Pages

Thursday, November 21, 2024

"All hands on deck" by Abby I


As me and my crew finally arrived at the city at dawn we tied our ship to the dock. If we had arrived a minute later it would have completely sunk due to the big hole in the wall caused by a previous dispute. "Me and Ash will go restock on supplies while you guys repair the ship." I told my crew. "With a hole that big it probably will be up and repaired by tonight." Jason said. There were four people in my crew, Jason who was the lookout, Dylan who was the cook, Ash was in charge of the map, and I steered the boat. No one was necessarily the captain however most of the time I happen to take charge. When me and Ash made it into the shop and gathered all the supplies we were in need of I noticed there was someone staring at me. "Do you need something?" I asked the stranger. "Oh no, I just saw that we buy the same type of ammunition, it's not very common." The stranger replied,"Is that so?" I say continuing to shop. This guy seems off, I can't figure it out but I know I've seen him before. As I was trying to remember where I saw him before he started talking again. "My name is Carlston by the way, i've lived in this city for ages so if there's anything you need just ask me." "My names fletch, and if you knew where some strong wood is that would be helpful." I continue to look away from Carlston not wanting to look into his gaze again. "It's funny you said that, I happen to have a ton of leftover wood. Let me tell you it's the strongest wood I've seen. How about you drop in later at the gray ship at the south dock?" I could definitely use the wood but I'm not sure. Something about this just seems off. " I'll have to see if I have time. It was nice meeting you, thanks for the help." fletch said walking towards ash who is holding two water barrels. " Who was that?' Ash said. "This guy I just met, he offered us some wood if we stop by later but I don't know." "I say we should go, it's free wood plus we have all day to kill." I try to think again on where I might know him but nothing comes up. "I guess you're right." Is all I say before we go to the next shop. The day flies by pretty quickly and before we know it it's time to get the wood from carlston. "Okay I'm going to drop the supplies off at the boat, I'll meet up with you after." Ash said. I hum a response and begin walking towards the south side of the dock. I see the ship and begin walking into it. It seems new. The first thing I see is a big room with carlston sitting at the end of a table. "Hello, I didn't hear you come up." "Hey, since you went through the trouble of coming all the way out here, why don't you have a drink with me?" Not wanting to be rude since he is giving me free wood I accepted. We talk for a while then he begins to start telling me about this old crew he used to have. Apparently they all passed recently due to an incident. Carlston then got up and stood next to me with the beverage in his hand. Then it hit me, I realized who this guy was. He was on the opposite ship we fought with and got that big hole from. I saw someone get on a lifeboat but I wouldn't think they would have survived. But the realization was too late. He swung and broke the bottle over my head. "You will suffer the same fate my crew had to face." Carlston says with visible anger. I try to stand up straight but the dizziness is still there, he grabs me and slams me against the floor. "It's a shame the rest couldn't make it, I had others waiting." Still struggling with him on the floor he grabs a knife and lunges it towards me. I stop his hand trying to push it back but he's at a clear advantage while slowly inching it towards me. My mind is racing, there's no way out of this my grips getting weaker it'll be over any moment now. Just as the knife began to break skin ash jumped out and tackled carlston. He punched him around leaving him on the ground not moving. "What just happened?" Ash asked. "He was on the opposite boat that messed up our ship. We need to get out of here now." As we were talking about the situation and what the next move is, Carlston begins to start yelling for help. Me and Ash were confused on who he was calling when five guys burst through the door. We take off swiftly getting off the ship and running towards the northern dock to reach ours. "I thought his crew died. Who were those people?" Ash asked in confusion. I was about to say something when I saw three of them right behind, we had no chance in fighting them. These guys are way bigger and we don't have a weapon. As one of the men was right behind me about to grab me I jumped back into him elbowing him in the nose. It staggers him. "I don't know who these people are but I do now we need to get on the boat immediately." I said. I was silently hoping that the ship was ready to leave and we just had to climb on, because if we stop for a second they will catch up with us. As the ship came into view my fear came true and we would have to somehow set it up while trying to escape, and on top of that there's only one ladder we can use to get up. We start yelling to try to get their attention. "HEY GET THE SHIP READY TO LEAVE!" Me and Ash continue to shout. Finally Dylan looks over down from the ship and sees us running away from the people. As if he understood the situation he began raising the sails while yelling at Jason to raise the anchor. Ash reaches the latter before me and starts climbing up extremely fast. I follow close behind already halfway up when one of the men grabs my leg and begins  trying to pull me down. I try to shake out of it but it's not working. I try kicking the guy but he won't stop. As we continue to struggle the anchor must have been lifted because the ship starts moving. The rest of my crew is just watching and yelling unsure of what to do, then suddenly Jason looks over the edge. "HERE." Is all he says as he throws over a small knife. I turn around and cut the guy's hand making him let go but still hanging onto the latter. When I climb higher, making distance between us I cut the rest of the ladder off and watch as the man falls into the water a little ways from the dock. "What in the world just happened." Jason says in shock of what just happened while I'm laying on the floor. We sit in silence for a while until Ash speaks. "How did he even get all the way over here? He escaped on some little boat, it shouldn't have gone that far." "Even so in this city I know there's closer ones nearby." We continue to just sit there when Dylan says. "It was, after all, a pirate city. I guess it makes sense." "Well  I've made dinner we should eat before it gets cold.”

No comments: