Part 310: Death By Shark

“Adam is dead?” Tony asked, as he held onto Marita.

The bulk of the group was centered into the living room area, as the boat rocked to and fro, as McKay kicked in the engine to get them moving. He wanted to be down there to discuss what had happened but he was going to have to count on Taylor to relay the information. The group were discussing what John had witnessed and then the others followed. “It just . . .reached up and swallowed him,” Shanna said in disbelief.

“You really think these sharks have a chance of catching us?” Sawyer asked, confused.

“If it was the similar type of shark I saw when I saved Karleigh,” Dutch pointed out, “I think they do stand a chance.”

“Then we should haul ass until we’re clear of them.” Chance mentioned.

“That’s not a good idea, “ Ana-Lucia said, “If we continue to run, then the Rogue is gonna run out of fuel. We need to conserve it so we get a better distance from the Island.”

“She’s right,” John replied, “ We need to find a way to kill them.”

“How, dude?” Hurley asked, “I don’t know if you recall or not but I didn’t see any harpoon guns around here. Are you accurate enough to hit that monster in the water?”

“I got lucky with the first shark, Hurley. It was half submerged in the shallows. We’re in open sea. I don’t know if I can perform that miracle again.”

“Maybe . ..maybe if we put some distance between us and them, they will leave us alone.” Marita mentioned.

“I don’t think so.” Mia whispered.

Sawyer then turned to her. “Why not, chief-ette?” he asked.

“Those sharks are smart,” she continued, “They were genetically altered so they could produce a chemical that would allow Alexander and his tribe to live sane lives. According to Shanna’s notes, the Red and Black Faction were to begin as a project. And according to Tony’s story from Belmont and mine with Fender, Ethan was the one who began that project. Those sharks know that. They want payback for all the suffering they’ve been put through.”

“Payback?” the redneck scoffed, “We had nothing to do that! They bit Adam in damn half!”

“Yes, Sawyer, because they didn’t care who he was; they only cared that he was from this boat.”

“What the hell has that got to do with our boat?”

“It’s not ours,” Mia pointed out, “It’s Theirs.”

The group went silent. Most of them realized what she meant. The sharks were not attacking them because they were intentionally vicious. They were simply attacking the one enemy they knew. “The Liberation,” Shanna whispered, “They think . ..we’re the Liberation.”

“Oh, that’s just great!” Sawyer scoffed, throwing up his hands.

“But now the question is, how do you reason with a great white shark?” Mia asked.

John blinked. “You don’t.” he whispered.

“Exactly, John,” the Lakota girl replied in all seriousness, “We’re gonna have to kill both of them. I don’t know how . . .but we’re gonna have to.”

“I’m gonna get some air.” John said, heading toward the stairs, “Hopefully this miracle I need will present itself.”

The group began to disperse. A few followed John out onto the back of the boat. Hurley and the others stayed below, not sure what to do or think of their situation. “I hate Jaws,” Hurley mentioned, “It scared me as a kid.”

“We’re not going to die like that, Hurley.” Joscelyn assured him.

“Jaws?” Alexander said in confusion.

“Don’t worry, dude. I’ll rent it for ya when we get home.”


Outside on the boat, John paced back and forth. Mia and Shanna sat down by one of the picnic tables. Chance and Arizona walked over and sat down next to their spot. Sawyer came out and Jenny walked behind him, needing some air too. The redneck walked over and crouched down near Adam’s stuff. “Did he have a wallet?” he asked.

“WHAT THE HELL IS A MATTER WITH YOU?” John screamed, “The man died not twenty minutes ago and you’re already trying to loot his-“

“HEY!!” Sawyer yelled, getting up in his face, “Don’t presume to judge me, John! I was asking so that we could deliver it back to this family!”

John stopped for a second, then rubbed his eyes. Mia said nothing, just sat next to Shanna, who observed the display as well. The archer took a deep breath and extended his hand. “I’m sorry, Sawyer,” he sighed, “I was just . . . .I’m upset cause I don’t know what to do.”

Sawyer then shook his head. “Just take it easy, Robin Hood,” he accepted his apology, “You’ll figure it out.”

“The funny part is Hurley was right. I wish I had a harpoon gun or some damn-“

John was interrupted as a gapping jaw of a shark came flying out of the water toward him.

The archer screamed as he rolled back onto the boat as the super-shark bit into one of the mounted metal chairs. Both Mia and Shanna screamed at the sight of the large fish hanging onto their both. The beast jolted, trying to get back into the water, but the bolts on the metal chair were holding it; and it refused to let go. John and Sawyer went tumbling back toward the back of the boat, as water washed up onto them. Chance backed up quickly with Arizona holding onto his shirt. The redneck regained his balance and pulled his gun out of his side, but he decided to take no chances; literally. “CHANCE!!” he screamed, throwing his gun toward the Texan.

Chance caught the gun and then fired on the shark. Two bullets ripped into the side of it’s flesh until the gun slammed shut, sending a small ping into the air. “IT’S JAMMED!!” the gunslinger screamed back.

