The Seeker

Chapter 3: Despoliation

Emma gasped as the icy water seeped into the truck and quickly flooded over the floor, pooling around their legs and the seats as she fumbled blindly for the seatbelt. 

"Aaron!" she shouted frantically, yanking against her restraints. Her brother was slumped over the dashboard, his face pale and slack in the dark and his arms hanging limply at his sides as the water crept steadily higher and higher. "Dylan--Oh, God, he's not moving!"

"Hold on," he said through gritted teeth. "We'll have to swim out through his window--but keep quiet!" He narrowed his eyes, peering intently through the driver's side window and up at the bridge above them. The Seekers had pulled over and were standing at the hole in the railing, shining flashlights down on the truck. "We've got to get moving, but stay out of sight!" He freed himself, twisting around to grab his bag from the backseat before he pulled a dagger out of seemingly nowhere. Emma flinched in surprise, but he easily cut through her seatbelt. "Climb over him and get out that window!"

She nodded, trembling from head to toe in not only terror but also from the freezing water as she scrambled over Aaron and hauled herself through the open window, careful to keep her head down. How they were supposed to escape the Seekers unnoticed, she had no idea--even if they managed to get out of the water without being spotted, how far could they get without a car?

The truck began to sink faster, the water rising well up Aaron's chest by the time Dylan managed to slide past him and through the window. He grabbed the older boy's arms and clenched his jaw with the effort of yanking him through. 

"Wake up, you fat, useless piece of crap!" Dylan snarled irritably as he struggled to keep not only his own head above the water but Aaron's as well.  The water was freezing and the air above it wasn't any less frigid. The moon, luckily, though full and bright, was obscured by clouds as they swam as quickly yet quietly as they could to the shore, where they would have the thick trees of the surrounding forest to obscure them from view. Emma bobbed through the water a few feet ahead of him as they swam across the lake; Dylan spared a quick glance over his shoulder. The truck was still sinking, the top of the roof just barely visible above the surface. The Seekers still stood on the bridge above them, their flashlights searching the dark water of the lake.

"Emma!" he whispered sharply. "Duck under the water!"

She quickly did as he instructed and he took a deep breath as he followed suit, dragging Aaron with him as the beams of the flashlights roamed over the water above them. 

 Dylan peered through the murky water, his eyes stinging and his lungs screaming for air, and as soon as the light flitted away to illuminate some other part of the lake he resurfaced, gasping for breath as he hauled Aaron up by the back of his shirt.

"You all right?" he asked Emma as soon as her head broke the surface.

She managed a short, breathy, "yeah," as she gulped down the fresh air. She pushed through the water towards him to help with her brother, and he nodded towards the shoreline.

"It won't be long until they get a helicopter to search the water," he said, sounding just as winded as she looked. "Let's get out of here."

They hurried,  kicking their legs and paddling their arms as they dragged Aaron between them. He let out a pained moan, his head rolling limply over his shoulders. Emma hoped he had nothing worse than a concussion. 

When they finally reached the shore, Dylan crawled onto the dry land, shivering and soaked as he helped Emma pull Aaron out of the water. She collapsed on her side, breathing raggedly, and he coughed violently on some of the water that had clogged up his lungs.

They barely had time to steady their hearts before a twig snapped. Dylan quickly jumped up and yanked his dagger from his belt as he spun and pointed it at the girl who had just stepped out of the bushes, a sack slung over her shoulder and a pistol in her hand.