“Can we go?!” she snapped at Trenton. “I’ve already watched GoldenEye get swept up by this crush. I don’t want to follow my favorite cow.”
Julia yelled, “We have to go south.”
“Why? That doesn’t make any sense. We need to cut across the current. It’ll flatten out—”
“Listen to me, Dani!”
It had been Trenton arguing with her. Trenton who was driving, but it was Dani who Julia spoke to. She was so earnest. “We have to go south! I was told that.”
“Who told you to go south?”
Her sister sat back down. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Julia,” Trenton leaned closer, yelling over the water, “I am not turning this boat around for more flooding. If we cut across—”
“The wind is too great. If we cut across, we’ll capsize and drown.” Jake was staring at his fiancée. “Julia, who said that we need to go south?”
“Just trust me!”
“No!”
Julia had the survival instinct of an extinct species. Dani didn’t blame them for their disbelief.
“Dani!” She turned to her.
Trenton was waiting. They were all waiting. Somehow it became Dani’s decision.
Mrs. Bendsfield screamed as a sudden wave crashed over her. Dani saw her slipping before she could scream again. Dani woke up. She didn’t know why, or how it happened, but she woke up. She’d been okay with dying, and then she wasn’t.
Suddenly, she was fighting. She had to live.
She surged across the boat and clamped a hand on Mrs. Bendsfield’s leg. Trenton was trying to steer the boat toward calmer waters as Dani wrapped the anchor’s rope around Mrs. Bendsfield’s leg.
“Ahh!” Mrs. Bendsfield’s body lifted from the wave’s force. The anchor held. It didn’t move, and she slammed back down.
“Grab on to a rope and wrap it around yourself. We have to stay in this boat—” Dani was looking around. She thought she put more rope in this boat.
“Unless it capsizes right here and now!” Julia shouted back. “We have to go south. Dani,” she twisted to face her sister. “I was told to go south. When have I ever lied to you?”
“You lie all the time.” Dani gritted her teeth as she held onto the anchor’s rope.
“Okay, but not about this.”
“We’re going to die because of this, Julia. You know that, right?” Dani wanted to make sure her sister knew what she was saying. That she wasn’t going crazy how Dani thought she herself was.
“We’ll die if we cut across.” Julia slouched over. “We have to go south.” She yelled over Dani’s head, “Go, Trenton. We don’t have a lot of time, and we have to get there.”
He waited, looking at Dani for confirmation.
She nodded.
He turned the boat and gunned the engine. All of them fell back, then tossed to the right and left from the waves. They were increasing in height and force. Trenton kept driving, but the last wave nearly sent Dani flying from the boat. She wound the anchor’s rope around her waist, and it jerked her back down.
Then she looked up. Wave after wave was coming. They were all going to crash down on them, and it wouldn’t last. They wouldn’t last. Dani was forced with the truth.
“We’re going to capsize, Julia. We need life jackets. We need—”
“No!” Julia screamed against the wind. “We need the anchor. Where are we, Dani? Do you know where we are?”
“We’re in the middle of nowhere. That’s where we are.”
“No, where are we? Do you know where we are now?”
Mrs. Bendsfield screamed, “I think I broke a rib!”
Dani glanced around. She was becoming frantic, but her eyes caught sight of a tree. One lone tree that stuck up from the rest, and her heart suddenly pounded to life.
“Oh, God,” she murmured, dazed. She stood up. “You’re right, Julia. We need the anchor. We need—there should be small heating packs inside that compartment. Grab them all and put them in a closed pocket. Something that can be zipped closed.”
“…my ribs…”
Trenton stalled the engine. He leaned toward Dani. “What’s going on?”
Julia scrambled up. “Where are we?”
“There’s a cave. I’m going over to that tree, and we can follow it down to the cave. We’ll have to swim around, but there should be an air pocket inside that cave. There’s blankets and dry clothes in there.” She twisted to Trenton, smiling so brightly. She had new hope. “It’s the cave. Call in our location. They’ll have to come find us.”
“I can’t breathe.” Mrs. Bendsfield gasped. “My rib is broken. I can’t hold my breath for that long.”
“You’re going to have to,” Dani said. No one else was going to die.
“I’m not going to make it.” Mrs. Bendsfield was calm and accepting. Dani knew what she was feeling. She’d felt it nearly the entire time, but now she didn’t want to die. She wanted to fight, and she wouldn’t give up.
“You can try, Mrs. Bendsfield!” Dani yelled.
“Nanery,” she said, a kind smile looked alien across her wrinkled face. “My name’s Nanery.” She reached and grabbed Dani’s hand. “I’ve got some truths to confess here.”