Drowning

Drowning

Jake Lardizabal

04/22/2022

I step out of my shack; I cup my hands around my eyes to keep the rays of light from piercing, bright, red-hot sun from burning my retinas. As I raise my hand, blocking the light from hitting my face, I can see a figure in the distance. It's hard for him to see with the sun so bright. The UV rays were especially awful this Wednesday afternoon. But the figure did not seem to care. As the figure approached closer, I could make out the figure of a woman. The woman was mostly covered in what seemed to be a black cotton knit tunic over a Navy-blue hijab. ‘Wait is that a real person’ George thought to himself.

It had been thirty-two years since George had last seen his family. The world is now in total chaos. The sea levels raised creating floods, earthquakes and now the ocean covers a total of 96% of the world's surface, reducing the land mass of the planet to significantly decrease. Back in the year 3653 the world had already gone through so much. The North and South poles melted a few hundred years prior. The earth has become a toxic wasteland for all of humanity. Those that could afford it (the famous and wealthy) left on a space station that orbits the earth. The rest of us (like me) are stuck on this almost now completely blue rock.
The girl seemed to still be walking towards George’s direction. As she came closer, George began to notice the features of the girl’s face. She was beautiful. Her eyes were a mix between shades of blue and green, with a little hint of Hazel. As the majestic, angelic girl began to get close, George began to get nervous. His mind snaps back to reality instantly. But it was too late, his hands began to sweat as he grew more anxious, he started to look around his shack for anything he could use as a weapon. He settled on an old, rusted metal pipe that had crudely ripped off the bathroom wall in a nearby abandoned shopping mall once called ‘The Falls’. George got ready for an attack but to his surprise as soon as she came within 20 feet then as if all the bones in her body had suddenly vanished, she collapsed to the ground.

Around the same time in the same area of what used to be ‘The Falls’

The now island, formerly known as ‘The Falls’ was the home base to the most powerful man on the island of Pinecrest, Damian Orphnee. Damian used the island as a headquarters for his newfound army. Damian had always thought he could do better with leadership for the island of Pinecrest than his older brother Tim. Tim was the eldest child of King Reginald Oberon the third and Queen Elizabeth II. Naturally they continued the long-lasting tradition of the monarchy. Pinecrest citizens had voted on keeping a monarchy like Downtown and Coral Gables. Unlike the free territories such as Kendall, Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay which still remained free territories to this day. They do however suffer from lack of resources and funds to keep its citizens safe and well feed. Damian furious with his standing, wanting to be King, began to plot the murder of his brother.

Meanwhile back at George’s shack

As Zara awoke her head was throbbing. She moves her hand over her head. Just then she notices her hijab was missing. Zara immediately looks around her looking for her missing hijab. She tries to stand but can’t seem to find the strength to do so. She looks around to get a better sense of where she was. She was in some kind of hut. She looks down at her body only to find she had been bandaged up.
“Hey, I’m George it’s really nice to --“George said reaching out his hand, but Zara frightened winced.
The smile from George had scared Zara as she hadn’t trusted anybody since her family was murdered in cold blood by Damian Orphnee.

