Read The Reservoir for Free Online Page A

be her!”
    “Daniel, I’ve got you,” Zack said, unsure what else to say, but knowing full well he didn’t have a hold of his friend, or a handle on the situation.  Why was the towable tipped in such a strange fashion?  Why was Daniel’s face perched just above the surface of the water, his head tipped back, and his thin, muscled arms straining to maintain a hold of the tube?
    Zack snaked an arm around his friend and began swimming toward the boat.  Unfortunately, he couldn’t make Daniel, or the towable, budge.
    “Kick her!  Damn it, Zack, kick her!” Daniel implored, his voice breaking from fright.
    Zack gave his friend a puzzled glance, and then began kicking with everything in him, against something he could not even see.  He was big, solid, and strong, and to his horror, as he kicked beneath his friend, he felt nothing there.  He swung his leg in a wide arc beneath Daniel, but there was simply nothing there.  There had to be something beneath them .   
    Was it a fish? Zack wondered.  A fish large enough to have a hold of his friend’s foot, and fast moving enough it had managed to evade each thrust of his foot?  God, he hoped not.  But what other explanation could there be?
    “Throw me an oar!” he screamed, and it was Niqui who answered his call.  She found an oar in an instant and threw it to him, finding her target with precision.  Throwing a softball was her forte—had earned her a full ride scholarship to Indiana—and the skill had certainly come in handy now.
    Zack took the oar and struck at whatever was beneath Daniel—presumably beneath him too.  He couldn’t seem to get a solid jab, and suddenly, to his horror, something took hold of the oar.  He plunged face first into the water, drinking a pint in the process.  Instinctively, his eyes closed, but he forced them open.  He couldn’t see what had a grip on the oar.  He felt himself pulled deeper, but had the presence of mind to release the oar.  Unfortunately, something grabbed his wrist then. 
    Zack found himself held beneath the surface.  Like Daniel, he strained against whatever held him in a vice-like grip.  His eyes widened in terror, but he couldn’t see anything in the murky, frothy water. 
    What was causing the water to churn? he wondered fleetingly, and then remembered, he was wearing a vest!  He should be too buoyant to be underwater, and if he didn’t break the surface soon, his lungs were going to burst. 
    When he thought he couldn’t take another second without precious air, he was suddenly free and bobbing to the surface like a fishing bobber.  He began coughing and gagging, and sucking in air as if there wasn’t enough in the Washington woods to fill his lungs.
    A horrified glance at Daniel confirmed his friend was losing strength.  Zack was about to call to Holly to bring the boat around, when he realized she was already there.  “Zack, give us your hand!” Niqui shouted.
    “Now!” Kendall instructed.
    “Take Daniel first!”
    “Tell me what to do, Zack!” Holly cried, holding the wheel and trying to stay in close range of her friends, despite the wind picking up.
    “Bring the prop close to the tube!” Zack shouted, an idea forming in his head.  Surely the prop would scare off any fish or…
    When Daniel suddenly popped out of the water like a cork, with enough force to propel him several feet above the water, Kendall and Niqui acted quickly.  Niqui plunged her body over the side, straining to remain in the boat at the same time, and took a hold of his vest.  “Kendall, help me!” 
    The two proceeded to pull him into the boat.  The fact that he weighed a hundred and eighteen pounds soaking wet made the task doable.  He continued kicking, his legs acting like a propeller, long seconds after he reached the safety of the boat. 
    “Zack!” Holly cried.  “Get Zack!”
    To her relief, Kendall had grabbed the ladder for him, and he was struggling to climb it in his exhausted state.