Kevin watched from concealment as another scavenger was killed. While the man fell, the sound of the rifle reached Kevin's ears. The range and efficient killing power of the girl known as Red was both amazing and scary at the same time.

The scavengers on the north end of the platform were keeping their heads down, but they were by no means pinned. Although they were basically animals, the savages were cunning when it came to taking down dangerous prey. They'd noted the direction of the falling bodies, knowing the path of the bullet would impart its momentum to the target. By doing so, they'd figured out where the gunfire was coming from, and the scavengers on the north end of the platform were careful to stay behind barriers where they were protected.

A secondary group of scavengers were located on the far end of the rectangular attachment to the oil rig. Used for their living quarters, the long structure also suited their purposes in keeping out of sight while they put their inflatable rafts in the water. Equipped with a small but powerful motor, each raft was capable of closing the distance between the scavengers and their targets in very little time.

As Kevin saw the first of the boats hit the water, scavengers jumping in immediately afterwards, he knew what they were planning. As much as he wanted to shoot them before they got underway, he had a mission to complete and could not jeopardize his assignment by revealing his presence to the enemy.

One of the boats departed, its motor growling and leaving a white trail of churning water in its wake. A second boat cruised quickly after the first and then a third and forth. Heading directly south, the untrained observer might have thought the scavengers to be fleeing for their lives, but Kevin understood their methods. They would soon turn and make a long and curving turn back and try to catch the attacking sniper unprepared.

Kevin motioned for George to follow before leaving his place of concealment for a hiding spot beside a bundle of pipes leading from the drilling platform to the refining station installed beside it. Using the pipes as both cover and a guide, Kevin followed them toward where the oil was processed into fuel.

***

The darkness concealed the motorboats from the sight of Razor and Red, but it couldn't do anything to cover the noise of the engines. Razor heard them coming long before he saw them. He tapped Red on the shoulder and pointed to her then the rig when she looked in his direction. Holding up his own gun he pointed in the direction of the incoming boats.

Red nodded her understanding and went back to firing on the defenders of the oil platform. One after another she flawlessly picked off those foolish enough to step out from cover.

Razor ducked down and listened intently to gauge where the incoming boats were located. Masters of water assaults, the Coral Blade scavengers cut their engines and paddled in slowly and silently with oars. Razor counted off in his mind before jumping up and firing his gun.

Positioned exactly where he'd expected them to be, the occupants of the first boat were caught unprepared. Gunfire thundered as bullets riddled the scavengers and their boat with equal ease. The magazine went empty, forcing Razor to duck down while reloading. He dropped the spent clip and jammed in a full one before pulling back the slide to chamber the first round.

Rising back to a standing position, he opened up on the second boat with similar effects to the first. Geysers of water sprayed skyward as bullets disrupted the otherwise still surface, air hissed as the inflatable raft was perforated in numerous locations, and small bursts of blood colored the sides of the craft as its passengers were struck down.

The scavengers of the Coral Blade were not fools. They knew the small boats left them vulnerable to attack out in the open, so the warriors in boats three and four filled their lungs with air and dived into the water. Taking refuge beneath the dark waters, they continued their approach unseen.

Razor fired several bursts into the bay in the approximate location of the abandoned boats, hoping to hit something, but no blood colored the waters, and no bodies floated to the surface. He thought about Kevin and George on the drilling platform, knowing they would have to hurry before Razor and Red were forced to withdraw.

***

Kevin saw the scavenger emerge from the side hatch, but he knew he couldn't reach him before the savage sounded an alert. A whistling of metal cutting through the air was the only warning before George brought his curved sword down on the man. The sharpness of the katana cut the scavenger in half diagonally from hip to shoulder in a single pass.

Spinning around, George swung the sword across horizontally and bisected a second scavenger at the waist. Continuing his turn, George raised the sword up in both hands with the blade turned down toward his stomach. Thrusting down and back, George angled the blade slightly, and the deadly metal cut through the air beside his ribs to impale the scavenger behind him.

Tearing the blade free, George looked around for any more opponents, but none were immediately visible. He took a rag from his belt and cleaned his sword off before nodding his head forward toward the stockpiled fuel. Kevin followed George, wondering again who the man really was under the priest outfit he wore.

