Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 59521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Right?
Rachel and Iris start screeching, their voices scraping my nerves raw. Iris keeps saying, “We’re going to die, we’re going to die,” but Rachel cuts through her with, “This is your father’s fault, you know. If we die, it’s because of his stupid, flimsy yacht.”
I tell her to shut the hell up but my teeth chatter so bad it comes out gritted and raspy.
“I just want to let you all know,” Adrian goes on, “I can’t swim.”
“Fuck me,” I mumble. “Put your lifejacket on, Adrian.”
He does.
On the yacht, the smoke is thickening. More boats drop, one after another, figures in them I can’t make out, voices carrying across the water. I press my palms flat against my knees to stop them from shaking and it doesn’t work. Aggie isn’t looking at me. Neither is Tatiana. None of us are looking at each other.
Tatiana starts crying, quietly at first, but then louder when the boat jerks and sways a little too roughly. It takes everything in me to wrap my arm around her shoulders and hold her steady. Aggie leans over, voice low in my ear: “It wasn’t meant to go up like that, only enough that they could put it out but call for help.”
“Guess we overestimated,” I mutter. “It’ll be okay, they’ll call for help.”
The seconds tick by way too slowly.
On the next line down, the guys drop—their boat smacks the surface and rocks violently before settling. Ace doesn’t wait for it to fully stabilize. He gets the oars in and digs them into the water, pulling toward us in short, urgent strokes, the muscles in his jaw tight.
He shoots me a look when he reaches us. “Anyone got burns? Anyone bleeding?”
We all shake our heads.
No one has to say it: Aggie’s bomb worked.
It may have worked a little too well.
“What are we going to do?” I ask, as the boat rocks harshly again.
“I don’t fucking know.”
I pause, confused. What does he mean he doesn’t know?
“What do you mean?” I say, shaking my head in confusion.
“What he means,” Kellen growls over the yelling surrounding us, “is that they were having trouble getting the radio to work and have to evacuate, we have no idea if they managed to call for help. Not to mention the safety beacon was in the kitchen, so nobody can fucking get it and we couldn’t find any more. The captain ordered everyone off.”
My stomach turns in a way that has me gripping the side of the boat and trying to stop myself from vomiting.
“There would have been more than one safety feature, and the captain would have a phone,” I say, my voice shaky.
“Apparently not. Someone didn’t fuckin’ think this boat would ever go down, because we couldn’t find any more. The captain has a phone, but if you recall, there is no fucking service.”
Oh god.
Did my father do this on purpose? Ensure there wasn’t enough safety equipment? Surely not, surely he would want us back alive over dead.
Or was he actually planning something even worse than we thought?
My stomach twists and my eyes burn with unshed tears.
“What are you saying?” Tatiana whisper-hisses.
“That we have only one way to call for help, and there is no guarantee,” Ace growls. “That’s what. Can only hope the damaged beacon in the kitchen goes off automatically, or the captain manages to get through somehow.”
Silence fills the lifeboat, before Rachel starts to cry and wail, followed by Iris.
I stare out at the open sea, eyes wide, wondering what the hell we have done.
The yacht recedes, the fire softening as we cut away from it.
It doesn’t look like anyone is still on there, and I can only hope he managed to get that radio call through or we just put all our lives at risk.
We try to keep the lifeboats together, but the sea pulls us in different directions so Ace ties ours with a rope, doing the best he can to keep us near them. After that, we all fall silent, and I am sick with regret. Aggie let go of my hand a while ago, and is just staring into nothingness, her face blank. Tatiana sobs quietly.
Rachel turns on me with fresh rage. “What the hell sort of piece of crap boat did your father send us out on? He did this on purpose. Was this the plan all along? This is all your fault. If we die out here, it is because of you and your pathetic father.”
I don’t even fight her, maybe she’s right. Maybe this is my father’s doing. Maybe the safety equipment was never even there. Why didn’t we check that first? We rushed a decision and now it might cost us our lives, and everyone else’s.
I just stare, feeling numb.
We drift, all of us silent, our hearts beating against our ribs with a violence we can’t articulate. The luxury yacht casts a molten light over the night, both beautiful and apocalyptic. I can’t feel anything but the cold, wet air and the warmth of Aggie’s shoulder pressed to mine. Every now and then, the boats slam together, causing us to jerk, everyone's head snapping up before slowly lowering again until the next time.