The Worst-Case Scenario Ultimate Adventure Novel: Deadly Seas Page 5

  We’ll never survive this, you think, but there’s no time for regrets, because a squall suddenly turns up and hits the boat without warning. It hammers the yacht with 60-mile-per-hour winds. You grip the rail as the boat twists and turns and corkscrews, fighting to stay upright.

  Brandon, Chelsea, and Georgina wrestle with the sails. The rain and hail sting their skin as they secure the rigging.

  Brandon runs from Chelsea to Georgina, trying to help them both at the same time. David charges downstairs to make sure everything is tied down tight.

  “No visibility!” Jason shouts to you and Brandon from the wheel. “Help me navigate! Check the radar!”

  “I can’t leave what I’m doing,” Brandon yells.

  “I’ll go!” You race downstairs.

  You dodge Brandon’s lunch plate as it soars through the cabin like a Frisbee. David is on the floor, picking up papers. You leap over him and reach the navigation table and the radar. There’s a green dot on the screen. You and David don’t know what it is.

  Should you take Brandon away from his post to take a look at it? Or just wait and see if it goes away?

  GET BRANDON.

  WAIT.

  You quickly tie a round turn and two half hitches. Your fingers move automatically without your brain focusing. You’re too busy watching Georgina. What is she doing? She stands nose-to-nose with the mast in the rain. “Where is it? Where is it?” she cries.

  You hurry to her side. “What’s wrong with the mast?”

  “The silver coin I attached to it before we left is gone.” Georgina’s eyes are filled with anxiety. “We need to find it!”

  You see it glint on the deck. “There,” you point.

  Georgina dives for the coin. “Why did you attach a coin to the mast?” you ask, but Georgina doesn’t hear you in the powerful wind. The next huge gust rips across the deck, strains the sail, and pulls the lines taut. The knot you just tied, attaching the mainsail to the boom, loosens. Oh, no! You tied the wrong knot. You should have tied a reef knot.

  The sail flaps furiously. Other lines along the mast begin to break loose. The sail is now secured only at the mast. The boat heels dangerously.

  “I can’t steer without the sail!” Jason screams. “Someone do something!”

  “I’m on it!” Chelsea cries over the wind. She hoists herself onto the mast.

  Chelsea uses her strong arms to pull herself up, up, up.

  “She shouldn’t be up there,” Georgina warns.

  Your stomach twists with guilt. She’s up there because you tied the wrong knot.

  Chelsea sways with the mast in the violent winds. The sail and loose line whip across the boat, just out of her reach.

  Jason tries desperately to control the rocking boat. “Drop anchor!” he calls to you. “Hurry!”

  You race to the bow where the anchor is stored. As you crouch to pull it out, you hear a high-pitched scream and whirl around to see Chelsea free-falling through the air.

  THUD! Her body smashes onto the deck.

  Everyone rushes over. Chelsea doesn’t move. Her leg is twisted at a strange angle. Georgina puts her ear to Chelsea’s mouth. “She’s still breathing. David, we need medical help out here. Radio for a boat, a helicopter, something. Fast!”

  Everyone springs into action. Within an hour Georgina has her stabilized, but it takes another day for help to arrive. As she is hoisted into the rescue helicopter, you are all relieved to see her getting the medical help she needs. But with no more sailing for Chelsea, for your crew, it’s…

  THE END

  Rami leaves. Boats come and go. But the Chronos II must wait until Mr. Houseman sorts everything out. Sand blows in from the Sinai desert, coating everything in a layer of grime. Your days are spent cleaning every nook, winch, and cranny.

  One night, Rami’s boat reappears. “Sick of waiting?” he calls. “Ready to make a deal now?”

  “Never!” you all shout.

  “You’ll be sorry,” Rami threatens, before he motors off.

  “What does he mean?” Georgina asks nervously.

  “Oh, please!” Brandon scoffs. “He can’t bully us.”

  David runs onto the deck. “I just heard from Mr. Houseman. We’re finally cleared. He got us a pilot for tomorrow morning.”

