Stranded - Chapter 02

STRANDED

Chapter 2: The Island

They never really knew what happened or what they did under the influence of the mushrooms.

When Adam woke up after the blackout, it was completely dark outside, the wind had seriously picked up, it rained and he had no idea where he was.

It took him minutes to understand that he was stark naked on the damn motorboat.

The engine had stopped.

Aside from the waves, it was complete silence.

“Jonas?” He called in the night.

His first conscious thought was a damn scary one.

What if his best friend in the world had jumped off the boat while he was high?!

They had been so stupid!

He could not believe himself.

Adam straightened up, his head spinning. He had to refrain from throwing up.

Hours had passed since his last memory.

“Joe?” He called again.

The wind was strong, and the waves were muffling his screams.

Adam freaked out.

He tried to stand up, but he could not, the boat was swinging too much and maybe the mushrooms were still having some effect on his brain.

He was so damn pissed at himself.

“Adam?”

A voice muttered behind him.

What a relief!

Jonas was alive and well.

Adam turned around and he saw his best friend, naked, clearly disoriented, but unharmed.

“No, don’t try to move, Joe. Stay there.”

“Where… Where are we?”

“We’re on the motorboat, we… We must have passed out after the mushrooms.”

“What? I… I don’t… Where are we?” Jonas repeated.

“In Peru. Bro, remember? We rented this boat?”

He stayed silent.

Maybe he did not even know who he was anymore.

Adam crawled towards him, grabbed his friend, and took him to the center of the boat, where there were less risks for him to fall over.

“Hold on to the seat, okay. I’ll try to get us out of here.”

Jonas nodded yes.

There was a big wave, - the strongest so far -, they got wet and they felt the boat about to turn over.

Adam was terrified, Jonas simply seemed lost.

The dentist found a flashlight under a seat and finally, he could see a bit more clearly.

What he saw only made him more afraid though.

An immensity of nothingness lay before his eyes.

The ocean was dark as the sky, no stars could be observed, - it was way too cloudy -, and more importantly, no land in sight… No matter which way he was looking.

Everything looked exactly the same.

How far had the boat gone before losing all its fuel?

The only thing Adam knew was that, at this point, the engine was completely dead.

He could not get it to start again.

They were doomed to keep drifting.

After the flashlight, Adam searched in their stuff. A part of their clothes was missing but he found two life jackets and his phone in a pair of shorts.

The ironic part was that he had no service.

If only he could have texted his wife!

Not giving Erica any news was no longer funny.

*

The longest night of their respective lives began.

Adam was holding onto the boat to stay on board, checking on Jonas who was slowly coming back to himself, and praying for the best.

Mario had been right about the damn weather.

After hours of drifting away, right before the sunrise, the storm really kicked off and it became a nightmare.

They both put the life jackets on. Adam forced it on Jonas.

“I’m sorry, Adam… This is all my fault… I… I’m so sorry.” Jonas realized how much danger he had put them in.

“Just hold on, Joe. We’re gonna be fine.”

“We… We’re so far away from land.”

Adam kissed his best friend on the forehead.

Truly, he was not mad at him.

Sure, Jonas was a daredevil but precisely, Adam’s role in their friendship was to be the cautious one.

He had failed to manage his best friend’s recklessness that day and they were both suffering the consequences.

None of them wanted to die there, in the middle of nowhere.

As they felt like the boat was about to break and/or to sink, they held on tightly to each other.

The rain intensified.

The frost was freezing cold and sharp, in complete contrast to the very warm temperature during the day.

Adam and Jonas were shaking, their naked bodies entwined and their heart beating together like one man.

The sun rose but because of the strength of the storm, the day was not much brighter than the night.

Thunder was lighting up the sky occasionally, only then, they could really see their frightened faces.

Each new wave seemed more threatening than the last.

It turned so bad that parts of the boat started to detach.

The stern on the back went first in the depth of the Pacific Ocean.

The drifting became unbearable, and in the midst of Adam’s plight, he noticed the first leak in the boat.

It was a trickle, a thin stream of water seeping in through a crack near the side, but it was enough to send a chill down his spine.

They were seriously fucked.

It was like a downsize version of Titanic without the iceberg but with two naked men wearing nothing but a life jacket instead.

Adam was looking at the leak like a bad omen.

It was a problem, but the real issue was that they were completely lost and unable to reach out to anyone.

Despite the tremors, they might be somehow able to float above the water thanks to the life jackets, but then what?

Sure, they might not drown right away, but what would they do in the middle of the damn ocean by themselves?

