EXT. OCEAN - NIGHT
NATHAN SPRIGGS, 47 year gray hair and stubble, stands on the deck of a fishing boat smoking a cigarette and drinking whiskey from the bottle.
He gazes out to sea, lost in his thoughts. The boat all of a sudden stops moving, tossing Nathan onto the deck. Creaking metal and screams from within the boat throw Nathan into a panic. The ship tips forward like the Titanic and begins to sink.
Nathan bolts to the nearest raft and cuts it loose. Without hesitation he jumps off the ship into the raft. He uses the oars to put distance between him and the wreckage.
He stares as the ship sinks beneath the surface, panting from his near brush with death.
NATHAN
What the hell happened?
He squints his eyes to get a better view of what the boat ran into, nothing but open sea. He shivers as he searches the raft for supplies. In a floor compartment he finds canned food, bottled water, a flare gun, and blankets.
Nathan grabs a blanket, wraps it around himself. Bubbles surface where the ship sank. A tear rolls down his cheek.
NATHAN (CONT’D)
Father have mercy on you, mates. Had I not a calling for a smoke I mighta been swimming with you now.
Nathan lies down in the raft and tries to fall asleep.
EXT. RAFT - DAY
Loud bang on the side of the raft, Nathan wakes up. He sits upright and peers over the edge. Nothing. He looks around the open ocean.
NATHAN
Shit.
He goes to the floor compartment and sifts through it again.
NATHAN (CONT’D)
Gotta be a compass in here. Or at least some damn whiskey.
He comes up empty handed.
NATHAN (CONT’D)
Curse the man! Who forgets a compass on a life raft?
Nathan stands up to the edge of the raft and pees into the water. He stares into the ocean as he does so and sees a large mass swim beneath him. Startled, he jumps back.
NATHAN (CONT’D)
Just a shark, mate.
Hesitatingly, he steps towards the edge again and peers over the side. Moments pass and nothing is seen.
EXT. RAFT - LATER
Nathan is using the oars to row the raft. Out of breath, he brings the oars into the raft and sits for a moment.
He reaches into the chest pocket of his shirt and removes a photograph. Nathan looks much younger in the picture, natural brown hair, clean shave, as his arms rest around a blonde woman with a wide smile, and a young boy.
He fumbles around in his pocket and removes a pack of smokes.
NATHAN
Ah, a habit I don’t have to live without just yet. Thank You.
He smiles as he lights the smoke and stares back at the picture. He rubs his finger across it.
NATHAN (CONT’D)
I'm so sorry.
His eyes water up.
NATHAN (CONT’D)
God I’d give anything to see you guys again. My wife, my son. I’m stuck in the middle of the ocean with no real hope of ever seeing land again and all I can think about is how dumb it was to choose the bottle over you. Please, wherever you are, know that I love you and forgive me for...
A scratching noise pierces the bottom of the raft, starting from the back and slowly working it’s way to the front. Nathan stares down, his eyes, terrified, following the sound.
The scratching stops once it reaches the front of the raft. Nathan sits petrified. He peers over the edge of the raft and sees nothing in the water.
NATHAN (CONT’D)
Relax, Nathan. It was probably a fish. Or a shark.
Nathan puts the picture away, picks up the oars, and rows.
EXT. RAFT - NIGHT
Nathan finishes eating canned food and tosses it into the water. He stares at the floating can for a moment and turns away to grab some water.
He rubs his temples and looks back at the floating can.
NATHAN
I need a drink.
A loud noise emerges from beneath his raft. It’s a moaning, gargled sound so loud that Nathan sits frozen. The moaning reaches the surface just as the can is sucked beneath the surface . A loud splash on the other side of the boat sends drops of water on top of Nathan.
He spins to see rippling water. The moaning dissipates.
With trembling hands, Nathan grabs the oars, places them in the water, and rows as fast as he can.
NATHAN (CONT’D)
Twenty years on the sea and I’ve never heard that kind of sound. Perhaps it was a dying whale.
He feverishly rows for a moment.
NATHAN (CONT’D)
But the can and the splash.
He rows with intensifying speed. His breath grows heavier with each pull of the oars. The moaning begins again from behind the raft. Nathan looks over his shoulder.
He looks to the front and rows as fast as he can.
NATHAN (CONT’D)
Complete coincidence. A dolphin jumping out of the water caused a splash and...
The moaning reaches the surface with ear piercing intensity. The sound of something swimming on the surface quickly approaches the raft.
NATHAN (CONT’D)
I’m fine. Just keep rowing.
Nathan’s voice trembles when he speaks. The moaning is so loud that he can no longer hear himself. As it nears the raft the moaning turns into a high pitched scream, a scream a woman might make if she was being brutally murdered.
The oar in Nathan’s left hand is sucked into the water. With a moment of dread, Nathan gasps. He brings the other oar inside as fast as he can.
His breathing intensifies as a loud scratching noise moves along the bottom of the raft. A small hole is punctured in the bottom and water slowly begins to trickle in.
Nathan rushes to the storage and searches through it. He comes back with the flare gun and a small cup. He places the cup over the hole in hopes of stopping the water. It fails.
NATHAN (CONT’D)
God please help me, please.
A splash of water from the side of the raft. The screeching abruptly stops. Nathan slowly turns his head towards it.
Sticking straight out of the water is a thick, slimy tentacle. A moment later and another splash from behind the boat. Another splash, and another.
NATHAN (CONT’D)
What the fu...
A tentacle flops towards the raft just as Nathan ducks out of the way. Other tentacles begin swinging in his direction with hopes of knocking him overboard.
The moaning starts up again with monstrous horror. Nathan fumbles with the flare gun before getting it loaded. He pops his head up just enough and fires the flare at one of the swinging tentacles.
The flare strikes its target. The tentacles all retreat into the water and the gargled moaning turns into a whine and retreats. With his head down he tries to regain composure.
He checks his pants and realizes he wet himself.
NATHAN (CONT’D)
If you want me, just take me!
Nathan lies his head down and slowly falls asleep.
EXT. RAFT - DAY
Nathan is lying down in the raft looking at the picture of him and his family.
NATHAN
Please God, help me get through this.
He rubs his finger across the picture and puts it away. He sits up in the raft and reaches for some water. Off in the distance he sees a ship approaching.
NATHAN (CONT’D)
Hey! Over here!
Nathan stands up and waves his hands back and forth over his head. The ship grows closer and closer. He stops waving his hands a reaches for the flare gun. He fires in the air towards the ship.
EXT. RAFT - LATER
NATHAN
Hey!
Nathan’s voice is growing hoarse. The ship is within distance now where they can see Nathan’s raft. A horn on the ship blows in acknowledgment of Nathan’s cries.
NATHAN (CONT’D)
Oh thank you, God! Thank you.
The loud moaning begins and quickly approaches the surface.
NATHAN (CONT’D)
No, no , no!
Just as the words exit his mouth, the raft is violently pushed off of the surface, into the air, sending all the supplies and Nathan over board.
Nathan fights to reach the surface after he lands. Tentacles pop out of the water and smash the overturned raft. The ship sounds the horn in the distance as Nathan scrambles to reach the broken raft.
The tentacles retread into the water. Moments later the ship is stopped dead in its tracks. Nathan watches as the large tentacles spring out of the water and wrap themselves around the front of the ship and drag it down beneath the surface.
NATHAN (CONT’D)
No!
Nathan stares petrified as his rescue slips away. The moaning begins again.
