Knockdown Read Online Free

precooked bacon. Says it doesn’t need refrigeration.” Cole knelt beside a large cardboard box.
    “Great! Take the whole box.” Takumi stacked giant bags of pancake mix and oatmeal in my cart.
    Mos t of the large cans we found held pie filling, stewed tomatoes, or chicken broth. I threw a few of each into the cart along with a couple of cases of crackers. They wouldn’t keep either, but they’d come in handy when we started getting sea-sick.
    “Hurr y!” I motioned to the guys. The clock in my head had begun ticking again.
    “This way.” Takumi unlatched the outside kitchen door, opened it, and nodded. “Just a minute.” I hurried to a storage unit near the restrooms, and came out with a case of toilet paper, some bottles of bleach, and boxes of tampons. Some things are as necessary as food.
    “What about water?” Takumi held the door open as Cole pushed the first cart through.
    “We have a big water tank on board, but grab a few cases of bottles for back up.” Cole went for the second cart.
    I found another empty plastic cart outside and dumped my paper products in it. There was some room left, so I ran back into the kitchen and snagged three more bags of pancake mix. The guys were leaving and I gave up on finding the syrup.
    We pushed the carts back along the marina at a jog. Cole slowed and finally stopped. He glanced down at the gas dock. The man with a gun was still there. “We need a weapon,” he said.
    “ In Japan, I fish with spear guns. They could be good weapons. Maybe the dive shop has some.” Takumi pointed to the shop a few yards away. “Better than nothing.”
    When we broke the window to the dive shop , an alarm began to blare. I couldn’t believe we were breaking and entering again. Somehow, stealing food didn’t seem as bad as taking stuff from a store.
    “Come on .” Cole pulled me inside. The blare was louder inside than out. I covered my ears. “Over here.” He pointed at a variety of spear guns displayed on the wall.
    Takumi brought down the largest. “This is the best.”
    Cole studied the tags. “It says rechargeable. Are they all electric?”
    “No, some are manual. Here!” Takumi reached for a much smaller weapon. “It won’t shoot as far.”
    “Power’s a problem. Manual’s better.” My brother examined the spear gun.
    Takumi nodded and seized a similar one from the wall. I left the guys and wandered around the store. I found a flyer on different kinds of scuba gear. The guys joined me.
    “Wet suits might keep us warmer than the coats we have.” I showed him the rack of diving suits.
    “Quickly , then.” Cole’s arms were full. He and Takumi headed for the broken window.
    The scuba suits were bulky, so I only took two. As I was leaving, I grabbed a handful of diving gloves, boots, a mask , and a snorkel.
    W e heaped the spear guns, spear shafts, and waterproof clothing on top of my now bulging cart. It was time to start back to the boat.
    As we ran, a group of about twenty people, some adults and some children were gathering at the marina parking lot. When they spotted us, some of them waved their arms and yelled at us.
    Cole scowled. “Hurry!”
    I tried to run with the cart but my load was tippy. Twice it almost fell and I had to slow down. “Go ahead. I’ll catch up.” I pulled up a wetsuit that was dragging on the ground.
    When I checked behind me, I saw the crowd running towards us. What did they want from us? Our supplies? My heart began to pound in my chest. I raced to the ramp that led down from the Marina shops to our dock. The tide was low, which made the ramp steep. Holding the cart with one hand, I gripped the rail, and worked my way down as fast as I could.
    The families were still yelling, but I couldn’t make out their words. At the bottom of the ramp I focused on getting to our boat. Cole and Takumi were already tossing goods up to Jervis and Angelina. Dylan and Nick sprinted to help me.
    “ Mom? Dad?” I searched the boat for their