Chapter 1: Troubled Waters

A young soot-covered boy of only 10 slowly walked through the remains of his room. The smell of burnt plastic and charred wood hung heavily in the air. Twisted remains of his toys and bits of clothing scattered the shell of where he spent his childhood. He stumbled around in shock as he tried to find anything that he could save from what little he had left.

He gathered up a few piece of clothing and a stuffed animal that was slightly damaged and put them in a plastic grocery bag. Everything else he had could not be saved. He walked down the hall to the living room, or what was left of it.

The carpet squished under his feet; soaked from the fire fighters hoses. A burnt couch and recliner seemed as it something had just tossed the remains carelessly aside. He stepped out into the sun. His eyes aimlessly scanned the burnt and barren pine trees that made up the forest that surrounded his trailer.

The only casualty was a year old cat that failed to escape in time. Ironically, her name was ashes due to the smoky grey color of her fur. He knew she was in a better place. A single tear rolled down his cheek as he looked at the smoldering remains of his home before he turned away and left.

Alex shook his head and looked out to the horizon. The memory of the forest fire that took his home was one of the many that would forever haunt him. From up above, sea gulls were cawing as they floated on the air currents. Alex watched them for a few minutes. Thinks were getting to be too much back at home so he decided to take his boat sailing for a week or two. Upon thinking about the fire, Alex found himself thinking about some of the other hardships he faced.

He was 13 years old; riding in his dad's truck as they made their way back to their home. They had evacuated when a category 4 hurricane was going to slam right into the state of Louisiana. They fled to Alabama where they only got some strong storms.

As they rode back, the damage became apparent. Trailer homes were sliced in half by fallen trees. Roofs were torn from homes. Some houses were gone completely while others miraculously remained untouched. Alex's trailer was one of those that held strong.

But it wasn't just the damage he saw personally that shook him. It were the images he seen on television. One that he would never forget was of a middle-aged woman walking through waste deep water. Behind her, she floated a door on which carried her dead husband covered in an old bed sheet. The woman cried and pleaded for help, but no one answered her.

Even though Alex never lost anything in this disaster; it made him thankful for what he had. It seemed like every time that you took what you had for granted, something like this would happen and you either lost everything or were able to carry one. It were times like these that reminded Alex how fragile life was and how quickly everything you ever had or everyone you ever knew or loved could be taken from you.

Alex sighed and looked out over the water as his boat rocked lazily with the waves. The constant motion combined with the sound of the water lapping against the boat's hull almost lulled him into a trance-like state. Alex got up and stretched his legs before making his way inside the living space the boat had.

Alex loved his boat. It was a Sealine F43 motor yacht. He was surprised that he had gotten such a good deal for it seeing as nice of condition it was in. It had enough living space for three to four people to live comfortably, though Alex didn't have many friends that he often took sailing with him.

He loved the fact that he could just go out for the weekend and live on his boat. In fact, Alex was pretty sure he lived on his boat more than he lived at his house. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and made his way up to the boat's controls.

He checked his position. Since he had the time to do so, Alex planned on sailing put over the ocean for a week before he would turn back and head home. He was heading at a slow speed, only about 15 knots, and was heading east southeast. He thought maybe about stopping in Florida, but he decided he would just go past it. For right now, he was just cruising through the South Atlantic.

He made a slight adjustment to the direction he was drifting before making his was back down to the living quarters. He stretched out on his bed and stared at the ceiling. After about ten minutes, Alex drifted off into a restless sleep.

He was speeding along on his friend's motor scooter on sunny day. He was minding his business just zipping down the back roads near his house. He thought it was funny how it was considered a scooter or moped…it went faster than 50 miles per hour. Legally, it would have been considered a motorcycle in some states.

Alex was just going along, having a blast. There were several intersections along the road but he didn't have to worry about stopping. The stop signs were for the cars that would be crossing the road. It had been a while since Alex had been on the back roads and he did not realize that the last intersection was actually a T-stop and that he had to stop. He made his way at a rather quick 55mph...pushing the bike to its limits.

As he approached the "T" a car came out of nowhere. The last thing Alex remembered thinking was: "Fuck, this is gonna hurt." He was unable to avoid a collision and slammed into the side of the car going 50.

He wasn't sure if he blacked out as he flew through the air or if it was his helmet being pulled off by the force of the impact that blocked his vision temporarily; but all he remembered seeing was the side of the car, the sky filtering through the trees above, then the grass on the side of the road.

As soon as he came to a stop, Alex immediately jumped to his feet and ran to the bike which had begun to rev-up wildly. He shut it off and that's when it sunk in that that had really happened.

The driver of the car he hit raced over to see if he was alright. Alex nodded as he sat down on the side of the road where he had landed. He glanced over at the car and saw how much damage he had done.

Apparently he had swerved a little and avoided a direct collision. He hit the car right at the left front tire. The force spun the bike causing the back of it to slam into the back left passenger door, caving it in majorly. This is what threw him off the bike. At that "second" impact, his head had swung back and busted out the window of the door. That was the force that caused his helmet to rip off.

