Getting Out Alive: The Autumn Veatch Story Read online

  Maybe it’ll just eat me, and we can get it over with.

  She dismissed the thought quickly, wishing she could take it back and not tempt fate. Being eaten alive by some wild creature was not how she wanted to leave this world.

  Whatever it was continued to sniff around and taunt her for the rest of the night. Mixed in with the distinct animal noises was something harder to describe. Whispers. Like a secret, hushed conversation heard from a distance, except that she could still hear it after plugging her ears. She must have nodded off at some point though, because she woke to the first blessed rays of sunshine on her face.

  Eager to get moving and away from this place, she forced her stiff legs to unfold and used the tree to help her stand. Her right hand throbbed. Huge blisters covered it, and she whimpered at the pain that picking up her clothes caused. Once she got her damp jeans and mud-filled shoes on, Autumn lurched toward where she hoped the river was.

  Wiping at her burning eyes with her left hand, she noticed an odd smell that had been trailing her since the day before. Mint. It was mixed in with the more subtle odor of pine needles and something else. Perhaps the rotting decay of the forest floor, or maybe it was the putrid flesh of her burned hand. Whatever it was, it didn’t belong there. Nature was supposed to smell fresh and clean…not like that thick, cloying stench. Wrinkling her nose at it, Autumn did her best to ignore it, her paranoia suggesting that it represented something sinister.

  It only took a few minutes to reach the river, and after a controlled slide, she fell back easily into the brain-numbing routine of the day before. Only this time, she started out already wet, cold, and hurting all over.

  She didn’t make it far before taking her first spill, the icy water swallowing her up, and spitting her back out a short distance downstream. Every time it happened, she had to painfully crawl to the shore and drag herself out. It was exhausting.

  After about an hour, it got to the point where she was having a hard time catching her breath. She had never been diagnosed with asthma, but had always suspected that she might have it. Cold was one of the triggers for the slight constriction of her airway, and she couldn’t stand the icy water any longer. When she saw two trees within easy reach, she made the decision to take a break.

  Stripping again, Autumn lay down in between the evergreens and did her best to get warm. Or…maybe getting warm wasn’t what she really wanted.

  “I’m going to die,” she said weakly at the empty forest. Maybe slipping off to sleep and succumbing to hypothermia wouldn’t be all that bad.

  “Please, just kill me! Make it fast,” she added, praying to a God she hadn’t spoken to in years, and wasn’t even sure existed. This caused her to pause, and she reflected on the things she’d done in her life, both good and bad. People that she wished she could talk to one more time, to make things right. Her boyfriend.

  Crying out, she begged for mercy. This couldn’t happen…not like this. She wanted to feel a warm bed again, to go sit in a field with Newton and watch the sun set. To feel a hug again. What would happen to her…if she did die? She didn’t know if there was a heaven.

  What if I just ceased to exist?

  This thought broke through the deep chill that had settled over her, and she pushed up on her forearms. What if no one found her body? If they did, what would it look like?

  “I don’t want to die out here alone,” she sobbed, in total despair. “Help me! Please, God, someone help me.”

  A small, brown animal that looked like a giant gerbil peeked its head up nearby, and silently observed her. Watching it, Autumn decided to call it a forest gerbil, and smiled slightly as it scurried across the opening, just a few feet away. In the silence caused by the break in her crying, she heard something out of place.

  “Is that a helicopter?” she gasped, nearly jumping to her feet. Spurred on by desperate hope, she propelled herself out of the space she thought would be her grave. But as soon as she walked to where there was a gap in the trees overhead, the sound was gone. Had it ever really been there?

  While disappointed, she’d managed to recapture the motivation needed to continue. She refused to die out here.

  4

  Sunday, July 12th

  Late afternoon

  The rest of the day turned into a blur of continuously crossing the river, which became deeper and swifter, and eventually lead to a large, twenty-foot waterfall. With no other options, Autumn had to pick her way down the rocks jutting out of it, adding to her cold and misery.

  It ended up being the first of two waterfalls, but shortly after, the stream spread out to create more of a marsh. While it was less treacherous, trudging through the waist-deep muck was almost as bad.

  She’d been forced to stop and rest several times already, her body quickly weakening. Thankfully, she drank some water while it was still flowing clean. Now, Autumn squinted at the lowering sun, dreading the possibility that it represented: spending another night out there.

  Humming, she continued to distract herself with a broad spectrum of songs. It was the only thing that had kept her from going insane. She’d made it through nearly the whole song list from the movie Happy Feet, and was currently making the smacking sounds from Prince’s song, Kiss.

  Looking up to mark her progress, she paused.

  Is that a trail?

  The woods seemed to hold its breath in the silence as she made her way toward the flattened area ahead. Although hopeful, Autumn was reserved. Multiple times that day, she had been excited by what she thought was a sign of people and civilization, only to discover it was a trick of light or her imagination.

  Sighing, she stepped out of the muck and onto something new: a sandbank. While relieved to finally reach level ground where she could walk on dry land, she couldn’t help but be frustrated that it wasn’t actually a trail.

