Jurassic Park
Solitude
Author Note: A recent review for Jurassic Park Broken Lives has made me reconsider writing this story, it will have some elements that are similar to Jurassic Park Broken Lives but yet be its own separate story taking place on Isla Sorna and will not intersect with Broken Lives.
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Chapter 1: Unforgiving Sea
Lightning flashed and thunder crackled as Tropical Storm York raged in full force around the small yacht, the Lady Rose. Howling finds filled her sail and pelting rains hammered the deck. Waves crashed over the bow and sprayed the windows with seawater. Amongst the chaos, the captain was nowhere to be seen and the wheel spun wildly without purpose.
Below deck, Vincent Ericson, a youthful man of twenty-one with short dark brown hair, hazel eyes, a height of five feet seven inches, and a newly gifted cut along the right side of his face, rummaged through the draws of the kitchen. He was becoming desperate. He couldn't call for help since the radio had broken and the only means he had of locating where he was, was a GPS that had just died. "Why didn't I anchor the boat," he complained aloud to himself, "I knew that fucking radio was broken, why did I not turn around?" He then added sarcastically, "I can make the distance without a radio. I'll just fix it at the next stop. I have the money."
The entire boat shook violently as a massive wave hit it broadside. Vincent was thrown to the ground but in his desperate attempt to stay upright, he pulled two drawers out of the counter. A sound that would haunt him for a long time filled the air. Thud-crack-static followed by the sound of silence. With a look at his feet, Vincent saw that the GPS, his only hope of finding shore, had fallen off the counter and broken into several irreparable chunks.
"Son of a Bitch," he exclaimed angrily before slamming his fists into the ground only to find the cold piercing sting of a fork as it entered his palm. Holding his hand in the other, Vincent stood up and kicked the remaining parts of the GPS and broke it into several more chunks. He then headed to the deck following the long hallway to the staircase which could be seen clearly since the door was banging against the wall.
With great reluctance, Vincent charged into the rain and headed to the wheel. He quickly grabbed the wheel and straightened out the ship but it didn't seem to matter. The force of the waves upon the hull was enormous and pushed the small ship into the deeper, rolling seas. But then, like a beacon of hope, a lightning flash illuminated the distant shape of what appeared to be an island chain.
This was his chance Vincent thought and angled the ship towards the sight. He could sit behind the island where the wind was lessened and wait out the storm. He may survive this yet. The idea of dying on the ship had not entered his mind since he left port but when he woke in the storm, it had been the most active thought in his head. It took him half an hour to reach the nearest island or at least within sight of it. Several lightning flashed illuminated the beast of an island and he realized just how big it was. Perhaps there was a port or better yet a resort.
So then, against a feeling deep down warning him to stay away, Vincent road the crests of massive waves, the thunderous roar of their breaking drowned out his thoughts. But then like the shadow of a great beast, an area darker than the surrounding water became visible. As he reached the peak of the next wave, the sea suddenly dropped before him revealing a great reef. Despite his efforts, the wave carried him over it and then broke beneath him, bringing the ship to a sudden stop.
With a sudden jerk, Vincent slammed into the wheel, breaking the handles that his hands were holding. But then he felt the cold hard crash of a wave upon his back, forcing him forward and destroying the wheel completely. He grasped for what he could. Somehow, even with the drag of the water trying to take him into the sea, he managed to grab hold of one of the lines to the sail. As another wave broke upon the ship, filling the air with cracking timbers of the hull, Vincent felt himself engulfed in freezing water and the painful truth that his hands were not going to hold on for much longer.
At last the fourth wave broke upon the ship, splitting the hull and sending debris flying. Vincent swung his arms in a feeble attempt to stay above but soon found himself dragged into the heart of the reef. A sudden burst of pain erupted from his right calf as a long stem of hard coral created a shallow but long cut through his skin. At that moment, Vincent pray there were no sharks but mores so that if he survived his father would be kind to him when he found out that the family yacht was destroyed.
Vincent gasped for air as he broke the surface but just as quickly he felt himself being dragged under. In the swirling water, he lost all direction and had to open his eyes to the burning torment of salt water. Somehow he fought the water and reached the surface to gasp once more for air. His lungs were beginning to burn and the cold was stiffening his limbs. A piece of debris from the hull, a section of the mast, floated by him and he grabbed it desperately. It was enough to keep him afloat even as more waves hit him, but only so long as he had the strength to hold firm to it.
To his relief, the wind and waves seemed to push him closer to shore and better yet away from the reef that had caused him so much injury and suffering even if it were only for a few minutes or was it hours, he didn't quite know. He had lost all sense of time and direction. For now he was just a lost soul upon a piece of debris drifting towards an island that he hoped would be his salvation and not his executioner.
A nervous hum resonated from deep within his throat. It was the only thing he could do to keep his mind off the situation, even if it was only a slight distraction from reality. And yet, he dared not to kick his cold, stiff, bleeding legs until he was sure that the sea would take him away from the island and not deliver him to it. His arms however ached and burned, screaming for him to move them if only an inch to relieve the accumulating stiffness. But yet he didn't, even as the waves turned from heaving rollers to soft ripples by comparison.
But then came the feeling he feared. The water around his legs began to change direction. He could feel the water begin to drag him back towards what he assumed was the reef. He was only a hundred meters from shore but yet the bottom was beyond his reach. At last he decided to go for it and began to kick his legs. The only thing he allowed his arms to do was hold tight
The process was slow and exhausting. It was nothing like fighting nothing he had before. The slow, constant drag slowed his pace significantly and made him use much of his needed strength just to remain still. And yet, he made some progress and eventually, the shore line became distinct even as the rain began to fall even hard that it had earlier.
Suddenly he gasped, something had bumped his leg. He looked down just in time to see an eerie and large form disappear into the gloom. Panicking, Vincent kicked his legs harder and hoisted more of his body out of the water. His eyes darted back and forth, searching for what touched him. And then, a sight that had placed so much fear into the hearts of humans came forth from the depths, the long lone fin of a shark sticking out of the water. Vincent cried out in fear and quickened his pace even more. The fin disappeared.
A sharp pain exploded from Vincent's big toe, but it was not a shark. He had kicked something hard, very hard. A rock, his eyes turned upward from the rolling surface of the water to the shoreline that was only a dozen meters away. He was going to make it. With what little of his strength remaining mixed with adrenaline, Vincent cast himself from the broken mast and hurled himself towards shore. Once he could touch completely, he began a full out run, seemingly unaffected by the chest high waters around him. He looked back for a moment, but that was all it took for him to sprint the last few meters. The fin had reappeared and was heading towards him with a frightening speed and purpose.
Vincent was the quicker and broke free of the water and ran three quarters up the beach where he stopped and dropped like a stone. His vision flickered, his heart race, his mind flooded with fear and screaming nerves, he at last lost consciousness.
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Disclaimer: I do not own Jurassic Park, its characters, creatures, etc.