by M H Ryan
The ocean was something I was familiar with, but this felt different. For one, I had Benji to protect, and two, how many times has a man been on a raft, fighting a shark? I took a deep breath and let myself feel like a badass for a second.
“Shit, another shark,” Benji said, pointing with her arrow tip. “It’s a bigger one.”
So much for scaring off the sharks with our badassery. A hundred feet away from us, a large dorsal fin cut through the water. It had to be three times the size of the other one, and there was a lighter gray patch on it. Maybe it was some friendly nurse shark, but I doubted it. I could see the dark mass of its body in the water as it moved straight toward us. This one was pure rage, and its emotions felt like hot waves against my skin.
I grabbed the pole and pushed it into the water hard, letting it slide, and for a second I thought it might be too deep to work, but it hit the bottom, and I pushed.
“It’s big enough to—”
“I know,” I said. “Stay low in case it rams us.”
She looked at the water around us as if it was lava, and it didn’t escape my memory that she was about as good a swimmer as a brick. But it wouldn’t come to that; it couldn’t come to that. If we fell into the water, our tickets were punched. We’d be done.
As the shark came closer, I pulled the pole up, set it down on the raft, and grabbed the bloody spear. The shark came closer and raised up out of the water as it turned, only about twenty feet away. It had to be fifteen feet long, and its black eye stared at me before dipping under the water and disappearing.
“We need a bigger boat,” Benji said. “This is crazy.”
She stayed on one knee, keeping an arrow pulled back, at the ready.
The island was close, but it might as well have been miles away, when you had an angry shark between you and it. If we pushed hard, we might get there in a few minutes.
“Drop the bow and just paddle,” I said, and she gave me a sideways glance. “Now,” I said with more force than intended.
She set her bow down and grabbed the paddle. I slid the pole in again and had to catch it before it went all the way into the water. I yanked it out and set it on the raft. It was too deep to be effective. I grabbed the second paddle and started paddling on the other side of the raft from Benji.
“Paddle hard as you can,” I said.
“I am,” Benji called back to me. “Jack, it’s back on my side.” Fear filled her voice.
To my left, past Benji, the larger shark swam in a sweeping pattern, keeping pace with us, as if it was assessing us, studying us. Maybe it was all in my head. Either way, I hated seeing it there, and I pushed hard. Too hard. The raft turned toward the shark.
“You have to paddle harder,” I said.
I let up, and Benji groaned as she paddled with all her might. Our course corrected, and we were heading straight for the island again.
“It’s getting closer,” Benji said and backed away from the edge of the raft, pulling her paddle back.
The shark swam near the raft on her side.
“Switch sides,” I said, and we quickly switched positions.
I paddled hard, feeling the pain in my hands and muscles. None of that mattered. All I cared about is the damn shark swimming not ten feet from me.
“Just get out of here!” I screamed at it.
Below us, the white sand appeared, deep in the water. We were close. I could make out the trees and bushes along the shore.
“We’re almost there,” Benji said, out of breath.
“Just keep pushing.”
I kept paddling, and our momentum alone would probably carry us the rest of the way.
“We’re going to make it,” Benji said.
The shark abruptly turned in the water and swam right at me, lifting its head out of the water. I jumped up and swung my oar like a bat, making contact square on the top of its head. The shark did a spin, its tail whipping around and sending a wave of water cascading over us.
The end of my damaged paddle dangled from a thin piece of duct tape. I moved to the back of the raft just as the shark turned quickly again, heading straight for us. I was ready for it.
“Come on!” I yelled, gripping my oar.
It jumped out of the water right next to the raft. The ocean seemed to rise up around it in a great white foam. Its mouth was wide, showing row after row of massive, razor-sharp teeth. Dear God.
I slammed the oar against the thing’s face, but it was unfazed. The shark crashed down on the edge of the raft, its body striking the side of the raft not a foot from me. The weight sent the other end of the raft flying upward like a seesaw, and with it, Benji.
“No!” I screamed as she flew a few feet into the air before falling back down and into the churning water.
Chapter 6
She hit the water with a small splash, and for the second time in two days, I watched Benji go overboard. The shark clamped down to the edge of the raft and shook it. With its mouth full, I took my chance. I grabbed a spear and jumped at the shark with my spear raised. Sensing my attack, it freed itself and lunged toward me, mouth open in anticipation of a tasty bite. I came down hard as I could, smashing my spear right into the open mouth. With the downward momentum, I stuffed the spear deep into the back of its throat and I kept pushing, hard.
Blood pooled in the shark’s mouth as it clamped down on the spear and jerked away from me. Unfortunately, I had a death grip on the spear and wasn’t prepared for the sudden yank. I went forward with the spear and tumbled off the raft.
I hit the water hard and swam to the surface. The shark flailed near me, blood spilling from its gills and mouth. It splashed around near the surface of the water with the spear still lodged in its mouth.
“Help,” I heard a small voice say behind me.
“Benji!”
I turned and swam toward her. She grabbed me and held on.
“Come on, we need to get back to the raft!”
