Read Online Noah's Ark - Survivors by Harry Dayle - Free Book Online

happy whilst all the time wondering what he really should do with his life. He’d made it this far by accident, not by design. And now he’d just been fast tracked to the top, in the worst possible circumstances.
    The jet of water slowed to a trickle, and eventually stopped altogether. Jake stepped out of the shower and dried himself on a fluffy white towel embroidered with a tiny image of the ship, and the name Spirit of Arcadia. He didn’t think he could appoint another in his place. He was going to have to try and give this a shot.
    “Don’t think about the end of the world stuff,” he said to himself aloud. “Think of this as a temporary assignment. A training exercise, You’re just acting captain, until we reach a safe port. That’s the objective here. Reach a safe port.” A little voice in the back of his mind tried to tell him that there were no safe ports, that the asteroid had destroyed them, that they were alone at sea, destined to slowly starve to death. It tried, but Jake chose to ignore it. He couldn’t think like that. If he accepted that as their fate, they were already dead.
    There was a gentle knock at the door.
    “Jake? Are you awake? It’s me, Lucya.”
    “Give me a moment,” he called back.
    He opened his wardrobe and picked out the first clean clothes that came to hand. A pair of jeans, another t-shirt, and a navy blue sweater. He dressed as quickly as he could with the limited use of his hands.
    “Come in,” he said as soon as he was decent.
    The door opened and Lucya walked in. She looked exhausted. Her long black hair was dishevelled, her clothes partially melted, and her face bore patches of ash like badly applied makeup.
    “Hey you, you’re looking much better.” She looked around the room. “I thought I heard you talking to someone?”
    “Talking to myself,” Jake said, and blushed a little.
    “Hmm, you know what they say about that! So erm, we need you up on the bridge. You know, to need to decide what happens next?” She let the words out carefully, as if they were going to turn around and bite her in the face.
    “It’s okay Lucya, I know what I have to do.” He was sitting on the edge of the bed, fumbling with the laces on his shoes. His bandaged hand prevented him from gripping them. “Shit, sorry, oh hell, could you…would you mind…?” he looked up helplessly.  
    “Yeah! Of course!” Lucya dropped to her knees and proceeded to tie the laces neatly, her own smaller patch less of an impediment to free movement.
    “I can’t even put my own shoes on, how am I going to run this ship Lucya?” Jake felt panic well up inside him. He wanted to cry. He wanted to bury himself in his bed and never come out. He fought back the tears, kept his head bowed low, didn’t want her to see.
    “Hey! Hey hey, it’s going to be okay you know? You’re going to do fine. No, you’re going to do great! Everyone respects you, and nobody thinks it’s going to be easy. We’re all around to help you, you haven’t got to do this on your own.” She put an arm around him, pulled him close to her. Her hair smelt of fire and smoke. As it touched his face, something stirred within him. He immediately felt a pang of guilt. He pulled away from her, got to his feet. Sniffed. Tried to pull himself together.
    “I’m sorry,” he said. “Just tired. Thank you. It means a lot to know you have confidence in me.”
    Lucya stood as well. She smiled, understood this was hard for him. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s get back upstairs and get to work.”
    • • • • •
    Acting Captain Jake Noah, and Chief Radio Officer Lucya Levin, left the cabin and set off down the passageway towards the stairs.
    “Where did the captain go?” Jake looked around. There was no sign of the body, and the broken glass and blood had been cleared away.
    “Max took care of it. He cleaned up, didn’t want anyone stumbling across it and asking questions.”
    “What about Johnny?”
    “He and Grau took