"Woah, Candy. That's why you got so excited that had you almost falling into the sea? You call me simple-minded, but I don't see HOW you could find a cloud that looks like a boat for all that matters-"

"-Shut up! That is not what I'm talking about!" I cut him off and grabbed his face and turned his attention to the faraway object in the sea.

"Holy-! Wait! Is that- Is that a boat!?" Tavin exclaimed in disbelief. After a week and a few days, we finally spotted the first sign of human presence in the ocean.

With bated breath, we waited and watched as the tiny brown dot gradually became bigger, just like my hope, until Tavin judged it was safe enough to attract their attention. He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Hey! Over here!"

My fingers tightened around the sleeve of Tavin's white shirt, unsure of what to anticipate from this encounter. But Tavin appeared to understand my apprehension as he patted my hand in reassurance. "Don't worry," he said, "I'll speak with them and ask if they know where we are in the ocean. Maybe they can assist us in finding our way to the shore."

It was a small boat, similar in size to ours, and they seemed to have caught Tavin's signal because they were sailing towards us. As the boat neared ours, we could make out two figures, both male, both appearing to be in their forties or older.

I gasped when my gaze landed on the writing on the side of the boat. It was the same name as ours. Tavin seemed to share my shock as he whispered in disbelief, "The Meredith," his expression mirroring mine as he too noticed the writing.

Survivors from the same ship as ours.

"No way!" one of the men shouted from their boat, "You guys are survivors too? From the cruise ship?"

"Yes!" Tavin answered, as the boat approached and pulled up alongside ours. The other man with a rough appearance with a thick beard and mustache onboard set down the oars, narrowing his gaze and scrutinizing us and our boat. The man who had initially spoken to us, appeared to be more sociable, sporting a relaxed smile and inspecting us with bright blue eyes. "I'm George and this is my brother, Greg."

"Hey, I'm Tavin and this is Candace. It's a huge relief to see other survivors," Tavin introduced himself, shaking hands with the men with an elated and relieved expression on his face.

"We've been losing hope since the ship sank. It was a tragic event. I still can't believe it exploded right in front of us," George commented, and I felt a pang in my heart once more at the mention of the sunken ship. I comfortingly rubbed Tavin's back as he tensed up at the memory.

"I see you two are a couple. Then I'm glad you made it through together," George observed, his gaze zoning in on my hand on Tavin's back while he exchanged a glance with his brother who bored his eyes on me.

"Uhm, so do you guys know where we are, exactly?" Tavin asked, not correcting George's assumption about us but stepping in front of me, shielding me a little from their vision.

I looked up at Tavin, confused, but stayed quiet and assessed the situation. "That's what we're trying to figure out," George answered, placing his hands on his hips and his foot at the edge of our boat. "I seriously have no idea where to go or what to do. We've run out of water and food too. My brother here, cannot last a day on an empty stomach." Greg gave out a grouchy snort of some sort at that remark.

Tavin nodded perceptively, "We're in the same boat, no pun intended. We were hoping you might have some idea of which way we're drifting."

"Hey, why don't we team up and stick together?" George suggested loudly. "I could use some more company to keep me sane, and it wouldn't be safe for inexperienced kids like you to fend for yourselves. We're all survivors, so let's face whatever's out there together."

Tavin looked at me doubtfully, knowing that I hadn't spoken since the men arrived at our boat. "I suppose we could," I hesitantly replied. I was torn between the need for more people to help us survive and the fear of strangers disrupting the routine and harmony that Tavin and I had created during our days alone. I wasn't exactly thrilled about being in the company of three grown men.

"Great, welcome aboard!" Tavin said, smiling at our new companions. "We can tie our boats together so we don't drift apart."

"Thanks, kid," George said as he called over to his brother. Greg got up, leaving the oars behind, and I couldn't help but notice that both men were taller than Tavin. "We've been starving for three days straight. We didn't have as many rations as we thought, and the trauma of the shipwreck left us too mixed up to think straight," George explained, while his brother nodded solemnly beside him, still silent.

"Oh, uhm, we've been trying to conserve our supplies as best as we can," Tavin said, his voice steady but cautious. He glanced at me from time to time, making me realize that we would definitely have a food problem especially now that two more people joined us, claiming to have no food left anymore. The thought of sharing our limited resources with these strangers definitely made us anxious and muddled up.

