End Of The Beginning

Chapter 29 - Vessel

He saw the light for the next couple of days. He realised that there is something out there, something that doesn't belong to this time, just like him. In the end, he decided to go to the sea to see what it was.

To get there he needed to build a raft. In the jungle, he cut down some trees, dragged them back to the shore, tied them up, and made a raft out of them. It took him few weeks to complete the task.

Every day, he saw the light in the sea. First, at night, a fireball goes up and few hours later it comes back and falls into the sea, followed by a dim light. Occasionally, the dim light will remain on for minutes or even hours. He was certain there was something in the sea.

He still had some doubts. The sea was home to some very large creatures. It is possible for him to end up as sea monster food if the raft is not good enough.

One night, there was no fire ball or the light.

" What happened ? " Even though that made him doubts in his mind, he was determined to go. He continued his work. He finished building the raft.

" Now I need to find supplies. " In order to check how much weight the raft could handle, he dragged it out into the ocean and placed some rocks in it.

He was tired " I will finish it tomorrow. It is getting late now. " He went back into the cave.

During the night, he heard roaring sounds from the jungle. Usually, he hears loud roars from the jungle during the daytime. But it was the first time he heard roars at this hour. He wondered " Are the biggies fighting ? "

All night long, roars filled the air, but he wasn't sure what was going on. Hearing it, he went to sleep.

After waking up, he went to pick up supplies for the journey. As he walked through the jungle, he stepped on something. When he looked down, he saw a dinosaur's guts.

" Fuck...it was hell of a fight.... " he took the guts in his hand. " But the voice came from deep in the jungle, then how did it get here ?"

When he followed the blood, he saw a dead dinosaur lying on the ground. " who did this to you ? " He stood in front of the dead body.

Then he saw another dinosaur's body. Looking around, he found a lot of dead bodies. All of them were torn apart.

" It wasn't a fight, it was a massacre. It wasn't a dinosaur, it was something else. Shit... I've seen something like this before, at the lab. It's that thing. It's here " he understood what was happening. His grip on the sword tightened

" But how ? There is no way it followed me through the portal. If that thing is here, so maybe Emily is too. Is she really alive ? I hope so "

" What should I do now ? Should I go to the see or search for Emily? Does this creature have any connection to the light? The light was off yesterday, and now this thing shows up, there must be some connection. Is this really the creature's doing or is it something else ? "

" Fuckkk, I'm overthinking it.I need to calm down. Do what I came here to do. I will think about everything later. Let's find some food, but I need to be extra cautious " Clearly, he was confused.

Getting enough food for the raft took him some time. He collected as much food and water the raft can carry. Standing on the beach, he wasn't entirely convinced.

" That thing will kill me eventually if I stay here. However, if there is nothing in the sea, all the work I have done over the last couple of days will be for nothing. What should I do ? " He sat on the raft.

After closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. Then he began pushing the raft into the sea. With a smile, he looked back at the beach and began paddling toward the endless sea.

In order not to attract attention from sea creatures, he paddled slowly. Despite travelling the whole day, he found nothing. In exhaustion, Wayne sat on the raft.

Once again, it was dark, and he looked everywhere, but he could not find any light. His disappointment was evident. Despite waiting until midnight, he did not find anything. This time he couldn't even see the fire ball.

The food supply was only enough to last for two more days. The heat and exhaustion made him so tired that he fell asleep. Nothing happened on the next day.

On the third morning, he had to make a decision. Once again, he looked around but found nothing. Then he paddled a little bit further. Several minutes later, he stopped.

" Fuck it... I'm going back. I don't wanna die here. I'm going back "

When he was about to turn back, he saw something. There was something far away that looked like a ship.

" Finally..... " he felt relieved. " I wasn't dreaming " he paddled towards the ship.

He finally reached the object. It was an enormous ship.

His heart started beating faster as he got closer. It was already too late for him to turn around. His raft touched the ship, and he tied the raft into it. He somehow managed to climb on to the ship.

Throughout the ship's roof, there were some sort of glass panels. He searched for a way in. After walking around for a while, he could not find a door. So he climbed down from the ship and returned to the raft. After paddling around the ship, he found an entrance. He tried to open it, but was unsuccessful.

" HELLOOOOO.... SOMEONE IN THERE..." He screamed but got no response. In the past few days, he was certain that the fireball would come to the ship in the evening, but he didn't see it for the last few nights, so he was worried.

Wayne stayed in the shadow of the ship.

About an hour passed

" Hey you... Come here " few minutes later someone called him, and he heard the door open.

Wayne paddled around the ship until he reached the door. He saw a guy standing in front of the ship when he got there.

" Do you want to come inside ? " asked the stranger

" Yes " Wayne replied

As soon as he got inside, the door closed.

The stranger said, " NOVA, turn on the lights."

" What ? " asked Wayne

" Nothing, I wasn't talking to you. Look here " he pointed at his earpiece

" Oh ok..." said Wayne

He looked around the room. It was huge and had all kinds of things.

" Who are you people ? How did you end up here ? " asked Wayne

" I could ask the same question about you, you seem to have had it a lot harder than me. " he replied

" Well you could say that " said Wayne " We can begin introducing ourselves. Fuck... I haven't spoken to an actual human in a long time. You are real, aren't you ? "

" Well I'm... I guess " he laughed

" Let me test that. What's my darkest secret ? " asked Wayne

" I have no idea, my name is Allen by the way." he replied

" Mmm... Ok I think you are real. I'm Wayne. " Wayne laughed " And who is NOVA ? "

" NOVA is not a real person, she's an AI who controls the ship. When I saw your raft, I couldn't believe my eyes.I apologize for taking a while to let you in. I was not expecting to meet another human being in this world. I had to make sure that you did not pose a threat to me or the ship . " said Allen

" It's all fine.... I will do the same.... So how did you get here ? " asked Wayne

" Well..... That's a very complicated long story " said Allen