Adam had been trying to stay strong for Jonas, to be the voice of reason while they drifted aimlessly through the storm at night, but it was becoming harder to keep his own fears at bay.

The soft glow of the pre-dawn light was barely visible through the dense cloud cover, and Adam could not slow the racing thoughts in his head.

They must have drifted so fucking far.

He was petrified, like he had never been in his life.  

The loud thunder made the whole thing feel even more apocalyptic.

“Adam, we need to do something!” Jonas yelled in his ears.

“Joe… I… I don’t know… I… We’re screwed.”

The boat cracked right in the middle as he said that. The seats broke.

Since his best friend was paralyzed, Jonas decided to act.

First, he dislodged the largen wooden box attached to the structure of the boat.

He pulled it away with impressive strength, damaging the hull even more, detaching a large piece of wood.

The whole thing was collapsing anyway.

“We’re sinking, man, we need to hold onto something together or we’ll lose each other in the sea.”

“I don’t wanna lose you, bro.” Adam replied with a disheartening sincerity.

“Don’t just stare at me, come! We’re gonna have to jump.”

Jump in the raging ocean?

The mere idea seemed absurd.

“Maybe the boat will hold on…”

"It won’t, Adam! Look around you, that’s over!”

“But… We… We’ll die.”

Jonas pointed towards the horizon, his voice barely audible over the howling wind and crashing waves.

“There’s something there!”

Adam squinted, his eyes straining against the relentless rain and salt spray.

At first, he saw nothing but the endless expanse of water. He blinked away the stinging droplets, his legs and arms shaking as he scanned the dark horizon once more.

There, in the distant haze, was a faint smudge of brown, dark and green, the edge of an island, nestled in the vast emptiness of the ocean.

Adam's heart skipped a beat.

“You think that’s an island? Are we really seeing this?” Adam asked, his voice filled with a mixture of disbelief and relief.

Was it a mirage?

He needed reassurance from his friend.

“Yes, it’s definitely a piece of land! Now, we’ll just have to make our way there!”

Easier said than done. The boat was sinking for good.

Their bare feet and calves were already completely submerged.

Sure, there was an island somewhere in the distance, but how the fuck would they get there?!

The reality of their situation crashed down around Adam as the realization that the sinking boat was dragging both of them with it hit him.

“Joe, this is way too far!”

Adam yelled over the storm.

He looked at Jonas, unified in an implicit understanding and fear.

What if we cannot make it?

What if we drown?

What if I die?

Was if I lose you…

There was no time for words or thoughts; Jonas was already in action.

“Gimme your hand, we’re going to jump! NOW!” Jonas shouted.

He stood at the edge of the boat, nude as the way he was born, his cock swinging under the storm.

What a sight.

“Fuck…”

“Just like we always used to back in college!” He added.

Back then, they used to meet at a well-known creek, they would climb on top of the rock and jump in the lake together.

There was no other choice anyway.

Jonas threw the large piece of log he had detached from the boat in the raging sea, it did float, and he extended his arm to his friend.

Adam quickly grabbed his hand and they both pushed off from the boat, into the wild sea.

They were ready for the worst, and the worst happened.

It was daunting.

The motorboat completely cracked as it sank behind them, only seconds after they had jumped off.

Sorry Mario…

They managed to grab the makeshift raft, although, very much like in Titanic, they could not both fit on the wooden surface.

They hoped that they would not meet the same fate as Rose and Jack.

Luckily for them, the water was not that cold, and they managed to stay afloat thanks to the life jackets.

Adam’s arms and legs worked hard as panic pulsed through him, his heart pounding against his ribcage like a thunderstorm.

He was not very efficient in sticking to a direction.

Jonas, on the other hand, was a machine, carving through the water with his large muscles, stroking hard, turning into a beast.

It felt as if that accident was the whole reason why he had been working out all his life. He had been prepping for something like this!

He was not just a gym rat; Jonas had real strength and stamina.

He would survive this and he would save them both!

The personal trainer was trying to direct the piece of log they were both holding onto toward the miraculous island.

Every few seconds, he called out to Adam.

“You got this, man. Keep moving.”

Just like in the gym, he was his personal coach.

Adam repeated the mantra in his head, his muscles burning as he pushed through the relentless waves.

He did his best and they were making progress. The floating device helped.

The current was rather in their favor, but sometimes and very suddenly, the storm was pushing them back the other way.

They had to do it all over again.

His wrist burnt, Adam let go of their tiny raft for just a second and he was propelled backwards.

