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Nicky had understood all too well what Booker wanted when he approached Copley, and through him, Merrick Pharmaceuticals, and if Booker had only spoken to them all first then perhaps a lot of the bloodshed and trauma, and the consequences of both could have been avoided. He knew Andy had wanted the same thing as Booker for centuries, after losing all hope in humanity and in ever seeing her beloved Quynh again. Even for Joe and Nicky there was always the fear lurking at the back of their minds that a day might come when one of them would stop healing and the other would be forced to live on without them.
Nicky shivered.
The thought of spending thousands of years alone without Joe by his side was unimaginable, so a way to end his immortal life would become a blessing then.
Yet what Merrick and his pet scientist, Meta Kozak, did to him and Joe was sadistic and immoral. In Merrick's own words, he had planned to slice pieces off them for decades, perhaps eventually separating them to ensure it would be harder for their family to find and free them.
Nicky shivered again for that was his second greatest fear, knowing his Joe was out there somewhere but lost to him. It was the same fear that had consumed Andy for five hundred years, leaving her a shadow of her former self.
Up until her death at Andy's hand, Kozak had found no anomalies in their DNA to explain their rapid healing ability, or for them coming back from the dead, but Nicky knew from his medical studies that the Human Genome Project was barely completed, and even then it had used only mortal human samples. Kozak had mentioned replenishing telomeres that would prevent aging, and she had taken stem cells from their blood, organs, and bone marrow at great pain to them, looking for the source of their condition. If she had any theories then they died with her, though Nicky believed she was simply stabbing in the dark. It would explain her sadistic approach, using them as living cadavers with no empathy for their pain and suffering at her hands.
In his view she was little more than the reincarnation of the Angel of Death, Josef Mengele; a man he had taken great pleasure in drowning off the Brazilian coast for the way he had tortured children. Nicky's only regret was in not finding that butcher and killing him many years earlier. That man hadn't deserved a long mortal life.
If Booker had even an inkling of the torture Merrick and Kozak had in store for them then instead of one hundred years of exile Nicky would have demanded a thousand.
Instead he'd been adamant Copley had promised Merrick's people would be as non-invasive as possible, taking vials of blood and some tissue samples before letting them leave. Originally he had offered up only himself but Merrick had wanted a larger data set. He had wanted all of them.
It all came down to semantics.
Kozak had taken vials of blood and, no doubt she had been as 'non-invasive as possible' when taking tissue samples of their flesh, organs, bone and marrow, and brain. Sadistically, she had followed the remit to the letter, and it was torture. Merrick too had planned to keep to the letter of his agreement with Copley. He had promised to let them go once he had all the samples he needed, except in his eyes that would take years, decades... not hours.
Booker only figured it out when he was lying strapped to a medical table alongside them, and his only saving grace was that he had not told them about the new immortal, about Nile.
As it was Booker's exile had lasted only six months. By the time they had navigated the minefield of Quynh's unhinged mind, experienced the grief of believing Andy truly dead at Quynh's hand, and then seen her come back as an immortal once more, Booker had rejoined them though he was still a long way from re-earning his and Joe's trust.
The cause of their immortality would remain a mystery for now, though Nicky had his own belief that it had as much to do with the soul as with the body; a state of mind. It would explain why Andy had regained her immortality once Quynh was returned to her. He huffed softly. Nile thought he and Joe had the greatest love story in known history but the love between Andy and Quynh surpassed theirs by at least a thousand years.
"I can hear you thinking clear across the room."
Nicky turned his head and smiled at Joe. "Just thinking about our family."
Joe wiped his hands on a dishcloth and, casting the cloth aside, he wandered onto the verandah where Nicky was attempting to read but had, instead, found his thoughts drifting as he gazed out across the calm, blue Mediterranean Sea. Gently, Joe took the book from Nicky's hands and closed it, placing it on the table, well aware Nicky had been too caught up in his thoughts to read even a single paragraph. He sank to his knees in front of him and wrapped his arms around Nicky's waist, burying his face against his chest, tucked under Nicky's chin. Nicky gave a breathy laugh and pulled Joe closer, pressing his cheek against the soft curls on Joe's head and sighing. He could feel the vibrations of Joe's words against his chest.
