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It was suffocating. The moment you stepped into the open air, you'd be blinded by an overwhelming veil of fog. It was a miracle the ship could sail at all. Anything could've been beyond the fog. Jagged rocks, tidal waves, endless rain, even monsters were within the realm of possibility. Jerald had everyone work tirelessly on maintaining the ship's stability. Each member of the crew became leaders of a team, under Jerald of course.
Jackson and Tristan managed the ropes. Sam and her team collected fish, seaweed, and other edible materials. Creed counted and managed the resources. Elizabeth was in charge of the kitchen. Delilah took care of the injured, and Jason looked after the children who were too young to be of any help.
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A hushed voice whispers, " he's amazing! Through sheer instinct, Jerald managed to lead the ship safely through the fog for weeks". As they gossip, Elizabeth drops a spoonful of seaweed soup into Jackson's bowl. He offers her a smile, but the person next to him in line, Homer, pushes him aside. A bit of the soup falls, but instead of crying over spilled soup, he walks away. In the corner, Creed is slurping his soup by himself. As he makes his way to his friend, everyone tries to hide their glare.
He asked with his signature smile, "Is this seat taken?". Creed's face instantly begins twitching. Through clenched teeth, he laughs, " of course...". A fool could see the malice hidden behind his words, but Jackson acted as if he was none the wiser. The moment he sat down, Creed chugged his soup, then laughed, "welp, I'm done, see you tomorrow, Jackson!". With Creed gone, Jackson was left alone with a room filled with malicious glares. While slurping his soup, Jackson kept a smile.
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He ignored their stares, and soon they stopped. He was trapped in the corner of the room but kept his smile. It was forced, but even so, he kept it up. When he finally finished his meal, he walked to the captain's room. He whistled a merry tune and kept a skip in step until he passed Jerald's door. The drunken captain scored loudly in the corner of the room. It was different than him being alone. As fell into the captain's chair, he dropped his smile.
He used both of his hands to cover his face, " I just wanted to help them...". In response, Jerald offered a loud snore. "You're right, nothing can make them happy. I just wish... Someone could understand why I did it". As he let out a sigh, the sound of the waves crashed through the glass. Footsteps forced the door open, and Tristan's voice cried, " Captain! The fog cleared!". He stopped in front of Jackson, "come quick, I can't describe how bad things are!".
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While Jerald clutched the bottle of rum in his hand, the two boys bolted out of the room. Through short breath, " how bad is it?". Tristan explained, " let's just say, I'd rather singlehandedly man a ship in the freezing winter than deal with this". As he finished his sentence, they pushed open the trapdoor, revealing a maze of jagged rocks, a hailstorm the size of watermelons, mostly frozen water, and a vortex tempting the ship.
After taking a single glance, Jackson laughed, " Is this hell?". Tristan playfully hits his back, "I'm afraid not, boss. Now get up there and tell us what to do". Jackson ran up to the helm, then shouted, " move the mast starboard!". As he shouts, the sound of the rudder mimics him. The boat crashes into a chunk of ice, as the boat shakes, he screams, "port!". This back and forth goes on for a while. Unfortunately, his maneuvering leads them to a towering cliff. Tristan shouts, " boss, what do we do now?". Jackson whispers to himself, "come on, think think think!". When that doesn't work, he hits his head, until he notices the vortex. " we have no other choice, starboard!". Tristan shouts, "but boss, the vortex!". Jackson screams back, " please! Just trust me!". By the strings of fate, they threw themselves into the vortex.
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While the ship circled it, Tristan crawled his way to Jackson's side. Out of breath, he gasps, "What... was... Your plan?". Jackson answers, " I don't have a plan". Tristan grabs his collar, "are you mad!". While Tristan clutched his collar, Jackson fell to railing. " I'm only joking! Jerald always carries three barrels of gunpowder, throw them all into the vortex!".
After crawling there way to his stash, Tristan carried two of the barrels to the deck, while Jackson carried the other. Once they arrived at the railing, they threw the lit barrels overboard. Jackson crossed his fingers and whispered a prayer while Tristan stared at him with an intense glare.
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