The Final Voyage, John Reeves [best historical fiction books of all time txt] 📗

(Part-1) "The Second Chance"

Butch and Carrie had looked forward to their cruise. It was the first time they'd really gone anywhere since the kids were much younger. Marco their oldest son had joined the ARMY after high school, he'd been out of the house for two years. Susan the youngest of the children had just left home going to school at North Carolina State.
As the two of them boarded the incrediblely large ship, it was bigger than either one of them thought it'd be. They checked in and were assigned a cabin. The word cabin made it sound small but, like the ship it was much bigger than they imagined it to be. Butch packed his Viagra for when the time got right. He still found Carrie attractive, he didn't know why he had trouble getting the job done between the sheets.
When they got to cabin 123, Butch wondered how many rooms the entire ship had. The size of the room shocked him. He'd thought they'd be around the size of a hotel room, they were twice that size. The two of them made small talk while they unpacked their belongings. Carrie put a very provocative negligee in the drawer, she too intended on that trip getting sexual.
"I wonder if we'll feel the ship move when we take off" Carrie asked.
"I imagine we will, unless we go down to the cocktail bar and have a few drinks. Butch wanted to go down to the bar. He knew the liquor made Carrie horny.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Carrie wanted to have a good time, she wanted to take advantage of everything the ship had to offer.
The bar wasn't very full when they entered, then the other patrons arrived as the ship left the dock. It still wasn't overly packed, as many of the people wanted to watch it pull away. Butch was drinking Manhattans, while Carrie was drinking margaritas. They acknowledged the moment they thought the large vessel pulled away from land. Neither of them really knew if they were right about the time of departure. Carrie while going to the bathroom took a look outside, the sun was setting over the ocean making a post card type scene. She wished at that moment she hadn't left the camera in the room.
She returned to the bar telling Butch what she'd seen. She even showed him a photo she took with her cell phone, Butch couldn't really understand the true beauty without having seen it himself.
"You can't really see it good but, that dot right there is the large building at the dock." Carrie said holding the phone for Butch to see.
"Well finish your drink and lets go up there." Butch wanted to look around.
As the two of them walked around the large ship they met the Williams', who were also walking the ship. The two couples met when they were standing in the bow of the ship.
"Someone would be lost if they fell in." Carrie said to Butch.
"Yes, they'd be gone if they fell over the edge. It happened about ten years ago, small boy fell over the railing, and he wasn't found. Very sad story, my name is Mike by the way." The man extended his hand.
"It's nice to meet you, my name is Carrie and, this is my husband Butch." Mike shook their hands.
"This is my wife Karen." She gave a friendly wave.
"We've been taking this cruise every year for fifteen years now. Is this your first time?" Mike asked them.
"Yes, finally both of our children moved out and, we decided we needed to celebrate a new life, rather than to continue to be sad that they moved on." Butch answered.
The two couples joined each other for a drink in the ball room. There was a jazz band playing on the stage. Butch and Mike went up to the top to have a cigarette.
"So what kind of work are you in Butch?" Mike was making useful conversation, almost everything Mike did was for a purpose.
"I'm a high school teacher, I teach 10th grade literature classes." Butch turned the same question onto him.
"How about yourself, what do you do?"
"I'm retired NAVY, I just work around the house these days, but when I first got out of the service I volunteered with the local fire department. These worn out legs won't allow me to do much anymore."
The two men stood there talking, just getting to know each other. The faint smell of marijuana came from the direction of some teens standing twenty feet away. The noise coming from them is what finally ran the two men back into the ball room. Where another round of drinks were waiting, they continued to drink past midnight. Butch had long been high on the booze, he teetered on being completely drunk.
"It's getting late, we're fixing to retire for the night." Butch said to his newly found friends.
"Well it's been a pleasure talking with you two, perhaps we'll see you tomorrow." Mike said to them as they got up from the table.
"I'm sure we will." Butch replied, then walked away with his wife.
When Butch got to the room he fell back onto the bed, he felt totally exhausted and the drinking made him feel even more tired than usual. Carrie went to the bathroom, where she filled the tub with water for a warm bath before bed.

