Shipwrecked

THREE

 Okay, so this chapter gets a little dark at the end, but that's the intention.
Hope you enjoy!

- Emma :)

......

Never having been one to sleep through an entire night, Jason found himself waking up, in what he assumed to be the middle of the night, with his head resting lightly on Howard's shoulder. Lifting his head up, he found that Howard was still asleep, his mouth open slightly and his head to one side. Smiling briefly, Jason carefully rolled over and sat up, noticing that Gary, too, was asleep. He looked around in the darkness of the cave they had found to shelter in, trying to find any sign of Robbie. A moment later, he could see the familiar silhouette of his friend sitting just outside the cave. From what Jason could see in the near pitch black, his friend was staring out at the vast beach before him.

Knowing full well what was most likely keeping Robbie from being able to sleep, Jason slowly got up, being mindful of his friends, trying not to wake them, and made his way over to where Robbie was sat.

He clearly sensed or heard that someone was coming as Robbie turned his head to face behind him, before turning back to face his vast surroundings.

"You okay, mate?" Jason asked as he took a seat next to Robbie on the cold sand. He, too, looked out at the vast nature of their surroundings. He was in awe of the beauty that the island presented, but knowing that they were stranded here with one of his friends still missing, the thought of beauty left Jason's mind as quickly as it had entered.

"Can't sleep," was all that Robbie said. Jason just nodded; he knew it didn't need explaining.

"Why don't you try? You'll be more awake at sunrise then." Jason suggested. It was a long shot, he knew, but it didn't stop him from trying.

"I've tried, but it's no use. I'm too worried to sleep." Robbie replied honestly.

"I know, but you're not going to find him while tired, are you?"

"Jay," Robbie said, choosing to ignore Jason's comments and not argue about the issue of him not being able to sleep. "Tell me honestly: what happens if we don't find Mark?"

Jason looked down at the sand below him. He had been thinking the same thing for a while now, but not wanting to say anything; not when there was still some kind of hope that they would find Mark. They had only been here... what? A day? There was still a chance that they would find him. The only thing was, and it had been bothering Jason for a while now, what if Mark wasn't on the island? He wasn't the only one to have asked the same question either.

"I don't know, Rob, I honestly don't." It was the truth after all. If they didn't find Mark, then he had no idea what they would do – none of them did. They would have to leave without him (if they ever got rescued, that was) and they would never find out what had happened to him. That thought alone was enough to make Jason want to get out there and start a search for Mark. The only problem was, with his ankle still on the blink, it felt, and the fact that sunrise was still a few hours away, all he could do was wait until morning and wait until Robbie and Gary got back from their search – hopefully with Mark in tow.

"I'm scared."

"Me too."

"He's out there somewhere and we have no idea where he is or how he is." Robbie said. "He could be injured somewhere, scared and all alone, and yet we have no idea where to even begin looking for him.

"Rob, there's also a chance that Mark might be fine and just ended up on the other side of the island." Jason told him, trying to be the voice of reason. He didn't necessarily believe what he was saying himself, but someone had to try and keep the faith up. If not, then they didn't have a hope in hell's chance of finding Mark.