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Disclaimer: I only own Caroline!
The barrel surfaced not twenty yards from the boat and started to head towards them. "Oh boys! I think he's come back for his noon feeding!" Matt called as it came towards the boat.
"Hook me up another barrel!" Quint shouted as he headed for the pulpit. I jumped down to the foredeck and started to tie the barrel on, Quint grabbed the gun and barked orders at Matt, shouting at him to bring the speed of the Orca up to that of the shark, to get him alongside the shark but as I looked up at the look of fear and frustration on Matt's face I knew we'd kill the engine before bringing it up to speed.
I watched as Quint continued to bark orders at Matt before he finally shot the shark again, the barrel whipping out and trying to slow down the shark, but to everyone's surprise the shark went down with two barrels on him. I stood on the foredeck, my eyes scanning where he had been before the sound of breaking water caught my attention at the same time that Martin shouted "They're up again!" I sighed and ran a hand over my face.
"Now what?" Matt muttered and I just stared at the bobbing barrels, this shark was like nothing I had ever seen before. This shark was so intense.
"Well, why don't we start leading the shark into shore instead of him leading us out to sea?" Martin mentioned and I looked at the two men before looking at Quint.
"It's not a bad idea," I agreed before looking at Quint. He was bringing the Orca round in a wide arc to come up alongside the barrels.
"Grab a couple of poles," he shouted. "Hang on now we're going round! Get the starboard. Easy! I'm going to back her off now. You watch those barrels, boys." When we stopped moving the barrels were floating in the water just to the stern. "Watch em," Quint ordered. "Alright, gentlemen, snag 'em. Now then, tie them to the stern cleats."
"Here," I grabbed the poles with hooks on the end and handed one to Matt and started to move towards the transom to hook the other line.
"Caroline, give it to the chifey." Quint ordered and I sighed before handing it to Martin.
"Are you sure?" I asked as Martin moved to the edge and started to copy Matt. "I mean I've done this before, and he hasn't-"
"I want you on the helm in case we need to move again," he instructed me and I nodded before climbing up to the helm as he watched Martin and Matt hook their lines. "Brody, figure of eight around the cleat," Quint instructed. "That's right, it'll lock itself off."
I was checking the levels of gas we had and everything before turning back around in time to see Brody pull the length of rope behind Matt, the rope suddenly snapping taut against the backs of Matt's legs. "Give him room!" I shouted as Matt cried out. Martin pulled the rope enough for Matt to get his legs free in a scramble, the two men falling onto the deck when he did break free.
It was only when it was tied on that the shark began to run. At first it was just pulling the boat to the starboard side, while the port hull was practically lifted from the water. I gripped the ladder going up to the crows nest quickly, not wanting to find myself in the water with that beast, one of the compressed air tanks clanged against the rails of the ladder behind which it was secured and Martin, remembering Matt's warning from before ran over and pushed it back behind the ladder.
The lines were now running away directly from the stern and the Orca had settled back into the water. Quint moved back to the helm, put the engine into gear and started to tow his catch back to shore.
"Back home, we got a taxidermy man, he's going to have a heart attack when he see what I brung him!" Quint cackled shrilly, I looked at him before climbing down and checking the cleats with Matt.
"Throttle back!" he called up to Quint. "You're losing a cleat!"
"Oh shit, This one too!" I called up to Quint. "Both of the cleats are going, he'll rip out the transom if he wants to!"
Quint stopped the boat and began to rig himself another harpoon while the shark emerged from the water, one of the ropes tangled around his teeth. "He's eating his way right through that line," Martin said and I nodded as I watched it.
"Yeah, and working his way right to us." Matt said as he moved to my side and took my hand.
"Out of my way," Quint moved up next to us and shot the harpoon again, this time it hit the underside of the shark's lower jaw. The shark fell back into the sea, turning quickly and dousing us with water. "Untie us!" Quint shouted at us as the rope was pulled taut again. "Caroline's right, he'll pull out the transom!"
