Chapter 33 : Stranded

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by junktom

by junktom

They inflated their buoyancy compensators to stay afloat, dropped all gears to cut weight, kicking fins until they found the nearest shore. They were exhausted from swimming all night, and the lost of their friends.

"Who were they? Where did they come from?" Chloe panted on the beach.

"Whoever they were, they have naval equipments. That ping we heard sounded like the kind submarines use to pin targets." JoJo said.

"You saw those holes?" Masha asked out of breath. "Maybe they have torpedoes."

"No. A torpedo would blow a boat that size to pieces, something smaller perhaps, like a harpoon."

"You mean the cruise missile?"

"No, the spear kind, but much bigger." JoJo climbed up and looked out the sea. "Come on, Chloe. We need to get back to your friends!"

With what they have in hand, they built a fire and raised smoke, sending out a distress signal, cutting long branches to form the letters SOS on the beach.

They figured they didn't swim far from the Dark Well, simply finding the nearest shore they could reach, meaning they could well be within enemy territory, but in their present situation, who will find them was the lesser concern.

"What kind of people would want this place?" Chloe asked while waiting.

"We are two hundred kilometers from the Venezuelan coast, surrounded by scattered islands too small for inhabitants." JoJo studied the place. "The only thing I can think of is storage facilities, for military or smugglers."

"But it's a big sea. How did they know we're here? They have to know where to look."

"The scanner." JoJo turned to Masha. "It releases an ultra-low frequency, it must have triggered their sonar!"

"But can submarine even run in this depth?" Masha looked out the shallow beach.

"Beyond the Venezuela coast is a fall, it can drop as deep as four kilometers." JoJo said. "But it doesn't have to be a submarine, any military ship can produce a ping."

Knowing little about naval technology, Chloe felt helpless. Emira grew up in the underworld of smugglers, Camryn has her hidden personality to protect her, but Tilly worries her, if her bionic arms run out of power, or be removed, she would be the most vulnerable.