Destination Lost
Book One
Written by Norman Christof
Published by Digital Storm Solutions Inc.
This is a work of fiction. If you find any similarities to real people, places, events or planets you're sadly mistaken.
© 2017 Norman Christof / Digital Storm Solutions Inc.
No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.
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If you liked Destination Lost, you'll love these other books by Norman Christof:
America's Sunset
America's Sunset
Coming Home
Parables From The Apocalypse
Endings
Revealed
Mutation
Awakening
Rising
THANK YOU FOR READING!
Norman Christof
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 ~ Nightmares
Chapter 2 ~ Changes
Chapter 3 ~ Top Of The World
Chapter 4 ~ Bon Voyage
Chapter 5 ~ What Goes Up
Chapter 6 ~ Trouble In Paradise
Chapter 7 ~ Word From Above
Chapter 8 ~ Help
Chapter 9 ~ Frying Pan
Chapter 10 ~ Leverage
Chapter 11 ~ Realities
Chapter 12 ~ First Steps
Chapter 13 ~ Survival
Chapter 14 ~ Leap Of Faith
Chapter 15 ~ A Better Idea
Chapter 16 ~ Dangerous Views
Chapter 17 ~ Cabana Boys
Chapter 18 ~ Life On The Street
Chapter 19 ~ Risky
Chapter 20 ~ Bloodied
Chapter 21 ~ Going Down
Chapter 22 ~ Rescuers
Chapter 23 ~ Alarmed
Chapter 24 ~ Doubts
Chapter 25 ~ One Way Out
Chapter 26 ~ Day One
Chapter 27 ~ Mutiny
Chapter 28 ~ The Return
Chapter 29 ~ All Alone
Chapter 30 ~ Choices
Chapter 31 ~ Getting Worse
Chapter 32 ~ Moving On
Chapter 1 ~ Nightmares
The crowd cheered all around him, but it did nothing to set him at ease. He felt his collar tighten around his throat, and the sweat bead down his back. No one else seemed to be as uneasy as he was. Even the children running around were all laughing and teasing one another. Should they really be doing that? He thought. What was wrong with their parents, putting them in a situation like this? He steadied his right hand on the guardrail as he walked up the boarding plank and tried to take his wife's hand with his left, but she was oblivious to him. She was taking in the whole scene.
It was her idea to go on the cruise, not his. This wasn't his idea of a good time. He liked being around the water enough. Liked it enough to enjoy a sunset from the beach, to sit on a pier and fish all afternoon, or to wade in waist deep on a hot day to cool off. But these floating cities called cruise ships seemed ridiculously unnatural to him. How can these structures actually stay afloat and not tip over? They look so top heavy. He thought he detected a shudder in the handrail of the boarding plank, and it caused him to stop. He put both hands on the rail to secure himself and feel for more vibrations. His wife kept walking up the plank as the crowd closed in on him. He was an obstacle now, as others tried to make their way around him. He was the recipient of dirty looks from excited passengers trying to make their way aboard.
His wife finally noticed him well behind her, and started making her way back against the traffic of the crowd, creating more obstacles.
He clenched even tighter to the handrail. It anchored him. There were no more vibrations. Was he sure that he really felt that first one? He was positive. There would have to be more. Something was wrong. It had to be. Just hold on. Don't let go. If you don't let go, then everything will be alright.
His wife finally made her way to him. She smiled, and placed a cool hand on his back. She said something, but he couldn't make out what it was in the fog of noise from the other passengers. She leaned in to make eye contact and place her hand on his. It was cool compared to his. Why did he feel so warm? She wanted him to let go of the rail. To stop making a scene. He couldn't understand what she was saying, but he sensed that if he didn't go with her, she would leave him there; drowning in the crowded sea of happy people. Was that a shudder?
She started moving again with the flow of the crowd. She looked back over her shoulder and smiled at him. That smile that he could never resist. She'd smiled at him that same way the first day of junior high, when he was lost wandering the halls of a strange school. She was a year older, and amused by the small but good-looking new student. She helped him find his classes that day, and since then, they'd never had a day apart ... until recently. Now, she was walking away again into the mass of people. He couldn't let her leave, not without him. That was definitely a vibration this time. Not just a shudder. He could feel it as he let go of the rail to catch up with her. He pushed his way through the crowd of happy faces.
Then suddenly, they were in their room and unpacking luggage and putting it away into the small cupboards and closet of their room. It wasn't a fancy room, but there was a window that looked out over the water. No balcony. She'd really wanted a balcony, but he'd taken so long deciding whether or not to go that they'd missed out on the rooms with a balcony. He hoped that might be an out, but she'd still insisted.