"I can't Matt yelled back, he'd tried to start pulling the ropes free, but there was no way he'd be able to. Water came flooding over the transom as the shark pulled us backwards, water soaking us all as Quint stood there screaming at the shark in frustration.
"Pull, you son of a bitch! I hope your back breaks! Pull it! Rip your bloody heart out!" There was only so much the boat could take, the transom could be ripped away at any point, and that would leave us dead in the water with a murderous shark. Martin and Matt worked on trying to pull the cleats free, but I shook my head.
"Quint, get the knife!" I yelled at him. "This is insane, there's no way they can untie the lines, we need to cut ourselves free, if we don't, he'll rip the transom out and kill all of us!"
Hearing me yelling at Quint about cutting the lines free Matt and Martin joined in, yelling at Quint that they needed the line to be cut, and they needed him to hurry. Quint looked at the three of us yelling at him to get the knife before he walked into the cabin and retrieved a machete I knew he kept on board.
"Watch your hands!" Quint shouted to Matt before swinging the machete down, cutting the line free. When the rope whipped away with the shark I ran a hand over my face, trying to wipe away some of the excess sea water. It was quiet, almost eerily so, and I looked at Matt and Martin who looked exhausted and beaten by the shark. The barrels had disappeared under the water, seconds passed before they were ripped back to the surface. "He can't stay down with three barrels on him, not with three he can't."
"What about us?" Martin asked dully. The deck was covered in three inches of water at least.
"Hooper, get the pump out of the locker in front of you, will you?" It surprised me how calmly Quint had asked for the pump, he wasn't ordering Matt around anymore, it was like the insanity we were all dealing with was making my dad see them as less of a nuisance and more of a companion in the experience.
"We're going to sink, aren't we?" Martin said rather than asked. It was like the defeated tone of voice and the question had made Quint snap into survival mode, he wasn't going to let the Orca sink, he wasn't going to let anything happen to us.
"Hooper keep an eye on the barrels!" he and Matt climbed to the helm and Quint looked down at Martin. "Pump it out chief!" he commanded. Martin remained on the deck, holding the pump that had been thrust into his hands. About thirty yards to starboard the three barrels were moving through the water towards them.
"He's going to go under," Matt said.
"I tell you, he can't with three barrels in him," said Quint sounding more like he was trying to convince himself. "Not with three barrels he can't." We all watched as the barrels drew nearer and gently slipped below the water, the shark had gone under the boat.
Matt scanned the water through everywhere he could see, but there was no sign of the shark. How long could a shark that size keep submerged with three barrels in him? Quint too was looking nervously for some sign. Hooper came up and stood behind him.
"You ever have one do this before?" Matt asked.
Quint's eyes narrowed before he replied softly. "No,"
From the deck Martin had quickly come to the realization that trying to pump out the water was useless; The safest place was up on the bridge with Matt and Quint. "go up," Martin said as he touched my arm. I looked at him for a moment and then nodded, climbing up the ladder to the helm. Martin started climbing up behind me when the boat lurched violently to the starboard side. I gripped the ladder for the second time that day and looked down at Martin who nodded and then looked over to the water.
Matt grabbed my hand and helped me off of the ladder before Martin stepped up as well while Quint put the engine into gear and started to go towards the land. Looking around for the first time I was able to see we were about a mile from South Beach. I let out a hollow laugh and sighed as I leaned against Matt. "We're about a mile away from where the first girl was found." I explained.
The barrels were following us closely, and I heard Matt exclaim "He's chasing us, I don't believe it!"
"We're going to draw him in to the shallows, draw him in to the shallow water, going to draw him in and drown him. We're heading in, Brody."
"Thank Christ." Martin replied lowly. "How far do we have to go?"
"Not far," I replied as I looked out towards land. "The water's only about twenty feet deep here, we should be there soon." At those words the sound of the boat's engine changed in pitch and stuttered.