  “Excellent!” Georgina lets out a sigh of relief.

  You’re itching to get through the canal and into the open ocean to make up the wasted time. You take first watch while everyone sleeps. Hundreds of stars twinkle overhead. You see Ursa Major, the constellation in the shape of a bear, and the bright North Star. You marvel how ancient sailors used the stars to navigate. No computers, no GPS.

  Then you notice a light in the darkness. The light moves closer. The light is on a motorboat.

  A motorboat filled with men.

  FLOAT ON.

  You race toward the bow, slipping and sliding. The mast looms overhead, then hits the stern deck with an ominous BOOM, completely missing you.

  You and Chelsea are safe—for now.

  But without a mast to hold the sails up, they drop in a heap. Your heart sinks as you watch them drag in the ocean. Chelsea stares wide-eyed and begins to shake. The Chronos II jerks about unsteadily. It lurches from side to side, bouncing you and Chelsea about like the little silver balls in a pinball machine. Desperately, you try to grab onto something to steady yourself.

  You need to clip your safety harness onto the lifeline. You should have done it long ago. Now everything is too slippery and the boat is rocking rapidly. It’s impossible to maintain your balance long enough to clip on.

  “Jason! David! Help!” you cry. You’ve spotted your crewmates’ heads peering out from the hatch. They don’t hear you. They stare in shock at the damage to the mast and the stern. Will they be able to save the sails and repair the boat? They don’t have much time before vital pieces are swept out to sea.

  No one sees you and Chelsea fighting for your lives by the bow.

  “Hold on, Chelsea!” you scream as the two of you cling, white-knuckled, to a mooring cleat. The stern of the boat sinks in the storm. The bow raises in the air, pulling you down, weakening your faltering grip.

  Then a wave breaks on the hull. It rips your hands from the cleat and catapults you into the sea! The shock of the cold water sends a searing pain jolting throughout your body. You try to scream, but no sound comes out.

  Luckily, Chelsea screams loud enough for both of you. For a tiny girl, she has amazing lung power!

  Jason, David, Georgina, and Brandon hook up their safety harnesses and race to the edge.

  “Brandon, get the big flashlight! David, throw a line—fast!” Jason barks. “Keep your heads up!” he bellows to you.

  “Hurry!” Georgina screams. “They’re going to drown!”

  David flings a life ring, and you grab hold. Your teeth chatter loudly as David and Brandon work together to pull you onto the boat. Georgina and Jason have already rescued Chelsea.

  “We lost our chance,” Jason mutters once you’re back on board. Bits of sail and mast now drift far out to sea. If you’d been harnessed, the crew wouldn’t have had to spend precious time rescuing you and could have saved the sail and mast. Maybe then David could’ve patched things together.

  Now you will need to radio for a tow. Your adventure is all washed up.

  THE END

  You’re afraid that the canopy will trap the heat as if you were closed up in a car’s trunk on a summer day. The crew decides to keep it folded away.

  The life raft floats. The sun beats down. You close your eyes. The thick heat claws at your body, and your lips blister painfully. By noon, the sun is high in the sky, and your world has begun to spin. Up is no longer up and down is no longer down. Your brain is so foggy, so confused.

  Opening one eye, you squint at your crewmates. They have all been hit hard by the sun. Everyone’s skin is pink and raw. Everyone’s eyes look dry and sunken. Rummaging about in the supply bag for fresh water, you rip open
one of the foil packets and suck down the liquid. Then you reach for another.

  “Stop!” David cries. “We need to save it for later.”

  “But I’m so thirsty,” you protest. “My mouth feels like it is filled with cotton.”

  “We’re all thirsty,” David says, and there’s no arguing with that. You’re desperate, though. Dehydration is making you nauseated and irritable.

  “I need it!” you cry and grab another water packet before anyone can stop you. You greedily guzzle it down. Ripping open another, you chug that one, too. And then you begin to vomit uncontrollably.

  “Gross!” Chelsea shrieks as your barf splatters onto her.

