Everything was spinning. Wisps of color blended together into one dizzying picture, and Matt struggled to stand on his own two feet. Beside him, he could hear Ben and Shay but the creaking sound of the plane was louder than anything else, and the black smoke was leeching into the plane faster than ever. Somehow, Matt managed to make it out, his expensive boots sinking into the soft sand and then uneven sensation almost caused him to fall. The spinning wasn't getting any better, and Matt was starting to worry that it would never stop, that he had done some kind of damage to himself by hanging upside down for so long. The fresh air was a relief, though, a welcomed change from the toxic fumes that had been seeping into the plane and slowly killing him and the rest of the survivors. 

In front of him, Matt's hands managed to find a tree and he hung on and tried to steady himself when the plane finally exploded. There was a loud banging sound, and the residual heat came at them in one big wave. Debris was spread out all over the beach, drink carts, luggage, seats, body parts, and the inner mechanical workings of the plane itself would soon be washed away by the sea. There was a ringing sound in his ears now, and combined with the dizziness, Matt needed to sit down. He sunk to the bottom of the tree and focused on breathing and praying that he wasn't now deaf.

The tree was a little more than the length of a football field away from the plane, and Marcus knew that he and the others would be safe, but the explosion was still damaging and he too had the ringing sound in his ears. This wasn't the first time that something like this had happened to him, and the former soldier was just glad that all of the survivors had made it out of the plane on time. The same couldn't be said for Laura, and Marcus was heartbroken. In the heat of the moment, he had been able to act, but now that the knowledge of being the only survivors was starting to sink in, he felt hollow and empty, and almost wished that the crash had killed him too.

There were no words to describe how relieved Maya was to see that the others had made it out, and even though the situation was still tense, she could relax a little. The sand beneath her was soft, and the man that she and Marcus had carried out of the plane was finally calming down. It was her hip that required attention now, the pain was intense and came in waves, rolling through her leg and up her side every handful of seconds. In the back of her mind, she knew it could be days before they were rescued, and she didn't want to be useless to everyone else in the mean time. There was no choice, the bone would have to be put back into the socket manually.

“I think it's dislocated,” she answered Ben, and shared Shay's sentiments of being at a loss for what to do. “I'm Maya,” she added, cringing from the pain. “Why wouldn't they know? We crashed here, planes have radar...” she reasoned, although nothing was guaranteed and Maya was also worried that they would be stuck there and forced to fend for themselves. 

After getting sick in the bushes, Matt had finally come back to reality. The spinning had finally stopped, and the ringing in his ears had died down slightly, at least enough to hear the names of the people he was currently stranded with. “I'm Matt,” he offered. “I don't think there's anything left, I mean,” he nodded toward the smoldering wreckage, one fire still blazing by the tail, “look at it.” The plane was a lost cause, and Matt couldn't think of anything that could be useful when it was all burned up and blasted into little pieces.

“I'm Marcus,” said the large man, getting to his feet once more. “We're going to have to wait until the fire goes out to get back into the plane, but there's plenty to salvage from the beach.” They would have to build a fire, something for the rescue crew to see no matter what time they came, and the lush greenness of the jungle behind them provided excellent foliage for creating lots of smoke. “We can start a fire after we fix your hip,” he said, nodding to Maya. “And we'll need shelter. Do any of you know anything about survival, or medicine? Any doctors or nurses with me?” He chuckled in vain.

Maya paused, “I'm an interior designer...” She didn't know the first thing about being outdoors, or camping, or making a shelter out of whatever the hell they could find on the beach after a plane crash and unless someone had a lighter, she didn't know how to make a fire. She looked to Ben, and then to Jack and Shay, wondering if they knew anything about what Marcus wanted. 

“I don't know anything about that,” Matt shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “I'm a photographer. What about you?” he asked, looking to Shay. She looked sort of like a nurse to him, or at least someone who knew what she was doing when it came to their various injuries. Maybe that was a stupid assumption. “Is this guy the only one who knows what he's doing?” The question was rhetorical, but it was obvious that Marcus couldn't do everything for them. 

Marcus had already assumed his position as their leader and it felt natural to him. “Jack? Ben?” he asked. Even if Jack didn't have any kind of experience, he was a big guy who could still be useful. He didn't know what he was supposed to do with an interior designer and a photographer out in the wild.