Jonas did not realize it and he could not hear his friend pleading for help, his powerful strokes cutting through the water with a determined rhythm.

When he looked back a minute later, Adam had already disappeared from his sight.

A wide and uncontrollable panic ran though Jonas’ core.

“Adam! No! Adam… Bro! Please… Where… Where are you?”

Another wave washed over him but then, he spotted the white life jacket, already far behind.  

He immediately let go of the floating log and with a massive stroke, turned around and started to swim back to Adam.

Thank God, Jonas was an athlete and an excellent swimmer.

Meanwhile, Adam was struggling as he felt himself overwhelmed by the waves. He truly saw his life coming to an end.

He was ready to give up when Jonas reached him, and Adam felt his strong and reassuring arms supporting him.

Incidentally, Jonas’ large cock was pressed against his waist.

After much effort, they had gotten closer to the island but now, it was just them against the sea and they were losing the battle.

The shore was so near that it was incredibly frustrating.

Their chance of survival was right there, but still out of reach, they could no longer swim towards it.

“Jonas, I… I can’t… I can’t make it.” Adam mumbled, swallowing salty water as he spoke.

“Don’t say that. We have to keep going.”

“No… You can swim… I… I can’t keep up…”

“Shut up! Shut the fuck up! I’m not leaving you behind.”

Unable to move any further, they remained there, arms wrapped around each other, carried by the waves one way and then the other, sometimes approaching the island, sometimes being dragged away from it.

They were at the ocean’s mercy.

Jonas was holding on to Adam. He would never let him go.

The only certainty was that they would either make it together or die together.

This was probably the worst moment or their entire life and the moment they had been the closest to death… and to each other.

They stayed in the water for a few hours, nearly three hours in total although they lost any notion of time.

At some point though, they realized that the ocean's fury began to abate.

Jonas was barely conscious.

Adam was seriously dizzy but when he understood that he was no longer being aimlessly dragged by the water, he came back to himself.

It was their chance!

They were left with calm waters and a much clearer view. The sky was not so cloudy anymore. Daylight! And right there, not so far away, white sand!

Adam had always hated sand.

No longer though.

“Joe… Wake up, bro…”

He slapped Jonas’ face to get him back.

They were both exhausted, but Jonas had not completely passed out.

He semi-opened his eyes and he looked around.

“The… The island.” He muttered.

“Maybe… Maybe we can swim… The storm brought us closer to the shore… We… We can make it, I think.”

Adam did not dare to hope too much.

Jonas fully woke up and he gave his best friend a big smile. He also kissed Adam on the mouth.

“Yes, we can!”

The peck was a first, and completely unexpected.

They would never mention it again; it happened in the frenzy of the moment.

Jonas could have very well hugged him or kissed his cheek, but Adam’s pinkish lips were the closest thing he had.

He was so relieved.

“Man, I’m so beat up though.”

“Adam, we have to let go of the life jackets to be lighter and give this our best shot. Okay?”

Adam nodded yes.

Jonas grabbed his buddy’s face.

“Bro, we have to use the last surge of energy we have within us. We must or we die!”

“I know…”

“I won’t leave you behind, okay? And you don’t want me to die, right?”

“Of course, not, what the fuck are you saying?”

“Then, you better swim and you better keep up!”

Adam was trembling.

“Yes. We’ll go together. We’ll make it.”

And this is exactly what they did, they got rid of their life jackets and they swam in the calmer ocean for more than twenty minutes, until finally, they reached something which looked like the shore.

The whole time, they relayed each other and supported one another.

They were completely drained but the island was closing in on them.

They were actually making it!

From afar, they had seen a part of the island that looked like a beach, but still submitted to the current, they reached a volcanic rock first, it was scraping against their bodies as the waves pushed them onto this side of the land.

Adam reached first and he started to climb his way out of the water.

He lied against a rock to breathe but the moment to rest had not come yet.

“Argh!”

A chilling guttural scream.

Adam straightened up; Jonas was bleeding out, a foot down away from him.

“Man, what’s going on?”

“Aaaah… Fuck… I cut myself.”

His friend’s being hurt was the only thing which could have made Adam moved after that much effort.

He reached down to Jonas.

“Where are you hurt?”

“I don’t know, the wave pushed me a little stronger than I thought against the… Aaargh.”

Adam made him turn around to check his waist and muscular back.

Jonas was bleeding on the side of his abdomen.

The cut was not very deep, but it needed to be taken care of.

