by Ky Tyrand
Not only that, but her pushing had just been digging it into the sand. No wonder it hadn’t moved.
Lexi felt another wave wash over her feet, giving her a sense of hope and urgency. She had to get the water out of the boat.
She considered tipping it onto its side, and hooked her fingers under the lip at the top…
Uh … no chance.
She would have to bail it out. It wasn’t like the girl had a bucket kicking around. But there was bamboo all over the place around here. Lexi hustled to the closest grove, lopping a thick culm down with a single swipe of the Imperative Rod. A second cut gave her a bucket. Well, more like a large cup.
Better than scooping it out with my hands.
Back to the boat.
Lexi went straight to work scooping the water out. It was awkward with the bench in the way. She had to reach under it to fill the cup – which was usually less than half full by the time she brought it up – and then reach up to dump it over the edge. It was uncomfortable on her knees and frightening because she had her back turned to the dragon and his pirate zombie friends, with the sounds of the waves echoing in her ears. There was no chance she would be able to hear them when they snuck up on her, so the girl made it a point to glance in a different direction every time she brought up a scoop.
It was slow going, but Lexi could tell that her bailing was making a difference. The boat was her only hope, and she was determined to make it work.
She felt it shift, making her jump and snatch up the Imperative Rod. Expecting to find a horrific monster trying to make a move on her, the girl let out a breath when she realized that she was still alone.
The boat shifted again.
Lexi poked her head up to find that the waves were washing up past the boat! Flooded with a rush of excitement, she scooped faster, feeling the vessel begin to move with every wave.
The bottom was almost empty, and she was no longer able to get more than a dribble of water in her cup, even when she reached all the way to the back. “Close enough,” Lexi told herself, as she wiped sweat from her brow and got ready for the water to take her to safety.
The next wave lifted the boat – yes – pushing it farther up the beach – nooooh!
Lexi jumped out of the boat with a growl. Now it was pushed up against the tall rock it had been tied to.
It didn’t matter.
The tide was rising. The boat was empty.
She went around to the back and gave it a pull with the next wave. It slid back with ease. Lexi jumped for joy, despite the fact that she stubbed her toe as the boat shifted.
Who cares, I’ve got another nine just like it. I’ve got places to be!
Lexi pulled the boat back, giddy to see that it was floating in the shallow waves. She turned it around and got it pointed at the open sea, stopping only once to hike up her skirt before pushing off and jumping in. Yes!
Lexi was a sailor. The captain of her own ship. ‘Lady take-me-the-hell-away-from-this-place’ she would name her vessel.
She wrestled with the oars, surprised by how difficult it was to get them situated in their spots, before realizing the boat was turned sideways and pushed up against the sandy beach.
Grrrr.
Lexi took the Imperative Rod from her teeth and tucked it through her bikini top before pulling an oar back out and using it to push against the sand. Afloat again with the next wave, Captain Lexi had her ship back in the water, and was rowing for all she was worth.
She kind of wished she had a lifejacket. Lexi wasn’t a strong swimmer, and if something went wrong, she’d likely sink to the bottom of the ocean like a rock.
Nothing is going to go wrong, the girl told herself.
But she was terribly mistaken.
20
It hadn’t occurred to Lexi how difficult rowing would be. The oars had to go into the water at the same time, and at the same depth, and be turned at the same angle, and pulled the same amount on both sides – or the boat went in the wrong direction … if it went anywhere at all!
As it would happen, if everything was done precisely right, pulling the oars was kind of like pulling a dump truck out of a ditch with your bare hands. What muscles she had were already burning, and Lexi didn’t figure she was more than twenty feet from shore.
It was slow going, and the girl feared her batteries might die before she made any headway. But after several minutes of zigzagging her way up the coast in the straightest line she could steer, it finally felt like she was in a different spot.
The waves weren’t large by any stretch of the imagination, but she learned pretty quickly that it was best to keep the boat facing into them at all times. Actually, Lexi had picked that up from the cruise. Easier said than done.
Despite how exhausted she felt, the girl was confident that she was getting better at it. After a while, Lexi was able to keep the bow of the boat pointed near the rocky bluff at (what she considered to be) the west end of the bay. However, she was a little surprised at how long it was taking to reach it. It seemed impossible to judge distances on the water, but it actually felt like she was rowing one way, and being pulled in another.
This went on for some time. And with every passing moment, the girl became more convinced that she wasn’t imagining it. She was drifting to the East. When Lexi could see around the tip of the rocky peninsula she’d been standing on a short while ago – straight into the bowels of Pirate’s Cove – she began to get a little concerned.
In fact, she began to get a lot concerned.
Since it didn’t seem to be helping, Lexi took a break from rowing and pulled out the telescope to try and make sense of the blurry movement that was going on within the cove. The rocking of the boat made it hard to keep the view steady, but she could see the zombies now. There had to be at least fifty of them! Maybe more. And they were all looking at her! They were somehow able to see better through eyes that had no irises or pupils, than Lexi could with her own. Or could they still smell her?
