Left for Dead Came Back for Everything novel Chapter 31

Zander pinned Yvonne onto the massive wooden plank.

"Hold on! Don't let go!" he roared over the raging storm. Once he was sure Yvonne was safe, he turned back to find Eliza.

He desperately lunged toward the spot just a few feet away where he remembered seeing her.

But she was already gone.

A monstrous wave crashed right in front of him, shattering into a sea of white foam.

"Eliza?"

Zander's eyes widened in horror, his breath catching in his throat.

"Eliza!"

He treaded water frantically, spinning around in circles as sheer panic blurred his vision.

He screamed into the roaring ocean.

"No... this can't be happening! Eliza, stop scaring me!"

Taking a deep breath, Zander dove into the bottomless depths.

Beneath the surface, it was a terrifying, dead pitch-black.

He held his breath until his lungs burned, finally breaking the surface.

"Eliza! Come out! Stop hiding from me! Please, come out!"

He slapped the water in despair amidst the turbulent waves, his voice cracking with absolute terror and a heartbreaking sob.

For the first time in his life, he truly understood what it felt like to have his soul ripped apart.

"Ah!"

He threw his head back and let out an agonizing cry toward the pitch-black sky.

The memory of the earthquake ruins from years ago intertwined with the devastating, hollow smile Eliza had given him right before she sank.

History was repeating itself.

Once again, he had personally pushed his Eliza into an inescapable hell.

"Zander! The lifeboat is here! Hurry, come over!"

But a person's stamina has its limits, especially after enduring a storm for so long.

Eventually, several men pinned him down against the cold floor of the lifeboat.

Seeing this, Yvonne scrambled over, trying to throw her arms around him. "Zander, you scared me to death. I'm so glad you're okay. Thank God you saved me first."

Zander stared at her, suddenly entirely speechless.

The storm raged through the night, only subsiding as dawn broke.

The sky was a lifeless gray, and debris from the shattered cruise ship floated on the water's surface.

Outside the temporary coastal rescue command center, the atmosphere was suffocatingly heavy.

Zander collapsed on the rough, sandy shoreline, thoroughly soaked.

He just stared at the ocean, not daring to blink.

"Mr. Roth."

The rescue team captain approached Zander with a thick report, his expression grim as he sighed. "We've deployed six helicopters, twelve rescue boats, and used the most advanced sonar technology to search this grid three times over."