upright, my footing lost again, my body pitching effortlessly around the wheelhouse.
I lose my sense of surroundings, a blinding ringing in my ears, and a face full of seawater. In the vastness of the sea, it’s easy to lose hope that you’ll find the light, the shore, the rescue. Black clouds hang low, kissing the caps of the waves, the horizon, nonexistent. I don’t know where the sky ends and the ocean begins.
But I know one thing. We’re not surviving like this.
With a last-ditch effort, I peel myself from the floor. Gasping for air, blood pools in my mouth, my body worn, ragged, ready to let go. I hold the VHF radio in my hand. Our only means of communication with the coast guard. Frigid ocean water laps at my feet, my ankles, and I’m clinging to hope as I hold the radio to my lips, and my brother’s limp body in my arms. He took a hit on the last wave and is now unconscious. I try everything I can to keep him upright.
Across from me, bleeding from a gash above his eye, Nivio props himself up against the chair. “Christ almighty.”
“Holy shit. This is bad. We’re gonna die.” Din crawls around next to him, mumbling, holding the side of his face. The glass breaking from the windows had sliced through his left ear.
When the last wave hit, it wiped out all of our controls, but I had to try one last time to reach the coast guard. “Mayday, mayday, mayday. Amphitrite. We’re taking in water!” and I give our last known position.
We have nothing left but the hope that the coast guard finds us before another rogue wave does. I have a decision to make. Get in the water or go down with a sinking boat.
“Jump in! Get in the water!” I tell the crew, getting a lifejacket over Bear’s shoulders. He’s bleeding, more than likely internally too, but I refuse to believe this is the end. All I know is my dad is not losing another son, let alone two.
Atlas is not losing his dad today.
Journey… I’m not losing her. I can’t. Not before I get a chance to set this right and make her understand that I never wanted to hurt her.
Right after we clear the boat, it rolls. The temperature of the water numbs me, but relief hits me because I know for once, I’ve made the right call. We would have died.
Din grabs hold of Nivio beside him as we bob in the angry sea. I can faintly see them through the darkness. “Get off me!” Nivio yells, pushing him off him. “You’re gonna fucking kill us both.”
I have the life raft, and I’m trying to pull the lanyard while keeping a hold of Bear, but it’s not easy. “Hang on to him!” I scream at Nivio. He takes hold of Bear. “I have to get the raft up!”
I manage to get onto my back and use my feet against the raft to wrap the cord around my hand. I yank, hard, and it goes up. Nivio ends up next to it, and it takes both of us to get Bear into the raft.
Din struggles. “I can’t make it!” He’s swallowing seawater, frantically waving his arms. “I can’t!”
“Jesus Christ,” I groan. “Kick your fucking legs, you goddamn pussy, or drown!”
It’s clear he’s in shock, but I have no time for his bullshit. This is life or death, and I’m not sure we’re going to make it out alive this time. Fear roots inside me, waves rolling us through the sea, rocking us from side to side.
Nivio holds up the flare gun, a wall of water heading our direction. His chest heaves as he holds it high. “We only have one shot.”
In a raft, with forty maybe fifty feet swells, we have one shot to make our position known.
De-Hooker - A tool used to quickly and easily remove the hook from a fish’s mouth.
I stare out the kitchen window of Fletcher’s house that overlooks the ocean. Blue dawn is on the horizon, the winds still pushing forward. We’ve haven’t made it through the worst yet. Right now, it’s only flirting with disaster, showing us what she’s made of, asking—are we tough enough to survive?
A candle flickers beside me, my eyes trained on the way it spits out sparks every time the wind hits the single-paned window. Anticipation for the unknown keeps me on edge.
It’s been six hours since the distress call came in. That’s six