Page 100
Story: Stranded
“It’s a fucking location!” Jackson yells, throwing his hands in the air in victory. “WE HAVE A LOCATION!” He screams loud enough for the entire building to hear. And from the cheers I hear in return, I think everyone did.
“Zoom out,” I tell Hendrix, not willing to take my eyes off the flashing dot for a second. The dot is blinking over water, and he slowly zooms out until we spot the first piece of green.
“What land is that?” I ask, but he just shakes his head, unknowing. As he continues to zoom out, what I thought would be a small island grows bigger and bigger.
“Holy shit, that’s Madagascar!” I say, when it finally comes into view. “They’re South East of Madagascar? I didn’t think there were any islands there.”
“There aren't. At least not any on our maps.”
“Shit, we weren’t looking that far South, no wonder we didn't find them.”
“They might not be on an island, they might have been in the raft this entire time, floating around.” As soon as the words leave his lips, I feel all the color drain from my face.
Fuck.I hope they aren’t laying dead in a raft out there right now. They wouldn’t have survived without food and water this long.
I flip open my phone and call Arnold. He’s not just my driver, he’s my assistant, and he was about to get a lot of overtime hours.
“Sir?”
“We got a hit. Book me a flight to Madagascar, as soon as possible.”
“A flight, for you, sir? Are you sure?”
My hand tightens on the phone. I don’t like being questioned, but I understood why he did. I don’t fly. I’m deathly afraid of it. But this rescue mission wasn’t one I was about to let happen without me. Not now we had a location.
“Yes.”
“I’m on it.” I hang up and run my hand through my hair, letting out a deep breath.
I can’t believe it, our first real lead since they went missing. My mind rushes through a million scenarios of how I find them. What if we only find King? What if they’re badly injured? What if this breaks them? What if I don’t get there in time? What if the signal stops?
My phone vibrates in my hand, knocking me out of my thoughts. I see my father’s name and groan. I better answer this now, I’d have to let him know I was leaving, anyway.
“Dad, I’m glad you called,” I lie.
“I find that hard to believe,” he says, sounding exasperated.
“I found them.”
There’s a beat of silence before he speaks. “What did you say?”
“I found them, dad. My program worked. We got a ping South East of Madagascar. I’m heading there as soon as I can.”
“Son, now you know how you are with planes, do you really think that’s a good idea?”
“They’re family, dad. I have to go.”
I hear him sigh on the other end, like he’s disappointed in me, which is nothing new. I’m never living up to his expectations of me. And yet, I don’t seem to care too much anymore. I tried. For years, I tried to appease him. But he doesn’t understand me and my need to blaze my own trail.
“Alright, son, I understand. Send me the location and info and I’ll do everything I can to help.”
“Really? I ask in surprise.
“Of course. Like you said, they’re family.”
“You haven’t been exactly helping me search for them these past two months.”
“It’s not that I didn’t want to, son. I honestly thought they didn’t make it. That their plane crashed into the ocean. But if they are alive, then of course I want to help recover those boys and bring them home where they belong.”
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