"Our family will be home soon enough, my Nicolò. I'm sure Nile can smell dinner cooking from miles away."
Nicky snorted this time because Nile did seem to have a sixth sense for when food was about to be plated, though only when either he or Joe was cooking. Andy would scrape up road kill and make a meal of it, Quynh was still navigating the modern world, and Booker, well, he still thought alcohol was a food group, though Nicky had to admit Sebastian had stopped drinking since Quynh's return. Or maybe it was also because of his newfound relationship with Nile, he thought slyly.
Joe tilted his chin up and Nicky obliged by kissing him sweetly on the lips, just a simple press of affection rather than passion; a promise for later.
"What were you really thinking about, my love?"
Nicky breathed in deep and sighed. Joe knew him too well. "I was thinking about Kozak."
"She's dead," Joe stated flatly. "She can't hurt us anymore."
"I know, cuore mio (my heart)."
He decided against mentioning the morbid direction of his earlier thoughts. They had discussed it many times over the centuries and each time Joe had assured him they had come into this immortal life together and they would leave it together. He just needed to have a little faith, but blind faith had led him astray in the past, causing him to do so much harm to Joe and his people.
The flash far out to sea blinded Nicky for a moment.
"What was that?"
Joe had pulled away, standing up to turn and stare out across the blue water, and Nicky joined him. "I have no idea."
Nicky tensed and gasped as he saw the wall of water racing towards the shore, at least a hundred feet high, turning to stare deep into Joe's shocked and scared eyes. Knowing there was no escape, they wrapped their arms tight around each other. Nicky could hear Joe praying, words muffled against his throat as they waited for the wave to hit.
The force of the impact sent them hurtling within the torrent of water, tearing Joe from his arms and spinning Nicky round and round so fast, debris striking against him, ripping into vulnerable flesh. Something wrapped around his throat and he scrabbled to free it, something else around his arm, almost wrenching his shoulder out of its socket. His head broke the surface only long enough to take a single gasp before he was pulled back under, hurtling along, smashing into items picked up by the powerful force of the water. A car hit him, bowing him over the hood and for a moment he was staring into the driver's terrified eyes before the water tore him away in a different direction. Something struck his head, a fatal blow. He knows he died, but returning to life a minute later brought no relief as he sucked in water and drowned a second, a third, a fourth time until he eventually came back to life in calm water, floating lazily suspended ten maybe twenty feet below the surface. He could see light far above and propelled himself towards it, drowning once more before his face finally broke the surface and he could suck in long breaths, coughing hard to expel the water from his lungs.
His body began to expel other things from his lungs too, and he gagged and choked, ramming his fingers into his mouth to drag out pieces of debris he had swallowed while he was drowning. He coughed, drawing in huge lungfuls of air, feeling weak but alive.
Treading water, Nicky could see nothing but water and flotsam spreading to the horizon in every direction. His limbs felt heavy but he forced them to move, swimming to the closest piece of debris that could hold his weight, and he clambered on top, exhausted but too desperate to rest. Joe was out there somewhere.
He caught sight of movement.
"Joe!"
Using his hands he paddled toward the movement, hope dying when he realized it wasn't Joe.
Nicky pulled the man out of the water, squinting when he started to see more movement, and hear screams and cries for help. It took a while slowly collecting those few who had survived the tsunami, tying large pieces of debris together to form a giant raft. All were injured, covered in lacerations, some with broken limbs and others with injuries that would see them dead before nightfall even with the advanced medicine of this modern age. He did his best to get people organized, to splint broken bones and wrap torn flesh, and if anyone asked how he survived with no visible injuries he told them he was in his car when the wave hit. It was plausible enough especially when most mentioned their experience was of being in the spin cycle of a washing machine filled with sharp and deadly objects.
He still hadn't found Joe, and his greatest fear at this moment was wondering if Joe was somewhere beneath him, pinned under heavier debris that had sunk to the bottom of the sea, trapped like Quynh had been for hundreds of years. If Joe was down there then he might never find him. Bodies began to bob to the surface but Joe's was not among them. He could feel panic rising along with his fear and he closed his eyes, willing himself to calm down.
