The Survivors

Kieran and Mia spend most of the night scrolling through the fifteen photos on Bronte’s social media site repeatedly. Though the pictures are of everyday items around the town, Mia is unnerved that she and Kieran are in one of them. While Verity continues packing, Kieran and Mia take Audrey on a walk to the beach. Before they realize it, they are following each of the photographs like a map around the city. Pendlebury is nearby also looking through the pictures. She joins the couple on their walk, and they discuss the photos. She explains Bronte uploaded them onto the web daily through her school because they had more storage capacity. As they walk past George’s house, they notice Ash is sitting in his truck outside. Having warned him not to go there anymore, Pendlebury says he must leave, and Kieran offers to talk to him instead. Ash claims he is fine and agrees to leave immediately.

Pendlebury asks Kieran if he can accompany her to the caves to help identify the locations in the photos. Most of the pictures are difficult to triangulate but the ones prominently displaying Kieran, Ash, and Sean’s names scratched into the rock are unmistakable. The narrator says, “Kieran nodded at the names scratched into the wall. ‘I used to do a lot of things I don’t do anymore’” (287). Kieran guides Pendlebury through the south cave where he and Olivia were on the day of the storm. He begins to have a panic attack. Pendlebury stops and allows him to tell the full story of that day. She listens without interruption and affirms his grief and guilt acknowledging how difficult it has been to carry that load. Then she tells him there is something about that day he deserves to know.

Pendlebury wants Mia to hear the news as well, so she and Kieran climb out of the cave before she begins her story. Pendlebury explains that she is there to investigate Bronte’s murder only; however, during the process, many things about Gabby’s death have surfaced. George has been researching the storm for his novel and has uncovered startling evidence regarding the time of the attempted rescue. According to cell phone records, less than ten minutes passed from the time Olivia made the distress call to when Finn and Toby’s boat appeared near the caves and capsized. Since it takes far more time to rig the boat and motor to the caves, Finn and Toby must have been on the water near the area when the distress call came. At first, Kieran is hesitant to accept the truth, and he moves from relief to confusion before asking why they were on the water.

As Kieran reels from the revelation, he demands to know why Toby and Finn were on the water that day, especially considering his brother was the one to warn him about the approaching storm. Pendlebury claims she cannot speculate on why but encourages them to come to the police station if they have more questions. Kieran says he should feel a sense of relief knowing he is not responsible for the accident, but he cannot rest easy until he knows the full story. He tells Mia, “I am so tired of feeling guilty” (300). Both he and Mia agree Pendlebury knows more than she is revealing, and they decide to go to Renn for answers. When they arrive at the station, Kieran cuts straight to the point and asks him why his brother was on the water that day. At first, Renn thinks they have been talking to George, but when he realizes it was Pendlebury, he calculates his next move carefully. Renn explains Bronte’s death has been hard on everyone, and he is committed to solving the case to give her parents closure. As Kieran takes a confrontational tone, Renn defends himself saying Sergeant Mallott oversaw Gabby’s investigation. Renn claims that after the accident he believed it was best to let the case rest so the families could grieve, and the community could move forward. However, when he discovered Mallott had found Gabby’s backpack on the Nautilus Blue, he could not ignore the connection to Kieran’s family.

Renn explains the chaos that ensued after the storm was overwhelming, and he and Mallott were tasked with recovering and searching the boat. Renn observed from far away as Mallott extracted Gabby’s purple backpack from the dry box on the boat. When Renn confronted him, Mallott denied finding it and pressured Renn to let the matter go so people in town could move on from the tragedy. Renn knew it was the wrong decision, but Mallott insisted he drop it. The next day the backpack washed up on shore. Renn considered going to the families and exposing Mallott’s deception, but after watching the funerals and seeing the distress of the families, he decided it was best not to give them any more grief. Kieran assumes Toby and Finn must have pulled the pack from the sea, but Renn says the backpack was not wet and perfectly preserved in the dry box meaning there was another reason why she was on the boat.