  Covered in thick, stinky mud, the exhausted teen began searching for a place to settle in until morning. As much as she wanted to deny it, night was once again winning the battle, and she hoped to be asleep before experiencing its full effects.

  Preferring to have something at her back, Autumn selected a fallen log and then numbly went through the now familiar routine of stripping down and using her cardigan as a cover. At first, she was thankful for the soft, slightly warm padding that the sand provided. As the evening progressed though, it became clear that the location wasn’t a good choice. Sand fleas emerged, and she could feel them crawling all over and biting her. Afraid to move blindly through the dark woods, she stayed put, and awoke to discover that a rash and countless bug bites were added to her injuries.

  After taking stock of the multiple wounds, she longed to be the girl she was a mere forty-eight hours earlier. Everything had changed. While she wasn’t sure if life could ever be the same again, she was eager to get home and appreciate what she had. Autumn did what seemed impossible, and stood up.

  I didn’t know that moving could hurt so bad.

  Pushing herself, Autumn tried to ignore the pain. If she stopped moving, she’d never get out of there. No one would know what happened, or that her grandparents were dead.

  Thinking of them caused a fresh round of sobs to break through, and Autumn almost missed the sound of a plane flying nearby. Tripping through the sand, she peered up through the trees, but didn’t see anything.

  Are they looking for me? she questioned, hope swelling in her chest. Wiping at her eyes, she moved to the next clearing and looked skyward. Is it in the news? Are there search parties?

  Even though she couldn’t see the plane, she was certain one was there. It wasn’t like the helicopter or other things the day before, because this time it was obvious. Its engines faded away without any visual sign of it, but it was still encouraging.

  It took a while to get moving, but she made slow progress walking along the bank. The marsh recollected itself into more of a defined creek, but the terrain remained level, so that she wasn’t forced back into the water.

  Once she was able to
walk among the trees, she kept a close eye out for anything edible. She hadn’t been hungry the past two days, but she woke up that morning with a gnawing ache in her stomach. However, nothing seemed to come easy there, and the only visible food was berries that weren’t ripe enough to eat.

  Unsure of how much time was passing, Autumn moved forward in a daze, remembering random things from her past and muttering the same songs from the day before.

  When the sound of another plane approached, it barely broke through, jolting her to awareness. The tone was different. It was much closer. Pausing, the young girl watched in disbelief as the craft flew directly over! Screaming, waving her arms, Autumn willed the plane to turn around. They had to see her!

  Running, she fell and then painfully pushed herself back up, flailing her weak arms at the retreating rescue party. “Come back!” she screamed, her voice sounding surreal. “Come back!” she repeated, unable to accept that they were leaving her. But they were. They didn’t see her. Maybe no one would ever see her and she’d just slowly fade away like the plane.

  Staring down at her hands in the dirt, Autumn realized that she’d fallen again, but hadn’t gotten back up. What was the point?

  Rising to her knees, she tried to take a breath and found that it was getting more difficult again. In this vast space, it felt like the air was collapsing in on her, and she was slowly suffocating. She didn’t know where she was. No one did.

  Focusing on the deep ache in her right hand, the throbbing in her joints, and the raw burning wounds covering her body, she used it to prove to herself that she was still alive.

  She stumbled to her feet.

  “Just a little farther,” she called to the forest gerbil she’d seen darting in and out of the trees throughout the morning. “We’re going to make it.”

  This compelled her to dig deep into her memory for the songs from the movie, Over the Hedge. But she quickly gave up, deciding that she wasn’t that far gone…yet.

  Absently scanning the tree line for her furry friend, she noticed something that looked like a defined structure. Stopping, Autumn held a hand to shade her eyes. She had to be imagining things again. Just ahead, spanning the small river was a mystical-looking bridge made of logs. To either side of it, heading in opposite directions, was a well-defined, trampled down trail.

  “It can’t be real,” she whispered, moving cautiously towards it, afraid that it would disappear if she went too fast. Reaching out, she reverently touched the smooth wood, and when it didn’t fade away, sobbed with relief.

  5

  Monday, July 13th

  Around 12:30pm PST

  The bridge was real.

  The trail was real too, and after a brief debate (and hugging the logs,) Autumn decided to continue her downward descent and took the path to the left.

  It wound through the trees, painting a dreamlike, peaceful image that was in direct conflict to her current condition. Each step was more excruciating than the last, making this final trek feel like a test and rite of passage, having to prove that she was worthy of survival.

  Finally, Autumn staggered into the trailhead parking lot. Looking around in wonder, she still didn’t quite believe it was true. A large, wooden sign detailed the rules of the trail and she had to laugh at the name ‘Easy Pass Trail.’ There wasn’t anything easy about it!

  There was only one car parked in the lot, a small white sedan. Going to it, she found it empty, and decided to just wait for the owners to return, since she had no idea how far into the woods, or how remote the parking lot was. It didn’t take long though before the fear that they might not come back wiggled its way into her thoughts. They could be on a long hiking trip. Someone might have even parked this car at the far end of a really long trail, and they wouldn’t reach it for days.

