Creatures

by Michelle Khonsari

  They got out into the Atlantic Ocean heading in the direction of Europe. Matt hoped his parents were there and alive and well. They made it a day before the yacht stalled out and they were just floating.

  “Great,” Cassie sighed out. “Now we’re still in the same position. We’re stuck in shelter with a non-functioning stove, only now there’s nowhere to restock supplies.”

  They couldn’t see land anywhere and had no idea where they were. To top it off, it was December now, and the water was freezing. They stayed inside, wrapped up in blankets. Matt tried his hand at fishing, and he caught enough to keep them from starving. They had made a little fire pit on the boat dock to cook what they caught. They didn’t want to take any chances on what may or may not be sushi. After five days on the yacht, floating around the ocean like a cork, they had smoked the last of the cigarettes and the drinking water was running low. They were a little on edge without their nicotine, and they didn’t speak much to each other. They played card and board games in silence and took a lot of naps.

  “Well, if we don’t die from starvation and dehydration, then we’ll definitely die of boredom,” Cassie grumbled.

  “Well, if you’re so bored, why don’t you work on getting us water we can actually drink?” Matt snapped.

  “What am I? A witch? How the fuck am I supposed to do that?” Cassie retaliated.

  “I can show you,” Kaylee offered quietly. “We did it in science class once.”

  They scooped up water in a bucket from the ocean, placed a glass into a large pot, and placed the lid upside down on the pot. Kaylee poured some of the water into the pot.

  “Get it to boil as slowly as you can,” Kaylee instructed. “It’ll ruin it if the water splashes into the glass.”

  Cassie managed to boil the water easily, keeping a close eye on it. After about twenty minutes, the glass was nearly full of water. They removed the pot from the fire and let it sit to cool. Trey used an empty water bottle to make a funnel, and once the water cooled, they poured it into an empty gallon jug. Cassie and Kaylee worked on this for hours and hours, until they eventually filled the gallon jug with drinkable water. They left it sitting on the boat dock overnight in hopes that the outside temperature would make it cold. They made an effort to drink only what they absolutely needed to, as it took nearly all day to get one gallon of water.

  “I’m really sorry,” Cassie replied to Matt a few nights later.

  “For what?” Matt asked absently.

  Cassie shrugged. “For this. For thinking we could just get on a boat and be saved. We can’t get any more supplies of any kind. Once we run out of the canned stuff and crackers, we’ll have to survive off just the fish.”

  Matt pulled her to him with a big sigh. “At this point, maybe we’re just having to choose our method of death. Either we stay on land and risk being eaten or murdered by other survivors, or we float around the ocean peacefully until we starve to death or dehydrate, or the boat sinks and we drown. I’m glad this is our choice. I like getting a good night’s sleep without worrying if I’m something’s next meal. At least if we die out here, it won’t be painful or frightening. I’ll take starvation over being eaten alive.”

  They worked on the water every day, giving them something productive to do with their time. They fished every day, and ate the non-perishable food sparingly. At the end of each day, it made the card and board games more relaxing and enjoyable. They all finally got through their nicotine addiction, and the lack of smoking no longer tortured them. Some days they made the best out of, cutting up, making jokes, laughing. Other days they would succumb to their memories and feelings of hopelessness, and they would talk, reminisce, and cry it out. Cassie still tracked the days the best she could, although she knew it may be a few days off. They didn’t really celebrate Christmas at all. It just made it more depressing.

  They had some stormy days, but nothing too horrible. The rains came down a bit aggressively, and the winds rocked the yacht along the waves, but they still survived and remained unscathed at the end of each one. Matt worried about the storms that were sure to come once winter had passed. He hoped they might find land before that time came. They had made it through December and into January. They had endured the bitter cold, and enjoyed the evenings when they could stay bundled up in the cabin. They were also thankful for their own sleeping quarters. It would have been much too awkward sharing a room. However, this yacht had been made with two bedrooms and a shared bathroom in between.

