The Final Stand

Chapter 5

Daisy

The boy I'm following almost seems as suspicious as the other guys and I'm contemplating if I should actually be following him. His face has been scrunched up in confusion and determination for the last couple of minutes and that might be because I think we're lost. As far as I can tell the boat's not even that big he just doesn't have any sense of direction. I still don't feel very comfortable with calling him Jason and I wonder if I should make another attempt at conversation to calm him down and gain some knowledge on what's going on. In fact I'm about to do that when I hear a sigh of relief coming from him and I notice we have made it to the outside of the boat. I see a tiny little motor boat that is being towed along by a rope that attaches the two boats, and he finally speaks to me, "That's our boat and we'll be taking it back to the docks." When he says that he seems exhausted and tired of being on this ship.

"Well, let's get going then," I call, pulling myself over the railing. It's a steep drop off the other side, and I wonder if this wasn't the smartest idea. Glancing back up, Jason is doing the same as I was except he doesn't stop. He makes a swinging motion using his feet and lets go of the rail. Jason lands perfectly in the center of the little boat, and now it's my turn.

I start trying to get my momentum back like Jason did but it takes a lot of grip strength in order to not lose hold of the railing. I feel my hands get sweaty and I know at this point I'm just going to have to jump off. I release my clenched fingers letting go of the now warm metal and I feel wind woosh around my face. I almost forget what I'm trying to do but as the boat appears under me I regain focus. My thoughts are a flurry of doubts ''Can you break a boat landing in it from this height?" "Are there dangerous animals in the water?" I can feel my heart beating in my throat, my lungs closing up because I never realized how high up the boat was from the water. This is giving me a headache that I can't shake. I feel the cool breeze from the shadow that the boat is casting and I latch my thoughts onto it, there's that pounding in my head again but as I let go it seems to vanish and the dropping sensation leaves me. In fact I don't think I'm falling at all, in the cool breeze of the shade I'm hovering inches above the water where I would've missed the boat. In the tiny boat Jason is staring at me, his face turned into an expression I can't decipher from a gawk or a smirk.

For the first time in a while I feel powerful. I want to stay in this moment forever but I know I can't. Movement from the bigger boat catches my eye and I lose focus, I drop again this time taking a splash in the sea chilled waters.

I can hear voices and by doggy paddling I make my way over to where Jason is. Gripping the edge I hoist myself up and swing my legs into the boat, sitting down. My hair is soaked and I have goosebumps running up my arms and down my legs, my teeth chatter and my shoulders shiver but I'm alive and off that boat.

A few minutes later the small boat we were using makes it's way to shore and I almost lunge at the familiar dock. The boy, Jason, gets off first though and he makes his way over to a car filled with people. Well there are only three people but I'm not exactly an extrovert and I just had a pretty bad experience with strangers so I'm feeling pretty antsy. As Jason's talking to his friends he glances back at me quickly before continuing his conversation, and I contemplate going over to them so I can hear what they are talking about. I hope it's not me.