I clung to the edge of the life boat for dear life, and I was running out of air. I took more and more water down my throat, and I couldn't see a thing but a bright light above us. My name is Marcus, and I'm a stowaway on the only lifeboat out of Rapture. But I could never figure out how to launch it. When I was a boy, my father taught me about mining, welding, manual labor. Not this techno crap. After a few seconds of being drowned, I think we surfaced. I coughed up about a gallon of water, and managed to open my eyes. no one else was on this side of the deck, but through the glass inside of the boat, I could see an Alpha series, a few Big Sisters, one of them un-helmeted, and a bunch of Little Sisters. And the one, the only Sophia Lamb. She was soaking, as was everyone else. I got to my feet, and grabbed my pick axe. It was the only thing I had to remember my family by; they all died in the New Years Eve riot. I slowly made my way around the lifeboat, after hearing a conversation between the group.
"Well, Delta. I see the broken bond hasn't weakened you." Sophia said.
"Well, It's good to see you care so much Sophia." The one named Delta pulled off his Alpha helmet.
"Father, Mother, stop bickering. We're all going to have to co-exist here." The un-helmeted Big Sister said. I knew her, she was Eleanor Lamb.
I stepped slowly, and accidentally dropped my pick axe. Delta had his machine gun out, and aimed at me in a seconds notice.
"Don't… Don't shoot!" I plead as I stepped back.
He didn't listen, and shot me. After he unloaded on me, he stopped. I sat up, with a few cuts and scrapes.
"What… I shot you. Stay dead." He aimed again, but Eleanor stopped him.
"Father, he isn't a splicer." She said to him.
"How did you survive a belly full of lead?" one helmeted Big Sister asked.
I pulled a switch blade out, and cut my shirt open. I was wearing a bullet proof vest. I got up, and grabbed my pick axe.
"I'm not as stupid as most of you think. I know what I need to survive. This was directly under food on the list." I replied.
"Well, I bet it isn't stab proof." She leapt at me, and attempted to shove the harpoon on her right hand into my stomach.
I caught her arm, and she stood amazed. "How did you do that?" she asked.
"Sports boost, it's not like I drank gallon after gallon of ADAM though."
"Hey mister, how old are you?" a curious Little Sister asked.
I knelled down to eye level. "I'm eighteen."
"Well, are you gonna be in our family too?"
"I don't know. We'll see after I get the full experience of you all cramped on this tiny boat. We got two days till someone helps us."
As everyone else chattered, or fell asleep, I stared off into the distance. After it hit midnight, everyone else but Delta fell asleep. I still stared off into space, the view was… hypnotizing. I looked over towards the mass of the sleeping girls. Each and every one of them, sound asleep. I chuckled, and sat down on the edge of the boat. After ten minutes, I felt a shove, and I fell into the freezing water.
"AHHH! THIS IS COLD!" I hurriedly climbed back onto the boat. Delta chuckled.
"Oops."
"Delta, what is your problem?"
"I'm bored. Entertain me."
"Why? You're like… thirty!"
"Come on. Do something funny."
"No. I'm not your personal entertainment."
"Fine. Go to bed or something." Delta walked away, and sat down.
I sat down on the other side of the deck, and fell asleep.
I woke up, and it looked like it was late morning. I got up, and looked around. Everyone else was inside talking. I walked to the door, and opened it.
"What are we talking about people?" I asked in a positive tone.
"Looks whose all sunshine now." Delta replied.
"Father, leave him alone. I'm sure we all felt better after a good sleep." Eleanor instructed.
"Well, we're all talking about what we should do once we get to shore. And how we have to ration food." Delta stated.
"So, I'm guessing we have little to no food?"
"Yeah, sucks don't it kid?"
"Well, I grabbed a few things." I pulled a pep bar, a Hop up Cola, and a can of fruit out of my pockets.
I laid it out on the table, except for the Cola. That was mine.
"Go on, pick something. I'm sick of fruit and Pep bars. That's all I've eaten for the past three weeks." I popped the Cola open, and took a sip.
"How did you fit all that in your pockets?" Delta asked.
"I have big, big pockets. Comes in handy for scavenging."
"Are you sure you don't need these?" Eleanor asked.
I never thought she'd be that polite. She was raised in Rapture, after all. But no, she's the most polite person to survive the war. Even I don't feel that guilty if I take something. I stole from doctors when I was a kid. Then again, I was an orphan by the time I was nine years of age.
"Yes. Take it if you want. I sure as he… I mean I don't want it." I caught myself, I knew if I cussed in front of the Little Sisters Delta would have my head on a pike.
She picked up the Per Bar, and went outside. I took another sip of my drink, and followed. Delta eyed me as I went out. Eleanor was sitting on the edge of the life boat. I sat down next to her.
"The view is amazing, isn't it?" I asked.
"Indeed it is. I've seen pictures of the surface, but I never thought it would be like this. It's so much more… vivid." Eleanor replied.