  “I wonder if the attacks were all over the whole world,” Matt replied one night, staring thoughtfully out a window. “We haven’t seen any other ships.”

  “Maybe that just means we’re not close to anything,” Cassie pointed out. “And I doubt any other countries are sending ships anywhere near America.”

  “Yeah, you have a point,” Matt replied with a heavy sigh. “It’s just water everywhere you look. I can’t even tell if we’re actually moving or just floating around the same place.”

  “I just hope if the waves are moving us toward land, it’s somewhere other than the American continent,” Trey put in. “That would really suck to be out here this long to just end up back where we started.”

  “Yeah, I don’t see it being anywhere else in the world,” Cassie opinionated. “For all the chemical plants across the United States to start blowing up at the same time is too much coincidence. It had to be a set-up.”

  “To accomplish what?” Kaylee questioned. “What would be the motive in that?”

  “I don’t know,” Cassie replied. “Maybe they were trying to do something and it went wrong. Maybe the result wasn’t what they expected or intended. Nonetheless, blowing up all the chemical plants at once, it couldn’t have been anything good they were trying to accomplish. At least, not good for the people.”

  “We’ll never know what really happened, and even if we did, there’s nothing we can do to change it now,” Matt said. “There’s a storm coming now. I can hear the thunder.”

  “I’ll bring in the water,” Cassie offered.

  They secured everything as they always did in preparation of a storm. The rain started quickly, followed by incessant thunder and lightning, but the winds were not too bad. The yacht rocked back and forth through the higher waves, and they sat together in the cabin waiting it out. While a storm in the middle of the ocean kept them alert and on edge, it compared nothing to the fear the creatures had caused, and they were thankful for that.

  As February approached, they noticed the outside temperature was becoming warmer, and Matt concluded they must be moving more south to the warmer climates. They had to be close to the equator for it to be warming up this much in February. It reminded them of the Florida weather in spring. He was sure they had moved south of Florida now, although there was still no land in sight. By early March, they were back to wearing as little clothing as possible to keep cool. They opened the windows of the cabin in an effort to keep the inside temperature down as well. It was still in the first week of March when they spotted some trees in the distance. They couldn’t see the land it grew from, but the significant amount of trees was obvious, and they were hopeful they’d reach it, even if there were creatures awaiting them.

  “What do you think it is?” Cassie asked Matt as the four of them stared at the trees.

  “I don’t know,” Matt replied. “We’re definitely south of Florida. Maybe Cuba? Maybe South America?”

  They kept their eyes on the collection of trees until the sun started to set, and they headed inside for the evening. When they awoke the next morning, they had moved closer to the trees and could see the land they sat upon. It looked very green, with a beautiful sandy beach and clear blue water. They squinted, searching the shore desperately for some sign of life, although they saw none. They finally started about their day, but kept a constant watch on the land before them. It seemed to be coming closer, and they were feeling pretty excited now about reaching it.

  By nightfall, they still hadn
’t reached the land, although they were definitely much closer. A storm was coming in, and they prayed they wouldn’t be blown away from it. The storm was stronger than the ones had been before it, and they feared being capsized from the raised waves and robust winds. Water washed over the sides of the yacht, and the boat rocked horribly from side to side, threatening to flip them into the waters. They had gone to bed, but the uncertainty of what the storm would bring kept them lying awake. The storm raged for nearly five hours, but when it subsided, the four dozed off into an uncomfortable and restless sleep. It was just past dawn when they felt the yacht collide with something that shook the boat terribly. Then, there was no movement at all, although they could hear the water slapping the yacht outside.

  “What was that?” Cassie asked as Matt climbed out of bed to look out the window.

  “We reached the land!” he exclaimed.

  They dressed quickly and hurried out to the boat dock to see. They were excited to see the yacht had slid its bow right onto the white sandy beach. The water was fairly shallow at this point, and they could see clearly through the fascinating crystal blue of the water.

