Chapter 2

Forcing herself to remain, she had broken the surface. Everything was a blur. She welcomed air into her lungs. and frantically searched for more gasping heads to appear out of the waves. She had frantically spun in the water for countless minutes, praying for a sign of life.

Nothing came.

Terror balled into the pit of her stomach as she realized the light emanating behind her was not a sunset, but a burning ship. The ship that was supposed to be carrying the first load of waste, and doubled as her temporary headquarters. The ship that was supposed to rescue her and her colleagues from the nightmare that nearly crushed them.

She didn't want to think about what happened shortly after that instance, but she couldn't stop her mind from playing the horror film that was her reality. Luckily, something had caught her attention and brought her back into the present. Stowing the memory away, Juba focused on the sound and frantically tried to find its origin. Cawing of birds. Birds meant a boat, or land, or something that wasn't driftwood. She had eaten the last bit of food she managed to find from the wreckage, and had run out of drinkable water the day before. She was strong to have even gotten this far, but was questioning how much more she could take. The birds were a glimmer of hope.

Large enough to support her weight, she wobbly stood up on the driftwood and circled around until she saw it. Something dark in the distance that made her heart skip a beat. It was too far away to tell what it was exactly, but it was there. She was sure of herself. Shimmying back down, she plunged into the water. Holding onto the wood, she kicked her feet in calculative strokes. Trying not to over exert herself, while also going as fast as she could. She had hoped the currents were in her favor while also praying that if it was a ship, it was coming her way.

She fatigued rapidly from improper nutrition, and she knew it. She refused to stop. There was an opportunity to survive and she would gladly be uncomfortable for a little while to ensure that. Hours seemed to pass and when her legs couldn't kick anymore, she pushed herself onto the raft. It was approaching sunset and she needed to dry off if she didn't want to freeze overnight. She stood up again to her progress. To her satisfaction, she had gone much further than she thought she would. Juba had slightly veered off course but not enough to frustrate her. Another few hours of pain would bring her to the land she could now easily see that was brimming with life. Juba wouldn't sleep tonight. Her blood flowed with adrenaline. Her heart raced with hope and excitement. As the sun settled behind the horizon, the air became cooler, and she settled into her warm ball for the night. Facing the island, she didn't take her eyes off of it.

-

Lack of sleep caused her eyes to droop every now and again, even while furiously kicking her legs. She was practically there. She allowed her body to relax, but stayed in the water. The waves slowly carried her and the raft to shore. She crawled up the sandy beach in pain. Her muscles tired and ready to give out. When she thought she had gone up the beach enough to be safe from the tides, she collapsed from exhaustion. Sweet sleep overtook her instantly.

-

When Juba woke up, daylight had gone and stars filled the sky. By how clearly she could see the constellations, she could tell there was no sources of light pollution nearby. She had seen this few times before on expedition nights she couldn't sleep. It comforted her somehow. She knew she was still alive and breathing. Unsure of how long she had passed out, she looked at her surroundings. The track she made dragging herself up the beach had long gone, the tide had smoothed the sand back to its original form. Glad to be out of the ocean, she dug her hands into the sand and lifted them into the air. She watched as the small grains tumbled back to the ground.

For once, Juba felt at peace. There were no people around. She didn't have to answer to anyone, and she was her own person. It was hard to feel this way in her line of work. Saving the world from the background didn't exactly have the best perks. It had taken her entire life to get a job as important as diving into the great Mariana Trench. She had told herself it was what she wanted, and what the world needed. Truly though, it was a lie. Her brain did what it had done best throughout her life and chose a logical path, rather than what her heart desired.

"I knew I should have been a farmer." she sighed to herself. "Then i wouldn't have gotten myself into this lovely predicament."

Standing up and brushing her pants off, she turned to the dark trees behind her. She could hear the loud shrill of bugs echoing in the night. "Yeah. Fuck this." She said frustratedly. She didn't want to know what sort of venomous bugs or animals lurked in the shadows. She told herself to follow the beach until there was a river going inland. She just needed to decide which way. Left or right? When she was paddling to the island, parts of it looked elevated. She supposed that would be her best bet and would get a good idea of her surroundings. Right was the winner.

She started walking, ignoring the rumble in her stomach and dry, crackling throat. She kept the woods a good enough distance away to be able to defend herself, or run, if anything decided to attack. You can't be too careful, she thought to herself. She couldn't help but wonder if she was the only person on this island. She chuckled at the cliche thought. "Oh no! I'm a damsel in distress! Who will ever save me!?" She imagined herself a cartoon character flailing around frantically looking for her knight in shining… sailboat.

At least she still had her imagination. Juba was a mentally tough woman. Doing nothing to help herself was the worst possible thing to do. It was the equation for failure, and she stayed far from it. She prided herself in that, and credited it for her success. Though she wished otherwise, this situation wouldn't be any different.

Continuing towards higher ground, Juba occasionally checked her surroundings. She had hoped to see something useful that could have washed up. Shoes would be glorious, but she knew that wouldn't happen. She would need a lot of materials and tools to even make them out of island findings. Which brought her to her next thought. Where was this island? Are there really no people here? It was hard to believe for her. She would need to give the island a name, because there was no way she would just call it that the whole time.

As the sun began to rise, she welcomed its warmth and pondered over the thought. She replaced letters in words, mashed others together, and finally it oozed from her lips.

"Wouk Island"