PAINFULL DESTINY

Through the corridors however, in one of the ship lavatories, a door opened. From inside, innocently walked out a young man who was dressed in the same way servants on the ship dress.

"I like your working spirit," happily walking towards the sink tap to wash his hands, the young servant said to an old man, a janitor, who was busy moping the floor.

Smiling warmly due to the compliment, the old man stood up straight with the long stick mopper in hands and replied "thank you!" to the young man.

"Chefs made something special for all of us today as workers to enjoy. I suggest you don't take too long to join because some of us out there have real a big appetite", added the young servant warm-heartedly, as he washed his hands clean.

Noding his head positively in response, an old janitor expressed gratitude. As the young man found his way out, crossing path with the old janitor who kept a bright smile on his face, he smiled back at him. The young man walked out and the door behind him closed. The old janitor got back to squeezing the rag on the marble floor, wiping it clean.

Through the corridor, carefreely walked the young servant back to were he conducted his duties on the ship. On his way, he met a trolley filled with already used utensils and leftovers, which were perhaps from one of the executive rooms on the ship. He pushed the trolley along with him.

As the young man reached a certain door, he aimed at pulling it open, which he did. As he pushed the trolley a few steps out, under one of his shoes felt sticky. Smartly, the young man lifted the leg to check what was inconveniencing his smooth walk an a marble floor.

"Ketchup!" The young servant exclaimed, as he carefully felt it with fingers and observed with the eyes.

Intrigued, the young servant spaced himself a lit bit from the trolley and looked down on the floor to see where he had stepped into the what he expected to be ketchup. To his wonder, it was not a simple stain of ketchup on the floor like he thought, but a pool of a red sticky liquid flowing from an opposite door.

Curiously, the young servant was forced to leave the trolley behind a little bit and check out for the source of such a vast red liquid. Carefully, he pushed the opposite door open and suddenly, was his eyes widely open to a shock.

Fleet-footed, the young servant went down to the floor and here, one of his colleagues in service, also a fellow young man, was laying in what he confirmed doubtlessly to be blood that came out of him.

"Larry... Larry! Darn!" Frightened, the young man yelled his colleague's name and added an anxious curse with a very terrified face, trembling both hands and mouth.

As he looked around the area in panic, his mind got an idea about an exit door ahead. Quickly, the young man stood up and began calling for help as he ran toward the door. Only for his eyes to land on a yard of dead colleagues when he pulled it open.

Overwhelmed by numbers laying down in blood pools, the young servant's eyes got stuck in one position. As his body trembled, slowly he walked coldly gape-jawed. At certain point he broke down on his knees and busted in tears.

Next to him was a dead young man with huge claw marks in an open chest whom he cried passionately for. The dead young man was this servant's young brother, youths almost the same age range.

Within the private lounge where all chaos started, was a private office room. Inside it was a stunningly dressed young lady named Tsunami dressed in a colourful bikini outfit.

Dancing drunk to loud music with a big bottle of liquor, almost empty in hands, Tsunami enjoyed her own company.

As Tsunami made drunkard dance moves infront of a wide mirror stuck on the wall, she noticed her liquor was almost finished. Exhausted, Tsunami sipped the remaining potion to the last drop and dizzily placed the empty bottle on the desk nearby.

Almost a hour-long drunk she was unable to walk straight. Dizzily, Tsunami grabbed the door handle and pulled it open to get out of the private office. As she came out into the lounge which she did not know was messy, accidentally her foot crushed with an obstacle and she fell down.

"Arrrrrrrr..!" On top of her voice Tsunami sharply screamed terribly horrified.

On a decapitated victim, one of the merged bouncers to Franklin Baron, Tsunami found herself. As she panicked to crawl off, her hand slipped. Looking at the palm, blood was all over it. At the moment all the booze which had dominated her consciousness had disappeared.

In fearful panick, Tsunami kept sliding back down on the floor as she struggled to get up and go with all her attention on the exit which had no door at that moment. Finally, Tsunami picked herself up and started to maneuver horrendously, her way through broken tables and upside-down chairs.

It was not over yet. As she horrendously maneuvered through, unpreparedly Tsunami saw Franklin Baron on the side, laying dead too. Horror-struck, unconsciously Tsunami fainted in a shock.

Within the kitchen chembers tucked inside the ship, an innocent head of chefs walked, green about the situation outside. He got to a cold room where meats and perishables were stored.

Inside the cold room, as he turned animal carcasses hanged up on hooks to make a better selection for tomorrow's dishes, a coughing voice came from behind him. Immediately, the head chef turned to see who had coughed and to his shock, down near the cold room door the young boss Felix was squatting timidly.

"Darn, Mr Felix! What the hell are you doing in here?" The chef wondered as he eagerly came to meet him where he was squatting.

"Don't tell me you miss winter seasons already! You really need to get out of here if you still value your health!" Cautiously the head chef advised Felix.

