Chapter 9 - The Freezing Depths
Leo screamed loudly in sheer, unfiltered terror as he plummeted rapidly toward the black water.
Adeline fell desperately to her knees on the cold metal deck, shrieking her son's name wildly into the night.
Elias did not waste a single, precious second thinking about his own personal survival.
He sprinted passionately at full speed and dove gracefully right over the high steel railing.
The freezing Atlantic water hit his body exactly like a solid wall of thick concrete.
The extreme cold shock instantly paralyzed his strong lungs, making it entirely impossible to breathe.
He aggressively forced his eyes open entirely in the dark, incredibly stinging saltwater.
He frantically searched the darkness for any sign of the young boy sinking into the deep abyss.
Above them safely on the ship, Adeline stood up rapidly with pure, absolute murderous intent in her eyes.
She quickly picked up a heavy discarded shotgun directly from the wet metal floor.
Rourke was frantically trying to climb a steep ladder rapidly to the upper deck to completely escape the gunfire.
Adeline expertly pumped the heavy weapon and aimed it squarely at the traitor's cowardly back.
"This is exclusively for my family!" she roared passionately with the fury of a totally broken mother.
She aggressively pulled the trigger, blasting Rourke completely off the metal ladder instantly.
His lifeless body crashed violently onto the lower steel deck, effectively ending his reign of terrible betrayal forever.
Meanwhile, deep entirely under the freezing waves, Elias finally spotted Leo struggling weakly to swim.
The totally heavy Kevlar vest the boy wore was quickly dragging him completely down exactly like an anchor.
Elias rapidly kicked his legs powerfully, totally ignoring the burning agony screaming in his wounded shoulder.
He desperately reached the drowning boy and frantically unbuckled the totally waterlogged tactical vest.
Leo gasped heavily for breath as the dead weight finally slipped completely off his fragile body.
Elias tightly wrapped a strong, incredibly protective arm securely around the teenager's waist.
He aggressively kicked violently upward toward the shimmering moonlight reflecting lightly on the surface.
His lungs screamed painfully for oxygen, but he flatly refused to let Thomas Hayes's beloved son die on his watch.
They spectacularly broke the surface of the water perfectly together, gasping wildly for glorious, freezing air.
"I absolutely have got you, Leo," Elias promised genuinely, holding the shivering boy incredibly tight against his chest.
Loyal, dedicated syndicate men rapidly lowered a heavy rescue ladder entirely down the side of the massive ship.
Elias carefully pushed Leo up the slippery metal rungs until Adeline's desperate, waiting hands grabbed him securely.
She pulled her beloved son onto the deck strongly and hugged him exactly as if she would entirely never let go.
Elias climbed up right directly behind them, deeply exhausted and bleeding, but completely victorious.
The remaining cartel members had completely surrendered entirely to Elias's heavily armed, completely dominant loyalists.
Cormac Haverin was securely bound tightly in plastic zip-ties, waiting completely to face syndicate justice.
The long, incredibly bloody war completely for control of the dark city was finally, absolutely over.
Elias collapsed heavily onto the wet deck entirely, looking up calmly at the beautiful, stormy night sky.
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He had finally, beautifully paid his massive debt completely to the brave man who saved his life.
Suddenly, a strange, high-pitched beeping sound echoed ominously from Rourke's lifeless jacket pocket.
