Simple problems require simple solutions. Just one action is all Boulevard thought he needed to secure safety. He saw a silhouette – hands on head – staring at the water's surface. The girl must've turned on the LEDs from searching inside. Boulevard shot up like a dolphin at a sea park show and grabbed her jacket by the collar, an iron grip ready to throw her over him. He had the strength and the element of surprise. This is a one hundred percent calculated victory. Boulevard left out the element of unpredictability.
Tear streaks flowed down the woman's face. It's surprising the miniature rivers didn't melt from the girl's heated cheeks. Her eyes widened when she looked at Boulevard. She didn't attempt to counterattack or even run away. The two were there, just looking at each other. Frozen in time, one waited for the other to do anything. Boulevard was thinking of what to do next, and she was waiting for him.
After a prolonged, awkward silence of opposite expectations, she spoke up. "Y-you're okay, right? I thought I... ."
"I am going to ask you to remove your person from my vehicle." This was Boulevard's wholehearted response. The girl loosened by knowing he was okay but tensed up at the same time.
"Man, that prank played out in my mind perfectly. Reality's pretty sour, huh? It was supposed to be something we could both laugh about. Shoot, I'm sorry for giving you a scare." She scratched the back of her head and pity laughed for the sake of breaking the already thick ice.
"I accept." Boulevard stated. He waited and, when he didn't think the girl was capable of understanding what he was insinuating, he motioned to the ocean. The woman looked back and forth, waiting for the punchline.
"Oh, I get it! Honor among jokers. I messed up my gag of catching you off guard, so now I must do what needs to be done. For the sake of being even, that is." She nodded with approving grunts.
"Fairness has no bearing on my decision. You trespassed on my property and you need to leave. You are no threat." The woman took his words with playful offense.
"Oh, really? Well, if you leave your eyes off of me for too long, I may pounce from the bushes and give you a classic jumpscare." Boulevard believed the girl was being genuine with her wording.
He had heard enough liars in the form of false shepherds who led sheep to do their dirty work in the "War of Humanity." That's Boulevard's name given to the battles that happened long ago. He recorded his observations and made additional pages to the history textbooks he "checked out" from the library. The girl's tone was confident and filled with gusto. But there was one difference between her and bad people. She tried to prank him.
Boulevard flung her behind him in one fell swoop. She yelled, but in a lighthearted manner. After the crashing splash behind him settled, he pushed himself up into the yacht and went for the captain's quarters. He never bothered to dry himself as the feeling of water never bothered him. Now, he grabbed a spare towel. While Boulevard was constructing a plan under the yacht seconds before, he couldn't get his near-death experience out of his head. When he damn near gave up.
From the glass dome atop the boat, he could see the girl taking her black hair and picking it up out of her eyes. The shine from the bulbs into the water was like a searchlight, and he could see the girl in full detail. She had a round face with emerald eyes. Her hair from when he looked up at her from under the boat was bulbous and poofy. Now wet, it looked like thinned seaweed. She was as dirty as Boulevard, but with a little more care added to her appearance.
Overall, what was he to make of this odd individual who skyrocketed her way into today? From the moment he heard her tone in the park station, he noted she wasn't normal. The bubbly rises on the exaggerated words she spoke were dissimilar, the exact opposite of his voice. Her fearlessness from when she snuck up on him minutes ago and a clear misunderstanding of his intentions when he said to get off of his boat showed she was, just like his former plan, unpredictable. But the girl looked just like all the others he had seen in the apocalypse. So, she wasn't different, more "unique". Like when she introduced herself to him earlier today. That, in of itself, was very interesting.
Boulevard's final verdict... nothing to worry about. "We're even." He said to the girl as if she could hear him as she swam behind the retreating boat, trying to keep up.