Joe was immortal like him. They had promised to leave this life together, so for now he had to believe Joe was out there, perhaps looking for him. He had to keep faith.
"Where are we?" a frightened woman asked.
Nicky shook his head, looking up to try and place their position by the sun, something he had done a million times before but now made little sense because the island should have been close enough to see. "I don't know. Perhaps we have been washed far out to sea."
It seemed the only logical explanation but could the wave have carried them so far they had lost sight of land? Or was the whole island gone, sunk beneath the waves like the story of Atlantis? He pushed those thoughts aside.
It could be days before a rescue plane spotted them so Nicky knew he had to do something to protect the people he and the others had managed to save, and to comfort the dying.
"See that wood. We need to make shelter from the sun... and that cover. We can weight it down to collect moisture for drinking. Everyone look around in case you can see anything else we can use."
He watched the less injured begin to look at the debris surrounding them, pulling out pieces they hoped Nicky could use. Nicky knew the best way to keep people's minds off their terrifying situation was to keep them busy, so he gave each of them tasks, showing them how to use rope and other materials to lash pieces of wood together to secure the flotilla of rafts and form the framework for shelters. Others he showed how to stretch the plastic sheeting to collect water droplets. He got them to pull plastic pots and containers from the debris in case it rained, aware they could drift beyond the debris field over time. Mostly, he worked and instructed to keep his own mind busy, not wanting to dwell on the loss of Joe, but eventually they had done as much as possible and needed to rest.
He might be immortal but he was still subject to human failings such as exhaustion and hunger.
Thoughts of Joe dominated him as the sun lowered towards the horizon, and he huddled with the others beneath the makeshift shelter as a cold wind blew across the surface of the water. Around him all he could hear was the moans of the injured and dying, and there was nothing more he could do for some of them except pray and offer last rites.
"I see a ship!" someone called out, and Nicky offered up a silent prayer of thanks to God.
****
Earlier:
"Nicky! Nicky!"
Joe called over and over, scared Nicky was floating out there, invisible against the backdrop of the endless blue water filled with debris. Around him were other survivors, most of them injured, some of them dying, and all he could do was help treat their wounds and search for more people. Others had started stabilizing the makeshift rafts, erecting shelters from the unforgiving sun high over their heads. They gathered what food and drink they found floating in the debris, unsure how long it would be until they were rescued.
"Nicky! Nicolò!"
His voice still felt raw from the amount of seawater and debris he had swallowed but unlike the others he had no other visible signs of injuries. He told them he had been trapped inside his car so protected against the worst effects of the deadly water, but also that he had almost drowned trying to reach the surface once the worst of the water had passed.
Memories of Quynh trapped beneath the waves assailed him, and left him silently pleading to Allah not to part him from his Nicolò so cruelly.
"A ship!" someone cried, and Joe followed the finger they were pointing towards the horizon.
"We need to find something large and colorful or they will not see us," he ordered, spotting a bright orange piece of cloth and dragging it onto the wooden house paneling that had become his raft. He cast around for a long stick, two would be better, shouting, "Yes!" in triumph as he secured the large cloth between the two poles, standing up precariously and handed one pole across so the bright orange cloth could be spread out high and wide.
They waved it back and forth for long minutes before someone yelled, "It's turning towards us!"
They continued waving the cloth until there was no doubt the ship had spotted them, and then, in exhaustion, Joe sank back down, running a hand across his beard as he faced the next dilemma. Part of him wanted to stay here, to continue searching for his Nicolò, but he knew the chances of spotting him were greater if he climbed onboard with the others, especially as Nicky could have been washed miles from here. There was also his fear for the rest of their family, for Andy and Quynh, Nile and Sebastian. They had gone up into the mountains for a view of the whole island but they would have been making their way back down when the wave struck. Had they been high enough to save themselves? Was there even still an island left or had it been engulfed completely? Even ten miles out from shore Joe knew he should still be able to see land but there was nothing but debris in every direction. Could he and these others have been swept so deep into the Mediterranean?
