"What do you mean it won't start?" Dec shouted,now beginning to panic.

"Exactly that" Ant replied "it won't start"

"Try again" Dec demanded.

"Dec,I've tried so many times already" Ant sighed "you've been sat next to me while I did it"

Ant tried to get the engine going one more time,just to shut Dec up.

"See?" Ant threw his hands up into the air in desperation "nothing"

"What's wrong with it?" Dec asked.

"How the hell do I know?" Ant snapped "I'm not a bloody sailor,I don't know a thing about boats"

"Petrol?" Dec announced suddenly "or diesel or whatever they use on boats,maybe it's run out?"

"Well,we definitely won't be going anywhere then will we?" Ant shrugged.

"No,listen" Dec smiled "don't they carry a spare can,like some people do in their cars?"

"Maybe" Ant nodded "guess we'd better get looking then"

Ant and Dec began their search of the boat and it wasn't long before Dec spied a can in one of the underseat storage boxes.

"Here" Dec shouted out gleefully "I've found some"

"Ok,pass it to us then" Ant replied.

Decs heart soon sank faster than a lead balloon as he picked up the can and gave it a shake.

"It's empty" he announced despondently.

"There might be another one somewhere" Ant said hopefully "keep looking"

The boys carried on looking,but their search proved to be futile,there was no spare fuel.

Dec slumped down onto the seat and held his head in his hands,sobbing uncontrollably.

"What kind of skipper was he?" He cried desperately "no radio,no fuel,bloody useless"

"Declan" Ant whispered "you shouldn't talk ill of the dead"

"Well,I'd kick him if he wasn't already dead" Dec announced,as he wiped his tear stained face with his hand.

"If he wasn't already dead..." Ant pointed out "we wouldn't be in this predicament would we?"

"So what do we do now?" Dec sighed,after he'd regained his composure.

"I think we need to search every inch of the boat to see what might be useful to us and take it back to the beach" Ant replied.

"Ok" Dec nodded "but can I search the front and you search the back?"

He looked at Ant sheepishly.

"Yeah,of course" Ant smiled.

He knew how much Dec was struggling with being in the presence of a dead body,Ant was too,but he still vowed to do everything in his power to make the situation a little bit easier for Dec if he possibly could.

"So what have we got?" Ant beamed as they peered at the little pile of treasure that they had placed on the pilots seat.

"Well" Dec replied "as well as the flares,there's life jackets,a blanket and..."

"Wish we'd found that last night" Ant cut in "instead of freezing our arses off"

"Yeah" Dec nodded in agreement "there's also a box of matches,but there's only a few left"

"Oh brilliant" Ant exclaimed "we'll need those"

"Will we?" Dec asked confused.

"Yeah,of course" Ant smiled "if we need to start a fire"

"Oh,never even thought of that" Dec frowned "there's also some cigarettes"

"So much for giving up" Ant mused "it might get to the point where I'll need them"

"Hopefully not" Dec answered.

"Anything else?" Ant asked hopefully,before quickly answering his own question "I found a torch"

"Don't tell me" Dec said sarcastically "it doesn't work?"

"It does actually" Ant grinned,turning the torch on and off to prove his point "not sure for how long though,couldn't find any spare batteries anywhere like"

"Typical" Dec mumbled "oh,but there is a small first aid kit"

"Ah,brilliant" Ant smiled "what's in it?"

"Quite a lot...surprisingly" Dec announced "plasters,insect bite cream,thermometer,bandages,tweezers and scissors"

"Good" Ant smiled "let's get it all back,then we need to do something about Andy"

"What?" Dec frowned.

"Bury him obviously" Ant replied "we can't put it off any longer"

"Why can't we?" Dec mused "we're gonna be rescued today...that's what you've been saying all along anyway"

"We are" Ant insisted confidently "but it could still be hours and in case you haven't noticed,he's er...he's...you know...?"

"He's what?" Dec asked confused.

"He's starting to smell" Ant blurted out.

Of course Dec had noticed that too,but he was still putting the thought of the unimaginably grim task that lie ahead of them to the back of his mind as much as he could.

"Can't we just throw him out to sea?" Dec pleaded "then he'll be washed away"

"No,we can't" Ant stated firmly "that would be wrong and he'd probably just be washed back up with the tide anyway"

"Suppose so" Dec agreed.

"Let's take this stuff back,then come and get him" Ant said,while noticing the sickly look on Decs face "I'm sorry Decs,I know it's awful,but it's just something that has to be done"

"I know" Dec sighed "where are we going to bury him and with what?"

"Not sure" Ant frowned "we'll have to find a suitable spot,maybe under a tree or something and I guess we'll just have to use our bare hands"

"That'll take ages" Dec grumbled.

"Well" Ant shrugged "if there's something we've got a lot of at the moment,it's time"

"True" Dec nodded.

