Greyson Gray: Deadfall (Thrilling Adventure Series for Preteens and Teens) (The Greyson Gray Series Book 3)

by B. C. Tweedt

  Two more boys stepped from the crowd as the men began filing onto the boat once again. One of the boys Greyson recognized as Glasses. The other’s body looked like Buzz, but his face had been disfigured with ugly, scarred bumps and ridges. His smile was as crooked as Orion’s nose, and his body like a troll’s. Suk stepped to the side, his pistol aimed at Jarryd as the ship tilted the other way, sending the kids back against the railing and the terrorists grabbing a handhold.

  “Avery,” Orion said with a smirk. “Want to do this easy?”

  Jarryd jerked forward, but Greyson held him back.

  “Psst. I need a weapon,” Jarryd whispered to Greyson. “You shot mine.”

  Greyson reached in his pack and handed him two ball bearings.

  Jarryd watched them roll around his hand and then squeezed them with determination. “I get it, and I got this.” He pumped his chin at Orion. “She’s staying with us.”

  Greyson assured Avery with a determined nod, and then spoke to the Pluribus boys. “You’ll have to go through all of us.”

  “How defiant. But so dumb. But I guess that’s how you work. You came all the way here, looking for your dad!” Orion yelled over the screaming wind. “In the Bahamas!” He laughed to himself. “I have to ask. During the days on the road, did you ever once think that he wasn’t…actually…there?” He laughed again, with Buzz joining in.

  Greyson lowered his brow and gritted his teeth.

  “Did you really believe,” Orion asked, shaking his head in disbelief, “…that my dad told you the truth?”

  Greyson’s face rose as if he’d been stabbed with a fatal wound. He felt the blood draining from his body. The nausea from the rocking sea turned him pale, and his friends turned to him in concern.

  “Don’t believe him,” Sydney whispered. “He’s a liar!”

  “Oh, yes,” Orion said. “But so is my father. And he told a little white lie, thinking you would be dead in a few minutes. He thought you might appreciate thinking in your last minutes that your dad was safe in paradise.”

  Greyson’s breath shuddered as he held the emotion back. It was welling inside of him, pressing against his ribs. His grip on the railing grew red and white as the ship rocked again. Sydney sided up next to him. “He’s lying, Greys. Don’t believe him!”

  “I, on the other hand, think it’s best if you know the truth before you die. Your father’s dead.”

  There was a brief moment when Greyson thought he would surrender to the pain and tears that fought for control, but a sudden memory flashed into his mind. The story John told of the demon-possessed man and the herd of pigs.

  “I don’t care!” Greyson released the railing and took a sloshing step toward Orion. The ship had listed enough so that it was as though he were walking uphill on a waterslide. Suk swiveled his pistol toward him.

  “I don’t care anymore!” Greyson shouted, taking another step as the ship leveled out. His voice was weak, but he stressed it as much as it would go, cracking or not. “I’d rather have no dad than your dad!”

  Orion’s smile vanished.

  Greyson took another step and leaned backward to avoid falling into Suk’s gun. He glanced at the rolling waves behind the men. Lifeboats were scattered around like rubber toys in a tub.

  “Your dad’s a liar and a murderer! He’s killed thousands of people!”

  Orion sneered as Greyson stepped once more, halfway between the two railings. The ship leveled and Greyson eyed the terrorists getting into the last lifeboat. Only four were left aboard.

  Greyson puffed his chest. “Your dad has demons! So do I!”

  Orion raised an eyebrow and Buzz snorted.

  Though he didn’t have actual demons, he felt the power that hate gave him. He felt the regret, the urge for vengeance inside of him.

  A legion of regrets…a legion’s worth of power.

  The ship listed, sending Greyson higher as if he were looming over them. The rainwater on the deck began trickling to the outside railing, splashing at Suk’s feet.

  “And you’re pigs.”

  At the peak of the ship’s tilt, Greyson suddenly dropped onto his backside; the wet incline propelled him downward at a speed faster than Suk was prepared for.

  BANG! The shot missed and Greyson leapt up from his slide, slamming into Suk’s chest. Suk’s body curled over the top railing and spun over the side as Greyson grabbed onto the railing where Suk had been.

