CHAPTER 14 : RESCUED HOLES

Everything is dark...uncontrollable...

When she opens her eyes, Vianka found himself stands among the debris that were still burning in flames. The fire licked every parts of the wreckage greedily. She was shocked to find the pieces of human body was strewn around, also the smell of burning flesh that make her want to thrown up.

She remembered the gold bracelet hand as the hands of foreign woman behind her seat. She remembered the foot that bandaged with piece of cloth from pants material of the black and white's straps patterned as a leg of a fat man that sitting next to her chair. He also remembered the severed head that lies rigid in horror expression as a face of Yos, Vice Chief of Executive Editors of CHANNEL 3, and the man that want to introduce by Ucok to her.

Vianka screamed in terror and avoid that head. She remembered everything but she can't remember how she could end up in this place, especially after she felt a hard bumps when the plane avoiding thick cloud with rapid fall. That part is lost from her memory…

Suddenly she felt extremely pain in her lower. It comes from her legs that pinched under the remains chair, once used to be her seat, and had burnt. She pulled her legs, not suspecting inside connection that located at both were uprooted easily like a tree root which forcibly removes, making her howls.

No blood coming from both knees, probably because the fire has ripping it so the blood had flow no more. The whole body of Vianke trembles, she couldn't hold back the tears due to the incredible pain which she felt. That pain made her rolled in madness, moving here and there, as with so the pain will disappear.

Her consciousness is back when she saw the flames became larger on her left. The fire seems to found its appetite back to swallows the whole part on the inner side of the plane, which throwing up after the plane was crashed. Surely, those parts that contain chairs, made of fabric, and fiber wall are better targets than the outsides that more retains to fire.

She moved away from that place right away. Her sight swept around and had found that she was surrounded by corpse and severed bodies, which similar as she saw when she woke up firstly, everywhere. Scatter in pathetic way. Most of them are burning, same like what happened to her legs.

By using her elbows to crawl, Vianka forced herself to move while the crackle sound of a fire is going nuts behind her. Though she began to feel numb from her elbows, caused by the torture of bleeding due to the friction from the ground, she tried so hard to get out of the reach of the fire that already spread. Keep moving Vianka…she said to herself…as far as you can…

She keeps crawling until she felt her elbows are no longer able to move. She staggered and rolls her body into the bushes within twenty meters range from the wreckage. The bush holds her body like a soft bed. Make her back in sleep of tiredness and swoon in peace. Leaving all the pain that bites her legs and the burning smell that coming from the plane's remains and some trees that stands to close to it.

Only God knows how long she was unconscious...

Obviously she wakes up in sudden when she heard the roars. The distance of that beast maybe about two kilometers away from her, but the loudness that was so clear made her reluctant to speculate. That's a tiger for sure. The beast might have found the location of the crash and after the flames extinct it will look out to see whether there are still remains that could be eaten. Anything could happen in this forest and Vianka would not let herself becoming a snack for hungry animal, especially when she's still alive.

She rolled over to get the position on her face down and started to creep back once again. The tiger might be already sniff the carcass and the burning meat of the plane victims, it barely waste the food that was served in front of his eyes, and will swarming her like flies that swarmed a new trash pile.

Therefore, Vianka doesn't want to stands near the crash site. The tiger probably chooses fresh meat rather than a dead one which already charred also.

Vianka encouraged herself to step away at once...move forward...ignoring the slap from stick of low bushes or the prick of the torn reeds when she pass through. Scratches or thorns punctured on his face and arm only regarded as a mosquito's bite when recalling how her leg has gone. She crept further than the first one because her strength has returned from short break. Even so, she felt that the distance she had taken was nothing. It's taking her time too long. This forest is so vast. She might able to go far than this if she's got both feet of hers.

Stepping with an elbows resting on the way and uses belly on the ground as a shifted in order to move make her like a giant snake. The girl was hoping that she did not meet any snake during her moves to penetrate the bushes. It's really not funny, while she crawl like these, suddenly there's a cobra with muscular spoon head that stands in front of her, ready to attack. She didn't notice when the sharp tip of some branch tore a piece of her tattered uniform.

Keep forward…keep forward…move on…

That word continues to echoes inside her head…moreover the roar was louder than before. That beast must have been at the crash scene and looked at the scattered flesh of those poor humans like cat that staring at floundering fish when the river has dried up in the summer. She had to find some place safer than this field. Although the trees that surrounds this place are tight but it's not good enough to protect her from tiger's attack. Although the bushes are quite dense to covers her but it's not good enough to hide her from the sniff of the predator.

Either due to the increasing sensitivity or the wind that sending a movement sound, Vianka heard some loud thud of four feet that tracing in turn…a pair of front legs and then its behind…back to its front then the other…and so on. It's hunting down to where she was. The tiger came here. Just as what she frightens of, that beast might sense fresh meat that was more delicious than the carcasses.