  “You drank too fast,” Georgina explains. “If you don’t stop throwing up, you’ll dehydrate even more.”

  How can you stop? You feel so sick. So out of it.

  You try to speak but can’t get the words out. Your lips and tongue are swollen. There is no moisture anywhere in your body. You are no longer sweating in the heat. Flipping over on your stomach, you lower your face closer, closer, closer to the cool water. A long silver fish swims up to you. He opens his mouth and smiles.

  “Oh, my God!” you cry. “The fish has braces!”

  Georgina tells everyone you are having delusions from dehydration.

  No way! This fish has definitely been to the orthodontist! If you can just submerge your face, you can see it better…

  SPLASH! You tumble into the ocean and spiral downward. The sun has zapped your strength. You couldn’t take the heat, so this is…

  THE END

  All six of you aim the silver mirrored watch faces simultaneously at the sun.

  “Pilots have reported seeing flashes from miles away if the weather is clear and you get the right angle,” David reports. Luckily, there’s not a cloud in the clear, blue sky. The brilliant rays of the sun reflect off the shiny surfaces and bounce into the path of the passing plane.

  You hold your breath and tighten your grip on your watch. Did the plane see you? Did it notice the strange beams of light?

  You tilt your watch up and down, aiming the reflected sunlight again and again.

  The plane flies overhead. It keeps flying and flying until it is a dot in the distance and then completely out of sight. The gentle slapping of the waves fills the void of the whirring engine.

  “You can put your watch down,” Georgina says gently. “It’s gone.”

  “No! No! The plane can’t be gone!” You sound hysterical, but you can’t help it. Your chance of rescue just flew away. Burying your head in your hands, you will yourself not to cry.

  “I hear—” Jason starts.

  “Me too,” David says.

  “It circled back!” Chelsea screams. Everyone raises their eyes to the sky, and sure enough, the plane has returned. You cheer and whistle and wave your watches. The plane circles four more times. Each time it descends lower.

  “They see us!” Brandon cries. “I know they do!”

  “Look! They’re throwing something out of the plane,” Georgina says.

  A bright-orange marker buoy hits the water and bobs alongside the raft. Then the plane flies off. “What the—!” Chelsea throws up her arms in outrage.

  “Don’t worry,” David says. “They’re coming back for us.”

  It’s almost dark when the first rescue helicopter appears, zeroed in by the marker buoy. Then another arrives. Helicopters can fly lower than planes, so that’s why they’ve been sent to rescue you.

  Rescue is tricky, but soon all six of you are plucked from the raft and hoisted into the waiting helicopters. They fly you to Cape Town, South Africa, where you are all treated for dehydration and heatstroke before flying on Mr. Houseman’s private plane back to California.

  You’re back to where you started, but this wasn’t how you were supposed to get here.

  There are no cheering crowds. There are no TV cameras filming your successful return.

  “This stinks,” Jason mutters.

  “We could do it again,” you suggest. “All of us. We’ll start from the beginning, but this time we’ll make better choices.” You turn to your crewmates. “Are you all in?”

  YOU’RE ALL IN.

  You stay on the boat. The Chronos II is upright—well, barely, but it’s always smarter to stay aboard than risk the open water in a tiny lifeboat.

  Waves explode onto the port side one after another. BAM! BAM! BAM! There’s no time to recover before the next one hits. The deck is ankle-deep in seawater. Everyone hurries below for safety. The sails are furled. There’s no thought of steering or sailing. The only concern is survival.

  David straps himself into his berth. “Hold on tight!” he yells over the terrifying roar of the water.

  “What a great roller coaster!” Brandon tries to joke, but no one laughs.

  “I was on a boat during Hurricane Earl, but this storm is worse than that,” Chelsea confides.

  BAM! The crash of water against the hull is deafening.

  “Those sound like the largest waves I’ve ever heard.” Jason’s eyes are wide.

  You huddle on the floor beneath your berth, numb with fear and soaked with seawater. You’re so wet you don’t notice it at first. But soon it’s impossible to miss. “We have a leak!”

