NOTE
So for some reason this chapter kept glitching when I uploaded it (there was all this weird code and it messed around with the words a bit) So if you see any of that I apologize. I scanned through the story and think I got rid of all the code language stuff but there might be some that I missed. Just wanted to point that out encase I did miss some of it.
There is a splash as something hits the water. What is it? I don't want to open my eyes to look. I don't want to get up. I just want to lay here and sleep. Wait why am I sleeping? Where am I again? I struggle to even remember what has happened in the last few hours. Maybe I should open my eyes and see what that noise was. I will for just a few seconds then I will go back to sleep.
It is difficult to open my eyes like they have been glued shut and I have to force them open. I eventually work them awake and then everything comes flooding back. The cave, the quake, the water, sharks, the goodbyes. I lay chin-deep in the water. The cave glows a radiant blue from the waters but the walls have begun to form ice and droplets. I can feel ice on my body. My hair is crunchy and hard along with my eyebrows and I can feel tiny shards of ice on my cheeks and chin. The sleeping bag has also suffered the same fate. It has ice forming around the material. Petro. turn my head but it requires tremendous effort to even do that. I manage to turn enough to see her, though. She lays in the sleeping bag, her head against one of the rocks. She looks like a ghost, something out of stories. Her skin is purple and there are ice crystals that have formed in various places.
"Petro?" I try to say but it is barely audible. I force myself to lean up and glance at the wall. There is no more banging sound of the sharks. I know they aren't gone, they are still out there but must have gotten tired trying to get in. I lean back. It would take a bomb to break that wall...A bomb...The lantern. Yes! The lantern could be a bomb! It is propane and all the fuel is in a tight canister attached at the base of the lantern. If I could light it on fire it should blow and at least shift some of the rocks a bit. But how will I even get a flame? It is freezing cold in here and wet. I know though I have to at least try.
"Moving my limbs is torture. It sends a new kind of pain through my body, one I haven't felt before. I can hear popping and cracking sounds as I move my arms and turn my waist, trying to wake my body up from its icy slumber. Once I have loosen my body enough I try to slip out of the sleeping bag but it has formed around Petro and I and begun to build up ice. I can't get more than two or three inches out before I have to stop. I glance around, seeing a rock below the water on the ground. I grab it and begin to work on getting myself out. Smashing the sleeping bag sends jolts of agony up my legs but I don't stop. I'm hurting, tired, and freezing but I know if I stop I will die. I manage to break off enough ice on the side to slip my first leg out, then it just because a matter of wiggling my other leg and within minutes I'm free.
Laying down the water was up to my chin but standing it is to my waist. Least my upper body gets a break from the icy cold. I reach the tent and grab my bag. Everything lays inside, wet, but at least it is inside and I don't have to waste time searching for items and chasing them down in the waters. The tent is not salvageable so I don't even bother with it but I make sure to locate my spear which was outside my bag at the time. Once I have it I am rushing to the wall.
I have to lean against the wall. It is too hard to breathe and my vision is blurry for a moment. I can feel my eyelids going heavy again and my body telling me to sleep but I know if I do I won't wake up again. How Petro and I managed to live this long has baffled me. Maybe Petro already has gone...I can't think of that now. I pull the lantern out and begin to scan for a place to put it. I try sliding it in a crack in the wall but it slides out. I end up placing it at the top right of the pile of rocks, keeping it in place with my button shirt. First part is done. Now how do I light it on fire and get it to explode?
I rip open the first aid kit and instantly know what to do. The plastic compartments have kept the bandages and alcohol wipes safe from the freezing ocean water. I know it can easily ignite, especially those alcohol wipes. My frozen fingers fumble for a few seconds, trying to open the compartments. I begin to worry that they are too cold to even accomplish this but after a few tries I manage to open it. I grab the two materials, wrapping them together and then wrap them around the lantern. Hopefully, it will get heated enough for the propane to explode before I run out of stuff to burn. Once the bandages are wrapped I strike a match and place it against the bandage. For a moment it doesn't catch but then suddenly one of the sides goes ablaze and within seconds the bandages are all burning around the lantern.
