CORINNE

The first aid kit from the raft was full of all kinds of things, including antiseptics, Aspirin and the adhesive suture, which was exactly what Corinne needed if she wanted to close Olivia's wound.

"It's actually not that bad." Corinne murmured as she examined Olivia's leg. It was still bleeding, but not heavily and it didn't look festered. The skin around the bloody area was white and shrivelled, due to the antiseptic cream.

"It looks bad." Olivia sniffled. "And it hurts."

"You'll live." Corinne smiled gently. "And the adhesive glue isn't going to hurt, so you can relax." Olivia's muscles immediately listened and she leaned onto the raft. They were both sitting on the soft sand and Corinne began to enjoy the light breeze and the warm sunshine on her skin.

"Cor..." Olivia bit her lower lip, while Corinne applied the adhesive glue to the best of her abilities. "Do you think they'll find us?"

Corinne didn't know the answer to that question. Rationally, she thought they would, because it was quite tricky getting lost in the world in the 21st century.

"We have a working phone. I think it can be traced over satellite which means they must be able to locate us. And somebody is surely looking for you." She barely registered how she switched from "us" to "you" in that sentence and she hoped Olivia didn't notice.

"That's what I'm thinking, too." Olivia said, her long lashes hiding her green eyes from sunshine. "But, I have this strange feeling that..." She bit her lip again, subtle wrinkles forming between her eyes.

"What?" Corinne asked, even though she knew exactly what she meant. Something was off about the entire experience. A certain loneliness lingered around them ever since they jumped off the ship. Like they were all alone in the world.

"That I don't exist anymore." Olivia said, stopping Corinne's hands that barely touched her delicate legs. A strange feeling, but so familiar at the same time.

"It's not the worst thing in the world." Corinne said. "When you don't exist, you become free."

Her own words gnawed at Corinne, reverberating through her body. Could it be possible they all finally felt what she has been feeling for years? The same detachment from other people, from the rest of the world.

"I don't think I can do this, Corinne." Olivia's lip quivered. "I'm falling apart piece by piece. My heart hasn't stopped racing ever since the storm, my palms are all sweaty and I can't breathe in properly. It's affecting me."

"Listen, it's affecting all of us." Corinne tried to keep her voice stern and determined. "But we're safe here. We're on an island that probably has fresh water, there's fruit all around and we aren't in the middle of the ocean. Even if they don't find us immediately, we can survive."

"Life isn't just surviving." Olivia shook her head. "I-I miss my mum. And my bed." Tiny tears appeared in the corners of her eyes.

Corinne didn't know how to be the moral support. If someone needed a wound stitched, she could do that. But emotional wounds... she could not handle those. If she had known how to fix broken souls, she would have fixed herself a long time ago.

"Think of it as an unpaid vacation." Corinne said, but still wondered if she would be the only one left sane when someone eventually found them. "There's even a bottle of vodka. And when that's gone, we can get all drugged up on Aspirin."

"I'm not like you, Corinne." Olivia shook her head. "You're so strong and so calm. You can brush off all the tragedies of this world, but all I keep thinking about is Andrew.

"I don't know whether I should be flattered or offended." Corinne mumbled. "I'm thinking about Andrew, too, but if we get stuck on all the bad thoughts, we might as well lie down and die."

"Andrew doesn't seem to have that choice." Olivia said, a touch of anger added to her sadness.

"There's nothing I can do about that." Corinne swallowed. Deep down, she knew that burden would fall on her shoulders. She seemed to be the only one strong enough to carry it.

"There's gotta be something we can do." Olivia talked while Corinne put some clean gauzes on her leg. At least she wouldn't die of sepsis. Not yet, that is.

"Olivia," Corinne began, "there's nothing we can do for Andrew at this point, except make sure he's not too warm or too cold."

"Would you do nothing if it were me?" Olivia whispered, making Corinne look into her eyes. What was she supposed to say to that? Hasn't she done enough already?

"Olivia, I'm a physicist, not a doctor." Corinne said. "I can theorize about rogue waves and ocean currents, but I can't help someone if they aren't waking up. I just don't know what to do." A slight pang bit her heart, barely registered.

"I'm sorry." Two small tears escaped Olivia's eyes, glimmering in the sunlight. "I know you're doing everything you can."

"Don't thank me, thank Lady Luck." Corinne murmured. "There's nothing planned or predictable about our survival. It's plain coincidence."

"I don't think so." Olivia smiled. "I think God was on our side."

Corinne laughed hoarsely, unable to keep the facade on for this particular moment. She grew weary of her mask and she remembered Tyler's words. If tragedies brought out the worst in people, how long did she have until her inner monster appeared.

"There are no gods." Corinne patched up Olivia's wound. "And if there are, they're either mocking us or pitying us, and I don't know which is worse."

"You'll understand what I mean one day." Olivia smiled.