The ship moved to the leeward side to avoid colliding with the rafts. It was a huge container vessel, dwarfing the rafts and causing a certain amount of anxiety, its sides too high to climb except for the hardiest of people. Joe knew he could make that climb up a rope ladder, but doubted anyone else could do the same. Fortunately the crew began to throw life vests and lower both a stepped gangplank that reached more than halfway down the side, and a Jacobs ladder. They also lowered a Personnel Transfer basket for the more seriously injured or infirm. Joe began the long task of assisting each of the survivors depending on their condition, securing those who could not climb into either the basket or the life vest to be winched onboard. Eventually he was the last one left and he began to climb, exhausted from helping the others, and eternally grateful when he reached the gangplank despite the number of steps still remaining to the deck. The crewman patted him down for weapons before letting him go on, following behind patiently and offering reassurances as Joe slowly ascended the rest of the way slowly. He collapsed onto the deck.
"Thank you." he murmured as a crewman wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and gave him water. "Please... have you picked up any other survivors?"
"We've just got here. To be honest we thought we were lost when we couldn't see land and the only people answering our calls are on other ships within range."
"There are other ships? I need to find Nicky and my family. Perhaps another ship has picked them up."
"We are taking down names and sending lists across to the other ships in the area." The crewman looked at him expectantly.
"Joe... Joseph Vella. My missing husband is Nicolas Vella," he stated, using the names on the passports they had used to enter Malta. He gave the names of the others too, hoping he had recalled correctly but with so many name changes over the years, and having to build new identities following the Merrick incident, it wasn't so easy.
The crewman shook his head as he typed in each name to crosscheck against those already collected and Joe felt his heart sink.
"I'm sorry. They are not on the list, but more names are coming through... and I need to send our list out."
"Do you know what happened? What caused the tsunami?"
"No, but we've had reports relayed from ships all over the world that it hit every shore. No one can see any land."
"How is that possible?"
The man shrugged, at a loss for words.
Joe pulled himself up and went to the rail. Nicky was out there somewhere because he refused to believe he was gone forever. He worried for the others too though mostly for Quynh. They had only just got their beloved sister back, physically and mentally, and he feared she was in the water alone, drowning over and over again as she had done for five centuries. The ship moved on in a search pattern, occasionally spotting one or two people adrift, but the sun was already low in the sky, another hour passing before Joe saw something larger moving in the water. He called over the crewman, who lifted a pair of binoculars to scan where Joe pointed.
"More survivors!" the crewman yelled towards his fellow crew members.
It was another flotilla of rafts made out of debris.
"Please, may I?" Joe begged, and the crewman handed over the binoculars.
Joe scanned from one group of people to the next, knowing he would recognize his beloved even from this distance but the familiar form was not among those he could see. Disheartened he began to lower the binoculars when he saw someone emerge from a makeshift shelter. His heart leapt into his throat; he would know those broad shoulders anywhere. Softly he gave thanks in prayer as Nicky's features became clearer.
It took an hour to bring all the people onboard, the sun setting as the last man climbed the gangplank. Joe had devoted his time to helping bring the new ones onboard, and he was not surprised when Nicky was the last man.
"Nicky!"
Nicky turned, eyes wide and hopeful, breaking into a beautiful smile when their eyes met. He rushed over, meeting Joe halfway as they wrapped arms around each other, holding as if they would never let go again. Joe peppered his face with kisses; his cheeks and brow, the tip of his nose, everywhere he could reach.
"Ya amar," he murmured against Nicky's ear before pulling back a fraction and kissing him soundly on the lips.
Eventually they pulled away, still holding hands.
"The others?" Nicky asked, and Joe shook his head.
"Not here but this ship is still searching the area. Perhaps we will find them soon."
The sun had set by now, and the captain decided to stop the search until first light, afraid they would miss people, or worse, sail right over the top of them in the darkness. Nicky and Joe joined the search as soon as the sun rose. They found the next group of survivors on what should have been the far side of the island according to the nautical charts, but none of their family was with them.
