10. What We Need

Pain. It was all I knew. It was all there was. There was no sound, no light, no other feelings but unimaginable pain. I allowed myself to be rocked back into nothing.

"Sang." I knew that voice. Sweet, with an air of command- but it wasn't quite enough to pull me from the depths. "Sweet, darling girl." I felt a brush of lips along my temple. "Come back to us. To me." It was only a whisper, but it was enough. Slowly, I forced my eyes open and tried to focus. It was jarring- pushing myself back into a world of agony, but I'd do it for him. Steel grey and a millimeter smile were my reward. Mr. Blackbourne smiled when he noticed that I was coming around. "Good girl." His relief was tangible. My heart warmed knowing that I'd pleased him in some way. He turned to alert the others that I had woken and I heard their shouts of encouragement and praise.

All at once, my situation came screaming into awareness. I was floating- in the Atlantic Ocean. I had been in a plane crash, and somehow survived. The guys had helped me to get out of the plane just before it had exploded. The guys! I tried to sit up straight in the water, but a yellow inflatable life vest and a pair of strong hands kept me prostrate.

"Easy now, Sweetie Pie." Sean was at my side. "Let me check out a few things before I let my most favorite little patient move around. We don't want you injuring yourself any more than you already have." His hands moved surely along my limbs and torso as we bobbed among the waves, checking for damage as he spoke. Owen was at my head, holding my neck stable, before the Doctor told him I was more or less ok- just more bumps and bruises and a possible concussion. It could have been worse. Much, much worse.

Once Sean gave the ok, I let my feet sink further underneath me so that I could float upright. I was shocked by what I saw. The waves went on and on in each direction. There was nothing, and no one but our small little band of survivors. Our situation looked as bleak as the sky around us.

Though the water had calmed considerably, the waves still weren't ideal. Both Sean and Owen had a tight grip on me, so that we weren't tossed apart. While I was out, the boys had worked to fashion a raft, of sorts, out of what bags and life preservers they could find. It was actually quite impressive. Gabriel, Luke and Victor were working on securing the items together while Kota and the others looked for more of our things.

Mr. B shouted orders over the dwindling storm, pushing the guys to work faster and harder and pointing out instabilities in the structure. As I watched them work, I was convinced they weren't your normal group of guys. They operated like a well-oiled machine, moving around each other in a way that spoke of years of practice in difficult situations. It was incredible to behold and provided me a bit of hope for our situation.

"Mr. Griffin, how are things looking? We need to get Miss Sorenson out of the water." Owen rubbed his hands along my arms. Though the friction couldn't provide warmth under the freezing water, it was a comforting action that I was grateful for at the moment. I hadn't really noticed how cold I was until Mr. Blackbourne had mentioned getting me out of the water and I finally noticed that I was shaking- whether from nerves or the chilling temperature was to be determined.

As Sean and Owen helped me swim toward the make-shift raft, the boys swam the raft closer to us. Nathan, being the closest to me, reached out and pulled me towards him and the floating luggage. "Hey, my little Peanut. I'm so glad that you're ok." He cupped my face with his hands, his thumbs stroking my cheeks as he spoke. "Let's get you out of the water, sweet girl." Nathan reached down and gripped my waste lifting me out of the water and setting me on top of the raft.

As I situated myself into a semi-comfortable position on the luggage, everyone swam to the edge of the drifting craft, holding onto the edges, keeping us together. Several moments passed before anyone spoke. Each of us eying the next, searching for answers that weren't there. A throat cleared behind me, and I turned to give my attention.

"First things first." Owen commanded our attention. There wasn't any other option but to listen as he spoke. "Where did we land? Where are we now? Where do we go? These are our main concerns. Mr. Morgan, did anything useful survive?"

Victor was prepared, as if he expected the question before it was asked. "No, sir. Anything that wasn't damaged or lost in the initial crash was destroyed by the water. We're going to have to go at this old school." His response, and the way it was delivered, took me off guard. It was almost as if they had done something like this before, or had been trained in survival. I felt like I was missing something and my sluggish senses were having a hard time putting the pieces together.

"Alright team. What do we have to work with? What do we know?" Mr. Blackbourne wasn't going to sit idly by.

Kota was the first to begin. "Based upon the average speed of a commercial airliner, we are somewhere between three hundred fifty and five hundred miles off the coast of Georgia."

Silas was quick to follow. "If we do nothing but drift, the current will carry us in a north/northeast direction. Water temperatures for this general area at this time of year range between 55 and 65 degrees, give or take." He shared a look with Owen, and it didn't look encouraging. I wished I had missed it. "It'll feel much colder tonight." It worried me to think about it getting any colder. I was already freezing.

Nathan had some helpful news. "Do to the nature of our- uh…" his eyes shifted quickly to me and back toward Mr. B, "trip, we have a few bags of survival gear- ropes, compasses, basic first aid kits and the like. Unfortunately, we don't have any knives or weapons- we'd have never made it passed security."

"Nathan and I were able to locate a few pieces of debris that are sharp enough to be beneficial." North was to the point. "Not all of the luggage was recovered but we have most, if not all of the essentials." He glanced at me. "We have what we need."