Matt Hilton - Judgement and Wrath

Good and bad.

Good because it meant that he wouldn't have to fight the pressure of the sea to open the door. When a car is submerged, fighting at the doors is a losing battle. Only when the pressure inside equals the pressure outside can the doors be opened. Advice under those circumstances is to sit tight. Allow the water to flood in while breathing deeply from the air trapped inside the body of the car. Lungs full and the pressure equalised, it is a simple task to open the door and strike out for the surface.

Bad because the water had rushed in on impact. The car was on a steep angle as it dove deeper and the bubbles were the oxygen escaping through the smashed windows and bullet holes. There was no air pocket.

Add to that the fact he was doubled over, ass lifted by the buoyancy of air trapped inside his clothing, head down staring through the smashed windscreen so that the rushing water battered his features, and he could be forgiven for panicking.

But Dantalion didn't panic. He was a professional. He was calm and practised.

That was the theory, at least.

Like many caught in a life and death predicament, he opened his mouth to shout. And all that did was empty his lungs of what precious oxygen was left to him. Then he was thrashing and pulling, and he was half out of the open driver's window. The car continued to drag him down, his legs caught behind the knees by the window frame.

He kicked and kicked and then he was free. But his lungs were screaming and there was a foggy blackness at the edges of his vision, even deeper than the darkness around him. He was tumbling in space, arms and legs pulling and pushing, but not moving him towards the surface. He didn't even know which way the surface was.

He had a moment of epiphany.

The single remaining headlight of the Lincoln pointed into the depths below him. The last few bubbles escaping his lips streaked upwards over his head. Follow the bubbles, he told himself.

He set off after the bubbles. It was a race he couldn't win, but he wasn't going to give in. He struck out after them, clawing handfuls of water.

He had no recollection after that.

His next conscious thought occurred when he was lifted from the water by strong hands and laid out on a pitching deck that even in his confused state he recognised as the bowed bottom of a small boat.

His vision swam.

The star-filled heavens were above him. And a pale grey blob that swam in and out of focus. Something like leather smacked against his face.

'You still with me, buddy?' a voice asked. 'Hey! Hey! Are you with me?'

Dantalion lifted a hand and grabbed the wrist of the man slapping his face.

'Hey, you're alive! You're all right?'

'I will be when you stop slapping my damn face!'

'Oh, sorry, buddy. I thought I was too late getting to you. I thought you were dead.'

Dantalion let go of the wrist. He dropped his hand to his waist, patting for the bulge. Found his book. He finally exhaled. Then he started coughing, and in reflex he rolled on to his side, vomiting sea water over the planks.

A hand patted him between the shoulder blades, then moved to his shoulders, supporting him through his final spluttering coughs.

'Easy now, buddy, easy,' said the Good Samaritan. 'You'll be fine in a minute or two.'

Through spittle Dantalion said, 'I'm fine now. You can lay off with the helping hand, goddamnit.'

But the man wouldn't listen; he helped Dantalion to his feet, letting him rock backwards on to a bench seat.

'I can't believe you survived that.' The man was standing with his legs braced, hands on hips as he peered upwards. Above him — way, way above him — was the dark underbelly of the bridge. Mangled wreckage marked where Dantalion's Lincoln had been rammed through the barrier. A drop of more than a hundred feet. Bubbles still fizzed and popped ten yards out where his submerged vehicle continued to give up its final hold on the oxygen caught in its sub-frame.

Dantalion didn't have the strength to look any longer. He dropped his head between his knees, spitting out a long string of salty saliva.

'I saw it all, buddy. I'm your witness. I saw that lunatic hit your car and push you over the edge. He didn't even stop. Just took off like nothing was the matter.' The man turned to look down at his patient. 'What kind of madman does that?'

'Beats me,' Dantalion muttered. He regarded his benefactor.

The guy was about seventy but in good shape for his years, short and stocky, face bronzed by the sun but a deep blue in the dark. His hair was as white as Dantalion's but it was thick and wavy. He was of sturdy build, with thick forearms and bowed legs, wearing a T-shirt and shorts. Leather gloves. There was a fishing pole on the bow of the boat, forgotten now.

'What are you doing out here in the dark?' Dantalion asked.

'Night fishing,' the man answered, indicating the pole. 'Best time, if you ask me.'

Dantalion raised his brows. He wasn't the only one who preferred hunting in the dark. 'No argument from me.'

'Good job I was here,' the man added. 'Otherwise no one would have seen you hit the water. They wouldn't have pulled you out in time.'

Dantalion noted that the man's clothes were as wet as his own.

'You jumped in and pulled me out?' Dantalion stood up and extended his hand. 'You saved my life?'

'It was nothing,' said the man, accepting the hand.

'I thank you for that,' Dantalion said. 'I really do. And it pains me to have to kill you now.'

Mid-handshake the man jerked.

'Uh?'

Dantalion snatched the hand towards him, dropping his forehead so that it struck the man flush in the face. The sound was like a hammer smacking a watermelon. The man dropped on to his backside, hands going to his smashed nose. Dantalion's head swam. Not from the force of the blow but from the lack of oxygen. He had to suck in a couple of lungfuls of air before he felt strong enough to reach down and grab the man's arms.

'Now, in gratitude for your selfless help, I'm going to give you a choice.'

The man was heavy, his sturdy body a dead weight, not helped by the fact he was swimming in and out of consciousness.

'I'm going to give you a choice on how you die,' Dantalion explained. 'Fast or slow?'

'Go to hell,' the man slurred. He tried to pull away from Dantalion. His hands were slick with blood and his knees weak. Dantalion let go of him. He fell to his knees, bumping along the bottom of the boat. Dantalion grabbed at the nape of the man's neck.

'So it's slow, then?' Dantalion asked. 'OK… buddy.'

He swung the man round on his knees, pushing his head over the side of the boat. The man tried to resist and Dantalion punched his free hand into the man's kidneys. He bent him over again, pushing now with both hands at the back of the man's head. Forcing his face under water. The man yelled in terror. Bubbles frothed. But not for long.

When he was still, Dantalion pushed him overboard. Held him submerged beneath the water with both hands. Counted to one hundred. Numbers, always numbers.

Then he gently prodded the man away from him, watched as he slowly sank head first, aimed at the place the car went down. Maybe the police would think that he was the driver of the crashed Lincoln and their search wouldn't be so exhaustive, giving Dantalion the opportunity to sort himself out. With that breathing space, he would soon be ready to complete his mission.

But already, above him on the bridge, other motorists had stopped. They were peering over the balustrade, looking down at him. He didn't think they could have seen what had just occurred between him and his would-be saviour, but it wasn't a chance he was about to take.

The boat was equipped with an outboard motor. He quickly set to it, pulling the starter cord. When the engine coughed to life, he sat down, aiming the prow towards the shoreline of Neptune Island.