The Saltwater Marathon (A Novella) by Chateau Jonathan

Author:Chateau, Jonathan [Chateau, Jonathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-03-29T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

I settle back in my seat. Fatigue is rapidly setting in. My shirt is stained completely red.

Then – like an icepick to my brain – another migraine attacks. I squeeze my eyes and collapse against the steering wheel.

Come to me, baby. Come back to me.

“Sirena!”

Yes, love. I’m still waiting for you.

Everything goes blue-green. I lean over and look up. The giant sand dollar’s spotlights are on top of me.

Come to me.

Shrill screams everywhere. My head spins in all directions – coupled with the incessant rain, my migraine is making my vision shitty, but I’m seeing all that I need to see.

I’m surrounded by jelly-heads on all sides.

Black lines explode in all directions – followed closely by the sound of metal on metal. It’s their hooks connecting with my car.

If I wait too long, given the number of these freaks, they’ll have me tied down.

Come back to me, baby. Come join me at the bottom.

The passenger side window is hit with a hook – and I jump in my seat. Fortunately it didn’t break, but it will if they take another shot at it.

I glance down at the bloody mess just above my waist. Just looking at it sends more pain shooting through me.

I’m already dying.

Better to follow in Sirena’s footsteps than at the hands or hooks of these deep-sea motherfuckers!

The migraine passes and I realize what I have to do now. I feel another surge of adrenaline taking over – a surge that is seemingly overriding the agonizing pain in my stomach.

I let out a groan, smack the wheel and crank up the car.

There’s a symphony of shrieks as I floor it and drag a bunch of the jelly-heads with me. They bounce around behind my car like tether balls, some of them flying away as their ropes snap, some of them flopping up and down, squealing like pigs.

“Aww. You guys don’t like that?” I shout as I gun it down the aisle and cut a hard left. “Not so fun when you’re at the end of the rope, huh?”

Snap, snap, snap.

The last of the hitchhikers is thrown off and disappears between the other cars.

The blue-green light tries to stay on me, but is doing a horrible job. I weave in between parked cars, abandoned cars, and more jelly-heads. They are everywhere.

Sirena was right in her “insanity.”

This is the feeding.

The entire oceanic population is here to feast.

And we’re the buffet.

The storm doesn’t let up, dumping wave after wave of angry rain, but I push through, finally escaping the mall parking lot. The streets prove to be no less of an obstacle course. There are cars littered everywhere. Their doors half-open. Windows smashed. Piles of clothing strewn all over the place. Piles that were once people.

It looks like all of Fort Lauderdale decided to pack up and leave.

Or at least they tried to. Just didn’t get very far.

I navigate my way through the wreckage and make my way onto the highway where there isn’t as much vehicular clutter. Either folks made it where they were going, or the big sand dollars snatched them up before they could.

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