Vuela

Chapter 16

"I must've lost it in the scramble! Crap! Crap! Crap! We are going to die soon as we get there! It's all my fault because I caused the Captain to go out of commission, and I gave the pirates the win to this war!"

"Vuela, get a hold of yourself!" Celia shouts, shaking the girl's shoulders. "It's not the end of the world."

"What do you mean, "It's not the end of the world?" You're psycho! These are pirates we're talking about! They don't give people slaps on the wrists for mistakes. They will kill anyone who stands in their way or knows too much. Not only did we give them San Martín's riches, but also a way to pay for our graves!"

Sora stands Vuela on her feet and shakes the girl, too, until she stops rambling. Sora's shaking is a quake in comparison to Celia's. "Will you stop before you won't be able to speak again?"

"Mr. Gates, you're going to snap her neck!" warns the Captain.

"I do apologize, but you don't knock sense into insanity by being nice," Sora replies. Vuela digs her nails into Sora's skin to get him to let go. He squawks as he grips onto his small wounds. "What the hell, Hawkins?"

"After all the crap you put me through, you don't put your hands on me," she growls.

"I'm sorry, Vuela!"

"You should be! If you came clean to me a long time ago, we wouldn't be stuck in this mess!"

"Stop this!" shouts Celia, breaking herself in between the teens. "This bickering will do absolutely nothing! What we will do is find a place for the Captain to heal, and then we'll come up with a new plan! Can we just agree on that?"

There are a few moments between them until the sub reaches the Isle of San Martín. Those moments are filled with dead silence, regrets, guilt, and shame.

Sora informs the group that he will lead the machine in a river canal since it will be less obvious of their presence. Therefore, Savage can't follow them in with a large ship.

The river water is much murkier than the ocean, and the sub's headlights don't make navigating much easier. Before they reach a docking spot, the machine runs into a couple of river flathead sharks and O-wide Groupers, which make Vuela and Celia jump each time they hit the main window. They are very aware that these types of fish are blind as if they don't have eyes at all, but the unpredictability of when they'll hit the sub is enough to keep the two on their toes for whatever is going to break a window if it's possible. Of course, their fears are laxed when Captain Kujo says that the windows are sturdy enough in case a dangerous fish tries to ram.

That is some relief, Vuela thinks.

The shine from above the water's surface blinds when the sub rises up. After adjusting to it, Sora opens the side hatch to the open jungle of San Martín's hidden island. Vines hang from the branches, which easily tangle up any lost traveler. The grass resembles more of swamp moss due to the mushy texture under their shoes. There are no leaves on the branches to cover them from the blazing rays. The very slight fog clouds the jungle in an eerie aura. The unknown is upon the small group of mankind now.

"I can see why San Martín would want to bury his treasure here," Vuela mutters, staring at the horizon in awe. "It's like a graveyard...without the headstones."

"Should've guessed," Captain Kujo replies. "It's typical of pirates to stow their stolen goods on a remote location such as this. To think this place was off the grid for so long...No wonder Rodrigo San Martín is the best pirate who ever roamed the oceans."

"It's now about where would that slick son of a bitch hide it."

Sora continues to squish the ground underneath his boots. "I can't imagine it under this mushy crap. The treasure would've sunk into nothingness."