Chapter 17
Hattie
Determinedly ignoring Keith’s stare, Hattie went about her morning routine – now modified for jungle living!
It started by using the bathroom behind the designated tree, then continued by cleaning her body as best she could without wasting their limited resources.
She didn’t want to get some kind of infection from having bacteria gathering in the creases of her body, or her scabbed cuts, but she also didn’t want to waste water when, already, they were out of the bottles that had survived the crash.
The rainforest was constantly wet, humid, and hot. As a result, she and Keith were sweating all the time – even at night. She was grateful for the packets of salt to keep their electrolytes up, but the rain and purifying drinking straw were their real stroke of luck.
After filling their water bottles and setting out the containers to catch more water when it rained again – she already heard the thunder – she grabbed a large leaf and retreated under the shade of their airplane shelter and fanned herself as she watched Keith walk around being sweaty and mad.
She didn’t know what about, but she also found she didn’t really care. If he wanted to make himself tired by being out in the heat and humidity, that was his problem.
She relaxed back in their single chair, fanned herself at her leisure, and waited for Tuvo or rescue to come. She wasn’t all that chuffed about which one came first, honestly.
Considering they crashed landed in the middle of the , this really wasn’t too bad. She had expected some sort of harrowing ordeal of slowly approaching death and dismay, but all in all, this was actually kind of…
Boring.
There was no other word for it. There was nothing for them to do but wait. She couldn’t cook until Tuvo brought back his hunt. Aside from filling their water bottles and tending to her wounds, she couldn’t think of anything that needed doing desperately.
So, she just sat and fanned herself and kind of dozed as she waited for the daily rain.
At least, until Keith came stomping into their shelter.
“Still no fucking signal and now the damn phone is fucking dead,” he snapped like that was her fault somehow as he threw her phone onto the counter.
And Hattie probably would have been hurt or unhappy about his tone and actions yesterday but seeing them today in the light of her epiphany, she was numb to it.
What did it matter if the phone was busted?
Or if he was mad? Their situation wasn’t going to change because of it and getting upset would only offer him a target.
“We just have to wait, I guess,” she said.
“I’m sick of fucking waiting! Shouldn’t we be doing something?!”
“Like what?”
“Like… I don’t know!” He threw up his hands in frustration. “Trying to find our way out of here or something!?”
“We don’t know where to go. We don’t even know where we are. We’d likely just end up lost in the jungle and maybe in an even worse position than we are now. It’s best if we stay near the crash and wait for rescue.”
“For how long, huh? Do we just wait here until we die?!”
“No. Just until they find us. Or, I guess, if enough days pass, we can talk about maybe finding our way out on our own. Theoretically, if we pick a direction, we’d end up somewhere eventually.
But that comes with a lot of risk. And we know that they’re going to be looking for us.
I’m sure Tuvo would keep us from walking in a circle or something, but it’s best to just stay here until a proper rescue party can find us. ”
Keith scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Oh, excuse me. Of course, if sainted Tuvo said it then we simply must obey!”
Hattie frowned, lowering her leaf fan. “What’s your problem?”
“Me?!” He looked at her as though shocked she had even asked. “Are you kidding me, Hats? He’s a fucking alien!”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“This is our home! Our planet! What right does he have to come down here and start telling us what we’re supposed to be doing and how?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were a survivalist expert. Please, Keith, tell me what your grand plan is for getting us out of here safely.”
He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. “There you go again, putting it all on me. Twisting my words around.”
She sighed. “Keith, please don’t start.”
“He started it!”
“What are you even trying to accomplish here?”
Keith scoffed, shaking his head and looking away from her as though disappointed she was so stupid as to not understand. But through the lens of her new understanding, she could see that he was just mad because he had no idea what else he could say.
He attacked her because he was feeling attacked. He tried to make her feel stupid because he felt helpless.
All the things he said to her were never about her, it was only ever about him. And knowing that made it so easy to let them roll off her back like the nothing they were.
“Did you let him fuck you?” Keith asked suddenly, surprising her.
