"Dead Tide" by Sean Walusko

Dead Tide

by Sean Walusko

Two weeks out to sea with nothing to do while my parents sit around getting drunk and my sister hits on the crew isn't exactly what I'd call a good time. Don't tell them that though. Why anyone would want to subject themselves to a crowded ship full of middle-aged bureaucrats pretending to be young and hip again is beyond me. I have literal nightmares about this sort of thing. The only saving grace was an island stop along the way where I could get off this damn ship and away from everyone else. We could have gone anywhere, done anything, but NO, my parents decided that a family cruise for their retirement was the best thing to bring us all together. Now I remember why I moved out. 

I must have blacked out or blocked most of my time on the ship because the next thing I know, I'm looking out at a sunset, orange light glazed over a brilliant sheet of shimmering blue, for miles. This I could get used to.

“How long are we staying?” I asked my mom.

They must be too drunk to answer since they're laying on the sand next to me enjoying the same sunset. Great, they waited until they were in their sixties to become alcoholics.

“Hello?” I asked again. “How...never mind. I'm gonna go find Julie.”

Julie, my sister, didn't want to come either until she realized she'd be one of the few teenage girls on the ship able to sink her claws into every young guy in uniform. I had to tell her they were basically busboys, not sailors. She didn't care. Hormones are crazy.

“Julie!” I yelled out, making my way down the beach, stopping to admire the scenery and picking up random trinkets along the way. Found a pocket watch. Doesn't work. Doesn't surprise me either.

“JULIE!” I yell again, this time louder, angrier. “Goddammit, I'm not gonna waste another day looking for you.” Where the fuck is she?

Aside from what seems like miles upon miles of winding sand and lush palm trees blocking off deeper paths into what looks like a jungle, there wasn't much else to see. A few other people from the ship were littered across the beach, lying next to each other, relaxing, taking in the sun, and a few were out in the water, what looked like a family, swaying and having a good time. Maybe they saw her.

“Excuse me. Have any of you seen a girl, brown hair, eighteen, wearing a tacky pink and green string bikini?” I asked the family relaxing in the sand. The youngest one just stared at me, a flat affect across his face, with his tongue sticking out at me. Rude little fucker. His parents were ignoring me too. Probably didn't wanna get involved.

“Julie,” I yelped out with a desperate sigh. I bet she's at a cabana fucking one of the busboys.

I walked for another half hour. I think it was half an hour since the sun got low enough to create a mist of purple across the top of the horizon. To my left came a series of moans from behind a set of trees. I swear if that's her.

“Julie, goddammit I...” It wasn't Julie.

His leg looked like it was broken, and he was holding onto his arm while making the tightest fists I'd ever seen. “Oh, fuck, can you help me?”

I stood there, staring at him like a kid that just saw a car accident and didn't know how to respond. “Oh, yeah hold on,” I said, snapping out of it.

I reached out and helped him up to his feet. He winced and moaned, bearing most of his weight on me with his arm wrapped around the back of my neck. Judging by his white shirt and pants, and that he was maybe in his early twenties, he was one of the busboys.

“You don't look so good. What happened?” I asked him.
He turned his head to me and gave a very confused “What?”
“Yeah. What happened?” I asked again.
“Are you fucking kidding?”
“No. Why are your clothes covered in blood?”
Once we got to the edge of the beach, I set him down by the family I saw earlier. I figured

they'd be more help to him than me. I don't know shit about medical treatment, and he obviously needed some.

“Oh no. Oh god no, oh god,” he kept sobbing and repeating.
“I'll be back. I need to find my sister. Someone here can help you.”
“What are you talking about? No one's left. Everyone's fucking dead. This wasn't supposed to

happen. We were on course. We're not supposed to be here.”
This guy was obviously crazy. “Yeah, sure. Whatever you say. Look, I still gotta find my sister.

My parents are worried sick. She's been running off every day this week, and I just want this damn bullshit vacation to be over.”

“Week? We crashed a month ago. A fucking month. Where have you been?”

“I've been looking for my sister, thank you very much. And you're welcome. You know how many drunk people I pulled out of the water? If not for me, all these people would have drowned,” I

sternly corrected the idiot.
“Drunk? They're dead, kid. Dead. Everyone here is dead.”
I took a closer look and realized that maybe he wasn't so dumb.
“Oh. Well, I gotta find Julie before my parents start scolding me again.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he said right before passing out.
The sky was already turning black with pocked spots of stars dotting the sky. I decided to head

back to my parents since it was too dark to see anything. My dad's toes were already eaten off by crabs, and my mom's face was covered with flies. They really didn't know how to hold their liquor. At least I was off that damn ship.