Trevor quickly followed behind me as more of the ground ripped apart. Flocks of birds took flight as the trees shivered and started to fall like dominoes. The branches shattered and snapped, and the jungle came to life with animals fleeing the devastation.
We closed in on the entrance to the cave, making it up the incline just as it started to break apart. Rocks were crumbling from above it, slamming into the ground and tumbling into the water. The island was falling apart.
“We’ve gotta get inside,” I yelled. “Get to the other side.”
Trevor pointed up at the cluster of rocks tumbled down the wall of the mountain. “How?”
I held my hands up then watched for a moment as the cliff face seemed to fall apart. Clusters of rocks hit the ground, sending a wave of vibrations up my leg and I knew we’d only have one chance of making it inside.
“Now!” I shouted, grabbing Trevor’s arm as I bolted toward the opening.
We clamored inside just as a chunk of boulder hit the ground behind us. It exploded on impact, sending bits of shrapnel through the air.
“That was close,” Trevor said and straightened up.
I pushed myself to my feet behind him then looked back as more rocks bashed into the ledge. Frowning, I reached down and grabbed the torch I’d left then started down the dark corridor.
“Come on,” I called out to Trevor.
Suddenly, I could hear the walls around us shuddering. Rubble started to fall from the ceiling then a massive slab hit the floor as the ledge outside collapsed into the lagoon. A gust of wind whooshed through the tunnel and the torch went out, casting us into shadows.
The opening had caved in. Shards of the mountain cracked apart, collapsing the narrow opening as the walls imploded under their own weight.
“Run!” I yelled as the sound of rocks falling to the ground echoed in the darkness.
CHAPTER 20
THE ROARING ISLAND
“Chloe? Chloe can you hear me?”
I climbed over the pile of rocks, trying to quiet the beating of my heart. We’d made it back to the front, only to find our sleeping area had been destroyed. Giant sheets of rock fell from the ceiling creating a massive heap that stood at least ten feet high. Amber was on the other side, shouting for Chloe.
I fought off the panic and fear that was trying to swallow me whole. It clouded my mind, urged me to do stupid things and I needed to stay calm.
“Chloe!” I called out again. “Are you down there?”
“Daniel? Daniel is that you?” Amber yelped and I could hear the desperation in her voice.
“Yeah,” I called back. “It’s me and Trevor.”
“Chloe, Chloe is down there Daniel,” she yelled. “I can’t get to her.”
I grabbed a rock the size of a microwave and pushed it down the pile. It rumbled as it fell and hit the floor, sending several other rocks falling behind it. Trevor did the same until we created a small gap that we could squeeze down into.
“Chloe! Chloe!” I called out, trying to balance with one foot propped on a shaky boulder.
“Daniel?” she replied. “Daniel, I’m down here. Help me! I…I can’t breathe.”
“I’m coming! Just hang on,” I shouted.
I grabbed more rocks and sent them spilling toward the ground. Grunting, I pulled and pushed through the pile with desperation dripping from my pores. Every bit of rubble I moved brought me closer. Every rock was another breath of air for Chloe.
“Chloe hang on!” Trevor screamed. “We’re almost there.”
He shoved a pile of rocks off the side and revealed a massive slab resting against the wall of the cave. Chloe’s hand suddenly shot out from the gap and my heart nearly leapt from my chest. I grabbed it and pressed her palm to my face.
“Chloe, we’re right here,” I said. I kissed her hand then grabbed the sides of the rock. “Trevor, help me.”
Climbing down beside me, he grabbed the other end and we tried to push the slab over. I strained, feeling like my eyes were going to burst from my skull, but the slab didn’t budge. We may as well have been pushing against a mountain.
“What the hell are y’all doing?” Antonio’s voice suddenly blared as his head popped up over the pile.
“My sister is under here. Help me!” I shouted back.
