After the World Ended I Found You (Styles triplets x Louis)

Part 11

Louis followed Harry silently as the alpha confidently led them to a part of the ship that once was the reception desk. The vacant room stayed the way it was abandoned all those months ago. Brochures promoting shore excursions and activities while on board were neatly organised in display stands and the bouquets of fake flowers were still standing proudly in their vases, even if they were already a bit frayed around the edges, dust gathered on every single one of them. Maybe the company's owners wanted to allow guests on board as soon as possible initially, so they instructed the crew to keep the place ready to welcome the customers at the first possible chance. And that might have changed when even the crew had to be evacuated when things turned really bad. Which was the worst thing they could do because no one on dry land was safe anymore.

Louis got lost in his thoughts for a moment, imagining what it must have been for the crew, leaving the ship behind, heading into the uncertainty. If they heard the gossip from each other, they might have had an idea of what was happening back at home and around the globe but couldn't properly prepare themselves for what they would see. Because no one could have foreseen how quickly things would turn irreversibly bad. It was human stupidity's fault first and foremost. Maybe the whole ordeal could have been stopped if people didn't act selfishly, Louis mused.

When the omega noticed that Harry was looking at him with furrowed brows and most likely had asked something but didn't get an answer, Louis emerged from his deep thought, realising he was here to do a job. He could wonder about what the world end looked like for others later, in a dull moment. That was something he used to do when he was alone, making himself even more miserable, experiencing others' suffering through his own imagination.

Now, here at the reception desk, they had the job to get their hands on maps of the ship. This information point would most likely hold information only for the guests, so the more important parts, those that only the staff could enter, were not marked on these cheap little booklets and flyers, but it could give the pair an idea of where to look first.

Louis also wanted to check if he could find some kind of information when the ship was closed down. Was it at the end of a voyage? Or did the cruise get cancelled after the passengers were already on board? The easiest would have been to check the computers, if only there were electricity on the vessel, but since that wasn't an option right then, not even if Marcel's team managed to restart the emergency power supply, Louis searched for scribbled down texts on calendars, or notebooks lying around while the alpha next to him studied the small map on one of the welcoming pamphlets.

Louis had the suspicion Harry got lost on his way up to the boat deck from where the anchor chain led him, but the omega knew better than to voice that out, or even worse, make fun of him for that. He had plenty of time to do that later, he grinned to himself. And he also had to admit that at first sight, the inside of cruise ships might have looked like a well-decorated maze for someone who never was on one before.

" Hey, check this out," Louis called out for the taller man when he finished checking the scattered notes and papers on the desk.

"Hmmm?"

" Luck is on our side," the omega grinned at Harry. " According to these notes, the ship was closed down on the first day of an 8-days long cruise. Passengers were allowed to embark, but their pieces of luggage were not loaded on the ship and after several hours of waiting they were disembarked. I think the crew disembarked a few days later as well. That would mean there's plenty of supplies on the board. We just have to find them."

-

" What do you think? Where should we start searching?" The green-eyed alpha was looking at Louis, and the shorter man's inner omega preened under the pack leader's attention.