This chapter may seem somewhat void of a lot of dialogue it is mostly another connector chapter. It will get juicier, don't you worry.

Survival

The salty waves smashed against his face and his lips were cracked with thirst, but it didn't matter. It was as much as he could do to hold onto the drift wood that kept him afloat. Come to think of it, what was the point of that even? What was he putting himself through such agony for?

All at once, Squib Furlong gave up. He let go of the splintering beckon of hope and slipped beneath the waters of the ocean. He decided that his last thought would be of her before he died. Every detail of Cody flashed through his brain as his sank below the surface of the water.

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As Nate opened his eyes, he noticed that the sun had come up and was already high up in the sky. It took a moment, but he also saw the seagulls that had begun to fly overhead. This thought took him to a sudden realization. Seagulls meant land, and land meant could mean food!!!

"Adeena! Honey, wake up! I think we're close to land!!"

The curly haired girl had been groggy but this statement had snapped her to attention, "Land? Where?" she asked, sitting up so fast her head hurt.

Her words had woken everyone up and now they were all talking at once.

"What do you mean land?" Cam and Tannis said together.

"How do you know?" Sunny asked disbelievingly.

"What's with all the bugs?" Poppy said swatting a mosquito.

Ricks' eyes got big "Bugs mean land right?"

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Behind all this commotion, Cody sat upright and motionless. Contrary to what the others had thought, she'd been listening to every conversation and knew what was happening. There was one thought that separated her from them though, Squib. Somehow, she just could picture him dead. He was always the strongest of them all, always the one who came through in the end.

Cody had tried and tried hopelessly to figure out a way for him to still be alive but it was no use. This girl, Poppy, seemed to have been the last off that plane and the sight of the monstrous thing bubbling to the oceans bottom was hard factor to rule out. Cody's heart wouldn't let him go, but everything else was telling her to do just that.

This was why the young woman sat silent. Though her face remained vacant of expression or emotion, there was an inner battle raging within. One voice kept saying, "Honey he's dead. You have to move on!" but another was also very persistent, "Don't give up! He's out there and you know it!"

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"There it is! I see it!" Rick said. If he'd had anything to eat or drink in the recent past, that near whisper would have been a shout. Like everyone, Rick was both thirsty and hungry to an extreme account. The water bottles had run out two days ago and there never had been any food. Only the watch told them they had been on the ocean for nearly a week. It seemed like so much more though and the sight of this large expanse of beach was a beautiful sight.

Everyone tried to paddle a bit with their hands but gave up after a bit and let the waves wash them ashore. As the little boat beached itself, they all filed out one after the other. Almost immediately, Cameron spotted the coconuts that dotted the sand all over.

It seemed that Poppy had the most strength out of all of them so she set to work breaking them on a rock on the edge of the huge expanse of jungle. In turn, every one lay on their backs and waited for her to pour the liquid into their mouth. Contrary to what they all had thought, the substance inside was actually a sort of translucent water with a very sweet taste.

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Her fingers shook as she attempted to pour the coconut milk into her own mouth. It was no use, hardly a drop made it. Poppy's eyes began to swim and she flopped to the ground, nearly unconscious.

Suddenly, Rick was at her side. He picked up the fallen seed and poured some of the liquid into her dry mouth. Though she had started off the least needy, Poppy had become the most needy of it. It took a few more coconuts to revive her.

By the time Poppy was sitting up again, Rick was nearly in tears and was giving apology after apology for forgetting about her. Everyone else followed suit, minus the tears but she insisted it was okay and there was no resentment in any direction.

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Cody had decided to make herself useful and was scraping the white rind off the side of the broken coconuts. They all ate it willingly and finally ended up in a circle in the middle of the beach. This was no camping trip and plans needed to be made.

"I guess we should make a fire," Cameron said.

"And get some food," Nate returned.

Poppy looked around to see if anyone else was going to say more, then, "From what Survivor and Surivoman has taught me, we should make a shelter too,"

Once these tasked were established, delegation was the next thing. Poppy excluded, they were at a bit of a loss. When they were together, Squib had been the leader. He'd organized things without even thinking. Even Rick, who led a whole school, found himself lost.

Poppy went into action. She gave out duties and separated people into groups to make the work easier. It would have taken an idiot not to see the obvious romantic connection between some of them. Poppy decided immediately that they would make the best pares.

Cody and Sunny were to start the fire, her and Rick find some food, and the rest would work on a makeshift shelter. She'd surprised herself. Never before had Poppy emerged a leader, yet it seemed to be coming natural! It was as if something deep inside had clicked in and a new ability was showing itself.

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It seemed the universe had something more planned. As his head went under, Squibs' feet touched sand and a wave pushed him ashore. Food nor fresh water had touched his lips in two days and it took a long time to gather enough energy to crawl completely out of the ocean.

Squib fell limp on the sand. His energy was gone and his consciousness was not far behind. He didn't notice the half-full water bottle (with Cody's cherry lipstick on the rim) that lay beside him. He didn't even see the group of people that were quickly making there way toward his collapsed figure in the sand.

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Hey everyone! What do ya think? I like the Squib-didn't-die-but-he's-not-alone teaser. LOL, I fooled ya, I fooled ya!! lol, Hope you like this long awaited chapter. It you haven't already, check out my Rick oneshot call "Rick Geddes on Court 'F'". I've gotten so few reviews on that one I personally think it's pretty good. Anyway, tanks for reading this chapter and I'll ttyl! Bye:)

Love ya

pianoluv