What We Did to Survive

Megan Lally

What We Did to Survive

Megan Lally
54 pages1-hour read
Fiction
Novel
YA
Published in 2026

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Chapters 8-14Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and physical abuse.

Chapter 8 Summary

Hannah wakes from a nightmare in which Captain Keith, who went overboard during the storm, drags her underwater. Emmy is beside her on the flooded cabin bench. The overnight storm broke the hatch latch and left everyone seasick.


A crash draws her to the kitchen, where Jackson has shoved Ben against the radio controls. Hannah wades through nearly two feet of water and debris to intervene. Jackson accuses Ben of cutting the radio wires, claiming that he caught him with a knife after briefly stepping away to use the bathroom. Hannah checks Ben’s pocket and finds a black folding knife; the severed wires confirm that he cut every radio connection to prevent a distress call.


Ben admits to cutting the wires: He needed to silence the radio before anyone could report him for what happened to Keith, and he declares himself in charge as the only sailor on board. Hannah presses the flaws in his plan and fears that, if Jackson had fallen asleep, Ben might have used the knife on them. Ben denies harmful intent but convinces no one.


Hannah ends a three-way shouting match by hurling a floating orange at the wall and proposes locking Ben in the bathroom.

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