is the time taken for the radioactivity of a specified isotope
to fall to half its original mass.
A specified iso-what?
An isotope. Its an unstable element.
Oh. replied Kyler.
Now, radiation can have any effects, such as burns or even cancer.
What? asked Kyler, beginning to look extremely annoyed.
Cancer! When ionizing radiation comes into contact with human tissue
it can damage it and cause cancer!
Alright I get it! shouted Kyler
I look at him with a very scary death glare. Honestly, I dont even
know how he was selected to go on this mission. Then Brenden stepped in
between us.
What do we do now? Brenden asked
Go get water from on the far East side of the island, the missile was
should have been far enough from that end, so theres a good chance that it

was not irradiated by the bomb. Then we can just boil it to get the rest of
the stuff out.
Wait a second, what am I supposed to bring the water in? he replied.
I thought for a moment.
Back at the plane, I think there was an emergency kit or something
they were telling us about. Theres bound to be something useful in there, I
told him. As a matter of fact, lets all go back there, and see what we can
find to help us.
We all started back the way we came, following the path of flattened
plants that we had trampled on our way here. Soon enough, we found our
way back to the crashed plane. Brenden tried opening the door on the left
side of the plane, but it had been bent in a way that looked irreparable, not
to mention that it was most probably impossible to open. I went around to
try the other door, but all I found was a large hole where the door should
have been.
I should have remembered that. It was how we got out in the first
place.
In here! I shouted to the other two.
Yeah, coming. Kyler said sluggishly.
We made our way back in, but the inside of the plane was extremely
dark, only illuminated by the faint moonlight shining in through the windows.

Brenden, check the back of the plane, I told him. Kyler, look in the
cabin. Ill check the cockpit area.
With that said, we all split up. The only thing I could hear was them,
slowly working their way to the other side, without tripping or hurting
themselves.
I poked my head inside the cockpit door, but I only saw the same thing
I had when we were still in the air. I dont know why I expected anything
different.
Over here! Brendens voice sounded from the back of the plane.
Coming! I shouted back.
I walked down the plane, and found Kyler sitting in a window seat
halfway down, just looking out the window.
Kyler? You coming? I asked.
Yeah, yeah, Im coming.
He followed behind me as we reached the back of the plane.
I saw the silhouette of Brenden, clearly struggling with something. I
quickly reached over to help him. I helped him lift up the emergency bag. It
had days worth of food, matches, knives, a bucket, different sizes of pans,
and various other tools and supplies.
This looks promising. said Brenden.
Alright, we got what we needed, now lets head back. I said.

We stumbled back over the bushes that surrounded our plane once
more, and found the spot that we were at before.
Alright, said Brenden while Im gone, make a fire so we can at least
stay a little warm.
Only when he brought this up, did I start feel cold. I realized that the
shock from being in a plane crash hadnt exactly worn off yet, and I was still
settling into the situation.
I stayed and collected quite a lot of twigs, branches and logs for a fire,
while Kyler just looked around. After about an hour of collecting things to
feed the fire I saw Brenden walking back with full bucket of water.
I found some water, Brenden said, looking relieved.
Ok great, now come and help me find more firewood since Kyler
wasnt any help. We walked off leaving Kyler behind. Kyler wasnt the most
helpful, or the brightest but he knows a lot about our mission so we had to
bring him. I didnt plan on getting stuck here with him.
We finished a lot later than expected but we were able to collect a lot
of firewood. When we got back we found Kyler on his knees, vomiting once
again.
Kyler what happened? Brenden asked sounding very frightened.
I dont know! Ive just felt very strange ever since I drank the water
you brought back. It did taste very funny but I was just so thirsty!

Kyler! Brenden shouted, That water had high concentrations of salt!

The salt draws water out of the cells in your body, which causes intense
hallucinations! Also human kidneys can only make urine that is less salty
than salt water! Therefore, to get rid of all that excess salt that you just
drank by drinking the salt water, you have to urinate more water than you
drank! If you drink too much of it, you will die of dehydration while you are
becoming even thirstier! Not to mention that the other side effects are
hallucinations, dry mouth, rapid heartbeat, headaches, dizziness and
vomiting.
Kyler started vomiting again. Why didnt you tell me this earlier? I
took three huge gulps before I even realized! I was just so thirsty.
Kyler, why dont you just lay down, I said. Do you feel okay?
Besides the fact that Im vomiting I feel dizzy, dehydrated, my mouth
is extremely dry and I feel like Im about to pass- Kyler trailed off, and fell.
We need to set up a hut or something, a place for us to rest. Not to
mention that its getting dark. Brenden said looking scared.
Ill get the longest, strongest sticks I find, we can make a kind of
teepee. I said.
Ill get the blankets to put around the teepee. said Brenden.
We got under some blankets from the plane, and that was our bed
for the night. The last thought I had was of Trevor, the I fell asleep, tearing
up silently.

