Hidden Below

Chapter 25: Kiss

My eyes lifted groggily as I listened to Malek's soft heartbeat. Lifting myself slowly, I looked around to assess our location. He knew the ocean better than I did, though it doesn't seem that we drifted out too far. Building ruins lie beneath us, a good enough landmark to find our way back to the island.

I turned to wake Malek, finding a pair of dark eyes staring back at me. He held me there for a moment before lifting himself upright, rocking the raft slightly. As I contemplated how to convey I needed his help finding our way back, I froze in place.

A sharp fin peeked above the ocean's surface, tugging the water towards it as it circled the raft.

One fin.

Two.

Five.

My heartbeat sped up as the number of sharks increased. Malek's muscles flexed with tension as he noted our situation. Peeking over the raft's edge, I attempted to get a better look. One had two dorsal fins, and another two heads, each uniquely affected by the effects of radiation over the generations.

As different action plans formed in my mind, the fins disappeared below the surface. I held my breath, waiting for one to come flying out of the water. Malek quickly grabbed my waist and pulled me along with him to lie flat against the raft. His arm held fast around my waist, and time itself seemed to freeze.

Water coated us in its spray before my mind caught up with the scene before me. A shark larger than anything I had ever seen launched up from the water, one of the smaller sharks locked in its jaw. Gore fell from its mouth as it fell back beneath the surface. We lie there in silence for what seemed like forever, my quickened heartbeat practically audible.

I only consciously took a breath when Malek released the pressure of his arm at my waist. He slipped into the water carefully, pushing the float slowly at first. His eye never lost focus on the water's depths. After we were far enough out of range, he quickened his pace, pushing the boat as quickly as he could.

When we reached the lab ruins from the day before, I was shocked to witness Malek's unwavering stamina. He slowed down once we were out of sight from the littered ocean floor. Only then did I release what I had been holding since the first fin peaked above the water.

Tears trailed down my cheeks as the adrenaline wore off. The panicked emotions that had been contained all this time released themselves all at once. Malek's eyes widened slightly at the sight and he stopped pushing the boat completely. Pulling my side of the boat around to him, he reached up to my cheek, brushing a tear away. I let out a bashful laugh, ashamed of my own display.

The island was now in view, and I needed to move. Slipping into the water, I lined up beside Malek and began pushing the boat toward the shore. We closed the distance quickly, the teamwork making the task far simpler.

Shoving the raft onto shore, I pulled myself up with it. Once I was satisfied with the distance I put between myself and the ocean, I flopped down, allowing myself to relax.

Malek sat down beside me, still studying me with the same amount of curiousness he had when I started crying. Concern danced in his eyes. Lifting myself into a sitting position, I turned my focus to him.

"Can I kiss you?" I asked, despite knowing full and well he had no idea what I was saying.

His features pinched together as he tried to determine what I meant. "Kiss?" He voiced.

I nearly jumped as his uncharacteristically deep voice repeated the word in my language. Despite the rumbling deep of his voice, it always came out smooth and gentle. Even when he yelled in reprimand to the inhabitants of the chasm, I could always hear the softness in his tone.