Chapter: No Safe Haven
The trawler creaked and rocked as it drifted downriver, carried by the slow current. The survivors huddled together, some weeping softly, others staring blankly into the mist. Lucian gripped the wheel, trying to steady his shaking hands.aurora stood at his side, her face pale and blood-smeared but determined.
"We made it," she breathed.
But something was wrong.
From below deck, there came a faint, wet thump.
Aiden's head snapped up. He motioned for silence, and the group froze, every breath hitching in their throats.
Thump. Scrape.
It was coming from the hold.
Without a word, Lucian and Ethan exchanged a grim look. Weapons raised — a rusted machete for Lucian, a broken spear for Ethan — they crept toward the hatch. Lucian yanked it open, and a stench of rot wafted up. Something moved in the shadows.
Then it lunged.
The wounded monster was smaller than the others, but no less vicious. Its back was torn open, viscous blood leaking from deep wounds, but it still had strength. With a screech, it slashed at them. One of the young survivors, the same teenage boy they had rescued, cried out as the monster's claws raked across his arm, tearing deep gashes.
"NO!" Egwene shouted.
The others scrambled back, some slipping and falling on the wet deck. Lucian roared and threw himself at the creature, hacking desperately. Ethan stabbed it with the spear, pinning it against the railing. It thrashed violently — until Lucian swung his machete once, twice — and the creature finally collapsed with a sickening gurgle.
Panting, Lucian kicked the twitching corpse into the river. The water boiled red where it sank.
The teenage boy, Leo, slumped against the wall, clutching his arm. Blood oozed between his fingers.
"We have to bandage it," Egwene said urgently. "Now. Before infection sets in — or worse."
Someone rummaged through a battered backpack, finding a dirty roll of bandages. As Egwene cleaned and wrapped the wound, Lucian turned back toward the wheel, his mind racing. They couldn't drift aimlessly. They needed a destination — a real one.
That's when he spotted it: an old, battered map tucked inside the trawler's broken console.
He snatched it out, unfolding it with shaking hands. The map was water-stained and faded, but clear enough. There, drawn in thick black ink, was a cluster of islands far downriver — one marked with a crude 'X' and scribbled words: "Safe Zone. Refuge."
Lucian's heart slammed against his ribs.
"This is it," he said aloud, holding the map up for the others to see. "An island — maybe others made it there. Maybe it's real."
The survivors crowded around him, hope flickering in their eyes for the first time in days.
"But we have to move fast," aurora said grimly, glancing over the side at the bloody water swirling below. "Before more of them find us."
Lucian nodded. He gripped the wheel tighter, his jaw set.
"Next stop," he growled, "salvation."
As the trawler roared weakly to life, chugging down the misty river, no one saw the ripples in the water behind them — the silent, dark shapes gliding beneath the surface, following.