I gasped awake, my head was throbbing with pain and I took in the scene around me. Water, that’s all I knew, I was stuck to my seat, and I looked at Claire who was still next to me. She was blacked out, blood seeping from a gash on her forehead, and her ears were bleeding as well. 

I frantically unbuckled my seatbelt, feeling the semi warm water surround me as I fell deep into water. I had no time to think about what had happened, I just knew I had to get to safety. 

I swam, and I squinted, trying to see where we were but it was dark, and the water was black, fire was the only light we had, and it was coming from the plane engines. I knew we had to get away from this as soon as possible, the engine could blow up at any time. 

I swam to Claire and my hands found her waist that was now sinking underwater with the part of the plane her seat was still attached to. I unhooked the belt, pulling her forward and dragging her slowly out of the broken plane. 

I quickly checked her throat for a pulse, and it was there, but it was awfully slow.

A floating object near me was perfect to let her drift on, I just had to grab it. I slowly swam over to it, hoisting her and myself onto it to keep us afloat and I looked back at the plane.

Half of it had already sunk, but my half was still afloat, barely. 

Mallory’s side of the plane was gone. 

I felt fear and pain well up in my chest, knowing she had to be down there. I felt the tears form in my eyes, but I knew she was gone, and all my classmates…

I heard screaming coming from part of the plane, and I looked at Claire’s unconscious body. I found a loose strap and tied it around her, hooking it to the suitcase to keep her on the luggage and afloat. 

I had to try and help them. 

I swam as fast as I could but I body was aching, and my head was killing me. I screamed, “Hey!” hoping they would respond quickly. 

Then I followed a muffled scream, and I knew they were sinking, so I had to find them quick. I saw bubbles rise from  the dark water and dove down, knowing I couldn’t open my eyes I would have to go down there blind. 

So I did. 

I felt around for a belt, and finally I found it, hands grabbing on me to help them to the surface. I pulled them up, only to realize they were really bad off. I wanted to gag from fear, the pain  they had written on their face… 

I pulled them up, hoisting them onto a loose seat cusion, and when I noticed they weren’t heavy at all, I knew something was wrong. 

His bottom half was missing, and he wasn’t going to make it much longer. 

I whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

I swam quickly to where me and Claire were sitting, knowing there were life jackets under our seats because we were flying over seas. I pulled one out and quickly put it on, suddenly realizing my arm hurt a hell of a lot more then I realized. 

I made my way over to Claire, pulling myself onto another suitcase and tying ours together to stay with each other considering the opposing current. I pulled her body close to me, knowing the body heat between us would be needed, and everything bad between us was suddenly gone from this moment. 

I knew it was going to be a really long night, and I was scared when I woke up I would be completely alone.

Or dead. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

 Water filled my nostrils, the saltiness making me gag instantly as I turned on my side to get the water out. I leaned forward, feeling the water exit my stomach and nose as I threw up. I slowly tried to open my eyes but it was so bright I could barely do it without feeling like I was going to go blind. 

I tried to stand, stumbling forward and feeling wet sand under my feet as I sank into it slowly. I finally let my eyes take in the scene around me, seeing Claire and the two suitcases lying there about twenty feet in front of me. 

She was still not awake. 

I ran to her, dropping to my knees instantly and seeing her pale lips, meaning she wasn’t breathing. I felt her throat, there was a slight pulse and her skin was still heated. I would need to so CPR on her. 

I tilted her head back, holding her nose and planting my lips on hers, blowing air into her mouth. She couldn’t die, she just couldn’t… I would be all alone out here. I continued to pump air into her as I pressured her chest, I knew I was doing it right, but was it going to work?

Then the water in her wind pipe gave way, instantly coming up with throw up just like me. She leaned forward, eyes still closed as it poured out of her, her gagging noises making me cringe. 

I turned, seeing a vast green jungle before me where the white sand ended, and immediately everything came back to me. 

Claire was still disoriented, but she was getting her vision back slowly as I walked back over to her. I grabbed both suitcases, dragging them out of the water and into the bright sunlight to dry. Then I finally mustered up words, “How you feel?”

She coughed, “Like shit, what happened?”

She had been blacked out nearly the entire time, so she probably had no idea, “Plane crash.”

The reality seemed to hit her hard as I helped her up and out of the water, she turned, seeing the same thing I had and nearly broke down crying right there. I rolled my eyes, crying wasn’t going to get us anything, and she was actually wasting my time with it. 

“Claire, stop, it’s gonna be fine.”

I was scared to, and I was upset, but crying wasn’t going to keep us alive, that’s for sure.

