25. The Hunting Bay
Tet and Ben ran like they were being chased by a train. They didn't know what was chasing them, but they surely didn't want to find out. This island was diabolic at so many levels, so they better didn't speculate about anything.
Ran and Rabat saw them running closer panicking. Something was seriously wrong.
"Hurry up! We must go! Something big is coming this way…!" Ben gasping for air.
Ran and Rabat looked toward the forest but saw nothing. So..what is it? A violent roar tore the silence of the forest. The loud sound of monkeys screeching and birds chirping echoed from all over the forest.
Although he hadn't had time to catch his breath, Tet hastily dragged something large from behind the bushes. A raft of medium-sized logs. Rabat rushed to help. Before Ran's arrival earlier, they made a raft in anticipation if land travel was not possible. And it suddenly became handy. Thank God!
Without much talking, they all jumped onto the raft that was already floating on the river. They pedaled as hard as they could into the middle of the river because they could clearly hear the trees crashing behind them.
When they felt they were far enough from the shore, the four of them put down their oars and looked back. Gosh! That beast again! The giant Kingkong growled on the riverbank while beating his chest. The creature was frustrated to see the human prey managed to escape, the Kingkong pulled out a tree the size of a human body and threw it at them.
Splaaaaassshhh!
It missed. But a great splash of water shook the simple raft. The four men were desperately trying to hold their balance. The raft calmed down and continued to drift downstream.
They saw the creature let out a final growl before jumping back into the forest. They were safe.
"God, I really hope that won't be a waterfall in front of us, guys! This raft won't hold up," Rabat whined softly.
Ben responded to Rabat's concern with a firm voice, "No! We're far downstream, so no more waterfalls. We're going straight to the sea."
Rabat breathed a sigh of relief. What supposedly a plain expedition had turned into a life and death struggle.
The four of them decided to rest. The raft was allowed to drift with a very slow current downstream. They just kept the raft from drifting to riverbanks because they did not know what else was waiting for them there.
A loud rumbling sound in the distance startled them from their rest. So much for no waterfall huh?!
The small raft shook and swayed from side to side. The current suddenly rushed rapidly. They were in the midst of choppy, surging rapids!
"Not a waterfall! It's rapids! Hold on mate!" Ran's screams were drowned out by the roaring water.
They clung tightly to the raft, and the same thought came to their minds. How could there be rapids downstream of a river that was starting to widen? devious river! What a deceitful island!
Sure enough. When the raft was about to break apart, only four pieces of wood were left out of about 12 logs, the current slowed down and now they entered the mouth of a very wide river.
Tet looked on with a horrified face. His paranoid mind imagined a dreadful-water animals were waiting for them. The sea did look calm. But he knew that it could hold many unpredictable dangerous secrets.
"Look,boat…!" Ben shouted as he narrowed his eyes to the edge of the bay.
His teammates turned their heads in the direction that Ben was pointing at. It looked like a fairly large boat bobbing on the edge of the bay. Not a boat. It was a small ship.
But how could they get there? This raft was completely out of control.
Splaaash ….Ben jumped into the water and swam towards the boat. Ben thought they had no other choice. After all, he was the only one who was knowledgable in ship's engine. So, he must be the first to board the small ship.
His teammates watched Ben swam away in dismay. They didn't have time to warn him.
Surprise, surprise. As soon as Ben swan, they heard splashing water from the ocean toward Ben. A triangular fin was chasing after Ben. It was shark!
Damn! And it wasn't just one! It looked like about five fins were racing against each other to hunt Ben. Ran held his head in anguish watching the situation. He did not know what to do any more.
But Tet reacted quickly. He beat his paddle against the surface of the water, making a loud sound. Tet gestured to Ran and Rabat to do the same. Even though they didn't fully understand Tet's intentions, Ran and Rabat also beat the water with their paddles.
It worked! The loud splash of water drew the sharks' attention from chasing Ben. The five sharks turned towards the raft quickly. Meanwhile, Ben, who was almost desperate, quickened up his swim towards the ship. He must get there soon. His teammates were now in grave danger!
Feeling relief, Ben touched the stern of the boat and climbed with some difficulty onto the boat. Ben half ran toward the wheelhouse and was stunned.
This ship was small. But the navigation equipment and computers on board were incredibly sophisticated! This was no ordinary ship! Ben hastily started the boat's engine and steered it toward the raft in the middle of the river.
Ben's guess was right. As the boat approached the raft, his teammates were busy holding on as best as they could on the rest of the raft, while the sharks were trying to create a high wave so that the raft would break apart and the three people would be in the water.
Ben quickly scanned the computer panel in front of him. Hmm, maybe this can help. His hand reached for the button that read "deep noise". There was only a soft hum in Ben's ears. But the effect was surprising for the sharks. A very high-frequency sound smashed into the ferocious aquatic beast. The three tails shark quickly swam away, while the two tails that didn't have time to dodge were seen floating helplessly.
Ben ran outside throwing ropes after bringing his boat closer to the raft. One by one his teammates boarded the ship out of breath. Unbelievable! Being on the Island of Bones and its surroundings raises and lowers their adrenaline to the extreme!
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