```
As if a flame was rekindled in an extinguished hearth, Winters regained a trace of consciousness.
He could vaguely sense that he was being dragged, as well as the sensation of floating, the waves, and cries for help.
Another pair of hands joined, and two men propped Winters up, dragging him from the waist-deep sea onto the pebble beach.
One person quickly cleared the water from Winters' nose and throat, forcefully slapped his back, and then began to press on his chest.
The remaining seawater was expelled from his trachea. Fortunately, he had not been underwater long, and his instinct to breathe remained, the air re-entered his lungs, and through alveoli, capillaries, arteries, in his weak heartbeat, it was pushed towards the organs throughout his body.
