The Zombie Game Read Online Free PDF Page B

were like lead. I kept telling myself, I must keep swimming . I knew that if I stopped, I’d die. With every stroke, I stretched my arms as far forward as I could, knowing I’d get there faster with longer strokes.
    Then I heard the motor of a boat. My heart leaped in my chest. A rescue ship coming to save me? I looked back to see the vessel. It was closer than the shoreline.
    Damn.
    It was the Ana Brigette , and it was moving.
    I floated on my back and waited to see if the ship was coming after me. If they pulled me from the water, they’d beat me until I was dead. But it was moving away, paralleling the coast and going east.
    I turned back to the shoreline. There were few lights, but I could see the coast well against the clear sky. I was getting closer.
    I rhythmically moved my tired arms and legs, but I hurt all over. Each stroke was more difficult than the last. The Caribbean current was wearing me down. I turned onto my back to rest again for a few minutes and regain my strength. But all seemed lost. The current was just too strong. The more I struggled to get closer to the shore, the farther I seemed to be pulled out to sea.
    Suddenly I saw a large fin protruding from the glistening surface, only ten yards away.
    A shark.
    Then it disappeared. I looked all around but didn’t see it.
    Maybe it swam away.
    I started to swim again. A large object scraped my hip. It was the shark. I kept swimming, but it stayed with me. I reached out, touched its hard, leathery skin, and then shoved it as hard as I could. I went backwards, away from the shark, and it darted off into darkness.
    I started swimming as fast as I could, pulling my body through the water with breast strokes, looking behind me every few seconds to see if it was coming.
    My arms were so tired. I remembered the pistol I’d taken from the guard. I reached for my belt. The gun was still tucked there. I took it in my hand and looked for the shark. He’d gone under.
    I tried again to think of my kids, assuring myself that I’d get ashore and straighten myself out. I paddled with one hand and kept the gun up out of the water with the other.
    The fin surfaced only ten feet away. I saw it. It was coming right at me. It’s nose rose slightly out of the water as it opened its mouth. I swung hard with my left hand and connected right at the tip of the shark’s snout. The animal went wild. The big shark flung its whole body in my direction, broadside, flapping and thrashing at the surface. The force of the shark’s explosive reaction lifted me up slightly, and as I came down I glanced off the animal’s side. I saw my chance. I threw my hand up to its head, stuck the gun barrel against the hard skin, and pulled the trigger.
    The blast was deafening. It stunned me. I wasn’t fully expecting the pistol to fire after being in the water so long.
    Did it work? Did I really shoot him?
    A feeling of desperation swept over me. I looked everywhere but couldn’t see the shark. My vision was blurred, and I was still deafened by the loud report of the gun.
    Then, I felt something against my side.
    Is the shark back?
    I turned to face the beast and fired three more times at where I thought it was. But it was still alive. Right next to me. At my side. I tried to push it away, but my hand touched something different. An object, wide and flat.
    I fired again, and something peppered my face. I wiped my face with my hand. It was splinters of wood. I had mistaken some flotsam, a piece of heavy timber, for the shark.
    I tried to place the gun back under my belt in case the shark came back, but my arms wouldn’t move. I was too fatigued.
    With all the strength I had left, I removed my belt and wrapped it around the heavy piece of wood. I fashioned a loop and hooked my arm in it. I was floating with no effort on my part.
    I tried to paddle toward shore using my legs, but after a few minutes, the whole world started closing down, going gray. My legs wouldn’t move. I felt myself