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<12/18/1971 ~ 06:06 | Unknown Territory>
Danny yelped when the surge of pain shot through his legs and upper thighs, shocked from the force of gravity. Though Danny rolled after falling to lighten the damage, it didn't help as much as he'd expect. With his friend injured beyond comprehension, Danny pushed aside all care for his own injuries, stumbling down in a half-broken sprint to reach her, limping as his legs failed.
Taylor was either unconscious or worse. Before he could reach down to her, Danny noticed a lack of blood anywhere near her body, but his anxiety remained. After kneeling before Taylor, Danny inspected her - inch by inch quickly. The next thing he did was place his fingers on her neck and press gently. "Taylor, no. You can't leave me. You can't die!" She looked so helpless, so lifeless and fragile! The one and only friend he had was gone!
With tears already building up in his eyes, Danny awaited a response on his fingers, anything enough to be a pulse from her heart rate or a twitch from her nervous system. Finally, he noticed a pattern of a beat, the feel of it on his hand registering at about 90 beats per minute. Barely even elevated, but at least Taylor was alive!
Danny almost broke down right there just from his relief in the suspense. Taylor was still alive, but she was still unconscious. He tried to pick her up off of the dirt, holding her up slightly to make sure she was alright. She didn't weigh much. Danny sat her up on his lap, and inspected the back of her head for any additional damage.
To little surprise, there was a bloody scrape on the back of her head, right down to her neck about the size of his fist. The same scrap managed to go almost to the blood layer. Her neck was bleeding just a faint amount, with the appearance of a large brownish bluish mark of a dangerous bruise. The bruise there looked massive, and being so close to her spinal region most likely explained her unconsciousness. It was amazing that she was even still alive, more so that she was not in any paralysis.
Danny had to make sure she was still breathing. He did not remember seeing her chest inch up and down before while checking her pulse, and he put her back down to see if she was. He put his ear closer to her chest, listening for any indication that she was breathing. He heard breathing noises through her nostrils, but they were very subtle and faint, not even visible by sight. Despite being alive, it was obvious that Taylor's health was in a very critical state. Moreover, Danny knew how this was all his idea. He did this to her!
Danny kept himself and Taylor there almost motionless. He took some deep breaths after avoiding the worst case scenario yet. Taylor was not just any girl after all, she was his lifelong best friend. If anything had happened to her, Danny was sure he would break down beyond the point of recovery. Delaying his guilt, amazement and awe took his attention first, the fact that she was still even alive to this level should be impossible. He only had time to consider this now, after proving to himself that Taylor was not considered technically dead. He estimated it was a 250 foot drop for her, straight into the ground hitting the worst part of her body first. The scraps on the other back parts of her body did not even compare to the back of her head, but it seemed a little unrealistic for Taylor to be okay in any regard. He was certainly not complaining about such fortune.
Danny waited for five long minutes, checking to see if Taylor was still breathing with a pulse every twenty seconds. The only thing to do for her now was to let her rest, but what good can that do without any help, or even just some food and water? Danny knew that one of them had to scale this wall, and he checked his surroundings one more time to ensure if there was another way.
Even though the sunlight was nowhere near the sky yet, a lot more was visible in the dark blue glow of the sky. Danny discovered again that one particular section that ran around the cliff wall in a curve, which seemed to be floor level even though the water was covering it up a bit. There was no indication of any way around this cliff in either direction even with the water level changing, but in hindsight, Danny should have realized that his challenge was a most impossible one!
With no other logical choice available to him, Danny moved Taylor a little further from the water and rest her on the sand, ensuring that no high tide takes her out to sea forever while she rests. The only sensible thing to do was to scout the area again. There must be a way further beyond this wall that doesn't involve a climb. Despite how screwed up his legs were, Danny found enough strength to push past the physical pain and force his limbs to march. At least he had not broken them both.
Danny did all he could before leaving Taylor there on her own. He did not want to get far from her at all, but discovered no other option. Upon reaching the furthest right side section again, Danny risked getting soaked again, standing in knee-high water and making slow movements to determine if there was more around the corner he could not see from before. Danny thought over what happened again in his memory, unable to stop the continuous replay of that moment; Taylor slipping off the rock, and falling down to the ground. It brought about a depressing sensation, but it was also his fault that Taylor was hurt in the first place. If he does suddenly find another way out of this, his recklessness would only be proven much more.
