“But…” I trailed off.
“I was coming to find you and Olivia and break the news but there you were, talking to my grandmother whose body I just walked away from,” he said. “You were so happy, smiling up at her and I heard her telling you about seeing the world.”
“That's why I wanted to get an RV,” I admitted. “I forgot about all that.” The memory was so clear now that he brought it up. I remember thinking she looked younger, with a faint glow around her, but I didn’t question it as a kid.
“She was great. After you walked away I was able to tell her goodbye. She promised me that one day I’d find my place in the world, that my crew would keep me strong. Maybe she meant you guys,” he said with a soft, sad smile.
“Or maybe she means you’ll find some men of your own just like I did, and take the world by storm,” I challenged. His grin widened until it finally lit up his eyes.
“That would be amazing,” he agreed. “But the likelihood of that is fairly slim.”
“You’re done, sunshine,” Lincoln said. “They had numbing cream so it should hold until we can get you to a hospital.”
“Uh no,” I laughed. Sully dropped his hands and I turned to look at my hand, then a scowling Lincoln. “It’s an hour away, for one, and even after we got there we’d sit forever. I trust your medic skills, and I’m not afraid of a scar. It’s not even that big and I know damn well you cleaned it.” I held up my hand for emphasis. He’d done a perfect job of using butterfly bandages to keep it closed, and thankfully it wasn’t bad enough for stitches. The bleeding had slowed down now and the butterfly seemed to suffice. He sighed as he grabbed a gauze wrap to wind around my hand to keep it clean.
“He did,” Ben confirmed. “Twice.”
Ethan looked green and I had a feeling it wasn’t from seasickness.
“You okay, Ethan?” I asked. He shook his head and took a few measured breaths before answering with words.
“No, that was gruesome. Fuck this,” he muttered.
“Are we calling it?” Sully asked when a huge crack of lightning echoed through the metal walls of the ship.
“I’d say that’s a no. Anyone go get my glasses yet?” I asked. They shook their heads so I forced myself to stand up, keeping my hand from brushing anything because I knew it was going to hurt like a bitch when the numbing cream wore off.
“Wait, take these,” Ben said, holding out his water and a packet of pain medicine. I didn’t hesitate to take it and made a mental note to beg the guys to go grab some more from the store when we got back to town in the morning.
This time I led the way back to the hall I’d dropped my glasses in. I put them on before checking in with Ry, thankful they seemed to be undamaged.
“How’s the view, are my feeds alright? Can everyone see everything still?” I asked rapid fire as I pressed the comm.
“Crystal clear, and we picked up some crazy shit,” he laughed. “Remind me not to step foot on that ship again.”
“No promises,” I said. “We still have over two weeks left.”
“Where to now?” Ethan asked as he stopped beside me. I glanced over and shrugged. My mind was a bit fuzzy from the pain that was surfacing.
“I vote we—” Lincoln’ was cut off by another loud crack of lightning outside. It startled me enough that I stumbled, my injured hand hitting the crew quarters door. The moment the cold feeling washed over me I knew what was coming.
“Guys—” was all I got out before the dark hall blurred out of view before popping back into view. There was still a loud storm raging outside, but the lights were shining bright as the crew ran past me. Everyone was freaking out but I couldn’t make out what they were yelling. The words were muddled like they were in my last vision, though even more so due to the sounds of the storm.
I started to walk down the hall in the direction most of them were running. Slowly the scent of smoke and the metallic stench of an electrical fire of some sort was filling the halls. With the intensity of the smoke even up here, Paul’s shrug off of our questions had my blood boiling. The entire engine room would have been ruined and black. But knowing him, he didn’t need the ship functional outside of ventilation and likely just hired someone to clean and paint over all the charred metal.
“I have to get these somewhere they won’t burn.” It was the first clear sentence I’d heard since coming out here. A young crew member was turning in circles as he clutched onto a small metal box for dear life.
“Upper deck,” another soldier called out, rushing forward and dragging him by the arm. Recognizing that I was meant to witness this, I followed them out into the store.
It was so strange to know I wasn’t truly here, yet I could feel the sting of the torrential rain on my face, and the sway of the ship was far worse than it was in reality.
The three of us fought our way across the upper deck toward a huge air vent. A large metal square rested next to it, likely some sort of electrical panel.
“Get it open,” the first crew member ordered, still holding onto the box like it might run away. Whatever he was protecting was a big deal.
“I’m trying,” the second man grunted as he pried the panel open. They made quick work of tucking the box away inside, almost completely out of sight before slamming the door shut.
“Captain’s ordering us to take the lifeboats. There’s an island nearby,” a third crew member yelled out, screaming his words to be heard over the storm. “It’s dangerous but we’ll die on this ship otherwise. There’s a cave or something so we can wait out the storm.”