“I think you’re very
wise, asking me about stuff…” he mumbled...Wise and very pretty, Flynn thought,
not realizing he was staring at Madison again.
“So, are you going
in, or not?”
Flynn looked away
from the girl and began to scan the horizon. “Just making sure we’re alone,” he
said. Flynn had positioned the Seeker at the same spot he and Tony had
last scavenged. Yes, he knew that he was pushing his luck, and he shouldn’t be
there… Not so soon after being caught “trespassing”, anyway… But, he also knew
there was so much more stuff to be scavvied/found in the pharmacy down below.
It would be such a shame to abandon it now. Most importantly, there was
medicine that could help Tony get better. He had to risk it.
“Looks like the
coast’s clear!” He snapped his goggles on. “OK, one more time… When you hear
the rattle, start pumping. The second time you hear it go off, you stop. Are we
good?”
Madison nodded,
took her position on the seat and placed her foot on the oxygen pump.
“See you in a bit.”
Flynn attached his
mesh sack to his belt and without looking back at Madison, he dived in. Kicking
his feet, he made a few wide breast strokes which propelled him deeper down in
the water. Then, he placed his arms beside his torso and let himself sink. His
body went rigid and straight as an arrow, something Flynn would do on purpose
to conserve energy and air as long as possible. Now he was sinking, using his
own weight.
The sun beams
penetrated the turquoise water around him, the colors gradually becoming a
darker shade of blue as he kept going deeper and deeper. A school of silver
bellied fish shot past his head, but he paid them no attention. Flynn was
following the length of the rope and the hose attached to the diving bell. The
bell would be his first destination. Without stopping, he pinched his nose and
blew against his closed lips to equalize the pressure building up in his body.
The water was dark blue now, and he could see the diving bell, only a few feet
away. In just under three minutes, Flynn had successfully completed the first
phase of his dive to the ocean bed. The bell was his little safe haven. He dove
under it, and his head popped up in the bell’s air bubble.
Flynn took a deep
breath. The air was good enough to replenish his oxygen intake. He anchored his
feet to the small platform, attached to the bottom of the bell, and rummaged
inside his satchel. He found the flashlight, tightly sealed and secured with duct
tape, felt for the switch under the plastic wrap and pressed it. A beam of bright
light illuminated the bell, making its dome glow like a lantern in the
murkiness of the water outside. Flynn fastened the flashlight to the strap of
his goggles, took a few short breaths and swam out of the bell. This was the
second phase of his dive, and soon, the beam of his light was bouncing off the
submerged buildings of the city below.
It was always an
eerie sight, serene and hauntingly beautiful. Flynn swam down towards a mass of
twisted metal, crusted with barnacles, covering the length of what was once a
suburban Queens’ street. There were cars, trucks and buses, piled on top of
each other, having found and settled into their final resting place after the
Flood. Flynn dove under the tangled power cables, still hanging from tilted
electricity poles, and made his way through the rusty cab of a large overturned
truck. He spotted the human remains, lying in a heap on the driver’s seat. The
bones were polished clean by the fish and crabs. Flynn knew that skeletons were
everywhere when he went on such deep dives… especially in the old residential
areas. Nothing out of the ordinary, he thought. The ocean bed around the
Archipelago was one big cemetery… Flynn inspected quickly the remains for
anything worth scavenging… Sometimes, he would find a watch or a piece of
jewelry, a golden tooth crown, a pair of shoes or an item of clothing that
could still be worn…the kind of
wise, asking me about stuff…” he mumbled...Wise and very pretty, Flynn thought,
not realizing he was staring at Madison again.
“So, are you going
in, or not?”
Flynn looked away
from the girl and began to scan the horizon. “Just making sure we’re alone,” he
said. Flynn had positioned the Seeker at the same spot he and Tony had
last scavenged. Yes, he knew that he was pushing his luck, and he shouldn’t be
there… Not so soon after being caught “trespassing”, anyway… But, he also knew
there was so much more stuff to be scavvied/found in the pharmacy down below.
It would be such a shame to abandon it now. Most importantly, there was
medicine that could help Tony get better. He had to risk it.
“Looks like the
coast’s clear!” He snapped his goggles on. “OK, one more time… When you hear
the rattle, start pumping. The second time you hear it go off, you stop. Are we
good?”
Madison nodded,
took her position on the seat and placed her foot on the oxygen pump.
“See you in a bit.”
Flynn attached his
mesh sack to his belt and without looking back at Madison, he dived in. Kicking
his feet, he made a few wide breast strokes which propelled him deeper down in
the water. Then, he placed his arms beside his torso and let himself sink. His
body went rigid and straight as an arrow, something Flynn would do on purpose
to conserve energy and air as long as possible. Now he was sinking, using his
own weight.
The sun beams
penetrated the turquoise water around him, the colors gradually becoming a
darker shade of blue as he kept going deeper and deeper. A school of silver
bellied fish shot past his head, but he paid them no attention. Flynn was
following the length of the rope and the hose attached to the diving bell. The
bell would be his first destination. Without stopping, he pinched his nose and
blew against his closed lips to equalize the pressure building up in his body.
The water was dark blue now, and he could see the diving bell, only a few feet
away. In just under three minutes, Flynn had successfully completed the first
phase of his dive to the ocean bed. The bell was his little safe haven. He dove
under it, and his head popped up in the bell’s air bubble.
Flynn took a deep
breath. The air was good enough to replenish his oxygen intake. He anchored his
feet to the small platform, attached to the bottom of the bell, and rummaged
inside his satchel. He found the flashlight, tightly sealed and secured with duct
tape, felt for the switch under the plastic wrap and pressed it. A beam of bright
light illuminated the bell, making its dome glow like a lantern in the
murkiness of the water outside. Flynn fastened the flashlight to the strap of
his goggles, took a few short breaths and swam out of the bell. This was the
second phase of his dive, and soon, the beam of his light was bouncing off the
submerged buildings of the city below.
It was always an
eerie sight, serene and hauntingly beautiful. Flynn swam down towards a mass of
twisted metal, crusted with barnacles, covering the length of what was once a
suburban Queens’ street. There were cars, trucks and buses, piled on top of
each other, having found and settled into their final resting place after the
Flood. Flynn dove under the tangled power cables, still hanging from tilted
electricity poles, and made his way through the rusty cab of a large overturned
truck. He spotted the human remains, lying in a heap on the driver’s seat. The
bones were polished clean by the fish and crabs. Flynn knew that skeletons were
everywhere when he went on such deep dives… especially in the old residential
areas. Nothing out of the ordinary, he thought. The ocean bed around the
Archipelago was one big cemetery… Flynn inspected quickly the remains for
anything worth scavenging… Sometimes, he would find a watch or a piece of
jewelry, a golden tooth crown, a pair of shoes or an item of clothing that
could still be worn…the kind of
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