Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rewrite)

Chapter 59: Amphibious Assault

After the discussion, CJ just lowered his head and shook it in disbelief. He then raised it up to face Woozie.

"Hold on," CJ told him. "You tryin' to tell me you can't swim?"

"Seriously," Woozie replied. "When I'm in the deep water, it panics me, plus, I'm terrified of eels, and squid, and seaweed, and..."

"OK dude," CJ interrupted, "see, I know you just trying to make excuses now!"

"Look, CJ," Woozie pleaded. "I need someone from outside the Triad who I can trust."

"A'ight, so let me get this straight," CJ answered skeptically. "You want me to swim around in dirty dock water, dodging little brown jelly beans and Vietnamese gangsters, to put a bug on a boat in the harbor?"

"You're so negative!" Woozie told him.

CJ really wanted to help Woozie out. But as much of a cold-blooded gangster he was, this was too much of a risk for him. He hasn't swam in ages, and just the thought of diving deep down the ocean only put an extra chill to the spine. While pacing around thinking, CJ finally decided to spill the beans to Woozie. He brought him up close.

"Listen, man," CJ confessed, "when I was a kid, swimming off the Santa Maria, I once got a condom stuck to my face."

Woozie just laughed at the comment.

"Horror like that stays with you for life, believe that!" CJ responded, walking away about nine inches from Woozie.

"I have a confession to make," Woozie stated, cutting his laughter short. "I'm... I'm blind."

"No shit!" CJ replied caustically.

"Yes," Woozie told him, "although I've trained my other senses to a point where you wouldn't notice my handicap, in the water they'd be quite useless."

That's when CJ decided that he was being a little too hard on Woozie. While he was still rather skeptical of attempting the mission, just the thought of a blind Chinese man diving in the ocean during the night gave CJ some qualms.

"Alright, Woozie," CJ told him, approaching him, "relax. Don't beat yourself up about it. Look, I'll do it."

So CJ turned to head for the exit. But not before turning back to Woozie.

"Uh, one last thing," he told him. "You do know that I'm black, right? And not Chinese."

"I'm blind, Carl, not stupid," Woozie chuckled.

CJ then made his way to the exit and walked outside to find a nearby taxi parked outside. He hopped inside and drove on the open road. As he drove through the city, he finally made his way to Esplande North near Pier 69 and parked the vehicle to a nearby parking lot right next to a railing. He then pulled out a wetsuit and snorkel that Woozie gave him and slipped into them.

CJ hopped out of the car and ran to the railing to spot the ship that he had to bug out on open sea. He had the premonition of diving in the cold ocean water during a night, especially with the Da Nang Boys on boat prowling around. CJ knew he had to be more surreptitious about this mission.

So with the deepest breath he took, CJ hopped over the railing and splashed into the ocean. It felt cold through his wetsuit, and he was shivering violently. But CJ couldn't let Woozie down. So he continued to swim through the ocean in the rock maze until he came across the rock that was blocking his way through.

Damn, CJ thought. Now I have to dive under.

So CJ took another deep breath and dove underwater, where he swam through an opening under the rock. CJ could feel the water running through his ears, but at least he had on the snorkel so water wouldn't run through his eyes.

As he finally made it pass the rock, CJ finally resurfaced and gasped for air, spitting out some water in the process.

Just like good old times, CJ thought to himself.

He continued to swim through the rocky maze until he came across another rock barrier.

Ah shit! he thought. Not again!

So CJ dove back underwater and swam through. As he finally got to the other end, he resurfaced and gasped for air. He hovered to catch his breath and continued swimming. He came to the last barrier of the maze, dove under, and made his way to the other end, where he resurfaced and gasped for air.

The good news was that CJ finally made it to the ship. But the bad news, however, was that the patrol boats were also surrounding the ship. CJ knew he had to make his way to the ship without being spotted. So without hesitation, he dove underwater and continued swimming to the ship, trying to avoid being spotted.

It took a while since he had to resurface to catch his breath and avoid the lights at the same time, but he finally made it to the ship, narrowly avoiding the shining light. Plus he could breath just fine thanks to the snorkel.

As CJ finally climbed onto the deck, he was dripping wet. Water dripped from his wetsuit. He wiped the wet water out of his eyes and spit some of it out after lifting the snorkel off his face. Still a drenched gangster, CJ tiptoed up the stairs and onto the ship. While sneaking around, he saw a few guards standing while looking around. So CJ approached a guard from behind and stealthily stabbed him in the shoulder, killing him.

He continued to penetrate through the ship and saw a few other guards around. He stayed as silent as possible and stealthily killed two guards in a row. CJ gradually made his way to the back of the ship, where he eventually makes his way in the generator room and planted the bug inside.

Now CJ had to escape off of the ship and slowly crept out of the room and onto the outside of the ship.

Ah shit! CJ thought. I still have to get to the docks!

CJ hopped off the ship and plowed into the ocean. He quickly swam through the ocean, where the patrol boats caught him.

"Someone's down there!" one of the guards shouted.

They began firing at CJ, who dove underwater trying to avoid the firing bullets. CJ's arms ached from swimming so much, but he ignored the pain and continued swimming. The patrol boats still circled through the ocean to search for CJ. But they couldn't see him through the ocean.

"Eh, I think we got him," one of the guards said.

"Good riddance!" another added, and the patrol boats rode off.

This gave CJ a chance to resurface. So after doing so, CJ gasped hard for air and hovered to catch his breath. He swam back to the dock and climbed onto the surface.

CJ's arms and legs ached. His wetsuit was dripping wet. He lifted the snorkel off his face. He was shivering very violently. This was perhaps the most intense mission he had done since his experience in San Fierro. So CJ staggered slowly to his parked vehicle and hopped inside.

The seat became incredibly damp as he sat down. But CJ didn't care. He started the engine and drove to his apartment. It was getting late, and CJ needed to take a shower after swimming through the dirty ocean late at night.

He parked his car in front of his apartment and walked inside. He made his way to the bathroom, threw off his drenched clothes and snorkel, and hopped inside the running hot shower, sighing in relief as he could never be happier that he was now in a shower washing himself with warm water.

After the shower, CJ threw on some pajamas, went into his bedroom, turned out the light, and hopped into bed. He really enjoyed going on missions with Woozie and was wondering how he and the Triads could obliterate the Da Nang Boys once and for all. As CJ took another good look at the ceiling, he slowly shut his eyes and drifted to sleep.