My Killer Romance

Chapter 23 A Mangrove Nightmare

So i wrote this chapter the same night as the previous one but i got too lazy to post it! :D Already written the first half of the next chappie though so thats good!

So enjoy!....or not...depends on what you think of what happens.

Sunset found me in Franco’s rusty old pickup truck belting out Maori songs from the radio at the top of my voice.  Franco just smiled and drove along the pretty picturesque beachside.  He looked like an angel from here with his brown hair turning red by the setting sun.  His hair flew in the wind just like mine.  Life couldn’t get much better than this I thought.

Alex and Alice decided to stay at the beach for longer to take pictures of the sunset or something like that.  They would come home later with the red jeep.  Personally I didn’t mind.  This moment was perfect without them anyways.

On Franco’s suggestion, we took the long way home, taking a scenic drive inland, passing through the mangrove trees with their wickedly curly roots and small ponds in the clearings in between the trees.  The sky was various shades of red and orange making the whole scene look a little haunted. 

This is so cool.  I guess this is what you would call a holiday for me.  That’s what the whole trip felt like; we weren’t doing much on this island anyways. 

“Thanks for choosing this island” I said, turning Franco.  It was his idea to come here.

“No problem.” He said, smiling at me.

We drove on for two more minutes in content silence until he pulled over on the side of the road.  We were still in the middle of the creepy mangrove trees and from here I couldn’t see anything else.  I shot him a questioning glance.

“Sorry kiddo, need to take a little whiz.” He said getting out of the car and disappearing into the trees.

Smiling I looked around, trust him to drink a couple of beers at the beach and not go to the bathroom until he absolutely needed to.  I shut off the radio, filling the car with silence until I heard some strange sounds.

They weren’t scary really.  I could hear crickets and a general hum that settled all over the place, normal sounds for an island after sunset.  Much to my amusement a few frogs appeared on the road, croaking as they made their way across.  They wouldn’t get squished here, seeing as we were the only people on the road. 

Franco got back and we were off again.  I looked up to see three seagulls flying towards the beach, south of our position.  But something was off.  Sometimes I got this feeling when something bad was going to happen.  And that feeling was very strong right now.

Then I heard a loud boom and a small car bomb fitted in the rear section went off.  The effect was immediate. I felt the shockwave from the bomb throw our now dainty pickup truck forwards.  We did a half turn and the truck landed on its side.  I hit my head on the dashboard and passed out.

…

I groggily opened my eyes and groaned.  At least I thought I did.  I couldn’t hear anything apart from a loud ringing in my ears.  That’s not good.  My whole face felt wet and as I gingerly touched my forehead I pulled away to see my fingers coated in my own hot blood.  That’s not good either.  I couldn’t feel any pain though and that was probably due to shock and adrenalin. 

Looking down I saw a huge piece of glass from the window wedged into my thigh.  Blood turned the glass red but from here it looked like I wasn’t bleeding.  I guess the glass was stopping the blood from oozing out, meaning I shouldn’t try to take it out.  Great.

I couldn’t make sense of anything, which way was up and which way was down?  I was still sitting in the truck, a truck that was now lying on its side, my side up in the air.  Thank god I was wearing a seatbelt; otherwise I would have been knocked around in the truck and in much worse condition.  I slowly turned my head and looked at Franco.  I shouldn’t have.

He was alive but barely.  Cuts and scrapes from the broken glass dotted his whole body and he looked really pale.  Sweat covered his skin and he was moaning in pain.  I couldn’t see any major wounds on him and guessed that he was suffering from internal bleeding.  That made sense; he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt after taking the bathroom break and probably got knocked around in the car. 

I opened my door and swung it outwards revealing a dark maroon sky.  The door fell down and crashed onto the road.  The car was really old already and the missile had given it quite a good banging.  Judging by the color of the sky I guessed that I was knocked out for a few minutes.

I unbuckled the seatbelt and hung on to the doorframe with my hands, I didn’t want to tumble onto Franco.  He looked bad enough already.  Squeezing my eyes shut, I took a deep breath and pulled myself out of the car, wincing as the glass on my thigh hit the doorframe.  Then I fell on the road, making sure not to fall on the injured thigh. 

I gradually stood up and looked around. There were pieces of gravel and tar that used to make up the road littered around the truck.  A huge crater represented the place where the missile had struck and I looked at the smoke curling and rising up from it.  Who did this?

I didn’t have time to consider that though.  I had to get Franco out.  I looked back in the doorway and almost broke down crying.  No Alice.  You are a trained operative, you don’t cry.  Keep this emotionless.

It was useless trying to call out to him; his ears were probably ringing out as much as mine.  I looked at him breathing shallowly and thought; how am I going to get him out of there?

Standing on my uninjured leg I leaned in and tapped him.  Slowly he turned to look at me.  I extended my hand and he caught it.  Using all my strength and adrenaline I hoisted him up.  He tried to help me by climbing onto my seat and using his legs to propel himself.  Panting I pulled him out and he also fell on to the road.  His breathing was really shallow and his skin looked even whiter than before.  As white as a dead person, I thought.

Fear invaded my mind and I sank down next to him, leaning back on the truck and stretching my injured leg out in front of me.  I gingerly took his head and laid it on my lap, that’s when he started shivering.  It wasn’t even cold outside and he was shivering.

An empty sob escaped my lips as I looked down to the man I thought of as my father.  “Please don’t die.” I said, but I couldn’t even hear myself.

I wiped the hot blood that ran into my eyes so I could see Franco better.  He was pale, shivering and sweating.  I didn’t know what to do.

This situation felt unreal.  Everything that I had done felt like someone else was doing it and I was merely observing.  This couldn’t be happening.

I wanted to help Franco out, to do anything that would help save him but I had no idea what to do.  The best option was waiting for help to arrive.  I gritted my teeth as I remembered we had taken an alternate route home, Alex and Gabbie wouldn’t know where to find us.  Then what should I do? 

I honestly couldn’t think of anything and that frustrated me more than ever.  I had to help Franco.  He was going to die.  I was blinded again but this time it was a mixture of my blood and tears as I cried.  I couldn’t help it, sometimes even the strongest crack.  The worst part was sitting here seeing someone you love die knowing there was nothing you could do to save them. 

I looked down at Franco again and saw that he was choking in his own spit.  I couldn’t hear him because of the ringing but his throat moved up and down rapidly and he was coughing.  I cried even harder, the sobs shaking my body uncontrollably.

He was looking at me the whole time and I stared back at him, trying to will him to stay alive till help came. 

It was when I was staring at him did I notice the light fade from his eyes and saw that he had stopped shivering and coughing. 

I cried even harder, not even hearing any of it.  Franco died.  Franco died.  This cannot be happening.  Just an hour ago he was alive and healthy and swimming with me at the beach.  How could so much change in such a short time? 

I gently closed his eyes and continued to cry huge sobs that shook my body.

It was in that position that they found me.  They came from the same direction as us but I didn’t see who all was there.  I was too busy staring at the face of a dead man.

They took him away from me and I was pulled into a hug by Alex but I had eyes for only one man, a man who was being taken away from me on a stretcher. 

After that I didn’t really remember anything.  The clarity disappeared with my adrenalin and all I remembered was Alex carrying me to the ambulance whispering words to me that I couldn’t hear.  He set me down on the makeshift bed and I saw concern in his eyes that was replaced with bright light as an EMT shined light into my eyes.  I felt different fingers groping me and a sharp sting on my arm and then nothing. 

Ahaha! The first real death in my story! i was depressed a little though but i like what's coming up.  So vote, comment etc.

Have a nice day!