Apex Nation Volume 1: The Babysitter

The Shark Men

Sarah is running in her dream, she can't tell exactly where she is but she is almost positive it's in the labyrinth. She is slowing down and running out of breath, her chest feels like it is on fire. That's when it pounces on her from behind, Sarah hits the dirt floor hard enough to knock what remaining air she had left out of her. She is turned over to face the monster that will devour her. The first thing she sees is thousands of teeth. It's the shark-man with his black beady eyes drilling into hers. The shark-man says "You're probably wanting to go home aren't you land dwellers?" He has a deep voice that reminds her of James Earl Jones. Sarah cannot speak, she is paralyzed with fear. "The only way out of here is death." The shark-man continued, "I don't sleep... There is no escape, I will eat!" The shark-man opens his mouth and Sarah sees a massive dark hole surrounded by teeth; in the center is Carla's head, Carla screams, "The Scepter, the key is the scepter!" then the chomp. Sarah opened her eyes and sat straight up. She was shaking and looking around, Stacey was asleep beside her, and Anthony was gone. She nudged Stacy with her hand, " Stacey get up, where's Anthony?" Stacey looked at Sarah still in that sleepy haze, "How would I know silly, I've been sleeping." Sarah got up and walked over to the entrance to the labyrinth where Anthony was keeping watch. She looked out and the dark blue water was calm, there was no one on the sand. She could see the island in the distance and she heard Carla say in her head, "The Scepter, the Scepter is the key!" Just looking out at the water sent a cold chill down Sarah's spine. The crocodiles, the shark-men, and God knew what else was lurking in that dark blue water. Sarah believes the message in her dream from Carla was true, she and Stacey would need a way across the water. Stacey walked over to Sarah looking out of the entrance, "no sign of Anthony or Gabey Sarah?" Stacey asks worriedly. Sarah turns to face Stacey she says, "We are going to need to cross the water again Stacey. We need to try and find supplies to make a boat or something that floats." Stacey gives her that crazy look and asks, "Why do we need to cross the water again?" Just then something is launched out of the water, it lands in the sand with a thud. Sarah ran out to the sand and noticed it was Anthony and there were chunks of flesh bitten out of his skin, under him the sand was turning a maroon red. She knelt beside him and said, "Anthony... Oh my god, Anthony!" She was crying and her hands were trembling. Anthony tried to speak, "I... I tried to bet...better things." He was losing blood fast, and Sarah had no way to stop the bleeding; she was helpless. Stacey was on her knees crying, she was saying, "I want to go home, I want my mom!" That's when shit hit the fan, shark-men started merging from the dark blue water. Sarah looked around and there were at least fifteen of them. They quickly surrounded Sarah, Stacey, and Anthony. Sarah noticed all the shark-men did not look alike, these were guards, and they had spears and shields. These guards resembled Mako sharks. Sarah knew this because her dad was a shark week fanatic. The Makos split apart and cleared a path. Stepping through it was none other than the shark-man from her dreams, he resembled a bull shark now that she had a while to look at him, and his coal-black eyes stared her down. They were so empty it haunted her dreams for the rest of her days. The shark-man approached them.