Part 1 : Reborn in Water

John opened in his eyes in horror. It was easy to panic when one is submerged in water. Bubbles flooded all around his vision. The last thing he remembered was placing on the yellow oxygen mask as the plane was being ripped apart. Now he was floating in the ocean. He still even had the mask around his neck.

He quickly looked up and around to see where the bubbles were heading. They were going up. He began to move his arms and legs, heading for the surface. As he floated up, he took a brief look down. It was the rear of the plan. It was plummeting into the depths of the ocean. Even more to his horror were two people still in their seats. He couldn’t tell if they were moving or not. John desperately wanted to help them but the pain his lungs told him otherwise. He quickly swam to the surface.

John burst his head from the water, gasping for the precious air. He looked around and noticed there were at least seven other people in the water with him. Quickly he looked around and cried for join when he saw an island wasn’t that far away. “Swim for shore!” he cried, “Swim for shore!”

Two people heard his call and started to swim. Others were still panicking. John grabbed a young black woman and forced her to look at the island. She started to swim the moment it was in her visual range. The others tried to swim as well. John was growing tired. If he didn’t start swimming now, he would never make it. “Which way is it?” someone screamed.

“Huh?” John replied, turning around.

“Which way is the island?”

John saw the source of the question. A man, not much older than him, was floating near him, with several shards of glass in his face. “Oh, my god,” he whispered.

“Sir, I need you to quit gawking at my face and tell me which way the island is!” the man screamed.

John swam over to the wounded man. He grabbed him by the arm and twisted it around toward the island. “That way!” he gulped.

The wounded man then took a deep breath and started to swim. John began to swim along side him. He admired the man for not panicking over the fact that he had a face full of glass. He decided to swim with him until they reached the island.

The two men continued to paddle through the water. The waves were getting roughing. The more they swam, the closer they got to the island. John continued to pump his body, but his strength was quickly leaving him. He never gave up in his life and he was certain he was not going to give up now. The man besides him had a bad face wound and he was still swimming. How could he give up when this man could not? “How close are we?” the man asked.

“Not too far now.” John coughed.

“You still with me?” the man demanded.

“I’m here. I’ll stay with you till the shore.”

“Hang in there, my friend. We’re gonna make it!” the man grunted.

“My name is John. John Riggs.”

The man started laughing, as he swam. “What is so damn funny?” John asked.

“I thought we’d wait till we got to shore for introductions but if you insist, I am Tony. Tony Largo.”

“Nice to meet you, Tony.”

“Likewise. Keep swimming, John.” The wounded man insisted.

The two men swam for all their might. As they swam, John twisted around as he heard someone struggling. There was a woman in trouble. She was thrashing around, trying to regain her swimming but failing. “There is a woman in trouble over there!” John screamed.

“Can you get to her?” asked Tony.

“Yeah!”

“Go, John!” Tony replied, “I’ll be fine.”

John left his new companion and swam as hard as he could to the struggling woman. He took a gulp of water and swallowed it to keep moving. By the time he got to the woman, he went underwater. John grabbed her by the wrist pulling her back up. “Go limp, I got you!” he said.

The black woman did what he ordered. She coughed and allowed him to pull her toward the shore. John gritted his teeth, as he could feel the burning in his muscles. He never worked this hard in his life. Swimming wasn’t even his chosen profession. After a few minutes, he finally felt his shoes hit the wet sand. He started to walk, feeling the waves strike him from the back. The black woman held onto him as she finally started to walk as well. John felt sick. He needed to rest. They finally walked out of the shallows and down to the beach. The black woman collapsed, getting her clothes covered in wet sand. John collapsed onto his knees and looked around.

There was a section of the plane half on the peace and halfway on some crushed trees. A handful of people were running around. Some were screaming and others were helping the wounded. There was unfortunately a large group of people, lying on the beach and they were not moving. John’s thoughts went to his friend Ramon. He was in the plane with him but he couldn’t see him any where on the beach. A blonde girl ran past him, screaming and holding a wound on her arm. An old man couldn’t stop coughing. John was still flabbergasted and only one thought quickly leaked into his mind.

How the hell did they survive?