"Quint, don't put that much pressure on her," Matt said, Quint in response revved the engine higher. "Quint! God Damn it!" Matt tried to grab Quint's arm, but Quint spun around with a snarl. We were close, we were so close, and that single thought was driving Quint mad. The man would do anything for ten thousand dollars. Quint put more pressure on the throttle as the engine began to grind, Quint humming and then singing over the sound of the failing engine. "Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies, Farewell and adieu you ladies of Spain. For we've received orders for to sail back to Boston-"
At the word Boston the engine died, black smoke started pouring from it and filled the engine. "You did it!" Matt shouted. "You burned out the bearings! Oh god my gear!" He leapt down to the deck and ran into the cabin. As he did the engine let out a small explosion caused by the pressure that Quint had put on the boat. I jumped down and grabbed the fire extinguisher while Matt was rescuing his gear. As I sprayed the engine he and I caught each other's eye and he smiled wearily. "You know I always used to wonder what it was you did when you came back here."
"It was never this insane." I told him and he nodded. We had stopped in about twenty feet of water, when the fire was out I'd walked to the side of the boat and looked out at the water, the sea bed was visible as the Orca tilted slightly, sinking slowly.
Quint walked into the cabin and stood in there for a few minutes before he returned with three life jackets. "Put these on." he said gruffly as he tossed a life jacket to each of us. We each stared at them before looking at each other. "Hooper, what exactly can you do with these things of yours?" Quint lifted up some of Matt's equipment and looked at it.
"Well, I think I can pump twenty cc's of strychnine nitrate into him, if I can get close enough." Matt said, opening a small bag and removing a dark bottle and a thick syringe. Quint took the bottle and the syringe from Matt and examined them before looking back to him.
"You get this little needle through his skin?" He seemed unsure and I looked at Matt who met my eye before replying.
"No," he admitted. "I can't do that. But if I can get him close enough to this cage, I think I can get him in the mouth-"
"That shark will rip that cage to pieces!" Martin shouted, frustration evident in his voice as he threw the life jacket to the ground.
"You got any better suggestions?"
"Caroline, what do you think?" Quint looked at me and I looked at him before nodding.
"It's the only choice we have," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
We worked in silence, all of us were exhausted, all of us were stressed and scared and on edge, but as I watched Matt I knew not one of us was more stressed than Matt was. He walked into the cabin, changing in the two feet of water in there before coming back in his wet suit, one of the air tanks on his back and his scuba gear all prepared.
We all got the cage over the side of the boat and slid it down into the water before Matt walked over to me, pulling me aside momentarily. "I love you," his voice was hoarse and I smiled as I reached out and cupped his face with both hands. Over the past thirty six hours we had been harassed, chased, and hunted by the very thing we were supposed to be hunting, but as I stood there with him, knowing this could very well be the last time I saw him, I knew I wouldn't have changed anything that had happened.
"I love you too," I said softly as I pressed my forehead to his. He put his hands on my waist, pulling me in close and then kissing me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, running my hand through his hair almost desperately as we kissed, and then finally he pulled away. His eyes locked with mine, and he looked almost like he was searching for the right words. "I know." I said with a nod.
"If I get back from this, I'm going to marry you." he told me and I smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, you will." I agreed and he moved away, walking to the side of the boat. He climbed into the cage and I walked over to the edge. "Glasses," I reminded him, and he handed them up to me. I passed them to Martin who took them and handed me the dart gun. I handed it down to Matt who looked up at me and let out a small, weak chuckle.
"I got no spit." he admitted. He finally washed out the mask and then looked up at me. "Try and keep him off me until I'm lower," he looked over to Quint and nodded. "Okay. Okay, I'm ready." he said before putting the mouthpiece into his mouth. Quint gave him a small nod and then started to lower the cage into the water.
"Did you mean it? 'Bout marrying him?" Quint asked and I looked over at him before turning to watch the cage be lowered into the water.
"If he gets out of there and we survive it, you can bet your ass I meant it." I replied.
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