Hands crossed, body shivering and skin iced, Felix was in a worrying condition when the chef got close to him.

"Darn, look at what you've done to yourself Mr Felix! Whats the matter?" Worriedly concerned, the head chef asked Felix, who was shivering in shock.

"Come on let me get you out of here," He asked as he supported him by the hand to get up on his feet.

Felix: "H h, his head went off!"

Chef: "What are you talking about?!"

Felix: "It rolled and stopped on my shoe! Not a movie this time!"

Chef: "You don't seem to be fine Mr Felix, let go get some warmth."

Carefully, the head chef accompanied Felix outside the cold room. With a white crown on the head and a white chef's gown on, the grown up head chef took Felix into a warm area within the kitchen.

"Don't worry you're going to be fine here," the head chef said to Felix after sitting his shivering body down.

"Head chef!" Called one of the four other chefs who were busy preparing spices on the opposite side, "What's wrong with Mr Felix?" He asked.

The head chef walked to closer to the crew where Felix couldn't hear his submission and whispered to his subordinates.

"If he's not on drugs, then I don't know... you can't believe if I tell you he's been squatting in the cold room for quite sometime!"

"That's weird!" One of the four chefs said in a whisper too.

"Scary weird", the head chef stressed still in a whisper. "Did anyone of you see him passing?"

"Everyone saw him passing here in a hurry!" Another one answered, looking at the other colleagues who confirmed to have seen Felix entering the kitchen.

"Since he usually comes here to check what we have on the menu, none of us bothered," in a discussion, the chefs united.

From a distance, in a warm compartment of the kitchen, Felix's eyes were widely open towards the chefs as he recoved from excessive coldness. All their eyes were on him as they conversed.

"Trouble has not reached them yet thats why they're so relaxed", at the back of his mind, Felix spoke with himself.

"Hey you!" On top of his voice a moment later he shouted at them, an indication he had gotten better.

Startled, all the five chefs distructfully got their attention pulled by his unexpected loud voice.

"Has anyone of you left the kitchen in the past twenty to thirty minutes?" He asked them.

"No!" Curiously replied their leader, the head chef.

"Uh, I suggest you don't step your feet out of these kitchen chembers if you really need to see tomorrow," Felix cautioned them in a serious but calm voice tone.

"Is there something we need to know Mr Felix?" One of the chefs asked as they all starred at him keenly.

Flash images of the head rolling, body falling and blood splashing appeared on Felix's mind. He kept quiet and looked aside tormented without an explanation.

As curiosity kept the chefs uncomfortably conducting their work, Suddenly the head chef came out of the counter. Immediately, the other four chefs came out too and joined him. In a straight line, they started walking towards the door.

"Wait wait wait!" Nervously anxious, Felix stood up so fast, "you cannot go out there... it's not safe at all!"

"Mr Felix, the more you talk like that the more curious you make us. We all know there's nothing as safe as this ship. We're only going to check and come back", replied the head chef worriedlessly.

Since they had already up their minds, Felix wasn't able to convince them. Inquisitively all the five chefs continued to walk towards the door to find their way out.

Without a clear explanation to give to them, Felix thought it through. Thereafter, he took a deep breath and hurried to join their line as the last man from behind.

"Just be careful," Felix spoke behind them, tiptoeing like a spy outside the kitchen chembers.

To their surprise when they looked over their shoulders suspiciously after hearing the voice, they saw their young boss Felix in a line with them, which left some of them shaking their heads wondering.

"Where's everyone?" One chef asked as they carefully walked ahead.

"Look guys!" From a distance another chef happened to see an abandoned gun down on the ground.

Nervously, they turned their eyes on Felix and began to consider his warning words. Carefully, the head chef tiptoed to were the gun was; near the edge of the wall, down on the ground.

As the head chef bent down to pick the gun from the ground, he saw a security guard laying down. When he moved his eyes beyond, shockingly every security guard on the ship was down, laying in a blood pool and their guns were scattered all over the place.

In a few metres away from him, his team noticed the weird expresssion on his face, also fixed in one direction with widely open eyes.

"Is everything okay?" His fellow chefs wondered and slowly walked closer from behind him to see what had eaten up his mind.

To their shock, security guards laid down dead, scattered all over the place. Felix, terrified on the face, slowly walked forward as the last man from behind to see for himself. As soon as he saw corpses of the people he knew well scattered everywhere everywhere in blood pools, got nauseated and vomited.

Slowly, light began to consume darkness. A new day came as the sun rose brightly. The two shabby hobos, Kevin Moore and his friend Suxes, proceeded on the streets of Capricon city. Sooner than later, outside a cafeteria both of them stopped and stood.

"I had a good job and a female friend who loved me unconditionally, but I stupidly ruined everything." Miserably Suxes spoke with emotional memories, as he gazed at the cafeteria.