The shark continued to flail in the water, the red blood mixed with the white foam it churned up as it tried to free its mouth from the spear. It backed away from the craft, seemingly occupied with the permanent toothpick.
I pulled on Benji and paddled with one arm and my feet back toward the raft. Then I placed Benji’s hand on one ragged edge, and she pulled herself back onto the raft with a slight boost from me. I climbed up right behind her, and she shifted to the other side to balance it.
Our spears and pole were gone, but I huffed a breath of relief at the sight of our supply bags still tied to the center of the raft. The raft hadn’t gone unscathed, though. The bamboo on the edge of the boat had a large chunk torn away and some of the lashings holding them together were frayed and unwinding. I grabbed a paddle floating in the water nearby, got to the front of the raft, and paddled as hard as my worn out body would allow.
“My bow!” Benji exclaimed and grabbed it from the water, keeping an eye on the thrashing shark not twenty feet away.
She pulled an arrow out and aimed at the thrashing shark. The string twanged as she let go of the arrow. It flew over the foaming, red water near the shark and struck the thing right through the dorsal fin, sticking into it and staying.
The shark reared up, launching out of the water and spitting the bamboo spear from its mouth. It slammed into the water behind us, giving us a small wave, pushing us toward the island. Then it was gone.
“Come on,” I said to myself and my weakening muscles. “Go, go, go!”
I grunted and ground my teeth as I pushed myself to the limit.
“I don’t see it, it’s gone,” Benji said, staying at the back of the raft and holding another arrow in the bow.
We were less than a hundred feet away from the shore now.
“Just stay low and hold on,” I said as a wave lifted the raft up a bit.
Wait—it’s lifting too much for a wave.
“It’s behind us!” Benji screamed, shooting an arrow.
“Oh shit!” I said. “Hang on!”
I gripped the front of the raft with everything I had, knowing we were going for a ride. The shark pushed against the back of the raft, lifting it at least a foot above the water. Its tail slapped the water behind us as it went back into the water.
The raft came crashing back down onto the water, sending both Benji and I sprawling. I glanced back at Benji, who got to her feet in a flash, looking for her target. Somehow, I kept a hold of my paddle. I jumped back to the front and hoped we had a few seconds; we were getting closer to the shallow water. With the strength of fury in me, I shoved the paddle in the water, pulling it as hard as I could toward me.
Below us, I could see the sandy bottom. We were getting closer. The water was getting shallower. Then I heard a splash behind me.
I glanced back to see the shark was right behind us, mouth open and out of the water. Benji shot another arrow, striking the thing just below its eye. It kept coming. Benji fell backward and crawled toward me, sending the front of the raft to pitch up with both our combined weights.
I pulled up my paddle and just held Benji as the beast came at us.
The shark lifted out of the water, a foot above the raft. I didn’t have a second to even tell Benji what we had to do. I just grabbed her and jumped just as the shark landed on the back of the raft. Its massive weight lifted the front up, giving my jump an extra boost into the air.
As we flew, Benji just stared at me. She had fear in her eyes, but there was something else—trust. She trusted me.
We splashed into the water, hitting the sandy bottom. I jumped to my feet, pulling Benji with me. We were in waist-deep water and about to be overrun by our raft, with a shark stuck on the back of it like a motorboat.
“Run!” I yelled, half pulling Benji toward the shore.
The raft hit me in the back, but in a few feet I got ahead of it and made sure to keep Benji in front of me. She reached the shallows and sprinted the last ten feet onto the sand. I was right behind her, diving onto the sand and out of the water.
The wounded, enraged shark pushed the raft onto the sand just a few feet from where we landed. Blood spewed from its mouth and back as it spit the raft out. For a second I thought it might have beached itself, but it rolled sideways and then did a few shimmies before disappearing into the deeper water.
“That’s right!” I yelled at it. “Not so tough on our turf!”
Benji wrapped her arms around me and buried her face against my chest.
I tried to control my breathing and looked down to Benji.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, just shook and scared.”
“I got ya. I won’t let that shark get my woman,” I said, louder than I needed to, given there was no one else to hear.
She glanced up at me and then put her cheek back on my chest and hugged me tighter.
“Holy shit, what are you two doing here?”
I spun around, letting go of Benji, to see Aubrey standing there at the edge of the jungle, staring at us. She still had on her shorts and bikini top, looking as hot as she did on the boat. In her right hand dangled a blue bottle of vodka I remembered making the rounds between the girls.
Chapter 7
“Aubrey?” Benji asked as she staggered to her friend.
I stayed a few feet back, letting the two friends hug.
“Did you see that shark?” Benji asked.
“I saw the end, and that beast of a shark in the waters, going all ape-shit on you guys. What the hell was wrong with it?” Aubrey asked, glancing over at me.
“I don’t know. Everything just seems pissed off here,” I said.
“You guys okay?” Aubrey asked, and I noticed a slight, inebriated slur.
“Yeah,” Benji said. “Jack saved my life out there.” She reached her hand out to me, which I took.
She pulled me closer to her and Aubrey.
“Me?” I asked. “You were amazing out there. I know I wouldn’t have made it without you.”
“It was pretty awesome when I shot that shark right in the eye, right?”
