No Survivors Read Online Free Page B

Carrying them in one hand, she began walking barefoot down the beach.
    â€œWhere are you going? Listen to me,” Kristen pleaded.
    â€œI never wanted to come back to this horrible island,” April said. “But we returned for a reason. We need to find out the truth.”
    â€œBut we’ve been here only two days,” Kristen argued. She ran after April and grabbed her shoulder from behind. “Let’s explore tomorrow—in the daylight.”
    â€œI want to walk closer to the rocks,” April said. “I want to see if there is any sign…”
    She turned and started walking again, taking long strides. Her bare feet sank into the cold, wet sand. The waves rushed into shore, and suddenly April was knee-deep in the water.
    Kristen hurried to catch up. “Why are you being so stubborn?” she demanded. “I want to find Marlin as much as you do. I want to—”
    Kristen let out a gasp.
    â€œHey!” April shouted as something cold and wet wrapped itself around her leg.
    She bent down to pull it off. “It’s seaweed or something,” she said.
    Both girls had stepped into a deep pile of tendrils and dark leaves.
    â€œIt’s kelp, I think,” Kristen said.
    April tugged at the wet vine. “It’s stuck to my leg,” she muttered.
    She cried out again as she felt the sticky tendrils wrap around her other leg. “Whoa!”
    April grabbed a long, leafy tendril and pulled with both hands. “It’s so sticky. Oh, no! It’s…it’s climbing!”
    She turned and saw Kristen also struggling to free herself. The wet sea kelp had wrapped itself around Kristen’s waist.
    The tendrils made sick, wet slurping sounds as they slapped themselves around the girls. Higher,higher. The tendrils appeared to reach up as they climbed.
    â€œIt’s tightening around me!” April cried. The cold, sticky kelp was reaching around her waist. Sliming its way up and across her chest.
    April tried to pull it off. Tried to pull herself free. But the kelp had fastened itself around her ankles and legs. She couldn’t move.
    â€œGet it off me!” Kristen cried, panicked.
    â€œI—I can’t get it off me,” April answered.
    The kelp was wrapped around her body like bandages on a mummy. It was circling her throat—and tightening.
    â€œIt’s trying to choke me!” April struggled to pull it off.
    But the slimy wet tendrils clung to her.
    â€œI—I can’t breathe,” Kristen gasped. “It’s strangling me!”
    The tendrils curled around April’s neck and drew tighter. She was choking. Her chest ached. She couldn’t get any air into her lungs. With her last breath she called out, “Help us! Somebody! Help us, please!”

Part Two
The Year 1680
The Port of Plymouth, England

8
    Deborah Andersen wrapped her mother’s black cloak around her. The hood fluttered in the wind off the ocean. She pulled it tight to hide her face.
    Her heart was pounding so loudly, she was sure someone would hear it. Deborah hid in the shadows of the deck and watched the men unloading the big sailing ship. Huge wooden crates were being rolled down the gangplank onto the dock.
    Holding her breath, Deborah waited for the right moment. Then she darted off the boat. She carried a cloth bag that held her only possession—the book she took from her mother.
    She crouched beside one of the crates on the dock and waited. She listened for the sailors’ footsteps. Heard the first mate and a deckhand arguing about how to unload the cargo.
    Deborah waited until the men returned to the ship to unload the next group of crates. Then, still keeping low, she scurried away from the docks andonto the road that led into town.
    The last time she’d been here, she’d ridden to the docks in a prison cart, chains around her ankles, her hands bound behind her. The memory still gave her nightmares.
    She heard a