Chapter 14 The Gutting

After several seconds of deliberation, she cranked the throttle, pushing the sputtering engine westward toward her yacht. Four hundred meters from her yacht, the motor died, forcing her to paddle. Her thin arms strained against the rough waters, but her added strength from the system propelled her forward at the speed of a snail.

A whitecap wave crashed into her raft, pushing her backward, but she persevered, regaining the lost ground as yet another wave pushed her back. Even with her strength boosted arms, they weakened with each cycle but passed the point of no return, she continued on. A rather nasty wave soaked her and her cargo, but she wiped the water from her eyes before returning to paddling.

Finally, after a half-hour of struggling, her trembling arms brought her to the lower rear deck of Umbra. Terrified to lose her yacht, she dove forward, attaching a rope before jumping out. A massive surfable wave battered Umbra, tilting it to the left, causing her to stumble. Her hand shot out, grasping the railing just before she fell into the ocean. With her added strength, she hoisted the motor off the raft, setting it on the lift before depositing it on the rear deck. Next, she grabbed her raft, pulling it onto the lower rear deck then on to the lift, afraid to leave it with all her cargo so close to water.

Just in case, she tied the raft to the deck railing and deposited the motor in its compartment before untying her bags, taking several trips inside to deposit them on the counter.

A rumbling of thunder drew her attention to the sky to find dark clouds overhead. She glanced at the leather couch still on the deck, then back into the living room area. After prodding them, finding them dry but still musty smelling, she frowned in indecision. Are they worth keeping? I might get rid of the stench if I douse them in disinfectant and air freshener, but what if mold sets in? After what happened on shore and the ships, I doubt I’ll find another couch anytime soon. Besides, it would be brutal to get a couch on here on my own. I guess I’ll give them a shot.

With her decision made, she slid the coaches one by one back inside. Just as the last couch slid into place, rain began to fall. The sprinkle turned into a torrential downpour within seconds as waves rocked Umbra.

Elysia dashed into the control room, pressing the start button several times until the engines fired up. I really hope the wiring doesn’t fail me. Once I find a safe place to anchor. I’ll need to work on my below deck situation and wiring.

While monitoring rough waters, she turned her yacht to the northeast before accelerating. A wave hammered the left side of her yacht, tilting her dangerously, but she kept both hands on the steering wheel, veering to the east, closer to shore. Lightning struck in the distance, followed by earth shattering thunder a moment later.

Visibility deteriorated by the second as the storm pummeled her boat with rain. She stumbled to the right as another wave crashed into Umbra, grabbing a support bar next to the steering wheel. A kilometer northward, she spotted light shining down, prompting her to gun engines while white knuckling the steering wheel.

Several anxiety filled minutes later, she broke out of the storm but she held the throttle at maximum, slicing through the calm sunny ocean for another fifteen minutes before pulling the throttle back to half and falling back onto the captain’s chair, sighing in relief.

Yeah, no way I am crossing the ocean. Umbra is too small for stormy waters. I don’t even want to think about how bad it could be in the middle of the ocean. Besides, I have no idea how to navigate the ocean other than following my link to Sereia. None of my radars work nor do I have a network to rely on for weather reports. Though even if the radars worked, I wouldn’t know how to use them. This whole situation is a mess. The best I can hope for is Sereia mustering help on her end.

After several minutes of sitting in the captain’s chair, she returned her attention to the console, scanning over the controls until she found a cruise control switch. She flipped it on before setting it to maintain her current speed northward. I hope I have enough diesel to make it to the next part. I don’t know why the founder settled in the middle of nowhere. Should I go south instead to the North Bay area? Or go north down the Salish Sea? I’ll have a ton more options for resources if I go north, but the nearest port that may be big enough to survive this is Port Angeles. Did North Bay even survive? The wave came from the Southwest. I have ninety percent tank, so I should be fine fuel wise. I think it’s worth a shot to travel north. It will probably take me until tomorrow afternoon to reach Port Angeles. From there. I have plenty of options to check out. I can understand my little hometown disappearing off the map, but there’s no way Seattle or even Port Angeles disappeared.

With her decision made, she stood from the captain’s chair and wandered out into the living room and kitchen area. She grabbed a water bottle from the fridge as she organized her supplies. Elysia neatly stacked her dry food items in the kitchen cabinets while the cleaning supplies ended up in a cabinet in the bathroom. Lastly, she had her clothing bags and crystal bag at a loss for what to do with them. With a shrug, she trotted into the control room, stuffing the clothing bags in a cabinet next to the couch.

Now left with the last bag filled with crystals, she stood in the control room. After scanning the room, her eyes landed on the couch, causing an idea to sprout. She lifted the seat cushions, proving her assumption right as she found a storage compartment filled with a stack of manuals and an Atlas but otherwise empty.

