as that sounds, it makes the most sense.” He leaned back and thumped the back of his head against the wall several times.
“How the hell does that make sense to you? This guy shows up, throws Tyler out of a window, and tells us dead people are killing everyone. That makes sense? We don’t even know who this guy is!” Jen asked through gritted teeth.
“I saw this at the airport,” Ryan said.
“What! And you didn’t tell me!” Jen raised her voice.
“Hey. Let’s not fight. My name is Ji. I work on the ferry. Right now we need to figure out a way to get out of this, and I think if we can get to the boat we can sail far away from here.”
“Do you have a plan? The docks are completely surrounded by those things,” Tyler stated.
Five
The screams were slowly dying down on the island. As the night wore on, only the occasional gurgle or slow shuffle of feet broke the silence. Once in a while, the agonizing screams of someone who just lost in this deadly game of hide-and-seek filled the air. The island was too small to hide forever on, and the five survivors in the Post Exchange knew it.
“I can’t believe these things won’t give us a damn break,” Ryan said in frustration. He looked back at the others. Layla and Jen were cuddled up next to each other; somehow they were able to sleep. Tyler and Ji kept watch from the other side of the building.
“It looks like most of the dead have left the ferry,” Ji said. He had been watching it closely for the past hour. “I say we go for it. If we can get on board and close it up I can sail us out of here.”
“We might have to swim for it. Can everyone swim?” Tyler asked. “Layla and I can.”
“We can,” stated Ryan.
“Of course,” added Ji. “There is nothing between us and the water, and we’re not far from the ferry at all. Try not to swim too far out though. The bay is pretty rough, especially right now.”
The chill in the night air was made worse by the fact that the water in the bay was always so cold. The group tried to stay close enough to the island that their feet could touch the bottom if they needed to. They swam slowly, hoping not to splash around enough to draw any attention to themselves. Although the water was choppy, there was something peaceful about their swim.
“Next time you guys make a plan, wake us up first,” Jen said as she shivered.
“Yeah! Apparently you are not capable of coming up with a plan, Tyler,” said Layla. She smacked the surface of the frigid water, splashing it into Tyler’s face.
“Come on,” Tyler responded while trying to keep his voice down. “Will you grow up? There are dead people trying to kill us and all you can do is put me down?”
“Shh,” Ryan urged. He pointed up onto the island where a dead man stood in the light of the prison. The dead man’s face hung off of his skull the way a “lost puppy” flyer does when it comes undone from the top but not the bottom.
The group stopped moving and tried to stay afloat in the rough water. The dead man scanned out into the bay with curiosity. The blood on his skull reflected the light coming from the dock while his dry, grey eyes absorbed the light like black holes. Several minutes – minutes that felt like hours – passed before the dead man lost interest, turned, and walked back up the path and around a building.
“I don’t know if he knew we were out here or if there was something else that caught his eye,” Ji said. “Let’s keep moving. Quietly!” He said the last part while looking at Tyler and Layla. “We are almost there.”
“The island looks so amazing from here,” Jen said as they were straight out from the guard tower. She let her eyes drift back and forth; taking in everything they could from where they were.
“Stay close, Jen,” Ryan warned as she started drifting further out into the bay.
“I’m just going a little further. I want a better view,” Jen replied. “Besides, I was a finalist for the Olympic swim team. I think I can handle the bay.” It took her almost no time at all to swim out fifty yards.
She was completely awestruck by the sight. From the surface of the water the island looked like a massive sea monster that possessed bioluminescent properties. She could just make out the five heads floating at the top of the water by the dock, and she began her swim back. After ten yards she stopped swimming. Did she see five? There were only four now. It must have been her eyes playing tricks on her, or a rogue wave between them and the island.
Ji reached the Bay Cruiser first. The others stayed back a ways as he checked to make sure that they wouldn’t be walking into their deaths. He turned to the group, which was recently rejoined by Jen, and signaled that he was going to climb up. Facing the boat, he reached up and grabbed hold of the side, but before he pulled himself up he heard a splash from where the group was waiting.
