Where No Tourist Has Gone Before (quagmire_uk, 3 Parts up)

[Aiko]

Old story, new variation. This time quagmire_uk makes the choices for Rhonda. Part 1 remains the same as before (except for some minor corrections), so if you already read it, you might just as well scroll down to part 2 and resume from there.

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 onboard. 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 were 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 what 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.

* Use the crowbar to open some crates and look for useful things inside

Where No Tourist Has Gone Before - Part 2

Her instincts told Rhonda to get out and away from the sinking plane as quickly as she could, and yet it did not seem wise to simply take her chances with the dark muck outside. The plane was not sinking too quickly either, so she figured that there should still be some time to look around and come up with a better plan. She had been curious about these crates for a while now, and this was probably her last opportunity to take a look inside. Of course the chances that there would be anything in there that was of actual use in her current situation were close to zero, but curiosity paired with a crowbar just waiting to be used got the better of her. Prying open one of the crates with a crowbar proved to be harder than she expected. But she did not let the noise of bubbles from the back of the cargo hold distract her, and soon it was open.

She had expected to find just about anything but this. Guns. Several rifles and submachine guns were in there. She opened another crate - faster than the first one now that she had some practise. Mr Jenkins had seemed like such a nice and gentle person. She would never have believed him to be involved with arms trade, and yet here was another crate filled with ammunition. This discovery also brought up some interesting questions. Why had Jenkins not sold these guns in Bansamibia where the demand would obviously be highest right now? And there was also the matter of the missile that had hit them. Somehow she could no longer believe they had been shot down by accident. A sudden shift downward and a gurgling noise brought her attention back to more urgent matters. Quickly Rhonda stashed an Uzi and some ammo in her backpack. After all she was alone and might have defend herself out there in the wilderness, assuming she ever made it that far. Already murky water was coming in through the door and flowing to the back of the plane where it joined the liquid that was also oozing in. She knew she had no more time to waste. The interior was about to be filled up at a much quicker pace with more and more swamp water and muck getting in through the door as the plane sank deeper.

What should Rhonda do now?

- Jump towards solid ground from the door
- Climb onto the plane from the door and get to safety from there
- Get into the muck carefully and wade towards solid ground
- Climb out through the broken cockpit window
- Close the door

Take your pick, quagmire_uk.

[quagmire_uk]

Hello! I unexpextedly had to go abroad for a couple of weeks, on my return I am now browsing through four pages of "new posts" on this forum, heh.

Was absolutely delighted to see this, and that my choice seems to have been a good one.

Are you sure you want only me choosing though? Or would you like to open it to a public vote like the original story?

[Aiko]

Hello! I unexpextedly had to go abroad for a couple of weeks, on my return I am now browsing through four pages of "new posts" on this forum, heh.

Was absolutely delighted to see this, and that my choice seems to have been a good one.

Are you sure you want only me choosing though? Or would you like to open it to a public vote like the original story?

This one's all yours. Of course you are free to include others in the decision making process if you like, but in the end I'll continue it based on what you say.

Glad you like it so far. But really what good is a gun against a quagmire?

[quagmire_uk]

Glad you like it so far. But really what good is a gun against a quagmire?

Die! Die you dirty quagmire! *BANG BANG BANG*

(Or since it's an uzi, *RATATATATAT*. Heh.)

Somehow, my amazing powers of precognition lead me to think she may encounter some unpleasant characters!

Hmm, I'm gonna go with "Climb out through the broken cockpit window."

(Here's hoping she does it carefully. "She cuts herself on the broken glass. It is a major artery. Her adventure is over." Argh!)

[YerK]

Heh. Have her loot as much as she can from the plane, as it's all the more useful to weigh her down when crossing any mud.

[quagmire_uk]

Well we already had her suffer one unfortunate demise in the previous version of the story. And last time everyone was pretty much voting for the worst possible outcomes, heh. So this time I'm trying to do good choices that give her a chance - I still imagine bad things will happen to her, but I'm not going to load the dice against her!

[Aiko]

Well we already had her suffer one unfortunate demise in the previous version of the story. And last time everyone was pretty much voting for the worst possible outcomes, heh. So this time I'm trying to do good choices that give her a chance - I still imagine bad things will happen to her, but I'm not going to load the dice against her!

I'm sure Rhonda would appreciate that. And it makes me even more curious what your next choice will be...

