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

really didn't like talking to answering machines, it made him feel stupid, somewhat like talking to yourself in his opinion.
"Marco it's dad. We've seem to have ran into a little trouble on our trip and, I don't know how things might end up. I want you to know son, that I'm proud of you. Every time I think of the man you've become, it makes me feel a level of satisfaction nobody could understand. I hope we see you soon, but if this is it I've enjoyed raising you and Susan." {Click}

Both of them questioned whether the calls made anything better, although It pained them to think of not hearing their children's voices again. Maybe it was selfish but, they truly felt they needed it. Perhaps it was for motivation to live, or because they knew there was no way they'd end this trip alive.
Butch knew he needed to find some things, weapon, life saving equipment, and perhaps someone with a better plan than he had. He looked around the room noticing there was nothing he could really use. Except the headboard of the bed, that king size flat headboard, perfect flotation device. His mind was working quickly.
He shoved the mattresses off the bed, just enough to break away the headboard with his foot. After breaking it off the frame, he slammed it into the floor, flattening the sharp edges.
"I'm going to throw this headboard into the water, we'll jump in then grab it. Maybe we can get away." The fear was easy to sense in Butch's voice. He knew there were no guarantees with his simple plan.

(Part-3) "Life and Death"

When the door opened the two of them ran by people also trying to exit or, get inside their cabins. There were plenty who didn't even has ha half ass plan like Butch's. At least the headboard was more than they'd thought of. Fear can make some people clam up in a tough situation. Butch didn't want to die, nor did he want to lose his wife.
Neither of them noticed the screaming in the corridor anymore, it had become so common. Butch shielded Carrie with the headboard, she might have been knocked down in the stampeded. They had no idea their were pirates already down in the cabin area they were assigned, they never knew as the climbed the stairs. There were was blood all over the floor, where the pirates had just brutally sliced the patrons of the ship.
The upper deck of the ship was mostly cleared of people, the pirates had killed them. They were in the cabin area, some were killing the innocent people, others were stealing their things. They took money, jewelry, and in some cases they just took the entire lady. They'd take them back to the ship where they'd rape them repeatedly before killing them. Then just throw them overboard to be eaten by the sharks.

The headboard hit the water, neither of them wanted to jump. They did know it was probably the only way they'd survive. They both made the leap into the water, they plunged down into the depths of the sea, where they traveled trough the warm water like a rocket, into the colder water deep below.
They'd gone deeper than expected, finding the floating headboard wasn't easy either, they'd gone so deep just getting back to the surface was a challenge. When the got hold of the headboard they used their feet as paddles to get away from the large vessel. Soon the ocean current was moving them, the ship was getting smaller, although still too large for their comfort. Having done all they could do, they just had to hope to survive.
The heat was burning them, Butch thought it might be cooking them from the inside out. Carrie hadn't complained in what seemed like forever, if they'd had a way of knowing, it was only about an hour. They'd been happy as the vessel was no longer, that turned into second guessing of their decision as they floated in the ocean all day. They were losing strength but, both had an overwhelming desire to survive. Maybe it was the phone calls to the children, or maybe they thought God would meet them half way if they kept trying.
When the sun went down there was a second wind, although they we're both very hungry. More so they both desperately needed something to drink. It was painfully obvious that they wouldn't survive another day. They honestly wondered if they'd make it through the night. Neither of them knew what all might be out there ready to make a meal out of them. They remembered the movie Jaws and, knew they were lucky that a shark hadn't eaten them.

