Deep Water

Shane feels strong enough to check the lifeboats, and finds more bottled water, along with a working battery-powered lantern and some chocolate and energy bars. He also finds an EPIRB, a satellite signaling device, but the batteries are dead. The lifeboat battery is also dead. Next, they explore a dark and musty storage room as well as an office, and find that the papers are dated 2012, suggesting that the rig has been abandoned for five years.

They continue exploring upstairs and find a lounge room with some canned foods, and Julie takes a can of peaches. As they continue, she starts to feel nauseous from the thick, musty air deep in the rig. They head outside at the top of the rig and find a helicopter pad.

They rest on the helicopter pad, and Julie opens the can of peaches, but they are spoiled. Julie and Shane continue exploring, hoping to find food and a place to sleep. Julie finds a can of cashews and they eat them as they continue. They find a lounge with windows, and open them to air it out, planning to return and sleep there later. Shane finds a map, so they get a feel for the layout of the rig. All the food they find is spoiled, and no electronics have power. They return to the lounge, lay on the couches, and sleep.

Julie wakes to her throbbing hands, and has Shane pour alcohol on them again before rebandaging them. Shane listens to her tell the story of how she climbed the rig and lifted him with the winch, and he thanks her for saving his life, saying that his dad probably would have left him. They talk about leaving the rig in one of the lifeboats but decide it is too risky. Unable to sleep, Julie walks outside and thinks of how otherworldly the rig feels, and how far she is from her parents.

Julie remembers happy times with her parents, particularly a day when they visited Fort Morgan together to fish and picnic. Her parents had seemed so close at the time. When Julie returns to the lounge, Shane encourages her, saying her hands will get better and that they will be rescued. Julie, however, feels doubtful.

In the early morning hours, Julie wakes and marvels at the complete silence around them, without even the buzz of insects. When Shane wakes, he helps Julie put on her dive booties and they go to explore the other lifeboat, finding more chocolate and energy bars. They also explore a dark, wet-smelling room that seems to stretch in all directions, and they find the generator that powers the rig. Neither one knows how to start it nor if it would even be possible, so they continue their exploration.

On the second deck, Julie and Shane find bedrooms with mattresses, sheets, and pillows. The rooms still contain some personal belongings, and they both feel a sense of eeriness looking through the rooms. They find powdered Gatorade, and watch the sun set from the helicopter pad that night while eating chocolate and drinking Gatorade. They can see a storm in the distance, one of many that have been visible in their time on the rig. Shane apologizes for being “a wimp” (187) when things went wrong on the dive. Julie reassures him and talks about how Mother Nature cannot be controlled or tamed. They also discuss the possibility of fishing if they are not able to find any more edible food on the rig. That night, Julie’s sleep is full of nightmares that she cannot escape.

After her nightmare-filled sleep, Julie is anxious to hear Shane’s voice. She wakes him up and they go to the helipad and make an SOS sign using orange spray paint. They check out the derrick of the rig, Julie tidies cleans the room they have been sleeping in, and Shane finds some fishing equipment. When they try to catch a fish, the line breaks, so they tie a laundry basket to the winch and use it to haul up a fish that bites Shane’s hook. The fish is a Jack Crevalle, and particularly bloody, but they fail to start a successful cooking fire. They each eat a few pieces of raw fish despite its bloodiness.

Shane and Julie set pots and pans outside to collect rainwater, knowing their bottled water supply is limited. After exploring the entire rig, they do not have much food or any ideas about how to get help. Julie keeps track of the passing days on a calendar and knows a week has passed since they first reached the rig. Boredom is hard to escape, and Julie and Shane spend time talking and playing checkers to break the monotony. They both talk about their parents and grow in friendship.

Water is plentiful, but food is not. Julie feels unmotivated to do much besides eat and drink each day, having given up finding anything helpful on the rig. On day 13, they eat the last of the chocolate and energy bars and try fishing again. This time, Julie cuts the fish into strips and hangs them in the sun to attempt to dry the meat. Their only working lantern starts to run low on battery, so they string ropes to help them find their way in the dark, shutting off the lantern to conserve battery. This makes the evening hours even more monotonous since they cannot walk around or play checkers. They taste the partially dried fish in the morning, and it is edible—finally it seems they have a solution to their most pressing problems.