4 An Eternity At Sea | Signal Two: Farewell To A Past Life

It is estimated that 95% of the ocean and 99% of the ocean floor is unexplored.

-

Brook was at sea on the USS Mystic. She was sitting on a folding chair near the front, looking out at the sky. Bradley was standing in front of her, staring wistfully into the horizon. They were both feeling content when, suddenly, they spotted land in the distance!

"Oy, we found Europe!" Bradley exclaimed, pointing excitedly towards it. He turned to face Brook, smiling. Then, a large tentacle burst out from the water and tore Bradley in half, causing blood to spew out and spill everywhere. Brook tried to scream, but all that came out was a course gag. She looked at the sky, which quickly turned from a calm orange to a dark, violent grey. Lightning began to stir up the sea, and waves crashed up against the boats hull. Suddenly, in the distance, Brook could make out a wall of water at least 50 feet high.

"TSUNAMI!" She screamed, and tried to stand up. But nothing happened. Soon, the wave of water was all she could see, and it came crashing down on her, consuming her and the USS Mystic whole.

Brook shot straight up, panting heavily. Her vision slowly cleared up, and she saw the familiar space of her bedroom. She let out a scared yet relieved sigh, then plopped back down onto her side, staring at the wall.

"What the hell was that dream?" She muttered to herself. Slowly, she stood up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. After that was done, she tied her hair back into a messy ponytail and did her morning exercises, which consisted of push-ups, squats, and various stretches. Always had to be in tip-top shape for the apocalypse. When she finished that, she ate the last can of lukewarm candied peaches she had stored away for her final breakfast in Mystic. She savored every bite of it.

"It's crazy how quickly crap like this became a luxury." She whispered to herself. After all of it was gone, she threw the can on the floor, figuring there was no point in trying to keep her room tidy anymore. She gave one long, final glance around what had been her room for the past five or so years, then pushed open the door and walked outside. A few white clouds had gathered in the orange sky, but, other than that, it was nice weather. She walked a bit more slowly than she usually did as she strolled down the sidewalk towards the beach, taking in every single familiar sight, smell, and feeling she had become so used to. In what seemed like an instant, she felt sand underneath her feet, and she could make out the rough outline of the USS Mystic at the dock. She could already see two people gathered there, Brad and Ace. She made her way over to them, greeting them both.

"Hey, you two. How's it hangin'?" Brook said, trying to put on a face of courage.

"Eh." Brad replied, shrugging.

"Well enough." Ace claimed.

"Where are the others?" Brook asked. It was odd. They didn't have a specific meeting time, but it was still odd nonetheless.

"It's around 6 A.M, y'know. Methinks we're the only ones up." Ace suggested. Six in the morning? Brook had woken up much earlier than she thought she would.

"No, there's one more person who's up." A voice came from the top of the ship's ladder. A pudgier man wearing a well-worn brown trenchcoat and tattered fedora on top of grey hair slid down the ladder, landing square on his feet.

"G'morning, Clay. Wait, how did ya hear us from up there?" Brad asked him, confused. Clay laughed.

"Twenty or so years being a detective improves your hearing, believe it or not." He quipped.

"Did you just, like, sleep on the boat?" Ace inquired, looking a tad bewildered.

"No, no. I've only been here for an hour. Couldn't sleep, so I drank some hard black coffee. Woke me right up, so I decided I might as well make sure I have everything I need on board. Then, well...I did end up falling asleep. Heard you three talking, so I took the opportunity to give you all a little scare." Clay chuckled.

"Well, you didn't really scare us, per se, Mr. Clay." Ace rhymed.

Brook was about to say something when a large, rough hand landed on her shoulder.

"How's it goin', you four?" A tough, feminine voice came from a source right next to Brook's ear.

"Wait, lemme guess who it is." Brook said, pretending to think. Of course she knew who it was. Who else had that deep voice?

"Is it...hm...Tess?" Brook asked, then flipped around.