The rising tide had taken away what little sand was in there, leaving them standing on, and leaning against, wet rocks and …
Holy crap.
They were coming out into the water, wading toward Lexi’s boat.
It didn’t seem like they were real when she looked at them through the spyglass. Like they were special-effects monsters in a movie or something. But the girl knew they were real. Or at least a part of a very bad dream that she was having a difficult time waking up from.
Lexi took a deep breath and carefully slid the telescope back into its case.
She wasn’t sure what to do. Can pirate zombies swim?
The girl took hold of the oars and paddled for dear life.
Lexi was facing Captain Hook’s pirate ship, trying to row away from it, but getting closer with every stroke. She was fighting the ocean.
The zombies were all a blur. Lexi couldn’t tell if they were getting nearer, but she didn’t want to take her hands off the oars long enough to look. What about the dragon? Was he getting ready to swoop down on her as well? Or the two-headed sharks? God I wish I had my glasses!
Lexi could tell that she was being pulled toward the rocky inlet.
Screw it! The girl turned the boat around and rowed in the direction of the pirate ship. The currents wanted to take her that way, anyway, and she didn’t have the strength to fight them. If she couldn’t go around the west bluff, Lexi would go around the east bluff. It didn’t matter to her which direction she took out of this God forsaken valley, as long as she got out!
But the waves were hitting her boat differently at this angle. Or are they just getting bigger?
They smacked into the side and rocked the boat, nearly sending her over.
This was not good.
Lexi thought that the current would take her around the bluff.
But it wasn’t.
It was bringing her closer to shore.
Funneling her toward Pirate Cove.
21
The waves were
definitely getting higher, crashing into the side of her vessel as she frantically tried to fight the violent waters with her two oars. Lexi turned the boat into the waves, figuring that rowing straight out to sea would be better than getting washed into that cove. But it didn’t seem to help. The Lady take-me-the-hell-away-from-this-place was too small for rough waters.
With every wave came a splash of salty water, which began to form a pool in the bottom of her boat. The more water that came in, the lower the boat got. And the lower it got, the more water came in.
Her cup. Did she still have the little bamboo cup?
Lexi could see it floating in the back of the boat. It wouldn’t do her any good. She couldn’t bail the water out faster than the waves were spitting it back in.
What choice do I have?
The Imperative Rod fell from her bikini as she lunged for the cup. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the alien device hit the bottom of the boat with a clunk.
Forget about the stupid cup!
Lexi snatched up the rod and clamped it in her teeth, ignoring the salty water that came with it.
Fumbling for the cup, she began bailing like crazy, trying desperately to get the water out of the boat. A futile effort.
The girl was certain that the boat was going straight to the bottom of the sea, with her in it.
Until a wave came along and proved her wrong.
22
It came from the side, scooping the boat up and rolling it over. Lexi plunged into the warm water.
She couldn’t tell what was happening.
Just that she was underwater, and that the waves were suddenly ferocious, with the sounds of the swirling current thundering through her ears.
Something was clinging to the girl, trying to hold her under and making it impossible to swim free of the boat.
Lexi pulled at it, but it suctioned to her skin and tugged at her ribs.
Desperate to be free, her hand grabbed for the Imperative Rod, still clutched in her teeth.
The blue beam of plasma lit up the water, but did little to help her see. Her hair was in her face, and there were bubbles everywhere.
Anxious for a breath of air, Lexi tried to untangle herself, pulling at the tightness around her ribcage. It was her woven bamboo belt, holding the leather poncho to her body.
Trying her best to keep calm, the girl slid the blade of buzzing energy under the strap and sped up the particles until the belt popped free. She fought the leather as it tried to coil itself around her like a boa constrictor, eventually getting it over her head and pushed away.
Lexi was under the boat, with a pocket of air above her. She pulled her head up and sucked the air into her lungs, along with enough salt water to make her gag.
The boat was bumping up against something, but she couldn’t tell what.
Lexi felt a touch against her leg. Her thoughts of the zombies swimming toward her made her kick at it frantically, only to feel excruciating pain in her foot and knee.
Whatever she was kicking was hard and sharp.
Not a zombie – a rock.
Something was trying to coil around her neck.
It was the stupid leather, attacking her again.
Lexi had to get away from here.
She had to swim for it.
The light of her blade blinked out.
The girl took a deep breath and chomped down on the rod, before diving under the boat.
She wasn’t expecting the violence of a white-water river – trying to confuse her and smash her into the sharp rocks.
It felt like she was in a laundry machine, being churned and spun every which way at once. Lexi couldn’t tell which way was up or down.
It was just like on that day – the last day she remembered before waking up in this valley.
Right after she had killed her best friend.
