I turned around to see if there was anyone else on the raft. Lyle and Crystal were there, but they weren’t looking good. Lyle’s wound was deep, and I could even see the bones jutting out from his skin.
I stared up into the sky silently, praying for the sun to set sooner, or else Christopher’s wound would get infected because of the heat.
My prayer seemed to work because dusk eventually fell. I tried to see if there was anything around us, but all I could see was the deep, dark sea. Since we had no GPS, we couldn’t go anywhere even if we wanted to. We were truly lost and stranded on the sea
A long, long time later, I was starting to get parched. Christopher’s lips were cracking from the lack of water too, so I tried to get some water from the sea. No good. It’s salty. This’ll kill us. Christopher can’t drink this. The gravity of our situation made my heart sink.
Stars started twinkling as night finally graced us. Thanks to them, we saw an island that was standing right before us. The sight of the island ignited the flames of hope within us, and we quickly rowed ourselves there in excitement.
I helped Christopher up to the sandy land of the island. There was somebody talking in the distance, and we thought it was a boat coming into the pier. Thinking it was salvation, we quickly went in the source of the sound, but much to our disappointment, they were also survivors just like us. When we found them, they were huddled together in the basin.
The stragglers seemed to be hunting for food on the island. When they saw us, they quickly huddled closer around a big fish they caught. But when they realized our group was wounded and weak, they let their guard down. “Get out. This is our territory,” they barked.
I placed Christopher against the trunk of a big tree and tore a piece of cloth down from his shirt to cover up his wound before bandaging it. I didn’t know if it would work, but this was better than nothing.
It was a blustery night. As the waves crashed against the beach, I could feel gusts of cold win buffeting against me. Oh, so that’s why they’re in that basin. There are a couple of trees around them that can protect them from the wind.
“Christopher, you’re gonna be fine. I’m not letting you die, not after we escaped the ship.” I caressed his face hopefully.
Christopher held my hand and smiled. “I’m not letting you die, Eve. I promise.”
“That’s my line.” I gnashed my teeth, then I stood up to survey our surroundings. There was a big reef that could keep the winds at bay not far from us. I took Christopher there and put his jacket on the reef before laying him against the reef. “I’ll get you some food and water. You stay put. I don’t want you to tear your wound.”
Just when I was about to scrounge for supplies, Christopher held my hand. “Be careful. Those guys we met earlier are dangerous, so don’t get into any fights.”
I nodded solemnly and handed him a little stone for peace of mind, then I left to search the island for supplies. There were a few trees here and there, but aside from that, it was barren. No matter where I looked, it was sand, sand, and more sand. Left with no choice, I took a dive into the sea for some fishing.
I wasn’t overwhelmed by fear this time, and I forgot all about my trauma because there was only one thing on my mind at the moment: to get some food for Christopher. We had to last until the rescue team’s arrival.
I wasn’t sure what kind of seafood was edible, but I could recognize an abalone when I saw one. Abalones are succulent. Shouldn’t be a problem eating them raw. I came across a sharp stone between the reefs’ crevices, so I picked it up and pocketed it for later use.
Food was easy, since all I had to do was swim around. There was always seafood around, but water would be a problem. Humans could go for a week without food, but only three without water.