She stopped unpacking and looked out one of the two small port windows. One for each of them, she insisted. She was so excited; he just sat on the edge of the bed. He still felt warm, clammy and uneasy. She beckoned him to come to the windows and look out. They were at sea already somehow, in the middle of the ocean, and he simply had to come and enjoy the view. He got up slowly, and felt the floor moving under him. He steadied himself against the wall as he made his way towards the window. She seemed to move freely about the small cabin, without losing her balance. Why couldn't he? She kept going on about how beautiful the view was outside her port window.
Finally reaching the one beside her, he peered through and was horrified. There were dark skies and massive waves. They looked big enough to swallow the entire ship. He flinched as they came close, but they broke and dissipated just before striking them. The lightning flashed, and he was sure he could see lifeboats in the water, moving away from the boat. He looked horrified, but she kept smiling and laughing and talking about what a beautiful sunset it was outside the window, and how they should have done this years ago, and how she looked forward to taking a cruise every year. Her lips moved, but there was no sound, and yet he could understand exactly what she was saying. He could understand the words, but not what he saw outside the windows. This was insane. They had to get off the ship. Everyone else was deserting. They would soon be all alone. He looked again out the window, and there in the last life raft were the captain an all his officers. They were the last ones left on the ship. How had this happened? He never wanted to get on this damn boat in the first place.
Then he felt the shudder again. It grew quickly into a vibration, and then the floor moved under him and he felt himself sliding into the wall hard. Then, the explosions, six of them in succession, loud and booming. Hadn't they told them t
hat there were six massive diesel engines that powered the ship? Six engines and six explosions. Deserted in the middle of the Caribbean all alone on a sinking vessel.
His wife whistled a tune from a Disney movie as she put away her clothes, oblivious to the entire scene. He tried getting to her, but the slope of the floor prevented him. Suitcases, clothes, the garbage can and everything that wasn't tied down continued to flow across the tilted floor towards him. Yet, she continued moving about the room as if nothing was wrong. He had to get to her. He had to rescue her from what she obviously couldn't see. He forced himself onto all fours and, fighting against the shifting angle of the floor, he made his way towards her. She sat on the edge of the bed, calmly reading the evening menu options from the nightstand.
She was just within his reach when a picture frame came loose from the wall and flew across the bed, narrowly missing his wife as she leaned to put the menu back on the nightstand. The frame didn't miss him though; the corner of it caught him on the left temple, and for just a moment the room went blurry, then bathed itself in a red glow, before he passed out.
He woke, lying on the floor of his one bedroom apartment with a massive headache. Items from his nightstand were scattered across the floor, and the nightstand itself was knocked on its side.
Garrett steadied himself, and went to look in the bathroom mirror. There was a trickle of blood coming from his temple. He rummaged around in the medicine chest, and found the last remaining band-aid.
"I really need to stop having that damn dream," Garrett said. "It's only making this whole situation worse."
Chapter 2 ~ Changes
Today was Garrett's last day of work before taking some vacation time. He drove onto the construction site, hoping that nothing major came up for a change. Most jobs he'd ever worked on had something major go wrong at some point, but this one had run smoothly from the beginning. It was just another shopping mall, but one of the biggest ones to hit Asheville, North Carolina in a long time. It was good to see, considering the way the economy had been going lately.
This new mall, and a lot of the construction going on in the city, had been credited to Vicky Biltwood, the latest owner of Biltwood Land Development Inc. She'd inherited the company from her father, but she wasn't just some spoiled rich kid getting by on the coattails of her father. She'd put in her time, graduating at the top of her MBA class then coming home to work in the family business. She was smart and tough. Had to be, taking over the reins of the largest land developer in the state and working in a male-dominated industry. She was also the reason for much of Garrett's current marital troubles. He hoped she'd be too busy at one of her other construction sites to visit today, but those thoughts quickly dissipated when he saw her pickup truck parked just outside the main construction trailer. She was an early morning starter, as was Garrett. They were currently the only people on the site.
Garrett could smell the coffee brewing before he opened the trailer door. Vicky had her back turned towards Garrett as he came in, and she was poring over the latest blueprints from the architect.
"Good thing you didn't get too far ahead of schedule," Vicky said. "Looks like the architects found some problems with the ventilation systems, and have had to reroute everything through the west wing. It's messed up all the roofing elevations."
"Really? I haven't had the chance to look at them yet." He poured himself a cup of coffee.
"I just picked them up this morning and brought them over."
"Didn't think architects got up this early. I thought you were the only one."
Vicky smiled. "They do when they work for me. Might have to cancel your vacation plans, given all the retrofitting we're going to have to do with these changes."
"Yeah, yeah, don't get my hopes up." Garrett sipped at the coffee and grimaced. "Geez. You still haven't learned to make a cup of coffee, I see. Don't they teach you anything at those fancy schools up in New York?"
"Oh, they teach us plenty. Like how to fire insubordinate employees."
"Yeah, well good luck with that. This is a small town, you know, and I'm a pretty popular guy. Even with all your clout, they'd be lining up to hire the best foreman this city's ever seen."