Butch being the taller of the two felt the shallow earth below him first. Before he could react to his feet hitting the sand, the headboard crashed into the rocks surrounding the island.
"We've hit land. Oh my god Carrie we've hit dry land." She was slow to respond but, soon lifted her head to have a look. Both of them struggled to get out of the water, there strength had been depleted in the nineteen hours they floated on the headboard.
Upon getting to dry land, Butch spotted a boat beached up on the sandy bank. He didn't want to leave Carrie, yet he knew their survival depended possibly depended on what he might find. Where the strength came from to climb aboard the beached ship was almost all Butch could find. When he did get on the vessel named 'The Sunflower', he noticed there was blood all over the small ship. The crew had been murdered, though as he walked throughout the ship he didn't see the bodies. He did manage to find crackers, pickles and some fresh water, on what had been a depleted ship.
Butch took the supplies he'd found back over to where Carrie sat in the shade. They devoured the crackers and, pickles. The remote setting left them no indication of where they were. When they got something on their stomach, as well as getting some rest, the two of them set out to explore their surroundings. The found another ship wrecked on the shore. When they went inside the vessel there was again blood all over the walls and floor, it looked like the passengers were slaughtered. Just like on the previous ship Butch climbed aboard, the blood didn't look fresh.
It was unclear whether or not they were alone, there were places where a fired had been burned. Butch hoped the island was a place the teenagers hung out, a place they could party with complete exclusion. Carrie appreciated the beauty of the tropical landscape, considering the circumstances she was still afraid. They had walked across the entire length of the island, before they noticed an area near the shore that seemed to be inhibited by people. It was cleared out of trees, there were small huts built from random parts of ships. There was a pit in the middle of the community of shelter on the shore front.
It was a clever setup, Butch looked around realizing whoever took the time to build the place up must be stranded here. Carrie picked up a canvas, where she uncovered piles of human bones. She screamed as she fell back into the sand.
"Oh my God, there are human skeletons under that tarp." She was crying, holding back the urge to puke, she continuously began swallowing her saliva.

Part 4 "Surviving the Cannibals"

Carrie saw the ship pulling toward the island, it didn't look like big cruise ship they been on, still it was massive, the sails made it look even bigger. "Look there's a ship." Butch saw it coming toward them.
It wasn't close enough for him to guess what kind of ship it was. Something inside didn't seem right, Butch knew they needed to take advantage of having not been seen, they needed to see who was on that boat. There was a good chance it could be the pirates, following and tracking like animals.
They ducked into the underbrush as the noises from the vessel entered range of their ears. There was shouting, and screaming. Carrie knew it wasn't the help she thought it might have been at first. Butch began to feel the fear inside him, he didn't know what might happen to the two of them. His mind was running through different possibilities with the speed of a computer.
The anchors hit the water, followed by hostages from the sea, being thrown off the side of the ship. Gunfire rang through the island, when a hostage tried to go around the vessel, they were shot by gunman on the deck.
"Oh my God...They're shooting them." Carrie winced in a crying motion. Butch heard what she said as well as he'd heard the shots fired.
"Dammit, they had us out gunned on the ship, and now they have the same advantage on land." Butch was speaking his frustrations out loud.

Butch had convinced Carrie they needed to hide better, then when the sun went down they crept down toward the makeshift huts to have a look. Butch told Carrie to stay back so he could quietly get closer. Between two trees he could see them locking up the hostages in the huts, others were tied to trees, or whatever.
Some of them had women thrown on the ground, raping them. Butch knew Carrie could hear the screams. Over beside the pit, Butch could see the pirates were cooking humans. They were going to toy with them, fuck the females, before filling their stomachs with them.
"They're cannibals, those hostages are food." Butch didn't like telling her that, it was however what the two of them were up against.
They both moved through the brush to get a look at another angle. From a small hill they had a good view of the hostages that were tied up to some large trees. They were being untied to fight pirates wearing armor, they were freed only to fight the barbaric pirates, the obvious warriors of the group. Although they seemed to be acting sporadically but, Butch noticed everyone was systematically doing their own thing.
When the hostages wouldn't fight the barbarians, they were just beaten to death. Another set of pirates would pull the corpse away, preparing it to be eaten. It was the most brutal act of torture that a person could imagine.
"Kumo wai" The barbarian said, just before he lopped the head off of a beaten hostage. Butch could see the blood by the light of the various fires around the camp site.
Butch and Carrie saw a girl escape the pirate, she ran into the bushes, where the pirate pulled his pants up, then ran after her. Butch noticed none of the others saw what had happened. One pirate in the woods, Butch thought he might be able to save the girl, or at least kill the single pirate with a surprise attack.
The pirate caught her in the woods, where he pulled down his pants. He again started raping the female. Butch from the side smashed the