Elysia flipped through the pages of one manual before returning it to the compartment and dropping the cushion. The owner’s manual will come in handy. I’ll have to read through it later.

Done with her organizing, Elysia exited the control room, wandering out onto the rear deck. I wish I grabbed a lawn chair somewhere before nature and undead took over the town. What should I do for the rest of the day? I don’t know how I’m full of energy after dealing with zombies and skeletons all day, but I am. Maybe because of all the levels topping off my charge? I still need to whomp on below deck, but I’m really not looking forward to that. The longer I wait, the more likely mold will set in and the water could damage things that work.

Elysia wandered into the bathroom, grabbing a facemask and nose plug along with a flashlight from the control room before opening the door leading below deck. Even through the nose plug, her sensitive nose scrunched. She quickly descended and pulled the door closed, blocking the stench from permeating her clean upper cabin.

Her eyes watered as she squashed her way through the carpet with the flashlight scanning the damage. The living room area is definitely a total loss, but how am I going to get the furniture upstairs? I think for now I’ll just get it out of the way and pull up the carpet.

She pushed her strength to the limit, pulling the sectional coaches and recliners across the soaked carpet into the storage room before returning. Upon noticing the carpet went around the bar, she sighed in relief. No way could I move that bar. The only way would be to take it apart, but I think it will survive as long as I clean it up. At the very least, I could use it as storage once I nuke it down here.

Elysia unsheathed the knife still strapped to her right thigh and pried along the edge of the carpet, pulling it up. With surprising ease, the carpet rolled off the floor, releasing a rotting garbage smell through the room. She swallowed vomit, forcing herself to continue knowing if she stopped now, she would never do it. In record time, she coiled the carpet into a tight roll, followed by the cushioning.

Unable to take it any longer, she dashed up the stairs through the door and out on the deck, ripping off the mask sucking in fresh ocean air. She spent several minutes wandering the deck, admiring the beautiful forested coast before reluctantly returning below deck. With the flashlight she examined the floor, frowning at the mold already forming on the wood subfloor. One problem at a time. First, I need to get the waterlogged carpet upstairs.

Elysia attempted to lift the bundle but found it far too heavy, forcing her to saw through it with her knife splitting it into four chunks after a half-hour of struggling. Now with much more Elysia sized bundles, she transported them upstairs and out on the deck, dumping them in a pile near the end of the boat on the right side as far as she could get them from her cabin. Next came the cushioning, which proved much easier to cut but much more waterlogged.

With the living room carpet extracted, she returned downstairs, finding it almost bearable through her plugged nose. She turned to the bedroom next but immediately noticed while it stunk the floor didn’t squish, as like the control room, it was on a raised section. After scanning the bedroom closely with her flashlight, her eyes widened, finally noticing curtained off windows. She immediately pulled the curtains back, lighting up the brown and white color schemed bedroom. Elysia fumbled with the latches before sliding open the windows, letting fresh air into the bedroom.

At the discovery she returned to the living room area, scanning the upper portions of the wall finding similar short but wide curtained windows. Like the bedroom, she pulled the curtains open, bathing her demolished living room in light as she slid open the windows, finally able to breathe again.

How did I miss the windows? You can’t even tell from the outside, though the black hull and dark tinted windows blend together. I’m surprised none of my windows broke. They must be pretty tough windows. Most of the ships I saw had several cracked windows. I’ll take any advantage I can get. Hopefully, I don’t get caught in a storm with the windows down. That would be a horrible way to sink. I might have a chance to save the bedroom, though I don’t think I could sleep in the sheets. If I doused them in detergent and air them out for a couple of days, they might be tolerable though. Good thing I grabbed a bottle of detergent from the gas station. That gas station had pretty much everything. Less a gas station, more a convenience store that sold gas.

Done with below deck for now, she returned upstairs, pulling out the nose plugs, chucking them in the wastebasket as a yawn forced itself out. She grabbed some dried fruits and jerky, nibbling on them while wandering out onto the rear deck to watch the sunset.

As the sun set, so did her eyes, forcing her to shake her head, eating the last of her rations before returning inside. I guess I can’t go indefinitely even if my charge is high. I hope I don’t shoot past the Salish Sea while I sleep, though if I did, I would crash right into Vancouver Island. It’s hard to tell where I am with the changed landscape, but I doubt I’ll reach that far until mid-morning at the earliest. It would be worse if I veered westward overnight. That would be a rude awakening finding myself in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight. Though it can’t be worse than waking up to zombies.

Elysia shivered at the prospect, tempting herself to drop anchor, but held off as it would waste time. Instead, she collapsed on the couch out cold within seconds.