Overboard: Deconstruction Book Four (A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller)

by Rashad Freeman

  I glared at him then looked back to Chase. “How far down is it?”

  “Not far. Six feet maybe.”

  I swallowed and shrugged my shoulders. “Fine.”

  After leaving our life vests on the deck, we slipped back into the water and clung to the side of the boat for a moment. The waves slapped up against the bow in a rhythmic thump and I shivered as the water rose above my shoulders.

  Trevor and Chase took a gulp of air then vanished beneath the waves. I watched as their silhouettes disappeared into the murky sea. I was apprehensive. The longer I stayed latched onto the boat, the longer I could avoid the terrors down below. But it also meant the longer I left Chloe and Amber sitting on the beach.

  “It’s just water Daniel,” I mumbled to myself. “It’s just water.”

  I took a few short breaths to calm myself. Leaning my head back, I stared up at the sun then released the side of the boat and sunk under the water.

  With a swing of my hands, I flipped myself around then reached out and found the cable. I followed it downward until I saw two figures clinging to the other end.

  Trevor was pulling back on the cable while Chase tried to untangle the knot. From what I could see there was a twisted piece that just needed to be pushed back through the loop, but there wasn’t enough slack. Between the suspended cruise ship and the lifeboat bouncing around on the surface, the cable had too much tension.

  Ignoring the burning in my lungs, I reached out and grabbed the cable behind Trevor’s hand and gave it a tug. He turned and glanced at me then pointed at Chase who had his thumb up. It took a moment to realize what he was trying to tell me. Once I figured it out I grab his side of the cable and he let go then bolted upward toward the surface.

  Straining, I started to pull the knot through the small hole Trevor made. It was hard to grip the cable and every time I managed to get a little bit through, the boat would move and tighten the knot back up.

  For the next several minutes we took turns trying to loosen the cable and swimming to the surface for a quick breath. For every three times Chase and I went, Trevor would go once, and it seemed like he only did it to make us feel better. I was pretty sure he was past the point of needing oxygen. How the hell did he almost drown?

  Bubbles rattled in front of my face as I let out a breath, struggling to undo the knot. I glanced up as Chase’s shadow hovered above me on his way back down. Something nudged against my foot and I snapped my head around and swallowed a mouthful of water in panic.

  The pale body of an emaciated man floated below. His gaunt face was pained and missing the bottom portion of his jaw. His head barely clung to his neck and wisps of fiery orange hair danced clumsily like the tentacles of an anemone in the swirling current.

  My heart seized, and I emptied my stomach into the ocean and choked as I involuntarily swallowed another gulp of the salt water. The man’s cloudy, white eyes bore into mine and his gelatinous hands slowly flowed toward me like he was trying to grab my leg, as flaps of pulpous, translucent flesh wafted behind them.

  In a panic, I kicked my feet and tore off toward the sky. As soon as my head broke the surface of the water, I sucked in all the air I could and vomited again.

  I splashed back and forth in a frenzy, fighting against the ghastly visions that haunted me. “No! No!” I shouted over and over.

  “Daniel!” my brother yelled as he grabbed me by the shoulders. “Daniel it’s okay…I’m right here.”

  I blinked and rubbed the water out of my face, but all I could see were my parents, down there in the depths trapped for eternity in a watery grave.

  “They…they’re down there,” I stuttered. “Just like him, they’re down there just like him Trevor.”

  “I know, I know.”

  I thought I’d dealt with the loss, but at that moment I realized I hadn’t scratched the surface of my grief. I tried to focus, to grab onto anything, but I was spinning into a black abyss and no one could save me.

  My vision darkened and I felt my mind falling deeper and deeper into nothingness. Everywhere I looked I saw death, images of bloated figures, decaying beneath the waves.

  Trevor grabbed me again and shook then brought his open hand slamming against my cheek. The pain was sharp. I winced then blinked my eyes wildly, slowly focusing on Trevor’s face.

  “Daniel!” his voice came through like a mega horn. “Daniel are you okay?”

