Louie, Phil, and Mac are the only survivors of the crash. Phil suffers from a bleeding head injury while Mac and Louie are unharmed. Louie manages to secure two life rafts from the bomber, both of which are only “about six feet long and a little more than two feet wide” (103).

Louie tends to Phil’s injury and ties a makeshift tourniquet from their shirts. He then takes stock of their items. They lost the provisions box, but have a few tins of water and chocolate, along with their flair gun and dye, some fishing items, as well as materials to repair and inflate the raft. Most worrying for the men is their lack of water.

Even though he is the pilot and should assume command, Phil’s injury causes him to ask Louie to take command. Mac is in shock and frantic. Louie slaps him to get him to calm down, and he falls silent. Louie establishes rules regarding rations, with each man allowed two squares of chocolate and a few sips of water each day. He hopes to last a few days on what they have. The sharks that prod at the raft make their situation more precarious.

Louie considers the crash, unable to figure out why he had woken again after passing out, and how he had become untangled from the wires while unconscious.