Lynch
Lancer
ROUGH SAILING
Somewhere out in Europe there was a ship, wobbling from side to side; fighting the storm. Cargo creaked and croaked, ready to fall out. At this time of year, the weather was usually kind, but this year was different. Oh well… – can’t fight mother nature; a sailor thought, looking through the bridge window, slurping his boiling coffee. He’s been at it for a few hours now, cup after cup. He had no choice but to keep his eyes peeled, and steer the wheel in the right direction. There were a few regrets in his life: one of them was signing up to be a navigation officer. This was going to be Haul number… what? #87578? He’d forgotten, but that didn’t matter, besides the money that kept flowing into his pockets. The rest of the crew were in beds, dreaming of prettier places, or gambling away their coin with each other. He’d say they were luckier than him, if it weren’t for the fact that they were all trapped in the same shitty, barnacle infested boat. There was no happiness to be found here, no fulfillment, just birds shitting on you. But again, the money kept rolling, and so he was happy, in some way.
He placed his coffee on the table in front of him, and kept those eyes open with a pair of fingers. The sea kept throwing a bigger, and bigger tantrum with each minute, until eventually, the back and forth sway of the ship became unbearable – tools started slipping, and falling down to the floor. With a good push of the ship; his cup of joe suddenly came crashing down and spilled all over his pants. The sensation of hot coffee spilling all over his crotch did jolt him awake for good this time, and he quickly jumped off the chair. He felt a bit nauseous, nauseous enough to want to vomit. Sea sickness eventually hit every sailor, but our sailor was prone to it in particular. He left the mess as it was, and quickly swung open a door; stepping out into the pouring rain. He latched onto some rusty rails to make his way down a set of stairs, almost slipping to his death. Then, he tiptoed to the edge of the ship with a gag here and there. His head popped out to the ravaging waves below. A slurry of coffee, mixed with yesterday’s breakfast painted the hull of the ship, and then some. Something drew him closer, and he leaned a little too far, until he felt like he was slipping. He also felt something pinch his collar… and just like that; he was pulled back into the ship, landing on his rear.
“Goood… Fuking… DAMM! Yuu little shit. Ho told yuu can shit all over my ship? This exactly WHY we brought bucket! Fuk yu!”
The officer looked up and stared with his half peeled eyes. What he witnessed was the ship’s captain. Though, he didn’t need to see. He could already recognize who it was just by that Chinese… or Japanese… - or from whatever pit of hell he climbed out of snarl. He didn’t wear any pants, only underwear, and a tank top. Freshly out of bed. Or maybe that was just his style.
“Get up! Get!”
He yelled some more with a pant, and then poked his head over the board.
“Hooly… sheet... Yuu are going to be ASSFUKED!”
The officer stood, nodded, and spoke:
“Yea, yea – dun’... sweat it, Captain. If this fuckin’ rain continues? Everythin’ will be shiny clean. Even your chink-ass will have all the yellow washed off you.”
“I swear to god, I will beat yur ASS! Get tha fuk back to the bridge and do job. ALSO - CLEAN THA FUKING DESK!”
“I swear to god, I will beat yur ASS! Get tha fuk back to the bridge and do job. ALSO - CLEAN THA FUKING DESK!”
The officer agreed to disagree, and quietly spat on the floor to clear his throat as the captain carefully walked back up to the bridge. Something rumbled behind them - thunder rumbled. And, while it always had rumbled, it was more extreme. More lively than ever. He walked towards the front deck. After a hundred years of servitude, he finally saw a patch of land and yelled:
“Hey… HEY! CAPTAIN CHINA! I SEE LAND! WE’RE CLOSE TO DROPOFF! – WAKE THE CREW, WILL YOU, MAN!?”
The said captain shot him a middle finger behind the bridge window.
Still, the ship sprung to life. Some headlights flickered on, and illuminated the area. The ship rumbled as men rushed outside to prepare the cargo in the heavy rain. He stared at the distant port; it was barely visible, hidden by clouds, but thunder’s light still emanated through them. It seemed like the land didn’t have it any better, in fact, quite worse. Either way, he had work to do, and began walking towards the bridge, dodging a few mates along the way.
Then, it got quiet. The waves calmed down, the rain stopped, and the thunder was silenced. The men too. Some kind of whizz could be heard shooting through the air. The officer stopped on the stairs, trying to juggle a ciggie out of a pack. He turned his head to the distant port. It was finally visible, the clouds had clea… –
Swathes of blue, sparking energy hit the ship like a shockwave. It almost flipped the whole cargo ship upside down. Everything was flung around - the cargo, the men, and the officer. He bashed his head against a metal pole, but miraculously didn’t fall off the stairs, and was alive. Still, that brain damage was a problem. He laid collapsed there on the stairs, barely conscious. His sight was blurry – but some light and things did enter his vision. There were balls of green light appearing out of thin air – and the waters around the ship were glowing the same. He heard screams, whails, and sobs. Perhaps stepping foot onto this ship was the biggest regret of his life now. He didn’t have time to ponder - he was grabbed by his arms, and dragged into the bridge. A familiar, but panicked, trembling voice was heard.
“Yu… okay? Yu..-- Wake up, man.”
His guardian angel had saved him twice now. The officer raised his head, and slowly slumped over to a wall.
