Chapter 16

Hank grinned, leaning out over the boat, the cool sea air slapping him in the face. He laughed into the wind; there was nothing like this in Eldon. The smell of salt, the foam, the wind; you couldn't find that there. Don didn't like it though; he'd never much liked water. He could swim, but boats made him seasick as they'd just found out, and he'd never really liked swimming anyway.

Oh well. Hank wasn't about to let his squeamish little brother ruin his trip. The world didn't revolve around him. Hank heard light footsteps behind him.

"What're you doing up here, Don?"

"You might want to come below deck. Radio says there's gonna be a big storm coming."

"I'll be fine."

"Whatever you say." Don walked below deck again, really not liking this ship thing.

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Hank was beginning to wish he'd listened to his 15 year old little brother. The wind and rain poured down mercilessly, stinging his face and hands with an unwavering persistence that was close to driving him below deck with his brother. But the thought of being able to tell his friends that he'd been doing all that ship stuff in the middle of a storm, like in the movies was enough to motivate him to stay up. He was sure he looked very heroic up there, fighting the motion of the boat, as water poured across the deck.

He may not have been strictly needed up there; it wasn't like he was the one driving the boat or anything, but he sure wasn't going to run away! But there was something, some sound calling barely over the storm. Hank turned, and saw the outline of his brother, against the rain. He managed over to the smaller figure, and gripped him by the shoulders.

"DON! What are you doing?"

"You need to get below deck! It's not safe here!"

"I'm fine!"

"You don't know how to work on a ship! You need to get below deck NOW!"

"I don't have to do anything!"

Suddenly, Don looked up and gasped, seeing something behind his brother. "Hank move!" Don managed to shove Hank to the side, only to find himself thrown overboard, smacked by the falling material.

"DON! NO!" Hank dove straight into the raging sea, terrified for his brother's life. Life jacket propelling him to the surface, he tried desperately to see his little brother through the raging storm. Thankfully he was wearing a life jacket, but he wasn't yelling… probably he'd been knocked unconscious.

There. A flash of orange. Don's life jacket. Hank managed to swim over to his indeed unconscious brother, who was being tossed like a rag doll by the pounding waves. Hank managed to grab his brother and hold his face above the waves, even as he was tossed by the swelling waves. There should be an island somewhere around here… it was where they were going. But Hank didn't know where it was anymore. He was too disoriented. But he wouldn't fail. Not with Don's life counting on him.

Hank fought against the waves, focusing on keeping Don's head above the deadly water. And then he saw it. A bird. Flying. In the storm. The thing looked like it was struggling, but that wasn't what caught Hank's attention most. A bird. It must be headed to land, and that land had to be nearby!

Hank followed after, strength renewed. It was incredibly hard work, swimming with his brother in his arms, but he had no choice. And yet… it was so far. His arms and legs burned with pain, as he tried with everything in him to keep moving. The waves battered him, shoving him underwater time and time again, the rain all but blinding him, water drenching his clothes and eyes, making the bird nearly invisible. Don's dead weight made it nearly impossible to move. Breathing was hard, what with the water spraying into his mouth and nose. The only thing that kept him at all going was the precious form in his arms. But finally, not even that was enough, and Hank started sinking.

The waves battered him into near senselessness, rising up, grabbing him and throwing him back into the sea, water was getting into his lungs, and he didn't have the strength to cough it up again. Another wave, larger than the rest, grabbed him, and pulled him up into the air and crashing him onto… land. The grainy feel of sand smacked against him, sticking to all of him, Don's limp body still pressed against him.

Hank coughed helplessly, the rain still beating at his prone form. Gasping, he managed to drag Don farther up the beach, finally finding something that must be covered by some tree or something, due to the decreased amount of rain. Hank's last thought was at least Don was breathing, and then he passed out.

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Hank never went boating again.