  “Let’s check it out,” Trey said, going for the ladder on the back.

  Trey left his socks and shoes on the boat dock and climbed down the ladder, falling into the water from the last step. He swam a few feet until he touched the bottom, then waded up to the shore. The other three followed behind him. The beach was fairly large, and coconut trees were everywhere beyond the sand. They could see the coconuts up in the trees.

  “Hope everyone like coconut,” Matt replied, smiling at their discovery. “Guess we better start searching, see if anyone else lives here.”

  “We should get our guns in case they’re hostile,” Cassie told him. “We need a better way to get off the yacht, too. I’m not jumping in with my gun, or all the supplies we need to unload.”

  They had to swim back to the ladder to get back on the yacht. Matt took some rope and knotted it around the railing on the bow so they could exit onto the sand. He put knots every foot or so down the rope to assist with climbing down. They changed into dry clothes, grabbed their weapons, and used the rope to get back down to the beach. They picked a spot in the trees to start at and walked as straight as they could through the trees.

  “Look, a waterfall!” Kaylee pointed out.

  Some ways into the trees, they could see where rocks covered in greenery rose up, and water poured over the edge in a narrow stream. They saw bushes covered in various berries. The grass was a spongy greenery rather than the normal grass blades they were used to seeing.

  “It’s pretty here,” Cassie commented. “I can’t believe no one is here.”

  After a half mile, they came out of the trees to another sandy beach. They walked around on the beach this time, following the circle until they reached the side their yacht sat on.

  “It’s too small for anyone to make anything of it,” Matt replied. “Guess that’s why no one is here.”

  “I’d still expect to see some kind of tribe or something,” Cassie responded.

  “Maybe they left,” Trey suggested. “Or died.”

  “Maybe there was never anyone here,” Kaylee added.

  “Well, let’s go around this way for a look, and we can walk through this time,” Matt suggested. “I think the island’s about half a mile either way.”

  When they reached the next side of the island, they could see some skeletons in the sand. They looked as though they had been there for some time. They started into the woods, and after several feet in, they heard a rustling noise.

  “Someone there?” Matt asked as they all stopped in their tracks. “We’re not here to hurt you. Anyone out there? Hello!?”

  They saw someone peeking out from a tree.

  “Hey, there,” Matt called. “Do you speak English?”

  The girl did not answer. She ducked down a little more, obviously afraid.

  “Can you help us?” Cassie asked. “Our boat landed here.”

  “You have a boat?” the girl asked, coming out from her hiding spot a little.

  “Yeah,” Cassie replied. “Can you come out and talk to us?”

  The girl hesitated, but started toward them. They offered to shake her hand and introduced themselves when she reached them. She introduced herself as Brooke.

  “Are there others here?” Matt asked.

  “A few,” Brooke answered. “The others are dead.”

  “We saw the skeletons,” Matt informed, looking a little sympathetic.

  “Those were already here,” Brooke returned. “The others died in the water. Our life raft was the only one that got here.”

  “How long have you been here?” Cassie asked.

  “I don’t know,” Brooke replied. “Maybe a few years.”

  “A few years,” Matt repeated. “So you don’t know about the creatures?”

  Brooke looked confused and shook her head no. “There’s no creatures here.”

  “Good,” Matt replied. “We’re from the United States. There were chemical explosions that turned people into these creatures.”

  “Zombies,” Cassie clarified.

  “Seriously?” Brooke returned.

  “Yeah, we escaped on a yacht, but it doesn’t run, so we just floated here,” Trey explained.

  “Where are you from?” Kaylee asked.

  “Florida,” Brooke answered. “We were out on my family’s boat with friends of ours. A storm came out of nowhere and lightning hit. It caught fire and our parents put us on a life raft, but they never got here.”

  Brooke took them through the forest to a little cave. It wasn’t very big on the inside, but obvious they had been using it for shelter. Brooke introduced them to her brother Mason, her boyfriend Garrett, and Garrett’s sister Lexi.

