Orion

You come to your senses with the sharp, burning taste of salt on your lips and the roar of the ocean surf. Every cell in your body aches with dull pain, and your wet clothes cling to your skin, sucking away the last of your warmth.

Memory brings back fragments of the nightmare: the deafening sound of tearing metal, the panic on deck, the icy black water and the storm that tore your ship to pieces.

Spitting out water and somehow rising onto your elbows, you look around. The ocean's endless expanse, the shoreline strewn with debris, and the dense, impenetrable jungle that reaches right down to the white sand. No sign of civilization.

A few meters away from you, half-buried in wet sand, lies another survivor. The only one besides you who hasn't sunk to the bottom.

You slowly crawl closer, breathing heavily, and touch his shoulder:

"Hey... Can you hear me? Please, wake up!" Your voice breaks into a hoarse whisper, and your throat is coated with salty spray.

The man sighs heavily, winces in pain, and slowly opens his eyes. His gaze—cloudy, confused—gradually focuses on your face. It's Orion. The captain's mate, who hadn't spoken more than a few words to anyone during the entire voyage.

He sits up abruptly, leaning on his hands, and immediately clutches his ribs, growling dully from the flash of pain.

“You...” Orion coughs, spitting out the water in his lungs, and looks around at the empty shore. “Damn. We made it. Are you okay? Is anything broken?”

“I don’t think so... Just bruises,” you shake your head, pressing your trembling hands to your chest. “Where are we, Orion? Where are the others? Is there really no one else...”

"Don't think about that now," he interrupts harshly, but despair briefly flickers in his dark eyes. He rises heavily to his feet, holding out his hand to you. "We didn't have time to send out an SOS. As far as the world is concerned, we're at the bottom right now. So get up. If we don't find fresh water and shelter by sunset, the night will finish us off."

You take his hand, feeling his calloused, but unexpectedly strong and warm palm, and take the first step along the unfamiliar shore...