WILDFIRE ↝ E. MUNSON

[16]

Lily leaned back against the wall as they waited, taking turns looking out to check on where the boys were still inspecting the house. It felt like hours while the two sat there, crouched in the corner of the boathouse while the rays of light streaming through the window began to change as the sun set over Lover's Lake. Lily held tight to the oar while Eddie gripped the walkie talkie for dear life, trying to reach their friends every few minutes, but they were only met with radio silence in return.

"Dustin, please," Eddie pleaded long after the sun had already set, though the boys still had yet to emerge from the house. "Are you there?" He rose onto his feet as he spoke, and Lily watched as the expression on his face morphed from terror to curiosity as his eyes landed on the boat. "Never mind." he said quickly, tossing the walkie talkie into the boat.

"What are you thinking?" Lily asked as Eddie crossed over to the wall, pulling the other oar off the hooks.

"You wanna get out of here or what?" he asked. "If we're quiet enough, maybe they won't notice and we'll be able to get away."

"Get away to where?" she asked as he grabbed her hand, pulling her up onto her feet and ushering her towards the small boat.

"Does it matter?" he asked, frantic as she climbed inside, and he climbed in after her. "We'll call them again wherever we end up and they can find us there. Just row."

Lily nodded as Eddie untied the rope securing the boat to the small makeshift dock, and she dipped her oar into the water, beginning to row as soon as he was seated again. The two of them crouched down as far as they could, trying to keep out of sight as they rowed out of the boathouse and into the open water of Lover's Lake, and she could only hope the boys would get back in Jason's Jeep and drive away without catching a glimpse of the water.

Neither of them dared to so much as whisper as they rowed further away from the house, Lily's breathing shallow, as if it might alert the boys of their location. She was so focused on the water that she hadn't dared risk looking behind them to see where Jason and Patrick had left the house, on their way to inspect the boathouse when they noticed the boat moving through the water.

"Hey freak!" Jason's voice rang out, and Lily cursed under her breath as they both turned to look at where the boys were now quickly moving towards the water, Jason undoing his jacket and kicking off his shoes. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Shit," Eddie muttered, setting the oar back in the boat and quickly moving for the engine.

"Does that thing even work?" Lily asked, and Eddie shrugged, pulling the cord in an attempt to start it.

"I guess we'll find out," he chuckled humorlessly as it began to splutter, though it never fully came to life. "Come on," Eddie pleaded, "Come on, you piece of shit."

"Eddie, I don't think it's going to work," Lily said. "We have to keep moving."

"Come on, gotta help me out here, man," Eddie tried to reason with the engine, ignoring Lily's words as he kept trying to pull the cord. "Come on, you piece of shit!"

Lily watched in horror as Jason dove into the lake with Patrick not far behind. Already, they were gaining on them in the boat, but Eddie continued in his attempts to get the engine to work.

"Goddamn it!" he shouted, bringing his fist down against the piece of equipment, but it was to no avail as he sighed, giving up. "No? Okay," he said, picking the oar back up as they began to frantically paddle away from where the boys were still closing the distance between them. "Shit, shit, shit," he muttered as they continued to row the boat, but the boys continued to get closer, and Lily knew they weren't going to get much further before they caught up to them.