Panic and feared...like the tiger that can smell its prey, Vianka also could smell the danger ahead. She swung her elbow faster but the efforts would be useless if the tiger catch her first. With condition like these, it's impossible for her to flee from the wild predators that are in prime condition....in shape, savage, and hungry...

On that frustrating moment, Vianka feel the wind rustling the leaves from someplace up ahead; it was on position at eleven o'clock from her now. She saw the foliage moving to the insides, as if it's telling her to look what's on below. Vianka crawls to get closer. She jumped with excitement finding the hidden hole behind the bushes. The girl didn't know how deep the burrow is, but she still excited to see that the width of the pit lips is narrower than the tiger's height. So it's impossible for the creature to get in. This tunnel is fit as a shelter for her if the beast smells her existence.

To get into the tunnel is easy thing for her. Thanks God she was still in ideal proportion, although the gap from her elbow's fulcrum is little bit tight due to the narrowness of the tunnel, but at least she still had some space to move her elbows in order to go deeper to the underground. Suddenly she hears its growl. That beast was stands on the head of this burrow. Tries to slide its head into and look inside. And then, his roar reverberated like a thunder that strikes on a broad daylight to all direction.

The creature not only shock Vianka by its incredible voice, but also makes her afraid when she felt her jeans is hooks on something, it was sharp and strong, and it begins to drag her inch by inch. That tiger, that apparently bites her jean's pipe trying to make her out from this rescue hole. The girl fought in panic, tried to find some grip in order to hold her position. It's about luck when she found the tree roots that grew downward the burrow.

She holds the root very tight, doesn't care for the pain of the blood that squished from her torn wrist skin while she tries to withstand the pulled from the creature's power outside. The drawing might have been resisted if her jeans were intact and in a good condition. Fortunately, her jeans also burned when her legs was caught by fire, and that's make the up flames cloth can't stays long inside the tiger's fangs, it ripped, and torn apart.

The monster on the outside was overthrown backward by his own power while Vianka also pushes due to the reverse energy. Getting loose, the girl goes deeper into the burrow as far as she can. In the darkness she saw the tawny eyes looked angrily at her on the entrance burrow...

***

"That tiger waiting for me for almost two hours long…restless… curious because he knew that he almost got me if he didn't late for a few second. I can feel its move back and forth in front of the burrow until I can hear the footsteps no more that day."

"Did he give up?" Lev asked in wonder.

"Apparently not ! A few days later he came back. And he's not alone. I think he brought his friends because I hear so many footsteps."

"You don't think it might be SAR team who come down to looking at a crash site?"

"Under my circumstances that filled with terror…alone…I'm not considering about it. Positive assumption only makes me unaware. If that's the SAR, it's good. But if is not? My story isn't much different from other victims. I believe he's waiting for my time to come out, besides I have to seek for food, have I?"

"Yup! It's probably the right action," Lev said."Then how do you eat or drink?"

"I really lost my appetite since I see the scattered victims. Sometimes hunger was killing me but I fight it. If I can't stand it then I have no other option to eat anything in that pit …"

"What's in there, anyway?"

Vianka laughing, "There are many, silly! Did you know crickets and grasshoppers were good to become meals?"

Lev frowned, "Grouch…did you really eat that?"

"It's not tasty for the first time…really! I had fever for the first three days and I think that thing was poisonous. But after the second day the fever is gone and I recovered, with shame I had to admit it's not because the animals that I've eat. It's my body which doesn't have some immune that can't handle the craziness condition in realm."

"Or it might be your bodies just start to make antibodies."

Vianka grinned, "Survival's game, Lev! On TV you see people were ordered to eat much worse animals such a worm or wood maggot."

Lev frowned deeply. Not wanting to imagine himself eating all the animals that mentioned by his sibling. One thing for sure, he's not going to do such horrible thing…not in a million years…unless he, himself, falls from some destroyed aircraft and had to live in a small hole in order to survive. But that options maybe better than lizards, frogs, or snakes.

"No wonder you're getting thin."

"Don't mock me."

"Only admire your better looks right now," Lev teasing.

Vianka laughed at loud, almost hysterically, "I'll suggested women in Jakarta to get Sukhoi's flight package if they want to lose their weight."

"Perhaps you should. What about water then? How can you get the water?"

"When it rains, the water seeps into the ground through the pores of plant roots that grow insides. It gives me the droplets of fresh water that can be taken."

Lev yawned, "I can't imagine the life that you've been through for the past month. It must be hard."

"Lucky I survive so I can enjoy corned beef and drink coconut for dinner."

"Yup, it must be better than crickets and waters from the roots," said Lev with laughed then started to yawn again. "My dear, I still wanted to hear your story but so sorry…this sleepiness is really hard to resist."

Vianka smiled and nod, "You do need sleep. Maybe it's time for me to keep watch."

"Thanks ..." Lev lays his head on the ground and dissolves in sleep deeply...