The next morning, we set out to get away from the irradiated side of
the island. After about an hour of walking Brenden tripped and fell on
something.
Ugh... he complained, getting up.
What, did you trip over your own foot? joked Kyler.
No, look. I said, helping Brenden up. Its a handle?
I quickly uncovered what it was attached to, and it was revealed that
there was a trap door.
I thought this place was supposed to be uninhabited. Kyler said.
That is what they told us Brenden replied.
Well, Im interested, said Kyler.
Before any of us could stop him, Kyler reached down and pulled the
door open.
What are you doi-
Sh! I interrupted Brenden.
Behind us the sound of what sounded like a pack of wolves started
becoming louder and louder.
In, in!
We all rushed in, going down the stairs as fast as we could. I shut the
door behind us as we went.

We began to walk down a dimly lit staircase, the walls were crumbling
and covered in vines. The stairs seemed to go on for a while, further and
further into the ground. We finally reached the bottom of the staircase and
arrived at a large metal door. The door seemed to be hanging off its hinges,
so Brenden decided to try and open the door very slowly and cautiously. As
he slowly pushed open the door, it let out a loud, long lasting screech, then
fell to the floor with a deafening crash. The frightening noise echoed
throughout the now exposed pitch black room. We slowly entered into the
room, one behind another.
Try to find some light switch maybe? I told them.
We began blindly feeling around the place for any kind of light switch
or lamp of some sort.
Kyler eventually found a power source, and flipped the switch on.
There was a loud clunk, then, suddenly, everything went blindingly bright. As
our eyes adjusted, we came to realize that we found a hidden underground
science lab inside of a bunker, it must have been from world war two! The
lab had everything, from countless models of the atom, which seemed to be
hand-made from Schrodinger, over to a few periodic tables on the wall.
I walked over to the wall with the large periodic table on it and I asked
Brenden,
Wow, gotta wonder, is this sorted in any specific way, or is it just
random?
Brenden responded, Care for me to explain the periodic table to you?
I mean sure, but dont make it too long. I joked.

Well Ill try not to. Brenden started to explain. Ok, so, when you
look at the periodic table, you should notice that each box represents a
different element. Each box contains vital information about each element,
including its name, symbol, atomic number, and atomic mass. The top
number is the atomic number, every element has its own unique number.
The number tells you how many protons are in that element. No element has
the same number as another element, so therefore, two different elements
can not have the same number of protons or atomic number. The large letter
is the element's symbol, and below that is the name of the element.
Kyler interrupted, My god man, how much do you know, she said
dont make it long.
I should have warned you, I have a passion for chemistry. Brenden
stated.
Oh really? It was so hard to tell, Kyle replied sarcastically, but
please continue, this is kind of interesting.
Brenden cleared his throat, Alright, where was I Oh yeah, hach
element has its own unique symbol and name, which could make
memorizing easier. At the bottom of the box will be the atomic mass. The
atomic mass is the mass in atomic mass units for all possible isotopes of that
element. The atomic mass essentially gives you an estimate of how massive
one atom of that element is. Elements are also grouped in families and
periods. The vertical columns of the periodic table are called groups or
families. Elements in the same group or family have similar but not identical
characteristics. You can know properties of a certain element by knowing
which group it belongs to. The horizontal rows of the periodic table are called

periods. Elements in a period are not alike in properties. As a rule, the first
element in a period is usually an active solid, and the last element in a
period is always an inactive gas. Atomic size decreases from left to right
across a period, but atomic mass increases from left to right across a period.
Atoms are on the left of the period, therefore, they are usually larger and
more lightweight than the smaller, heavier atoms on the right of the period.
Well, thats pretty interesting. I said. Now we should go back to our
camp, its getting dark.
Good idea. said Kyler.
We climbed out of the trap door and hurried back to our little teepee.
We got under our blankets and tried to get cozy.
Goodnight. said Brenden.
Goodnight. said Kyler.
I turned over and said Night.
I woke up with a start. Probably because there were strange noises
coming from outside the teepee. I sat up and tapped Brenden because he
was closest to me. Brenden, Brenden wake up! He snored. I shook him
very hard and he sat up really fast.
What? he said.
Brenden whats that noise? He looked at me as if I were insane. Then
he heard it too.

Ill go outside to out check what it is. he said. He went out and I
could see his shadow on the tent since the fire was still lit. Never go outside
in the dark. You never know whats out there, it could be some vicious wild
animal. Or not.
Then I noticed another body. It stood up and made a loud moaning
sound. Brenden grabbed a log of firewood. Brenden wait! Its just- Before I
finished my sentence I saw him hit Kyler on the head. He screamed Ah
Blood! And fell to the ground. I walked out and saw them both passed out. I
facepalmed, even though I knew Kyler didnt know what he was doing. He
was still hallucinating.
I walked outside slowly and stared at the both of them, passed out in
the sand. I rolled my eyes and went back inside the tent to go back to sleep.
I wish I had never gotten stuck on an island with these two