Chapter Eleven: Enough
Gabby and Munch led the young Gabbiwogs to a small cutout in the rock of the coastal shelf. It was very close to the coast, but they would be safe.
"Now don't come outta there," said Munch, "Until we get back."
He and Gabby went to the surface and peered out at the boat from behind a rock. All three Outlaws were moving, and Hal was shouting orders to his crew.
"I bet we could create a diversion," Munch hissed. "But you're gonna hafta do it."
Gabby gulped. "Uh..." She wasn't sure how though. As she looked up at the rock, she recalled something. She had hid here once. From something terrifying. Then it hit her.
"Munch," she said. "What about that sea rex? Is it around here?"
Munch's eyes widened. "Well... it doesn't come to shallow waters often, but it doesn't live too far from the coast...." When Gabby started to leave, he grabbed her arm. "Wait a second! Ya can't do that!"
"I have to. It will work, if I can lead them far enough away from shore for to give you some time. If the plan fails, I'm going to go get it," Gabby said.
Finally Munch released her.
"Fine, fine," he said at length. "Good luck."
Gabby dove underwater and hurried towards the boat, heart pounding. I can do this, she told herself. She approached the boat and resurfaced, in full view of Hal, who spotted her.
"There's one of 'em!" he growled. Gabby swam away. "Lower the net -we'll catch this one real quick."
Gabby didn't move under water. Instead, she swam just out of reach of the net, hoping to whatever was up there that she was fast enough to outrun the boat. The net lowered only slightly, and the boat started moving. Gabby kept ahead, diving under and resurfacing, watching them.
"What's it doing?" asked Bill, standing up beside Hal.
Gabby, from below, stuck her tongue out and waggled her fingers at them. Hal growled.
"Full speed ahead! Get that Gabbit!" he snarled.
Gabby was forced to speed up, hanging just out of reach of the net. Hal glared down at the Gabbit.
"It's tauntin' us!" he sneered. "Slow down already. We'll let it come ta us."
'I've always wondered what Gabbit would taste like,' she said slowly.
Hal shrugged. "Tastes like fish, I imagine. Maybe I'll hunt ya one."
"I'm going too!" she argued. "You know I hate it when you leave me out of things."
Hal shook his head to clear it of the memory.
----
Munch tapped the jack on his head.
"Come on, come on!" he hissed, praying it hadn't been underwater too long.
Out ahead, the bote had begun to speed up and Gabby was having a had time getting away from it. He concentrated, hard, and then he felt the familiar tingle as it began to spark to life.
"Yes, yes, come on!" He whimpered. The two antennae glowed, although weakly. "Yes!" It sparked to life, but faded slightly. It would work. He concentrated as he had done all those months before, when he'd worked so hard to save the baby Gabbits.
But when the boat stopped, Munch began to grow worried. Gabby had also stopped, and was staring at it in question. They were much too far out for him to hit and if they didn't come closer, he'd have to go out there to them.
Hal grumbled. "Ya know what? Let's just get this over with." He grabbed his shotgun from the side of the boat.
Bill grabbed his comrade's much thicker arm.
"What are ya doin!? We came all th-"
"Shut up!" He growled. "I'm only taking one!"
Gabby had never seen a gun before, so it didn't occur to her that one might be dangerous. To her, it just looked like some strange contraption, and she stared at it. Hal loaded it and aimed at her.
Munch waved his arms frantically. He knew exactly what a shotgun was and apparently Gabby didn't. He whistled. It was a single, high-pitched, commanding note, with a single order behind it: Run. Gabby heard it and instinct seized her. She dove underwater just as Hal fired.
The shot was loud and echoed loud enough to bounce off the hills near the sea. Birds took off from flight. Munch held the sides of his head as he felt the first wave of sound pound his body. The second was less harsh, but the sound echoed for several seconds. Hal stood over the bow of the boat, glaring down at the water. A thin, cloudy pool of blood found its way to the surface, and then nothing.
"You got it!" Bill shouted.
Munch, who hadn't seen her resurface, trembled.
Hal elbowed Bill and snarled, "Did you see it come up? I didn't. Pull the net up."
