Ravenous

   Knives had been handed out in case someone got into trouble and had to be cut away. In case they had to be sacrificed. I didn’t have a knife, but then I wouldn’t have been able to cut the rope and sacrifice anyone, no matter what happened. I shuddered at the thought, shifting the bag of guns on my back as fear trickled through me. The weight of the guns was reassuring. They had been divided into three water proof bags and given to the three of us without tanks.

   I wasn’t too confident in this plan, but it was all we had. It had taken a half an hour for Molly to explain everything to us as quickly, and as well, as she could. It had been another half an hour before we found this secluded backyard. The fire was encroaching; small pops and bursts continued to fill the air. The falling ash was becoming thicker again. Dawn was only hours away. We didn’t have any time to try and formulate another plan.

   I didn’t think there wasone anyway.

   “Let’s go.”

   Molly slipped easily into the water, my entrance was nowhere near as graceful as hers as I flopped, floundered, and fell into the ocean. I was thankful for the wetsuit as the chill of the water hit my cheeks and hands. I inhaled sharply before ducking beneath the waves. Though I was nowhere near lacking in oxygen, my lungs began to burn as panic tried to claim me. Cade was suddenly beside me, I could not see him in the murky water, but his hand grasped hold of my arm before stroking slowly upward.

   His presence caused the burning in my lungs to ease slightly. My fear ebbed. I clung to the rope, kicking easily through the water. It had not been long, I knew that, but I felt as if we were making good progress, even if I couldn’t see where the hell we were going. Apparently Molly decided that we were far enough down as she clicked on the light. I could barely see the dim glow, it briefly highlighted Aiden in front of me, and then it was gone as Molly turned it back off. There was a slight shifting in front of me, a small turning toward the right.

   Cade was beside me again, I didn’t know what he intended until I felt the press of the mouth piece against my lips. I tasted salt and water as I inhaled deeply, grateful for the fresh surge of oxygen that filled my lungs. His hand pressed lightly over my mouth, looking to soothe me as we continued to slip silently through the sea.

   This was going far better than I had anticipated; a fact that only caused my uneasiness to spike. Everything had been so hard until now; I had expected the same thing here. It made me anxious and tense, I was certain that something was going to happen. Cade tried to force me to keep the mouth piece, but I managed to give it back to him. For a brief moment my fingers entwined in his, and then he was taking the air from me.

   We made our way through the water, the light would flare briefly every once in awhile before going back out. Subtle adjustments would be made in our direction as Molly read the compass. Three sharp tugs on the line alerted me that we were finally approaching land. Hope and fear shot through me. We were almost out of here, but there was no way to know what awaited us on the other side.

   Then suddenly I felt it, a rising up of the ocean floor beneath us. We began a steady ascent, swimming upward, heading for land again. What the hell were we going to do if they were awaiting us? Nothing, there would be nothing we could do. We couldn’t get to the guns, we wouldn’t have enough time to flee back into the sea, and even if we did, we wouldn’t have enough oxygen to remain hidden for much longer.

   We had done all that we could, now all we could do was hope that luck stayed on our side. There was a slight shifting to the left; I followed easily along until I felt my head break water. I rose slowly, pulling the mask slightly up as I surveyed the rocky shore. Cade was beside me, his dark hair matted against his forehead, his dark eyes intense. He moved closer to me, his body pressing against mine as I shivered. The air was cold against my wet hair and skin.

   “This way,” Molly whispered.

   We half swam/walked closer to the shore. Molly pulled her flippers off, tossing them onto the shoreline. The darkness was so complete that I couldn’t see if there was anything waiting for us. I bent low, pulling the flippers off I wiggled my toes in the sand, taking a brief moment to enjoy the simple pleasure.

   I could barely breathe as we scrambled onto the shore. We were exposed, vulnerable, out in the open. It was a good fifty feet before we would reach the shelter of the trees. The shore was rocky, rough, and painful beneath my bare feet but there was no way I was stopping to dig our shoes out of the bag on my back.

   Cade’s hand wrapped around my upper arm, he propelled me forward. We staggered, slipped, slid, and ran through the sifting sand. I could hardly breathe through the terror constricting my chest. I felt as if we were moving through quicksand.

   We were almost to the tree line when light blazed over us. Everything seemed to slow; we were mired on the beach, trapped like rats beneath the glow. Everything around me was completely acute, bright, and vibrant. The air seemed to shimmer. I felt as if I could reach out and touch every particle. In those, the final moments of my life, I felt completely and entirely co

   And then Cade was grabbing hold of me, wrapping his arms around me, and pulling me down beneath him. The earth rushed up to meet me, sand filled my nose and mouth. His hand was reaching in front of me, bronzed in the bright light. I didn’t know what he was doing until I saw the knife. Then, the rope co

   Relief filled me, hope and love bloomed in my chest as I realized he had just freed my brother and sister. They would be able to make it, we never would. We were too far behind, too far away from the sanctuary of the trees.

   “Cade…”

   “I love you Bethany.”

   A sob ripped from me, my fingers dug into the sand. His lips were warm against my cheek, gentle as he caressed me. I turned into him, savoring our last moments together, taking comfort in the solid strength he radiated. I wanted to tell him that I loved him too, that I always had, and always would. The words stuck in my throat though, I couldn’t get them out past the terror encasing me.

   “Bethany!” Abby’s screams echoed from the woods. Tears burned my eyes as I watched her struggling against Aiden’s tight hold. “Bethany!” I knew that Aiden would keep her safe. Ever practical, ever stoic Aiden would save Abby because he knew there was no hope for me.

   Then another light blazed forth. A moan of agony and despair tore from me as it lit the woods. My siblings weren’t going to be able to escape either. They were as trapped as we were. The aliens had been waiting for us all along.

   I was so caught up in my despair that I didn’t immediately recognize the noise that blazed out of the forest, erupted across the beach, and echoed through the night. Then, the sound pierced my foggy, distorted mind. I inhaled sharply, getting a mouthful of sand for my effort, but I didn’t care as gunshots continued to ring out across the beach. Far more gunshots than anything our supply of weapons could have achieved.

   I lifted my head, wincing against the barrage of lights that burst from the woods. It was not another ship, but something else entirely. Cade was frozen above me, his muscles taut and hard. And then he was seizing hold of my arm and pulling me to my feet. “Stay low!”