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B eing shrouded in darkness was good. It helped to hide the pain and fear that I knew was on full display across my face.

I spent the boat ride hunkered down in a corner, feeling the sea toss us like a kid with his hacky sack.

It was cold in the middle of the night on the ocean, and no matter how tight I hugged my knees, the crisp air cut through my layers of clothing and gear.

The tart smell of salt was new, and the ocean spray found me in my corner, dampening my face.

In the past, I would have been excited to see the ocean.

Matias had told me about it months ago, but in the middle of the night, you couldn’t see anything.

And it didn’t matter, because I was doing everything I could to keep myself together, to keep my head in the game.

So I took the boat ride as my opportunity to shove my hurt and grief as far down as I could and lock it up.

I crouched down in a corner, burying my face in my arms as I kept my focus on Jacob, on saving my brother.

And when the time came, Matias tapped me on the shoulder and helped me to my feet as the boat rocked and swayed. Ready or not, it was time.

“Okay, listen up,” Wes began. “This is as far as we go. We’re going to load up on the dinghy, and we’ll make the rest of our way in.

Stay hunkered in the raft until we reach the cove.

The sea is not our friend tonight, and I don’t need anyone falling out.

Once we reach the cove, we’ll begin our ascent.

Move as quickly and as quietly as you can.

Whoever reaches the top first, use your wire cutters and get a hole in that fence ASAP.

Once everyone reaches the top, we move as a team.

The schematics of the building show an old service entrance that is no longer in use.

That’s our access. Once inside, we need to move up to level five to Cellblock C.

That’s where de la Puente is being held.

That’s our target. Once we’ve got him, we leave exactly the way we came. Any questions?”

“What about security?” Jim asked.

“According to the security schedule, the tower is the least armed at this time, with primary security details being placed at the choke point at the other end of the peninsula. Use stunners as much as possible, and make sure all weapons are equipped with silencers.”

We all stayed quiet, a few nodding in understanding.

“All right,” Wes said. “It’s go time.”

We all moved, checking weapons, making sure our tactical vests and belts were on snuggly, and securing our ropes and climbing gear.

Jim, Wes, and Matias carried extra backpacks with additional supplies, including tear gas, grenades, and extra ammo.

Then, one by one, we filed out to the back of the boat where a measly raft waited for us.

The boat rose and fell with the motion of the sea, threatening to throw us all off balance.

One by one, we loaded up. I watched as the deep blue waters swirled and splashed, white caps foaming and threatening.

All I could think about was if I fell in, I would sink right to the bottom and drown.

Never mind the fact that I couldn’t swim…

the sheer amount of weight I was carrying would drag my ass down to a watery grave.

And that thought had me hunkering down in the measly dinghy to make sure I didn’t get tossed out into the abyss.

“Night vision on,” Wes announced.

We all slipped our night vision goggles on.

I was fully expecting a world tinted in harsh green, but apparently the North had more advanced tech.

Though the world around me looked grayer than usual, I saw it clearly, as though it were cast in the early hues of dawn.

Jim took up the rear, turned the motor over, and we were off, consumed by the night.

I saw the shoreline off in the distance, with glittering lights that soared into the sky.

Bellfire Tower.

It took us a good fifteen minutes to get close enough that when I finally understood what I was looking at, my jaw dropped.

When Giza said that jagged rocks surrounded the peninsula, he wasn’t kidding.

The black spires rose from the ocean depths like spears that threatened to impale you should the ocean reject your soul.

Water crashed into each one, a thundering noise that consumed the purr of our motor.

The roar of the ocean deafened our ears as the waves rose, lifting us seven feet into the air, and then dropping us back down, causing my heart to sink as I closed my eyes, gripping the sides of the dinghy as best as I could.

“We’re never going to make it!” Calista yelled, but I could barely hear her over the crash of the waves. “We’re going to capsize!”

