Wind and spray burned Jonas' face as he pushed the jet ski faster; unsure whether to stop or turn at the docks. Focus came naturally to him, always had. Always kept him ahead of death. But Jonas was met with three different focal points as his path zeroed in on the dock extending from Fun Island. He heard shots from the helicopter above and knew the alpha was on his tail. The sundeck was under attack from the kraken... and barely yards from the havoc, Montes was waiting for him. Meiying was waiting for him.
How do I deal with this? Jonas sensed the sweat in his already soaked clothes.
The water breaking beneath him made the decision. Man and ski were thrown at the mercy of gravity and flying splints of planks. Then he was sliding over wet, rough skin, the denticles shredding into his back. Jonas felt his hand in the gills and barely went feet first onto the tattered deck. He felt the pain, but there was no time to think on it. Jonas backed up, trying to maintain a distance as the meg continued to chomp its way up the dock. The multi-layered teeth seemed blind to the material, knowing it smelled blood. Yeah, mine!
Jonas grunted as the deck suddenly sectioned off behind him, threatening to lower him into the hot, smelly mouth. Grabbing between the planks, he kicked against the snout to leverage himself over the side. Jonas braced, but still bore the harsh impact of the fall. Thankfully, the wood had dammed up enough to deter the alpha and Jonas watched it sway off to the side, back toward open water. But for how long?
Jonas looked up, reminded of his other problems. The kraken's tentacles continued to thrash about the sun decks. People ducked and clung to what little they could find, if they weren't already being tossed like ragdolls through the air. All the while, Montes barred the way with Meiying. She stayed tense with fear and her knee bled, but she seemed unharmed. The helicopter stayed off, Jonas feeling the beat of the blades in his ears. He also felt the cuts stinging across his back, protesting any movement. Still, eyes boring into Montes', he rose.
Montes kept his gun and smile cocked. "You don't die easy, Taylor."
We don't have time for this. Jonas was past annoyed, eyes throwing daggers. He started a step, but Montes swung Meiying out just short of the dock's edge. "But eventually, everyone runs out of luck."
"Yours will, trust me." Jonas spat, muscles ready to spring at Meiying shuffling away from the water. Montes laughed. "Who's holding the gun?"
Jones eyed Montes past his weapon; imagined crushing the man's head with his bare hands! As though sensing their stalemate, the helicopter began to close in.
"My ride," Montes pulled Meiying back to his chest. He massaged her shoulder roughly. "We need this one a little longer."
Both fists clenched, Jonas took another step forward. He found his daughter's fearful- exhausted- eyes. "You wanna do that?"
She blinked, then shook her head. "No."
Jonas hissed, getting bold now with 3 steps. Montes straightened out his arm, putting Jonas' chest inches from the barrel. Meiying's breath hitched, but Jonas didn't move. "You heard her."
Montes watched him like he was crazy. His trigger finger tightened. But the only shot that landed was the one through Montes' shoulder. Jonas didn't bother to look in the direction of the bullet. He'd kept the walkie close. A glance out to sea and he'd find Suyin aiming from the DSV hatch.
Montes jerked back instantly, and Meiying sprung away, giving Jonas room to drive Montes to the deck. He punched the man's fresh wound, almost to the gun before Montes gave his jaw a hit back. Hand twisted into his shirt, Jonas kept their combat close- all the while, feeling the tremor of the wavering deck beneath them. One fight at a time!
He would just happen to enjoy this one.
}{}{}{}{
"Suyin, we might need you back here." Mac informed her, the kraken's curiosity back on the sundeck- with the one passage to land severed, anyone on it would be at its mercy!
Enough paying around. Jiuming caught the kraken's extending leg as it whizzed past! He hoped to use it as a shimmy closer and closer to the mouth. Its movement was unrelenting and he remained aware of the skulking shadows, pacing the water just beyond. Haiqi and the alpha, both hunting for their next course! Jiuming stared forward, a grip hard to keep on both the squishy arm and his bomb. Almost there-
"Gah!" Mac cried out and Jiuming barely caught his silhouette- in the water one moment and out of it the next. The suit would survive the impact... but two bombs would do more damage then one. Jiuming hugged his tentacle. "Mac! Let it breach you into it's mouth! I will meet you then."
More screaming. "Sure. Why nooot-"
He rejoined Jiuming under the waves, leaving Jiuming to take the lead. The timers were set for 2 minutes; he didn't dare risk longer. They could work loose, and once there was blood in the water, and megs would harpoon for it. One way or another, there'd be one less monster in the end.
The suits' grips clawed him another four feet, and Jiuming saw the mouth stretch wide as the chains rattled and shook as the kraken tried grounding itself. Jiuming signaled to Mac, just before the current spun them in opposite directions. With one lazy throw, he skewered the bomb into its belly. He released his suit. "Swim away!"
Easier said than done, with no ocean floor to ground themselves. Thankfully though, he spotted Mac detach, flailing himself farther and farther. "Suyin?"
"I can't." was her only reply. What was happening up-
A muffled explosion rippled through the water, percussions spinning Jiuming and Mac twice over. Jiuming hit the rocky floor and caught his breath at the plume of colors. A type of alien dance played out above, the kraken trying to make sense of its pain. His stomach dropped however, when he saw the were the tentacles reached. "Suyin! It's surfacing!"
}{}{}{}{
Suyin hugged the ladder, hiding from the helicopter's fire. The DSV was leaving her feeling akin to a pressure cooker. She pressed at her comm, catching her breath. "Will the megs attack it?"
"I can't say, but it is injured." Jiuming responded.
Meaning what; that it would bleed out? Soon enough to leave the deck- and the people- alone?
