Tyler collapsed onto all fours at the front of the Zodiac. He was done. He couldn’t even lift his head.
‘Stay with me,’ Benton said. ‘He’s coming around again. You hear me? You have to do this or we’re both dead. Pick up that paddle.’
Tyler understood the implications, and desperately wanted to comply, it was just that his body refused to cooperate.
‘Come on. Here it comes,’ Benton shouted.
Tyler managed to push himself up, the world spinning and lurching. He reached out for the paddle, seeing double and picked it up. He leaned over the side, then dropped it, the paddle bobbing by the side of the Zodiac.
‘Here it comes,’ Benton said.
Tyler didn’t even see it. He felt the boat pushed back, off the safety of their platform, completing a lazy circle as the wake pushed them into open water. He could still see the paddle. It was thirty feet away and drifting in the other direction. Benton realised it was over and tossed his paddle into the bottom of the Zodiac.
‘I’m sorry,’ Tyler slurred as black spots started to dance in front of his eyes. He was grateful that he would at least pass out before he was devoured. Benton knelt next to him, watching the giant fin come closer and knowing there was no escape. Not now. They closed their eyes and waited for the end.
Nothing happened.
Benton looked around, confused. Tyler saw it too, ignoring the nausea. He watched as the Megalodon raced off towards the rock island.
‘Who the hell is that?’ Benton said.
Tyler didn’t answer. Couldn’t answer. He was too exhausted. He could only watch, unsure if what he was seeing was real or an illusion.
Liam knew what he had to do. He had asked for a sign and watching the Megalodon’s assault had made it clear. He was starting to understand that what he had done was wrong. Even the voice in his head which he had so relied on to guide him was silent and had left him. There was only one thing left that could possibly make things right. Liam dragged his father’s bloated corpse towards the water and pulled him in. The corpse floated, the buildup of gases making it naturally buoyant. He waded out, pushing his father ahead of him, knowing this was the only way he would find peace and silence the voices in his head. He went as far as he could walk and stopped. He leaned close and kissed the bloated, blue purple cheek of his father, realising only then that he was crying.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ruffling his father’s hair. He watched as the Megalodon charged at the rock outcrop and managed this time to wash the boat into deeper waters. He knew there was no time to waste. He took the scalpel and plunged it into his father stomach, the nauseating stench as trapped gases erupted hardly bothering him. He sliced across the slippery flesh of the gut, pulling open the stomach then flipping the body over onto its front so the rotten contents spilled out into the ocean. When it was done, he took the blade and cut himself, slicing across the same path, mixing hot, fresh blood with the putrid mess in the water before dropping the knife into the water and waited.
The Megalodon was closing in on its prey when it detected the new and incredibly intoxicating signals in the water. Driven by hunger after expending so much energy chasing the Zodiac, it veered off, recognising the putrid smell of flesh as a dead or dying animal and an easy meal. It accelerated, the lust to feed overtaking anything else, even the danger presented by the shallows. Infuriated and determined not to miss another kill, the Megalodon closed on the kill, opening its mammoth jaws wide.
Liam saw it coming and ducked over his father, clutching onto his body as hot darkness engulfed him. He didn’t feel any pain as the Megalodon’s massive jaws crushed them both in a volatile explosion of blood and bone. The Megalodon’s momentum drove it up onto the shallow ledge surrounding the island, almost its entire body coming out of the water. For a moment, it didn’t care. It devoured its prize, shaking its mammoth head back and forth as it fed and turning the surrounding water into a bloody froth. Carrington had seen it happen, having swum out through the broken wheelhouse window. He was now at the Zodiac and was pulled onboard by Benton. The three sat there, watching the immense shark thrash, its enormous body becoming more stuck as it struggled.
‘Jesus,’ Carrington whispered as they drifted back towards the island. Benton paddled, making sure they were clear of the furious animal.
‘It’s shallow enough to walk here,’ Tyler said. They hopped out of the Zodiac and dragged it back on the rock island, a place Tyler never wanted to see again. The trio stood in silence, watching the power or one of nature’s most dominant creatures. Out of the water, the scars on its skin were more apparent. A map of the harsh life it had endured.
‘He’s an old one. He wears a lot of scars,’ Benton said.
The comment made Tyler think of Nash, and a wave of sadness swept over him. ‘Yeah, he is,’ he replied.
They watched as the giant thrashed and then, with a last effort, it rolled off the plateau back into the deep.
Silence.
They stood there, staring at the spot where the shark had been.
‘We tell nobody of this. Understand?’ Carrington said. ‘It would pose too many questions, not to mention damage my reputation beyond repair.’
‘What are we supposed to say?’ Tyler asked.
‘We’ll work it out. Just… not yet.’
Nobody argued. None of them had the strength. They remained there in silence until they heard the distant sound of the rescue helicopter approaching. Benton reached into the compartment under the seat of the Zodiac and pulled out the flare gun from the supply box and fired it into the air. They watched the red-orange flare arc into the sky, then the helicopter as it moved towards the island. The rear door opened and a crewman leaned out and gave the thumbs up.
Tyler fell to his knees, weeping uncontrollably.
He was going to live.
He watched as the survival basket was lowered onto the island, lifeguard coming with it, a saviour from the heavens. One by one, they were lifted aboard the waiting chopper. As the rescue helicopter made for the mainland and the hospital, Tyler looked down at the ocean, knowing that somewhere in the dark, a monster roamed.
EPILOGUE
The restaurant was alive with chatter as diners enjoyed their food, a simple thing that Tyler would never take for granted again. It had been six weeks since he had been rescued from the island, and after spending most of that answering questions and giving the authorities the version of events he, Benton, and Carrington had agreed on, he had been allowed to go free. The idea of freedom and travel no longer appealed to him, and so he had returned home. The stranding and subsequent rescue had been covered on the news the world over, and it was attention he didn’t like. For a while, after returning home, he remained anonymous, staying in a hotel and trying to figure out what to do next. After a while, he plucked up the courage to call Amy and arrange to meet her.
He waited now in the restaurant, sipping water and wondering what he was supposed to say when she arrived. He was so preoccupied with what he was going to say he didn’t notice her come in.
‘You’ve lost weight,’ she said.
He blinked and looked up at her. She was the same but different. Different hair. Same perfume. ‘I didn’t see you come in.’
She took her seat. She looked well, healthy. Better for the time they had spent apart. He started to wonder why he had even arranged this meeting. He sipped his water.
‘Off the booze?’ she asked.
‘I don’t drink now. I’m clean.’
She nodded, surprised and a little impressed. ‘How have you been?’