“What does that mean?” I screamed at Matias, who was hunkered down next to me. “What’s she saying?”

“We’re going to fucking sink!” he shot back, trying to be heard over the sound of the waves crashing down. “ That’s what she’s saying! We’re too small for these waves.”

“Hang on everybody!” Jim yelled from the back. “I’m going to give her more speed! We’ve got to get past the surf zone!”

Wes pointed out to the left of the peninsula. “Go left! The cove is to the left and the water eases up…maybe thirty more feet.”

The raft surged high into the air again, tilting sharply to the right and leaning heavily on its left side.

“Shit! We’re going to flip!” Calista screamed.

Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod! I was going to die, right here, right now. It was all going to be over, and the girl who came from a country that feared drought was going to die by drowning. Go. Fucking. Figure.

“Lean to the right!” Wes yelled as he threw his weight onto the right of the dingy. “Push!”

Matias lifted off the ground and threw his body next to Wes as Calista did the same.

Doing the best I could to swallow my fear, I followed suit, feeling the boat teetering on the edge of flipping over completely before another wave rose on the left, crashing into the boat and sending us flying back down.

The water tasted salty as I gasped for air. My vision covered in ripples of water, I quickly wiped my lenses as the blistering wind ripped through the night. Every part of me was wet, adding to my freeze as I sat in a puddle of water about an inch deep in the raft.

“That was bad, Wes,” Matias griped. “That was really fucking bad!”

Wes ignored him. “More power, Jim! Get us the hell out of here!”

Calista looked like a wet dog as she clung to the floor of the dinghy, and I’m sure I didn’t look any better.

I closed my eyes, praying to whatever gods existed up in the heavens to help us reach the shore.

I was open to dying by knife wound, gunshot, or even being burned alive, but the thought of drowning sent the biggest shiver up my spine. My worst nightmare.

Please, god. Not like this. Not like this!

I felt as the boat surged again, nose tipping forward, the motor rising higher and higher into the air.

“Shit! Not again!” Calista yelled. But no sooner after the words left her mouth, the wave we were riding came crashing down and surged us forward, spitting us out into calmer waters at last.

“Oh my god,” I breathed out as I flopped onto my back. The amount of gratitude I felt at that moment was greater than anything I had ever experienced before.

The boat still rose and fell as gentler waves continued to propel us forward to the shoreline, but nothing like the crashing swells that tossed us like leaves in a hurricane.

As we got closer, Jim killed the motor and lifted the prop to keep it from dragging along the ocean floor.

Wes and Matias grabbed paddles that were attached to the raft on either side and began digging into the water, continuing our momentum forward until Jim finally jumped out and began pushing the raft from behind while Matias and Wes leaped out and pulled the dinghy from the front.

I felt as the boat met pebbled sand, and we were pulled the rest of the way onto land.

It took everything within me to keep from leaping out of the boat and kissing the ground. Why Matias ever wanted to show me the sea, I’ll never know. But I was good with never stepping foot in it, or around it, ever again!

Blondie leaped out, looking just as harrowed as I felt. “You’re freaking crazy if you think we’re going to get past that surf zone again.”

Wes looked at his tab and began typing. “That’s our way out, Calista, so I’d get used to it.”

“Did you not just see what happened? We’re lucky we didn’t flip over!”

Wes faced her, all hard lines and looks that could kill. “Are we going to have a problem?” It was a simple question. But one that effectively said, stand down and get your ass back in line.

Calista cracked her neck. “No,” she sneered.

“Good. We’ll leave the raft here. We’ve got a small hike to the cliffs and then we need to begin our ascent. Jim?”

Harper gave a wave as he fiddled with a rope attached to the raft. “We’re good. She’s not going anywhere.”

“Perfect. Let’s move out.”

I took a deep breath as I tried to calm my nerves. I prayed that the worst was over. That the rest would be easier. But I was wrong. I just didn’t realize how bad it was all going to get.