"Damn, ya got me. What gave it away?" Tess asked, smiling. She had her black hair in a messy bun, and her favorite tattered, maroon polo shirt on.

"I dunno, maybe it was because you have the voice of a sixty year old smoker." Ace chimed in, grinning.

"I can't really sound like that, right? I'm only 41, y'know." Tess sighed.

"You're not old yet, Ms. Tess." Clay told her. Tess just gave him a shrug in response, then took a long, dangerous-looking machete out of some unseen pocket and begun sharpening it on a small rock she had made into a portable whetstone.

"Say, why do you have a weird obsession with that scary machete?" Ace asked, tilting his head. Tess looked up, then let out a quiet laugh.

"Y'know how many people I've killed with this thing?" She paused a moment for dramatic effect. "Too goddamn many. And wanna know how many times this thing has saved me?" Another beat passed. "Too goddamn many. That answer your question?" Ace just nodded nervously.

"Well, anywho. I wanna go up to my room and make sure absolutely everything is there." Tess said, then began climbing up the ladder.

"I was just about to say that I wanted to get back to doing that. See you kids in a few." Clay told them, then followed Tess up the ladder. As soon as they were out of earshot, Ace immediately began whispering to Brook and Brad.

"Is it just me, or is Tess...um...mentally unstable?" Ace asked in a hushed tone, looking genuinely scared. Brad patted him on the shoulder.

"You've only been wit' us for a year or so, yeah?" Brad questioned. Ace nodded. "Well, Tess has been part of our group for the entire five years. Do you know how many times she's saved us from almost certain death in that time? A lot. So, I want you to do us a favor and put just a bit o' faith in her, okay, boy?" Ace paused, then nodded again.

"Yeah...yeah, o' course." He said. "Now, um...I wanna go check out my room or whatever. So...I'm off." Ace said, a bit taken aback, then scampered up the ladder before Brook could react. Brad sighed.

"What an odd boy." He said.

"Well, can you blame him? Only reason he's alive is 'cuz of paranoia." Brook explained. Brad nodded, then turned to look out at the beach.

"Well, we're still waitin' on loads of people. Wanna take one last scenic tour of Mystic?" He asked Brook, smiling gently.

"Um...yeah, why not." Brook answered, and the two walked onto the endless expanse of sand. They strolled in silence for a few minutes, until Brad got a dark look on his face.

"Is something wrong?" Brook asked him, worried. Brad was about to say something, then hesitated. A moment later, he took a deep breath in.

"Say, Brook. 'fore this shit happened...back in 2020. I dunno how we've never talked about this, but...were you married?" He inquired. Brook was a bit taken aback, so it took her a few seconds to form a response.

"N-no, I never was. I didn't even have a partner. I had just broken up with my semi-abusive girlfriend before the bombs. And before that, I was dating a guy who I had caught cheating on me. So not much luck with love. I never even had a long-term relationship, much less marriage. So...no." She realized she had been ranting instead of answering the question, so she stopped herself. Brad just nodded solemnly.

"Well, that's lucky then." Brad replied after a minute. They had paused their walk, instead standing still in the middle of the beach. Nervously, Brook shifted a bit, feeling the sand underneath her mold into her footprint.

"...never mind. I shouldn't have asked about that. If we dwell too much on the past we'll start gettin' ideas. C'mon. Let's hit the ol' boardwalk." Brad said, then began walking a bit quicker than before ahead of Brook. She stood in a stunned silence for a moment, then began jogging to keep up after Brad. They walked up some stone steps leading onto the long, wooden boardwalk where certain events were held in the summer before WWIII. Brook vaguely remembered coming to the place as a child, riding the large, now decrepit, ferris wheel at the end of the walk, which gave a spectacular view of the Atlantic ocean.

"Oh, hey. Who's tha' over there?" Brad had stopped in front of an abandoned carnival game and pointed ahead, to where two figures were walking towards them.

