The rising sun revealed five, unconscious young men drifting helplessly with the tide. A rope tied through each of the life jackets keeping them tethered together, preventing them from drifting apart. In the distance, waves crashing against a distant island shore could be heard only by the birds circling overhead.
Hours later, the five young men lay upon the sandy shore of the island�all were still unconscious�all were bruised�all were battered. A gentle, tropical breeze blew quietly over the figures. Such a change from the previous night, when the group was assaulted by heavy surf and pounding winds as their rented yacht floundered and sank along with the sparse crew.
�Sam�we�re going down! Get the boys up! Tether their life jackets together and get them into the lifeboat,� shouted the captain.
�Cap�the lifeboat has a hole in it. No way to fix it before we go down!� shouted another crewmember as more waves began to wash over the lowered deck.
�Move Sam!� yelled the captain as he rushed back to the control room of the vessel.
�Mayday�mayday�this is The Seadrift�mayday�mayday�we�re going down�5 passengers�4 crew members�our location is��
Meanwhile, below deck, the sleeping members of the music group Nsync were getting a nightmarish wake-up call.
�Boys! Get up now!� yelled Sam Carter, one of the four crewmembers of the boat that the boys had rented to do some overnight deep-sea fishing. Sam continued yelling as he went from bunk to bunk in the large hold of the yacht, waking each young man.
�What�s going on?� said JC, as he sat up in his bunk and stepped into water.
�There�s water in here man!� yelled a confused Justin, as he sloshed through the deepening water toward the stairs leading up to the deck of the yacht.
�Out boys! Get out now!� Sam was busily tugging at Joey�s arm, attempting to push the young man toward the stairs. Lance and Chris silently followed Joey up the stairs, trying to remain calm in the terrifying situation.
�Put these on�like this�yeah�you�re doing great boys!� yelled a different crewmember as he quickly tethered the boys together with a 50-foot piece of rope.
�Why are you tying us together?� yelled Joey in an effort to be heard over the shouts of the crewmembers and heavy winds that were growing stronger with each passing minute.
�I�m keeping you guys together�so no one gets lost,� replied the man calmly, trying to lessen the fear that the boys must be feeling.
�What�s happening?� called out Lance, his voice not quite as calm as he had wanted it to be.
�Are we going down? Does the Coast Guard know where we are?� questioned Chris as he lifted his arms above his head as the crewmember looped the rope through his jacket.
�We�re going down. I�m sure the captain has notified the Coast Guard. I want you to stay here. Don�t get too close to the edge of the vessel until someone tells you to.�
Five heads numbly nodded. Each was too afraid to speak. Chris, who was standing to the right of Lance, grabbed the blonde�s right hand with his left. Lance continued the chain by grabbing JC�s right hand, who in turn grabbed Joey�s, who finally grabbed Justin�s hand. They looked at each other with frightened eyes then Lance bowed his head and began whispering a prayer for everyone�s safety. The rest of the group took his lead also praying for their safety as well as that of the crew.
Moments later, the boys watched the frenzied activity going on about them. Another crewmember rushed up to the group and thrust a large container at them, before lashing it to the remaining rope that hung from Chris� side.
�It�s got water and food in it. There�s also a search beacon and navigator. It will float�don�t worry.� The young man quickly clapped Chris on the shoulder before returning to the control room of the vessel.
With the vessel beginning to list, the young men struggled to stay upright. Then, in the blink of an eye, things began happening so swiftly, that no one was prepared for the aftermath. From overhead, a loud cracking sound was heard. At the sound, all heads turned to look up to see the tall mast snap in half. The broken portion plummeted toward the deck of the vessel at an alarming rate before anyone was able to move. Suddenly Joey felt himself being pulled out of the path of the falling object, only to lose his footing, slamming his forehead against the deck as he pulled JC down with him. JC, unable to prevent his own fall, also struck his head on the deck with a dull thud.
�Joey! JC!!� screamed Justin as he was also pulled down to the deck since Joey was tethered against him. Fortunately, he was able to protect his head from hitting the boat�s deck then crawled to JC and Joey�s sides. .
�Are they okay?� yelled Chris as he felt his own feet slipping on the wet deck as Lance made a grab for his arm, holding him up.
�I don�t know�I think so�they�re just knocked out�what do we do?� shouted Justin, his voice panic edged as he stared up at Chris and Lance.
At the same time, the boat�s captain came rushing out of the upper cabin having seen what had happened to two of the young men.
�Get them up�get them up�it�s time to go over the side boys!� he shouted as he rushed to the boys to guide them to the edge of the deck.
Justin and Lance quickly bent over and lifted Joey off the deck as the captain and a crewmember lifted JC�s limp body. With Joey�s lax form between them, Lance and Justin then moved toward the edge of the edge of the rapidly sinking boat, as did the Captain and crewmember who were holding JC in their arms. Chris lowered himself into the water first and reached upward for JC�s limp form as it was lowered into the water. Joey was then quickly passed over to the Captain and crewmember, who held his body as close to the water as possible as Justin and Lance lowered themselves into the sea. Both boys reached for their friend and helped to gently lower him into the choppy water. A third crewmember lowered the supply container into the water and quickly retreated from the group.
�Their life jackets will keep their heads up out of the water. Don�t worry boys�don�t worry. There�s an island about 4 miles to the west. Keep the rising sun to your backs�� he yelled, pointing in the direction that would hold the rising sun in a few hours.
�What about you?� Lance shouted. He didn�t think that they would be able to survive without any of the crewmembers being with them.
�Don�t worry about us�we�ll catch up with you,� the Captain yelled in a choked voice, knowing that what he was saying was a lie. He knew that he and his crew would not survive the night. �I�ve notified the Coast Guard and the navigational equipment in the container has been turned on. You�ll be found�you�ll be okay.�
�Swim boys�don�t look back�swim!� shouted the Captain as he watched the group begin their desperate swim away from the sinking vessel.
�God speed boys�God speed,� the older man whispered before returning to his crewmembers. Minutes later, the vessel sank beneath the surface of the water, taking the crew with it leaving the five members of Nsync alone in the vast ocean.
The warm breeze continued to gently blow over the five young men as one of them finally began to wake up from his stupor. Dazed and confused the young man managed to raise himself into a half-reclining position.
�Where am I,� he thought as he tried to sit up completely, but felt a weight pulling at the right side of his body. He looked in that direction and discovered that there were others lying beside him at about 8 foot intervals. Recognition did not take place at that moment, but he could recall that something had happened�something terrible had happened, but what it had been and who these people were beside him was something that was not registering. He felt as if he should know them�for goodness sakes, he was tied to them. He looked upon each of the faces that he was able to see from his position.
The young man beside him had dark hair and appeared to have a large bruise along his forehead. Just beyond the dark haired man was another man with dark hair�slightly larger than the first, but he was unable to see his face since he was lying on his stomach, facing in the opposite direction. There was a blond haired man lying just beyond the second dark haired man. He was lying on his side, his face hidden from view. Finally, the last individual was lying face up, grimacing in pain as he was struggling to sit up, his face bruised and scraped. As the first young man watched, the memory of the previous night�s events suddenly fell upon him with such ferocity that he immediately developed a blinding headache. He reached up to touch his head and felt something sticky. He brought his hand down into view and noticed that there was blood smeared across the palm of his hand. He felt blackness threatening to consume him as he heard a low moan followed by a voice�
�Justin�where are we?� before the darkness swallowed him whole.