Without any warning, Jen was pulled under the water and found herself face to face with the injured man that had jumped onto the ferry just before she had. Although it was dark, she was close enough to see a thin trail of blood wafting into the water as his mouth hung open. She let out a brief scream that allowed her mouth to fill with salt water. Thrashing her legs, she tried to kick off of the bottom of the bay, but the water was much deeper by the dock to provide clearance for the ferries.
Ryan wrapped his arm around her and pulled her up above the water. Coughing hard, she cleared her lungs of the salt water and inhaled the cool, fresh air. Jen was pulled back under the water, this time with Ryan still holding onto her. The dead man pulled them much deeper this time. Ryan swung his fist with all of his strength, but the water slowed the punch down to a gentle push.
The dead man bit down into the soft flesh of Ryan’s arm, blood filled the water around them quickly. Jen was able to hear his screams clearly as the air bubbles rushed from his open mouth. With one last effort, Ryan was able to free Jen from the dead man’s grasp, yet he wasn’t able to save himself. There was no more air left in his lungs, and the water was rushing in quickly.
The dead man was able to bite a chunk out of Ryan’s stomach. He reached into that opening with both hands and tore the skin from his belly button to his chest. Ryan’s whole body froze. All he could do was watch as his insides slowly floated out of his open torso. The pain was unbearable, yet he slowly felt the relief of death taking him away. He closed his eyes and allowed the peace to wash over him.
As Jen surfaced once again, she took in fresh air and dove back for Ryan. Before she made it far, she was grabbed by another pair of hands, then another. This is it, she thought, I’m going to die in the bay. She caught a brief glimpse of Ryan’s body floating out into the water, and allowed herself to be taken. The arms didn’t belong to the dead, however, instead they were the arms of Ji and Tyler.
“We got you,” Ji said as he pulled her close to the ferry.
“No!” she cried. “No, let me die with him.”
“Please, you have to come with us,” Ji pleaded. “You need to live right now. He died so you could live.”
Jen cried. She knew that he was right, but it hurt so bad to know that she would never see the love of her life again. His body would continue to sink before finally drifting back to the surface, but she knew there was no way of knowing where his body would be by then. She had to find peace in the fact that the next time his body saw the light; he would have a beautiful ocean view.
With the help of Layla, the two men were able to lift Jen out of the water and onto the dock next to the ferry. Her heart broken, Jen made no attempt to move. She stared for a moment out into the bay of hatred before taking a long look at the island of rot. She blamed the once mesmerizing island for taking her life away from her. There was nothing she could do except watch as the horrible waters of hatred bay pulled her life from her body.
“Jen, we have to get into the ferry,” Tyler said. Layla stomped the ground and walked away as Tyler placed his hand on the other woman’s shoulder. Even with death looming down upon them she let her jealousy boil her blood. Sensing he had upset his wife, Tyler quickly
withdrew is hand.
“We have to go now,” Ji said as he popped his head out of the door that opened up to the ferry. “The bottom level is clear.” He disappeared around the boat.
A moment later, the bow of the ferry began to drift slightly out into the dark waters. Ji peeked around the aft end, saw Tyler and Jen still sitting on the dock, and let out a loud sigh. Tyler turned to him and held up his index finger to signal that he only needed one minute. Ji responded by tapping his bare wrist as if he was wearing a watch, and then he disappeared behind the boat once again. Unsure of what more he could say to the young woman, Tyler patted her on the shoulder, stood, and walked quickly along the dock and stepped through the door.
Seeing Tyler walk into the passenger bay, Ji untied the last rope from the cleat on the dock. He walked around to the other side of the ferry and noticed Jen still sitting on the dock. “Damnit Jen. You need to come with us. I’m not going to tell you again. He died so you can live. Do you want to die giving up, or do you want to honor his memory and fight?”
That sunk in all the way to her soul. Her shoes squished from all of the water in them as she stood. Looking at the island, she stuck the middle finger of her right hand into the air. “I’ll be back for every one of you son of a bitches,” Jen spoke loudly.
Ji took her hand as she stepped off of the dock and