Where No Tourist Has Gone Before - Part 1

[Aiko]

Here's the first part of a new story. I'm trying something a little different here, as you can see from the poll. You get to choose what the main character does, and I continue the story based on whichever option has the most votes. Please note that some choices might lead to a premature end, so choose wisely.

Where No Tourist Has Gone Before - Part 1

Rhonda Collins had wanted to travel and see a bit of the world before she would get a job and settle down. So right after graduation from university the girl from South Dakota went on a trip to see the continent that had always fascinated her most: Africa. Something about the wilderness, the African tribes and origins of humanity had always intrigued her. Her parents were kind enough to pay the 2-month trip she had planned though they were greatly concerned about her safety. So far she had a great time, seen some incredible places like no other in the whole wide world, and encountered some interesting people and cultures. However when she was travelling through the country of Bansamibia, the people were not as welcoming as in other African nations. There was an odd tension in the air and everybody pretty much kept to themselves. By the time she found someone willing to explain what was going on, it was already almost too late. The fighting started within the same hour, with the Bansamibia Liberation Front - short BLF - attempting to overthrow the government and seize power. Most people did everything to stay out of the battles and were either fleeing the capital or barricading themselves in at home. Rhonda was one of those trying to get a flight out of the country. Her luggage had stayed in the hotel, but that could be replaced. She had her money, passport, camera and some water in a small backpack. The only clothes she had with her were those she was wearing at the time: hiking boots, khaki shorts, and a white tanktop that nicely contrasted her tanned skin, and a beige cap. When she arrived at the airport, large crowds were trying to squeeze onto the last planes scheduled to leave Bansamibia. By sheer luck Rhonda managed to find Mr. Jenkins, a British pilot of an old cargo plane, whom she could convince to give her a place on board. It was the kind of propeller plane Rhonda knew only from old movies. "Is this thing really safe?" she asked. Jenkins seemed a little offended and answered "This... 'thing' - as you call it - is my most valued property and rest assured, I take very good care of her. She is as good as new." Jenkins and his co-pilot were hurrying to get started - even more so when shots could be heard from the direction of the city. The airport security had a hard time keeping the crowd in line and the planes were quickly taking off in intervals of no more than a minute. Soon it was their turn and Rhonda felt relieved when they were up in the air. She occupied a spare seat directly behind the cockpit. From there she could see the cargo hold and all the crates stored in it, but she did not get to see much of the outside. The few windows small and spaced widely apart.

All of a sudden the plane rolled to the left. Rhonda could hear frantic voices from inside the cockpit, but she could not understand them through the closed cockpit door. As much as she would have liked to know the reason for this sudden maneuver, she thought it would probably be better to stay put with her seatbelt on for now. And she knew she was right about that when the plane suddenly made a turn the other way. A few seconds later there was a loud explosion at the right wing. Rhonda could see fire and a smoke outside the windows. The cockpit door flew open and Mr Jenkins shouted: "Stay seated! We've been hit. We've got to bring her down." - "Hit by what?" - "A missile." She had a hard time believing this was really happening to her. She also wondered why anyone would shoot a civilian cargo plane. It was a rough ride and the pilots obviously had trouble keeping the plane steady. Rhonda did not know know to do. In fact all she could do was to stay seated and hope they would land in one piece. After what seemed like an eternity Jenkins finally called "Brace for impact!" At first there were some cracking noises as the plane cut through some light vegetation, then Rhonda heard a splashing sound and it felt like they had touched down on a water surface. She could feel them slowing down, but she could not see anything outside now, because the windows were sprayed with mud. Then there came some more shouts from the cockpit, only this time she could hear them clearly through the open door: "Slow her down! Stop her!" - "I'm trying. I'm tryi.." With a loud crash they came to a sudden halt. From somewhere in the cargo bay a crowbar came lose and almost hit Rhonda. Thankfully the crates were still secured safely as they might otherwise have crushed the girl. Then all was silent. Too silent. Rhonda undid the seatbelt and got up to peek into the cockpit. It was not a pretty sight. Apparently their sudden stop was due them hitting some trees, the sturdy branches of which had broken through the cockpit windows and impaled Mr Jenkins and the co-pilot. Both were already dead. Rhonda felt like she was about to throw up.

The plane had not ended up quite level. Its nose was pointing slightly upward and the angle seemed to increase. Rhonda noticed that the tail section was going down and there was the occasional muffled noise of air bubbles from the rear. As she looked to the rear she also saw that there was some dark, murky water oozing in. She wanted to get a look at the situation from the outside and so opened the only door. A mere few inches down from the lower edge of that door she saw some black muck which extended all the way to the plane's tail and on. Near its nose the ground looked more solid, but too far away to reach from here. At least a mile all around there was just swampland, and further in the distance the jungle extended as far as she could see. With a jolt the tail section went deeper again, but this time the whole plane was sliding backwards into the muck a little way. It occurred to Rhonda, that it might actually go under completely in this swamp, and she had better not be on it when that happened.

[Korv]

I'm going against the grain and voting she look for useful stuff before bailing, though something tells me that option's not gonna get too many votes.

[Viridian]

I like this idea! Funny, I was thinking of writing a story with almost the same premise. Back to square one for me!

[Aiko]

Thanks for the feedback so far. Keep voting everyone! In case it ends up in a draw, I will pick one of the winning choices at random (by using the chat's dice rolling feature).

I like this idea! Funny, I was thinking of writing a story with almost the same premise. Back to square one for me!

Sorry for "stealing" your idea.

Then again, Bansamibia is a big country enough country, and there's no reason someone else could not have a similar experience in it. And no, I'm not assuming you thought of the same fictional name for the place. Just saying you should not let this keep you from writing that story you had in mind.

[PM2K]

This is like one of those choose your own adventure stories... of which I approve!

[Aiko]

The poll is now closed and Rhonda is going for the leap. I thought she would be smarter than that, but apparently I overestimated her.

Thanks for the kind comments and participation. There's only one poll per thread, so I started a new one for the next part right here.

[Mwam]

Cool story!