Man Hunt

Chapter Twenty Four - The Grand Finale

Aaron climbs into the boat ahead of me and extends a hand outwards. I take it, and cautiously climb into the boat – not very keen on taking a swim in the cold water below. The touch of his hand is comforting. From inside the boat, he unties the ropes keeping us attached to the dock.

The small boat sways as I step inside, only slightly. There is an engine attached to the back, three metal beams which act as chairs across the centre – that extend from one side to the other – and at the front of the boat is a pile of ropes and other equipment I’m not familiar with. Among the equipment however, I spot a rather heavy looking oar and a pile of life jackets. We each put one on and then Aaron takes a seat on the back by the engine, and I sit opposite – facing him.

‘’So how does this thing work?’’ I question.

He shrugs his shoulders.

‘’I presume you just-‘’ he begins, placing his hand on the engine and turning it on.

Before he can finish his sentence, the engine roars to life – disturbing the otherwise silent night and the boats jerks violently and I am almost thrown from the boat.

He smirks, and I scold him but eventually crack a sliver of a smile also. Carefully, he turns the engine and we slowly pull away from the small wooden dock.

‘’I can’t believe it’s all over,’’ I exclaim, saying it aloud makes reality actually hit home.

‘’I can’t believe we’re alive,’’ he replies.

As he says this, again the faces of the dead flash across my mind’s – guilty – eye briefly. Robbie, Eve, Jack, Kate, Alex – all in the blink of an eye. I place my hand over my trouser pocket where I know the photos of our fallen allies are stowed away safely. It will have to be my priority when we get back to civilisation to find out exactly who these teenagers really were, and then I must locate their families. It won’t be easy being the bearer of bad news, but the families deserve some closure. 

‘’I’m so sorry,’’ I say, ‘’for leaving you like that, I just...Kate said...’’

Aaron smiles slightly, ‘’it’s OK. You were scared. People do weird things because of fear.’’

‘’I could have got us both killed...’’ I say glumly.

‘’Shush. You didn’t. We’re both alive and on our way back to normality. Don’t talk about the ‘what ifs’.’’

‘’But what if,’’ I insist, ‘’Kate could have killed me, Alex could have killed you.’’

‘’Stop it,’’ he says simply, staring into my eyes, ‘’it could have happened but it didn’t. We have each other now, and that’s all that matters.’’

‘’I love you,’’ I say and lean across and kiss him gently on the lips.

‘’I love you too. Now stop it, I need to focus on driving.’’

I smile at him; I still cannot comprehend how someone like him could ever have fallen for a girl like me. He is perfect, and I’m, well just me.

‘’I really do love you,’’ I say once more.

He chuckles, ‘’I love you too, really.’’

There is a small light attached the front of the boat, which slightly illuminates the water immediately ahead of us. We aren’t going towards any location in particular; just moving straight ahead and hoping for the best. There are no lights ahead of us off in the distance, no indication of civilisation; everywhere is dark apart from where the moon sits in the sky and its reflection in the water below.