Dark Waters (Warriors S1B5)

Chapter 6

From the boat on our left, the people on board started descanting. 

"We won't live in fear!"

"We say no to tyranny!"

"The government can't tell me what to do!"

Each vociferation was followed by cheers from both boats. As I watched, more boats came zooming across the water, the people passing by waving to to the boats around us and offering their own slogans and cheers.

"Will, what are they talking about?" Jay queried.

"Local governments on both sides of the river ordered citizens off the water until it's safe," Will grunted with gritted teeth, one hand on the machine gun slung across his lap. "These people are exercising their First Amendment rights. Or at least that's what they'll tell you if they ask."

"We did ask," Frazz said snarkily. "They shot at us."

"How are they here?" Joey demanded forcefully. "Shouldn't there be police or the Coast Guard making sure people are staying on land?"

"You would think, wouldn't you?" Will uttered darkly.

Two more boats joined the one on our right, both full of men with camo winter jackets and guns in their hands. "Hey, look, it's the Power Rangers!" someone yelled from that direction. Laughter followed.

"We're not--" Frazz started to yell.

"Shut it, Green," Max snapped harshly. 

"We don't need you freaks! We'll take care of whatever's down there!" announced one of the seeming leaders on the third boat, holding up his machine gun as evidence. 

More approbations. Men ran to the guardrails of their boats with their rifles, and a new roud of gunfire started.

Max took a step towards the back of our boat. He put a hand on either side of his helmet.

I went to him. Once I was close, I could hear him breathing hard. "Max? Are you OK?" 

He put a hand on his chest. "Sh*t," he mumbled in a taut voice, and pointed.

I followed where he was pointing. I gaped at what I saw.

Boats that had been speeding in all directions were now pulling towards us. Most of them were beginning to tilt down, the front of them pirouetting to align towards our boat. Several of the boat motors made lurid noises, as if they were running at maximum power but the drivers were trying to push past that. People on board screamed, clung to the guardrails, and snatched people who were losing their balance before they could go overboard.

"Everyone hold on!" Will yelled over his shoulder. "The Hautik is right beneath us!"

We had no admonition when the water fell away from beneath the boat. One moment the boat was jouncing on top of the choppy waters, the next the nose of the boat began to drop. 

The water beveled downwards, forming into a vortex, and at the bottom of the vortex was the Hautik. As I watched, one of the men from the machine gun boat plunged towards the alien, screaming a high-pitched scream. The Hautik opened wide. One bite, and the man's legs were gone. Another bite, and the rest of him followed. 

"Green!" Joey yelled. Before he could continue, we were hit with a wave. When it washed away, Jay and Frazz were gone, and I could just barely make out the outlines of them belaboring in the purling water, trying to fight their way to the surface. 

The boat began to move, saltating on the foaming water as the back of the boat where I was standing tipped higher and higher. Over the pounding water, I heard more gunfire. 

Then I was hit by the wave.

I was struck with no warning, the water washing over me. 

I was back in the bathtub, trying and failing to disjoin the iron grip on my throat and my belly. The water in my ears didn't stop me from hearing the prayers being adjured by the screechy voice or the worship music being played. 

"Pink! Daphne!"

Present-day returned to me. I was held in place by Margaret, who still had her balance somehow. I came back just in time to see Will go overboard, grabbing for his machine gun the whole time. 

"No!" I yelled.

The boat dipped even lower in the water. Kristi lost her balance and started to flounder into the water. She was saved by Max snatching her arm before she could hit the water, but her weight pulled Max off-balance. Joey yanked his shield off his back and leaped after the two of them. Max was seized around the waist by Joey, and then Joey planted the rim of his shield into the nearly-vertical floor of the boat. He looped an arm through the straps, and the three of them hung there. 

"Margaret!" Joey yelled desperately. "Ice the Hautik!"

Margaret aimed her free hand, and a stream of achromatic brume was blasted from her palm. The Hautik was snapping at boaters who were trying desperately to swim away from it when Margaret's ice beam struck it. It roared, and the roar of water grew louder. The bumping boat began to bump harder as the water intensified.

"It's not working!" Margaret shouted horrifically.

We were only about 20 meters away from the Hautik now. The Hautik was hebetudinous, but still very much conscious. It gave another roar andbegan swimming towards us. 

"Kristi, scream at it!" Margaret yelled.

"No! Daphne, use a sonic arrow!"

We were washed over by another wave. My breath left me as my throat was clamped shut by the iron grip. I heard the screeching prayers and the tinny music. 

I lapsed back into present-day because of the vociferous screech of metal. I looked down and saw the Hautik. It had boarded the boat. It had spread itself out, like a polar bear spreading out its weight on thin ice, so its legs cinched the boat. It snapped at Kristi's dangling feet.

Kristi took a deep breath and screamed. In the tremulous cone of water the boat was trapped in, the sound bounced like we were in a cave. I could feel my arrows rattle in my quiver. 

The Hautik reared back in discomfort. The boat was lifted off the surface of the water and came crashing back to the surface when the Hautik did. Margaret finally lost her balance, at the same time that Joey's shield came loose from the floor of the boat. 

The five of us plunged into the water, where the Hautik was waiting.