"We're making our way back to you." Mac piped up. "There's- I don't know what more we can do."
Suyin leaned her forehead on the ladder's cool rung. Eyes closed, she weighed their options. WHY did there have to be so many?
}{}{}{}{
"JONNNAASSSS!"
Meiying didn't mean to shriek- she meant to be out of the way, uncomplicating things. Yet, the slimy tentacle grabbing her leg provoked it. Her footing was lost, skin skidding along the wood, closer to where the octopus wreaked havoc on the sundeck. She felt the suction against her skin, the pressure increasing through her muscles to her bone. Would it snap?
Jonas' face, already bruising, turned frantically. Meiying reached for him as he kicked Montes away. More tentacles erupted on either side of the decks. Screams, yells, and cries for survival cluttered her ears as everyone hit the floor. Even so Jonas got to her, holding tight around her waist. "Turn your head!"
She did and with 3 shots the tentacle withdrew. Feeling slowly returned up her calf, but neither of them could rise with the sundeck shaking so violently. Meiying rubbed wet hair from her eyes, securing her hands between the planks. Jonas nodded. "Hold on! If it breaks-"
"Taylor!"
Montes' arm surprised Jonas' throat, ripping him from Meiying. Chest flaring, she clawed for his face. "Xiàchē!"
Montes backhanded her away, enough for a tentacle to land between them. Blindly it felt for flesh, while Meiying worked to avoid it. Same as everyone else- except for a dog, who nipped fearlessly at its end. Meiying craned her neck, keeping sight of the fight as Jonas elbowed Montes' nose, breaking it. With a mad yell, he herded the mercenary into the cushioned seats.
Help him! Meiying thought desperately. If only tentacles weren't encroaching, cutting off any escape or route. Meiying backed up from one, snaking up from under the decorative little bridge. But it was too quick. Meiying lost her breath, knocked back and down into the turbulent water. Everything was silenced in the rush of liquid; until an alien moan replaced it on all sides. Her arms went wild for the surface, sensing the massive sea creature below. A few swift kicks and Meiying found herself bobbing once again on the surface. Like monkey bars, she used the small bridge above to guide herself to the edge. There she clung, fighting for breath, for control... for strength to pull herself back out of the water. Don't. Don't make them worry.
She was out, jerking a loose board with her. She spotted the same tentacle, slithering close by and readied her arm. That is, until a shot bit the slimy arm back. Meiying whipped around, eyes connecting with Mom. Unwavering, she still guarded them from the DSV. Yet, as she lingered, so did the helicopter with its own weapons. Plus, the monsters were still not dead.
Meiying pointed, turning Mom and the rifle to where Jonas and Montes struggled. It seemed a contest of who could break the others arm, taking them closer and closer to the farthest edge of the decks. Meiying grabbed one of the poles as the platforms tilted, watching intently. They were almost over the edge! Was Jonas blocking her shot? Montes kicked Jonas' knee, sending him down where Montes' rammed his face with his knee. Jonas' dazed look pushed fear through Meiying's throat. Still, he didn't back down, barely blocking Montes' next blow.
Where does he find the strength? Meiying felt the stake in her grasp. I can be like that...
Her grip causing splinters, Meiying charged forward, eyes on Montes. She fought a stumble, but the point still found the mercenary's hip. She jumped back at his yell and Jonas picked up the lax, breaking the man through a lattice screen. Amongst their debris, Jonas fell back from Montes, searching for deep breaths. Montes tried to follow up with a sucker punch; only to be lifted by a tentacle. Meiying's jaw fell as it whiplashed him through the air. Everyone fell back the opposite way and gravity slid Jonas to Meiying; she grabbed him this time and held tight. Only, the deck stopped quivering. Their heads lifted in time to witness the massive mouth springing from the water to meet Montes struggling in the air. The chomp severed his legs, spraying blood through the air, and his screams were lost underwater. Meiying followed the red specks onto her clothes, breathing an odd sigh of relief. Jonas matched it, hugging her shoulders.
Until the sundeck went back to splintering, giving in to the crushing tentacles. The screams and panic reached a new level, the only solid foundation finally crumpling. Jonas urged Meiying to crawl sideways. "Get to the center!"
"Haiqi." Meiying yanked his sleeve, astounded. Sure enough the tentacles released, going after the pale megalodon. Soon, she was wrestling among the spindly legs and everyone quieted at the mass spectacle. They disappeared, then reappeared, a spiraling froth in the water. Jonas continued to pull her back, but even he had to watch, awestruck at the forgotten power of the animal kingdom. That was when everything turned to slow motion. Like a cannon, shark and octopus burst high into the air, Haiqi tight in its tentacles. Jaws dropped at their height, fingers pointing and following the fight. Mid-twist, they collided with the helicopter, leaving it to crash into the ocean.
"Mom!" Meiying cried, both seeing the DSV in its path. "Suyin!"
It was hard to tell monster from machine as both hit the water, sloshing the sundeck. Jonas steadied them while Meiying covered her ears at the screech of metal, the rotor blades breaking and flying in every direction. Haiqi's jaws wide, she and the kraken plunged back into the ocean; and didn't resurface. Silence came again, everyone stunned at what they'd witnessed. Once blue water plumed a reddish gray, telling them at least one was dead.
Who then, did that leave?
"You alright?" Jonas turned her to him, as the quiet grew longer. Meiying then realized she was shaking and fought to get it under control. He drew back, looking out to where the helicopter had flipped, laying askew against one of the rock outcroppings. Water still deep enough to hide a megalodon. He looked back at her and Meiying nodded, reassuringly. "I can help here."
"I'll be right back." he said before diving into the murky waves.