I face planted into the snow and accepted my fate. I’d lost and nature had one. I closed my eyes and let the darkness consume me. Just before I lost consciousness a sharp crackle ripped through the air then there was quiet.
CHAPTER 23
FOR TOMORROW WE KILL TODAY
I awoke in a dim room, lying on a cot. My arm was sore and my head felt like it’d been slammed in the trunk of a car, but I was warm and more importantly, I was alive.
I turned to my side and waited for my vision to adjust. A white bandage ran from my wrist up to my elbow and an IV was embedded in the back of my hand.
“It’s for the infection,” Cynthia said with a smile.
I gasped as my eyes settled on her face. “I thought…I thought I was dead,” I said with a quivering voice.
“Craig found you,” she replied. “From what I hear there’s quite a story to go with it.”
“Grayson!” I snapped and sat up.
“He’s fine, he’s fine,” she said and put her hands on my shoulders. “Right there.” She pointed.
There was a cot a few feet to the side of mine. Grayson was asleep curled up underneath a blanket. I ‘d never felt so relieved.
“Said he wasn’t leaving until you were better.”
“How long have I been out?”
“Only a few hours.”
“What about Henry and Chris.”
The door opened before she could answer. My vision was still a little blurry, but two figures were standing near the entrance talking. One of them started walking my way and as they got closer I could see Craig’s face smiling from ear to ear.
“I thought we’d lost you,” he said and stopped next to my bed.
“I hear you’re the one that found me. What happened?”
“I…we saw you fall. I got Cynthia and Grayson to the cave then came looking for you and Abraham.”
I lowered my head. “He didn’t survive the fall. What about Henry and Chris? Did they make it?”
“No. They weren’t as lucky as you…hit the rocks on the way down.”
“Jesus.”
“I wish I could’ve got to you sooner. The blizzard got too bad so I had to wait until the morning. It’s a miracle you survived out there.”
“Where are we?” I asked.
Craig smiled then his face slowly morphed into a frown. “The Mayflower,” he said grimly.
“So, we made it!”
“Yeah, but…but there’s something else.”
“What?” I felt a nervous calm sweep over me.
“They left us.”
“What do you mean they left us?”
“The ship is gone MJ.”
“No! No, that’s not true.” I turned and let my legs fall off the bed. I tried to stand up, but my head spun like a ballerina and I sat back down. “They wouldn’t leave. They couldn’t!”
I thought about it over and over in my head. They needed three of us, they needed me, at least that’s what I’d told myself. But I knew deep down that as soon as they had enough override codes they were leaving.
My heart sank and I buried my face in my hands. I’d done so much, so many things I regretted and I lost the most important man in my life for nothing. At the end of the day, we were all doomed to the same fate as everyone else.
“We’re all gonna die,” I mumbled.
A shadow moved in the door and the person Craig had been talking to started walking toward us. I couldn’t make out their face in the dim light, but there was something familiar about them.
“There might be another way,” Craig started. “We might not die here.”
The figure got closer and closer. I narrowed my eyes as their murky form took shape. It was a man, a man I’d seen before.
“There’s a backup plan,” Craig said. “MJ, I want you to meet—"
“Max Neilman,” I said in shock.
~THE END~
~Continue the journey with~
“Over Board: Deconstruction Book Four”
Coming October 2017
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DECONSTRUCTION THE SERIES
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About the Author
The date was October 31, 1979. The air was cool and a light fog blew in from the gulf, cloaking the Tampa area in an ominous, tight-fitting tunic. The annual Halloween festivities had just begun and a night of mischievous tomfoolery was afoot.
Scandalous and nefarious characters took flight. Doorbells were rung and ill-boding tricks were played regardless of the treats given. This was the dark reality of the bustling Florida metropolitan.
To the north, Grateful Dead crooned the night's theme music at the Nassau Coliseum. Within earshot of the concert, witnesses stated a UFO hovered over the grounds for thirty minutes before vanishing.
At the same time the Cromarty's were busy hosting their notorious Halloween party at 112 Ocean Ave., better known as the Amityville Horror House. Screams and cries for help were reported throughout the night, punctuated with the disappearance of the family next door. They were never heard from again.
Unknowingly altering the course of history, Kurt Vonnegut released "Jailbird" the same week KISS gained infamy on The Tomorrow Show. The aftermath of this collision would not be felt for decades until the emergence of Justin Bieber.
After a night filled with mayhem and destruction and the deaths of several prominent entertainers, politicians and a notorious bank robber, the Federal government was forced to loan $1.5 billion dollars to Chrysler. This spurred a series of violent protests, resulting in the Brunah Agate oil spill. Over 10.7 million gallons of oil were dumped into the Galveston Bay. This became the worst oil spill disaster in U.S. history.
A few hours later, on November 1, 1979, Rashad Freeman was born. Feel free to draw your own conclusions.
"I'm a writer, I right things."
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