  “You fucking slapped me,” I mumbled.

  Trevor smiled. “Nice to have you back. Let’s get on the boat.”

  He pulled me along behind him like a ragdoll. I hadn’t noticed how far we’d drifted away.

  “Everything okay?” Chase asked as we got closer.

  Trevor nodded. Feeling ashamed, I climbed up the side of the boat then collapsed onto the deck. I buried my face in my hands and let out a roar.

  “Just stay up here man,” Trevor started. “It’s almost untangled anyway, we can handle it.”

  “Yeah, we can handle it,” Chase added.

  Sniffling, I pushed myself onto all fours and looked up. “I’m fine man…I can help.”

  “We’re good,” Trevor said and held his hands out. “Just stay up here.”

  I lowered my eyes and fought back tears. I was helpless. “Okay,” I whispered.

  Trevor knelt beside me and placed his hand on my head. He pulled me toward him and brought me into his arms.

  “I got you man. It’s okay.”

  He pressed his forehead against mine then stood up and headed to the edge of the boat. I stared after him then he climbed over and slipped beneath the waves.

  The boat rocked from side to side. The sea tossed and turned, the tremors created a massive whirlpool. I thought back to how calm it was earlier and felt my stomach turn with anxiety.

  I sat crouched on the ground for several minutes before I convinced my body to stand. I could hear Chase and Trevor coming up and to the surface then splashing back down and they continued to struggle with the cable.

  “Guys,” I called out as I leaned over the railing.

  Chase suddenly popped his head up and Trevor followed right behind him.

  “We got it!” Trevor said with a huge grin on his face.

  CHAPTER 22

  THE POINT OF NO RETURN

  I stood at the front of the cockpit and looked down at the myriad of controls. There were buttons and knobs and gauges I’d never seen before and had no clue how to operate. It looked like it had all been pulled from the dash of a 1973 station wagon.

  “Let’s go man. Let’s get the fuck outta here,” Chase growled from behind me.

  “I’m trying,” I replied.

  Shrugging, I reached out and grabbed the ignition knob. With a deep breath, I turned it and was greeted with a dull click. I turned it again, several times with the same result.

  “What’s wrong?” Trevor asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, come one. Get this thing moving.”

  “I just said I don’t know. I don’t’ know why it’s not moving. Hell, you’re Mr. Boat shoes. You figure this shit out.”

  Trevor frowned then squeezed beside me in the narrow cockpit. His face told me how completely puzzled he was as he scratched his head and took a deep breath.

  “You tried the ignition switch?” he asked.

  “Seriously dude? Of course, I did.”

  Trevor reached out and twisted it himself with the same depressing results. Groaning, he banged his fists on the panel then stormed off.

  “How do we pick the one boat that doesn’t fucking work?”

  “We should’ve tried it first,” I grumbled.

  “Well, we didn’t,” Chase snapped as he grabbed his life vest and started to climb out of the boat.

  “Where the hell are you going?”

  “To another boat!”

  He had a point, so I grabbed my life vest and headed off behind him. Getting back into the water wasn’t something I was looking forward to, but the tremors w
ere increasing and the fear of what Chloe and Amber might be going through pushed me forward.

  Trevor dropped off the boat and swam up alongside me. I turned and looked at him and he gave me an encouraging nod.

  “We’re gonna be okay,” he said.

  “I know.”

  The nearest boat was maybe twenty yards away. It didn’t take us long to get there and by the time I swam up to the side, Trevor was leaning over to help me in.

  “See if this shit works before I swim down there,” Chase blurted out.

  I stepped onto the boat and gave him a sideways glance then headed into the cockpit. Without pausing, I turned the ignition and the boat let out a throttled clunk before sputtering out.

  “That’s better than nothing,” Trevor said. “Try it again.”

  Beside the ignition there was a rusted, blue throttle lever. I moved it into the neutral position and tried the switch again. The boat popped and chugged then rumbled to life.

  “Yes!” Chase shouted.

