When panicked news reports began overseas, Lucas shrugged most of them off as an issue too far from home to be concerned with. There wasn't a lot of information coming from the hot zone anyway so he assumed most reporting was pure speculation. The country where the pandemic originated muzzled the press and scientific community within their borders so reports were sparse at best. Not to mention that part of the world had a reputation for being a bit of a mess anyway. Military refused to let anyone enter or leave the country and even more extreme, the Internet had been downed. Rumors circled, the ones that Lucas had heard at least before he stopped paying attention to the news, that the infection was extremely contagious for men specifically and might have been a military grade weapons test gone awry.
Ignoring the hallmarks of what his friends called a global crisis, Lucas packed his luggage for a two week cruise he had scheduled well before any rumblings of a fast moving disease. Walking aboard and exploring the ship, he smiled and winked at several of the handsome men also arriving who returned his greeting. Lucas was a notorious flirt and he planned on having a pretty damn good time aboard the ship.
Eventually settling in to begin his vacation, Lucas stretched his long legs lithe with a tennis player's muscles out on a deckside chair. He watched the city fade away into the ocean's horizon as he sipped a bottle of beer. It was going to be nice to check out from the stress of the world news and society in general. He pulled his sunglasses down to cover his eyes and quickly fell asleep.
Waking a couple hours later, Lucas stretched to shake the soreness of the hard deck chair out of his muscles, then stood and gathered his things. His room had to be ready by now, his luggage having been transported by a porter, and he was starting to feel hungry. He wandered over to one of the many restaurants offering food aboard the ship and stood in line to receive a bowl of teriyaki chicken and vegetables. He promised himself he'd relax, allow himself to enjoy a few indulgences on this trip, and if needed, drop a couple pounds to get back to fighting weight when he was home. The teriyaki bowl wasn't such an indulgence, his healthy eating habits died hard. He chuckled when he passed a 24 hour pizza kiosk and swore to be back later that night for a slice or two. He was on vacation.
After several days of travel and stops in ports increasingly exotic to Lucas' usual day to day, he had fallen into a leisurely routine. Lucas woke every morning to a breakfast of eggs, fruit, and toast delivered to the room so he could watch the sunrise over the ocean as the ship skimmed to its next destination. He had even begun enjoying a mimosa with each breakfast because why not, all expenses included. Following breakfast, he would hit the gym, lift for an hour or two, shower in the luxury locker rooms of the cruise liner's locker rooms, then get dressed in tasteful but casual vacation wear for a day of leisure, exploration, and occasional trips into foreign locales. He had met many people over the course of the first week on the excursions shoreside but was legitimately enjoying being on his own, able to go and do whatever he pleased with little thought towards the rest of the world.
Every night, Lucas would stroll through the mostly deserted decks of the ship as he was near the only one up and about at 1 am. He wound his way through empty stairways, greeting the ship's crew who were working overnight to clean and prepare for the following day, Lucas giving them a friendly nod as he passed. His destination was always the same, the 24 hour pizza place where he ended his nightly walk and would enjoy a nightly indulgence of two slices, heavy with sausage and garlic. He had just thanked the server for the slices, sat down to eat with one slice almost in his mouth when the audio system for the entire ship signaled an incoming message through loudspeakers hidden in the extravagant columns and furnishings of the decor.
"Attention please. It is of critical importance that all passengers aboard the Tantalus Destiny please return immediately to their cabins. A critical issue has been reported to the staff and we are exercising extreme caution. We will inform you when exiting your rooms will be appropriate but for the moment, please all passengers outside of their cabins return immediately. Thank you."
