Chapter 2

James awoke to an argument. The events of the previous evening hit him like a ton of bricks, and he realized he was now in a lifeboat with one of the world's most annoying women and three other women. Jessica Barnes was arguing with the other female crewman that had saved her life last night.

"What the hell is going on?!" James demanded loudly.

Everyone looked at him with dumbfounded expressions.

"Seriously, what the hell are you ar—Where is the foam boat cover?!" James yelled. Only one of the two-piece plastic covered foam cover to the boat was in place and he couldn't see the other stacked on top of it.

The older teenage girl pointed off to port and said, "She said we didn't need it and it was just taking up space."

James actually spotted the cover, floating some fifty-yards away. He immediately sat down, put the oars out and started rowing towards the discarded and floating cover. He grumbled under his breath, no longer caring about upsetting the captain's daughter.

He heard Jessica talking down to him as if explaining that the cover was simply useless and they only needed one of the covers to provide shade during the daylight hours. When he reached the floating cover, the young girl stood up and reached for it.

"Stop it right now," Jessica commanded. "We don't need to be collecting every useless piece of—"

James swung towards her sharply, "Shut the fuck up."

He held up the light cover and unzipped the light plastic sheeting pulling it wide to show additional supplies held in place in the foam, "Look you stupid bitch! Spare batteries for the flashlight, a signaling mirror, water pouches, and half our fucking flares!"

Jessica flushed, and started to say, "Listen, you—"

James slapped her and she backed away from him angrily holding her face.

"I said, shut up. You're the goddamned ship's Safety Officer and you don't know dick about any of this equipment."

"When I tell my father—"

James yelled, "Your father is fucking dead, you stupid bitch!"

Suddenly, she pulled the multi-tool from her pocket, brandishing the blade at him. James took a careful step back from her reach, and then reached into his waist bag.

Jessica yelled, "You stupid man, I'm in charge here. If you don't sit down and do what you're told, I'll—"

James lifted his arm from his waist bag, in his hand he leveled his Navy M1911 at her face, cutting her off midsentence. James calmly used his thumb to pull back the hammer making a metallic clicking noise that anyone who watched television or films would recognize.

Calmly, he said, "Hand the knife slowly to Crewman ... I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

"Watts, Julie Watts, sir," the young woman who saved Jessica's life answered.

"Jessica, hand the knife to Crewman Watts before I add another corpse to the ocean."

Jessica shakily managed to relinquish the knife to Julie and sat back down slowly. James put the gun safely back in his waist bag and zipped the plastic closed on the boat cover. He put the cover over the other piece so they were stacked again and then sat down facing Jessica.

She growled, "Big man with the gun thinks he's in charge."

James slapped her again, "Shut the fuck up. I'm in charge because I was First Officer. I'm in charge because I'm the most qualified to make sure we all survive. I'm in charge because you're a moron. The gun is just a bonus." He smiled.

James sighed, wishing he could afford to delve into their precious med kit for an aspirin—he had a headache.

He quickly surmised that Jessica had already started to distribute the supplies while he'd been asleep, and he ordered Crewman Watts to search Jessica for anything else she might be holding. Julie found a water pouch and a granola bar in Jessica's pockets, which James returned to the main provision box. Julie also offered him the multi-tool, but he told her to hold onto it for now.

James then went through everything else on the boat, gathering it all near the bow. Then he told Jessica, "You try to steal from the rest of us again, and you're gone. I have no problem throwing your ass to the sharks."

He distributed half a granola bar to everyone, including Jessica, and then a day's ration water pouch each. When the young girl drank half of hers and folded the top to save it, James said, "The best place to conserve water is inside your body. It's all you'll get for the day, so drink it all now."