"We only eat one snack per day, if not one in two days, trying to save as much as we can," I spoke up.

The tension in the air was unmistakable as George paused and turned to face me.

"Oh."

I blinked up at the sudden tense silence that followed. George's expression became emotionless, with his eyes resembling that of a dead fish. He climbed into our boat, causing it to slightly sway. Tavin immediately stepped forward to stand in front of me, keeping a close watch on the man as my eyes followed his every move. George bent over our tarp, unbothered by our reaction, and inspected our survival and emergency items without saying a single word.

"Oh," he repeated, as he turned and met our gaze, "You've got quite a supply here. You won't last long with just this. You're going to need more than that if you want to survive out here."

I knew that Tavin was just as uneasy as I was about the shift in the mood. I nervously looked over at Greg, who was watching me closely, causing me to shift uncomfortably in my worn-out shoes. "We'll have to make do with what we have for now," Tavin told carefully as George slowly neared us with a pensive face. "Candace and I have been eating only one snack per day, as she mentioned earlier. We hope you understand that we will have to limit our intake now that two more have joined us."

"Understandable," George calmly said, before placing his hands on Tavin's shoulders with a smile. "Don't worry, kid. We have a solution for that."

Tavin relaxed under his hold, his eyes widening as he asked, "What's the solution?"

George only cast a small smile at us.

"This."

George's hands tightened on Tavin's shoulders before he abruptly hurled him to the right with a tremendous force, hurtling Tavin violently over the side of the boat and into the waves below with a sickening splash and a ragged cry, all in a blink of an eye.

"TAVIN!" My voice pierced through the air in a blood-curdling scream of terror after the suddenness of the attack left me frozen in shock for a few seconds. I gripped the edges of the boat as I frantically scanned the rippling water for any sign of him, my mind racing with fear. "TAVIN! TAVIN!!"

There was no sign of him.

Strong arms suddenly enclosed around my waist, causing me to stumble on my unsteady feet as I thrashed in the hold of my capturer as met the gaze of the man in front of me, "NO! LET ME GO!" I screeched at George as I tried to escape from the disgusting hold of Greg.

"Ah, how fortunate for me to finally have some pleasure AND food after being deprived for so long?" A deep and unfamiliar voice growled into my ear, making me shudder in fright and repugnance. "NO! TAVIN! TAVIN!" I attempted to stomp on Greg's foot, trying everything possible to escape.

"So sorry you had to see that happen, my dear," George cooed with a sickly-sweet smile, coming to stand in front of my struggling frame. "But I simply provided a solution to your food shortage problem as politely requested by your boyfriend!"

"How dare you! Let go of me!" I screamed, my eyes watering and my heart pounding in utter fear at the situation, while I glanced between the ocean and the men with panic-filled eyes which were filling with angry tears.

Greg's grip on my wrists tightened painfully as he menacingly whispered, "All you have to do is be my obedient girl, and we will feed you in turn. Otherwise, you can join your beloved in the ocean."

"You dare come to OUR boat and make deals with OUR own food?! I RATHER YOU PUSH ME BACK INTO THE SEA THAN MAKE ME STAY HERE WITH YOU!" I screamed in defiance, going out of breath as Greg held me with big and rough hands.

Save me, somebody, save me.

As if somebody heard my prayers, the sound of a splash reverberated in my ears, and I watched in shock as a hand protruded from the waters and grabbed George's leg with a snarl.

Tavin.

Losing balance, George was plunged into the ocean with a frantic scream, and Greg's hands momentarily loosened on me, and I took his shocked pause as an advantage to jut my head back painfully into his face. Without pausing to consider the jabbing pain in my skull, I scrambled over to the other side of our boat and quickly opened the survival kit, and directed the jagged edge of a utility knife at Greg.

The sounds of grunts and groans reverberated to my ears from the ocean, combined with the thunderous crashes of waves against the boat as George and Tavin engaged in a fierce struggle for survival. Tavin had the man in a chokehold and I felt the occasional splash of water hit my body as Greg and I faced each other, my heavy breathing and curls of hair plastered onto my face as I gripped the handle of the knife with a trembling but gritty hand. The boat wobbled from side to side dangerously as Greg neared me.

"Don't come any closer," I seethed, my voice wavering as Greg slowly inched toward me, a calculated expression on his face. In a sudden burst of fear, I leaned away and instinctively wielded my knife at him, letting out a horrified scream. My eyes widened as I heard him grunt, realizing that my strike had landed on his arms.