(Part-2) "Captain something isn't right."

The sun was coming up over the open horizon, when something in the clam sea smashed into the cruise ship. Butch felt the ship rocking, as things tumbled around, he'd never felt an earthquake but, he imagined it was similar to what he felt. Susan woke up to the violent shaking of the vessel.
"What was that?" She asked with a very sleepy voice.
"I don't know but, I'm going to find out." Butch assured her, as he slid his pants on.
Butch ran down the corridor to the stairs, where he went up to the top to look around. When he turned the corner there was a man running shout hysterically,
"We've hit something, there's a hole in the side of the ship." The man ran past him, where Butch went to the railing to look.
When he looked down the side as far as he could see, there wasn't any damage. Off in the distance through the haze over the water, there was what looked like a fleet of sailboats. He went around to the other side where people gathered looking at the damage. He stuck his head over the railing to have a look. There was another ship that had collided with the cruise ship. It wasn't a big ocean liner like the cruise ship, but it was a big vessel. Butch could see the other ship sinking in the water and, he knew the cruise ship was probably sinking too.
Butch ran back to tell his wife they'd hit another ship. As he got to the stair case the ships were still off into the distance but, there were smaller ones closer.
"Carrie you have to get up, another ship hit this one." Butch's voice woke her instantly
"There's something wrong with the ship?" She got up quickly.
"Yes, we might be sinking but, there are three ships coming toward us. I'm sure there are more on the way. Come on hurry and, lets go see." Butch encouraged her to move quicker.

When they run to the top of the stairs, people were running by them in a panic. Within moments of coming out of their cabin, gunfire began on the opposite side of the ship. The sounds of screaming sent chills down Butch's spine. He tried to wrap his mind around reasons there would be shooting on the ship. Quickly he pulled his wife back down the stairs.
"I don't think those boats are here to help us, I think they're pirates." Butch explained.
"Pirates?" Carrie thought pirates were just in storybooks, she honestly had no idea they were real. Right then things came together in her mind, the real fear of the situation set in.
"If we jump off this boat, we'll never make it to shore. Listen Carrie, go lock yourself in the bathroom. If you don't hear from me in ten minutes, get that lifesaver hanging over the door and jump off this ship like the others." Carrie didn't like the thought of jumping into the water for her life, twenty years ago sure but, not at fifty-eight.
Butch ran up the stairs knowing he didn't have time to waste. In ten minutes Carrie would be jumping off the side of the ship. He needed to find out exactly what was going on, then get back in a hurry. Being careful not to be seen he peeked around corners, swiftly moving around the ship deck. Crouched down behind the wall, Butch looked down the aisle looking toward dead bodies and the pirates that killed them, from a rope on the side of the ship more were coming aboard. The ship beside the cruise liner had gunman and spotters, allowing the pirates to get on the deck. When they saw someone they'd shoot them down.
Butch backed away from the railing not wanting to be spotted. Knowing they'd be killed if they stayed on the cruise ship, Butch ran back to get Carrie out of the bathroom. When he turned the corner to go down the stairs, the gunfire began to ring out again. He ran down the hallway toward his room, people were coming out of their cabins. He could have warned them of the dangers above but, he wanted to go unnoticed. He knew it was just a matter of time before the pirates came looking in the cabins.

Butch entered the room knocking on the door to Carrie know it was time to come out. He told her to call Susan, and he'd try to get hold of Marco. Before dialing the cell phone he pushed a large shelf into the floor, at least temporarily keeping the pirates out. His nervous hand dialed the number, Butch knew he probably wouldn't get Marco in the middle of the day.
"This is Marco, leave me a message at the tone. {Beep}
Carrie was able to get Susan on the phone, she didn't exactly know how to tell her the trip meant to be pleasure was now life threatening. She knew the call needed to be quick, by this time she understood quite well the dangers they might soon face. The time spent locked in the bathroom had supplied her with plenty of horrible images.
"Susan this is mom. We've seem to have run into a little trouble, and I just want you to know whatever might happen, that your father and I love you very much."
"No I don't have time to explain right now. I love you - Bye! {Click}
Butch