"Um...one's in a wheelchair. So...Holly and Carl, I'm guessing." Brook replied, squinting at them. A tall, leaner woman wearing a navy blue sweater and glasses was pushing a wheelchair with an old man in thick, black clothes and a large pair of glasses.

"Oy! Young people!" The old man yelled in a deep, coarse voice.

"Yes, yes, Carl. It looks like Brad and Brook also decided to visit the boardwalk." The woman replied. The four met in the middle, and Brad spoke to them.

"Fancy seeing you two here. How's it going?" He asked them.

"Holly was very sad." Carl said matter-of-factly.

"H-hey, Carl. Please don't tell them that." Holly said to him, looking a bit flustered.

"It's fine, Holly. We're all depressed today." Brook reassured her. "So, anyways. Why'd you two come here?"

"Probably the same reason as you. To say goodbye to Mystic. Carl really wanted to come here one last time." Holly told her.

"Yes. I'm going to miss Mystic. ...Very much." Carl said, looking depressed.

"Aw, I'm sorry, Carl. Just make sure you two get to the boat in an hour or two, okay?"

"Aye-aye!" Carl said, saluting, then chuckling to himself. Holly just nodded, then the two headed off in the opposite direction, Carl loudly chanting a sea shanty to himself.

"He's gettin' more and more senile by the day." Brad said.

"Well, he fought in Vietnam. The 2020 bombs were just too much to handle for him. He took it a lot better than I thought he would, though." Brook replied, shaking her head.

"I do feel bad for Holly, 'owever. She took it upon herself to take care of poor Carl. We didn't even ask her or anything...she's just a naturally sweet girl. She doesn't deserve what's happened to her life." Brad sighed.

"Yeah...did you hear what Edith said the other day about Carl?" Brook said, to which Brad shook his head. "She said that we should just leave Carl behind to fend for himself. Holly started crying, of course, then Edith said 'Well, you can just stay with him since you love him so much!'" Brad opened his eyes wide in shock.

"Dammit. Of course it's Edith. We should leave HER behind." Brad expressed angrily. "Anyway. What'd you do next?"

"I almost slapped that bitch!" Brook burst out. "I just barely stopped myself. Instead, I told her to get the hell out of my sight. She must've seen the homicidal intent in my eyes or something, 'cuz she just shrugged and walked out." Brook said, her voice quivering slightly.

"I wish we had never let her into the group. Dammit, it's only because she gave us shelter for the first few months after the bombing. Now she thinks she's entitled to our resources and whine about what she's given because of it. She thinks she's a saint, for cryin' out loud!" Brad exclaimed.

"I agree one hundred percent. But we can't just kick her out. She's just...annoying and opinionated. She's not doing any real harm." Brook argued.

"Well, when we're out on the sea, I know for a fact that she's going to be the main source of any trouble we encounter, Brook." Brad countered. Brook didn't feel like arguing any further, so she just shrugged and began walking back towards the beach.

"Where are we goin' now?" Brad asked, calm again.

"I dunno, really. I don't feel like going into town. We've already seen the only noteworthy thing in Mystic. Wanna just head back to the boat?" Brook questioned.

"Um...I mean, the bar is a good place." Brad replied, clearly fantasizing over a drink or two.

"The place is clean, Brad! You check it every other day, don't you? Stuff doesn't just appear there, y'know." Brook retorted, shattering any dream Brad had of booze. They were heading back to the USS Mystic when, all of a sudden, they heard a voice behind them.

"Hey, Brad 'n Brook. Are you two already goin' to the boat?"

Brook turned around to see who it was. What greeted her eyes was a girl wearing a dark purple t-shirt, dirty jeans and dirty blonde hair in a ponytail.

"Oh, 'ello there, Joy. How's it goin'?" Brad said to the girl, giving a little wave.

"Alright, I guess. I didn't really wanna go to the boat as soon as I woke up, so I jogged around the block a few times. I was heading down there when I saw you two, so I snuck up on ya. Did I scare you?" She asked.

