Black Run by D. L. Marshall

Author:D. L. Marshall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Canelo Digital Publishing Limited
Published: 2021-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-two

Tiburon

I paused at the top of the ladder, tied the rope off on the top rung. Crashing surf swooshed above my head again, on the other side of thick steel plates. I held on tightly as the ship dived down another trench, waited until the waves had broken over the bow, then turned the handle and pushed the hatch open. I caught my breath as seawater poured through, freezing me to the bone. I pushed again, moved up a couple of rungs, heaving it all the way open, head and shoulders out onto the deck. The water cascaded away off the sides, I climbed up again as the boat climbed the next wall of water.

For the second time I hauled myself up and over the raised threshold of the hatch as we reached the top of the wave, the ship hanging in mid-air for a second before groaning and shuddering, pointing straight back down again. I used the momentum to roll up and onto the deck, swinging the hatch closed behind me and sliding underneath my car as we reached the bottom of the trough. Again, a wall of water descended on the deck of the boat, drowning everything. I braced myself against the wheels as the water raced away again, threatening to carry me over the side with it.

As soon as we were on the up I opened the hatch again, reaching in and grabbing the rope. I pulled the first few loops arm over arm, picking up slack until the line went taut. I spun round, sat on the edge with my feet braced against the other side of the hatch, the rope disappearing between my legs. I heaved, lifting the dead weight, trying to use the rolling of the boat to my advantage. Another wall of water loomed, this time I just closed my eyes and mouth, letting the deluge hit, wrapping the rope round my arms. Water poured down into the hold, dragging on the weight in my hands. I carried on hauling as we rose out the other side.

My arms burned as the rope pendulummed around the hold with the motion of the ship, harder at first as it swung in long, heavy arcs, but it got easier as the rope shortened and the arc shortened. Several waves later, Seb’s head, still shrouded in the plastic bag, reached the top of the ladder.

I waited until we were crawling up another wave to haul Seb up onto the deck, untying the rope from the ladder and slamming the hatch closed.

Here we were in darkness – just the small navigation lamp at the prow beaming into the inky black – but I knew if anyone on the bridge saw anything they’d flick on the work lamps and I’d be frozen like a rabbit, standing over the dead body of their pal.

We started down into another black trough, I braced against the front of my car again and took some time to get my breath back. A jarring crump as we hit the wall of water, it curved over the bow and then everything was drowned.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.