The processed fuel was kept in metal drums measuring waist high. The barrels had a rust colored appearance, and Kevin wondered if it might actually be corrosion from the salt water of the bay. He had no time to consider such things as the duration available to complete his task was vanishing with alarming speed. It was only a matter of time before the scavengers either took notice of them or drove away Razor and Red, returning to the rig in full force to secure the area.

Urgency granted swiftness to their efforts; George and Kevin moved as fast as they dared, sliding the heavy barrels to the edge of the refining platform and lowering them by a chain operated winch onto a float.

Secured by a strong cable, the float was a smaller version of a barge. Flat and narrow, the cargo transport had been used by the oil drillers to send their processed wears to shore for distribution. The scavengers had no use for it as they had nowhere to send their product. They used all the fuel they produced for flamethrowers or to power their boats. The float had remained secured to the platform ever since the scavengers had taken over, unused and forgotten until tonight.

***

Razor ducked as he hurried forward to where Red was still firing on the rig. Bullets impacted around him in a series of loud metal pings, occasionally accented by a few sparks. The Coral Blade clan had emerged from the waters and scaled the wrecked ship on three sides, their coordination was very impressive, nearly unheard of among scavengers.

"Red, let's go!" Razor shouted to her. She fired off her last round to clear the chamber of her rifle before swinging the long gun onto her back and following him below decks.

Their footsteps and breathing echoed hollowly down the corridors and reverberated through the metal walls, creating secondary echoes and making the flight of Razor and Red much louder than it would have been otherwise.

The scavengers swarmed the wreck, relentlessly following the two troublemakers down into the depths of the ship. They screamed in bloodthirsty rage as they pursued at full speed.

***

Kevin noticed the sudden silence of the rifle fire previously keeping the scavengers pinned down. It could only mean Razor's position had been compromised. The savages still on the platform wouldn't be hindered any more, so the chances of Kevin and George being discovered increased to an almost certainty.

He locked eyes with George for a moment, and the priest nodded, moving quickly to load the next barrel. George understood their situation and the tightening noose around them both.

***

When Razor and Red reached the water filled portion of the wreck, they dropped into the water and collected their scuba gear, hastily putting on what they needed. Razor shoved a large and square bag he'd brought with him under a metal structural support before diving into the flooded passages after Red. They swam as fast as they were able to go.

The scavengers pursuing them couldn't follow into the deep waters filling the lower half of the wreck, but they didn't want their prey to escape. Raising their weapons, they fired countless bullets, chasing after their targets with hot lead. The shots traced through the waters, leaving trails of air momentarily in their wake. The result was multitude of what appeared to be strings crisscrossing through the flooded passages of the old ship.

Razor grabbed a hold of Red and pulled her into a side passage and out of the way of the bullets cutting through the previous area. The two of them stayed huddled together while waiting for the other scavengers to give up and stop shooting. It didn't take more than a minute before the bullets cruising through the waters ceased. Razor led the way out.

They found the hole in the hull through which they had entered the derelict originally. Gliding out into the waters of the bay, Razor removed a small device from his belt. A palm sized block of black plastic, the component had a hinged cover over a solitary button in the center. Flipping the cover up, Razor pressed the button underneath.

The explosives Razor had brought and stashed aboard the abandoned ship detonated. Orange fire lit up the night, and it only seemed to be made more intense by the mirror reflections of the surrounding waters. A tremendous fireball vaporized the top half of the wreck, killing the scavengers inside and spraying flaming debris in every direction.

***

Isabella watched from the bridge of the refugee ship. While in command, she had taken the precaution of stationing a few people as guards on the main deck and the higher points of the exterior structure.

Despite her defensive measures, the scavenger strike team that stole silently aboard had more experience than the defenders, either sneaking past them or killing them quietly with their signature weapons of sharpened coral.

Knowing every boat in their waters, they instantly recognized it as being out of place. They didn't know who the people were on the ship, but they didn't care. These waters belonged to the Coral Blade, and anything passing through was up for claim if they could take it. This ship would be yet another prize for the clan.

The leader of the strike team held a combat knife in his hand as he entered the bridge. An elderly woman with blonde hair so pale it was nearly white stood with her back to him. Moving swiftly, he lunged forward and attacked her with his knife.