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“Should we stay out here?” I ask him hesitantly
He looks at the water and shrugs
“We’re here now Let’s just take a quick dive and then we’ll head in”
I nod “Fine with me”
I pullsuit and slide the en tank onto my back
Quinn watches us prepare
“Is there anything I should be doing?” he asks
Gavin shakes his head “Nope The boat is anchored, so you won’t go anywhere We’ll be back up shortly”
Quinn nods and Gavin grabs my hand and we jump over the side without hesitation
It is instantly calm beneath the water
It is exactly why I love to dive
Nothing can reach us here in the quiet underwater world No troubles, no stress, no worry
My flippers slide through the water with ease, propelling h the crystal blue water and Gavin is right beside lance upward and I can still see the outline of the boat above It looks like a giant whale from here
I turn my attention back to the water below me
I can just see the e sensation ripples through rows
It’s a ru
It’s literally rolling throughin a car with the bass turned up too loud
I look at Gavin,in place in the water
Our eyes meet
And then we notice that the sandy sedi toward us in murky billows
What the eff?
The water continues to vibrate and shake around us and the moment that I think the word shake, it occurs to me
Earthquake
Chapter Five
Gavin realizes it at the same moment that I do and we both spin and propel ourselves upwards
HolyEffingEarthquake
I burst frorip the side of the boat and I can still feel the ru in the sea In order for us to feel it all the way out here, the earthquakeone in years and years, way before my lifetime
Gavin pulls hiive me a hand I land on the floor of the boat in a clu off en tank land in a pile
“What’s going on?” Quinn asks He can see the anxiety on our faces and I’ water
“Earthquake,” Gavin tells hi the boat toward shore in his flippers, guiding the boat with capable hands
Quinn looks startled and he stands up to look out at the horizon But the rough water knocks him back down He sprawls in a seat and stares at me in shock
My heart thumps in my chest
This isn’t good
And from the look on Gavin’s face, the dead-serious expression that he never, ever gets, he knows it too We’re right in the middle of a serious situation, maybe even dire
I gulp
As we race toward the shore, ju hard over waves, my teeth jar every time we land We hit the water so hard that I can’t believe the belly of the boat doesn’t splinter into pieces I grit my teeth and hold on
Quinn is silent now and I al, but then I’s that keep trying to fly out of the boat, like life preservers, bags, flippers and so on I’ve never seen the current or waves so bad
We fly into the bay and the way the boats are rolling on the waves as they sit in their slips is unnerving They are haunting and spooky as they move with the sea One of them has flipped onto its side and I know that it will sink Water is flooding its deck Debris is floating in the water; oars and cushions and cups and pieces of wood, and I am almost too afraid to look onto the shore
But I do
And I gasp
The Harbor Master’s building is in rubble, in an absolute shambles
And the complete seriousness of this hits us
“Holy shit,” Gavin breathes He reaches over and grabs ot to move”
“But where should we go?” I ask as we scra, but after a moment, I feel a short rumble
Aftershocks
They vibrate ulp
Even the air feels scary, like a prenore it
“I don’t know,” Gavin admits He climbs up besideboat “Somewhere other than here”
“We should stay together,” Quinn points out calmly
He’s right And I say so
There’s no one else in the harbor, so back, I realize that there wasn’t really anyone here e left Everyone else was sh to not venture into the waves
Gavin’s cell phone rings and we look at each other, startled
In the heat of the otten that we had phones
He picks it up and I can see the relief on his face as he talks to his s up and looks at me
“My parents are fine But the Earthquake was bad Roads are blocked My parents say to go to the Old Palace and wait there”
I gulp
With shaking fingers, I pull out ain, and this tinal
This can’t be good
“Gavin, I’ve got to go to my house,” I tell him