The Third Antichrist Read Online Free PDF Page A

suppose – breast buoyancy, or the size of our arses. But that’s bullshit. Everybody floats face down. Look around you. You see anyone on their backs? I know research technicians who would kill for this sort of material. Face down is good for us, Abi, because the oxygen will remain trapped in their lungs for longer.’
    Abi blew out his cheeks and rolled his eyes. ‘Anything else? Or are you finished?’
    Nawal shook her head. ‘I think I’ve covered it all.’
    ‘Well if that’s the case, I suggest we gather all these floaters up, strip off their belts, and tie them together. Then we cut off their shirts and stuff their noses and mouths with them to keep the air in. Then we build ourselves a variation on the Raft of the Medusa. That way, we might even be able to get ourselves out of this fucking water and halfway dry.’
    ‘You don’t think that’s a bit ghoulish?’
    ‘Dying unnecessarily is ghoulish. Floating in a cenote amongst thirty decomposing bodies – some of whom we are related to – is ghoulish. And speaking of which, how long are we likely to last in this water?’
    ‘Last? You mean until we throw up our arms and let ourselves sink?’
    ‘Something like that.’
    ‘Depends if the water temperature is less than sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit in here or not.’
    ‘What are you talking about, Nawal?’
    ‘A normal, healthy person, fully clothed, and using a life jacket...’
    ‘We don’t have life jackets.’
    ‘But we’ve got the stiffs. Same effect.’
    ‘Okay. Continue.’
    ‘At forty to sixty degrees water temperature – well, you’ve got maybe three hours before hypothermia sets in. At thirty-five to forty degrees you can halve that. Less than thirty-five, you can halve it again.’
    ‘What are we talking about here, then?’
    Nawal glanced up at the overhanging cliff. ‘The sun’s already gone in. We’ve had it for the day. So we’ll be in darkness – or near darkness – for the next sixteen hours. But I’d still call it seventy degrees or so in here. Like the man who just blew his brains out said, we could survive floating here for two or three days. Maybe more. Our main problem is going to be hunger.’
    ‘How about thirst? Would you want to drink this water?’
    ‘If I had to.’
    ‘Me too.’
    ‘Come on then. Belts off everybody. Let’s make ourselves a tight core of bodies, and tie the rest of them onto the sides, like ballast. How many do you think we have access to?’
    ‘I counted twenty-two in total. Including Oni and the doctor. But I may be short one or two. Shame that the big boss – the cacique – didn’t topple in too.’
    ‘That would have been too much to hope for.’
    The four remaining Corpus members busied themselves constructing a raft out of the corpses.
    ‘What do we do when we’re finished with this, Abi? Switch on the TV and watch a rerun of Prince Valiant ?’
    Abi congratulated himself on having effectively set the tone for the quartet’s future interactions. ‘Business before pleasure, Rudi. Business before pleasure.’

 
    9
     

    Abi knew about the dangers of hyperventilation. Breathe too deeply and too long before diving underwater and you’re liable to pass out. Breathe too little, and you won’t make it more than twelve feet down before the atmospheric pressure forces you back up again, like a cork in an olive pot.
    Abi tried to judge his breathing just right. He cleared his lungs of air five or six times, and then drew in compensatory lungfuls of maybe 80 per cent to 85 per cent by volume. At the same time he worked on his entire system, calming himself, and imagining a yoga session, with his usual teacher guiding him through the motions of pranayama. This made him think of Vau again, and he lost concentration for a few minutes, and had to fight to clear his head of negative thoughts.
    When he was ready he jack-knifed in the water and started down to where he thought the Suzuki might have settled. He had no idea how deep the