Build A Thousand Fires (Original Group Story)

My head feels incredibly heavy, and I feel pain in every part of my body. Water rolls over my legs, but the top half of my body only feels slightly damp. I sit up, despite the pain, and look around.

My eyes are foggy, and I try my best to blink out the seawater. I see the expansive ocean in front of me. I quickly pull my legs out of the water, bringing me up farther on the shore. I'll never swim again, never. I bring my hand up to my face, and watch as dry, pale yellow sand falls from in-between my fingers.

I look up and around frantically. I'm not in the ocean anymore? I look behind me so fast I feel a sharp pain in my neck. The sandy beach seems to be curling around a rain-forest for miles.

I stumble to my feet. My legs feel like jelly and I can hardly walk. I look around at the beach, and my eyes are caught on a figure on the shore, not moving. I run forward as much as I can, my legs feeling a bit better. I have no idea how long I haven't used them, but they seem to be re-awakening. I look at the person in the sand cautiously. It's the blonde girl. Her hair is strewn across her face and her arm is still looking quite bad, but I don't think she's dead.

I try to remember how to do this. CPR, I think we learned it in high school swim class. I put my hands in the center of her chest and push down, fast, over and over again until I've done it 30 times. I think that's the right amount. I then pinch her nose and tilt her head back and cover her mouth with mine, blowing twice. I sit back and watch, and after a second goes by I'm afraid I did it wrong or something, but then she suddenly coughs and sits up, water bubbling from her lips. She leans over and retches, more water coming out of her mouth and onto the sand. She looks over at me, eyes wide. I feel large amounts of relief. I'm not alone.

She attempts to move herself higher up on the shore, but she groans when her arm is moved. She looks at it curiously. "What happened to my arm?" She asks in a scratchy voice.

"You hit the top deck of the ship, really hard." I say, my voice just as terrible. "I think it's broken or something."

She shakes her head. "No, it's not that bad. It's dislocated. You're going to have to push it back into place if it's going to heal."

I look at her, mildly horrified. "Isn't that going to hurt, a lot?" I ask, backing up slightly.

She shrugs. "Yeah, but it'll hurt more if it grows back like this." She moves her arm slightly. "What's your name?" She asks.

"Maria." I say, not bothering with my last name. "You?"

"Cecelia." She says. "...But I prefer Cece."

"Okay, Cece, how do I do this?" I ask.

"You just kinda... shove it back into place. I'll need a splint or something, probably the best you can do around here is a bit of a branch and some vines to tie it." Cece says, gesturing to the forest with her head.

"Okay." I say, getting up. "Don't, like, go anywhere." I say stupidly, and run towards the forest. The trees aren't exactly the ones you'd find in the jungle, they're like perfect palm trees you'd find on a resort. Where even are we? Hawaii? Who knows. I pull a few sturdy strips of bark off a tree and pull some heavy grass out of the ground. The best we can do for now. I run back to Cece and hold her arm. I grit my teeth and shove it back into her shoulder. I hear a sickening pop noise before Cece screams. I quickly bring up the bark and the grass and tie it around her upper arm.

She is groaning, but I think she's relieved. "Thanks." She breathes. She looks around. "Did you see anyone else? From the cruise?"

"No." I reply faintly. "Everybody went below decks except for, like, four other people."

She's about to reply, when we hear somebody calling from way down the shore. I hear things like "Help!" And "Anybody!". I glance at Cece.

"Are you good enough to get up?" I ask her. She nods, and stands up shakily, clutching her arm. We make our way down the shore, until finally a figure comes into view. A group of them, four to be exact. Two girls and and two guys. Cece and I rush forward, and they turn to look at us. When we get closer, I can see it's the Asian girl with the red highlights, the black-haired girl and the guy with the ponytail, and Kenneth.

"Hey, Maria!" Kenneth yells, coming over. He looks relieved to see someone he knows. He looks at Cece. "How's your arm?" He asks, looking at her shoulder.

"Fine." She says. "Maria put it back in it's socket."

Kenneth looks at me, surprised. I shrug. He gestures to the others. "Charley, Sariya and Pheonix." I nod to all of them. "I'm Maria." I say. "And this is Cece."

We all kind of quietly greet each other, and then are silent. We move to the wider side of the beach where Cece and I washed up and sit down. It's beginning to get dark. Who knows how long we've been drifting in the water. We'll have to get some sleep, probably just on the beach. We have no other options.

None of us say anything as we just start to go to sleep. We can't, really. We'll figure things out tomorrow.