Hex POV
Pain.
That was the first thing I felt.
Cold was the second.
My lungs burned as I coughed violently, choking on salty harbor water.
For a moment I didn't know where I was.
Then memory came rushing back.
The explosion.
The dock.
The jump.
I groaned as I forced my eyes open.
Waves rocked around me.
The harbor stretched endlessly in every direction.
And behind me…
The warehouse burned.
Flames towered into the sky where the building used to stand.
"Great," I muttered weakly.
"That went well."
My body felt like it had been hit by a truck.
The shockwave must have slammed me into the water harder than I realized.
I grabbed onto a floating piece of wood drifting beside me.
Every movement hurt.
My vision blurred slightly.
Then I noticed something.
Lights.
Across the harbor docks.
Flashlights moving back and forth.
People searching.
Jay.
Keifer.
The others.
For a moment I tried to shout.
But the sound that came out was barely a whisper.
"Hey…"
The waves swallowed my voice instantly.
I tried again.
Nothing.
My arms felt heavy.
Too heavy.
The cold water was draining what little strength I had left.
I watched the docks for another moment.
They were searching.
But I was too far away.
My grip on the floating wood slipped slightly.
"Don't… fall asleep," I muttered to myself.
The world tilted again.
My vision faded in and out.
The last thing I saw before darkness took me again…
was the burning warehouse lighting the sky behind me.