Chapter Twenty Three
Everything seemed to happen so quickly. I heard gunshots and I heard screaming, smothered over the soundtrack of the howling sirens. About ten guards, maybe more, rushed towards us and began firing their weapons. I saw a bullet stop in front of my face and fall to the ground as if it had hit against a brick wall. Gamba pushed past me and jumped into the group of armed guards, who instantly began attacking him.
The wind started to blow and a sudden rain storm descended upon us. Thunder crashed directly above our heads as the water droplets soaked us to the bone. I saw lightning strike a man to my right, and he crashed to the floor, his clothes smouldering. A man jumped towards me, lobbing his fist towards my face, but I quickly dodged him and landed an elbow into his gut, sending him sprawling towards the floor.
I cupped my hands together and instantly created hundreds of tiny bubbles, which I then threw at a man who was engaging in a fist fight with my sister. The bubbles hit him like marbles, piercing his flesh and making him scream out in pain. He fell forwards, towards Shasa, but instead of toppling onto of her, he smacked into an almost invisible shield of wind that pushed him to his left side. I twisted my neck to see Sefarina standing there, using her powers to protect the rest of us. She stood next to Madzimoyo, who, as usual, didn’t seem to be doing anything helpful.
Captain Harris fought side by side with Niyol, both of whom were taking part in their own individual boxing matches. On the other hand, Gamba and Aura were using their powers to fight against their own groups of adversaries. Gamba was converting the rain droplets into huge clouds of steam which he then used to encircle several of the guards, some of whom ran away in terror. Aura had created a large water ball which she was rolling between people’s legs to knock them down like skittles. It didn’t take long before every guard was either on the floor, or had fled the docks in terror.
“So much for coming back later!” I screamed over the roaring claxon. Sefarina pointed her arm up at one of the speakers hanging on the wall just above the car park, and then clenched her fingers into a fist. The speaker crumpled up and then plummeted to the floor. The noise reduced, but still didn’t end, as other claxons around the docks continued to bellow. The rain and wind let up and all of us converged into a circle in the middle of the car park, making sure we didn’t tread on any of the writhing guards who continued to wriggle on the ground.
“I guess we just make our move and go for it!” Shasa screamed out, “But please, let’s try our best not to kill anyone!”
Everyone seemed to agree that this was the best course of action, except for Madzimoyo and Sefarina.
“I think we should make our escape now, and come back with more people.” Madz suggested.
“I agree!”
“Well I don’t!” Gamba snapped furiously, “Now is a good a time as ever! If we leave and come back it will give them a chance to get more guards in, or even the army! Do you really think the President is going to let us return here without putting up a fight?”
“I thought he knew we were here, and he was on our side!” I screamed.
“I don’t think he’ll be too happy about us attacking the Port!” Shasa’s face was concerned, and determined.
“All we have to do is get onto the container ship, scope out the toxic waste, and then leave!” Aura made it sound so easy.
“But what if we find it and then discover that there’s a whole load of people with guns waiting for us when we’ve finished?” Sefarina was frantic.
“Exactly!” Madz seconded.
“Whatever happens, it isn’t going to end well,” Niyol decided, “but we’ve got to do this. Think about all of the innocent people that could die if there really is toxic waste on board!”
“What about the innocent people that we’re hurting on the Elementus Populas’ whim?”
Madzimoyo made a good point.
In the distance, I heard the sound of a police car barrelling towards us.
“We’ve got to make a decision!” I cried out.
Niyol looked at Shasa, and they both nodded in silent agreement.
“We’re going in now!” Niyol screamed, and then with Gamba and Aura, began running towards the wooden pier that led to The Conqueror, Mr Price’s shipping vessel.
I followed closely behind, and Shasa joined me. I turned to see Madz and Sefarina, both of whom looked afraid and ambivalent, jogging behind us, with Captain Harris bringing up the rear.