The time he had walking through the water seemed to slow the moment down; Danny's mind was racing from some residual shock. He remembered to all of those times Taylor tried to warn him about being too reckless or immature about all sorts of random situations. Though none of which were dangerous for either of them, Taylor was absolutely correct. "It's my damn fault. Taylor... You shouldn't have followed me. I should have been the one to fall off!" Why didn't I force her to wait, to see if it was safe? Her death, though it had not happened yet rang in his mind and in his ears louder than anything ever could, and the sensation nearly brought him to his knees.
Disregarding his self-degrading comments, Danny saw something in front of him, an alcove from a large fallen boulder which has since been flattened out and balancing on two other round boulders below it. The flat top of the large rock led to a small opening just above it. The large wall that he was at before spanned across this island in a full circle, but right in this section, this opening in the wall was only a tiny bit higher than the top of that rock. Erosion literally created a crack-like formation to the entire barrier on the other side, though in perspective, the section he could pass through would support by width two whole people. Ultimately, it would be so much easier to climb up the boulders, and jump across through that small opening. But is there anything on the other side?
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Danny wanted to investigate further, content with the fact that this place was still just a short ways away from where he left Taylor. Danny climbed up onto the top of the rock by using the other boulders as his initial anchors. Before he even got to the top of it, there was an endless supply of fresh green trees on the other side visible from here. Come to think of it, the circle round off here had ended, and beyond that rock in the other direction was just more of the same wall that went on far past his visual range. It really was an island, populated with some vegetation and wild life in the center!
Danny had done it! He found out that the other side was habitable to them both. And instead of scouting around, he ended up nearly killing Taylor in the process, trying to scale a pointless death trap. If he can get himself and Taylor over this small jump to the other side, then they would both be in a forest, so big one could not see through to the other side.
It was decided then. Danny started heading back for Taylor, hoping to god that she was still where he left her, resting peacefully in the sense that she was still alive and well. His unintelligent leap down from the small height crushed the muscles in his legs again. The force of the six foot drop reminded him how much he had damaged his legs earlier, and the sensation grounded him to the soaked sand for over thirty seconds. After bringing himself to concede with the idea that he needed to keep moving or die, it wasn't too difficult to force himself back up, traveling one foot in front of the other at a slow and careful pace. The way back was not any different than before, but he did rush his way back to Taylor, making him a bit more clumsy and prone to fall from the water riding up to his shoes.
After getting back to the wall, Danny spotted Taylor right where he left her. With a short lived sigh of relief, Danny stumbled to where she was laying, checking her vital signs again to be certain that she was going to make it. He then checked that damaged area on the back of her head. It was still a nasty gash, but somehow it did not get worse than it was the last time he took a peek at it. Satisfied enough to move her, Danny picked up Taylor into his arms and lifted her up against the gravity, promising to himself not to let anything bad happen to Tay ever again.
Danny needed to carry Taylor back to the alcove he discovered, slowing his movement in care not to drop Taylor. Once he got to the small boulder in his way to the rounded path, he slowly stepped over it without tripping or losing hold of Taylor. She just seemed so helpless, fast asleep or perhaps comatose in his arms.
After reaching the high area he made it to before, Danny scanned his objects to find out exactly how to get himself and Taylor up there. Since he could only use his legs and feet, it would be harder to get up to that rock, and if it got unstable from the two fulcrums it was sitting on, they would both be finished. The crack in the wall was far off the ground and slanted at an angle, so this would be the only way inside. With the most steady and careful steps he had ever taken so far, Danny used one of the smaller boulders to stand on in order to gain enough height to push Taylor onto the top of the flat rock above him. The rock was not entirely horizontal and level, but enough to stop Taylor from rolling off of its edge.
Danny used his free arms and hands to climb up to where he had set Taylor down temporarily. After pulling himself up there, he got back on his hands and knees, taking a short breather. Now he and Taylor were both on the top of the flat rock with that last little crack in view. It would be easy to make that jump alone, but Danny had to do it while carrying Taylor in tow, reducing his leap height and length significantly. Seeing no other choice, he picked up Taylor again like before, and prepared his remaining stamina for this next leap.