  He didn’t have time to gloat. He ducked under Orion’s gun and put a fist into the boy’s gut. Grabbing Orion’s arm and the railing, Greyson raised both legs and kicked Buzz in the chest as Buzz lunged at Greyson from behind. Buzz’s large body reeled into Glasses, sending both of them to their backs. As the boat listed the opposite way, their bodies slid toward Greyson’s friends, who were still stunned to silence. In a matter of seconds, Greyson had taken out four of them.

  Regaining his breath, Orion grabbed Greyson and whipped him around. Greyson latched onto Orion’ life vest for all he was worth, pressing the gun sideways between their two chests. He let out a yell as he pumped his legs, pushing Orion down the sloped deck toward the center of the boat. Orion tried to look back as his feet churned to keep up with the increased speed, but there was nothing he could do other than hold onto Greyson.

  Sydney screamed and rolled away from the boys’ bodies as they hit the railing with a clang and jerked over the top. She watched as they flailed in mid-air over the ship’s interior chasm, flashing by balcony after balcony in a free-fall, with Orion’s pistol following them down.

  “Greyson!” She followed their bodies until they hit the water, which was now well above the trees. And then she hesitated, scanning the water below, waiting for Greyson to surface. Behind her, the last lifeboat was lowering. Beside her, Buzz and Glasses were scrambling to their feet. Inside, a voice pushed her to act.

  She climbed to the top rail and leapt off with a scream.

  Chapter 60

  Greyson blasted from the water with a deep breath, treading water and spinning around. Where is he? WHERE IS HE?

  Suddenly he felt very dizzy. The massive pool was level, but the ship was not. As it rocked, its interior rooms seemed to twist around the pool one way, only to halt and slowly rock back the other way. Greyson felt the current take him toward one side of balconies only to stop and shift toward the other side.

  It was a terrifying fish bowl. The ship’s structure shrieked and moaned; the waves inside the bowl crashed against the sides and churned from underneath so strong that he could barely keep his head above water. One wave and then another crashed over him, took his breath, and blurred his vision. Worse yet, the churning water was full of debris from the restaurants below, looted by the first waves of the flood. The rooms’ lights surrounding him flickered as the ship lost power floor by floor; they flashed with sparks when the water hit, blasting the darkness like strikes of lightning.

  In the flashes he saw a table and chairs float by; another chair hit his shoulder. Miraculously, his hat had snagged on one of the chair’s legs. He quickly snapped it to his belt under the water.

  Just when he grabbed hold of the chair and spat out a mouthful of the warm, salty water, a scream suddenly rose above the din. A moment later, Sydney smacked the water twenty yards away.

  “Sydney!”

  Just as fast, arms wrapped around him and yanked him under.

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  The ship had leveled out again, giving Nick and Avery the opportunity to pummel Glasses as he tried to get up. Avery swung the plunger into his face, smashing his glasses to the deck. She smiled in satisfaction until Nick put him down for good with a wrench to the jaw.

  Avery cringed at the sound of the crunching jaw; and as she turned, she noticed Sydney’s absence. Far below, she heard a cry for Greyson. She was down there with him.

  “Sydney!”

  In a flash Avery mounted the rail and dove off headfirst.

  A few feet over, Buzz rose to his feet, his bear-like bod
y looming over Jarryd. His evil smirk sent shivers down Jarryd’s spine as he brushed his sopping wet hair out of his frightened eyes. He looked down at the ball bearings in his hand. With a yell, he threw them at Buzz as hard as he could.

  The balls hit with a smack on Buzz’s chest and he let out an anguished scream, arching his back and howling. Jarryd gave a short relieved laugh, pleased with himself, until Buzz twisted away, revealing Nick was behind him, wielding the wrench he had smacked into Buzz’s spine.

  Jarryd smiled. “You wrenched his back!”

  Nick gave his brother a smile, but it was short lived. Buzz whipped the back of his hand around, striking Nick across the face. His red glasses broke in two as he hit the floor in pain. Blood dripped from his nose and dribbled over his lips. He spat it on the deck as Buzz went in for the kill.