"Yeah, books can do that to ya. They make things look a bit duller than they do in real life."
"Yes, I suppose they do."
"Eleanor! Can you come in here for a second?" Delta cried out of the inside of the boat.
"I'll be right there! I'm sorry. But…" she began.
"It's alright." I stood up. She did as well, and ran into inside.
I could hear a little conversation going on between them. Both Delta and Sophia seemed to hate my guts. That made me a bit anxious. I was kinda scared they'd team up on me or something.
"Eleanor. I don't want you getting to close to that boy. He looks suspicious." Sophia scolded Eleanor.
"Mother, everyone looks suspicious. He's from Rapture, everyone in Rapture looks like that." Eleanor replied.
"Do not talk back to me. Remember what I showed you when you were fourteen?"
"Mother, please do not mention that again."
"Eleanor, I hate to say this, but I agree with Sophia. This kid is bad news. He's gonna end up corrupting one of the girl's minds." Delta rang out.
"Father, he's not a Splicer. He's not evil, and he's not dangerous. When will you learn that?" Eleanor finally sounded like a normal sixteen year old.
"Eleanor, just be careful with this one. He's gonna be a heart-breaker, I know it." Delta said with determination.
I shook my head and sipped my drink. I looked around the deck for a minute, and found my pick axe. I finished my drink, and tossed the bottle into the sea. It filled with water, and sank. I sat for an hour, all alone, with my pick axe in hand. Delta stepped in front of me.
"Oh… crap…. Hey… Delta, What's…. up?" I mumbled. He grabbed my arm and yanked me up to my feet.
"OW! Hey, watch it."
"You. You will not go near my daughter. Or daughters works better."
"What?… your already starting this? Shouldn't we wait a few weeks first?"
"Shut it up punk. You will not touch my daughters. Got it?"
"Fine, fine. I won't, but there's no guarantee on their part."
"You know what? If we weren't surrounded by little girls, I'd crush your skull."
"Fine. Now, go away tin man. Give me my solitude at least. That's all I have besides this damned pick." He walked away.
I sat outside the life boat, all day, and all night until the rescue boat arrived. They loaded us all up, and we went sailing for the main land. I stayed my distance from everyone, and barely ate the entire three day trip to land. I stood on the deck the entire time, and no one talked to me.
"I guess Delta talked to them about me. Fine." I muttered to myself.
After the grueling, three days were over, we finally hit shore.
One month later.
Well, we all moved into a house in the country. Don't know where or how we got it, but we did. Delta got a job as a construction overseer, and I got a job in the local coal mines. Pretty nice pay, and it helps me stay in shape, and release anger. It's pretty fun swinging a twenty pound pick axe. There was an incident down in the lower mines through, a gas release pipe burst. And of course, it caused one pretty big explosion.
I was pushing a cart full of coal up to the surface when I hear a huge bang. Then, the supports started failing. A few pieces fell on one of my buddies. Willis lay there, unconscious. I let the cart go, and dragged him back up to the entrance. Then, the mines started spewing flames. I got a quick burst of flame on my back, and it lit my clothes on fire. I rolled on the ground until I finally smothered the flames. My back stung, and I couldn't really see well. My gas mask's eye covers were cracked, and I passed out after a minute or two.
Back at the house, Sophia receives a call from the hospital.
"Hello?"
"Is this the Lamb residence?"
"Yes, it is."
"Well, a friend of the family has been injured from a mining accident. He is alright, but he will need minor medical care."
"Thank you. Goodbye." She put the phone down.
"Eleanor! Come here." Eleanor came quickly down the stairs.
"Yes mother?" Eleanor asked.
"Marcus has been in a little… accident. Gather your siblings, we need to go."
Eleanor ran back up the stairs, and a few minutes later, a stampede of Sisters came down. They all got on their jackets, and went to the hospital.
At the hospital.
I woke up in a hospital bed, and a group of familiar faces surrounded me. I sat up carefully, and looked around.
"Ugh… what happened?" I asked, rubbing my head.
"The mine blew up. Remember, you were there?" Liz replied.
"No, I mean after that. Why am here?"
"An ambulance brought you here. You have second degree burns. But you'll be fine." Heather rang out.
"Well, I guess he's made a full recovery. His burns have healed well, and he seems to be doing fine." A nurse said.
"Wait, I'm fine? Didn't I just get blown up?" I replied.
"Yes, but you seem to have healed surprisingly quickly. Your burns will peel away, like sunburn. But we have numbed it so you don't feel the stinging every time you move. Ms. Lamb, I'll need a signature and then he can be checked out." Sophia scribbled her name a piece of paper.
I got up, and followed everyone else out. We went home, and everyone went to sleep. It was about 10 pm, and I was tired. I fell asleep on the living room floor. All the other spots to sleep were indeed occupied. We had quite a few residence here.