“Hell yeah, it was,” I gave her a high five. “We make a hell of a team.”
“You two done sucking each other dicks?” Aubrey asked. “Why don’t you tell me what the hell happened, and where the hell we are?” She gestured to the island around her. “All I remember is the storm and the ship and then I just woke up on this stupid beach.”
“You don’t remember anything either?” Benji asked.
“I remember us doubling up on this guy, and you falling overboard. Him saving your ass…basically everything up to the storm. I don’t know how I got here. I just woke up on the beach a few hours ago, and the only thing civilized was this bottle, not two feet from me.”
“Wait, you got here a couple hours ago?” I asked.
“What?” Aubrey asked.
“We got here yesterday,” Benji said.
“How’s that possible?” Aubrey asked, taking a second look at her bottle.
“I don’t know,” I said, and looked out into the water.
What were the chances of her being unconscious for an extra day longer than us? The sun alone would have burned that already tan skin of hers and…she looked good. She looked really good, actually. Too good, as if she hadn’t spent last night in the storm as we did, or the last couple of days of living outdoors. Hell, her brown hair didn’t even look like it’d touched salt water. It still had the soft curls dangling over her shoulders. Her red bikini top still seemed as new as the time we spent on deck, and her tiny jean shorts were still perfectly frayed, on purpose, and looked clean. Dang, she was so hot—hot as Benji, but in a different way. Sort of like the girl you might want to take home to piss off your parents.
While Benji had a fun, mousy look, like a Jennifer Lawrence, Aubrey had this sultry allure, much like a young Angelina Jolie, mixed with an edginess she had in her role in Gia.
I had a hard time convincing myself I’d been kissing and touching these two women at the same time on the deck of that boat.
“I think that captain… what’s her name—” Aubrey said.
“Rebecca Brown,” I said.
“Yeah, her,” Aubrey continued. “I think she stirred us right into the storm.”
I remember yelling up to Rebecca to turn the ship. The waves were getting so big right before we hit the storm wall that every loose item, including the women, were sliding over the deck like a shuffleboard game.
The girls didn’t know about Rebecca’s detours, her obsession, and I didn’t know more than that she was searching for something out there in the ocean and now I wondered if this was it.
“You remember that show Lost?” Benji asked, tapping her chin.
“Ugh, you and your references,” Aubrey said. “I haven’t seen that show, Benji.”
“I have,” I said, and I waited for the moment of clarity to hit Benji, and then her eyebrows shot up as she pointed at me.
“Jack Sawyer…holy shit. You have their names. The two main male characters.”
“Yeah, pretty cool, right?” I didn’t really think so, but my parents apparently did.
Not everyone picked up on it, but when they did, it always seemed like they unlocked a great mystery. It wasn’t a bad thing, and I still enjoyed the joy it brought people. I could have been named Ass Masters, which I doubted would have elicited anything but careful laughter followed by awkward silences.
“It is. I loved those guys,” Benji said, beaming at the realization of my name. “Anyway, they land on an island, and weird shit’s going on, and they eventually find out that the island brought them there to save the world.”
“Really?” Aubrey said, looking mildly annoyed. “You think we’re in some magical land here? Benji, I love you, but this isn’t some movie—”
“TV show.”
“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “We’re stuck here for real, and all that matters is we find a way to get rescued. I mean, if our ship went down, they’ll be sending out search parties, coast
guards, and marines or some shit…we should get a smoke fire going or something. Especially if it’s already been two days? Where the hell are they?” She looked at the sky.
“She’s right; we should get ready to signal a plane or boat,” I said.
“Yeah,” Aubrey said, as if that was obvious. “I’ve sort of been thinking I’d be rescued by now.”
“Yeah, us too,” Benji said. “But Jack here is pretty good at this stuff. He knows what to do.”
“Do you now?” Aubrey said.
“Sort of,” I said, surveying the thick, tropical vegetation near us.
“Well, I say we stay here and wait for rescue,” Aubrey said and took a swig from the bottle. “There’s enough left for the three of us sauced. I seem to remember some unfinished business the three of us had back on the boat.”
The thought of sitting and drinking with Benji and Aubrey was appealing, hell, it was downright just about the best thing I could think of doing but I had a responsibility to them. If rescue didn’t come quickly, I had to make sure they were kept safe, fed and then maybe we could talk about more uplifting activities.
Figuring out what this island held would be one of the first steps.
The island forest around us was dense enough that I couldn’t see through the trees and bushes to the other side, and I wondered how big it really was. From out in the ocean, I had a good idea of its size, maybe roughly the size of a couple of football fields.
It had similar palm trees, with green and brown coconuts hanging under the fronds. A few more coconuts were scattered on the ground, some half buried in the white sands. The foliage in the forest, however, was much denser, green and lush. The bushes held large green leaves with ferns and flowering plants scattered about. I saw what looked like oranges on one tree, and some other kind of fruit on another. The smell of the place seemed even sweeter than on the small island, and I wondered which flora was producing the odor. With each breath of it, I felt better, like a tonic.
This island had a lot more resources, which was great, but our best resource had just taken a beating.