The Ocean Above Me by Kevin Sites

Author:Kevin Sites [Sites, Kevin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Trumpets

Under the Sea: Day 2

Landon snapped awake, uncertain if he’d just microdozed or if he was already passing out from an oxygen deficit. He looked at his phone, watching as the numbers continued to rack up: forty-six hours, fifty-three minutes, and fuck all seconds. His earlier resolve to find purpose, to scrape and claw and fight to survive, was crumbling away on him. With every inch the water rose and with every molecule of air lost, his world was shrinking, one step closer to sealing him inside the bathroom walls forever. He was cold and racked with thirst. His broken rib ached, his gums still throbbed, and now the top of his jaw was beginning to swell. Swallowing the blood that dripped from his tooth sockets had made him nauseous.

He patted the tiny rivet pocket of his jeans, felt the two lumps again, the teeth still there. He didn’t know why he kept them. They’d never be replanted. He wasn’t going anywhere. This was his tomb. The crabs and sharks would be coming for him soon.

He didn’t fear being dead, just the pain of dying. Would he suffocate or drown? Drowning scared him most, since it allowed for anticipation. Landon would see the water rise around him as his bubble shrank, forcing him to squeeze his face into a corner, desperately sucking at the last air pocket until there was nothing left. The sea was a creeping ghost crab, inching closer every time he closed his eyes. When it finally climbed over him, he would try to hold his breath. That’s what the drowning studies reported. The science was terrifying. Once his face was submerged in the cold water his heart would speed up, but then his mammalian diving reflex would likely kick in. His blood vessels would constrict, his heart rate would decrease, and his nervous system’s hard-wired attempt to stave off drowning by slowing down his overall metabolism to conserve precious oxygen as long as possible would kick in. A last desperate attempt to keep brain and body alive.

Next, the carbon dioxide would build up in his blood in a condition known as hypercampia. That would trigger an irresistible need to breathe, and he would gasp involuntarily, trying to suck up air while completely submerged. The water would enter his trachea, causing his vocal cords to seize up and his neck muscle to contract in laryngospasm in an effort to keep the water from entering his lungs. But it would be futile. They would fill with liquid rather than air, and the lack of oxygen to his brain would, mercifully, cause him to black out. Finally, all his muscles would go slack, including bladder and sphincter in the body’s own excretory coup de grâce, leaving him suspended in the final rapture of the deep, a lifeless floating meat bag soiled by its own waste.

He imagined his body curled around itself, floating like a fetus in a specimen jar. Felt the self-pity well up inside him, let out a deep, prolonged wail, a surrender to his helplessness.

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.