Joe and Nicky stood on the deck and all they could see was endless ocean. Somewhere out there was the rest of their family, and they were determined to find them.
****
Booker carefully moved between the tied together pieces of driftwood that used to be part of someone's home. Ahead of him he saw something interesting and he smiled widely as he pulled aside some of the wreckage to reveal the hull of a decent-sized fishing boat. Looking over his shoulder he waited until Nile was looking in his direction and waved both arms before turning back to his find once he was sure she was on her way over, bringing Quynh with her. Although very light on her feet, Quynh moved slowly, clutching hold of Nile as if her immortality depended on it.
He boarded the boat gingerly before pulling away some of the debris blocking the doorway to the bridge, noting most was twisted metal that was likely the collapsed radio and satellite masts. Booker wanted to take a look below to see if the boat was still seaworthy, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. The hatch was locked but that proved no deterrent to a lock-picker of his exceptional caliber. It was a tight squeeze past the remaining pieces of metal but worth the risk. Inside it smelled a little musty but otherwise okay, raising his hopes that the boat was sound. He moved down the dozen steps leading inside the boat, checking into each compartment. Only one seemed to be taking on water so he sealed the hatchway for now. If they found some welding equipment then he could probably fix it from outside the hull. It had at least five cabins, but they only needed three once they found Nicky, Joe, and Andy.
He smiled as he thought of the blossoming love between him and Nile, only recently consummated. How she had filled the void in his soul, helping him to finally finish grieving for his lost family and move on. Perhaps this was why she had come to them when she did. As Nicky would say, perhaps it was destiny, or perhaps some higher power looking out for them, bringing her to them when Andy needed hope for humanity, and for herself; for when Quynh needed someone to understand her pain and help her through the mental anguish, and for when he was finally ready to be loved and to return that love in full.
As for the difference in their perceived ages, it was meaningless in the face of the thousands of years that might lie before them.
Hearing a commotion on the deck above, he walked back up to find Quynh shouting incomprehensibly while Nile made reassuring gestures. Booker figured it out immediately, realizing this boat would feel like another metal coffin. He could understand her not wanting to go down into its depths.
"You don't have to go inside. You can stay out on deck." Nile gave her a smile and wrapped Quynh in her arms as Quynh calmed down. "Maybe you can help me clear the deck," she spoke calmly, and gained a tremulous smile and a nod in return.
Booker watched for a moment longer as they began removing the wreckage that had concealed the boat from view, smiling affectionately at the new love of his life, before heading back down to inspect the rest of the compartments below deck. The boat seemed reasonably solid and must have been moored when the wave struck. What improved his mood even more was finding a half-stocked galley with bottled water and plenty of tinned food. He grabbed some of the food and water and headed back up, surprised to see how much Quynh and Nile had cleared in such a short space of time.
"Found food and water below."
They joined him on a cleared portion of deck, passing the bottle of water between them.
"You did well, Booker," Quynh stated softly.
He smiled at her, ignoring the tightness in her eyes as she continually scanned the sea beyond for any signs of Andy and her missing boys. He felt their loss keenly too, those six months of exile long enough for the enormity of what he had done to his family to hit him hard. His desperation and poor judgement had seen them end up in Kozak's hands, and it was only right that he had allowed Andy to be the one to end that evil woman with a single swipe of her labrys while Joe and Nicky watched, showing Kozak a mercy she had not deserved.
Over the past year he had discovered how motherly Quynh was towards Joe and Nicky. She had known them for almost half their immortal lives, had helped them navigate their early years of immortality, teaching them, disciplining them, loving them like her own children. It was this love for them, and for Andy, that eventually broke through the insanity brought on by those five hundred years at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean.
His relationship with her was different. They had seen the worst of each other through their shared nightmares for over two hundred years. She would never mother him as she did with Joe and Nicky but they had come to love and respect each other over this past year. He suspected she would have mothered Nile had she not been so damaged when they first met. Instead they had a different kind of relationship built on trust and friendship, of sisterhood. His thoughts went back to Joe and Nicky, and to Andy.
"We'll find them. All of them," he promised, quietly hoping he could keep that promise but knowing having a boat would certainly help.
