The cool waters quickly enveloped Jack as he crashed through the surface. Quickly, like a large hand had gripped him and pulled, he began sinking deeper into the ocean, face up with his back to the abyss below. He stared in horror as he watched the bottom of his lifepod drift further and further, knocked away by whatever creature had hit it.

"The creature!" Quickly, Jack thrashed about through the water, kicking his legs and grabbing handfuls of water as he attempted to escape the void beneath him. The monster must've not seen him, as he continued to claw his way to the surface, for he would have surely been killed by now.

Finally, his head burst through the water. He coughed roughly, spewing the water that had found its way into his nose and lungs. His nose burned in pain, and his already sore arms cried even more in protest as he treaded in the water. He took in gasping breaths, partly from panic and partly from nearly drowning, as he scanned for Lifepod 22, his salvation.

There! About 20 meters away, it floated, spinning in the water slightly. It looked undamaged, and was still floating perfectly. "Shit. Bastard knocked it far! I won't make it!" A wave of dread crossed the man, but he tried to calm himself as he took a moment to catch his breath.

The moment was quickly shattered by something, something big breaking through the surface of the water behind him, splashing water down his back and further soaking him. Spurred on by the perceived danger, he began swimming hard toward the pod, barely giving himself time to take a breath or even see where he was going through the splashes of his arms meeting the water. "I won't become some monster's dinner! The hell I will!" Determined, the man sped through the water. Behind him, he heard a couple of odd noises before there was a gasp and a loud splash.

Chancing a look behind him, he saw disturbed waters, but nothing else. That is, until he noticed the shadow rapidly approaching him. It was about 40 meters away, but that gap was quickly closing as whatever monster it was came closer and closer. "Shit! Shit! Shit!"

The pod was just about 10 meters away now, but still too far. "This is it!" Another glance behind him revealed the shadow had closed the distance; it was right by him. "Fuck!" Quickly, Jack spun around to face the creature, reaching around his waist for his knife, the only chance he had. "Where the fuck is-"

Something burst through the waves before him, and in mere moments, he was grabbed by something. He flopped onto his belly as he was hoisted from the waters, lifted into the air by whatever creature it was. Lifting his dangling head confirmed what held him. Some kind of scaly cyan creature, almost looking like a dragon, held his torso in its toothy maw. "FUCK! SHIT!" His mind screamed as he tried to push out of the creature's jaws. It was futile, however, as he made no movement, still held tightly within the creature's sharp teeth. Surprisingly, he wasn't dead yet. It gave him no hope, however. "Bastard's going to drown me first!" Trying to find an escape, he looked down towards the ocean and then his waist.

"Knife!" Hastily, he gripped a handle at his waist, pulling it from his hip into his right hand. "Prybar? Shit!" He'd make do. Quickly, he swung at a tooth.

The action had its desired effect, as the creature shrieked in pain and released him from its grasp. It, however, dropped him what felt like 2 stories into the water below. He had only a moment to hold his breath before he crashed through the surface again, this time face down towards the depths. His prybar had left his hand sometime during the fall, resulting in him watching it sink deeper into the ocean, no chance of ever being retrieved. "Shit! Get to swimming!" Turning around, he attempted to find the lifepod's bottom, only to see two bright, purple slitted eyes and a scaly head again boring down on him.

He let out a yell in the form of air bubbles as he was again gripped in the creature's maw. Instead of being dragged deeper into the ocean, however, he was lifted again to the surface. He took another few gasping breaths and looked towards the creature. This time, being face up, he could meet its large, glowing, slitted eyes, as they stared down at him. "Let me go!" He yelled uselessly, finding it hard to muster any strength in his arms to mount a resistance. He was exhausted, every last bit of energy he had having been expended trying to escape. His waist, where his knife was holstered, was impossible to reach, hidden between the massive jaws of the creature.

"This is it. I'm dead." He was hopeless. The creature had him now, his strength had left him, and there wasn't a way out. He could only let his eyes screw shut in grim acceptance, the last act he could do before he'd meet a cruel end, crushed and torn apart by the jaws of some alien monster...

Only nothing happened as he felt himself continue to be hoisted through the air, and heard the continued splashes down below. What is- He began to ask himself before he felt himself being lowered. He managed to open his eyes, looking at the creature, and then toward the ocean below as he descended toward- "Is that the lifepod?"

Strangely gentle, the creature placed him on top of the lifepod, releasing him from its mouth right after. Jack laid flat on his back for a moment, frozen in shock, as he stared up at the creature above him, who returned his gaze with its own seemingly concerned one. "What..." He managed out before being interrupted by, of all things, the creature.

"Hey there, tiny human! Are you okay?" It said in a feminine voice. "It looked like you were drowning after I accidentally knocked you off your boat thingy. Sorry about that..." The creature chuckled nervously, looking away as it tapped its two forelegs together... two forelegs that ended in hooves. "I swear I didn't mean to make you fall. I thought I saw another one of those scary things below, and... I got a little spooked..." it gave Jack a nervous grin, giving the man a good view of its massive teeth. But what had the man's attention was that it just spoke, in perfect English, sounding like a teenage girl, to him. Not only that, but it apologized to him. And was apparently trying to help him, and he'd... "oh. oh shit."

He was currently rendered speechless, by a combination of his exhaustion from what he thought was a fight to save his life, and the absurdity of the situation. And so the electrician just sat there, gaping up at the creature looming above in now awkward silence, with only one thought on his mind.

"What the fuck?"

Author's Note

Sorry for the short chapter. I wanted to get something out, and decided that making a shorter chapter my favorite cliffhanger ending was good enough.

Thank you for the support and comments. I love reading them, and feedback and ideas are always welcome.

And maybe I'll get around to proof reading these.