Mia wants to tell Olivia and Trish immediately, but Kieran begs her to wait until he tells his mother. Renn decides he should be the one to deliver the news to Olivia and Trish knowing it will not take long for the news to spread through the community. Kieran and Mia find Verity assisting Brian with swimming. While watching his father rest on the sand, Kieran delivers the news to his mother explaining all the details of the timeframe and the backpack. Verity’s response is swift and decisive. To her, Renn is a liar. She eviscerates Kieran for suggesting his brother could be involved in Gabby’s disappearance. Mother and son engage in a heated argument while Mia tries to intervene. Verity turns caustic and bitter accusing Kieran of dredging up the past to deflect the attention from himself. Kieran responds by saying, “I’m not the one with a dead girl’s bag on my boat” (317). Verity slaps Kieran and tells him she has always blamed him for Finn’s death.

Verity locks herself in Finn’s old room while Mia and Kieran walk to the grocery store to buy ingredients for dinner. The couple discusses the new evidence, but neither can come up with a reason Gabby would have been on the boat. Mia is careful to assert she never knew Finn or Toby well. While Mia does the shopping, Kieran walks around with Audrey and stops by George’s house. George comes outside with books for Mia and apologizes for stirring up the past by telling Pendlebury about the timing of the phone call. Looking to escape personal problems with his ex-wife, George came to Evelyn Bay for respite, but after all that has occurred with Bronte, he is not certain he will stay. As they stare at the ruined garden, Kieran urges George to enlist Ash’s help. Kieran asks if he has uncovered anything of interest in the excavation, and George assumes he is talking about a dead body. George assures him he has not, and that Ash came by and apologized for all the hostility between them. As Kieran walks away and thinks of Bronte walking the streets taking photos, something niggles at his consciousness.

Brian asks to hold Audrey, so Kieran supervises while Mia cooks dinner. Brian thinks Audrey is Kieran as a baby, and Kieran is touched to see his father bonding with his daughter. Kieran apologizes to his father for the loss of Finn and all the pain it caused the family. Mia and Kieran help Brian eat his dinner and the couple decides to get married in the fall. Mia is certain they can repair their relationship with Verity and that she will attend the wedding. She tells Kieran she is not glad his brother died, but Kieran changed for the better after the tragedy. Overnight Kieran cannot shake the lingering feeling he had earlier in the day after speaking with George. After a sleepless night, he goes to the kitchen the next morning and finds Verity at the table looking through a photo album. Kieran notices the same photo of Toby and Finn but realizes it is a different version of the previous two he has seen. Verity apologizes for their fight and explains that she and Brian never held him responsible for Finn’s death. She agrees to find an assisted living facility for Brian in Sydney so they can be closer to Mia, Kieran, and Audrey. Later, Kieran goes for his morning swim leaving Audrey on the beach. While he swims, he realizes the nagging feeling he has been experiencing is related to the three versions of the photograph leading him to realize what they have been missing.

Kieran returns to the house and leaves Audrey so he can explore the caves. He passes the south cave where he and Olivia used to meet and goes to the north cave where the names are carved. Kieran mentally wrestles with his guilt and decides to let it go. He hears someone in the cave. He does not go in but waits for whoever is inside to emerge. When he sees a shadow, he calls out, “Did you find the message Gabby carved the day she died?” (338).

The shadowy figure is Sean carrying a bag with what Kieran assumes is a file or chisel to erase the names. Kieran tells him it is too late to remove the carvings as Pendlebury already knows. One of Bronte’s photos shows Sean’s name carved into the rock, but Kieran knows it was not Sean who carved it. Kieran asks if Bronte had guessed, and Sean shakes his head to indicate she had not while remaining silent as Kieran continues his questioning. He does not readily respond when Kieran asks if he feared she would find out eventually. Sean begins to tell Kieran the story of what happened on the day of the storm.

