“Ty?” I whispered. “What should I do?”

“Baby, it’s going to be okay,” he said. “Do you believe me?”

“Ty, I am so scared,” I said as quietly as I could.

“Listen to me,” Ty said calmly. “Look on the dashboard of the plane where the emblem of the Sky Pilot is—the one with the pilot parachuting over the mountains—there’s a metal circle that surrounds it, like a logo, can you find that?”

“Yes,” I said as I shakily moved my hand along the dash, it was pitch black and I didn’t want to risk making any movements that would get me noticed. There had been no action from the entire camp for the last hour or so but I couldn’t be sure that the plane wasn’t being watched.

“Great,” said Ty. “Now try to turn the circle clockwise. Can you do that?”

“Got it,” I whispered as I felt the metal circle surrounding the Sky Pilot logo easily click down and turn to the right.

“Perfect,” said Ty. “Now run your hand a little further to the left and you’ll feel a little button. Press it. Lizzy, you have to make sure you press that button firmly, okay? A small compartment will open up, like the glove compartment in a car. Be careful though, there might be a light that automatically comes on when you open that compartment. Use one hand to cover the light and the other hand to take out the compass and the gun.”

“The gun!?” I gasped. “Ty, no, I can’t. I’ve never—”

“Don’t worry,” Ty reassured me. “It’s called a flash thunder gun. It blasts a huge amount of light and hurts like hell if you’re close range, but it’s not lethal.”

“Even still, why do I need a gun?!” I hissed. “I’ve never even held a gun! Who am I shooting?”

“Hopefully no one,” Ty responded. “I’m sorry, I know this isn’t ideal. But it’s for your protection.”

(I thought of the countless people who come into my ER every year because they had a gun ‘for protection’.)

Not the time to split hairs, Lizzy!

Just take the gun, tighten your ponytail, and handle it.

This will all be over soon.

“You okay?” Ty asked.

“I’m okay,” I said, still shaky as hell.

“Good, now make sure you have a jacket on, it’s freezing and you’ve got to walk for about an hour. Put the walkie-talkie and the compass in your pocket and, baby, here’s the hard part, grab the gun and get out of the plane as slowly and as quietly as you can. The release latch for the door is on the pilot’s side, somewhere down to the left. You’ll have to feel around for it, but stay quiet.”

Panic began to set in. I felt my cheeks redden once again as tears started to stream silently, “Ty, I can’t do this, can’t you just come to me? I will wait for you, I promise I’ll be quiet.”

Ty said softly, “I am already on my way to you, I’ve been walking this whole time, okay? I am almost halfway there, maybe more, I promise Lizzy, I am coming to get you.”

It made me feel a little bit better to know that Ty was on his way, but I still had to get out of this plane; a thought that was terrifying beyond words. I looked around and tried to take in my surroundings—an action that was practically pointless considering how dark it was—and I let out a big exhalation and counted down from ten.

It was what I used to do in the ER admitting room when I first started. Occasionally, I felt overwhelmed by the amount of trauma facing me and sometimes there would be so many injured people I just wouldn’t know where to start. Taking a big breath in and letting it go slowly as I counted down from ten, even though it was forced, always seemed to help.

Let’s go Lizzy, it’s now of never.

I started to move as slowly and as silently as I could towards the front of the plane all the while, hyper-aware that someone might be watching me, or even worse, planning to attack me the second I opened the door.

Breathe…

In a matter of moments, I found myself sitting in the pilot’s seat, where The Captain had been just an hour ago, with my hand on the release latch ready to pop the door open. It was easy enough to do, but I suddenly felt myself freeze.

Just breathe.

Just like at the hospital.

It’s going to be okay.

It has to be.

“Just pull the latch, Lizzy,” Ty whispered, sensing my hesitation. “Have you ever heard the saying, slow is smooth, smooth is fast?”

“The Captain said it,” I whispered, “and it sounds ridiculous. It makes no sense!”

This time Ty laughed a little, “there’s my feisty girl. It means slow and steady. No hasty movements. Just stay calm and move smoothly. That way, you’ll actually end up moving faster. Okay?”

“Okay,” I gave in. There was no sense putting up a fight. I had to get out of this plane. It had to be done. So I might as well get it over with.

“I know you can do it,” Ty said. “I am not far from you, I’ll be there soon, this will all be over and you’ll be safe in my arms.”

“Promise?” I asked as quietly as I could.

“I promise. Now listen baby, I need you to really listen to this part,” Ty said, a deeper level of seriousness in his tone, “I’m going to keep talking to you in your ear piece, but I don’t want you to talk back. There might be rebels, or even wild animals, in the jungle and you have to stay quiet, okay? Can you do that for me?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Good, okay, feisty girl, let’s do this.”

I readjusted my coat, pulled the collar up around my neck, and made sure I had the compass in one pocket and the walkie-talkie unit in the other. I pressed the ear piece one more time, confirming it was snug and wouldn’t move. I put the gun in my right hand and I pulled the lever to release the pilot’s door with my left.

All at once a whoosh of cold night air filled the cabin; I was immediately chilled but I didn’t stop moving. Slowly and with control, I held the release latch so as not to let the door swing open too wildly, and I put one foot out of the plane. I felt around for the ground but I was a little bit too high up, dammit, I’d have to jump.

Slowly and smoothly, I opened the door just a little more, edged my body out as far as I could, swung both feet over the ground, let go of the door and jumped down to the earth below.

Oh…

I get it…

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast…

I hit the ground with perfect precision and stayed crouched down for a moment, then, I slowly straightened up and gazed towards the sky. It was beautiful, there was no denying that. There seemed to be about ten times more stars than what I was used to, and they all twinkled brilliantly. I couldn’t help but take a moment to be in awe of how breathtaking it all was.

Shame, I thought, that my big adventure would probably end up being a forty-eight hour detour in this wild and foreign land. Of course I was terrified, but I had signed up to be here, after all, for three months. It was too bad that it would all be over before it began. I couldn’t imagine how (or where?) I would stay after all this blew over. Would there even be a Camp Zero to go back to? Could I volunteer for another mission? Despite my fear, I couldn’t deny that this world intrigued me: a world of beauty and danger, hot and cold, dark and light, I mean, the stars alone took my breath away. I couldn’t help but sigh a little sadly as the realization that I’d surely be shipped home on the next plane ride out washed over me. I readjusted my coat and stared once again towards the night sky.

I easily found the North Star, as Ty had instructed me to do, and pulled out the compass, ready to walk north-west towards him. As quietly as I could, I began my trek towards Ty. I took small steps and paused every so often, to make sure there wasn’t anything, or anyone, around me.

“You’re doing great,” Ty said in my ear piece.

It took everything I had not to respond to him but I knew I couldn’t, it was simply too risky. So, I continued to walk, as slowly and as silently as I could, towards my love, all the while breathing in the cold but beautiful desert night air. Every two minutes or so, Ty’s voice spoke softly in my ear, “I’m almost there, baby, keep going, you got this.” It was his voice that kept me going. It was the other voice that stopped me.

“Can I help you, pretty girl?” I whipped around the see the fat man—the one The Captain had called the Orphan Maker—standing not five feet from me.