[Aiko]

Where No Tourist Has Gone Before - Part 3

Rhonda retreated into the cockpit. The branches had retracted somewhat with the plane slowly sliding back into the muck, but they were still protruding in through the windows and blocking her escape route. Their tips were also dripping with blood. Rhonda tried not to look at the dead bodies and instead concentrated on getting out. She tried to move those branches and find a way to squeeze past. The cockpit windows were rather small to begin with and with all the branches and twigs in the way, she had no hope of getting past. Then she glanced back into the cargo hold, or rather down into it - the plane's nose was now at a steeper angle than before. The mud had already filled up a good part of the plane and there was still more flowing in from the outside. She figured she would have no chance getting out that way either by now. Panic was starting to set in on her. She felt like a trapped animal that was about to drown in its cage. Only then it occurred to her, that as long as those branches were still protruding into the cockpit, at least the cockpit would remain suspended above the mud. Indeed even though the back of the plane kept filling up, the front remained dry. Rhonda thought that maybe those thick branches would keep the plane like this indefinitely.

She was about to give the radio a try when there came a cracking noise from the outside. Suddenly she fell down, along with the whole front section of the plane. It was too heavy for those branches after all. Muck was oozing in and Rhonda once more started to try and clear a way out through one of the windows. Finally she managed to remove one of the heavy broken branches and then climbed out onto the plane's nose. A glass shard cut her tank top right between her breasts, luckily she got out without any injury. Bubbles were popping up all around her. She wanted to jump to solid ground in front of the plane, but it was much too far. Instead she climbed up onto the tip of the plane's nose, trying hard not to slip and fall. Then she quickly took the leap upward and grabbed the part of the broken branch that was still attached to the tree. In the process she lost her cap, and for a moment she was tempted to try and catch it, but it was not really worth the risk. She looked down as it landed on the plane that was sinking farther and farther away from underneath her dangling feet. Not wanting to try her luck by literally hanging around above quicksand, Rhonda carefully climbed towards the trunk.

A minute later she was glad to once more feel solid ground underneath her feet. Rhonda had survived the crash miraculously unharmed, except for a new hole in her white cotten top. The only thing she had lost to the bog was her cap. Well, that and her flight to Morocco. In exchange she had gained an uzi. She thought about all the things she had gone through that day, and how her folks back home would not believe a word of it. Her camera was still working fine and she took pictures and even a video of the plane's cockpit as it went under. She may have become the survivor of a plane crash and of a dangerous bog encounter, but she was also still a tourist.

It was late in the afternoon. Rhonda once more scanned her surroundings and eventually decided on which way looked to be the safest and shortest out of this swamp. There were expanses of dark water and mud, with hillocks of various sizes on which the taller plants and trees grew in between. There was no way she could leave without wading through water and mud along the way. So for her safety she picked branch to use as a walking stick. Each time she crossed a muddy area she probed carefully ahead on every step. Often enough it proved to be deeper than it looked and she had to take a detour. She carefully made her way from one hillock to the next. At one time the mud reached her upper thighs and every step drained her strength. But eventually she made it. The ground became drier and the foliage thicker. She had left the swamp behind and come into the jungle, and now it occurred to her, that she felt no safer here than on any of those hillocks back in the swamp. The sun was colliding with the horizon, and Rhonda was thinking about how she should prepare for the night. She also thought about which way she was to go in the morning, but the girl had no idea where she was. She did not even know whether she was still in Bansamibia. Rhonda heard the faint noise of an engine in the distance and looked that way. Through the dense vegetation she caught glimpses of a car's headlights. It was some sort of off-road vehicle, and it was headed her way. She looked around and found the old overgrown trail on which it was cleaving its way through the jungle. She was not sure, as the vision was mostly blocked by leaves, but she thought there were three or maybe four men in the car wearing camouflage suits. If it had not been for the vehicle, she would not have spotted any of them in this environment. They on the other hand had apparently not noticed Rhonda so far.

What should Rhonda do?

- Call out and wave to the vehicle
- Hide and observe
- Hide, observe and keep the gun ready
- Hide and escape
- Assault them

[quagmire_uk]

I'm thinking Hide, observe and keep the gun ready

Since she's discovered she was in a plane full of guns, she fears illegal and dangerous shennanigans.

Of course, it could be someone that saw/heard the plane go down and has come to rescue survivors. (HAHAHA likely story!)

I'm so tempted to do "Assault them" just for kicks... I forsee either "She surprises them and guns them all down in seconds" or "They shoot back and Rhonda is killed!"

If this were a paper "Choose your own adventure story" I'd be picking all the most extreme options, but with my thumb in place so I could always turn back...