The EMS and police arrived moments later. After doing a brief examination of him, one of the paramedics told Alex that even though he had no major visible injuries, they still recommended that he went to the hospital, thought it was his choice to go or not.

Alex knew he didn't have a lot of money, and a trip to the hospital to be told he was fine would result in bills he couldn't afford. He refused the ride to the hospital and signed a form stating that he chose not to go. The EMS then attended to the driver of the car, who thankfully wasn't injured, just a little shaken up.

The officer that arrived talked to Alex. While waiting for the cops and EMS to arrive, it was then that he noticed the stop sign that he ran. So when the officer asked him for a description of what happened; he didn't hide anything.
"I didn't see the stop sign till it was too late. The wreck was my fault and I take the blame for it."

"Well, you are receiving this ticket for failing to stop at the stop sign. Please go to the courthouse by the date listed and pay it off." The officer told him handing him a slip of paper. Alex took the ticket and gathered up the remains of the motorbike and limped home pushing the bike along.

From he own diagnosis, Alex had received no more than a fist sized bruise on his right arm, a large black bruise that covered most of his left outer thigh where he hit the road, some scrapes on the side of his right leg, a few scratches on the back of his neck, a sprained left wrist and a possible fracture in his left thumb.

Alex woke up sweating. The memory of his accident was the most recent thing that had happened to him. To this day, he still didn't know how he walked away with such few injures that he did. Someone must have been watching over him that day.

"Man, I was a reckless kid growing up." He said to himself.

He got up and stretched before clicking on the radio. He could help but notice it was getting rather dark outside. Did he really sleep that long? As he started to make himself something to eat, a special broadcast came across the airways.

"We have a severe storm warning in effect. Any crafts in the following areas are asked to seek shelter and find a place to anchor down ASAP."

They began giving a list of coordinates. Alex checked his own position. He was in one of the areas, and from what they were claiming; the worst of it was heading right for him. Alex sprang into action.

He raced up to the controls and began scanning the horizon. A large storm front was moving rather quickly towards him. Dark, ominous clouds blackened the sky. Alex grabbed his looking scope and began searching for any placed he might be able to hold up and ride out the storm.

In the distance, he spotted a large piece of land. Grabbing the wheel, he revved the engine and began heading towards land at full throttle. For thirty minutes, it seemed that he might just stay ahead of the storm. Suddenly, the winds picked up and the storms speed increased surprisingly.

Alex found himself in a race for his life with the storm. As he sped closer, the bit of land began to grow. It went from being a small outcrop to a fair island. Then to a large landmass. Was it a country? He didn't know. All Alex knew was that he has to reach land before the storm hit.

As he grew even closer to shore, the storm blew around him. Large waves rocked the boat and savage winds seem to push the boat where they wanted. Alex was about eight miles out when his boat hit something massive. Apparently the wind and waves had pushed him into a coral reef shelf and he had run aground on it.

Another large wave drug the boat along the coral. Deep grating sounds emanated from below the hull and Alex knew that the situation wasn't good. The engines stalled. Cursing, Alex started to climb down to the deck level. As he did, a massive wave hit the side of the boat with a tremendous force. Alex felt himself go momentarily weightless before he came crashing down onto the deck. Before he could stand, another large wave hit, tilting the boat onto its side.

A dazed Alex found himself in the churning waters with no life jacket on. He had no option. He would have to swim for it. Almost instantly, the currents began to drag him along at an alarming rate. Several times he was drug under and smashed into the reef.

Alex struggled to stay above water but to no avail. His lungs burning and mind spinning, Alex started to fell detached form the world. Everything started to go cold and dark. It wasn't long before everything faded into nothingness.

Memories of his life began to flash by. The fire, the hurricane, the wreck. They were not the memories that hit him the hardest. Sitting with his brother by a campfire, helping his dad fix the truck, and fishing with a few close friends were the ones that made the deepest cuts. Alex knew that this was the end…that he was not going to survive.

The thought of those he was going to leave behind hit him as well as the thought of the things he wanted to do with his life also came to mind. But all were but mere images in the black void that Alex found himself surrounded in.

"Hey, are you alright?"

The voice seemed faint and distant.

"Come on, get up."

This time the voice was stronger…louder…closer.

Alex groaned and tried to move. Somehow, he managed to roll over onto his back. There was a figure kneeling over him. He could not make out any feature for the being was silhouetted by the sun behind them.

"Get down here to the beach, now!" the voice said in a panicky tone. "It's an emergency! HURRY!"

Alex tried to talk, but he could only mumble.

"Don't worry." The voice said. "Help is on the way."

Alex whole body ached. He struggled to stay awake, but was slipping in and out of consciousnesses. The last thing he remembered hearing was the voice.

"Come on…stay with me…COME ON!"

Next Chapter: Discovery