Not wanting to destroy Olivia's spirit, Corinne leaned onto the raft and proceeded to put some antiseptic cream on the bite on her leg. Whatever it was, it bit deep. The pain spread all through Corinne's leg even though the bite was tiny in diameter. What kind of a fucked up fish lived in such shallow water and had a bite this strong? Her leg burned the moment she touched the wound with the cream.

If there was one thing Corinne regretted, it was the fact she didn't take another bottle of vodka off the ship. They would need lots of alcohol if they wanted to stay sane.

"Cor," Olivia called, "can I ask you something?"

Corinne fought the urge to roll her eyes. She hated questions like these. Nobody wanted an honest answer to this questions.

"Sure."

"What do you think about Tyler?"

Corinne chuckled and leaned her head onto the raft, enjoying the sunshine on her wounded leg. The ocean was really beautiful here and she wanted to spend her day sunbathing and reading the survival manual from the raft.

"What do you think about him?" Corinne countered.

"I know I never told you about... us, and Greg isn't particularly fond of the idea, but I care more about your opinion." Olivia blushed slightly and Corinne realised the only acceptable answer was the lie.

"It doesn't matter what I think. You're the one making your choices and living with them. Is Tyler the best possible choice? I don't know, you tell me." Corinne shrugged.

"Probably not." Olivia whispered.

"There you have it."

"I've only been with him, like, twice, or thrice. Or five times. I don't know." Olivia let out a giggle and Corinne immediately knew the girl was screwed.

"Don't get stuck on the wayward dick." Corinne chuckled. "But don't worry about Greg, either, they have some unresolved issues and I get the feeling their drama is going to escalate. You don't wanna be anywhere near when that happens."

"Greg's wrong, you know?" Olivia's voice turned colder and Corinne concluded the girl was already stuck on the wayward dick. "That whole thing, in high school, it wasn't Tyler's fault."

"He sold them out, though." Corinne shrugged. "I mean, I couldn't care less and I don't understand why it matter after all these years. All's well that ends well, right?"

"But, it didn't end well. Not for Tyler, that is." Olivia shook her head. "His father cut him off after the accident."

"Ha, who would have thought?" Corinne's eyes widened. "And I thought I just saved his ass from a luxurious cruise."

"It's not that simple." Olivia pursed her lips.

"It is quite simple." Corinne disagreed. "They had an illegal party on the school property, Mark fell off the bleachers and broke both of his legs. Not one, both. It's no one's fault, really. They were just stupid and drunk. But everyone paid a certain price. Maybe Tyler shouldn't have snitched, but if he hadn't, they would have gotten off scot free."

"Nothing happened to them!" Olivia raised her voice. "Sure, Andrew's scholarship was unstable at one point, but he ended up getting it anyway."

"I told you, all's well that ends well."

"But it didn't end well for Tyler!" Olivia complained. At this point, Corinne wasn't even sure why they talked about this. Maybe Olivia wanted to convince her that the wayward dick was actually a decent person, which she doubted for a number of other reasons.

"Hey, don't fight me, fight Greg." Corinne put her hands up in surrender.

"I just wish Greg would listen to me." She complained. "I don't want him to be mad at me because of this, not when..."

"If you tell me you love Tyler, I will throw up." Corinne mumbled.

"It's not that." Olivia sighed. "Tyler is really hurt, you know? He lost all of his friends because he stayed and helped. He was the only one that waited for the ambulance with Mark, you know? All of them ran away."

"That's true." Corinne remembered. "This surely is an ethical dilemma."

"I just wish Greg and Andrew gave him a chance to explain." Olivia said, sounds coming from the jungle interrupting her words.

Corinne turned around and saw Greg and Tyler, carrying bags full of fruits and panting. Hope and confusion lingered on their faces and Corinne guessed what this meant. They found something.

"Girls..." Greg came closer, putting the bags on the sand. "We heard someone."

"We're not alone on this island." Tyler added.

"And you ran away from them." Corinne nodded. "Spectacular." Still, her heart hammered at the thought of a civilisation. If they returned home, she could finally do what she really wanted this entire summer; research Quantum Mechanics.

"Instinct." Tyler murmured.

"Your first instinct is to run away from people." Corinne hummed, but the pain that throbbed through her leg cut off the sarcasm in her voice. She frowned slightly and looked around; a strange feeling, plain and raw in its nature, but equally unfamiliar, washed over her.

"Where did you see them?" Olivia asked, her voice full of hope and joy. But Corinne paid no attention as she scanned the area.

Corinne

Her head snapped towards the ocean, then the jungle, then the ocean again. Chills spread through her spine as she turned to her friends again, talking about the possible natives.

"We should definitely reach out to them." Tyler's voice reached Corinne's ears.

No

"Guys, are you hearing something?" Corinne's eyes danced across the beach and the thick trees, searching for any signs of movements.

"Hmm, no." Greg shook his head.

"Are you finally losing your mind?" Tyler smirked.

Corinne

"No, no, I imagined it." Corinne swallowed the lump that appeared in her throat.

Was she finally losing her mind?