Aiden and Cade dropped the equipment they had been carrying. They muttered to each other before a small flashlight clicked on. “Aiden!” I hissed.
His mahogany eyes were piercing as he gazed at me over the beam. I was pinned by that stare, frozen within its desperate depths. “Do you plan to use this crap or not!?” he demanded.
I bit my bottom lip as I finally turned back to the hungry inferno. Above the tree line I could make out the angry glow of the flames. We had gained some time, but there was too much kindling and fuel in between the fire, and us, to think that it had been much. We had an hour, maybe two, before those flames came far too close for my liking.
“Why are there only four tanks?”
My head whipped around at Jenna’s question. I strained to see into the box that Cade had been carrying, hoping that I'd missed something, hoping that fear had caused me to lose my ability to count right. One, two, three, four… No, no, there had to be more. One, two, three, four…
But no matter how I turned that box, no matter how I twisted it in my head, I still only saw four tanks within it. “They were the only ones,” Cade told her.
“I saw at least ten tanks in that store!” Jenna retorted fiercely, terror causing her bitchier side to reemerge in front of Bret. But then again, I was feeling pretty damn bitchy right now too.
Cade’s coal eyes were wintry; Jenna recoiled from him as he leveled her with his remorseless gaze. “They were the only ones with oxygen in them,” Cade elaborated.
My heart plummeted; my legs suddenly became so weak that I slumped to the ground. The ash wasn't as thick here, but it would be soon. I stared out at the parking lot toward the beckoning ocean beyond. There were still some boats floating out there, bobbing on the small waves that lapped against them. They taunted me with their presence; they would be so useful right now, but to climb on one, start it up, and use it would be certain death.
“What are we going to do?” Abby breathed.
“Share them,” Molly answered simply as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
I swallowed heavily at the suggestion. It was such a long swim to be sharing tanks, especially when most of us didn’t have a clue as to what we were doing. I turned to Cade, trying not to give way to my panic. His eyes burned into mine. Though he wasn’t within close, I could feel the soothing caress of his presence on my raw soul.
“Is that possible?” Jenna squeaked.
“It’s going to have to be,” Molly muttered her attention riveted upon the contents of the box as she pawed through it.
I watched with growing unease as she began to pull things out and lay them neatly upon the ground.
CHAPTER 26
I felt like swamp thing/idiot as I walked/wobbled toward the edge of the water. I also felt extremely exposed. It was only a brief time that we would be in the open, only a brief moment in which there was a chance we would be spotted, but that moment was far too big for my liking.
We had avoided the parking lot area, moving further down the shoreline to a more secluded spot. It was a further distance to the mainland from here, but we had all opted for a longer swim rather than longer exposure time. Molly, as the only one with experience, was the only one with her own tank. It would be better if she possessed it and was able to help out if something went wrong. Molly and Aiden were the only ones with compasses.
My eyes lingered upon the rope tying us all together, except for Molly. I didn’t like this, not one bit. Though the ocean was vast I could already feel a growing sense of unease about being trapped beneath its rolling waves.
Aiden and Abby had been paired together in the front; Bret and Jenna were behind them, and finally Cade and I. Cade had the tank strapped to his back, though I had a feeling that he would try and force me to take the mouthpiece far more often than I would require it. I only hoped he didn’t hurt himself in the process.
Knives had been handed out in case someone got into trouble and had to be cut away. In case they had to be sacrificed. I didn’t have a knife, but then I wouldn’t have been able to cut the rope and sacrifice anyone anyway, no matter what happened. I shuddered at the thought and shifted the bag of guns on my back. The weight of the guns was reassuring. They had been divided into three waterproof bags and given to the three of us without tanks.
I wasn’t too confident in this plan, but it was all we had. It had taken a half an hour for Molly to explain everything to us as quickly, and as well, as she could. It had been another half an hour before we found a secluded backyard. The falling ash had become thicker again and dawn was only hours away. We didn’t have any time to try and formulate another plan.
I didn’t think there was one anyway.
“Let’s go.”
Molly slipped easily into the water, my entrance was nowhere near as graceful as hers as I flopped, floundered, and fell into the ocean. I was thankful for the wetsuit as the chill of the salty water hit my cheeks and hands. I inhaled deeply before ducking beneath the waves. Though I was nowhere near lacking in oxygen, my lungs began to burn as panic tried to claim me. Cade was suddenly beside me, I couldn't see him through the murky water, but his hand grasped hold of my arm before stroking upward.
His presence caused the burning in my lungs to ease a little. I held onto the rope as I kicked through the water. It hadn't been long, I knew that, but I felt as if we were making good progress, even if I couldn’t see where we were going. Apparently Molly decided that we were far enough down as she clicked on the light. I could barely see the dim glow, it briefly highlighted Aiden in front of me, and then it was gone as Molly turned it back off. There was a shifting in front of me, a small turning toward the right.
Cade was beside me again, I didn’t know what he planned until I felt the press of the mouth piece against my lips. I tasted salt and water as I inhaled deeply, grateful for the fresh surge of oxygen that filled my lungs. His hand lightly pressed over my mouth, looking to calm me as we continued to slip through the sea.
This was going far better than I'd anticipated; a fact that only caused my uneasiness to spike. Everything had been so grueling until now; I had expected the same thing here. It made me anxious and tense, I was certain that something was going to happen. Cade tried to force me to keep the mouth piece, but I managed to give it back to him. For a brief time my fingers entwined in his, and then he was taking the air from me.
We made our way through the water, the beam would flare briefly every once in awhile before going back out. Subtle adjustments would be made in our direction as Molly read the compass. Three sharp tugs on the line alerted me that we were finally approaching land. Hope and foreboding shot through me. We were almost out of here, but there was no way to know what awaited us on the other side.