Warped

I. No Luck

The rest of the recuse team in the room let out a mix of sighs, groans, and an occasional aggravated exclamation when they heard that the previous search party left and didn't come back. Many people assumed that there must be bad storms in the area, but not Tyson Collins. He thought that there is just no way that the weather there could be that bad. A 24/7 storm?

This is no weather issue. He thought to himself. Not even the helicopters made it back. There would at least be a warning or something from the search party but no, all good and then radio silence, never to be seen again.

The group was dismissed and they all funnelled through the double doors at the back of the conference room. It was eerily quiet out in the hallway. The only sounds were occasional whispered comments about the situation. Nothing like this has ever happened. The search parties needed search parties. There is something very wrong.

"Mr. Collins." A voice spoke from behind Tyson. He turned around to face a woman wearing a black uniform and holding a tablet. "Yes?" Tyson responded. The woman immediately continued. "You were originally supposed to be in the next search and rescue team. But we are wondering if you would just do a scouting mission for us... By yourself."

Tyson paused for a moment. "By myself?" He repeated. "Yes. We are running low on people and we need to see if you would just find out what storm is over there taking out all our crew." She explained. Tyson immediately snapped back. "This is no storm, okay? Whatever is going on over there is not being picked up on the radar, and we get no warning or distress coming from the team when they go silent." The woman stared at him like he was crazy. "Uh, yeah, okay sure. We just need you to sign up for the task if you're up for it."

Tyson stopped for a second, then silently nodded. He took her stylus and signed his name onto the screen. "That's why I got this job in the first place, right?" He said half-joking. She gave him a quick smile and walked off.

By the time Tyson walked outside, there was already a group of people by the dock setting up a decent sized patrol boat. One of the people speed-walked up to him. "Your boat is just about ready Mr. Collins! We heard that you signed up to on a scouting mission. I can't believe you're going by yourself." He said. "You're scheduled to go out tomorrow morning. We're just getting you prepared ahead of time." He continued with a big smile. "Thanks." Tyson said gratefully. He pointed to the patrol boat. "That's a damn good boat. I'm excited to drive it."
"That's good sir!" The man said. He got a little bit closer to Tyson and added. "Best of luck to you, Mr. Collins. It's a very dangerous mission, especially with the recent disappearances."
"I'll be careful." Tyson assured.

Later that night, he lied in his bed, contemplating what is causing all the trouble out there. Could it be some kind of sea creature? He thought and thought until he eventually came back to weather. What if it was all weather, and I was just overthinking? It doesn't matter. When I go out, I will find out what happened. He talked to himself in his head. He was getting tired and decided to try and sleep. His mind was racing so much he wasn't sure if he would even be able to. But he eventually dozed off until the next morning.

The alarm clock blared as he reached over to turn it off. He immediately sat up and opened his eyes, looking over to the alarm clock. 5:30 am, as it always was every day. He tried to make a routine every morning go be up and running by 6 o'clock. Luckily for him it doesn't take too long to get ready.

He already had the mission that day on his mind the moment he woke up, and had early-morning second thoughts. It's weird how you do something the night before and regret it after sleeping. He didn't really 'regret' it, but rather just reconsidered his thoughts of going straight in.

After getting ready and doing his daily routine, he walked out to the dock with his hot mug in hand. The sun just barely peeking over the horizon. He forgot how much he liked early mornings by the water. The calm waves, cool breeze, and the quiet. But right when he thought that, one of the workers yelled in pain after dropping a heavy box on his foot.
Ouch.

The woman in the black uniform showed up again by the boat. She approached Tyson and spoke to him before he would go out on his mission. "Remember, this is only a scouting mission just to see what is going on out there. I don't want you going head-first into some wild monsoon or something."
"Relax. I'm not that stupid." He reassured her.

Except he was that stupid.

"Great. Best of luck to you, Mr. Collins." She said before she walked back into the building. The same worker from yesterday walked up to Tyson. "Welp Mr. Collins... Your boat is ready when you are." He said to him as he looked out at the boat. "I'm ready now." Tyson said, eager to get out to see for himself what is happening.

He silently handed his mug to the worker and walked out onto to the dock. He gave his goodbyes to the workers as he walked onto the patrol boat. He set up his radio, started the engine, and drove out of the dock into the ocean.