Chapter 9

 

Nick lay in the darkness, flat on his back in the raft, staring up at the stars.   The looked like blurry streaks of light to him, distorted by the tears that had welled up into his eyes. 

 

He was the only one awake now.   The four others were sleeping soundly; he could hear their deep breathing, their soft snores.   He felt all alone, and he was terrified.   Terrified of his surroundings, of being alone, and more than anything, terrified of what was going to happen to him, to all of them.  

 

They had been in an extreme situation before, just the year earlier, and this one was no better.   At least no of them were injured this time, but if they stayed here much longer, they would all be dead.   There was no way to get help.   Before, AJ and Howie had gone out in a blizzard to find help, but now they were stranded in water, and there was no way any of them could swim to shore.  Unless a boat, a plane, or something came by, they were stuck.

 

Salty tears ran down Nick’s cheeks, and he made no attempt to wipe them away.   How could something like this have happened to them again, after all they went through last year?   Was God punishing them for something? 

 

Nick had no answers.  

 

***

 

Brian opened his eyes slowly, only to squeeze them shut again when he was nearly blinded by the bright sunlight.   It was morning, and surprisingly, he had finally managed to get some sleep the night before.

 

Sitting up slowly and surveying the scene around him, Brian saw that Nick and AJ were still asleep, while Howie and Kevin had already awoken.

 

“Hey, Rok,” Kevin said, his voice monotone.  Looking into his cousin’s eyes, Brian saw that their usual vibrant green had faded into a dull, lifeless state.   This was taking its toll on Kevin, just as it was on all of them.

 

“Morning,” Brian mumbled to Kevin and Howie.   He glanced at Nick, who was curled up against one side of the raft.   “I’m glad Nick finally got to sleep,” he remarked.

 

“Yeah,” Howie said.  “Poor kid.”

 

They all nodded and fell into silence, taking to glancing at the scenery around them, which consisted of nothing except sun, sky, and water.   The day was bright, sunny, and cloudless.   Normally, it would seem like a nice day, but that day, it seemed like torture, with not even a single cloud to offer relief from the unrelenting sun. 

 

A few minutes later, AJ awoke, and Nick not long after that.  

 

“What time is it?” Nick mumbled sleepily.

 

They all shrugged.   Only Kevin had been wearing a watch at the time of the boat wreck nearly two days earlier, but sometime in the course of their escape from the burning yacht, it had been damaged and broken, leaving them without any way to tell time except for the sun above their heads.   Judging its position then, it was around ten in the morning. 

 

“It’s gonna be a scorcher,” AJ muttered dryly, already fanning his face with his hand.  

 

The other four groaned.   They were already hot, sticky, and sunburned.   The last thing they needed was another “scorcher”.   What else could go wrong?   Plenty.

 

***

 

 

 

 

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