Antonio’s face turned serious, he nodded then scampered down into the gap. Chase, Hanson and Keyon crawled over the rocks behind him and stopped as their eyes met Trevor. There was a sudden tension in the air that I could feel, pushing against me. I swallowed and tightened my jaw as I straightened up.
Trevor glared at Chase, his face was unreadable, but I knew beneath that stoic guise he was brimming with anger. Chase stared back at him, furrowing his brow and running his fingers through his hair.
Gulping, I clenched my fists then moved to step between them, but Chase hurried into the gap and stopped behind Trevor.
“Slide over,” he said in a monotone voice. “We can help.”
Trevor swallowed then glanced back where Chloe’s hand was sticking through the crack. Nodding, he moved to the side, making room for Chase and Hanson. Keyon and Antonio slid beside me and for that moment, we were a team.
I looked around and swallowed a gulp of air. “On three,” I said.
Counting slowly, I gathered every ounce of strength I could muster, then pushed the slab like my life depended on it. I could feel it give slightly and felt a surge of energy rush through my veins.
“Come on!” I rallied. “A little more!”
Together, we pushed, the slab moving inches at a time. The gap slowly widened until I could see Chloe’s face. I reached out and grabbed her, pulling her from beneath the rubble.
“Daniel,” she cried out and fell into me.
Trevor joined me and wrapped his arms around both of us. I leaned forward, tears flowing down my face as the world spun around me. Chloe tightened her grip and I could feel her heart drumming like a locomotive.
They were all I had left, they were the last of my family and in that moment, I felt like at least that much had become clear. I couldn’t lose anyone else. The stupid shit we argued about didn’t matter, I just wanted to keep us all together.
“I should’ve been here,” I whispered. “I shouldn’t have left you alone."
She let out a little giggle and I straightened up until we were face to face. She turned her head to the side and shrugged.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“You sound like dad. Only dad would think he could stop an earthquake.”
I smiled as I thought about him huffing up his chest before diving into one of his longwinded speeches. He was the type to think he could change the will of nature with a wave of his hand. I half-believed he could and the thought of him drowning on some fucking cruise ship made me furious.
Grunting, I slowly stood up and looked back at the others. Chase was watching us with an endearing look in his eyes. I couldn’t be sure, but it almost looked like he’d been crying. As my eyes met his he looked away then started over the mound and back down to the other side where Keyon and Antonio were already waiting.
“Come on,” I said and helped Chloe to her feet.
“What now?” Trevor asked.
“I don’t know, I really don’t know man.”
Trevor frowned, and I patted his shoulder then scaled the craggy mound. Once we made it down the hill of rocks, I took a deep breath and doubled over. My heart was trying to tear my chest apart and my head felt like I was stuck on a carnival ride. What the hell was going on? The thought was echoing loudly in my skull.
“Is everybody okay?” I asked and looked around at the cluster of dirt-smudged faces.
Amber suddenly rushed forward and leapt into my arms. I stumbled backward then our faces met, and she kissed me like the world was ending. Pulling her closer, I kissed her back and lifted her off the ground.
As I closed my eyes everything faded away and I felt her melt into me. All my worries, all my reservat
ions disappeared. It was unlike any feeling I’d ever experienced.
I’d had my fair share of girlfriends, but I felt something different with her. I felt like she knew me, like she really knew me.
I set her down and grabbed the sides of her face. Our foreheads were pressed together and for a moment it was like I could hear her thoughts and we were the only ones there. But that didn’t last long, things like that never lasted for long.
“Okay, enough of that shit,” Antonio groaned.
I laughed and slowly pulled away, gazing into Amber’s emerald eyes. It took all my strength to leave that place. I wanted to stay where everything felt safe, even if it was only a momentary façade, an escape from the grim reality I knew.
“I love you,” she blurted out so abruptly I jumped. “I was so scared, I thought, I thought…”
“I’m right here,” I said and kissed her on the forehead.
“What the hell happened?” Keyon suddenly asked and threw his hands in the air. “What was that?”