John then saw the opportunity to kill the shark; by keeping it out of the water. He quickly leaped over; grabbing his bow and two arrows. He then slid back, using the water to get him back to Sawyer’s position. He armed the bow, pulled back the string and fired. One arrow slammed into the shark’s right fin, pinning it to the side wall. He pulled out the second arrow and fired again, hitting the exact same fin. The shark struggled and jolted but it wouldn’t go back into the water. Not only was it pinned by the arrows, it refused to let go of the metal chair. “MCKAY!!!” John screamed, “STOP THE BOAT!!!”

The boat’s engine then stopped. The boat still glided onto the water. Up in the bridge, Taylor looked down through the window and looked out the back, toward the giant shark flipper, slapping up against the side of the boat. She then turned to her boyfriend. “McKay, John said to stop the boat.” She told him.

“I cut the engine, Taylor.” He pointed out.

“But we’re not stopping! Hit the brakes!”

“Boats don’t have brakes, Taylor,” the Australian sighed.

“Then throw the anchor or something.”

“I am not throwing the anchor for some crazed smart shark to drag us down.” He said, pulling out his short sword, “ I’m gonna go see what is happening.”

By the time he turned around to go down the ladder, Mandy was already coming up. “McKay!” she squeaked, “ There is a shark in the boat!”

“Yeah, I got that memo,” He said, “What are you doing up here?”

“Are you crazy? I am not going down there!”

“Okay, okay, look you stay up here with Taylor and keep an eye out for the other one.”

“How the hell are we supposed to do that?” Taylor then asked.

McKay walked over to the console where their was a monitor. He clicked on the power and then it showed a black and white video screen of the underside of the boat. To the left of the monitor was several switches which he clicked one at a time. When he did, different points of the boat were shown. “Keep an eye out for it,” he said, moving a dial a the bottom of the screen, “You can rotate the cameras in several directions. The moment you see that thing, you let us know.”

“Got it,” Taylor said, moving toward the monitor.

McKay then quickly climbed down the ladder. The moment he got down, he cut the corner and saw Seth standing at the doorway to the bedroom. “What’s going on, McKay?” he asked.

“Seth, get back in bed.” He ordered, as he walked past him.

“Hurley is in the bedroom with Joscelyn screaming we are under attack by flying sharks,” he coughed, “Is that true?”

“Yeah, it’s true.” He said, continuing to walk toward the stairs.

“Yes, sir,” Seth said, turning around, “Back to bed.”

McKay reached the stairs and quickly climbed up, where the majority of the group were on the back of the boat, looking at the flaying shark. The Australian was perplexed, as it was the first time he had gotten close to a shark that size, despite the ones he saw at the bottom of the shark tank. Tony stood near by it, listening to it breath, which wasn’t hard for anybody. “It’s not long now,” he mentioned, “It’s going to die of suffocation.”

“We should put it out of it’s misery.” Dutch said.

Jin then said something in Korean and pointed toward McKay’s blade. The Australian paused for a second, then noticing his friend was holding out his hand to give him the blade. McKay then flipped his sword so he gave it to him handle first. Jin the walked over toward the shark, near it’s head. He held up the blade and positioned it just at the top of the sharks head. The Korean man then grunted, as he slammed the blade inward, directly into it’s brain. The beat then finally stopped moving. He pulled it out, making a steady stream of blood pour out onto the floor. “I am SO sleeping up front,” Shanna whispered.

“Good job, Jin,” McKay said, taking his blade back.

The Korean man bowed to him and rejoined his wife. “Hey, is that shark edible?” Sawyer mentioned.

“It is,” Mia smiled, “We just may have found a way to survive longer out here.”

“Let’s kill the other one before we start carving us a steak.” John said, finding more arrows.

Up from in the bridge, the two So-Cal Coeds were leaning up against the window trying to see what was happening but they couldn’t get a good view. Mandy leaned back frustrated; wanting to see some of the action. Taylor leaned back and sighed; started flipping the switches to the camera. The ocean waters looked almost clear with a few signs of swirling fish and seaweed. Taylor flipped the switch and then saw a shape, flipping it again by instinct. She quickly flipped the switches again to get to the image. She slowly opened her mouth in shock as she found the other shark. It was switching toward them with the carcass of a dead squid in it’s mouth; a big one. “Oh, no, no, no, no,” Taylor whispered.

“Taylor . . .It’s gonna . .. It’s gonna hit us!” Mandy screamed.

Taylor then grabbed the mic to the loud speaker, shoving it toward her mouth. “EVERYBODY GRAB ONTO SOMETHING!!!” she screamed.

The group reacted best they could. They quickly reached for anything to grab; a rail, a ladder, or a chair handle. The thud that hit felt like another boat hitting them. The Butterfly Rogue then tilted over toward it’s side briefly. It was enough to send a small amount of the survivors over into the water. John held onto one of the chairs, but he screamed when he saw Mia plunge into the water. Tony slammed into the side of the picnic table, scraping his hand against it’s sharp edge. The blind doctor slumped down, grunting as he held his wound. “Marita, you okay?” he screamed.

Tony then panicked when she didn’t answer.