Blood Lust
Chapter Twenty-Eight

We walked across the sand. I felt strange being the only one not hiding from the sun; almost like being left out.

"Christi, we're getting on the pier and then we're taking that black vessel. Once we get there, I need you to get on it and look for a box right as you get on it. It will have protection for us. Gloves, masks, coats." Lee pulled them along. I nodded silently and kept my distance as I followed.

The pier was the same one we had been pulled out onto from the cargo ships. The memory started to come back to me as the wood board creaked beneath my feet.

"This one." Their boat had stopped in front of a smaller black boat. I got a good grip on the ladder and pulled myself on the edge of the boat. When I had climbed to the top and managed to throw myself on the deck of the boat. I scanned the area for a box. In between two cushions of seating was a white box with a sun stenciled on the front. I propped open the lid to replace black hats and gloves.

"I'm throwing them down to you!" I grabbed everything up and threw it down to them. Something had caught my eye, "What is that?" Small moving specs had appeared on the far side of the Island.

They dropped the boat once their skin was covered. R was the first to climb up on to the boat, "Guards. Let's move fast." He took my hand and brought me below the deck.

I heard the boat fire up and Lee laugh. "What's happening?" I asked. I could feel the throttle of the boat propel us forward.

"They spotted us. We need to hurry. They can't follow us for very long." R sat with me while Martin and Dee came down to sit with us.

"Lee said next move is to drop the boat somewhere." Dee sat besides R and peeled off his face mask. R nodded.

"What do you mean drop the boat?" I asked. I realized how close R was sitting next to me. It caught me off guard when I realized how dirty he was.

"We're going to have to leave it somewhere. Otherwise they will continue to follow us until one of us runs out of gas."

We sat in silence. Listening as the waves slapped the front of the boat. I could've sat there for ages and enjoyed the sounds, but Martin's voice had killed that dream.

"They're pulling up fast!" Martin shouted down below to us. It was barely enough warning before I felt the boat rumble beneath me.

"What was that?!" I shouted. Too late.

My already wet slippers had begun soaking up water. I looked down to see water gushing between my leg. The boat was taking on water.

R and Dee slid their masks back and and rushed up on the deck. "Everyone get down!" I heard a voice say. A loud crash rang in my ears.

From the amount of damage I could only guess that we either hit something or something hit us. Water splashed me in the face as the water began to rise increasingly fast. By the time I tried to make it up the steps, the water had reached my waist.

"Lee?!" I panicked. Lee's body was twisted up in a ball at the top of the steps. He looked dead. I scooped my arm under him and pushed him over on his side.

"I'm good." He gave me a thumbs up.

The boat had definitely been hit. A different boat had actually rammed itself into our boat and both had started to sink. Everyone still fighting, regardless of the state of the boats.

I caught a glimpse of R. His hands wrapped around another, pulling their mask off and letting the sun do the rest. A part of me was relieved that he was in better condition than Lee. I wondered where Martin or Dee were.

"Where are Martin and Dee?" I asked Lee.

Lee didn't answer, but my mind had a wonderful trick of making up all sorts of scenarios. I dragged him closer to the edge of the boat. I was ready to throw us both off and swim as long as I could.

"Lee take care of her!" R shouted. He threw us a raft and pushed us off the edge without warning.

Icy water hit my back as we plunged into the water. It was so cold that it felt like a million needles hitting me all at once. The pain made me want to shut my eyes, but a bright light had caught my attention.

A plume of smoke appeared above the water as I floated underneath the water. I watched what was left of the boats sink down to the dark abyss of the ocean floor.

If I could've, I would've watched the entire thing touch the bottom. Curiosity had caught me, I wanted to see if I could hear the boats touch the bottom .

Lee thought otherwise and pulled me up to the surface. I gasped for air as soon as my head peaked through. My eyes zigzagging over the water. I was searching for other heads bobbing on top of the water, searching just as we were.

There were no other upright faces but mine and Lee's. My heart sank right into my stomach. "They're okay right?" I whispered as tears welled up in my eyes.

"Come on. We have to swim to the shore." Lee pulled me away from the wreckage that floated around us. "They'll follow us when they make it back up." I could tell Lee lied right through his teeth, but my heart wanted to accept it.

I wanted to believe that R had made it.