A few months back

It had been months since Zara was forced to witness the murders of her family members one by one. Her father and brother tried fighting off Damian and his men, but were outmatched and outgunned. They held out for as long as they could, but Damian’s men were too much of a match for them. Both Zara’s brother and father perished while fighting Damian’s men, both being gunned down like dogs in the street. While her mother and sister were both killed in front of her. Zara begged and pleaded for her mother and sister’s life, but Damian simply laughed. Laughing he then proceeded to shoot them both individually in the head. Zara mortified by what she had just been forced to witness, looks up, the fear had faded. All that remained was pure hatred.
Zara looks at her now deceased family, only to see all four of their faces were stained with blood. Her family had just been murdered right in front of her face. What was she to do now? Her life as she knew it was over in a matter of seconds. As the rage consumed her, she pounced in Damian’s direction only to be stopped by a couple of his guards.
Damian had killed several different families over the past few weeks for reasons unknown. Damian felt as though no one ever really took him seriously. Damian was going to show everyone he was not to be messed with. Abused verbally all his life, Damian was always his father's second favorite son. If his father were to ever have another son, he would automatically be moved to third. King Reginald was never especially liked by his father. His father thought he was a weak and pathetic man. However, what King Reginald did not know was that his son planned to kill him and assume the throne.
Zara had been pulled away from her mother and sister as they were forced to the ground after trying to attack Damian. Zara watched as Damian laughed and bent down next to her.
“You've got a lot of fight in you don't yah?” Damian said as a smile grew across his face. “Take her to my house. But make sure she doesn't break anything.”
Damian then ordered his men to take Zara to his house and have her wait for him there. The men then proceeded to take Zara, who was kicking, punching, and even biting her captors for a chance of escape. The men were impressed by her strength but were too strong for her. Still struggling to be free from restraint, Zara realized she was being moved towards a car. Zara had never ridden in one before. Automobiles were a luxury in 3653 and not many were left in the world. There were only a handful left in all of Miami. Pinecrest had two cars, a 1975 short bed 4 by 4 with a 1968 El Camino on top and what Zara thought looked like a 1990’s Suburban, both rusted brown. This must have been the El Camino. One of the guards opened the door and aggressively pushed her onto the bed of the car with her hands bound by some old rope.
Zara tried to jump out of the car but was stopped by a guard. She knew she had to escape sometime during the drive or else she would be forced to do whatever her captors wanted with her. Whatever her captors had in mind Zara wanted no part of it. Zara’s mind was racing, her life had changed in an instant. But she knew she had no time to think about that. Zara looked over only to see the guard staring at her. It was going to be hard to escape. She needed a distraction something to lure the guard’s attention away. Just then, almost as if on cue, the car halted to a stop, a few rocks had forced the car to a stop due to a flat tire. The guards’ eyes immediately darted towards Zara. Zara knew this was her only shot of freedom. She attempted to jump out of the bed of the car but tripped over the side of the car. Zara fell to the swampy ground, they had made it within fifty yards of the bridge connecting the falls to Pinecrest, covered in marsh Zara ran in the opposite direction and didn't look back.

Back at George’s shack

“It's ok, I get it you shouldn't trust me, after all you don't even know me.” George’s smile faded. “What happened to you?”
Zara was hesitant to answer, after all she didn't even know this man. She looked around the shack once more and noticed that this man was tending to her wounds. She noticed the scars, scratches and burn marks across his body and face. The man noticed Zara staring at him.
“I wasn't always like this.” He continued “actually used to be pretty good looking.”
George saw how uneasy the girl was.
“Look I'm kidding. I'm sorry. I just haven't seen anyone in a really long time.” George shifting uncomfortably and rubbing the back of his neck.
Zara sat up in a cot, more specifically George’s cot. She was confused on how she got there but she remembered being stuck in the back of the El Camino, escaping and finally running as fast as she could in the opposite direction. She didn't know how far she ran, only that she needed to get away to somewhere safe.
“Thank you.” She said in a soft voice.
“Yeah, no problem. Do you mind if I ask what happened do you?” George asked hoping not to hear anything too bad.
Zara looked at him, her eyes began to tear up and finally broke down on George’s shoulder. George was shocked and didn't know what to do. A compassionate smile came over George’s face. He knew the feeling; whatever it was he was sure he could relate. This world had been in complete and total chaos for the past couple of centuries. Unfortunately, George didn’t realize exactly how well he could relate. As Zara told her tale through sobs, it took everything for George to just sit and listen when all he wanted to do was scream. Her tale was very similar to his own. Only George had held onto the belief that he would one day be reunited with his family. Damian dragged away his family – his older sister, his younger brother and his mom and dad. He wanted desperately to believe they were still alive and one day he would find them. After listening to Zara’s story, he realized that the day to go in search of them was today.

One month later within the palace walls of The Falls

It had been a month of planning and preparation. They had each trained in order to kill the man they once called King, but now only referred to as him as the “target.” The knew the Target would be in his bedroom with that night’s entertainment. He would be distracted. One of Zara’s friends worked in the palace. They knew his schedule and nightly routine. The entertainment would be gone in the next five minutes. At that moment, they would strike. Zara and George stood on each side of the balcony door counting down the seconds until they finally have their revenge. Everything was riding on this moment. This would not only shape their future but the future of Pinecrest. Peace was counting on them and the time as well. With every second ticking away, George counted the reasons he was here. He knew he wouldn’t let his family down, nor would Zara let the memory of her family down. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven, Six….
Three. Two. Just then a light flicks on. “What do we have here?” says a familiar voice