Lexi thought they were heading straight to the pool. She would have put more clothes on had she known Parma wanted to take selfies off a deck on the side of the ship.
The girl felt uncomfortable enough being in photos. But with nothing but a cover-up over her skimpy bikini, Lexi adamantly protested any being taken of her.
Of course, Parma wouldn’t take no for an answer. Putting her arm around Lexi with her selfie-stick stretched out, trying to get the shoreline in the backdrop, and the water, and the boat.
Despite having gotten in trouble twice already for climbing up on the railing, Parma felt comfortable putting her feet on the horizontal wires and pushing herself up to get the perfect angle.
Next thing Lexi knew, Parma turned to the side and rested her butt on the railing.
“Are you kidding me?” Lexi’s heart jumped at the sight. “Parma, get down from there!”
“Oh relax,” her friend told her.
A horn began to blare.
Something was wrong.
The light had saved Lexi that day. She saw it from the bottom of the ocean. A bright light in the water. Where was it now?
There!
Lexi saw a light and swam for it.
She needed air.
But it was so far away.
Her body was exhausted. She forced her arms to pull her; her legs to kick.
The light had saved her last time.
She desperately wanted to take a breath.
The girl felt herself breaking the surface.
She gasped for air, not realizing that she was spitting the Imperative Rod from her mouth.
She fumbled to catch the alien device, but it was too late. The violent water snatched it away.
Without thinking, Lexi dove after the weapon, desperate to get it back.
But she couldn’t see it. She couldn’t see anything.
She couldn’t breathe.
The water spun her around, slamming her against the sharp rocks.
Her back took the worst of it, the swirling ocean grinding her along the jagged surface as she clawed for purchase; searched for the light.
Her elbow, her shoulder – it felt like she was in a blender.
Lexi caught the edge of a rock with her fingers. She could see the light and pulled herself toward it.
Even Parma seemed to realize something was amiss, and moved to hop down.
But the boat shifted, and her feet didn’t make it to the deck.
Her eyes went wide, just for an instant. “Lex!”
Lexi could tell that her friend wasn’t joking, and lunged for her. She caught Parma’s arm with a death grip, pulling her forward.
Parma smiled and let out a breath when her best friend had hold of her arm.
Her feet still hadn’t planted themselves on the deck. And they never would.
Air.
Part of a breath.
The girl kept pulling, scraping her chest and abdomen on the sharp rocks.
She could breathe, but white frothy water was all around her, splashing in her face as she struggled to inhale.
Lexi pulled as the sea thrashed her legs about, slicing her knees and thighs. She knew that she couldn’t hang on. She wasn’t strong enough. If she was, Parma would still be alive.
The ship suddenly listed.
It had never done this before. It was practically on its side.
Lexi was thrown against the railing, her hold on Parma nearly jerking loose.
Parma’s legs kicked wildly. Her arm flailed trying to catch hold of something. Anything.
Her phone and selfie-stick had already fallen. It was only her life that stood a chance of being saved.
She went over.
Lexi thought her ribs were going break against the railing as she gripped Parma’s arm with everything she had.
The boat was still leaning. Parma’s legs weren’t anywhere near the side. Open air was all that she kicked.
Her free hand reached for the railing, but it was too far away.
She settled on Lexi’s arm.
Their wide-eyes locked onto one another’s.
Lexi shrieked for help.
&nb
sp; Where was everyone?
A crewman … ANYONE who could help her!
Screaming could be heard between horn blasts. Other passengers.
Lexi tried to shout louder, “HELP!”
Her fingers were slipping.
So were Parma’s.
Their grips slid from elbows to wrists.
“HELP! HELP! HELP!!!”
The boat felt like it was about to tip over.
From wrists to fingers.
Lexi didn’t even feel the tears that she splashed down onto her friend. All she knew was that her fingers weren’t staying closed, no matter how hard she squeezed them.
Parma’s expression never changed. Wide-eyed. Shocked.
Even after their fingers popped apart.
Lexi could feel the strength in her arms giving way, just like it had for Parma.
At least Parma had been worth saving!
The girl tried to make sense of the bubbling bath of chaos. It suddenly occurred to her that she was clinging to the rocks at the end of the peninsula. The boat was overturned. She considered trying to swim for it, but it was heading into Pirate Cove…
The zombies.
Before the boat tipped, they were coming out into the water.
They could be anywhere.
Lexi tried to see, but even if she had better vision, it would be impossible. The smallest of waves out in the ocean were devastating against these rocks.
The girl felt something against her back. It was more than just water. She swung an arm back, expecting to hit a zombie. Instead, her arm landed on … something. Unsure whether to catch it or fight it, she turned her head to see what it was.
It was the belt.
Catch it! Catch it!
Her arm pinned it against her body. She could feel the spyglass pouch bumping against her hip. Lexi did not want to lose this like she had the Imperative Rod. And Parma. She tucked her arm through it. The waves eased long enough for her to pop it over her head.