"Maybe we should take him back with us now though" Ant thought "save us making two trips"

"How are we gonna do that?" Dec enquired "we've got all this other stuff to carry too"

"There's not that much there" Ant pointed out "I tell ya what,I'll get in the water and you can pass Andy down to me,you bring the other stuff and I'll pull him back to the beach,won't be too hard in the water"

"Er...what now?" Dec replied "have you seen the size of him to the size of me?He's a pretty big guy,how am I supposed to just pick him up and chuck him down to you?"

"Good point" Ant couldn't help giggling to himself at his ridiculous suggestion and could only summarise that it was the lack of food and increasing temperatures as the sun rose higher in the sky,that was addling his brain.

"Ok" he continued "I'll help you get him in,then I'll jump in and you bring the other stuff,you happy with that?"

"I'm not sure happy is the word I'd use" Dec frowned.

Ant and Dec both grimaced as they struggled to lift Andys heavy body over the side of the boat.Dec kept his eyes closed throughout the ordeal,desperate not to even catch a tiny glimpse of the Andys cold,dead face,knowing it would be an image that would haunt him for the rest of his life,the way the body felt to his touch was sickening enough.

Once in the water,Ant still made sure that Andys jacket was kept over his face,even though it was now completely sodden.

As Dec waded through the water behind him,Ant tried not to think about what he was actually doing.He forced himself to focus on a tree straight ahead as the unusual trio made their way back to the island.He started counting the branches of the tree to distract himself as he waded through the sea,dragging his unfortunate load.

Once they reached the beach,the boys stopped to catch their breath.

"Now what?" Dec asked,as he placed the goods they'd retrieved from the boat on the sand.

"I guess we dig a hole" Ant replied.

"Ok" Dec nodded "but can we put him somewhere out of sight while we do it?in the forest a little bit maybe"

"Yeah,of course" Ant nodded "give us a hand then"

Dec reluctantly helped Ant drag Andy towards the trees.

Dec had never felt anything like it as he grimaced from touching Andys skin.

"You ok Decs?" Ant asked concerned.

"I will be" Dec replied.

As sick as he felt,he just wanted to get the task in hand over and done with.

"Ok" Ant said,after they'd placed the body in the shade "now we just need to find a suitable place to bury it"

"It?" Dec frowned "isn't that a bit disrespectful?he's still someones son,father,husband...he's not an it"

"Er...yeah sorry" Ant mumbled "didn't mean anything by it"

"So where then?" Dec glanced around at their surroundings.

"Just over there" Ant pointed to a stretch of sand,just to their left "under that tree?"

"Yeah,ok" Dec nodded.

So the boys were soon attempting to dig a hole large enough to be a makeshift grave,but it was turning out to be a much harder task than they had expected.

"My hands are killing me" Dec complained "and I've got blisters on my fingers from digging into the sand for so long"

"Yeah,me too" Ant replied,as he examined his own sore digits "let's take a breather...here"

Ant passed Dec his water bottle as they both slumped onto the sand,completely exhausted.

"How deep down do we have to dig?" Dec asked.

"Well,you've heard the phrase 'six feet under' haven't you?" Ant shrugged.

"SIX FEET?" Dec shouted shocked "we'll be here till Christmas"

"Not really Decs" Ant smiled "we'll just keep digging till we've had enough"

"I've had enough now" Dec muttered.

Ant scanned around him,until something caught his eye.

"Dec look" he smiled "there's some pieces of wood over there"

"So?" Dec replied casually.

"So..." Ant continued "we can use them to dig,you know like shovels"

"Oh,good idea" Dec smiled "let's get it over and done with then"

It still took the boys a hell of a long time to complete digging the grave and they still had the process of getting Andy into it and covering him up,but the pieces of wood definitely made it a little bit easier.

"Better go and get him then" Ant announced afterwards.

"Yeah" Dec reluctantly agreed.

"Then it's over with" Ant smiled "we'll have done the worse"

"Yeah" Dec repeated and followed Ant back into the forest.

After they had buried Andy in his final resting place,the two exhausted men stood and stared at the grave for a while.

"Would you like to say a few words Declan?" Ant gently urged "you know...with you being the religious one and all that"

Dec nodded before saying just one short sentence,that was all that was needed as far as he was concerned.

"Goodbye Andy" he whispered "may you rest in peace"

Ant placed a gentle arm around Dec,before Dec suddenly ran off.

Ant watched him as he went,observing how Dec fell to his knees sobbing,before leaning against a tree with his head buried into his knees.

Even from the distance now between them,Ant could still tell that Dec was trembling as he wept and usually Ant would immediately rush over to Dec when he was upset and scoop him up into his loving arms until he could make everything better,as he always inevitably did.

But this was different!

Neither of them had ever been in a situation like this before and Ant decided it might be best to just give Dec his privacy to deal with things his own way for now.

Ant was struggling with everything too...where they were,what they'd just done...but he didn't wear his heart on his sleeve like Dec did,he dealt with things in his own private way,no matter what the situation was.

He continued to gaze over towards Dec with a heavy heart.

The two best friends were sitting on the sand,far away from each other.

Both feeling desperately lonely and alone!