The port is a frenzy of confusion as the 48 accidental crew members stumble and rush to find their assigned spots on the catamaran. Even the military police seem to have some disagreement as they force the new crew on board. More than a few glares are cast in the direction of the Captain's Cabin where Elias and Angel are already seated.
Hunter finds himself amidst the chaos, trying to make sense of the whirlwind of events that placed him here. “This can’t be happening,” he mutters to himself glancing around the bewildered faces of his fellow crew members. He quickly finds a seat and frantically tries to type up a text on his wristwatch to Ada. His heart stalls as he types out what is a farewell forever to his fiancé. Hot tears hang from his eyes, and he blinks to drop them out of the way to see the text.
Leo, with his two imposing bodyguards, is not far off, scowling as he realizes there is no escaping this ill-fated voyage. “This is your fault.” He swats at Tyrese with his hat. Anger simmers on his features and he twirls one of his gold rings around his finger.
As the crowd huddles into the passenger cabin most stand like startled sheep. Very few sits, most stare with disbelief at the seats before them. The engines of the catamaran roar to life, catching everyone off guard. The crowd starts to move shoving into one another as some try to run to their seats and others try to run back toward the doors, toward the guns pointed in their direction.
Leo stuck in the middle of it all curses and strikes upward at the mass of taller people. Tyrese and Rex shove and toss passengers away from their boss in an effort to help but half trample him in the process.
The engines grow louder, and the people grow more frantic. The cabin door slams shut and there is a second of darkness. The lights kick on and everyone who had paused at the sudden darkness resumes screaming and clawing.
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The floor tosses upward as the catamaran is thrown into gear. The crew of unfortunates are thrown to the back wall of the passenger cabin. More screams, clawing, biting, and cursing. The room is so far tipped back that they become aware that soon the sleek boat will be upside down.
The nose drops back down, and everyone scrambles back from one another. There is a moment of silence and an unspoken truce. Then a cackling laugh from one of the few people seat belted in. He has wild eyes and unkempt red hair. “Woo-hoo! Full speed ahead! This is going to be epic!” He shouts both fists in the air. Then he leans in his seat to fist bump the cop but Hunter only glares at his fist. The red-headed man doesn’t let his grin fade and fist-bumps himself with his other hand.
Soon the boat begins to pick up speed again and one by one the passengers claw their way to a seat of safety. Clicking seatbelts are heard all around the room. All resolve to glare at each other from the safety of their seats.
“I shouldn’t be here!” The cop yells out. “I have a fiance.”
Several more join in the desperate pleading of their perilous predicaments. Leo sits and brews. In every circumstance so long as he can remember he has always been able to twist the strings of fate and come out on top of things. As he looks around the room at the desperate faces, he finds himself feeling a severe lack of control over this situation.
What control can he hope to attain here? No one ever comes back from the catamarans. Exploitation here is futile. What would he be king of, the dead? He feels a chill imagining the creatures he learned of as a kid. His desperation claws at his insides threatening to overwhelm him. He swallows it down hard and squeezes it down tight in his stomach, a small glowing coal of hate.
Outside the Triad Mountains loom ever closer as the sky turns from gloom to full-on darkness. The catamaran leaps across the waves toward one of the few beaches left on the whole earth. The Nevers Sea cold and dark passes beneath them in a blur. Terre Goth glows in the darkness behind them.
Hunter watches the city grow smaller through the port hole window and cries silently. Only one face grins in the room. The redhaired man looks to all that observe him to be perfectly insane.