Chapter 61 Trigger and Gunner in the Aftermath

Chapter 61 Trigger and Gunner in the Aftermath
Sobbing, holding Cue with one arm and her stomach with the other, Trigger looked over the edge of the car and locked eyes with Gunner deep under the water. She reached for him, sobbing, but he only shook his head. There was nothing to be done. He was stuck down there until he walked himself out.

“He’ll be okay, he doesn’t need to breathe,” Shepherd tried to comfort her.

She shook her head and wiped away angry tears. “My husband found him in the water and hauled him out. He was under there for decades or more, judging by the amount of coral on him. Now he’s down there again?” She sobbed, holding Cue close. “He’s not gonna be okay, he’s probably having a panic attack down there!”

“He’s gone,” Cue said, pointing. She was calm now, her wounds barely bleeding.

Trigger jerked to look back into the water, rocking the car. “Gunner!” She screamed, but it was true. Gunner was gone. “Where did he go?”

“If it were me, I’d be going to get out and get back to you two,” Shepherd said, looking seriously into the water. His eyes darted to Cue, worry he was trying to hide flashing in his eyes. He knew she’d be okay, but that didn’t stop his heart skipping a beat every time she winced in pain. 

He blamed himself for all of this. He should have reacted, should have done something more. Then maybe Cue wouldn’t have been nearly torn in half. If he had acted quicker, maybe they wouldn't even have lost the raft.

He placed a hand on Cue’s ankle and squeezed it reassuringly while he looked at them both. “He will find us again, I know it.”

Trigger tried to smile, but a wave of agonizing pain burst through her for the second time, another trickle of red blood coming from between her legs.

“I’ll find us a boat or something to get us across,” Shepherd said, standing. “Stay here,” he said with a smirk, trying to lighten the mood.

Cue sat up as Shepherd leapt away and watched him go, her shark bites already almost closed.

“Are you okay?” Cue asked Trigger as the contraction slowly came to a stop.

“I think so,” Trigger said. “Are you?” She asked, pointedly looking at her torn clothes where the shark bit her.

“I’m pretty shook up,” Cue admitted, shivering. “But I think I’m okay.”

Trigger nodded and rubbed her belly, leaning back against the coral-covered brick building the car had crashed into. “You were attacked by a shark,” she said disbelievingly, looking at the sky.

Cue shivered again, eyes wide as she stared at the water. “When I thought about dying by getting eaten alive, it was not a giant fish I imagined.” She chuckled.

Trigger barked and laughed, but it turned into a pained hiss. 

“Hurry, Shepherd…” Cue said, staring off into the distance where Shepherd disappeared.

Gunner walked through the clear waters, his eyes red with fury. If he could breathe, he’d be hyperventilating in panic. He wanted to claw at his skin; he wanted to scream. The only thing that made this underwater torture tolerable was knowing there was no chain around his ankle holding him to the ground.

He could get out. He wasn’t trapped.

He decided to walk towards the island. That's where they were headed, so that’s where he needed to be. He trudged along with exotic fish swimming around him. As the world warmed, so did the oceans, making colder climates more hospitable to the fish's flashing colors as they swam among brilliant coral formations.

Everything was untouched, the underwater city reclaimed by life, like Gunner could only remember. He remembered briefly scuba diving with his wife before the experimental surgery for volunteer soldiers. It wasn’t supposed to be goodbye, but he could never have known it.

He swam with her as he walked now, between corals and anemone, watching fish swim around them like they were just another fish in the sea. He ached for his wife the same way he ached for Trigger and Cue now. His life had changed so much, but he would never forget his wife, even 500 years later.

Gunner was out near the docks now, seeing all the anchors broken away from boats long forgotten. Above him, a shadow moved, and as he looked up, he realized it was Shepherd. Flashing his lasers, he signaled him, and the wild man stopped running and looked down into the water.

Shepherd jumped into the water and swam down, looking Gunner in the eyes. They shared a knowing look before looking around the underwater world for something, some way, to transport the girls to the island.

Gunner pointed at the anchors and walked over, grabbing a chain. He pulled it and walked, signalling that if they could find a boat with an anchor still attached, he could pull it. 

Shepherd nodded and swam for the surface. 

There were hundreds of boats here, all broken and useless by the look of it. Mixed among them were the broken and jagged remnants of ferry boats. The water was choppy, slamming the skeletons of boats against the buildings. In the distance, a Ferris wheel swayed in the wind, the haunting scream of metal against metal echoing even here across the water from the Statue of Liberty,

Shepherd jumped from one floating debris to another, landing perfectly and balancing every time. He went as far out into the ocean as he could, trying to find anything, when in the distance he finally saw a small boat bobbing in the water.

He jumped into the water, swimming for it.

Below him, Gunner saw his progress and followed, even if he couldn’t see what he was swimming for from here. He followed him until the water got so deep he could barely see him above, and that’s when he found the anchor.

Using the chain, Gunner began to pull himself up. When he broke water, Shepherd was hanging over the side of the old ferry and waiting for him.

“If you can pull this to shore, I’ll get the girls to you. It looks solid.” Shepherd said.

Gunner nodded, “I will get it there,” he swore.

Shepherd nodded back, dark eyes serious. “They were okay when I left them. Cue should be healed by now,” he told him.

“Thank you for saving Trigger,” Gunner said, his mechanical voice choked with emotion.

“Thank you for blasting that shark out of the water and getting Cue free.”

They shared a look of understanding and acceptance before Shepherd jumped back into the water and swam back.

Gunner let himself sink slowly. When he reached the bottom, he bent and hauled the anchor up on his back and began pulling the ferry boat back towards the shore.