Suxes, by his nervousness, seemed to have a regretful story. However, Kevin Moore, in his barbaric ways, barely had no idea about what Suxes was talking about. He kept a simple but a bit confused look as he as well starred at the cafeteria.

Suddenly, while they were still standing in their shabby outfits and kevin barefooted, a young lady named Brittany angrily walked out of the cafeteria. Dressed in a cafeteria uniform, she walked straight to confront Suxes, who quickly humbled himself when he saw her.

Brittany: "What the hell are you doing here?"

Suxes: "Hi Brittany... please meet my friend Kevin Moore!"

Brittany: "You know you're not welcome here or anywhere close to me!"

Suxes: "A a am truly sorry but, please listen to me, I need your help!"

Brittany: "No! I don't want anything attached to you! Stop looking out for me or else I will call the police on you!"

Suxes: "If you just listen to what am about to tell you this once, I promise never to disturb you again, please!"

Brittany: "I helped you enough Suxes! And what did I gain in return? Betrayal! I can't do the same mistakes anymore am sorry, help yourself and leave right now!"

Suxes: "Okay, am trying to help my friend here to find his father. He has never seen his father before, but at least I know you as a kind person. Do this last favour for him not me, please!"

Brittany: "Do I look like I care? And you! (She turned to Kevin) my life has been messed up enough by your friend here, advised him wisely."

Suxes: "Kevin is barbaric, I don't think he understands what you're talking about."

Brittany: "I am struggling with our daughter Suxes! Bills on bills... three jobs in a row to make sure she gets a better life! And here you are shamelessly asking for my help!"

Suxes: "Since I was released from jail three years ago, no one is trusting me with a job. It's not that I don't want to support my family!"

Brittany: "Cut the crap Suxes! We are nolonger your family. Only for the sake of your friend thats why I've not called the police yet. Now say what you want to say I don't want to see you."

Suxes: "His father's name is Sean Moore written on this piece of paper, probably a diver twenty to twenty five years ago. Just search about him on your internet and thats all."

Brittany: "Only this once and never ever show your face near me again!"

Suxes: "Only this once I promise."

Angruly, Brittany grabbed the piece of paper out of Suxes' hand and hurried back inside the cafeteria.

With a compassionate smile, Kevin Moore looked at Suxes like, "Darn, whatever you did to your girlfriend to hate you this much was so seriously."

After a little while, Brittany walked back.

"Twenty-five years ago, after a trip from the sea, Sean Moore discovered he had a brain tumor. It is said that he went for a surgery which didn't go well and after a few years bedridden he died," Brittany informed them.

"But his best friend named Gang Du still lives. You can find him on this address", Calmly, Brittany spoke and handed over a piece of paper to Kevin Moore.

She then walked out of their faces without even responding to a humble thank you Suxes regarded. Brittany's antagonism against Suxes was so bad. However, Suxes stayed an understanding cool hobo holding a shameful look on his face.

As they walked along, Suxes asked Kevin Moore, who didn't seem to feel sad about the sorrowful news of his father's death, what he was planning to do next.

"What is brain tumor?" Kevin asked eagerly after being silent for a minute.

"Uh.., its a swelling inside the head," Suxes gave a brief understandable answer.

"So, the reason why my father never came back to see my mother is because he died! Am relieved right now to have news to tell my mother when I go back home", looking overwhelmed, Kevin Moore told Suxes.

Suxes: "Sorry about your father man!"

Kevin: "Its alright, and... thank you for being a special kind of a human being."

Suxes: "Don't flatter me man! You've just witnessed how Brittany perceives me a while ago...! A darn loser who messed up her life! And I don't blame her. How I wish I can take back the hands of time...!"

Kevin: "Relax, this is a free world. You need to be happy with your life nomatter what."

Suxes: "But am going to miss you!"

Kevin: "I didn't see that coming!"

Suxes: "I think you need to find your father's friend on the address given to you. He can tell you more about the kind of person your father was."

Kevin: "What is address? Oh this! I've actually forgot about this thing (paper) but keep it my mission here is fulfilled. (Kevin handed the piece of paper over to Suxes)."

Suxes: "Are you sure you don't need to know anything else about your late father?"

Kevin: "I miss my mother. Besides, humans are scary... I don't fit in."

Suxes: "You can't say that! At least take me as an example. Besides, you may be having a brother or a sister who is a human from your father's side somewhere."

Kevin: "I feel the loneliness surrounding my mother right now. It seems she needs me."

Across the road, Kevin Moore saw an aged couple in eachother's chest sharing a hug. Eagerly, he asked Suxes the meaning of what the two were doing, and Felix told him it is a sign of friendship, compassion and care for one another.

Kevin Moore smiled brightly with his eyes at the old couple.

"Bye bye!" As Kevin Moore started on his journey back to the sea to meet his mother Meg, Suxes waved at him.

THANK YOU READER.