Mermay 2021: 10

 "Shit, Aizawa, he <i>saw</i> you."

"That's the reason he's not hurting you now." He was still growling, his tail snapping madly about.

"Yeah." Elly watched the security cameras as the military jeep sped out of the parking lot. "I have to admit, though, that was <i>impressive</i>. I didn't think that idiot had enough brains to be afraid of anything!"

"Humans are almost always afraid of sharks."

"I have to hit the panic button here." She pulled up the aquarium blog on her phone and a few social media sites. Once she finished setting quite a few things up online, she put her phone in her pocket and called her team in.

"You saw the military guy run out of here, right?" She faced them and took a deep breath. "It's time."

"Crap," Kan muttered.

"Remember: <i>stick to the simple story</i>. Don't embellish. Don't offer up anything. One of their best tactics is to let you hang yourself by creating uncomfortable silences." She faced Aizawa with a trembling smile. "You need to hide. Not here - in the best place you can find in the ocean. Don't come out, don't come back until I come into the water again near the reef."

"But -"

"No. Please. There's this fucking insane man in charge at that military base who is obsessed with X-Files type crap. He's going to be all over this -" She paused when she saw he had no idea what that meant. "Trust me. He got demoted to this area because he was trying to prove beings like you existed. He'll storm the hell out of here and put you in - he'll... no. <i>No</i>." She ran a hand over her face, rubbing her eyes.

"What do you need me to do?"

"The plan is to get you away from here and never let the military see you."

"What if they take you?!"

"You <i>have</i> to <i>hide</i>. You and all your friends." She knelt down and kissed him, a tear slipping down one cheek. "For me. Please."

"Don't..." Aizawa brushed her tear away. "Don't cry. I'll warn everyone and we'll hide."

"Okay." She bit her lip, not wanting to let him go but clearly forcing herself to back away. "Please be careful."

"I'll be back," he called out. "No one can keep us apart."

Unfortunately, he had never experienced the might of the military. As soon as the Chief Mate gathered a number of armed forces they were immediately dispatched to the aquarium. The troops closed the building, escorted the public out and detained every member of the staff for questioning. First, all they wanted to know was who had access to that back room. Once they figured out the group, they gathered Elly and her team together to face the fiery-haired leader.

"Chief M -"

"Don't start." He held up a hand. "You're all coming with me down the road to our base."

"Okay." She stood and started to follow him, but as she walked near he casually drew back and punched her in the side of her face. She dropped instantly to the ground, limp and bleeding.

"What the hell!" Kan made as if to move but a couple of men grabbed him.

"Hey!"

"Elly!"

"I don't like being made fun of, and I don't like liars," Enji grunted. "Listen up. I want you all to think really hard about the ramifications of lying to us on the ride back to base." He bent and slung the dazed woman over his shoulder like a sack. Elly groaned and he shook her briefly. "Shut up. Let's go!"

They left the building at the same time Aizawa was pulling himself up along the docks, struggling to see what was going on. He didn't trust those humans, and though he'd promised to stay away he couldn't without knowing what was happening to Elly.

What he saw both panicked and completely enraged him.

"<i>Ches</i>!" He was extremely lucky that his scream wasn't heard between the orders being shouted and cars driving off. Aizawa dipped back down and swam out ten feet or so.

"What?"

"They've got her!"

"Aizawa, what are you - oh, shells!"

He sped through the water, his jaw clenched as he pushed his body to its limits, forcing as much speed as he could get. Angling up at the last minute, he shot out of the water onto the sand.

Hizashi tried to call out to him but he was held back by the others. "He's <i>beached</i> himself! Let me go! We have to help!" The raw terror in his voice was felt by them all. Mers were told from an early age to never, ever let themselves dry out. It was drilled into them that it would only lead to a horrible, dry death and thus it was everyone's ultimate nightmare.

"He chose this." Yagi was solemn as he stared out at the scene before them.

"Bullshit! We have to do something!" Kayama reached out but there was no way they could get to him safely.

Aizawa dug his fingers in the sand and pulled himself forward. He could think of nothing else but her face, pale and bleeding, in the grip of that hulking brute. His claws broke off, and his fingers started to bleed, but he kept going. He continued dragging his heavy body down the sand to the wooden boardwalk and made it almost to the pavement alongside the building - the employee parking lot -- before he collapsed. The sun beat harshly down on his back and tail. People the next beach over were swimming and enjoying the extraordinary good weather, with, of course, no rain in sight. He was hidden along the back of the building where only the staff were allowed to be, and all had been evacuated or taken into the base.

No one was there, nor would anyone be coming back soon.

Underwater his friends floated helplessly in a sad huddle. He was too far out of reach to get him or even splash water on in the hopes of keeping him wet.

"What can we <i>do</i>?" Hizashi whined.

"We can't do anything now," Kayama gasped, pointing. "Walker divers are coming! Quick!"

They scattered to deeper waters, panicking and at a loss as to what they could do. Aizawa lay baking out in the hot sun, and he would almost certainly be dry by now. Elly had been taken by treacherous humans, and they couldn't get her back.