Sean recounts the day of the storm. He was waiting at the boat for Finn and Toby who were late when he thought he saw Olivia approaching. He was disappointed to realize it was Gabby looking for her sister. The narrator says, “She stopped in front of the boat, looked up at the older boy, and seemed to completely lose her nerve” (343). Gabby borrowed his phone, explaining that her mother took hers, and tried to call Olivia. Frustrated she did not answer, Gabby let it slip that Kieran and Olivia were meeting regularly at the caves. Sean was embarrassed and jealous that Kieran had not told him about their relationship. Gabby asked Sean to take her to the caves to find her sister, and Sean reluctantly agreed. He locked Gabby’s backpack in the dry box and left a note in the boat for Finn and Toby telling them he was going to the caves.

The tide had begun to rise and the weather was worsening. Sean knew it was unsafe to go in the north cave, but Gabby wanted to see how far they could go. Using a flashlight to guide the way, Sean led her through the caverns showing her the carved names on the wall. Telling her to wait, he went ahead to make sure the way was safe, but when he returned, she was missing. Sean panicked but Gabby appeared from around the corner. Then, the scene from the prologue is explained as Gabby gathered her skirt to keep it from getting wet in the rising water and Sean watched her grasp her ponytail while steeling himself to make a move. When he abruptly kissed her, Gabby was shocked and offered a pitying reaction that infuriated him. As he seethed with embarrassment, he thought about how Ash and Kieran would make fun of him. He accused Gabby of bringing him to the caves for the same reason Kieran and Olivia came to them, but she denied his accusation. As the waters rose quickly and the storm began to rage outside, Gabby cried begging Sean to take her home. He trudged out of the cave with plans to leave Evelyn Bay to escape the humiliation. He half-heartedly called Gabby to follow him, but he never looked back. Blinded by his mortification and anger, he convinced himself she was right behind him and ascended the cliffs.

Back in the present, Sean’s confession sickens Kieran, but he apologizes to Sean for not being a good friend to him in the past. Sean returns to his account of the day of the storm. He returned to the marina to find Toby and Finn gone out on the boat, and he could not reach them on the cell phone. When Gabby’s backpack washed up on shore days later, Sean was relieved she would never be able to tell anyone what happened that day. Over the years, Sean has compartmentalized the event and tried not to think about it until Bronte came to town and started photographing the caves. In the present moment, the water continues to rise in the caves. Sean begins to tell Kieran the rest of his story.

Sean explains what happened the night of Bronte’s death. He went to her cottage to retrieve the flashlight she had borrowed to investigate the sounds on the beach. Bronte said the sounds were likely from Brian who often roamed the beach at night. She never said anything about it because she did not want to embarrass Verity. Bronte showed him photos she had taken of the caves. When Sean saw a photo with his name scratched into the wall, he knew Gabby had done it the day she died: it was his name plus the “Abigail” with a date, the day of the storm. Bronte mentioned returning to the caves soon to get more photos for her project. Fearing exposure, Sean implored her not to return to the caves due to safety concerns. Sean felt like he was operating outside himself as his fear grew and he decided what to do. The narrator says, “Some part of him had already decided, the instant he saw the photo” (366). He mentioned the moon’s light reflecting off the water and invited Bronte to bring her camera and follow him down to the beach.

Returning to the present, Kieran pleads with Sean to come out of the cave with him, but he refuses: “Still no reply, only the swell of the water and the screams of the birds circling overhead. The Survivors continued to look away” (368). Kieran uses his phone to call for help as Sean disappears into the cave. When Mia arrives and calls his name, Kieran temporarily becomes disoriented transported in his mind back to the day of the storm. With Audrey strapped to her chest, Mia climbs down the path and convinces Kieran not to try and rescue Sean. Kieran remembers that Finn is dead and there is nothing he can do to change that, but he can climb out of the cave saving himself for the family he loves.