As soon as we made the change from tarmac to wood, I felt a lot better. Seeing the sea through the gaps in the pier made me feel calm, as if I had more control over the situation. I could control the water; I could command the ocean. It was second nature to me when I was swimming, and I also l knew that I could use the water as a defence against attackers.
Just up ahead, near the stairway that led from the pier up to an entrance on the starboard side of The Conqueror, were three small guards, all of who immediately dropped to their knees and aimed their rifles at Aura, Niyol and Gamba. I wanted to cry out to Sefarina to protect them, but just as I was about to, a huge geyser of boiling water erupted through the planks of wood, flinging the men into the air. Two of them landed in the sea, one of them hit the pier with a sickening crunch. The three Elementals in front of us leapt over his body and continued their journey towards the container ship.
Behind me, I heard Sefarina scream. I span around and saw Captain Harris holding his right arm. He was bleeding, but still running towards us. Four men at the end of the pier, next to the car park, were firing rounds at the huge man, who looked like a gorilla that had been shot by poachers.
Sefarina and Madzimoyo had stopped running, and I heard bullets slapping against the wooden floor and then splashing into the waves as Sefarina made sure that another one did not hit its target. Because Sefarina was preoccupied, I decided to allow my mind to hurl down into the ocean, and skim along its surface until it sat next to the four guards. I grabbed onto seven different wave peaks and hurtled them upwards, directing them towards the men. The water spouts slapped into their faces and stomachs, and they cried out as they toppled to the ground. I then felt two large branches of seaweed as they made their way through the water and between the gaps in the pier. The large green tentacles remained on the floor, until several guards jumped back to their feet and began sprinting towards us. But they didn’t even get a step further then the edge of the pier, as Madzimoyo used his seaweed tentacles to grab onto their legs and throw them backwards.
The other guards screamed in horror, looking down at what they probably assumed was a monster, and then began to retreat. Captain Harris stopped next to Sefarina and Madz, and then collapsed to his knees. Shasa and myself rushed back to him. I instinctively scooped my hands into his armpit, as did Shasa, and within seconds we were running with him as fast as we could down the pier.
“Wait!” Madz cried out, “put him down! Let me help him!”
Gamba, who must have seen what was going on, had rushed back to help us.
“Your water treatment isn’t going to do anything!” He cried out at his brother, but Madz ignored him, bending down to reach over the side of the dock and scoop up some salt water. He sprinted as fast as he could, eventually catching up with us, and hurled the water onto Captain Harris’ arm, rubbing it quickly. I heard Captain Harris mutter something, but couldn’t quite make it out.
Pretty soon we were at the stairs that led directly into the gargantuan ship. Looking up at it, I decided that there was no way we were going to have time to scour it and check to see if anything was on-board. Gamba and Niyol took Captain Harris from myself and my sister, and clambered up the stairs, which rumbled with their weight. The rest of us followed up, and once we had made our way onto the deck, I released the latches securing the stairs to the ship and then with all my might, thrust them away. The heavy steps groaned loudly, but eventually gravity did my job for me and sent them tumbling towards the pier, which they smacked against loudly.
&nb
sp; I turned back to the team. Gamba was sitting on the floor, and had propped Captain Harris up against a metal wall, letting him lean against him. Everyone else was crowding around them, not knowing what to do. And then I saw the blood, pouring over Gamba’s wet clothes.
“Gamba!” I cried out, pushing past Shasa and kneeling next to my injured brother. I began to pat his stomach, looking for the wound so that I could try to stop the bleeding.
“It’s not mine,” Gamba told me sullenly. Although I was relieved, I was also devastated. There was so much blood, and Captain Harris’ breath was beginning to get shorter and harder. His face was drained of colour, and his eyes were barely open.
“I told you,” he whispered quietly, “that it wasn’t my arm.”
My mind raced back to when Madz had tried to help him, and that Captain Harris had muttered something under his breath. My chest dropped as my eyes began to well up. There was so much blood… and there was nothing we could do…
“No!” Sefarina cried out as Captain Harris began to chuckle in delay to his own joke.
