The Wisely Christ and Five Pretties

Hijacking

Christ didn't answer, but his hand gestures changed. His fingers spread apart, asking Clarissa to stay put.

The rustling of the leaves roused Clarissa from her exaggeratedly poor judgment of Christ. But her guilt was clouded with fear and tension as Christ took a step closer to the thicket of bushes and trees.

Christ gripped his belt tightly, ready to be whipped out if a wild animal suddenly and unexpectedly arrived. His eyes stared intently ahead, searching for the source of the rustling leaves that were still faintly audible. It was as if something had approached earlier and suddenly moved away quickly.

Clarissa's hands were covered in cold sweat from fear. She hissed softly, calling out to Christ to stay put.

"I think it's just a stray cat, Christ. It's getting farther away. That means it's afraid of you."

Christ reluctantly shifted his attention. His eyes still searched every crevice of the trees, trying to find something that might provide an answer. Nothing. There was nothing to be seen. Just dark and eerie.

Christ turned around and helped Clarissa to sit back on the tree trunk. He also grabbed the first aid kit box that was lying not far from them.

"Stay seated here. I'll look for some painkillers. You have quite a few wounds. What happened?"

Christ's hands watched carefully. Some medicines did not seem to match the label on the bottle. Luckily, there was one package of medicine that was still sealed so that the contents could be confirmed.

"Drink this."

"I haven't eaten yet, Christ. At least gimme some bread. I know you found a lot of bread."

Christ sat back, taking out a few packaged breads from a pants pocket that could hold a lot of stuff. But when Clarissa was about to snatch them, Christ refused and put them back.

"We'll never know when help is coming, Ms. Clarissa. It would be best if we conserve our supplies. Eat little and drink as much as possible. That way, we will survive even if we have to wait for the next two weeks."

Clarissa laughed sadly. Resignedly, she downed the painkillers while glancing at the tail of the plane that was still above the trees.

"When my wounds heal, I will go alone to get mine."

"Tell me, Ms. Clarissa. What happened?"

Christ looked at each of the wounds on his manager's legs and hands. Some wounds looked fresh with blood flowing even though they had been cleaned.

"What the heck? You fell asleep on the plane? All the way? Oh, my goddess!"

Christ nodded. His unstoppable fatigue made him sleepy faster. In fact, he had just sat down in the passenger seat when his drowsiness set in. From then on, he was completely asleep, despite the sounds of screaming and afraid.

Clarissa told him everything with a terrified look on her face. Three of the 42 passengers on flight 189 were terrorists. They all sat in business class. One of them sat next to her, with a simple old man.

Twenty minutes after takeoff, the man sitting next to her stood up to go to the toilet. The other one was flirting with one of the crew members on duty. But suddenly, the man who was flirting with the crew stabbed a switchblade repeatedly, then pulled the cockpit lock and immediately opened the cockpit door.

Another man immediately pointed a gun at the old man next to her and took Clarissa away to be held hostage. Meanwhile, the man who went to the restroom earlier soon came out with more firearms wrapped around his belt, a pistol in his left hand and a folding knife in his right.

The two went to economy class with Clarissa, asked everyone to move to the back, and tried to search every passenger's luggage in the cabin.

At that moment, the plane was shaking and rocking. It was most likely because of a hijacker who entered the cockpit area trying to take over. The hijacker's grip on Clarissa slipped, allowing Clarissa to break free.

However, another man hijacker who was aware stabbed Clarissa repeatedly in different parts of her body because of the shaking. Meanwhile, the other hijackers went back to rummaging through some bags stored in the cabin.

From the direction of the cockpit, the first hijacker came and whispered softly before they finally noticed the situation outside the plane. At that moment, Clarissa realized the plane was diving until she rolled over and hit the partition.

"I just found out that your ticket is privileged. Any road, I'm sorry for what you're going through. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you at the time."

"No, I don't. I get an economy class too. But I bought an extra ticket for my convenience." Clarissa turned to Christ, who looked sincere. He smiled kindly even though each of his wounds still left pain and anguish.

"You sat in the very back seat. And stayed asleep even though your body fell off the seat. Miraculously, I came up with an idea to protect my body from the impact. By lying between the passenger seats. Thank you for that. And for the current one. But if I may ask, did you take any medication before takeoff? I mean, like motion sickness pills or something? You're not on drugs, are you?"

"Are you kidding me?" asked Christ out loud. He even looked at Clarissa, who was now confused by his calm demeanor in every situation.

"At Fayriott, there's a random medical examination every six months. How could I trick them into working there for so long time if I was taking drugs? Weren't you one of the influential people who proposed this policy? Why are you questioning something that doesn't match your beliefs? Besides, if I really did take drugs, how could I tell you if you were my boss, right?"

Instead of feeling tense, scared, or laughing, Christ spoke the questions over loud. His demeanor was friendly, cool, yet firm and authoritative.

Seeing Christ's expression, which she had never noticed before, Clarissa was momentarily stunned. There were more questions when she saw Christ's skillful defense after being bullied in such a way. Undeniably, even though Christ was five years older, Clarissa saw a faint smile that held less than half of her heart captive.