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  The bubbles burst from Greyson’s mouth as he fought with the powerful arms that held him under. He caught spinning glimpses of dark trees with leaves and branches suspended like puppets in the water, but he couldn’t see anything else. Orion had him in a bear hug and they were sinking rapidly.

  He jerked and pulled at the arms, but they were too strong. His mind railed for more options, but there were none. He was helpless and losing air fast. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Orion’s pistol sink down toward the once pristine garden, next to drowning roses gyrating in the currents. In his mind he reached for it, but he needed both arms to pull at Orion’s grip.

  He felt the first wave of panic. His instincts told him to breathe, but he fought them away. He was going to die if he didn’t. But he had to breathe. He had to!

  “I dare you to hold your breath for one minute,” his father said with a smirk.

  Greyson smiled, his two front teeth missing. “A whole minute?”

  “The world record’s somewhere around 17 minutes. But you’ve got to start somewhere.”

  “How long can you hold yours?”

  “Want to find out?”

  “Yeah!”

  “Okay. We’ll do it together. It’s kind of scary the first time, but you can always go longer than you think. The panic is just a warning. It’s your choice to heed it or not.”

  Greyson let the panic fade. When his feet hit something solid, he was ready. He pushed against it with both legs, propelling both of them into a bush. Greyson thrashed and kicked, scraping Orion’s back through the bush’s sharp twigs. He felt Orion’s body twisting beneath him, his grip loosening just enough for Greyson to bring Orion’s arm up to his teeth.

  He bit. Hard.

  Orion let out a scream and his grip loosened.

  With a mighty pull, Greyson yanked himself free and kicked off the ground. His lungs screamed for air – black spots filled his vision – he felt light headed – but a final kick sent him into the air and the rain with a panicked gulp. He spat Orion’s blood into the pool.

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  Nick spat again and rose to his knees as Buzz grabbed his shirt collar, pulling him up. Buzz’s thick arm drew back, but another set of arms wrapped around Buzz’s throat.

  Jarryd clamped on tightly as Buzz whipped his body around full circle. Jarryd felt his shoes hit something solid, but he didn’t realize they had hit Nick until he saw his brother’s body skidding along the deck.

  Buzz was going mad with rage, bucking and twisting until he somehow got hold of Jarryd’s flopping hair.

  “Ow! No, no, no!”

  Buzz pulled Jarryd by his hair and dropped him on his side with a thud. He kicked him in the ribs and then reached for his shirt, picking him up almost effortlessly and pressing him against the railing. Though Jarryd latched onto Buzz’s neck to avoid his fists, Buzz pushed him away with one hand and raised the other.

  SMACK!

  The blow nearly knocked Jarryd unconscious. His vision blurred and his mouth tasted metallic. Through his tears he could see the second blow coming.

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  “Greyson!”

  Greyson snapped to her voice and saw her treading water only twenty yards away.

  Avery’s voice rang out. “Get to a balcony!” She was already near one to the right. “Hurry!”

  Just then Orion burst from the water. He gulped in air and shook the water from his face as he jerked his gaze around, searching for Greyson. He found him, but he’d also found Sydney. He shot Greyson a menacing smile and swam toward his girl.

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  The second blow to Jarryd’s face never came. Instead, Buzz’s entire body smashed up against him. At first Jarryd thought it was just the rocking of the ship that had tipped him off balance, but then he heard Nick’s grunts as he pushed at the mass of Buzz’s body from behind.

  Jarryd slowly regained his senses, but the blood dripping from his nose and Buzz’s body smashing against him gave him too much to think about – until the ship actually did tip further in their direction.

  He looked over his shoulder at the canyon below and gasped. His wet body was being squeezed, slipping out from between Buzz’s body and the railing, toward the chasm.

  “Nick…NICK! Stop!”

  Nick grunted and continued shoving against Buzz’s body, too enveloped in rage to hear his brother’s pleas.

  “Nick, no! Wait!”

  As Buzz began to turn toward Nick, Jarryd screamed and popped free. He flailed backwards, disappearing over the rail. But Buzz went over as well, toppling toward the rising water.

