Page 100 of Tide and Seek
His jaw clenched.“No, you don’t get to quit.”His fingers dug into my arm.“Forget swimming.All you have to do is hold onto me.Okay, Royce?That’s all you have to do.Don’t let go of my shirt no matter what.”
“But, Max—”
He wasn’t listening.He was already turning, pulling me with him toward the entrance.But the current was fighting us, trying to shove us deeper into the cave.However, Max was relentless, his muscles straining as he battled the current.Even so, we made little progress.
“Max,” I said, panting.“I love you so much, but I can’t let you sacrifice yourself.You have to—have to leave me—”
“Shut up,” he snapped, eyes flashing angrily.“I’m not leaving you.Are you crazy?We’re getting out of here together or not at all.”
“Damn it, Max,” I began.
Another wave crashed over us, the undertow vicious.We were almost yanked apart as my hands started to slip from his shirt.Then I felt his fingers close around my wrist and he tugged me forward, against his lithe body.He kicked his legs furiously and we surfaced in the narrow space near the entrance, maybe a foot of air left now.The opening seemed impossibly far away, the water too violent, the current too strong.
But Max was pulling me toward it with single-minded determination, ignoring his own exhaustion, his own terror.Each wave knocked us back but he kept fighting, kept dragging us both forward inch by painful inch.I tried to kick my legs to help, but my coordination was shot, my efforts mostly useless.Just dead weight for him to carry.
My vision was going dark at the edges.The cold, the drugs, the exhaustion—it was all threatening to pull me under.
“Stay with me,” Max was saying, his voice desperate.“Royce, stay awake.We’re almost there.Just a little further—”
I forced my eyes to focus on his face, using him as an anchor.“I’m trying,” I managed through chattering teeth.
Another wave surged in and suddenly Max was using its momentum, letting it carry us upward toward the cave opening.The water level had risen so high now that the entrance was only a few feet below the surface.Max’s strong swimming strokes propelled us through, and then we were breaking through into open air.
But we weren’t safe yet.We were still in the churning water at the base of the rock formation, waves crashing against us with brutal force.Above us, the dark stone rose up, slick with spray and algae.
“Can you climb?”Max shouted over the roar of water.“I think that’s our only way out now.”
I looked up at the rocks, trying to make my drug-addled brain work.There were handholds, crevices, places where barnacles and mussels had created rough patches.Maybe six or eight feet up to a ledge that looked wide enough to stand on.From there, it looked like we could work our way around the formation to where the beach began, away from the worst of the waves.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly.
“You have to try.I’ll be right behind you.Just try, Royce.”
A wave hit us and I grabbed onto the rock face instinctively, my fingers finding purchase in a crack.Max boosted me from below, and somehow I got my feet onto a small ledge.My muscles were shaking, my arms weak, but fear and adrenaline gave me just enough strength to reach for the next handhold.
“That’s it,” Max encouraged from below.“Keep going.”
I pulled myself up another foot, then another.I honestly didn’t know how it was happening.I felt weak as a baby, but somehow I just made myself keep moving.The rock was sharp under my fingers, cutting into my already torn palms, but I couldn’t stop.Below me, I could hear Max climbing, his breathing harsh and labored.If I stopped moving, he’d be in huge trouble.So I had to keep going.
My hand slipped on wet algae and I almost fell, but Max was there, bracing me from below with his shoulder.“You’re good.Keep moving.”He was breathing hard, but I was amazed at his stamina.
The ledge was just above my head now.I reached up, got both hands over the edge, and pulled with everything I had left.But I was too weak.I had no gas left in the tank.For a horrible moment, I thought I wouldn’t make it, which meant Max wouldn’t make it.But then Max was pushing from below, grunting and groaning.I clawed at the ledge, swearing and straining, and by some miracle, I suddenly sprawled onto the relatively flat surface, gasping like a fish out of water.
Max hauled himself up beside me a moment later, and we lay there for a few seconds, both shaking with exhaustion.Below us, waves continued to crash against the rocks, sending spray up to where we huddled.
“We need to keep moving,” Max said, forcing himself to sit up.“Can you stand?”
I tried and nearly fell, my legs refusing to cooperate properly.Max caught me, his arm around my waist again.
“Lean on me.We’re going around to the back where it slopes down to the beach.”
We stumbled across the rocky ledge, slowly making our way toward the section that would lead down to the sand.In the distance, I could hear sirens cutting through the sound of the waves—multiple vehicles, getting closer.Max must have called for help before coming after me.
When we reached the spot where the formation sloped more gently, Max helped me down, half-carrying me over the uneven stone.Red and blue lights were now visible on the access road above the beach, fire trucks and ambulances pulling in.
Then, finally, we were on sand.Real sand, far enough from the water that the waves couldn’t reach us.We collapsed together, Max’s arms still around me, both of us trembling with cold and shock and the aftermath of adrenaline.
“You’re safe,” Max said, his voice breaking.“You’re okay, Royce.”