"Um...yeah, sure." Brook answered.

"...dammit. Next time, though!" Joy responded, grinning. "Anyways, what're you guys up to?"

"Um, nothing much, to be honest. Just...saying bye to good ol' Mystic, Connecticut." Brad responded.

"I don't really feel the need to give a proper farewell. I've said goodbye to so many things, it's sort've become part of my life, y'know?" Brook and Brad nodded solemnly. "Anywho. You seen Ace around?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

"We saw him last at the boat. He's probably in his room right now." Brook told Joy, who smiled.

"Alrighty. I just wanted to hang out with him. See ya!" Joy walked past the duo, scampering off to the dock where the USS Mystic was.

"She's good friends with Ace, it seems." Brad remarked.

"Well, yeah. She's 18 and he's 19. He's the only one remotely in her age group. They have a lot of chemistry, too. Both energetic, both young when the bombs hit. Only difference is that Joy lost everything in the bombs while Ace was already by himself." Brook remarked. Brad didn't say anything in response. A minute passed before Brook said "Well, suppose we should get back to the ship. It's about time to...leave." She had a hard time saying the last word. It was such a surreal thing to do, leaving your home to go to sea.

"Yeah. Hopefully the others are already there." Brad replied, and the two made their way to the dock. When they got there, they found Celeste holding a crying Maya.

"Sh-sh-sh, baby. Look, Mr. Brad and Ms. Brook are here!" Celeste mouthed "HELP ME!" to the two, then began to pat the small child's head.

"Hiya, Maya! Aw, what's wrong?" Brook said to her, doing her best to sound gentle.

"Mom s-says w-we're leaving h-home!" Maya said, voice quivering and tears streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry, baby, but we have to. I've been telling you this for months." Celeste said, gently rocking Maya, who eventually began just sobbing silently.

"She's not taking it well at all. Even when I told her she could watch her stupid pony show on the boat. She's just been crying and crying. Am I doing something wrong, Brook?" Celeste whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

"No, no. This is natural for a seven year old. I feel like crying, too. We all do." Brook answered, trying her best to console Celeste.

"I wanna watch pony show. Mom, pony show!" Maya said, any trace of sadness gone. Celeste just chuckled.

"What is with children and having the ability to switch personalities at will...?" Celeste whispered to herself. "She's happy, though, so I ain't questioning it. Alright, Maya, we gotta climb up this ladder. Can you do that?" Celeste asked the child, who had waddled over to the base of the ladder leading up the boat. She giggled and began climbing it quickly.

"Hey! Wait for mom, Maya!" Celeste exclaimed, taking the spot below Maya on the ladder. Celeste helped Maya slowly make their way up into the boat, finally hopping over the top. When they were out of earshot, Brad laughed.

"Children are wild creatures sometimes." Brook nodded in agreement, then began climbing up the ladder herself. She made it up and over the side of the boat, and found herself on the starboard. Brad popped up next to her and breathed in deeply.

"I'll miss solid ground, that's for sure." He said to himself.

"I'm going to my room. I just need to...lie down for a bit. Lemme know when everybody is here, 'kay?" Brook requested. Brad nodded, and Brook walked down towards the stern of the boat, finding a room labeled "BROOK, CELESTE, MAYA, JOY". She opened up the door and walked into the small, undecorated room with two plain bunk beds on either side. A few cardboard boxes were scattered about, a few being her own possessions. The only slightly interesting thing in the area was a desk from Brook's room with her journal lying down on it. She decided she would take the upper bunk on the right side, climbing up a small ladder and lying down on the mattress, resting her head on a pillow. It was quite hot, so she didn't pull up her blanket. She only meant to rest her eyes, but, before she knew it, she was asleep, already dreaming of the horrible future that awaited her.

-

An Eternity At Sea | Signal Two: Farewell To A Past Life

By SevenTheWriter