In spite of his name, Waters had an aversion for the stuff; he had never learned to swim and never wanted to. Weighted down by his bag of pills, there is no telling what would have happened to him (though one could guess) if he hadn't reached out his hand and grasped a handful of fur. Desperation made from necessity caused him to retain his hold, even when he realized that it was a dreaded dog that was towing him to safety.

When they reached a sandy shore, he dragged himself up to a drier spot, and looked at his rescuer. "Ah--hrrrummph!" he began. "I suppose a measure of thanks is in order...." His grudging gratitude evapourated as the large dog shook herself with great enthusiasm.

"Well now, they said that wouldn't happen ever again," came a familiar voice at his elbow. "Come, Mr Walters, let's go join that group of castaways over there. Hey, everyone," the stewardess called brightly. "Glad you all made it safely. Welcome to...well, wherever we are. By the way, my name is Molly Brown--the unsinkable, you know."

Grace leaped into Dan's arms and for a brief moment his daughter was his world. She was safe!

But then his mind was awhirl with questions even as the girl refused to let him go. Where was Angie? Was she all right? How could the ship just fall apart like that? Where was this island, and would they have food and water until rescue came?

That last gave him something to focus on. He had some experience in the wilderness even though after Grace was born the outdoor activity tended to be car camping in local parks.

"That's a good point, Twig's, about splitting up the party. Piling luggage here as a marker is a good idea. But I think we can safely send people out as long as they follow the shore because then they can always get back. We can wait to explore inland."

"We'll also need fresh water." He gestured to the jungle that seemed to cover the interior of the island. "There must be something watering those trees. Maybe we will find a stream or river running to the ocean."

He reached for his back pocket where his phone was. Not surprisingly, he'd lost it in the frantic swim toward shore. "Oh well, that would have made it too easy," he said with a groan.

He glanced at his watch and then the sun. "We should have a little time to check for survivors close by, and to gather driftwood for that fire. Right now, I've got to look for my wife. I'll be back in about half an hour. Any of you are welcome to join us. I'll send any survivors this direction."

Just then Mr. Waters and the stewardess, who'd introduced herself as the unsinkable Molly Brown, arrived, and Dan delayed his departure just long enough to see what news they might have.

As soon as Dan Baxter mentioned his missing wife, Faye knew that there was no more time for planning. She briefly acknowledged Molly and Mr. Waters - such chipperness and sullenness did not belong in such close proximity to each other - before saying, mostly to Dan, "Having one person go off alone seems dangerous. First rule of a rescue is to not become a victim yourself. Given how many people are showing up here - possibly due to the currents - I think it might be best after all to split up. A contingent can stay here to meet other survivors and start prepping camp, and the rest of us go searching."

Faye glanced at the group at large, but focusing on Molly as the most likely candidate. "Does anyone else know CPR or have any other medical training? If we have more than one, having one in each group would be useful in case we run into anyone who needs medical attention. Otherwise, I'm planning to go with Dan. All of us got here with little more than bruises, so this seems to be a relatively safe part of the island. I think I'd be more valuable in the search party." She glanced at the St. Bernard that joined with Molly and Mr. Waters, and added dryly, "A dog in the search party seems like a good idea, too."

Arriving on shore, seeing that Mr. Waters could move about on his own, Mel shed as many pounds as she could be giving herself a thorough shake. Water flew everywhere in a satisfying whirlwind and then ran down the beach and back into the sea in miniature rivers.

Some splashed the fastidious gentleman--not that it would have mattered, since he hadn't even tried to dry himself out--and Mel was a little sorry she'd made him (more) uncomfortable. It never failed to astonish her how few people understood the simple pleasure of vigorous movement.

She wriggled again, a little less enthusiastically this time so that there was only a light shower of water droplets, and attended to what was being said in the larger group. Mel barked in response to Faye's suggestion. "I'd be happy to help! Back home I did search and rescue all the time; some of it is bound to be applicable."

“I have CPR and First Aid training,” Twig’s said. “I can stay here and start setting up camp as long as someone stays with me. I am not staying her by myself.” The last sentence was firm with a hint of teacher voice. “Dan, if you want, I can watch Grace.” Twig’s knew that she would be calmer and worry less if she had someone to look after. Although, she looked at Mr. Waters, he might do just as well as a child. “I can’t believe I volunteered to stay behind,” she thought, “I always said that if I ended up in a situation where someone was to stay behind it would not be me.”

Xandria shifted uncertainly.

"Um, most of my training is related to dealing with sports injuries, so I'd probably be better with the hunting for folks stuff. I'm good with going out the opposite way from, um, Dan, and taking a look that way."

Molly surveyed the party with a semi-professional eye.

"Yes, I'll go help look for any strays, if you like. Nothing like rounding up a few more guests to join the party. Oh, no, I'm not concerned about the rest of the passengers," she replied to an unspoken question. "Captain Yorick Knott has piloted more than one craft through a shipwreck. He's an expert!"

She looked over at Waters, who was hunched over his stock of pill bottles, making sure that none of them had gotten damp.

"Toodle-oo, Mr Walters! I'll be back soon."

"Waters! Waters! Waters!" he bellowed, not looking up.

"Yes, yes," the stewardess called soothingly. "We will all get something nice to drink just as soon as we can. All right, then," she glanced around. "Are we ready to go?"

Faye was a little embarrassed when the dog started talking - she probably should've expected it, but it hadn't occurred to her until it was too late. Still, she was too focused on the task at hand to think of that now.