  Clenching my fists, I smiled. Something had finally gone right. Now, we just needed to get the boat free and pick up everyone else.

  Like he could read my mind, Trevor removed his vest again and walked toward the rail. “I’ll go down and see how tangled it is.”

  “Fine by me,” Chase said.

  Trevor smiled then dove into the water. Minutes slowly ticked by as I waited for him to resurface. Chase had begun to pace back in forth and I was busy trying to chew off all my fingernails.

  With a splash, Trevor popped up, took a deep breath then dove back down.

  “What the hell? Does this guy think he’s part dolphin?” Chase asked with a slight laugh.

  “Something like that,” I replied.

  Over the next ten minutes Trevor surfaced for air a few times. I tried to ask how it was going, but he slinked back under the water before I could get the words out of my mouth. He was hell bent on doing it all himself.

  The water was starting to get rougher and I worried that if we didn’t get back soon we’d be too late. With Chase standing next to me, I leaned over the side and waited for Trevor to emerge. I could feel my heartbeat, echoing through my entire body. The pulse rattled my fingers and vibrated down to my shoes.

  The water rippled, and bubbles ascended to the surface and popped. I lifted my head and looked out in the distance where whitecaps were scattered across the sea. The sun was just starting its fall from the heavens and a batch of dreary, gray clouds had swooped in.

  “Yo Trevor!” Chase suddenly shouted.

  I turned back to the water where Trevor had just popped up. He had an odd look on his face and was splashing his hands as he swam forward in a panic. It didn’t take long for me to realize why.

  Five yards behind him a fin jutted out of the water and I threw my hand out and screamed. “Trevor! Trevor hurry up!”

  “Dude, there’s a fucking shark!” Chase shouted.

  Trevor seized my hand and I pulled back. Chase reached over me and just yanked him onboard like he was a ragdoll. We all fell into the boat with a thud and Trevor let out a heavy sigh.

  “Sharks,” Trevor rattled as he tried to catch his breath. “They’re all over the fucking place.”

  I looked back over the edge of the boat as a tail flipped up and splashed water against the side. I could count at least three sharks that I could see and who knew how many more were down there.

  “Did you get the cable off?” Chase asked.

  “Almost…then I almost got bit.”

  “What the hell are we gonna do?” I asked and ran my fingers through my hair.

  Seconds turned to minutes that turned into a lifetime. We sat on the boat, waiting and waiting and after half an hour without a shark in sight I decided to test our luck.

  “You think they’re gone?” I asked.

  “I’m not gonna go find out,” Chase replied.

  “I will.”

  “What?!” Trevor barked.

  “We can’t stay out here forever. We risked drowning, so we could get everyone off that damn island.”

  “Don’t get in that water Daniel. I’ll do it.”

  “You were already in there. I’ll do it man. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.”

  Before he could say anything else, I threw one leg over the railing. Trevor reached out to grab me and as I shrank away, my foot slipped, and I toppled into the water.

  Fear was the first thing I felt. For a moment it was all consuming and I it was like I was trapped back down there with decaying bodies that would never see the light of day again. But that quickly passed and was replaced with thoughts of man-eating machines swirling in the depths below me.

  “Get out of the water!” Trevor shouted at me.

  I glanced back at him then quickly dipped my head under. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust then I saw the shadowy mass of death thrashing about. There was at least six of them down there ripping apart the bloated bodies of the dead.

  In a panic, I kicked my legs and lunged toward the boat. I latched onto Trevor’s arm and pulled myself up, plopping onto the deck.

  “Dumb ass,” he growled.

  “Well, at least I know they’re still down there.”

  “I don’t know how the two of you have lived this long,” Chase said as he shook his head from side to side.

  We sat around for another thirty minutes in nearly complete silence. My hands were shaking in anxiety and I couldn’t stop wondering how bad it had gotten back on the island. Trevor was just as nervous as I was and hadn’t sat down once. Chase was staring up at the darkening sky with a look on his face like he was trying to solve a math problem.

