Page 48 of Honor Code

Half a mile might not sound like a lot, but when you're in the water, it can feel never-ending. Every stroke depletes your energy; every muscle in your body is working at the same time, trying to keep you afloat, propel you forward, and keep your body temperature normal. That's why swimmers were some of the fittest athletes around.

"What was that?" Ellie barked suddenly.

"What?" Phoenix glanced around, but he couldn't see anything. Dread knotted his stomach.

"Shit, Phoenix, I thought I saw something. A shadow beneath us." Her voice was higher pitched than normal, a sure sign of anxiety.

"It's probably just a large fish." He kept his voice calm. "They grow pretty big around the reefs." On cue, a steel-gray fin broke the surface about fifteen feet in front of them.

"Holy crap, Phoenix," Ellie cried. "It's a shark."

Fucking hell. Could this day get any worse?

Still, a shark was nothing to panic about. Not yet.

He glanced at his injured arm. It was still bandaged tightly, but there was a faint red smudge on the surface. The shark was probably smelling the blood. "It's me." He raised his injured arm out of the water.

"W—What are we going to do?" She was shivering with fear. Her huge eyes followed the jagged fin as it circled them. Generally speaking, if a shark was visible, it wasn't planning to attack. In the vast majority of fatal shark attacks, the victim didn't see the shark coming. It attacked from below, surprising its prey.

"Nothing. You're going to keep swimming. Head towards the reef. Once you're over that, it'll be fine. Sharks don't enter the bay because they sense they can't get out again. It's a defense mechanism."

"B—But what about you?" He loved that she cared. His heart clenched.

"I'm going to use the plastic wrapping around the GPS to cover my wound. That way the shark won't smell the blood. Then, I'm going to follow you." His voice was calmer than he felt. He'd die before he let anything happen to her.

"Will that work?" she sounded doubtful.

"Yeah, but it'll mean we lose the GPS." That would be a shame. They could have used it on the island, but there were other ways of locating the ranger's office.

"Just do it," urged Ellie, still treading water. "Do you need my help?"

"No, I'm good. You keep going."

She hesitated, then swam up to him. "I know you're looking out for me, but it'll be quicker if I help you."

His heart skipped a beat. "Okay, thanks." She was right. Fixing his arm one-handed was awkward and he didn't want to hang around here longer than necessary. He handed her the GPS, keeping an eye on the fin. Tiger shark, he guessed. They were the most common out here on the reefs. Also the most temperamental.

Ellie unwrapped the GPS. The plastic covering was the kind used to wrap sandwiches. It would do perfectly for the wound, except it was wet. "You'll have to tie it off," he said. "It won't stick."

She wrapped it around his bandage several times. "That's not too tight, is it?"

"It's perfect."

She tied the two ends together as firmly as she could. "There."

"Okay, let's go." The longer they stayed out here, the higher the risk of an attack.

Slowly but steadily, they swam in the direction of the reef. The shark didn't follow.

Thank God.

He could handle most things, but a tiger shark was not one of them.

As they got nearer, the water bubbled like a cauldron over the ragged and uneven coral. Foamy waves and crests sprung up, slapping them in the face and obscuring their vision. He used his upper body strength to keep his head above water, conscious that Ellie wouldn't be able to do the same. The closer they got, the wilder and more chaotic the waves. Soon they were breaking over his head, the salt stinging his eyes.

"You okay?" he shouted to Ellie, who was a few yards behind him.

To his relief, he heard a garbled, "Yeah".

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