  What starts as a trickle rapidly turns to a gush, and the water spreads across the floor. David and Jason scramble to investigate. Water collects under the berths on the port side.

  Brandon tries to grab his stray socks and underwear, now floating along the floor.

  “The hull cracked!” Jason calls. “Even worse, it’s below the waterline,” he cries.

  “We have to get out of here,” Georgina says. “Or we’ll drown.”

  “Wait!” David calls. “I think I can patch it. I just need one or two of you to help.”

  “I’ll help,” Chelsea offers. “The rest of you should go to the life raft.”

  “I’m staying,” Jason announces. “A captain never abandons his boat with people still on it.”

  “Brandon and I will get the life raft ready.” Georgina’s already tugging Brandon up the stairs.

  What will you do?

  HELP DAVID.

  HEAD FOR THE LIFE RAFT.

  You really want to search the sky for another flash of light. So far everyone on board has seen a shooting star except you. This could be your night.

  But you jump up and start to take the sails down just in case Georgina is right after all. You know sometimes there’s a calm before a storm.

  As you work, the wind suddenly picks up.

  WHAM! A gust strikes the mainsail with such force, the mast quakes. You’re sure the mast is coming down.

  The wind is blowing at least 50 knots. On land, that would bring down trees. Your pulse races as the waves crest high above the yacht. Where is Jason? you wonder. How can he sleep through this?

  Brandon helps you with the sails, then goes below to clean up. Everything he owns is scattered in the galley, in his berth, and on the chart table. In this kind of weather, his stuff could go flying and hit someone with the force of a bullet.

  The wind dies down a bit, then picks up—and a monster wave forms. The stern rises as the yacht is caught in its curl.

  You hold your breath and cling to the lifeline as the yacht tilts more and more—then the black sky is split by a swift bolt of lightning.

  You shriek as it nearly strikes the mast. The sky opens up and the rain pelts down.

  Chelsea appears on deck, yelling something over the crashing waves.

  Another bolt of white lightning illuminates the sky and reveals her face. You’re surprised at what you see.

  There’s no fear in her eyes. She’s excited—and that can be dangerous in a storm like this. Sometimes a little fear can save a life. You don’t want to leave Chelsea up here alone. She might do something reckless.

  Down below, you can’t believe what you see—Brandon is hiding under the dining table. Georgina is gripping the chart table
with one hand, trying to strap down the laptop with the other.

  Before you can say anything, a shoe comes soaring at you. It’s a big shoe—Brandon’s. “Ow!” you cry out as it clips you in the shoulder.

  Brandon’s head pops up from the table. “Great! You found it!” he says, holding the other one up.

  You look aft and see David and Jason on the floor in front of Jason’s berth.

  “I need your help,” David shouts. “Jason fell out of his berth. He’s bleeding.”

  “Jason was taking a nap,” David explains. “He didn’t have the lee cloth attached.” That’s the canvas material that attaches to the open side of the bunk so the sleeper doesn’t fall out during rough seas.

  “When the boat pitched, Jason rolled out and Brandon’s book flew off his bed. It gashed Jason’s eye. “

  David shakes his head in disgust. “I keep telling Brandon to put his stuff away. He never listens.”

  You quickly open the storage compartment next to Jason’s berth and find the first-aid kit. As you pull the kit down from the shelf, the yacht pitches heavily. The first-aid kit flies from your hands.

  You gasp as it rockets to the back of the boat, directly toward the chart table and Georgina’s head. The kit misses Georgina by inches, but she grabs it and gets to work cleaning up Jason’s cut. Then you hear a scream from above.

  It’s Chelsea!

  You race up to the deck to check on her. The wind and rain whip your face as you frantically search for her. Then you see a flash of her yellow jacket.

  “Help me!” Chelsea cries out. “The backstay is loose!”

  Oh, no! The backstay is an essential piece of wire that stops the mast from falling forward.

  You start toward the stern but quickly lose your balance and nearly fall overboard. You forgot to hook on your safety harness. Chelsea isn’t wearing hers either!