By making it over the edge of the damaged rock wall, he and Taylor would both slide down to the other side, containing all sorts of secrets to whatever this island has to offer. With a short preparation, Danny backed up for some room to build momentum. This dash would destroy his ability to walk after it was over, and hurt like hell during his push off the stone, but it had to be done. Danny darted for the edge of the rock he was standing on. With Taylor clasped into his arms, Danny ran with solid acceleration, and made his hopeful leap right at the edge. Without even trying to calculate if it would be enough to make it, he already found himself landing somewhere unsteady and unstable. Danny ended up sliding down the wall just after zipping by the edges from the open crack, causing him to drop Taylor too.
He shifted his body in order to fall on his face purposefully, trying to catch Taylor and break her fall to the dirt, only partially successful. Naturally his skin scraped against the friction of the rougher ground beneath him, with some of the soil spattering into his teeth.
After ending the earth slide and picking himself up, it was a little surprising yet obvious now where he and Taylor were. The dirt on the ground that Danny had nearly swallowed was different than sand; it was rich soil. It was a no-brainer that there were going to be endless trees in front of him, supplied with apples or something that could be eaten.
Danny made sure Taylor was still okay first, checking her breathing like before, concerned for her slumber. The trees before him were large, but the grass was a little bit absent in comparison to the dirt mesh in the ground. In fact, the density and frequency of each tree wasn't all that high either, but still much more preferable to the outside walls. At least it was more nature-filled here than back there behind that crummy cliff.
Danny glanced back at the wall he jumped over with Taylor, and noticed that from this angle and position, it was impossible to get back over it even without having to carry Taylor around. The crack he used was elevated far up the slide from this position, thus inaccessible. So with no other idea in mind but to proceed forward in search of anything helpful in a survival situation, Danny walked upright with Taylor being carried in his tired arms.
Only now was he noticing the occasional sightings of birds and noises of mysterious bugs among the trees. If the animals and birds lived here, that proves there has to be food or water around somewhere. The night sky was still somehow dark like before, but not enough to completely obstruct the view of the trees. To a certain point however, Danny noticed that the reason he could not see as far away as he wanted to was partly the poor lighting saturation in the area.
Danny managed to proceed through the forest for as long as he could. The search for any food or water was not going well however. The darkness did its best to impede his visual range, while his sore legs became much more of a heavy nuisance. It still must be around six A.M. for it to be this dark without the sky being a perfect black color, and since he started walking, Danny predicted that about thirty more minutes had passed. It was a little unsettling to see that the brightness in the sky did not really change that much since then, but maybe his time prediction was way off.
Danny's legs were about to collapse under his extensive exercise, and carrying Taylor sure was not making things easier. She seemed so much lighter when he first picked her up and carried her, but now that his arms were getting tired...
Danny decided to stop moving completely after noticing that there appears to be no end to this scenery. It was like he had been walking in a complete circle again and again. There was a small boulder full of moss under him to the right, and what he claimed to be his next land mark now became a perfect resting spot. Danny was really tired, and thus decided to put Taylor down on the ground gently. After making sure once again that she was still alive, he decided to join her idea of a long needed nap.
While waiting a bit before laying down, Danny inspected his own legs, which had much more problems than exhaustion. They had to be injured up to some extent, after dropping about 100 feet off a rock wall and landing on them to the ground. Sand may be soft to touch, but it was not a bouncy elastic kind of material with so much of it combined. His landing put proof to the fact. Despite all of that pain in either leg, nothing seemed broken or dislocated. There were a few minor scrapes and major bruises, the sight before him too daunting for any lingering hope. However, he wouldn't be able to walk through the forest if he had broken either of his bones, or dislocated their joints. Who knows how bad his health is with no doctor to look at them?
Danny let himself lay limp besides Taylor on the soil, panning around his view for any signs of fruit or ponds. After having trekked for about 30 minutes and finding nothing, the fatigue and exhaustion intensified, his limbs more sore than ever, his eyes heavy as stone. Perhaps he has failed to save himself and Taylor after all. With his eyes drifting shut in shallow breath, Danny accepted this unsightly defeat.