“An earthquake,” Trevor said.
“Yeah,” Reggie added as he entered the cave with Sherry trailing behind him. “Is everybody okay?”
“We need to get out of this cave.” Trevor started toward the mouth then paused and looked back in my direction. “The fucking ceiling fell apart. You wanna stay next to that?”
I glared at him and sighed. Like I was really gonna stay in here. “Come on,” I said and grabbed Chloe’s hand while Amber wrapped her arm around mine.
We all headed outside and made our way up the narrow trail. Parts of the path had broken apart and fallen into the water. It looked like someone had ran down the walkway with a jackhammer. The earth around us was disintegrating.
I looked out over the sea, at the protruding dunes of sediment like the craggy knuckles of a weathered fisherman. The water normally swirled into a turbulent slosh of white, burying the rocks in waves of salty foam, but now there wasn’t as much as a ripple. The sea was still, as if it’d been painted and the vibrant hues had just dried.
It was a little after noon and the sun cooked the sky as it stretched its fiery arms. There wasn’t a cloud in view, or a bird, or even a bug. The wind had given up and there was a stale odor to the air.
“Anyone else see that?” I asked.
“See what?” Chase grumbled from behind me.
“The water…everything. Nothing is moving.”
Trevor paused for a moment and stared down the cliff. Amber gasped and Chloe tightened her grip on my hand.
“We need to keep going,” Chase said as he squeezed passed me.
I threw my hands into the air. “Whatever.”
The complete silence made the hair on the back of my neck stand. The only sound I could hear was the crunch of our feet against the ground. The sporadic staccato and muffled shuffling droned loudly in the nothingness.
“What are we gonna do?” Amber whispered to me.
“What do you mean?”
“The cave…we can’t go back there.”
I didn’t have an answer for her. I’d tried to hide my fear with reassuring smiles and empty words, but I didn’t know what to do and in all honesty, I was terrified. We’d been lucky for so long and I knew deep down we should’ve already been dead.
“We need to keep going,” I said as we stopped on the top of the cliff. “It’ll be safer down on the beach.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Chase replied and started making his way through the bushes down the hill.
There were collapsed trees and fissures riddling the island. Shards of shredded bark and twisted branches laced our path like a spider web. The splintered fibers were like claws, lashing out and gouging at my skin as I pushed my way through.
It took us longer than it should have to make it down. But standing on the beach, I was able to see just how much of the island had been destroyed.
The backside of the hill had slid nearly ten feet apart. Mounds of dirt had collected in the lagoon and the rocks that once separated it from the sea were completely demolished. A deep gash cut through the stone, a stream of water flowed down it, disappearing into the depths of the earth.
The palm trees down on the beach had fallen and littered the shoreline. Clumps of rock had fallen down the hill and flattened everything in their wake. Several of them had come to a stop in the shallows, their hulking figures protruding from the surf like basking elephant seals.
“This is safer?” Antonio asked.
“Yeah,” I said sharply.
A baritone lull sounded from deep below us and I felt a slight vibration in my feet. The alarm on the face of everyone else mirrored my own and I knew the worst wasn’t over yet.
“Where do we go?” Trevor asked.
“Where can we go?” I replied.
The ground roared and sent us wobbling from side to side. I could hear the rocks shifting above us as the sound echoed through the air. Something loud fell up on the mountain, but as quickly as the shaking started, it stopped.
“Aftershock?” Keyon asked in a dull tone.
Antonio laughed.
“What? Like you know a damn thing about earthquakes.”
“We need to get out of here,” I added as I looked around the crumbling landscape.
“And go where?” Chase asked.
“Off this damn death trap.”
“Like we haven’t tried. What the hell do you want to do, swim out of here?”
I ignored him and shot a glance at Trevor. We both knew there was only one way to leave the island and until now it wasn’t worth the risk.
“Dude, that’s suicide,” Trevor said.