  Driven by her dread of the night, Autumn left the trailhead and followed the road, figuring that since it was the only way in and out, she wasn’t likely to get lost. Fortunately, it turned out to be rather short, and met up with a large, well-used freeway.

  This has to be highway twenty! Autumn thought, while approaching the thick, white fog line marking the edge. That was the road her grandparents were navigating by, and she knew that there should be a lot of traffic on it in the summer, as it led to several popular vacation destinations.

  She made it! Choking around a sob of relief, Autumn resisted the temptation to just lie down right there. No one had seen her yet.

  When the first car rapidly approached from the west, she looked up hopefully. Her legs threatened to buckle, but she willed herself to stay upright. As the car came alongside her, she tentatively raised a dirty hand, and then watched in shock as it continued without even slowing down.

  They didn’t realize I need help, she scolded herself. Why didn’t I just flag them down?

  When the sound of the next car built, this time coming from the east, she was ready. Arms held high over her head, she shuffled right onto the white line and did her best to get their attention. But they didn’t stop. Confused, she stepped back from the retreating vehicle. The driver had looked right at her.

  Gazing down at her clothes, Autumn saw that she was a mess. She was covered in mud, and the parts of her skin that were still visible were battered with burns, cuts, and bruises. But couldn’t they tell that she was just a desperate, young girl?

  Moaning then, she did her best to rearrange the destroyed clothes and wipe the dirt from her face. This couldn’t be happening.

  More cars came into view, and in spite of her dramatic pleas, they each passed her by. When one of the occupants actually waved and smiled back, she lost it. Crying, almost hysterical, she jumped up and down, yelling at the smiling person, safe inside their car.

  “Why are you doing this?” she wailed, as even more vacationers turned a blind eye to the frantic teen. “Do you know what I’ve been through?” Another driver made eye contact, but after waving her off, sped away without even tapping their brakes.

  I’m going to die here.

  Taking a step back from the traffic and the people who refused to help, Autumn didn’t know what to do.

  After surviving a plane crash and two days alone in the woods, I’m going to die on the side of this freaking highway!

  Unable to stand the cold indifference any longer, she limped back down the road and into the parking lot. The white car was still there, and she stared at it for a bit, confused. A light rain began to fall, compelling her to seek shelter under the trailhead sign.

  Gathering her legs to her chest, it was hard not to feel defeated. Why would no one help her? Before she could try to answer her own question, Autumn saw a flash of red enter the parking area, her vision blurred by the rain, or maybe from her tears. It was another car.

  After coming to a stop, two men got out and they both looked in her direction. They obviously saw her, and they weren’t going away. In fact, they were coming towards her.

  “Oh God,” she breathed, painfully getting to her feet. Were they real? Or was she imagining this, still curled up in a fetal position back in-between the two trees?

  Longing more than ever to feel the hug of a loved one, Autumn Veatch took a step towards her rescuers. Crossing the small space that separated them, she remembered her grandparents, the wrecked plane, and the consuming fire. Fresh tears escaped, following the pathway of clean skin the previous ones created.

  She could see the obvious look of concern on the men’s faces then, and she knew that they wouldn’t leave her. She wouldn’t have to spend another night alone and afraid, her own fears and anxiety trying to envelope her.

  “I need help,” she finally managed to say to them, doing her best to appear strong. “I’m the only survivor of a plane crash.”

  The sound of her own voice admitting this finally drove home that this was real. All of it.

  She was getting out alive.

  The End

  Authors note:

  I want to thank Autumn Veatch for trusting me with her story. I
need to make it clear, that while I wrote this, it is her story. This experience was shared with me during a nearly three-hour long interview, and was written with as much accurate detail as possible. It’s been approved by Autumn and as such, she holds the copyright.

  I was impressed with this young lady before I even had the honor of meeting her. After hearing her story first-hand, I can’t express enough the strength and courage she has. Not only in what she endured during this harrowing experience, but also in how she handles the daily struggles of life. Autumn was very open with me in regards to her anxiety and related disorders. Like so many of us, she didn’t realize how strong she was, until faced with a life-or-death situation. She hopes that by reaching out, she might be able to encourage others to have faith in themselves and realize their full potential.

  We all have it within us to be survivors, whether it’s from a plane crash in the middle of one of the most rugged wildernesses in America, or from a daily fight with our own demons. There is always something worth fighting for: yourself.

  -Tara Ellis

  PICTURES

  2. The trailhead for Easy Pass Trail

  3. Autumn was treated for burns, dehydration, bruises, and abrasions.

  4. Autumn was quickly reunited with family and friends and got those hugs!

  If you enjoyed this short story, please consider leaving a review and checking out my full-length novels. You can find a completed, young adult trilogy, and an on-going middle grade mystery series here:

  http://www.amazon.com/Tara-Ellis/e/B00IVF1JQK