‘It was a crazy plan,’ Tyler hissed, too tired to get angry.
‘It could have worked. Even if the explosives didn’t kill it, then it would have scared the shark away, hopefully; left it disfigured like me.’
‘Unbelievable.’
‘I don’t expect you to understand. I just wanted to set the record straight,’ Nash grunted.
‘No, I understand perfectly. Your lifetime vendetta against this monster came down to revenge. When it went wrong, it put us all in danger to the point where it’s going to cost us all our lives. But at least you have a clear conscience, right?’
Nash frowned and looked out over the black waters. ‘It was about revenge. No point in denying that. But my conscience ain’t clear. Not by a long shot.’
‘Then why say anything? What does it achieve? Why not just keep quiet.’
‘Because we don’t have long left. Another day or so and we’re done for. We can’t survive like this. At least now it’s all out on the table.’
Tyler nodded past Nash to Liam. ‘What about him? Doesn’t he deserve the truth?’
Nash glanced at his then back to Tyler. ‘He wouldn’t handle it. He’s not calm like you. He gets… angry. Volatile. He has medication for his brain, but of course, it was lost on the boat. For him, it’s best he thinks this was all an accident. It’s important to keep him calm.’
‘And what if I decide to tell him otherwise?’
Nash shrugged. ‘I’ll deny it. A son will always believe his father over a stranger. Besides, soon enough, it won’t matter. Don’t tell me you haven’t felt it. The gnawing in your belly, the delirium, the need for water.’
Tyler said nothing. There was no need.
‘Thing is,’ Nash went on, ‘is that human nature will take over. Soon enough, when desperation takes over, we’ll see what the two of you are made of.’
‘What do you mean?’
Nash smiled, the expression ghastly in the poor light. ‘You know what I mean. When a man becomes desperate, all the rules go out of the window. It comes down to who wants to live the most and how far you are willing to go to do it.’
Despite the heat that was still embedded in the rocks, a chill surged through Tyler. ‘You mention the two of us. Why not yourself?’
Nash chuckled. ‘Isn’t it obvious? I’m the weak link. Old and crippled. I’ll be the first to die here, there’s no doubt about that.’
‘Nobody has to die here, Nash. There might be a way.’
‘Only… there isn’t. This isn’t some bullshit novel or Hollywood movie. There isn’t some third arc plot twist to get us out of the shit. The end is coming for us all; it’s just a matter of how long it takes.’
‘I won’t give in. I won’t just stay here and wait to die. You might and that’s up to you, but not me.’
Nash shrugged. ‘No, I don’t think you will. I wonder which of you will do whatever it takes to live a little longer?’
‘You sound sorry you won’t get to see it.’
‘I am. Both sorry and curious. I think you stand a good chance of survival all told. I just don’t think you’ll go as far as Liam will. That will be your downfall.’
‘Yeah, well, I don’t intend for it to come to that. I intend to do everything we can to make sure we live a little longer, together. There is always a chance.’
‘Not always. Not now.’
Tyler turned on his side and pulled the deflated raft over him like a blanket. ‘We better get some sleep. Save our energy.’
‘You do that,’ Nash said, staring out into the dark. ‘You get your rest and save your energy.’
Tyler ignored him, and despite what he said, he knew that sleep would not come easily that night. On the opposite side of the rock, Liam lay with his eyes open, having listened to everything that had been said. He stared out to sea and imagined the waves were whispering to him and telling him what he had to do.
The hunger and thirst woke Tyler before dawn. His body felt as if it had shrivelled, and he was wasting away hour by hour. To his surprise, when he woke, Liam was in the water. He was standing there up to his waist. Tyler could see ghostly shadows where his ribs were showing through his skin. Tyler sat beside Nash. ‘What is he doing?’
‘Fishing. He’s had this crazy idea he saw on a film once to just stand there and be still until a fish comes close then he says he’ll snatch it out of the water.’
Tyler glanced at Nash then watched Liam. ‘Is that possible? It seems unlikely.’
‘I told him that already. He won’t listen to me. He does crazy stuff like this when he’s off his meds.’
‘He’ll burn out there in this heat.’
‘He’s stubborn. Best to let him do it. I’m too tired to argue with him again. Like I said, he won’t be all that rational now.’
It was the first time Tyler had realised how old and tired Nash looked. He seemed to have aged impossibly in a short space of time. He decided it was as good a time as any to try to talk to him about what happened during the dive without Liam’s short fuse threatening to explode at any given moment. ‘I want to talk to you about the dive,’ he said, unsure how things would play out. To his surprise, Nash only sighed and wiped the sweat from his brow.
‘My throat is so dry I don’t know how much talking I have in me. Still, I suppose I owe you an explanation. After all, you were nothing to do with this. Wrong place wrong time.’
The nonchalant way he said it made Tyler angry, but he wanted answers and pushed his frustration aside. He waited, staring at his long, skinny shadow on the rocks in front of him.
‘You have to understand,’ Nash said, looking straight out to sea, his scars visible in horrific clarity. ‘That thing ruined my life. I wish it had killed me.’
‘No, you don’t. You wouldn’t have fought on for all these years dealing with those injuries if you thought that.’
‘It’s because of the way I look that I wish I was dead. You don’t get it. You weren’t there. It’s bad enough dealing with how I look. It’s the memories. People I knew, my brothers who were taken by that fucking thing. It savaged them. Every time I see this… mess that’s left of me, it reminds me of them. It’s like an open wound that can never heal. In some ways, I’ve never been away from the day I first saw it.
‘Why now? Why wait until now to get your revenge if that’s what this was all about?’
‘Because I wasn’t sure.’ Nash glanced at Tyler then immediately looked away. ‘Not until I heard about that gold being found. I suspected, of course, I did. Why do you think I chose to come and live out here? I was waiting for a chance to get my revenge. I just needed help.’
‘And you chose me,’ Tyler said.
Nash shook his head. ‘Don’t make it sound bad. You wanted the gold, I get that. Nobody forced you to do this. We gave you the opportunity.’
‘No. You can’t try to sell that story, Nash. You sold this as a simple dive to get some gold.’
‘I told you the stories. The legend. I told you what was out here. Just because you chose not to believe it, that’s not my fault.’
‘Fine, that I’ll give you. Using me as bait, that’s on you, though. You can’t talk your way out of that.’
‘No, no I can’t.’
They fell silent and watched Liam standing motionless in the water.
‘For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. Like I said, this wasn’t how it was supposed to be. The drone was supposed to detonate when he bit into it and kill him. I never imagined… Well, you know.’
‘Yeah, I know,’ Tyler said, leaning his head back on the rocks and wishing for water. He didn’t want booze anymore, though. That was one relief. It seemed a slow agonising death was a fantastic cure for near alcoholism.