  Nick turned, breathing hard and heavy at the railing as it leveled again. He bent to grab the pieces of his glasses, but when he rose, he met eyes with Glasses, whom he had forgotten.

  Nick blinked through the rain and his stomach flip-flopped. His vision was poor, but he could make out the shapes well enough to be queasy.

  Glasses’ jaw hung loose and awkward, broken open in a permanent toothy gape. But his glasses-less eyes were piercing.

  Nick stood defiant despite his bloody and bruised face. His workouts had been working. Each day he seemed to be able to lift more. He had seen more muscle definition in the mirror and his confidence had grown.

  He clenched his fists and readied for battle.

  But Glasses didn’t attack. Instead, his limp hand slowly worked its way up to his life vest. He murmured something through his broken jaw, sending a trail of saliva from the corner of his mouth.

  “Ermm gerwon…to kurrr ughhh.”

  Nick couldn’t understand, but he saw the gun coming from the life vest. He had no other options.

  With a running start, he vaulted over the railing and plummeted toward the belly of the dying beast.

  Chapter 61

  The bodies hit the bubbling water behind Greyson, two at once and then followed by a third not long after, but he only gave them short glances, focusing instead on Sydney as she made it to a balcony with Orion close behind.

  A wave rolled over Greyson’s head, and he swallowed a gulp of salt water. He was forced to stop and tread water, spitting and gasping for air.

  I’m not going to catch them.

  His mind raced as he watched Sydney pull herself up using the balcony’s railing, kicking at the water that had risen to the balcony’s level. To their left was the restaurant, with an entire wall made of glass, allowing the restaurant’s customers a view of the park. The water was lapping halfway up the glass, and Orion was near it.

  He made a snap decision.

  “Hold on, Sydney!”

  He kicked hard at the water to keep himself afloat as his hands worked to load his slingshot. Taking another accidental gulp of seawater, he finally found a lull in the waves to take the shot.

  Snap!

  The shot hit the glass dead on, sending a ripple of cracks spider-webbing for yards in every direction. Orion was nearing Sydney.

  Reaching into his pack, he realized he was almost out of shots. Three more. He had to make them count.

  Snap!

  The window shattered, and suddenly he felt the water turn from pool to
river, sucking him toward the open restaurant. Orion grabbed for Sydney’s shoes as she pulled herself over the balcony railing closest to the restaurant, but the current was too fast for him. He was sucked inside and rolled in the shallow water as it flowed onto the carpet, pushing him along.

  Greyson swept along and called out to Sydney. “Stay there! I’m coming!”

  He tried to swim sideways to Sydney’s balcony, but the flow carried him through the broken glass window, just missing a jagged edge. He tried to get on his hands and knees on the restaurant’s soggy carpet, but the water from the chasm was smashing into his side.

  And then a kick slammed the air from his lungs.

  “Get up!”

  Orion stood over him, leaning against the current that pushed at his shins, nearly tipping him over.

  Greyson coughed and gasped for air, but there were no more kicks. Hacking, he rose as if he were balancing on a surfboard, glaring at Orion and dripping hate as the salt water cascaded from his clothes and face. “Leave her out of this!”

  Orion laughed and shook the water from his hair. “Like you left my sister out of it? She’s in a coma. I’ll do worse to Sydney.”

  The Redhead. In a coma?

  “I…I’m sorry,” Greyson said, suddenly struck with regret. “I didn’t mean…”

  “Sorry? Think that’s enough?”

  The water was now up to their knees and still washing in. Greyson knew he had two more shots, but suddenly he regretted what the ball bearings had done to the Redhead.

  “We don’t have to do this,” Greyson yelled above the cracking of the ship.

  Orion’s face loosened with a hint of remorse. “I have to.”

  And with that, he flew forward with rage.

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  Jarryd had just managed to snag on to a balcony’s railing.

  “Jarryd!”

  It was Avery on the opposite side of balconies, several down from Sydney’s. She had managed to climb inside a balcony, but the water was already up to her knees, tipped her direction. Soon enough she would be forced to climb higher.