Desert From Mearaí Island

One

  The first thing I notice is the heat blazing painfully against my skin, followed by the sounds of crashing ocean waves and seagulls squawking dangerously close by.

I start to think.

Where am I?

My brain decides it's time for me to open my eyes.

My eyes open wide with a sharp gasp, and for a few moments everything is blurry, but after a few blinks I can see the clear blue sky above me.

"Aah." I groan in pain as I slowly sit up; all of my muscles are sore and weak as if my body hasn't moved in days.

When I sit up straight, the first thing I notice is the dark green and brown ocean in front of me. My brow furrows at the sight of the disgustingly polluted ocean; it appears that oil and waste have been polluting it for a long time.

When I hear a sharp gasp to my left, I slowly turn to see where it's coming from. To my surprise, I see a woman in a loose white jumpsuit gasping for air and slowly pulling herself upright while groaning in pain. She scans her surroundings disorientingly and breathes shakily until she lands her gaze on me.

We exchange puzzled looks for a few moments, and I notice her curly hair in a low bun and freckles on her tanned round face. We hear another gasp followed by two more just as she seems to be about to open her mouth to say something.

Three audible gasps spread across the beach one by one. When I turn around, I see two other men and one woman dressed in white jumpsuits and black combat boots waking up and scanning the beach with puzzled expressions.

Looking down at my legs, I realized I was also wearing the white jumpsuit with black combat boots, and on the top left there was a logo with a manta ray inside a thin circle, and I couldn't help but wonder.

What the hell is going on?

As we all stare at each other, I realize we're all too afraid to stand up or say anything to each other, so we just sit on the hot sand and stare at each other.

Someone needs to get up. We can't just sit on the beach; I need to find out what's going on.

So I wait a few more seconds until I can wiggle my feet and feel relieved that they have feelings. Then I slowly raise both of my legs to my chest and carefully stand, and my muscles feel like they're on fire with every movement.

I groan in agony as I finally stand up, wobbly. It takes a few seconds, but I eventually balance myself without falling over.

As I turn around to face them, everyone looks at me quietly for a few moments, until the woman who awoke after me begins to stand up to her groans of pain. It didn't take long for her to stand up, and then the others in the group did as well.

So, now we have to figure out what's going on and how we're going to get out of here.

The woman with a round face and freckles starts walking toward me, and then everyone else follows suit.

"Uh?" The woman with the freckles attempts to speak, but I can tell her mouth is dehydrated based on how dry her lips are.

From the expressions on everyone's faces, it appears that we're all dehydrated and in desperate need of water.

"Does...anyone know...what's... going on?"
I ask slowly, my deep hoarse voice vibrating in my Adam's apple.

They all shake their heads no and look at me expectantly as if I have the answers.

"Does anybody...know...where are we?"
I inquire as I scan the deserted island; there doesn't appear to be any other land around us, and this island appears to be a jungle.