SURVIVAL

Splash!

Zoe swiveled around to check what it was. Thirty minutes have passed, and she was still underwater looking for visible signs of Mrs. Gong.

As she was already immersed in the saltwater, she couldn't help it but get distracted. She feasted her glittering eyes on the magnificence of the Ball's ocean floor.

Koby was not exaggerating. Hands down, they were majestic to behold!

"Ballina Angelfishes!" And they were all within her reach. They were the Holy Grail of all marine angelfish.

Likewise, she saw vibrant Spanish dancers as long as the height of a countertop. They curled up in the rainbow-like coral garnishing the seabed.

The corals were alive too, in the way that they sing like a visual choir by the eyes and can be listened through the soul.

She was busy admiring heaven's concealed creation. At that point, she noticed another human being in a scuba diving outfit treading to her.

'Is it Koby? Is he here to search for Mrs. Gong too?'

Zoe scrunched her forehead underneath her diving mask. 

'Or is it a tourist passenger who decided to go scuba diving?' She mused as she stared wonderingly at the diver, drawing in closer to her.

Her brilliant eyes widened at a possible thought that flashed in her conscious mind. "Is it perhaps from the hidden city inside Ball's Pyramid?"

It is not definitely a stroke of good luck if he was. Her recent nightmares might be flashbacks in her past. And that island must be connected with it.

Without having a second thought, she snapped and jerked to a distance from the suspicious diver who was now closing in on her. She glided as fast as she could, like a young bird that seeks its mother's safety nest.

"Whoever it was, it's wiser for me to stay away. If it was Koby, we could talk about it on board. But if it was a villager from that land, my life is surely in danger!"

Unfortunately, the unscrupulous diver was faster than her. He swam like a whirlwind and reached her precise location. He grabbed her dainty hand violently. Furthermore, he yanked her toward him.

With the vicious looks of him and how he mistreated her, he clearly was not Koby.

Zoe juddered and paddled her fins to escape, but the cold-blooded diver was not flinching.

She desperately wanted to scream, but she needed all the breathable oxygen in the scuba tank. It won't be helpful to her if she hyperventilates.

She drew in a heavy breath and recalled the self-defense technique that she learned then.

"I don't know if it would be applicable under the cruel sea, but I have to try! I am alone, and no one could rescue me in my situation at this moment!"

She brushed the clutters from her mind. As soon as it was clean, she relaxed her wrist that the violator was holding.

With her available hand, she intertwined through his brawny arms in an under/over formation. Then, she rotated her captured wrist towards the unknown assailant's thumb. She forcibly pulled it from her grasp and then grabbed his wrist.

With her other hand, she frantically grabbed the aggressor's shoulder which is close to his armpit. She then dragged her gripped wrist across her body.

Lastly, she used her leg that was closest to where the assaulter is, and knee kicked him.

"Yahhh!"

The mugger released her unbreakable grip on her and winced in extreme pain. At last, she was able to free herself from his python-like hold on her.

In a blink of an eye, she waded elsewhere as fast as her nimble body could carry her.

"Who is this man? What did I do to him?" Her mind was now completely distracted from searching for Mrs. Gong.

"Or did he kidnap her? Was he going to abduct me too?" She looked back to see where her enemy was.

Her violent opponent was stronger and more impetuous than her. As quickly as he regained his strength, he pierced the deep waters and ran after her.

Zoe's eyes widened in unspeakable horror. She hastened and paddled in whatever direction. She didn't care if she even passed through the limitations of Ball's Pyramid anymore.

"I have to get away from this nut case!"

She is already gasping for breath. Being underwater plus the intense fear of this lunatic who was trying to harm her was drowning her.

Her head was spinning and if she stayed that way for a few more breathless minutes, she would undoubtedly lose her consciousness.

"Is that a man?"

As if God is on her side, she saw a prominent figure of another colossal man swimming towards her.

He was not wearing a scuba outfit, but a plain white outer apparel that was tied together by a belt.

Zoe narrowed her eyes to instantly check who it was as he neared her.

"Red? Red, is it really you?" She blurted out and stretched out her feeble arm.

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It was not the strongest of the species that survive,

Nor the most intelligent,

But the one who is determined to live.

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