The problem was that the guys were literally stark naked on an uncharted and visibly uninhabited rock.

They could not really call a medic.

“Joe, we need to go over this part so we can reach the beach on the other side. I’ll take a look at your wound there. It’s too shaky and unstable here.”

The slope was very steep and unpracticable. They were walking on stones, pebbles and all kinds of rock.

Adam’s soles were scratched and his feet bled as well.

“Sure… Ah, fuck…”

“Beware, don’t hurt yourself more on the way!”

Yet, they were still better off on land than they were in the ocean.

From this point of view, the sea looked great though.

The sun was piercing through the clouds, the ocean was light blue and peaceful again.

The walk to the other bank was tedious and painful but the boys managed it, once again, helping each other out every step of the way.

It took them a good thirty minutes but they arrived on a secluded beach.

The island was a stark contrast to the serene beauty of the ocean, its surface was a stark mixture of dark, jagged rocks, with wild, tangled vegetation, and the occasional patch of sandy beaches.

The island was not that small, but it was apparently in the middle of nowhere and its difficult landscape made it hard to domesticate.

Adam and Jonas collapsed onto the shore, their fit bodies aching, exhausted from the ordeal.

Jonas lay on his back, staring up at the blue sky, his chest heaving as he struggled to catch his breath.

He turned his head to look at Adam, who was propped up on one elbow, scanning their surroundings with a certain sense of awe.

He was bruised but relatively fine, he then attended to Jonas.

“Let me take a look.”

“How bad is it? Really?”

“The bleeding has stopped; that’s a good thing… If we were in a hospital, that’d be nothing at all. I could even stitch it up myself. The cut is pretty shallow.”

“Okay, great… So, we wait for someone to come rescue and…”

“No. It could take hours, what we need to do is to use salt water to sanitize the wound first.”

“Okay, doc.”

“We need to drink too… We must be dehydrated.”

“I’m sure there must be a fresh source of water with that vegetation behind us.”

Adam nodded.

“Yes, I think so too… Don’t move though. Just give me a minute to collect myself and I’ll take care of you.”

“You’re the boss.” Jonas smiled to reassure his best friend.

Finally, Adam let himself down and he lay in the sand as well.

“Fuck, we’re alive man!”

In the end, he needed more than just a minute to move again. He let the sun warm and dry his wet body.

It had been the most intense experience of his life.

After a little while, Jonas turned to Adam, a grin spreading across his face despite the circumstances.

"Well, that was an adventure!" He said, his voice tinged with a hint of manic laughter.

Adam could not help but chuckle in return, the adrenaline of their near-death experience still coursing through his veins.

“You're a mess, but you'll live.” Adam said, trying to keep his tone light.

Jonas looked down at his body, speckled with cuts and scrapes, only his magnificent cock seemed intact.

Thank goodness, the girthy anaconda had survived the crash.

“Yeah, maybe, but I’m a hot mess!”

Adam, ignoring the quip, began to tend to Jonas' wounds.

In all fairness, there was no lie there. Even in this state, the P.T. was hot as fuck.

Hell, he would look even better with a scar to show off how much of a baddie he truly was.

Adam helped his buddy walk a bit closer to the ocean to have an easier access to the saltwater.

“Let's get you cleaned up; it will sting but we have to disinfect these cuts.”

He gently washed the scrapes, and he pressed his hands over the gashes to help stem the bleeding.

He knew that the cuts needed a more thorough medical attention, but for now, this was all they had.

It was funny how the guys had lost any inhibition.

They had spent the last sixteen hours doing the wildest things, completely naked, and they were now completely desensitized to their respective nudity.

Adam's meticulous hands after years practicing as a dentist moved with a tenderness that belied their rough appearance.

He poured more water over the gashes, the liquid trickling down Jonas’ arm, waist, and groin.

Jonas did not say anything, nor did he show any discomfort, he felt a shiver run through him, not from the cold or the pain, but from the gentle care he was being shown.

Adam's hands, strong and capable, pressed firmly over the wounds one last time, his fingers pushing against the skin with a steady pressure that seemed to hold the very essence of life.

His breath was soft, his eyes focused on the task at hand.

He too was hot.

“We have to keep the wound clean from now on.”

“Thank you, bro. Really. You saved my life.”

“And you saved mine.”

“When do you think people will find us?”

They stared at the ocean lying endlessly before their eyes.

“We cannot be that far away from the mainland… Someone must be coming soon.”

“Yeah… I think so too.”

On this, they were wrong, but they did not know it yet.

At the very least, they were together.