“I’ve been through worse than this…” He told us, as he looked towards Madz, who was now holding his left hand in comfort.
Another gun shot fired, this one was so close it made me physically jump from my knees to my feet. Captain Harris’ head dropped heavily against Gamba’s shoulder, and another stream of blood began to emerge from the large man’s chest.
We all turned to see another guard, this one clearly not a dock guard, but one who worked on the ship, holding a smoking gun towards Captain Harris. He smirked wickedly, proud of what he had done.
“You bastard!” Sefarina shrieked manically, tears streaming down her face. Before the man even had a chance to react, he was thrown, by the force of Sefarina’s powers, against the ship’s wall. His body splatted against the solid metal, and then, as he was thrown backwards, his body crunched against the side of the boat, before dropping over the side.
“Make it rain!” Madz screamed at Aura, “Make it rain right now!”
Aura looked stunned. “What…?”
Madz turned to me, begging. “Make a water spout hit his body! Someone please, pour water onto Captain Harris!”
I had never seen my brother like this before. His eyes were red from weeping, and tears and snot streamed down his face.
“W…?” I began, before being screamed at by him: “JUST DO IT!”
Captain Harris’ breathing was beginning to slow, and he was now incredibly pale. Small rain drops began to hit against us all, but they were aimed at the dying man. I bent over the side of the boat with my mind, and dived down into the sea to pull up a huge stream of water, which I directed at Captain Harris’ wound. Madz then began to frantically rub all over the man’s muscular body, as if he was looking for something in particular, sobbing loudly as he did so. We all watched him, not knowing what else to do, as we cried silently to ourselves.
After about a minute, Captain Harris’ chest stopped moving, and his eyes no longer blinked, but Madzimoyo was determined that his special ‘salt water treatment’ was going to bring this man back to life. Gamba eventually grabbed his brother’s hands gently, and stared at him meaningfully.
“Stop. It’s too late.”
“No it’s not!” Madz screamed out forcefully. “I just need more water and more time!”
“Your stupid theory doesn’t work!” Gamba snapped at him.
“Yes it does!” Madz sniffled in denial, “Yes it does!” He then went back to rubbing the Captain’s body. Aura’s rain slowly stopped falling, and my water spout eventually died down.
“Please…” Sefarina pleaded, grabbing Madz from behind and twisting his body so that she could embrace him. “Please…” The two hugged, and Madzimoyo burst into loud bellowing sobs.
“No…!” He cried out, “No, please, no!”
I saw my sister praying to herself, and Aura and Niyol taking each other’s hand and massaging them gently. I looked over to Gamba, who still had Captain Harris’ body propped up against him. I pulled his right shoulder towards me and slipped my left hand down his back, and hugged him tight.
“He’s dead.” Gamba confirmed.
“I know,” I replied, not having anything else to say.
“I couldn’t… I couldn’t… I couldn’t find the wound!” Madzimoyo called out, between heavy gulps. Sefarina shushed him gently.
I pulled away from my brother, and then looked down at Captain Harris. He died for his team, I thought to myself. He died for us, because we were worth dying for.
Niyol leant over and ran his palm down over Captain Harris’s face, closing his open eyelids. I grabbed Captain Harris’ large right hand and held it between mine, tenderly. It was still warm.
“I’m so sorry,” I cried softly, “I’m so sorry that this happened...”
Shasa knelt down next to me, and took my hands in hers.
“Let’s pray,” she said, and I nodded in agreement. “Dear Lord,” she began, as everyone else dipped their heads in quiet solace, “please… please…”
Shasa began to sob loudly. “It’s not fair…”
“Thank you for Captain Harris,” I said, opening my eyes and looking into my sisters.
“Amen,” she agreed, as did everyone else.
Just as I was about to hug Shasa, the boat lurched forward, and I fell backwards. We all cried out in shock, not knowing what was happening. The horn on the boat blew noisily, as it made its way into the Atlantic.
The boat was moving, and we were trapped on it.