“HO-LEE FUK! MAN! WHAT THE FUK ARE THOSE THINGS!? DO YOU – DO YUU SEE THAT? MONSTERS! I HAVE TO BE DREAMING!”
His Captain knelt down, merely peeking his eyes out to see what was going on outside. The sight was inhuman. Unnatural. Supernatural. In other words, people were being torn to shreds by some sort of… creatures. They were not from this planet; had different shapes, sizes. One of those ‘things’ had tentacles for its mouth. They were munching on a man, starting from the toes, and finishing with the head. Another, latched onto heads and cracked them open.
A loud BANG! Was heard in the lower sections of the ship, accompanied by more screaming. The man slowly stood. The side of his head was bloodied, and bruised.
He too looked outside.
“What the fuck?... - What the FUCK is going ON, Kenji? Are we… – Are we getting hijacked? By pirates?”
Kenji cranked his head between the outside and the officer. He then pointed through the window.
“Do… – Do THAT look like fukin’ Somali Pirates to yu? Are you fukin’...”
He looked down at the floor, speechless, and then back at him.
“I don’t KNOW! I DON’T KNOW!”
The Officer placed a hand on Kenji’s shoulder.
“It’s… – Yeah. It’s okay. We’ll just… We just gotta escape, okay? Get the fuck out of this shithole, okay? We’ll figure everything out. Later…”
Kenji nodded, and they both peered outside the window for a moment. Another loud BANG! Was heard from the lower levels of the ship – and the platform tilted a little to the side.
“Whatee fuk is happening...?”
Kenji asked, quietly, with a small sob. He was ready to burst into tears. And so was the officer.
“God…- fuckin’ knows. Only god. Only that dickhead knows. All I know is that everything here is falling to shit. Hey – there’s pyrotechnics in here, right? Where’s that box?”
Kenji pointed at the corner of the room. There was a red, metal case with the word ‘PYROTECHNICS’. But the casing’s panel had a keyhole.
“I think I left key at… – Arh… fuk this.”
Kenji quickly stomped his way outside, trying to ignore the cries of his crew. He then tugged on the same pole that hit his officer’s head – and ripped it off altogether. He ran up to the panel, and began bashing it. Fortunately, everything here on this ship of theirs was made cheap. So, the flimsy panel was bashed loose, and fell off. The contents spilled out: flares, a flare gun, and flare shells. They grabbed what they had, and left the bridge. The clouds were dark, and periodically lit up with green streaks of thunder, and the distant port was up in flames. Most of the crewmates were slaughtered, at least on the main bridge. The Officer popped open his flare gun and inserted a flare using his two pairs of trembling hands.
“There - should beee… a lifeboat in tee ship's port.”
They quietly climbed down the stairs, took a turn to the ship’s port, and… the lifeboats weren’t there. They were already detached, drifting away.
“ ‘Ji. Our taxi is… drifting away. You heard that? – What I said? We gotta HURRY, MAN! ”
The two ran down the stairs, causing a commotion. A thing skittered out of a container. A small, ugly thing. It leapt towards the Officer. He shot a flare just as it did, and it screeched in pain. Up in flames; it ran away elsewhere. A loud growl was heard a couple steps away.
“These THINGS keep poppin’ out of satan’s ASS! WHERE’S OUR BOAT!?”
“Uup there! By tee… – Just follow.”
“Uup there! By tee… – Just follow.”
They hauled to the front bridge, and ended up right at the ledge, just below – their ticket off the boat. Kenji lit a flare and threw it behind them, setting ablaze a peculiar three-legged creature. The ship tilted even more. It was hard to keep balance.
“Yu first, okay? I fear heights.”
“Me first? You joking wit’ me? You’re not the only one with phobias – Fuck you. Get…– Get your ass down there.”
“Me first? You joking wit’ me? You’re not the only one with phobias – Fuck you. Get…– Get your ass down there.”
The two pansies argued, and the boat drifted further away. Until, a certain roar was heard. It was one of those… squid creatures. It rushed towards them; past the burning one. In an unspoken, unanimous agreement, they both jumped into the waters at the same time. The water below them was still glowing green, and they could just about… see something, swimming. Yet – they continued driving towards the lifeboat. Our officer barely grabbed onto it, but he did, and he lifted himself up, quickly firing up the engine. He yelled out:
“KENJI! – KENJI GET YOUR FUCKING ASS IN HERE! STOP FUCKING AROUND!”
Kenji wasn’t doing so well, in terms of getting in there.
Yet, he eventually catched on and grabbed a rail.
“Sorry. Sorry for being an ass, Lubor. Bad day, I guess.”
“Kenji, you can kiss my ass after this – just get in the boat.”
“Kenji, you can kiss my ass after this – just get in the boat.”
Lubor extended an arm to Kenji, and he grabbed onto it. He raised his feet, almo… —
Something flew out of the glowing waters. A serpent. A disgusting, great one. It snatched Kenji just before he could place his other foot into the boat, and sunk him into the deep. The lifeboat was pushed about fifty meters away by the creature’s wave. It flipped, and shook around, giving Lubor a good toss in there. The boat eventually calmed down, and he stuck his head out. No sight of Kenji, and the ship was just about buried under the waters. His body felt numb, he couldn’t think, or move. Lubor cranked the motor back on, and steered the wheel towards the burning port.
Darker things awaited.
