Anne and Mary shared a look. They didn’t think the girls knew about them. Clearly they hadn’t been as careful as they’d hoped.
“You won’t be,” Mary said, running her fingers through her hair. “Because we’re going to get you out, okay?”
The cabin tilted. The water ran over Stacey’s neck… her chin… her mouth… nose… forehead… and she was gone from view. They listened to the hollow wheezing emitting from the end of the pipe.
“Let’s try and lift this thing again,” Mary said.
Stan splashed into the room. “Anne. Jordan needs you.”
“I can’t go. Stacey’s trapped.”
“I’ll help her. You go help Jordan.”
With only a moment’s hesitation, Anne turned and waded into the corridor. The water had risen quickly, the water level now up to her knees. And though she was too far away to hear the wheezing pipe, in her mind she could hear its deathly countdown.
31.
Joel ran a blood-smeared hand across his eyes. He looked so tired. “Do you think we’ll make it?”
“Of course we will,” Jordan said. “The land’s up ahead. We’ve got enough fuel.”
“The sea’s getting rough.”
“Let’s not worry about whether or not we’ll make it, and just make sure we do make it.”
Beads of cold sweat broke out on Joel’s forehead. He looked as pale as a Lurcher.
Joel fixed Jordan with his gaunt eyes. “We have to do anything we can to protect them, Jordan. You know that, right? Anything.” His tone was grave.
“I know.”
A moment passed in silence before Anne waded into the cabin. “You rang?”
“You need to take Joel down below,” Jordan said. “He’s hurt.”
“I’m fine,” Joel said.
Anne pulled his hand away and looked at his wound. “Doesn’t look fine to me. We need to get the shard out.”
Anne helped him out of his chair and led him toward the door. Just then, the lightning flashed in time to reveal a monstrosity of a wave upon them. Jordan’s eyes widened in horror. He turned to warn Anne and Joel. “Look out!”
32.
The wave broke across the hull and smacked Anne hard on the back, knocking her into the railing, hammering the air from her lungs. The boat tilted sharply, and she skidded over the side, arms and legs flailing. She fell toward the roiling mass below, the sea foaming at the mouth. She jerked to a stop in mid-air. Her body swung and banged into the side of the boat.
Joel had somehow caught her by the wrist. “Hold on!” he bellowed.
Anne brought her other hand up and took hold of his wrist. She swung her feet up to the side of the boat, but her trainers found no purchase and slipped.
The crashing waves beneath her churned up the loam. The veins in Joel’s neck threatened to pop as he strained to pull her up. She rose a couple of inches. The boat hit another swell and dipped forward. Joel’s blood caked her wrist, making a good grip nigh-on impossible.
Anne looked up into Joel’s eyes, ignoring the rain stinging her face. “It’s okay,” she said in a calm voice that surprised her. “You can let go.”
Joel shook his head. “No!”
“If you don’t, we’ll both die.”
Haven tilted, and Joel’s grip slipped again.
“It’s okay,” Anne said. “It’s okay. Let go.”
Joel’s arms shook and his fingers began to unfurl, his grip loosening. Haven banked sharply in the opposite direction. Joel’s grip grew strong again. He pulled hard and with Haven’s added centrifugal force, Anne flew up in a wide arc and landed on the deck with a heavy bump.
Anne and Joel lay on the deck panting for air. They looked at one another and chuckled with relief. Laughs turned to gurgles as a wave washed over them. They got to their feet.
Joel smiled. “That was close, huh?”
The world seemed to slow as Haven rose up another sharp bank. The wind howled. The rain stung their faces. They turned to head below deck.
Joel froze.
Another giant wave broke across the cabin, flinging boulders of white, taking Joel hard in the chest. He grunted at the impact. It knocked him off his feet, slamming him into the rail and washing him over board in one smooth motion.
Anne reached for him, but she was already too late. “Joel!” she screamed. “No! Joel! No!”
The sea rolled like the scales of a giant snake and whisked Joel away. Within seconds he was gone.
33.
In a single strobe of lightning the mainland was there. Trees were blown at a limbo-like angle. Solid shadows zipped through the air. Jordan’s stomach moved three feet behind him as Haven descended into a deep swell. Smaller swells cajoled her one way then another. Jordan kept the boat on course, heading straight for where he thought the mainland was.
At the bottom of the surf Jordan swore he could see the seabed. A mountain of water rose before him. The engine chugged, chugged, chugged its way up the incline.
“Come on!” Jordan said, gently brushing the wheel like a lover. “Come on! You can make it! You can make it!”
A flash of lightning struck nearby, and the world was bleached white. The hair on Jordan’s body rose at the electrical discharge. The boom of thunder rattled the wheel in Jordan’s hands, but still Haven scaled the vertical wall. Haven shuddered again, this time not from thunder but from the engine as it threatened to stall. She burst through the top of the swell and landed on an even keel. The mainland loomed large. He could almost make out individual buildings.
Jordan stroked the wheel. “Good girl, good girl.”
He heard the slosh of footsteps behind him. Anne looked every bit as tired as Jordan felt. Her hair stuck up on end, and she walked in small careful steps. She tripped on their old radio. Jordan caught her. Her eyes were red and swollen.
“Joel?” Jordan said.
She shook her head and hugged him close.
Jordan felt tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry it had to end like this,” he said.
“Me too.”
The boat plunged into a gigantic swell.
“What is it you wanted to tell me before?” Anne asked. “During the party?”
“I don’t think that matters now.”
“I want to know.”
Jordan looked away. “I was going to ask if you wanted to date.”
“Don’t you want to know my answer?”
The sea and rain pummeled the small cabin.
“Anne…” Jordan said, but stopped when she put her finger to his lips.
“If we can’t do what we want at the end of the world, when can we?”
Jordan fell into Anne’s big, deep dark eyes and was consumed for what he feared would be the last time. They were so close they shared one another’s breath. Anne’s hand crept up through Jordan’s wet hair. He brushed a strand out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ears the way he liked.
Anne kissed Jordan on the cheek, eyes glittering wetly. “Happy birthday.”
The sea squeezed itself into the tiny cabin and drifted between the two figures, forcing them apart. Their hands lost one another. Anne screamed, but the sound was enveloped by the relentless storm, wind and rain. Jordan put up little resistance as he was sucked toward an empty window and tossed out to sea.
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The survivors of the shipwreck coalesce on land to face the horror that lives there, only to find one of their number missing. They wait for three days, with disastrous consequences.
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ALSO BY PERRIN BRIAR
Have you read them all?
Series
Sink
Skip
Z-Minus
Blood Memory
Flowers Vs. Zombies
Resistance
Compulsion
One-Off Novels
Square
Keeping Mum
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Perrin Briar is the author of the popular Blood Memory, Z-Minus, Flowers Vs. Zombies and Resistant series. He makes his online home at www.perrinbriar.com. You can connect with Perrin on Twitter at @perrinbriar, on Facebook at facebook.com/perrinbriar and you should send him an email at [email protected] if the mood strikes you.
Copyright © 2018 Perrin Briar
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Published by Perrin Briar.
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