USS Apocalypse

Jacksonville Part 1

"Where the Hell is everybody?! And where the HELL is Mitch!?"

Mitch had woken up late again, expecting Andy to still be by his side, but she had disappeared as she always did. He looked at the clock, realized what time it was, and jumped up. He was going to have a lot of explaining to do...

Once dressed, Mitch raced to the overlook deck, his heart pounding. He could see the cluster of skyscrapers up ahead, plotting Jacksonville's location in the flat Florida landscape. A group of people were gathered by the railing, immediately recognizable as the Captain, his officers, and Jordan.

The port was below them, totally and completely abandoned.

The cry of "Where the Hell is Mitch!?" came from the Captain himself. Mitch raised his hand meekly. "I'm here... what's wrong?"

The Captain whirled around. The usually cool-headed man looked livid. "You said... you said there would be people here! People to give us food and refuel our ship!" he roared. "Now there's no one, and we burnt most of our fuel getting here!" 

Evan crossed his arms. "Explain."

Jordan peeked out from behind the crowd that was forming, his eyes silently imploring Mitch for answers.

Did Mitch have answers? He didn't even know himself. 

He lowered his voice, forcing the others to lean in to hear what he was saying.

"Captain... I can assure you that I told the truth. On the internet, it said that people were still living in Jacksonville."

The Captain grit his teeth. "Then why isn't anybody here?"

Mitch shrugged. "Who knows. Something may have happened overnight. Maybe that report was wrong... but I told the truth."

The Captain seemed to realize that maybe he shouldn't be mad at Mitch. "Alright, then." He straightened up. "We need a new plan... officers, follow me."

He retreated inside, leaving Mitch and Jordan alone on deck.

"I can't believe this, he's pushing us around like we're nothing," Mitch grumbled, leaning on the railing. "Its almost like he... like he LIKES this?" He winced at his word usage. "You know?"

Jordan shrugged, not speaking. Mitch noticed something about him; the way his eyes looked. "Jordan, what's wrong?"

"I don't know," he sighed. "It's just... something isn't right." He looked at Mitch. The look was suspicion. "I can't believe that your report was wrong. Why would it say that on the internet? How was there even service with everybody gone!"

Mitch shrugged. "Not everybody is gone, I'm sure of it-"

"Well, something tells me you're wrong about that too," Jordan spat. Mitch was taken aback; his friend hardly ever lost his cool.

"Jordan, we'll find someone, we will.!"

Jordan wouldn't look at him. "...why did you lie, Mitch?"

There it was. Jordan somehow knew.

"Well?" He repeated angrily, turning to glare at Mitch. "Why did you? We could have stayed in Miami, refueled..." He sighed. "Why did you... doom us?"

Mitch's blood was cold.

"I-I didn't lie, everything I said... It has to be true, I-" he stuttered. Jordan narrowed his eyes, obviously not buying any of his crap.

Mitch gulped. "I'm doing everything for a good reason, Jordan, I swear, it's-"