Spy School: Zoe or Erica?

Escaping the Bomb

I grabbed Zoe, shoving her through the door and making my way to the nearest balcony- which, unfortunately, was a long while away. If I was by myself I may have made it- but having to carry Zoe was a timer-slower.

We passed by multiple dining rooms, which didn't help. In my head, I could feel my mental timer slowly ticking down. According to my mental timer, we had about fifteen seconds left by the time we reached the balcony. 

I hurled myself off the edge, which was followed by Zoe doing the same thing. Unlike her, I had training in landing into the water without injury. So when I slid perfectly into the depths and watched her belly flop on the surface above, I wasn't surprised.

It was seconds after I surfaced next to sputtering Zoe that the entire cruise ship exploded into a massive firework leaving a blasting heat wave that passed through us. Thankfully, the water cooled us down so that our skin didn't get any third-degree burns.

The massive explosion left a giant wave that pushed me and Zoe away from the ship. A random piece of debris flew out from the explosion cloud and nearly hit Zoe, but I swatted it away at the last possible second.

Curse SPYDER. I almost didn't catch the bomb. If Zoe had managed to distract me with my Ben picture even more, then I would be a pile of ashes floating in the sea right now. She would too.

I paddled aimlessly with Zoe, searching the area around me for any land. As usual, there was nothing. If there was, then my luck would be completely off the charts. 

Zoe gasped for air next to me, following my path. She probably thought I had an idea. Well, for once, I didn't.

An airplane passed by. I waved my arms for help, but it didn't stop. Typical. Unless you could spot two stragglers fifty thousand feet away dotted in the ocean, then doing things like this had no use.

I took off my shirt- try not to stare. I was wearing a thin tank top under my sleek suit, so swimming like this was much easier. Zoe followed my actions, though she didn't have a tank top. Still, we were both girls, so it didn't matter much.

I deduced that unless we swam at a rate of more than twenty miles per hour, then we wouldn't be seeing any land in the next week. So there was basically no hope- except for the giant, intact emergency float boats bobbing up and down a few hundred feet away from us. Helpfully, they all had life jackets, food portions, a built-in engine, a telephone, and a GPS.

That was all we needed. And to help, there were four more floating rafts right next to the one I spotted.

I pointed to the closest one. Zoe promptly heaved a sigh that lasted for thirty-eight seconds. 

After we reached the boat, (in which I got to it first), I climbed on and immediately grabbed the food portions, taking out an energy bar and making sure I took a bite just large enough to support me for the next few hours -which was the usual size- about just large enough to fill my fingertip.

Zoe gasped and arrived on top of the raft just after I did, taking an energy bar. Unlike me, she ate the whole thing in two bites and licked her lips. I shook my head when she reached out to take another bar.

Looking in my pocket, I took out the picture of Ben. After staring at it for two seconds, I gritted my teeth. I was foolish enough to bring the picture along with me- it was such a dumb decision. I ripped it apart and disposed of it into the ocean.

Zoe saw this and shook her head. "Y'know, you and Ben are meant to b-"

Covering her mouth with my hand, I looked her strictly into the eyes and made sure my lips were centimeters from her ear. "Say another syllable and you'll wish you were dead."