It won't be long now. If it works that will be exploding within the minute. I trudge through the water, just to travel a few feet makes me exhausted and I am gasping for breath. I grab Petro and hold her close. We sit there in silence, hearing the dancing of the flames as it burns the cloth. Then there is a loud bang and the rocks begin to tumble. A few fall from the roof of the cave and splash into the waters.
"It's okay," I hold Petro, "We are going to be okay!" I worry that one of the falling rocks will hit me in the head, knock me out like it did Petro but then something else hits me, the water. It gushes in through the hole the explosion made and sweeps my feet out from under me. I fall backward and submerge into the freezing depths. I panic. I kick and claw to get back at my feet but the new current continues to push my legs out from under me. I am spun around and pushed further into the cave where I manage to get some leverage. I grab onto the rocks and kick up, surfacing again. I take a deep breath and glance around. The water has already flooded the cave up to the roof and there is only about two or three inches from the water to the ceiling of the cave. I have to keep Petro and I's mouths pressed up against the rocky surface as I begin to make my way to the hole.
The lantern caused more destruction than I thought it would. The hole is large, half the pile of rocks has collapsed leaving a wide exit for us. But no protecting from the sharks. The explosion must have scared them away but how long will it be before they come rushing back to investigate? I need to move fast.
I slip through the hole and glance around. There is no close place to swim to. There are a few trees that are partially submerged in the water but if we went up that then we would be stuck. Then I turn and notice the top of the cave is still dry from the water. It is a flat rocky surface that stretches down for about 15 yards before it gradually rises up 10 or so feet. This is our best bet. I grab Petro and go to hoist her up but my muscles are too weak that even this is nearly impossible. I slump her down on the edge and then grab her thighs and push up. My head goes under the waves but I manage to get her torso onto the top of the cave. I just slide her legs up and then shove her back a few inches so that I have room to pull myself on. I slide the spear up and then the backpack, then it is my turn.
I grab the edges and yank but I can barely get my chest out of the water. I slide my elbows up and then begin to pull again. My best rises up but it hurts so bad. It feels as if I am lifting an entire hovercraft out of the water. I claw into the dirt and continue pulling up when suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my hips. I am jerked bag and the little progress I made is lost. I know exactly what has me, the sharks. It yanks at my body but I keep my grip on the edge of the cave. The pain is numbed from the cold but judging by the reddish tint in the water around me it has punctured skin.
I let out a cry as I pull myself towards the cave with everything I have. My arms threaten to give but I don't stop, I can't, if I let go I will be dragged into the water and then I have no chance at surviving. I get closer to the cave but then the shark yanks me again and I almost lose my grip. I want to punch at the creature but that would mean letting go with one of my hands and there is no way I can hold on to the cave with just one hand. No, if I am going to let go I need to make it count. The spear. I glance at the weapon which sits just at the edge. Yes, if I can get one clean shot at it then I will be free and get to pull myself back up.
I take a deep breath, get ready, and then quickly reach for the spear. The shark seems to sense this and pulls at me just as I grab the handle of the weapon. My other hand looses grip of the cave and I am pulled from the cave. I swing the spear behind me but miss. The shark wrenches me to the right and I am pulled under the water but surface quickly after. It shakes its head, trying to rip me open. I can feel its teeth digging deeper into my body. I swing again and this time I feel the spear break into the shark but it doesn't let go. I yank the spear out again and stab down at the fish, then again, and again. My blood mixes with it in the water. I stab down on it again and I feel its jaws stop. I let go of the spear and grab at its mouth, pulling it open and releasing me.
I can hear the other sharks moving towards me, the splashing of the water as their fins break the surface. All those years swimming at the lake back at 6 pays off and I manage to reach the cave in record time. I grab at the edges and go to yank myself up but again lose my grip and dip back down. No, I can't! I grab again, digging my fingers into whatever edges I can find and then pull again. My whole body is in agony and the simple action of pulling myself up is torturous but I fight through it all, letting out screams as I pull up. I slump my chest down then wiggle my waist up and then lift my legs out of the water.
I roll onto my back, taking deep breaths as I look up at the sky. The stars, the moon, the blacks, purples, and blues that make up the sky. I remember the teachers telling us how people in history used stars and the moon to navigate planes and ships. I'd like to learn that skill. But right now my eyelids are heavy, my breath is light, and I am tired again. I did enough work for now. I close my eyes. 5 minutes, you get 5 minutes and then you have to go..
