NEAR DEATH

MARTHA'S POV

I was certain that I had not seen the face of the criminal before me, ever in my life. But why was he doing this to us?

He had a tattoo in one of his eyes and it made him appear more mysterious. He had freckles around his eyes, his nose and at the end of his lips - there was nothing overly peculiar about his face. He looked like a human who had been trained to be a machine. Who was trained to get rid of conscience and should only obey the word, 'go'. He had an evil smirk on and his tattooed eye and the non tattooed eye had no emotion in them whatsoever! His left hand was covered with the tattoo of a snake's head and looked quite scary probably because I have a personal peeve and grudge against snakes of all kinds, was what he used to drop the bomb on me. Panic rose in my chest as I heard a beeping sound. I looked at Ferran and he was not showing any signs of a living person.

"See you no more darling!" said the assailant and with that he placed his base ball hat back on his head and wore his nose mask properly. He shoved his hands into his pocket before walking away. A solitary tear left my right eye. I'm crying! I'm scared! Now is not the time Martha!

I was conflicted because any rash action by me at this moment could jeopardize not just my life but Ferran who did not seem like he even had one at the moment. The metal beneath the car scraped on the hard surface of the earth. The loud beeping of the bomb he had thrown was deafening and was ringing in my head. Amidst the commotion, I made up my mind.

There was still a possible chance that we would make it out alive from the body of water below but that would not be achievable as long as this bomb was ticking…close to my feet.

"So help me Lord!" I said before I bent and used my hand to pick the bomb by my feet. As I moved, the car moved forward and the bomb fell off my hand back to my feet. The part of the earth that was formerly holding onto the car gave up and I felt the car diving to the ocean. I frantically picked the bomb and saw that the set timer had two seconds left. Through my opened window where the assailant had broken, I threw the bomb with all my strength as the car entered into the water. Under the water, I heard the explosion of the bomb and it rang in my ears and I wondered for a brief second how it could have been if I was not under water - it would have been louder.

The car is a metal and its sinking was unavoidable immediately it was immersed into the water. I held Ferran by the collar and tried to use my other hand to open the door but it was jammed.

I needed air but I could not go to the surface to get that because the car would be far sunken by that time and I would not be able to search for it - it is pretty dark down there.

I freed Ferran from his seatbelt before fastening my hands on the collar of his shirt. I pulled him to my seat as I came out through the broken window. I pulled him from my seat and at that moment, I was grateful he is not a fat person. He easily came out of the window. I wrapped my hands around him before swimming up to the surface. As I felt air around me, I took it in and panted so hard. I looked for a shore like area and pulled Ferran there with me. I placed him on his back and knelt on the stony sand by his side. I locked my fingers as I began to perform cardio pulmonary resuscitation on him. He showed no sign of waking up and my heart began to beat so loud.

If he had not come to help me, he would not be in this situation! If he did not even know me, he would not be lying here unmoving!

"Come back to me Ferran! Come back to me Ferran! Ferran! Ferran!" I chanted as I pressed on his chest. I surpassed the number of times allowed to press his chest but I did not care. He would not die on my watch…he should not die!

Tears began to fall out of my eyes and as they fell to my locked fingers, I realized how pathetic I must seem at the moment. I sat on the sand and screamed before drawing my knees to myself. I could not face the body of Ferran and so I put my head in between my legs as I wept.

"Martha!" I heard a weak voice call and I immediately opened my eyes. It was Ferran and he was in a sitting position.

"Is this real? Are you alive?" I asked with great disbelief but I still flung myself on him all the same and he groaned in pain as his back laid on the sand, pulling me with him.

"Ah! Ah!'

"Oh my GOD! I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you anywhere?" I asked immediately as I got away from him and tried to scan his body with my eyes.

"My shoulder hurts a gazillion!"

"We look like shit and we need to get you to a hospital right this instant! I think some sensory neurons in you are dead. You have to be strong because I don't think anyone would come for us! I have lost my phone and I guess you have lost yours also!" I said.

"Uhmmm, I think I have it in my pocket!"

I reached inside the pocket of his trousers and behold, his phone was there - unscratched and unaffected, save the water that came out of it.

"It's waterproof! Call an ambulance"

"Alright. What's the lock?" I asked.

"Your birth date!"