Somehow, sticking together had now turned into talk of splitting into at least three groups. Dan was clearly eager to go, and in fact was barely waiting until they were ready. Faye sighed, and decided to just roll with it: "All right, I'm thinking that Dan, Molly and I should go together. Dan, I know you want to keep looking, so if we find any other survivors, Molly or I can walk them back here and the rest of the group can keep going if we haven't found your wife yet." She glanced at the unidentified woman and the dog and said, "I'm sorry, I haven't caught your names yet, but I think it best if you two go the other direction together. Your -" here she motioned to the St. Bernard " - expertise should help make up for the fact that there are only two of you."

She turned to Twig's and the miserable Mr. Waters, and the much more composed Grace, and added, "You three will have to hold down the fort. We'll be back soon." 'I hope.'

Dan looked up from comforting his daughter; she seemed relaxed enough now that she wasn't all alone with strangers or people she'd just met.

"That sounds like an excellent idea, Ms. Brixton. I don't think choice of direction is crucial right now, so I suggest we go in the same direction Grace came from. There might be more survivors there."

He crouched down to Grace's eye level again. "Some of us are going to look for other people, including your mom. Can you stay here with Ms. Twig's for me? That way I'll know you're safe."

Her relaxed demeanor vanished. "I can't come with you?"

"I know you want to find Mom too. But look at all the people who came ashore here. Maybe she will too."

She was quiet a moment but something in her dad's voice told her how serious this all was. "Oh, all right," she finally said, giving him one last hug.

"Thanks for watching her," he said to Twig's.

I'm just glad we left Emma at home. The thought of their two-year-old in those crashing waves was almost more than he could bear.

"Sorry, I'm Xandria, that's Mel," Xandria said when Faye asked. "I'm sure we'll be fine. Um, right, Mel?"

She looked over at the large dog, hoping for her assent, and crossing her fingers in her pocket against anyone else deciding to join them. She kind of wished everyone wasn't so set on protecting against stragglers, since she was fairly sure she would do better on her own. It seemed swimming would probably be in order, and she wasn't comfortable with the idea of showing off for an audience right now. Still, if she had to, Mel had always seemed to be the understanding sort, and she was a talking dog, after all.

Twig's was not pleased that the group was splitting into 3 groups. She was less pleased that she was stuck with Mr. Waters. “You're welcome,” she told Dan. Twig's walked over to Grace. “I understand you want to go with your Dad. It is hard to have to wait. Do you think you can help me? We need to collect the luggage that is nearby, collect firewood, and I think I have seen some coconuts. That way we will be ready when people get back.” Twig's glanced at Mr. Water. “Maybe we can even get Mr. Waters to help.”

"Of course we'll be fine," Mel reassured Xandria. From what she'd seen so far, the landscape was rough but not treacherous, and she hadn't smelled anything large.

Mel turned to the Baxters. It was never easy to know what to say to the family of a missing person, and in this case Mel was fond of Angie as well. She woofed softly and sympathetically. "We'll do everything we can to find Mrs. Baxter."

Search and rescue parties had a checklist of equipment and basic supplies. Neither team looked like they were walking out with more than the clothes on their backs, and there wasn't much more in the luggage that had washed up. Twig's seemed to have taken charge of the base camp, so Mel had one last suggestion before they left. "Try to find something to use as blankets. That'll be useful if we find anyone worse off than ourselves."

"Even if there are any that wash up, they're probably all going to be just as wet as we are," Xandria said quietly, then turned and began walking with Mel. "So, have you ever done water rescues before, at your lake?"

Dan appreciated Mel's kind sentiment about helping find Angie, but was a little uncertain about the proper protocol in dealing with talking dogs. Was petting them or scratching behind their ears -something their own dog liked - the right thing to do, or an insult? He settled for a simple, "Thanks, Mel."

Grace had no such concerns. She wrapped up Mel in a big but brief hug, then shyly backed away before turning to Twig's. "Firewood? I can do that. We always have a fire when we're camping."

"Stay close, and listen to what Ms. Twig's says," Dan reminded her. "Blankets sound like a good idea, but all I've seen so far is a lot of wet luggage. But I'll keep my eyes open just in case."

And with that he followed Faye out of their makeshift camp.

"Jeffery, I swear to Hades if you dare say it I'll cut your tongue out."

"Say what?" Jeff asked, snickering only a little as he assessed the situation. When the cruise ship broke apart the cealing of their room had caved in and Ainsley's leg had managed to become pinned beneath a rather large and imposing wooden beam

"You know what."

"I don't know what you are talking about but I'm going to try and lift this beam. I'm gonna need you to move out from under it, okay?"

Yeah, I'm probably in beginning to go into shock, to be honest because the pain isn't anywhere near where it should be."

"Either than or you're actually a robot. On the count of three, okay?"

Ainsley rolled out from under the beam, just in time too because Jeff wasn't able to hold it up for all that long.

"How's the leg?" He asked, handing his girlfriend a life jacket.

"Its been better, it's been worse. At the very least it's fractured."

"Lets get to shore before you start feeling it again, aye?"

"Too late, but that's still probably a good plan."

After several hours of floating, swimming and fighting the tide, Ainsley and Jeff made their way to the beach.

"Ainsley, guess what?"

"Jeff-"

"I told you so."

"If I wasn't so tired, I'd end you right here and now."

"I know."

"You know how to splint a leg, right?"

"Do it, we need to find the others."

"Yes ma'am."

"Don't call me that." Ainsley replied through gritted teeth.

After a half hour or so of slow, tedious walking on the shoreline, they two survivors spotted one of the search parties, two individuals heading down the beach towards them, one of whom was very obviously a dog, the other a humanoide.

"Heeeey! Some vacation, ain't it?" Jeff called out to them while enthusiastically waving his hands.