There was still blood on her face form the crash, I walked over to her, wiping the cut on her forehead and from her ears. She looked up at me, probably wondering how I was staying so calm, but to be honest, I didn’t even know. Once her face was clean I returned  to the suitcases.

I opened a suitcase immediately, seeing what it held and hopefully it would have something useful. It contained clothes, which belonged to a guy apparently, but maybe the clothing could come in handy. I began laying them out to dry because wet clothes weren’t useful and Claire joined me.

“What are we going to do?”

I shrugged, “What ever we have to do to survive.”

She sighed, “Shouldn’t we make a shelter or something?”

I looked at her, she was right, we would need a place to sleep, but we would have to build it. I nodded and stood, holding my hand out to her, “You’re right.”

I noticed instantly how hot I was, realizing I still had my jeans and hoodie on. I started slipping off my soaked hoodie and knowing if I kept these jeans on they would shrink as they dried. Claire had gotten the idea and slipped off her T shirt, revealing a tank top and walking over to me, “Does that suitcase have shorts in it?”

I shook my head, “The other one might.”

I knelt down, instantly recognizing this suitcase, it was my baggage. I smiled reluctantly, “Thank God.”

I pulled out shorts I had packed and pulled off my jeans, getting a weird reaction from Claire. I threw her another pair and spoke, “You’re gonna have to get used to sharing  now.”

I laid out the rest of the clothes, knowing what I had in my suitcase would soon come in handy. I stood, “We’re gonna need wood.”

Claire looked fatigue, but we had to get this done,  her and I both knew that. I slipped my shoes back on, knowing I couldn’t walk into the woods barefoot, no telling what was in there. Claire followed me in silence, I was worried about her, but I knew we would be ok, we would just have to stick together.

So we began to search for palm leaves and wood to build a frame. We hauled all day, and I was thankful I had someone else here with me because if it would’ve just been me it would’ve taken me all night to.

Then I remembered, we needed a fire. 

I cursed out loud, “Shit!”

Claire’s head snapped to me, “What?”

“We need a fire, and the sun won’t be up much longer.”

I remembered seeing a case for glasses in the guys suitcase and knew if I could get the glare of the sun to hit right, we would have a fire. There was no way we could go tonight without a fire or some kind of light, the search teams would be about tonight, and a fire meant more chance of us being found. 

Claire had grabbed dry leaves and twigs from the jungle and formed them into a pile, and I held up the glasses to try and catch a glare. I ordered Claire, “Hold them like this, don’t move them. The leaves should catch fire eventually.”

She spoke, “Where are you going?”

“To finish the shelter.”

We hadn’t talked about anything but survival today, but we had no time. The first day stranded on an island was the most vital, you needed to build shelter and a fire, those were the most important things to do. 

You could say I watched a lot of survival shows. 

I pulled branches together, wrapping them together with anything that would hold them together good. My body was aching, my throat was burning from dryness, and my stomach was growling from hunger. My body was fatigue from the heat and my skin was burning but I knew this had to be done by tonight, and we were running out of sunlight.

Then Claire busted out, “Yes!”

I glanced over, she had successfully made a fire with twigs, and as she added things to it, eventually the wood caught on fire. She sighed, “Thank God for girl scouts.”

I rolled my eyes at her as I tied the last two pieces of wood together with a ripped piece of cloth, and stepped back to see the frame. It looked good, and it was big enough for two people, making me realize Claire and I would have to sleep together in the same den. 

I didn’t think that one through. 

Claire continued to tend to the fire as I lined the frame with dry clothes and palm leaves. I tied them to the frame and secured them so they would stay, and soon enough I was putting clothes inside to make beds for us to lie on. 

And I was finished. 

I fell onto my ass, the sunset in front of me as I finally rested, feeling disgusting as I was covered in sweat and sand. Claire looked at me, “You’re quite the worker.”

I looked at her, rolling my eyes, “Thanks to no one.”

She crossed her arms, “I beg to differ.”

The fire crackled as I let my body rest, and I glanced up at Claire who was looking at me from across the fire. I would love to know what she was thinking at this moment, but I didn’t want to ask. 

“I went through the suitcases, and pulled out everything that could possibly be useful.” She held up my disposable razors and spoke, “These will be, definitely.”

“Thanks for going through my stuff without my permission.”

She tilted her head, “I thought you said we were going to have to get used to sharing?”

Her voice held sarcasm and playfulness but I didn’t find it funny. I shook my head, “I’m going to sleep.”

I crawled into the shelter, feeling all of the emotions I hadn’t had time to feel all day flood into me. Mallory, my best friend, was dead, all of the people I grew up with within my four years… 

They were all gone and we were the only survivors, and I was stranded on this remote island with Claire.

And no telling how long we would be stuck here.