“Staying here is suicide,” I replied.
“What are you two talking about?” Antonio asked.
“The cruise ship,” Amber said in a stern tone then turned to me. “You can’t.”
CHAPTER 21
BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
Trevor and Chase waded into the water, clenching the red vests like newborn babies. I walked a few feet behind them, regretting every step that I took.
“Are you guys sure about this?” I asked. “There’s gotta be another way.”
“If you figure it out let me know. I don’t want to drown anymore than you do,” Trevor replied as he stared ahead at the vanishing cruise ship.
“This was your fucking idea Daniel,” Chase growled.
“I know,” I grumbled under my breath.
I followed Trevor’s gaze and swallowed my trepidation. The ship cast a ghastly silhouette against the horizon and sent a shot of ice down my back. Ten feet of the bow poked into the air. A few life boats floated around it, still caught in the cables attached to the wench, but everything else had been claimed by the sea.
I knew what we were doing wouldn’t be easy. Trevor almost drowned trying to swim to the ship before and he was the best swimmer on the island. But we were desperate and we either died on the island or died in the water.
Even if we made it to the ship there was no guarantee that we could get one of the lifeboats or that they even worked. It was a longshot, but all we had were longshots.
There’d been three more tremors since the last one and they were getting worse. Chunks of the mountain were slowly breaking apart and slamming into the sea. The water was shifting around as the bottom settled and the aqua hue turned to a dull gray of cloudy silt.
I took a deep breath as my feet slowly rose from the sea floor and I started to doggy paddle. Trevor and Chase were already ahead of me and getting further away with each stroke. The sea had never felt like home to me.
We swam in a wide arc to avoid the turbulent waters that swirled just off shore. It would take us longer, but hopefully it was safer. We couldn’t risk getting swept away with the current. Too much was depending on our success.
The water lapped up against the side of my face as I awkwardly crawled through it. Shivering for no reason at all, I clenched my jaw and kicked harder. I hated everything about the water and after weeks o
f living on an island, I just wanted traffic and concrete roads back.
“Hurry up!” Trevor shouted back to me.
I wanted to scream out something rude, but I needed every bit of breath I had. Every stroke was a battle I nearly lost. No matter how far I swam the ship didn’t seem to get any closer and Trevor and Chase only got further away.
After a few minutes I looked up at the ship then turned and looked back toward the island. I could barely see it anymore and now I was in some bizarre middle ground where I didn’t think I had the energy to make it to either.
“Fuck me,” I mumbled.
The water was incredibly warm for winter, even in the islands. It was nearly the same temperature as the air. And even with that, my hands shook and chills ran up and down my arms.
Muscle fatigue and fear were making me crazy. Thoughts of leviathans swarming below me clouded my mind. I tried to block them out, but the murky water churned and gurgled beneath me. Wiping sweat from my forehead, I put my head down and started swimming again.
I squinted as the suns rays bounced off the surface of the water. I took a few more strokes then leaned back and started floating. If it wasn’t for the life vest I would’ve drowned already.
My arms burned, and my legs felt like jelly. The ship was so far away, and I felt like no matter how hard I pulled the water always won and erased any forward momentum I’d gained. Trevor and Chase were tiny dots now, closing in on the ship like torpedoes.
“Come on Daniel,” I mumbled useless inspiration to myself.
Grunting, I started paddling through the water again. Fighting against the sea and fighting against my own body. Every muscle screamed stop, my lungs begged for a minute of relief. But I knew that if we didn’t make it back with a boat soon, I’d be leaving Chloe to die and that was enough to make me push through every ounce of pain.
“That a boy,” Trevor shouted.
I looked up and found him standing on one of the lifeboats with a smug guise. He swayed from side to side as the cable from the wench yanked against the railing. The orange tarp had been ripped from the middle and now only the cockpit was covered, leaving the rest of the boat open to the elements.
Deconstruction- The Complete series Box Set Page 66