A few other survivors came across them, one of them deciding the boat should be his by any means necessary. The man never anticipated a vicious attack from a tiny Asian woman, his body joining the many dead, bloated bodies that had floated to the surface. After that the few others with him, terrified by the continuing ordeal, pulled back but Nile approached them gently, helping them onto the deck and offering them small amounts of food and water. They shied away from Quynh, understandably, until she cradled one of the few surviving children in her arms and crooned a soft lullaby.
"He seemed good at first, but he was not a good man," one of the women said later. "He helped people out of the water... then threw them back in if their injuries were too severe. Just stood there and watched them drown. He did not want to burden himself with the dying. He said he was doing them a favor by letting them die quickly."
"He's gone now," Nile smoothed. "You don't have to fear him any more."
With the extra hands they cleared the rest of the deck faster, moving the injured into the galley below where Nile put her more recent medical skills to good use. Booker managed to get the power back on so some of the women began boiling water and cooking with some of the provisions they found below. Most were still traumatized but keeping them occupied helped. Booker found welding equipment and slithered into the dark depths beneath the debris to seal the single hole he had found in the hull, wanting to ensure the boat was seaworthy.
He came up gasping once or twice, almost drowning, wishing the boat had a diver's suit and oxygen tank. After spending most of his immortal life reliving Quynh drowning over and over in his nightmares, and after his recent brush with drowning, he wasn't keen on doing that again. He clambered back on board and accepted the mug of hot stew and flatbread with thanks.
"I figure we have half an hour before the sun sets," Nile stated as she sat down beside him, leaning in for a kiss, which he was happy to give. Her beautiful face crinkled in a smile. "At least we have lights."
She rested her head against his shoulder and he tilted his down towards her, temples touching, finally understanding the powerful intimacy of this act he had seen and sometimes mocked from Joe and Nicky over his lifetime. Quynh settled down on his other side and he pulled her in close as they finished their hot meal together, amazed at her resilience, all things considered. Tomorrow they would clear the rest of the debris away from the boat and, hopefully, if the engine started, they could begin the search for Andy, Joe, and Nicky.
Nile sighed. "I tried the radio but I don't think its powerful enough to send and receive a signal in its current condition. Not from this far out."
He frowned because surely they couldn't have been swept so far out into the Mediterranean? Admittedly it was all a blur to him but somehow they had ended up in the same patch of ocean, finding each other quickly. He hoped Andy was close by too, but if not then perhaps she had been picked up by one of the rescue boats that must have poured into the area following a natural disaster. Having a radio to contact other ships would help.
"I'll see if I can get the radio mast rigged back up to boost the signal," he replied, glancing at the tangle of twisted metal that would have been the radio mast.
To conserve battery power and diesel oil, Booker switched off most off the electrics, leaving just the running lights. They made sure the rest of the survivors were settled down for the night, and then he and Nile set to work on the radio.
****
Andy swam from one piece of debris to another, hoisting herself up occasionally to take a breather. This particular piece of flotsam was large enough for her to stretch out on top and she could feel the waves rocking beneath her, glad for the calm sea. Above her the sky was slowly darkening as the sun set and she debated staying here until daybreak but thoughts of Quynh and the others forced her to swim on.
As she swam her thoughts went back to a few hours earlier, when she was laughing and joking with Quynh, Booker, and Nile after climbing to the highest point on Malta, the Dingli Cliffs. The view was better from other places but it was fairly empty in December. Nile hadn't been that impressed and her sixth sense for Nicky or Joe's cooking had her stomach rumbling unexpectedly, much to everyone's amusement. Andy recalled handing her a granola bar when the flash of white light made them all blink hard before looking back out to sea.
"Oh my God!" Nile had exclaimed, wide-eyed in shock at the size of the wall of water heading straight for the island.
They were on the highest point on the main island, 253m above sea level, and that was still not high enough, and there was nothing up here except for the radar station. They ran as fast as they could across the rocky terrain, faster still once they reached the road, barely making it to the station and getting inside before the wave hit. Andy had hoped it would be strong enough to protect them from the worst, but she was wrong. Quynh was terrified and Andy held her tightly, shouting as the entire station was swept away.
