Cate did the same and looked back out over the water. “Can’t help feeling its still there, just below the surface, watching and waiting.”

Jack bent to pick up a fist-sized rock and flung it a hundred feet out over the dark water where it splashed loudly, sending ripples in all directions. They waited. The surface returned to its oil-slick stillness. There was nothing, and after a moment he shrugged and turned to her.

“Maybe made no difference, but, I’m not sure we’d keep its interest now that we’re out of the water. Come on.”

They continued for another twenty minutes, sometimes wading, sometimes scaling huge rocks, and sometimes hopping from stone to stone, until Cate stumbled, not seeing a small depression in the rocks at her feet.

“Shit.” She fell to her hands and knees. “Goddamnit.” She got to her feet and checked her right palm, now scraped, and suddenly realized why she missed the hole – her light was dim, dimmer than Jack’s and Abby’s. “Oh no, we’re losing them.”

Jack had been checking the compass, and then exhaled slowly through his nose. “Dammit,” he whispered, causing Cate to frown. His head went from the compass to the water again, and once again he cursed.

Something was wrong. What a surprise, Cate thought.

Jack went to sit down, but then paused, craning forward. He ran to the water line, and stood there, pointing.

“Look… look there.”

Cate and Abby joined him.

“Is that our raft?” Abby asked.

“Yep, what’s left of it,” Jack said, unable to contain his grin.

“Thought it got eaten,” Cate said, and flinched as a sudden image of a dark mountain rising behind Greg welled up in her mind. She felt gorge surge to the back of her throat, and she painfully swallowed it down. Her empty stomach rebelled.

“Maybe it did, and got spat out.” Jack squinted out at it. “There’s still some air in the cells.” He turned, hands on hips. “That’ll still float us.” He shrugged. “Water line, sure, but the cells will retain some buoyancy.”

“You mean we have to carry that just in case?” She scoffed. “Maybe I would if we could eat it. I’m starving.”

He straightened, his jaw set. “Well, I’ve got good news and bad.”

“Unless you tell me the good news is that this is all a dream, then...” She waved her hand. “Okay, give me the good news; I need it.”

“We’re very close; about a mile or so from Heceta Island.”

His mouth was a flat line, and she felt her heart sink. “And…”

He lifted one arm pointing. “And the bad news is, the mile we need to travel is that way...” His finger was pointing out over the dark water. “We need that raft.”

Cate sank down to sit. “Great… just, freaking great.”

Abby plonked down beside her. “We won’t even be above the water… much.”