"You'll regret that," he bellowed, and I quickly retreated, falling on the hull and shuffling backward until my sweaty back was pressed against the wooden stern of the boat.

I fearfully cowered into a ball just as he raised his fists at me. However, before he could strike me, someone emerged from the waters below and charged toward Greg, tackling him to the hull, making our boat treacherously tilt to the ocean while I gripped its edge for dear life.

"Tavin," I breathed, tears of relief streaming down my face. Tavin landed a punch square on Greg's face. Water from Tavin's soaked body dripped onto the boat as the two men exchanged blows, each struggling for the upper hand. Tavin grounded his teeth as he seized Greg by the collar and pommeled him with punch after punch, shouting in a furious voice that I'd never heard from him before, "I'll never let you out of this!"

But the larger man quickly regained his ground and struck back by grabbing Tavin by the neck, almost lifting him off the ground. In a swift move, Tavin kicked Greg in the stomach, causing him to loosen his grip. It amazed me how Tavin had this much strength even after what went down with George in the ocean seconds ago.

I looked around me, at the ocean.

George was nowhere to be seen.

Don't. Don't think about him. Focus on the matter at hand first, Candace.

Breathing harshly through my mouth, I wobbled over to the edge of the rocking boat and jumped onto the one George and Greg had arrived in.

Gasping for breath, I frantically searched for their emergency and survival kits, and flung them onto our boat in a state of panic, sparing glances at the two men who were still fighting from time to time. Next were the oars. I grabbed the oars and leaned them against the stern of our boat.

By the time I had hopped back into our boat barely managing to fall into the ocean myself, Tavin had Greg tipped back towards the ocean over the edge of the boat. But Greg maintained his posture inside our boat, gripping the hair of Tavin painfully as he attempted to reverse their positions. Tavin was groaning in pain but he still didn't let go of Greg, as he struggled to hold Greg down.

With my eyes fixed on the pair, my hands frantically searched for the knife that I had dropped earlier. Gripping its handle with both hands shakily, I gritted my teeth and hastily scrambled up to my legs. I hurled the knife right at Greg, stabbing his arms once again that were gripping Tavin. "LET.HIM.GO!" I yelled as I struck his arm once more, blinded by the sudden rage and the frantic urge for survival.

Greg bore his wide eyes on mine, his brown irises desperate and petrified, so contradicting to his previous character while he had me in his clutches earlier. His grip on Tavin immediately loosened as he cradled his bloody arms. Tavin did not waste any time in shifting the groaning man over the edge of our boat with a loud grunt. I dropped my knife and rushed to assist him in lifting the resisting man and plopping him onto the ocean like a rag doll.

Panting harshly for breath, I didn't stop, "Help me! We have to topple their boat!"

We stumbled near their boat, my eyes on the flailing figure in the ocean who was trying to frenetically swim towards his boat. With great difficulty, we heaved and huffed as we gripped its side and overturned the boat flat onto the sea. Tavin immediately dropped back onto our boat, but my anxious eyes met with Greg who was flapping on the surface of the sea, "Pl-please!" he called out, "help me!"

I looked down at Tavin who was drenched and shivering on our boat. He was passed out, sending out occasional groans and hisses. I looked back at Greg who was thrashing on the waves. "Please, save me! I-I'm sorry! I will-" he sank beneath the waves before resurfacing for air. "I-I will do ANYTHING you say!"

I placed my hand over my heart and felt its racing beat, feeling breathless and exhausted like no other but I somehow slowly managed to grasp one of the oars. With great effort, I dragged it along the hull of the boat, my legs quivering and hands shaking as I lifted the oar with a loud gasp of breath.

Greg's eyes teared up hopefully as I extended the oar towards him. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" he chanted with a cry as if he was saved by God himself as he swam toward me with strained difficulty.

Before his trembling and bloodied hand reached up to hold the end of the oar, I looked at him from underneath my lashes and lowly glowered, "You must be crazy to think that I would show you ANY shred of mercy."

And with that, using all that was left of my remaining strength and breath, I raised the oar against the blue sky and bashed its edge right onto Greg's head with a roar that resembled a war cry.

The oar in my hands dropped back into the boat. I watched the last of Greg as he sank slowly, deep into the sea, never to come back up again, just like his brother.