She lost her hold on Quynh, her body torn to ribbons as she was dragged across the jagged rocks beneath the wave. When she finally resurfaced, knowing she had drowned at least once, she couldn't see any of the others.
"Quynh! Nile! Booker!"
Around her were dozens, perhaps hundreds of bodies and she pushed by them as she kept swimming. Hours later the sun disappeared and the stars came out, plunging her back into memories of the long decades spent on the water looking for Quynh. She never expected to be back in that place so soon after being reunited, and after all the pain and suffering it took to bring Quynh home.
A glint of light bobbed momentarily in the distance so she headed toward it, pushing through the debris and bodies carefully until she could see it was a medium sized Maltese fishing boat that must have been caught up in the tsunami. Someone was onboard though as she could see movement occasionally. Dragging herself onto the debris near the boat she carefully approached, catching the eye of a man near the stern.
"I saw the lights," she explained, and he smiled and reached for her, helping her onboard.
"There's water and some hot food below."
"Thank you."
She was halfway across the deck towards the bridge when a small figure stepped out of the shadows, and this last year had definitely been one for tears of pain, of frustration, of sorrow, of joy, and they fell freely now as she enveloped Quynh, breathing in her scent.
"Andy?"
She looked up and laughed when Nile and Booker came racing onto the deck, caught immediately in a group hug that brought bittersweet smiles to others seated on the deck.
"Joe? Nicky?"
Booker shook his head. "But we have a boat. We can go search for them at first light."
****
Joe and Nicky huddled together under a blanket through the long night, staring up at a sea of stars above them as they tried to make sense of what had happened.
Reports had been relayed from ship to ship that it was all gone. The whole world seemed to have sunk beneath the waves in a cataclysmic solar event on the exact day predicted by an ancient Mayan calendar, though it had infamously been misread in the Gregorian calendar as 2012 instead of 2021; the two end digits transposed. The polar ice caps had melted and the reason why none of the navigational instrumentation now worked correctly was because the magnetic poles had shifted. Billions were dead but hundreds, possibly thousands had been pulled from the water across the world though as yet, there was no place to make port.
There was word that the Governments across the world had known about this coming apocalypse for several years, slowly emptying museums of priceless art and selling places onboard huge 'arks' built high in the Himalayas for the super-rich. As always it was the poor who had been left behind, not expected to survive the almost biblical flood, but ordinary people could be surprisingly resilient, and the scientists had got it slightly wrong in their predictions. The expected storms and ash clouds from the volcanic eruptions and tectonic plate movements were quenched by the tsunamis that spread across the planet, leaving the skies as clear as they used to be a thousand years ago, before the industries of man caused global warming as the factories spewed poison into the atmosphere.
Perhaps fate was being kind to him and Joe because at first light the ship spotted a Maltese fishing boat just off the port bow. As it drew closer to unload most of its passengers, Nicky's eagle eyes spotted a familiar figure assisting the injured.
"Andy!"
Joe leaned over the guard rail and laughed, shouting louder and waving. Nicky saw her look up and grin at them, calling back over her shoulder. Quynh, Nile, and Booker appeared, hugging each other as they all recognized each other, and a message was sent up.
'Come down. We have our own boat.'
The Captain had already broken open some of the containers known to hold food, and he let them go with ample supplies in thanks for their part in helping the other survivors. They lowered the supplies to the fishing boat far below, climbing down first the gangplank and then the Jacobs ladder into the welcoming embrace of their family.
This was their new safe house, their new home, and as they parted company with the container ship Nicky wrapped Joe in his arms and kissed him soundly.
"Get a room!" Nile cried out but then laughed as Booker took her in his arms and kissed her.
"You get a room," Nicky called back, laughing in turn.
All the places they had known; the places of their births, of their first deaths, their first meetings, their first times. The places that held the most pain, the most joy, and all the many places in between that they had seen slowly changing over the long years of their immortality. All of it was gone, washing their pasts away with it.
It was a whole new world out there for them, but they faced it together.
END