Hours later, Hannah, Jackson, and Emmy fail to start the boat’s motor—the fuel gauge reads empty, though whether the tank is dry, ruptured, or malfunctioning is unknown. When Emmy tries asking Ben through the bathroom door for advice, he refuses. The three attempt to bail the cabin with buckets but barely lower the water level. Emmy raises repeated concerns about a hull leak, which Jackson dismisses since the water has held steady since the storm ended.

Emmy goes below and returns with fruit snacks and the discouraging news that the captain kept almost no food on board. Hannah suggests rationing the limited supplies and worries that they may run out of food within days. She privately panics about their dwindling chances of survival, given their lack of propulsion and limited provisions.

A recurring impact against the hull leads Hannah to investigate. The broken mast and boom trailing beside the boat are repeatedly striking the fiberglass and could eventually wear a hole in it. To remove the mast remnants, the waterlogged sail must first be cut free. Hannah pulls out Ben’s knife and, despite Jackson’s protests, insists on going in as the strongest swimmer. Jackson tightens a safety rope around her waist, and she jumps in.

Hannah methodically cuts the sail loose while Jackson keeps tension on the fabric from the deck. While she’s submerged and cutting the final section, a wave tips the boat, snapping the damaged mast. The broken section and sail slam into her and drive her beneath the surface before she can take a breath. Entangled in the sail and attached to the falling mast, she’s dragged deeper into the ocean.

Pinned beneath the fallen mast and tangled in the sail, Hannah is dragged deeper. The safety rope has caught on a jagged piece of steel attached to the mast; unable to free the knot, she grinds the rope against the sharp edge until it snaps.

She surfaces to find Jackson already in the water. He pulls them both to the ladder using an emergency float; Emmy hauls Hannah onto the deck. All three collapse, exhausted. Emmy notices a painful friction burn encircling Hannah’s waist. Jackson forbids Hannah from going back in and insists that he will take her place for any future water tasks. He presses his forehead to hers and makes her promise not to enter the water again unless there’s no other choice. Emmy then returns with water and interrupts them.

The three discuss their dwindling options, with Jackson arguing that they can’t rely on rescue and must find a way to reach land before their food runs out or another storm arrives. They decide to pull the sail on board for shelter. Friendly conversation while working—including memories of Hannah smashing the PlayStation of Emmy’s cheating ex-boyfriend—briefly lightens the mood before it sours. Jackson jokes about running for the hills; Hannah responds with a pointed remark about his habit of fleeing. Before the argument can develop, both spot thick black smoke pouring from the cabin hatch, and Emmy screams Ben’s name.

Hannah and Jackson rush below through the smoke. Jackson sends Emmy to wait on deck. Smoke pours from under the bathroom door, where Ben is screaming. Hannah cuts the mesh lock with the knife while Jackson locates a fire extinguisher. When she opens the door, Ben shoves her into the water and bolts for the deck, leaving behind a small sink fire that he started with a lighter and toilet paper. Jackson extinguishes it as Hannah chases Ben topside.

On deck, Emmy is trying to calm Ben and convince the others that he can still help them. Hannah confronts him for endangering everyone; he insists that they gave him no choice. When Jackson storms up covered in soot, Ben yanks Hannah’s hair and locks his arm around her throat, using her as leverage to force Jackson to surrender and then throw the fire extinguisher overboard. Jackson complies. Emmy pleads for Ben to let Hannah go; he tightens his grip instead. Hannah strikes him in the groin, forcing him to release her. Jackson punches Ben in the face, sending him over the bow and into the ocean. Hannah and Emmy watch the water, waiting for him to surface.

Ben resurfaces. Hannah scolds Jackson for knocking him in, but Jackson goes straight to the stern, locks the swim ladder, and refuses to let Ben board. Hannah insists that they can’t let Ben die; Jackson offers to throw him a life jacket as a minimum concession.

Something moves beneath the surface near Ben, who panics and begs to be let back up. Jackson uses the threat to extract a deal: Ben must agree to turn himself in and help them get back to shore. Terrified, Ben agrees, and Jackson lowers the ladder.

Once Ben is on deck, Jackson reveals that the creatures were dolphins—and that he knew it the entire time. Hannah feels brief shame for having doubted him. Jackson ties Ben to the broken mast. Hannah retrieves the knife from the flooded cabin floor and takes Ben’s gold lighter from his pocket. Jackson identifies it as a durable metal lighter that can be dried and reused; he gives it to Hannah, who stores it in her waterproof phone sleeve.

Emmy covers Ben’s shoulders with a towel and acts sympathetic. Ben claims that claustrophobia caused him to panic and start the fire; Hannah is skeptical. As another storm approaches, Ben suggests looking for a manual bilge pump and taking inventory of the remaining food and water, while warning that they shouldn’t assume rescue is coming soon. Frustrated by Emmy’s behavior, Hannah tells Jackson to keep an eye on both of them and the approaching storm while she goes below to search for a pump and inventory supplies. As another storm approaches, the group begins shifting its focus from waiting for rescue to figuring out how to survive on their own.

In the cabin, Hannah finds that her phone is dead. Emmy’s and Ben’s are also dead, and she realizes that their ability to call for help may depend on reaching shore.

Emmy follows Hannah below and reveals that her sympathy toward Ben is an act—she plans to manipulate him into sharing useful sailing information. They reconcile. Their search turns up minimal food, two water bottles, two life vests, an emergency raft, and a waterproof first-aid kit, but no pump.

Hannah discovers a coiled hose in a storage compartment and rigs it as a siphon, draining the cabin water far more effectively than the bucket brigade had. She makes peanut-butter sandwiches and brings everyone on deck. Ben warns that the remaining cabin water is still weighing the boat down and suggests that he could rig a secondary sail if freed; Emmy offers to work on persuading the others. He also warns that they shouldn’t assume rescue is coming soon.

Emmy then pulls Hannah aside and presses her about the tension with Jackson. Hannah admits that something happened between them over winter break but refuses to elaborate. Their conversation escalates into an argument about Emmy’s travel plans and Hannah’s perceived lack of support for them. Jackson interrupts, telling them that the boat has run out of drinking water.

Hannah’s thoughts spiral around the realities of dying from dehydration, recalling a case that her father—a trauma doctor—once described. She retreats to the cabin, finds that the siphon has lowered the water level significantly, and sits with her fears. Jackson follows and suggests that Emmy’s intensified trip planning took root after Hannah’s Linfield acceptance, driven by a fear of being left behind. Hannah admits that she was hurt when Emmy invited Ben to Italy instead of her.

Jackson then brings up winter break. Hannah remembers spending Christmas Eve with him after he helped her rehang fallen Christmas lights. During the evening, they talked about their futures and eventually kissed.

Jackson explains his retreat: His father caught him leaving and warned that a failed relationship could damage the close relationship between their families and that Hannah, who was deeply connected to the Cole family, stood to lose far more than he would. Frightened of hurting her, he called the kiss a mistake and avoided her entirely rather than speaking to her directly. Hannah is furious—both at being excluded from a decision about her own life and at learning that her feelings had long been a known concern within the Cole family.

Jackson then confesses that he never stopped caring about her. He cups her face and kisses her; she kisses him back. He apologizes for not standing up to his father sooner. She jokingly warns him not to take back the kiss this time. Emmy descends the stairs, stops short, and sees them together. Her expression hardens.