Vladimir Todorov - Archipelago N.Y. - Flynn

He scooped up another can of glue from the shelf. Getting low on oxygen and with his mesh sack full and weighing him down, Flynn kicked his feet and turned to go. He swam between the aisles of the hardware store and out through the broken glass window toward his diving bell. Once inside, he took a breath to check the air quality. It was fresh. Madison was doing her job to perfection. Flynn knew she was working extra hard to impress him… trying to regain his trust… As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was enjoying her efforts…

As far as Flynn was concerned, Madison had done her bit… He suspected that it was her way of trying to save face. Everyone knew that she was now Leo’s property. She had told him how the two of them would be paired after the Departure Ceremony… The Van Zandt boy had agreed to let her work as a Crew Mate on the Seeker until then, only because Duncan Roth had requested it. In fact, his father, Marcus Van Zandt, had ordered Leo to let her go… for the Greater Good of the Archipelago…

Flynn rested for another minute inside the bell, took a couple of deep breaths and went back out. Pharrell was also scavenging the store shelves below, his diving bell swaying close to Flynn’s. Pharrell and Clay were in on the rescue plan, and Flynn wondered what had made Pharrell take the risk. Whatever the reason, Pharrell had done something remarkable… Shortly after Duncan Roth had left them with their assignments, he and Clay had agreed to join in and follow Flynn. And Flynn was grateful for that. He would have gone alone, but the chances of succeeding had improved greatly with the two boys by his side… He wasn’t counting Madison in on the action, though… she had done her part, but she wasn’t one of them anymore.

Using his powerful dolphin kicks, Flynn began his rise back to the surface. The shadow of The S eeker was right above him now, no more than thirty feet away. Flynn screamed to let the last bit of air out of his lungs, and surfaced with a splash. After the peaceful underwater silence, the sounds of the outside world rudely blasted at his ears. The buzz of the early evening boat traffic, the shouts coming from the nearby fishing nets, the screaming of the Archipelago’s hungry seagulls… He heaved the sack on top of his raft and fell back in the water, spreading his arms wide, letting his body relax and float. He looked straight up at the sky, so that his ears dipped under the water to muffle the noises for another few more minutes of peace and quiet. The sun was low and the sky was a beautiful swirl of purple and orange.

With the corner of his eye, Flynn caught a glimpse of Madison. She was standing at the edge of the raft, her backlit silhouette towering above him like a bronze statue, her skin glistening. Damn it, she was beautiful, Flynn thought… Even with all her hair chopped off… She was talking to him, saying something he couldn’t hear. Flynn was listening to his own voice which was screaming loudly in his head… Madison was Leo’s girl! And no matter how Flynn fought it, the idea of these two being together really hurt… But there was nothing he could do about it… Saving his father and Tony were his top priority… He wouldn’t allow any of his feelings toward Madison to cloud his mind and jeopardize his mission… It was much easier to hate her, he thought. Happy with this decision, Flynn lifted his head out of the water.

“…going to be late, if we don’t head back soon.”

Flynn only caught the last part of Madison’s sentence. He was by the side of the raft in two powerful strokes. Ignoring her extended hand, he pulled himself up on the platform and crouched down by his sack. With his back to Madison, he started emptying its contents and adding them to the pile of scavenged hardware from his previous dives.

“Flynn!” She stood right behind him. “Look at me!”

He didn’t. Instead, he continued to fuss over his sack.

“Stop acting like I don’t exist!” she yelled at him. “Why won’t you talk to me?”

“Tell me…” he said without turning.

“What do you want to hear, Flynn?”

“Tell me, Miss Ray…”

“Stop calling me that!”

“Now, don’t get me wrong,” Flynn tried to keep his voice steady, “I’m very grateful for all your help… and the plan to save Tony and my dad…”

“But something’s been bothering you, right?” Madison interrupted him.

“I wouldn’t call it that,” Flynn continued to stack the next hoard of scavenged goods. “But I’m a little curious… ”

“You want to know if I and Leo have… you know…”

“Well, if you haven’t… I’m sure you will soon.”

A silent beat. Flynn turned slowly, just in time to see Madison step forward, her eyes full of hurt. And then, the girl raised her hand and slapped him hard on the face. Flynn almost lost his balance. Somehow he was back on his feet, grabbing her hand as Madison swung at him again. Immobilized, she kicked him in the shin instead. Ignoring the pain in his leg, Flynn rammed her with his shoulder. Snatching a handful of his hair, Madison stumbled backwards and dragged him down with her. They hit the deck with a loud thud, and Flynn finally pinned her down with the weight of his own body. Madison was twisting like an eel underneath him, trying to get free. She struggled furiously against him, stopping only when she had no more strength left in her. They lay still for a moment, their heavy breathing slowing down, until Flynn realized he was holding Madison in a tight embrace. Immediately, memories of their first kiss flooded in. He tried to break away, but she pulled him back down… Their faces were inches apart, their eyes locked. Her lips were dangerously close to his.

“Flynn,” she whispered fiercely, “grow up, will you!”

He held her gaze for a moment. The corner of his mouth twitched and curled up ever so slightly. Then, he pulled away, sat on the car seat and put his feet on the pedals. “Let’s go, Miss Ray,” he said dryly. “We’re done here.”

Madison bit her lip and looked away as the raft lurched forward.

WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION!

YOUR HARD WORK WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN!

FOR THE GREATER GOOD!

The Lower Side had woken up to a swathe of huge hand-written banners, announcing that the annual Departure Ceremony was around the corner. Hanging from the facades of buildings, bridges and walkways, these slogans had seemingly appeared over-night.

“I hate this!” Madison said.

Flynn glanced at Madison then followed her gaze. Up above them, workers were draping more banners at regular intervals between the buildings along the canal. They were getting that stretch of the waterway ready for the big parade. This was where the Departure raft would pass on its last journey through the Archipelago. Such was the tradition… Flynn had never paid much attention to those signs before, but now he felt sick to his stomach! “Let’s get out of here!” Flynn said, his eyes flashing.

Madison nodded, gripping the back of the car seat to steady herself for the ride.

Flynn took a sharp left onto Murray Street Canal and headed towards Midtown Bay. Duncan Roth had given them yet another bizarre task to perform. He and Madison were to gather enough supplies and build two diving bells, then leave them submerged at the same spot they had been ferrying stuff to for the past few days… They had dumped two dozen Ethanol barrels there, and so had Pharrell and Clay… Duncan Roth had instructed them to take everything to an area across the Hudson Bay, which Flynn knew was officially out of bounds.

No one ever went in these waters, because they were considered toxic. There was an abandoned Power Plant at the bottom and whatever had leaked out of it had poisoned a large parameter of ocean around the facility… But Duncan Roth, apparently, didn’t care what was in the water… Exposing his Free Scavengers to danger meant nothing to the man… Flynn had stopped questioning the Rottweiler’s strange requests… He was simply counting the days and hours to the Departure Ceremony… until the moment Flynn was going to finally kill the bastard!