Dawn Patrol by Jeff Ross

looked for a spot to cut out of the wake.
    I pushed farther along the face and ducked as the wave collapsed and shot me out the end of the barrel across the shallow reef. The big black rocks were only fifteen or twenty feet away. I cut as hard as I could and weaved over the reef into deeper water.
    I couldn’t see Kevin anywhere. Behind me, surfers bobbed on the waves and watched the monsters rolling in. It was definitely calmer on this side of the reef. I scanned the beach, straining to see if Kevin was there or the Jet Ski Jose had been driving. But both Kevin and Jose had disappeared.
    I heard the whine of Jet Skis coming to life, and watched as, in the distance, another giant wave rolled in. The surfers on this side of the reef paddled over to their Jet Skis. Moments later they were being towed out toward the break.
    I tried to find Kevin in the crowd, but the next big wave was coming. I had to get off the reef quickly.
    I paddled into the oncoming wave. I knew I would be knocked back when it came in, but I needed to put some distance between myself and the rocks, or I’d be crushed against them.
    The first wave came in, and I caught only the foamy remains of it. But the next one was pushing in closer to shore, breaking later. These waves weren’t breaking in the same spot. They collapsed eventually, but I couldn’t tell where it would be. The second wave was strong and would break well past where the first one had. I was going to be right in the middle of the break.
    I paddled hard. There was no way I would make it up the wall of water, but what choice did I have? I couldn’t get to shore. And I couldn’t hop on the wave and ride it either. I was going to be smashed into the rocks.
    I spotted a couple of surfers catching the wave, cutting long lines down its face. I paddled harder, pulling myself through the water.
    â€œLuca!” I looked up to find Alana on her Jet Ski. She threw a rope at me. “Hurry, before we get destroyed out here.”
    I grabbed the rope, jumped up and jammed my feet into the straps on my surfboard. “Go!” I yelled.
    Alana gunned the engine and shot off.
    Right into the approaching wave.

chapter fourteen
    Alana leaned as far forward as she could and steered the Jet Ski up the front of the wave. I held on tight as the water foamed and curled beneath me. When Alana disappeared over the lip of the wave, I crouched but was slung into the air. I landed on the back side of the wave, wobbling side to side.
    Alana slowed down and looked over her shoulder at me. “We have to cut across the wave,” she yelled, pointing to the far side, where the other Jet Skis and surfers were bobbing about. I spun in a slow circle, trying to keep some momentum so I wouldn’t sink. “Hold on,” she said and turned the Jet Ski around.
    Suddenly we were flying through the valley between waves, the next giant wall of water already bearing down on us. The water was choppy. I struggled to hold on. If I bailed, I was done for. The coming wave would suck me in and spit me out the back after it had raked me across the reef. No one would be pulling me out of the waves here. There might not be a lot of me left to even pull out.
    A forty-foot wave closed in on us. Alana veered away from it. I scanned the top of the wave, where some surfers were launching from. I was certain I spotted Kevin.
    â€œAlana!” I yelled.
    She glanced back. I pointed at the top of the wave.
    â€œThe next one, you adrenaline junkie!” she screamed.
    The wave was breaking right to left, and luckily we were on the outside when it collapsed. Alana slowed down again.
    I let go of the rope and drifted up beside her. “I think Kevin got on that wave.”
    We watched surfers forced toward the reef by the collapsing wave. “That one broke the wrong way,” Alana said. “They’ll be driven into the reef and those rocks.”
    â€œNot if they cut soon enough. Then