She glared at him. “I hardly see how that’s your business.”
“You did, didn’t you?!”
“Keith, I will tell him about this conversation if you don’t stop.”
He smirked like he won something. “Of course, you will. Gonna sick your dog on me, Hats? Do it. I’d love to see the hell you and the others will have to pay if an alien draws human blood on human soil. We’d destroy them!”
“You’re delusional.” Hattie got to her feet, setting her fan aside. “They aren’t afraid of us. You know that, right? Their caution comes from a desire for peace, nothing else.”
“No, they don’t want to lose their honey tap.”
“Excuse me?”
“Honey. Tap.” He repeated the words with heavy enunciation. “You. And the other girls that were taken. They just want to fuck. That’s it.”
“Is that why you’re mad? Because Tuvo is interested in me?”
“Is it wrong for me to want to protect human women from abduction?”
“Now, you’re deliberately twisting your argument.”
“We don’t need aliens and their pity. We never did. We were fine on our own. Don’t you wish you weren’t abducted, Hattie?”
“No, I don’t.”
Her declaration ran gout between them, and she was surprised by how true it was.
She didn’t regret her abduction. It had been harrowing at the time. She had been terrified and there had been a time when she had genuinely been unsure if she would live or die.
But going to Turv was the best thing that ever happened to her.
She had a home there. A family of girls she wouldn’t trade for anything.
An alien brother who would kill for her – literally.
And, finally, a semi-reciprocated crush on a hot alien dude that fulfilled every size fantasy she’d ever had and a few that had only been born when she got to a different planet.
She did not regret her abduction. She didn’t regret a single thing that came from it.
And facing that with confidence and a smile only angered Keith more.
But she could honestly say, for the first time in too long, she did not care what someone else thought about the choices she made.
Hattie was happy. She was fulfilled with her life. She didn’t need his approval, or anyone else’s. Not even Tuvo’s. As much joy as he brought her, she knew that she was capable of being happy on her own without his approval.
But just because she didn’t need him didn’t mean she didn’t want him.
And she fully intended on convincing that big lug to put that big log inside her.
***
The next couple of days became rather routine. The boredom of waiting for rescue was ongoing – as unabated as the daily rains that continued to drench them unmercifully.
Hattie spent her days cleaning their little section of the plane – using a broom she made of leaves and a stick tied together to sweep out the insects that were constantly trying to invade their space.
In the afternoons, she would cook whatever food Tuvo brought for her.
There were edible roots and plantains and some varieties of fruits and mushrooms. Not everything he brought her was edible, but he didn’t know the difference, so he deferred to her expertise.
And if she wasn’t sure, they opted not to eat it at all, just in case.
They had a fire burning just outside the plane all through the day and night. Not just for cooking, warmth, and an attempt to keep away potential predators and bugs, but also for the smoke. They were trying to make enough of it to be seen over the canopy for any potential searchers.
Keith was in charge of the fire. He needed to do something.
Being completely helpless kept making him lash out and Tuvo finally set him the task out of frustration.
Hattie wasn’t sure if he should be trusted with that – not when she knew he had never learned to properly fill a dishwasher despite the multitude of attempts she had made to teach him.
But either Tuvo was a better teacher than her or maintaining a fire was a task much more suitable for a manly man like Keith, because he actually wasn’t bad at it.
He now spent his free time searching for things to burn. Smoky things for the majority of the day, and dried wood that wouldn’t smoke as badly for when she was cooking.
Bonus: it got him out of the plane for a while so she could actually relax when she was in there with her leaf fan after finishing her chores for the day.
It was boring, but it was stable, and she would much prefer that over constantly fighting for her life in the wild.
Soon, she was sure, they would be found. Tuvo told her that he had spotted an aircraft in the distance one day, no doubt scouring the trees for some sign of them. They had been far off on the horizon, but they were there.
All that was left was to be patient.
It was day five of jungle living and, deciding to work off some of her excess energy and maybe see if she could find anything useful, Hattie went for a walk around the crash site.