"Shay!" she gasped. "You’re– you’re bleeding!"

Jodi Lerner

There were no questions… no "what happened" or "how did I get here".

Only the burning need to survive.

Jodi kicked hard, but she didn’t move. It only took her an instant to realize why: she was still sitting on the airplane’s seat, resting neatly at the bottom of the ocean, strapped in securely with her seat belt.

She reached with her hand and pulled the metal clasp away from her body.

Nothing happened. The damn thing was stuck.

Jodi calmed down, mustering all her self-control in an attempt to remain calm. It couldn’t be stuck, she thought. She was just being too forceful.

She tried again. Nothing happened.

Fuck restraint. She had to get out of here fast. Her lungs were on fire, and she desired nothing more than to breathe through her nostrils or just open her mouth, even when the rational part of her brain was screaming to her that it would be suicide. That painful thud behind her eyes was pounding worse than before, and she knew that it was just a matter of seconds till she passed out on this watery tomb.

Jodi was now yanking the clasp with a fury she hadn’t thought she was capable of, kicking her legs against the sea bed. Once, twice, three times.

On the fourth try, the clasp finally gave in. She felt the belt release her as she slowly started to rise. She was about to kick her legs and rise towards the surface, when she remembered she had not been alone in the plane.

Tom.

She looked down towards the seat that had been her trap just three seconds before. Her entire aisle was there, but there were no bodies in any of the seats. What had happened to Tom?

Jodi looked towards the light and kicked hard, her tired arms reaching upwards towards the surface. It wasn’t much of a distance – only 10 feet or so – but at this moment it seemed like she was sitting at the bottom of an abyss. And she was not quite sure she was going to make it.