"Then what medicine are you taking? Are you sick?" asked Clarissa. Her flushed face immediately averted its gaze, hiding the turmoil inside her chest that was bursting with admiration.

"You know that I took Dom's place for the past few days. I'm just trying to maximize my rest hours. Now and then, I'll take a medium to high dose of sleeping pills so that my life and work can be properly synchronized."

Knowing more about Christ's other side made Clarissa feel even more stunted and inferior. She glanced at Christ, who was still sitting on his haunches before finally changing the subject.

"Don't you feel that this forest is much quieter than the darkness of the night, Christ? I was trying to get out on my own earlier because I didn't see anyone moving among the debris. But no matter how far I go, I always come back here."

Christ twisted his head. His eyes stared intently as if he was remembering something. "You were just spinning around?"

Clarissa's nod made Christ think hard, too. He got up, then moved towards the wreckage of the cockpit section of the plane that had previously fallen from the trees where he stood. Although he struggled to shake off the bloodied wreckage, Christ finally find what he was looking for in terms of direction.

Christ tapped the classic compass he found. Also, a map of the state of the superpower he held in his hand.

"What do you want with that?"

Without answering, Christ sat back down and showed Clarissa the map. He pointed at the State of New Jersey and then pointed his finger at Miami, a tourist destination that was held as a reward for the most loyal employees.

"There are many forests that we pass through, right? But all of them are in the center of the city. At least, in a short while, they will arrive with help. Moreover, the trees here are much more lush than most forests I've encountered before."

Clarissa walked slowly, then pointed out the shorter sea route. "Hey, come on. Airplanes are created with great care and utility. How could an airplane be designed to fly over land? It would be more effective to fly over the sea if there is a sea route. Besides, if there's something dangerous, it's better for the pilot to land the plane at sea because it's less risky. But there are no other islands except the Bahamas near Miami. Considering the time taken after takeoff, I don't think we'll reach at least the coastline."

"That's right. And this is what worries me even more. How are we going to get home or at least call for help if we don't know where exactly we are?"

Despite admitting to being worried, Christ still looked calm and resolute. His eyes were busy taking in every possibility on the map, while his hand moved the classic compass, whose needle never stopped turning.

"I think we found a new, undiscovered island. An uninhabited island. Not even the compass knows the way, Christ. Oh s**t! How are we going to save ourselves now?"

Christ closed the found map, then went back to trying to find the best direction with the compass that was presumably malfunctioning.

"The compass is old. It won't be able to indicate anything until it repairs the magnetic field."

Christ got up and moved after picking up a small stick in the nearby area. Looking up and covering his eyes with his hands, he tried to find the best opening to show one of nature's cardinal points.

"Where are you going? Don't leave me, please."

Christ was reluctant to answer. He headed towards the center among the scattered debris. He stuck a small stick he found on the wet ground. Then he glanced at Clarissa, who had changed from an arrogant woman to a spoiled, dependent woman.

"Now you're asking me to stay by your side after accusing me of being a pervert three times? You are an unpredictable woman."

Clarissa's face was red as a tomato as she looked down, avoiding Christ's gaze in the distance.

"I won't leave without you. I'll just look for directions. That way, we can know where to go afterwards."

The sun was shining brightly enough to cast a shadow right from the side. While waiting for the sun to move, Christ grabbed the map, flipping it over to reveal a clean sheet of paper with no scribbles. Quickly, he drew some airplane dizziness to create a new map to get directions as he tried to explore.

Looking at Christ's serious drawing, Clarissa admired him even more. Moreover, there was no hint of panic, even though there was nothing to look forward to after being trapped in the middle of the forest.

Christ got up and turned around to approach Clarissa. He showed her the drawing he could make, although it was not good enough to be called a map.

"Can't you tell me? You got into the forest, didn't you? From where? Walked to where? And where did you get to?"

Clarissa looked at the simple map Christ had made, then pointed out a few points from her memory.

"I believe I went from here. Then turned right, then left. After that, I drenched my whole body there. But when I heard your voice and your movement, I ran and turned right. Suddenly, I was back and met you here."

Realizing something was not right, Christ thought hard. "Shouldn't you be going further away because you always take the opposite direction? How could you possibly come back after running so far?"

Suddenly, Christ and Clarissa both glared in surprise as they heard the rapid footsteps approaching. Christ got up in an alert position to take care of Clarissa, whose leg was injured. His hands immediately grabbed his belt, wrapping it repeatedly around his hands.

Christ's breathing was heavy as the rustling of leaves drew nearer. He glanced at Clarissa, who had retreated only an inch.

"Back off now! Get away from here as fast as you can!"

Clarissa was in a hurry. Her footsteps limped through the wreckage of the plane and the many fallen trees. But she stopped when she saw Christ still frozen in place. "Christ, come on! Why are you still there?"

"Someone has to stop whatever it is, Clarissa! Leave now before the beast comes for us! Now!"