"You are feeling pretty full of yourself this morning, now aren't you?"
"Well, things are good. It's the first day of the rest of my life, you know." Garrett leaned over the plans to have a look. "I'm really looking forward to the week off. It's a chance to get my life back together, in spite of the surroundings."
"How did Holly ever get you to go on a Caribbean cruise? I thought you hated big cities of any kind, including those that float on the water."
"I don't hate big cites, I think they're great places for other people to live. It's good to have 'em. They keep the kind of people I wouldn't get along with plenty far from me."
"I thought you got along with everybody?"
"Have you met my wife?" They both chuckled. "In spite of everything she's said and done, I hate not waking up next to her every day. Not sure what that says about me, but I have a feeling it can't be good."
Vicky put a hand on his shoulder. "What it says is that you're one of the good ones. Loyalty and family don't get the respect they deserve these days. This country could use more men like you." Vicky grimaced as she took a sip of her own coffee. "Hell, I could use more men like you if they knew how to make better coffee than this."
Garrett smiled. "Jim should be able to handle these retro fits till I get back." Garrett referred to his assistant foreman of the last twelve years. "He's as familiar with these blueprints as I am, and the team
likely won't be in a position to start them till the end of next week. If they run into big problems, they can divert some of the guys to work on the parking garage foundation till I get back."
"Yep, I would agree. We can survive without you for the week ... You never did answer my question. However did Holly get you to take a Caribbean cruise?"
"She said she'd think about taking me back if things went well after the cruise. She said we needed to do more things that she wanted to do, instead of hiking through the mountains and camping by streams that stink of fish."
"But you love doing that kind of stuff. I thought everyone around here did."
"Most anybody that's stayed around here as long as I have does. I can't imagine anyplace more beautiful than the Blue Ridge Mountains. Who wouldn't want to spend all their spare time hiking, fishing and camping up there? It makes everything else worthwhile."
"I haven't been there since my dad died. Maybe you should take me up there next time you want to go." There was a moment of awkward silence between them. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I know I'm part of the problem you guys have had. I just push too hard."
"Hey, don't even think that. You've done wonders for this company and this city since you took over. Everyone knows that. So what if you pushed us all so hard to meet deadlines and get these buildings finished. It's paid dividends in the long run. Asheville is one of the first cities to get back on its feet in the new economy."
"Thanks, but I know that spending so much time at work and away from Holly made it difficult for both of you. Helping to get your daughter into architecture school likely didn't help either. Holly's got to be feeling all alone with Becky out of state at school and you rarely at home. She's just trying to get your attention."
"Yeah, like kicking me out was going to make her any less lonely. And don't you dare feel bad about getting Becky into that school. That's the best thing that's ever happen to her and my family."
Vicky smiled. "Maybe, but that doesn't mean Holly doesn't blame me for taking her family away, and a host of other things."
"Things you didn't do. We've been nothing but professional. She had no right to blame you for those things, and I know she felt terrible after she'd said it. Even if she didn't apologize."
"That's alright, I understood. She'd had enough of me in her life to last a lifetime. So, just to change topics, when does the crui
se ship leave?"
"Not till Monday. We're gonna take a few days and drive down to Miami. At least it'll be a nice trip down the coast. Should give us some time to talk things over, before the chaos of the big boat hits us."
"I never did quite understand why you like being around the water so much, what with fishing up in the mountains, but hate going out on the ocean."
"It's one thing to wade out into hip-deep water, but something else to get onto one of those monstrous machines and let someone else take the wheel."
"Ah, I get it. It's a control thing, right? You want to be in charge. You probably get nervous as hell flying."
"I wouldn't know. Never been on a plane in my life."
"What? You're kidding me. You mean to say that you're damn near fifty years old and you've never even flown?"
"Hey, hey, easy on the fifty thing. You know how sensitive I am about my age."
"Please, you probably don't even know how old you are." She cracked a slightly evil smile. "It is a control thing though, isn't it? That's why you don't want to go on this cruise. You have to be the boss, the foreman, the guy in charge of everything."
"Hey, I work for you, don't I? I'm not always the boss. So no, it's not a control thing. I just don't like deep water. Never learned to swim."
"You spend all that time in mountain streams, and you never learned to swim? Are you nuts?"
"That's what they make life jackets for. Don't worry, you're not going to lose your number one foreman in a fishing accident. I always wear a life jacket when I'm in fast water. I just don't think humans were meant to swim. If we were, we'd have gills instead of fishing rods."
"Oh man. You think you know someone." Vicky just shook her head. "Look, have a good look at these new plans. If you see anything that looks like it could be a problem, let me know before you go."
"Sure thing, boss."
"And have a good time on your cruise, whether you want to or not. You deserve it. I hope things work out for you and Holly. Really I do. Be sure to say hi to her for me."
EMP Survivors (Book 1): Destination Lost Page 1
