The owl had reached us — we had nowhere to run. It came closer to us. Odala stood in front of me as we tiptoed back with his hands on his back reaching mine when I held onto them. I knew this would be the end of us. The leader of the soldiers was aiming for its head. We knew it was a chance to distract it while we made another run for it. We tried to find a weak spot on it.

Odala held out his gun too. “Noo, let him do it,” I begged him with so much fear.

It was odd. I was so afraid of losing him, a man I hardly knew. We had been through so much already and I didn’t want to lose him now when we finally had a chance to escape this island.

“It’s okay, I’ve got this. When the shooting starts, you better run. Do you hear me?” he demanded as I felt pain running through my heart.

I could see the owl was ready to attack. I knew one wrong move and we’d be dead.

“What the fuck are you waiting for? Shoot this thing down!” Odala exclaimed with a deep aggressive voice.

“Just shut the fuck up.” The leader didn’t want to be disturbed as he aimed aimed at the owl. I could see him sweating. He fired his shot at the head while Odala aimed at the right eye. The owl staggered and knocked into trees, no longer in control of its body.

“Come on! Move! Move!” the leader shouted as we made another run. The owl must have seen us with one eye since it came after us. It was easier dodging it on the ground. We hid behind the trees without making any sound.

The owl wouldn’t give up without a fight. It tripped the leader with one of its wings, grabbed him with its beak and threw him into the sky. Unfortunately it landed straight back in the Owl’s mouth and was chewed up like chewing gum.

“Come on, let’s go.” Odala grabbed my hand and we ran again. We saw the boat waiting for us.

“Come on, hurry up!” The man on it was shouting. He had started the engine.

The owl snapped Odala on his back and he fell to the ground.

“Go! Don’t worry about me! Save yourself!” he screamed.

I could see how horrified he looked when he knew it was game over for him. But I couldn’t let him die, I grabbed the grenade from my pocket and pulled the pin to explode it. I threw it straight inside the owl’s mouth when it’s opened to grab Odala on the ground.

We covered our faces when the owl blew into pieces.

“Damn, you’re such a badass for a waitress,” he said. He held my cheeks and drew me closer to kiss me roughly like it was the last kiss he would ever have with me.

“Let’s get out of here,” I giggled when I lifted him up and helped him to the boat.

“Where is Chappell?” the boat controller asked.

“Who?” we both asked at the same time.

“The leader. And the soldiers?”

“Dead,” Odala responded.

“They’re all dead,” I added.

“Now get us out of here,” Odala gave orders.

The man drove the boat. I was wrapped in Odala’s arms. We both gazed at the island as we saw it moving far away from us.

“Hey guys, you both look like shit,” the man teased us.

“We feel like shit,” I added.

We all burst out laughing. At that moment a killer whale came out from the ocean jumping to snatch the man.

I screamed out loud and Odala sped up the boat.

The killer whale came back at full speed under the water, we could see its shadow moving fast towards us.

“Odala,” I called out his name in shock.

“It’s coming!” I let out tears. We were going to die.

The killer whale knocked our boat from the bottom and it capsized.

Odala was holding me tightly when I held on to his neck crying while we floated in the ocean.

He looked straight into my eyes when he told me he loved me and he would see me again on the other side. I gave him a rough kiss when we saw the whale coming back towards us. We closed our eyes until we heard a blast tearing the whale into pieces.

We looked up and saw a helicopter dropping a ladder. We smiled at each other as I went up first. He followed me safely as we headed back home.

The nightmare was finally over.

***

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