  “How old are you?” Cassie asked.

  Brooke shrugged. “We haven’t had a way to keep up with the time, so I’m not really sure.”

  They knew their birthdays, and they learned that Brooke and Garrett were both ten, and Mason and Lexi were both thirteen. They had been there for three years come summer. Their parents had been the ones that perished, or so the children assumed. The four of them stayed with the new group in the cave that night, and Matt went over plans with them on making little huts for them to live in. He asked about storms on the island.

  “Most of the time it’s a perfect temperature and sunny,” Mason informed. “When it does storm, it’s pretty strong.”

  “Is there any bamboo here?” Matt asked.

  “No, I don’t think so,” Mason replied. “All the trees are coconut trees, and they’re really strong. Even in the worst storm none of them have fallen.”

  Matt, Mason, and Trey started work the next morning building up a home for them all. They decided to just build one large home out of the yacht. The girls did what they could to help as well. The islander kids had been shipwrecked with nothing but the clothes on their backs and some blankets. The clothes were old, tattered, and altered in an attempt to keep them covered, as they had outgrown the clothes over the years. Garrett wore Mason’s old clothes, and Brooke wore Lexi’s old clothes. Mason had used Garrett’s old shirt to make a loin cloth, and Lexi had used Brooke’s old shirt to make bottoms and a top that resembled a bikini. Cassie went through the clothes on the yacht to find something that fit a little better, and covered them a little better.

  “Okay, now all your old stuff, I can sew to make more clothes,” Cassie told them. “Do you still have the pants that don’t fit anyone?”

  Lexi had them in the cave and gave them to Cassie. Cassie cut up the materials, along with a sheet in the yacht’s linen closet and started sewing up new outfits. Luckily there had been a sewing kit on board, which had probably belonged to Cassie’s ex-aunt at one time. They had divorced a couple years before the explosions, and Cassie could tell she hadn’t really taken anything from the yacht, unless her uncle had a new girlfriend and this was her stuff. She wasn’t real
ly sure, but it didn’t much matter anymore. Whoever it belonged to, Cassie was just glad it got left behind.

  “What do you do for water?” Cassie asked.

  “We drink from the waterfall,” Brooke answered. “It’s not salt water.”

  “Awesome,” Cassie replied. “We’ve been having to filter the ocean water, but we’re nearly out of matches now.”

  “Have you been to the top where the waterfall comes down?” Kaylee asked.

  “Yeah, it’s really steep, but we went up there once,” Brooke answered. “There’s nothing up there. The water comes out of the ground and runs down right at the edge. The top was about just big enough for the four of us to stand on, and the other side slopes down to the sand, so it’s not too steep on the other side. That’s how we got up there, because the sides of it were just too steep to go up it.”

  Since they had no way of moving the boat, they had to just start taking it apart. Luckily, they had basic tools aboard that helped them accomplish the dismantling of the yacht, and then the reassemble of it. They slept in the cave in the meantime. A week after landing on the island, Trey turned thirteen years old. Just over two weeks later, Mason Wahl turned fourteen years old.

  “I’m really glad you guys showed up,” Mason told them when they were relaxing that evening. “I haven’t had a birthday since I turned eleven. Nice to know how much time has passed.”

  “I felt the same way,” Cassie informed. “I made sure to keep up with the days from the start. We had a few mishaps, so I might be off a couple days, but I guess it’s close enough.”

  A week later, the house was done. They had created a living area and four bedrooms. They only had two beds from the yacht, but they made two more out of the couches from the yacht, then made up the sitting room with the chairs from the yacht. They had an area to use for relieving themselves in the wooded area, and bathing wasn’t really an option without soap. However, they swam in the water and rinsed themselves under the waterfall quite often. They kept all the water jugs and bottles from the yacht and filled them from the waterfall, storing them in the living area. The tools they had from the yacht made it much easier to break open the coconuts as well.