Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews of chapter 1! I'm glad you guys like this! I apologize for the numerous Gilligan's Island and Survivor references in this chapter. -cough- Sorry this is kind of short. Please read and review!

Chapter 2: Survival of the Fittest

"What do you mean no ones coming?" Dawn said slowly. "Buffy, someone's coming to rescue us, right?"

Buffy glanced nervously at Angel. "Well the thing is that we're off course a little. After the ship's signal went out, we turned around. And then-"

"We got in a raft and got blown off even further into the middle of nowhere," Anya finished.

Dawn began to look upset. "But they will find us eventually, right?"

"Depends on your definition of eventually. Because right now it's looking like this side of never." Anya turned around and peered through the trees on the island. "I wonder if there are cannibals here."

"What!?" Xander asked, sounding slightly panicked himself.

Anya looked at him, exasperated. "Like that episode of Gilligan's Island. Where the cannibals are going to eat Gilligan?" She turned to Dawn. "They would probably eat you first. They like young meat."

Dawn was on the verge of tears now. Connor put an arm around her to comfort her. "I'm sure there are no cannibals here," he said reassuringly. "Why don't we take a walk? Check out the rest of the island?" Dawn nodded, and they headed off away from the others.

"Buffy, is Anya right? Are we going to be here forever?" Cordelia asked, sounding dismayed. "I have an audition tomorrow!"

Buffy massaged her temples. She was getting a headache. "I'm sure we won't be here forever. But we have to look at the possibility that it might be days before anyone finds us."

"On Gilligan's Island, they never got rescued!" Anya said pointedly.

Giles turned to look at her. "Yes they did, in the movie."

Anya frowned. "There was never a Gilligan's Island movie!"

Giles began to look angry. "Yes there was! The TV movie! 1978!"

As Anya and Giles continued to argue over whether there was a Gilligan's Island movie, Tara spoke for the first time since the boat sank. "It's more l-like, S-Survivor," she said softly.

Willow faced her with a smile. "Yeah! Like the Pearl Islands! When they didn't tell them the game was starting-"

"And they had to jump off the boat in their c-clothes," Tara finished.

Willow and Tara were soon involved in a heated discussion of how similar their situation was to those of the Survivor contestants. Buffy wandered away from the group, and stood in the ankle deep water. Soon Angel joined her.

"It's gonna be okay," he said.

Buffy felt tears coming to her eyes. "Dawn didn't even want to come. I dragged her along. And now we're probably going to die out here."

Angel chuckled. "We're not going to die." There was a brief pause. "I am really starting to regret dialing that radio station," he said with a laugh.

Buffy stared at him for a second, then burst out laughing. Given their current situation, it felt good to laugh.

"So what do you say we go back there and come up with a plan?" Angel said, placing his hand on her shoulder.

Buffy smiled up at him. "Sounds good." Then they headed back to where the others stood, still talking a mile a minute.

As they approached the group, Spike, who had been pretty quiet, came up to Buffy and Angel. "Look pet, I don't really want to starve to death. And you seem to be a good leader. So what do you say you tell these idiots to do something better than stand around arguing about Gilligan's Island?" he said.

Buffy nodded. "That was the plan." Then she stuck two fingers in her mouth and let out an ear-splitting whistle. Everyone immediately stopped talking.

"Thank you. Okay, we have decided that we need to take some action if we want to survive out here," Buffy said. "So Willow, Tara, Anya, and Cordelia, go explore the island. See if you can find any kind of food or water source. If you do, bring back as much as you can." They nodded and set off. Buffy turned to the guys. "You guys should get to work on building some kind of shelter. You never know when it might start raining again. Xander, you're a carpenter, you're in charge. We should probably also think about building a fire, to boil some ocean water. Now get to work. If we want to survive we need to work together."

A little taken aback by Buffy's new leadership role, the guys slowly began to move around. Pleased, Buffy turned to Angel. "You should help them. I'm going to go look for any way we can get off this stupid island."

Angel nodded and smiled at her. "Good job."

Buffy smiled back. "Thanks."

Angel joined the others in gathering materials for the shelter. Buffy set off walking. She wanted to see if she could see any land from any point on the island. She knew that the chances were slim to none, but it was a good place to start anyway.

"Connor, I'm scared," Dawn said. They were strolling around the island, holding hands.

Connor kissed the top of her head. "I know. But it will be okay. Don't pay attention to that Anya chick, she's just trying to scare you."

Dawn sighed. "I know. But I'm just worried. I mean, what if there is no food on the island, and we starve? Or what if we get attacked by killer bugs in our sleep? And what if we're stuck here so long that we get old and wrinkled?" she asked.

Connor smiled. "You would still be beautiful."

Dawn stopped walking and turned to face him. "Would you kiss me now? Because I've actually never been kissed before, and I want to be before I get all dried up and old," she said softly.

Connor smiled. Then he leaned in and kissed her.

They pulled apart a moment later. "Wow," Dawn whispered.

"You're a special girl Dawn Summers," he said, brushing her hair out of her face. Dawn smiled, and then they kissed again.

A few hours later things were looking up. Buffy hadn't spotted any land from the island, but the guys had built a really good shelter under Xander's command. And the fire was going, after a few very frustrating hours. The turning point had been when they finally realized to use Giles's glasses. And the best part was that the girls had found some coconuts, and they were actually pretty good. And once cleaned out, they could be used to boil water in.

"Maybe we have a chance after all," Angel said to Buffy as they sat on the beach. The sun was setting, and the other's were talking and enjoying coconuts.

"Maybe," Buffy said. Then Angel put his arm around her, and she settled her body against his, and just listened to the crashing of the waves.