Rain starts to pelt me, stinging my cheeks. The sky has darkened, and the wind howls like it’s pissed off we’re making our great escape. Anxiety claws up inside me that they’ll leave me behind to die all alone.
Tyler yells something at me, but I can’t hear him over the wind. He tosses the ring toward me, but it sails off to my right. Quickly, he yanks it back out of the water to try again. Before he can throw it, another wave hits, making the boat tilt dangerously to one side and then the other. Elise nearly topples out of the boat if not for one of the men in the boat snagging her arm.
Tyler attempts to throw the ring again. It lands a few feet out in front of me, but my feet falter, sudden debilitating fear of the water washing over me.
What if I lose my grip on the floatation device?
I’ll be sucked into the dark abyss with bodies and sharks and who knows what the fuck else.
I can’t do this.
I’m really going to die.
“Kell!” Tyler bellows. “You can do this. Grab the ring and don’t let go!”
His words snap me out of my terror. I nod rapidly and then sit on the edge of the building, my legs dipping into the water. Another wave swells over, nearly knocking me backward onto the roof. I dig my fingers around the concrete ledge, holding on for dear life. Tyler’s determined gaze is locked on me as he tosses the ring. This time, it lands two feet away. Before I can question my actions, I leap for it.
Time slows as I fall toward the ring. A wave starts to pull it away, but in a last-ditch effort, I sling my arm out, ignoring the pain in my side, barely grabbing onto the floatation device. I vaguely hear the cheering of someone before another wave completely swallows me.
I manage to tangle both of my arms in the life ring, holding on as though my life depends on it. Because it absolutely does. A second later, I pop back up to the surface and suck in a huge breath. Tyler is hollering something at me, but I can’t hear him. Rain is falling in sheets now and the waves are out of control. I expect to be reeled in like everyone else, but instead, I’m jerked hard as the boat engine roars to life and takes off.
But I’m not inside the boat!
They can’t leave me!
A terrified yelp escapes me before another wave of water engulfs me. I’m tossed about under the current and slam into something hard that knocks the breath out of me. Before I suffocate, I’m back above the surface.
Behind me, I can hear a loud, pained grumble.
Not a person.
A building.
The sudden turn of the weather and ferocity of waves is too much for one of the buildings. It surrenders, getting sucked beneath the surface for its final resting place. All I can do is hold on and pray they pull me in soon.
More sounds can be heard around me. It’s deafening. Meanwhile, I feel like I’m jet skiing without the skis. I’m being dragged through the water so quickly the spray of it feels like tiny cuts in my face and the force with which I hit debris in the water nearly knocks me off the life ring completely.
I get spun around, facing the direction we just came from, and the view terrifies me. Beyond the dark curtains of rain, I watch building after building disappear under another mountainous wave.
Mybuilding is gone.
If not for Tyler’s brothers showing up when they did, we’d all be dead right now.
A flurry of multiple hands grabs onto me and then I’m roughly yanked out of the water. Tyler, Gerry, Kyle, and another man have pulled me free. They drop me to the floor of the boat where I continue to cling to the flotation ring. My chest heaves, making my wound cry out in agony as I attempt to come to terms with the fact we almost just died. Again.
Emotion wells up inside me, making my throat ache and eyes burn. It takes a second to register that someone’s speaking to me. Over the roar of the boat’s motor and pouring rain, I realize it’s Tyler.
You’re okay.
I’ve got you.
We’re safe.
His words are a balm to the psychological storm raging inside my head. I grab onto his hand, clutching onto it with profound desperation.
How is it someone I only met days ago feels so important to me? It’s as though we’ve known each other for months, not the short time we’ve really known each other for. If there’s anything to be grateful for in a situation like this, it’s that I met Tyler. Without him, none of us would have made it this far.
“Where to now?” I rasp out, wincing when we hit a wave at top speed and I’m thrown into the air before slamming back down onto the deck. “Your brother captains like a maniac.”