Gabby floated. The bullet had hit her, but fortunately for the Gabbit it had grazed the side of her body as she'd dove under. It was deep enough to bleed almost profusely, and it had stunned her. She sank towards the bottom and hit the ground, just as the Outlaws pulled the net up. Gabby, still stunned, blinked drowsily and wondered what it was that had suddenly surrounded her.
Munch didn't have a choice. He slid out into plain view and swam carefully towards the boat. He reached it, although it took him a minute or two. The Outlaws were focused on the net, and didn't see him. Heart pounding, he hoped for Gabby as he peered around the side of the boat. There was the pully that Gabby had described. He felt the familiar tingle as his SkullJack began to pulse for last time in its life.
"So why are we pulling the net up?" asked Bill.
Hal grinned and said, "'Cuz. The little Gabbit landed right on top of it. If it's dead, it'll be in the net. If it's not, it won't be there at all."
Munch peered under the water, careful to keep his jack out of it. Gabby was there, but apparently unable to move as the net pulled her up. He felt the growl wash over his body. It was loud enough to attract the attention of of the Outlaws. Munch could only hope he was close enough to the pulley to destroy it.
"Hey look!" Shorty shouted. "There's another one! What's that thing glowin' on its head?"
Munch fired. He couldn't explain how it worked, but only that he could do it. The glowing beam shot from his head, curved in a bright arc, and collided with the pulley, destroying it. The net collapsed and sank into the water.
"What the hell!?" Hal snarled, reloading his shotgun.
Munch didn't wait. Head tingling, he dove under and found Gabby, looking around dazedly as the net surrounded her. He pushed the net away and grabbed her arm, pulling her away. She was still alive, but a little stunned. She blinked at him, and her head began to clear as she followed him out of the way of the boat.
The shotgun had awakened something that had been snoozing underwater. Perhaps Munch was all too aware of it. He led Gabby away from deeper waters as the something pushed its way almost lazily away from its lair. It didn't take long for it to reach the boat. Munch saw it, and Gabby saw it, and they hurried to check on the Gabbiwogs. The baby Gabbits were shuffling impatiently about, but he believed there were all of them there. They came up out into shallow water just in time to see it.
"We'll never catch 'em at this rate, boss!" Shorty complained. He sighed to himself.
"Shut up!" sneered Hal. However, he stopped as he spotted the massive, dark shadow that seemed to overwhelm the boat.
"That's not a Gabbit is it?" asked Bill.
Munch and Gabby sat almost lazily on shore as they watched. While Munch inspected Gabby's scrape on her side, they both watched as the great sea rex emerged from the sea and tore the boat into pieces. There were screams, and then, as the sea rex satisfied itself, silence. It then disappeared into the sea from whence it came.
Gabby collapsed, staring up at the sky, and panted. Munch noted the injury on the side of her body wouldn't kill her, but she'd know now that guns were bad and probably wouldn't go near them. But it was over now. Gabby felt a surge of relief that she no longer had to run from anyone. She was free - in every sense of the word. And so was her species, at least for now.
Munch frowned and said quietly, "We'll prob'ly have to clean all that up. I dunno if I want the Gabbiwogs to get into it."
"Well, w... well, you.. could show them stuff and tell them what to avoid," Gabby replied. "They could learn from it."
Munch nodded. The two of them had been about to return to the water when Gabby felt herself scooped up into someone's arms. She was about to struggle, but the pistol held to her head kept her frozen. Covered with seaweed and blood, and half-mad, Hal growled dangerously into Gabby's ear.
Munch didn't move. He stared, trembling, as Gabby whimpered, shutting her eyes tightly.
The gun rang loudly in Gabby's ears. She thought she might go deaf, from the shock of it. Blood splashed against her head and body and she thought that was it. But when no real physical pain occurred, she opened her eyes. Hal's head had a large hole in it, and he was staring endlessly into space. Gabby leaped out of his arms as his body collapsed on the ground. Munch and Gabby stared beyond him to see Zeke, smoke still pouring from the muzzle of his gun.
