Fortunately for Elliot, he hadn't heard what Andreas really thought about this whole expedition. If he had? The exchange wouldn't have been pleasant, and he wasn't about to force Rae to choose sides between her father and someone who was just a friend. Elliot sympathized with that Andreas had lost, he really did, and he understood what grief could do to a person, but that didn't give the man the right to drag his daughter to the bottom of the grief pool with him.
No one else on board the boat was voicing their doubt about Elliot's brother, either, to which he was also grateful. It didn't matter if their silence meant they didn't care one way or the other, or if they simply didn't have anything to say, but he took heart than none of them were saying he was a fool for still clinging to his hope.
Rae said that what he was feeling was anxious, and Elliot ducked his head, nodding his agreement. He rubbed his hands together, less out of a desire for warmth and more for the need of something to do. This trip was excruciatingly slow, though he knew Rae and the other immune were rowing at a steady speed. Despite taking turns at rowing, it would still take a while to get to the island.
"I believe you," he promised, giving her a small smile before lifting his eyes back to the statue. His thoughts were there already, and Andreas' disapproval completely passed him by.
Elliot was about to explain his desire to stroll around a zombie-free Central Park, when the first oar disappeared into the ocean. Were there sharks in the Harbor? He didn't know and didn't have the chance to ask. Rae was tumbling overboard, there were screams and shouts of fear all around him. Instinct alone had Elliot reaching out, clasping his friend's hand before it, too, disappeared.
He clutched Rae's hand with both of his, pulling until her head broke the surface. "What is it? What's got you?" He asked, struggling against whatever had a hold of her.