  “You think you could outswim a shark?” I asked.

  Trevor started to laugh. “I know I could, you guys would be shit out of luck though.”

  “That’s the funny thing ain’t it,” Chase said.

  “What’s that?”

  “You’re such a great swimmer, but you almost drown the first time you swim out here. It’s just odd.”

  Trevor lowered his head and looked away. I glanced at him then back to Chase.

  “What?” Chase asked. “I’m just saying, the others might have bought that shit, but I didn’t.”

  “Just let it go,” I said.

  “Why?”

  “Because I fucking said so.”

  Trevor grunted then lifted his head. “It’s fine…it’s fine.”

  I shrugged and threw my hands in the air.

  “It wasn’t an accident,” Trevor said. “You happy now?”

  Chase slowly exhaled then twisted his face and sulked. “Why?”

  “I…I don’t know,” Trevor replied as his eyes began to tear up.

  “Fuck this Trevor. You don’t have to answer this shit. Fuck you Chase!” I snapped.

  “I did too,” Chase replied.

  “What?”

  “I thought about it…I almost tried.”

  My mouth fell open. I didn’t know what to say.

  “It was after McKinsey…died. I was all fucked in the head. Just seemed like we were never going home, like we were just gonna die here. I wanted it all to end.”

  Trevor nodded. “I’m sorry, I really am sorry.”

  “I know. So am I.”

  I felt so out of place. Like I was intruding on a moment that should’ve only been shared between them. They both had tears streaming down their cheeks and were the most vulnerable I’d ever seen them.

  “We gotta get back,” I said, trying to change the subject.

  Trevor glanced back toward the island then stared at me with bloodshot eyes.

  “I swam out here before. All the way out here,” he started.

  “Trevor don’t,” I interrupted him.

  I didn’t’ need to hear it, I didn’t want to hear it. Since I’d pulled him from the ocean, I hadn’t said a word about it. The look in his eyes that day told me everything I needed to know, and some things were better left alone.

  “I swam down
to the ship,” he continued. “To look for mom and dad.”

  I let out a breath and dropped my face into my hands.

  “I never found them. But it was just dead people everywhere. I…I panicked. Started swimming back as fast as I could. Then at some point, I just quit.”

  “You quit?” Chase replied.

  “Yeah, I just stopped swimming and…if Daniel had come I’d be dead.”

  He stopped talking and lowered his head. He made a gagging noise then covered his face and started crying.

  “It’s alright man,” I told him.

  I didn’t know what else to say. It was hard for me to believe that he’d sank that low and even harder to believe I’d missed all the signs. I should’ve known, I should’ve seen how down he was. I’d almost lost him.

  “I love you man,” I said and hugged him.

  Another hour and a half passed in silence. We all sat, staring into the water. Each of us, fighting our own internal battles.

  At some point, Chase stretched out and started snoring. I envied him, I was dead tired, but anxiety kept me awake. That and the intermittent waves that hit us every time a tremor reared up.

  “We need a way to check down there without getting off the boat,” Trevor mumbled as he stared into the water.

  “Yeah? You got any ideas?”

  “Why don’t we just dangle one of you idiots by your feet,” Chase suddenly added.

  “I thought you were sleep.”

  “Well, I’m not.”

  Grunting, Chase pushed himself to his feet and stretched out his arms. He looked at me then looked at Trevor, his eyes jittering back and forth.

  “What?” Trevor said defensively.

  “You’ll do. You’re a little smaller.”

  “What?”

  “Me and your brother, we’ll hold your feet. You can get a quick look and we’ll pull you back up.”

  Trevor frowned and looked back at me. I shrugged then he flicked his middle finger.

  “Fine,” he said. “But if you try to drop me, I’m pulling your asses in with me.”

  Together, Chase and I gripped Trevor’s legs and slowly lowered him over the side of the boat. He bitched and moaned as he got closer, squealing threats to us in an uncharacteristically high voice.

  “Stop wiggling or I will drop you,” I warned.