The lifeboat drifted along with pounding Pacific waves into the night. Ryan and Richard had stopped rowing once the yacht was a speck of fire burning in the darkening abyss. Jocelyn came round from her stupor after only minutes had passed. She was thankful for the dark for her face burned crimson at the thought that she had actually fainted. She had practically grown up around the water and was never one to fall ill to seasickness or any other sickness for that matter.
Jocelyn looked around the small craft and made out the figures of the rest of her shipmates. Jennifer was cuddled up to Richard’s side using his height to shield her from some of the bigger waves that were crashing over the rubbery side of the boat. Ryan had offered what shelter he could give to Tracy whose tracksuit was darkened by the splashing waves. Once he realized that Jocelyn had come to Ryan raised his other arm and made a come here gesture with his hand. Jocelyn hesitated for a second before taking his offer and cuddling up to the soggy, yet warm and comforting, body that was Ryan. Ryan gave her body a reassuring squeeze and did not loosen his grip even as he drifted to sleep to the steady rocking and swaying of the raft. Jocelyn couldn’t say that she minded as she let herself drift off once again.
With dawn breaking slowly on the horizon the five passengers of the lifeboat were deciding what course of action would result in the best outcome. Mainly their safe rescue and return to their own homes. Tracy was still distraught over the captain and wondered aloud what had happened to Aaron and Dick.
“I’m not going to lie to you all,” Ryan said once everyone had become alert. “Those pirates that attacked us did not choose us at random, someone on our boat told them where we would be. And I’m positive that that someone was Dick. As for Aaron I have no idea where he could have gotten off to, I warned him just the same as I warned you all.” He finished.
“So what are we going to do now?” Jennifer asked, the tension in her voice rising. “We’re stuck in this boat with no food or water, God knows where we are, and who will ever find us?”
“That kind of attitude is not going to help any of us,” Jocelyn said feeling her own attitude coming on. “And someone will find us, its not like no one knows where we went. If none of us check in with our assigned firms then they will know something is up. So calm the hell down.” At this Jennifer burst into tears and turned her face against Richard’s chest looking for compassion. Richard awkwardly patted her back and turned to Ryan.
“So what do you think we should do?” he asked, despair on his face and in his voice. Jocelyn thought the scene quite funny seeing as how Richard was Ryan’s boss and he was the one who came up with the plans.
“Seeing as how I can see a strip of beach not too far off, I’d say we should just wait this out, someone will come to find us before long, they have to.” At his words Jennifer wiped her eyes and sat up, looking around to find the landmass Ryan had mentioned. Tracy seemed a bit more awake but still had the look of a zombie about her.
“Right then if there are no objections, Richard take this oar and help me get our raft as close as we can.” Jocelyn’s gaze was transfixed on Ryan as his brow furrowed with each stroke he made. The seemingly small island was growing in size and after a half an hour the sandy shoreline covered with palm trees and glittering shells dwarfed the craft.
After securing their raft in the underbrush Ryan made an executive decision and divided up basic tasks.
“Jennifer, Tracy, if you two are up for it I need you to go and find leaves that would be big enough to shelter us. I’m sure we will only be here a few days but we still need to have cover in case it rains.” Tracy nodded her head in agreement and took Jennifer’s hand before she could run back to Richard.
“What do you want me to do?” Richard asked. “I could get word for a fire.”
“That’s fine,” Ryan replied too enthusiastically. “Just make sure its dry so it will burn. Jocelyn and I will go and look for some fruit… since she and I are the only ones who have any knowledge in this area,” he added before Jennifer could say something about helping Richard. “If you can’t find anything, or finish before everyone else, just come back here and stay put, don’t wander around on your own alright?” Ryan finished his little pep-talk and turned back to Jocelyn.
“Are you ready, love?” he asked shielding his eyes from the rapidly rising sun.
Jocelyn blushed at the pet name and stammered her reply. “Y-yea. I just need a second to change and I’ll be good.” She jogged behind a thick palm and pulled off her soaked sweatshirt and tshirt replacing them with a tank top. When she came jogging back down to where Ryan was, stuffing her clothing into her bag, he didn’t have the heart to tell her that the tree blocked very little. Instead he gave her a warm smile and told her to follow him into the shade of the trees.
“How do you know what’s edible or not?” Jocelyn asked with one eyebrow raised.
“I don’t. But I figured we could try it out on Jennifer,” he added with a wink throwing a coconut at her. “I’ve been looking for a way to shut her up.”
“So how long do you really think it will take for someone to find us? I know we aren’t that far away from civilization, we can’t be in this day and age. Do you think we could try to row to another island?” Jocelyn asked all in one breath.
“Honestly? At least a week. And I don’t think it would be smart to try and row to another island, no matter how close. If we got lost that would be it without any food or fresh water I wouldn’t want to risk it. Unless it is our last hope.”
Jocelyn and Ryan spent another hour gathering whatever they could find and eventually made their way back to the camp. The sun was directly above them and the temperature was easily in the upper 80s. Jennifer was helping Richard stack wood in a pile near the tree line and Tracy was creating a makeshift shelter big enough for four using the raft as a makeshift headboard and shelter.
“Looks like we need to find some more leaves for shelter or someone will be getting wet later today,” Ryan said taking his bag off his back and emptying it of the fruit he carried. “Come on and help me and we can shack up together,” he said with a mischievous grin. “It won’t take long.”
