True Survivor: The Seth Winston Story

By John Greenwood

A deadly virus sweeps across the globe killing everyone in its path except Seth Winston, his wife and teenage daughter who are spared. See how they cope in an uninhabited world filled with nothing but silence and failing resources. As they watch the electricity, running water and every other modern day convenience disappear, they must somehow find a way to survive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Greenwood
• Release date: Dec 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311512802

John Greenwood

John Greenwood is the pseudonym of John Buxton Hilton was born in 1921 in Buxton, Derbyshire. After his war service in the army he became an Inspector of schools, before retiring in 1970 to take up full-time writing. Hilton wrote two books on language teaching as well as being a prolific crime writer - his works include the Superintendent Simon Kenworthy series and the Inspector Thomas Brunt series, as well as the Inspector Mosley series as John Greenwood.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Well it’s day two of our vacation and things seem to be going fairly well. We still have wind and our boat hasn't sunk. Even the autopilot is working. It has maintained our course almost perfectly. It’s actually doing a better job than me, but don’t tell Karen that because she says I’m doing a great job, at least that’s what she tells me. I just wish she didn’t have that fake smile on her face. But we may have a slight problem, the automatic weather feeder going into my laptop is indicating we are about to be hit by a major storm. I wish it had given us some kind of warning, well it probably did but I just forgot to look at it, you might want to keep that quiet too. Storms can be rough out here, ten to fifteen foot seas with blinding rain and wind. Not the place you want to be on a fifty foot boat. I know what you’re thinking a fifty foot boat. It may look big and fancy at the dock, but out here in the middle of the ocean, where we happen to be right now, it is no more than a rowboat without oars, or what’s that the other expression, up something or other creek without a paddle. I mean you can easily find yourself in real danger with no chance of help getting to you in time, and we don’t want that. I mean if we’re going to go down, let’s at least make it to our vacation destination first, so someone can tell the story of a lost family with a very brave and handsome captain who went down with the ship, that would be me of course. I immediately turn the wheel to try and avoid the storm. That’s the one thing the autopilot doesn’t do, turn to avoid storms, so there’s some kudos to me being at the wheel, I’ll have to make sure and remind Karen of that later, hopefully she won’t give me that fake smile again.

That a storm on there Dad? Marissa, my sixteen year old daughter asks me touching the big green blob on the screen.

Yep, and we are turning to avoid it.

Ahhh…Dad.

Ahhh…Marissa. I say back smartly, I can still keep up with teen talk.

Have you looked back there? She's pointing behind me. I quickly turn my head and feel my heart jump right out of my chest. Oh yeah, of course, I quickly answer trying to sound confident and cursing myself for not paying more attention or at least looking behind us, so much for the kudos. That’s why were turning and speeding up. I say knowing we're screwed. Of course I don’t tell her that. I can see the giant black swirling clouds closing around us like a dark blanket.

Is that going to reach us Dad?

I think we’ll be okay. I try not to picture us on the bottom of the ocean. I can feel the breeze picking up and the prickly drops of rain pelting against my arms. .

What’s going on Seth? Karen asks curiously climbing out of the cabin.

There’s a huge storm heading for us Mom, Dad’s trying to outrun it. Marissa picks up her video camera and begins filming the oncoming monster. Maybe this is going to be my last moment. I quickly fix my hair before she gets a shot of me, remember the handsome guy going down with the ship.

Can we go any faster? Karen asks.

We’re doing almost seven knots in this wind. I answer back proudly.

I think that storm is doing about twenty.

I slowly turn my head around again. It’s almost completely black behind us now. It looks like a giant black wall. I can feel the air tightening around us and the the water waking up below me. It’s not a good feeling.

Dad it’s getting bigger. Marissa points at the screen. The blob is now almost filling half of the screen and it is moving right towards our little triangle like a giant amoeba engulfing everything in its path.

It looks like it's fast moving so it should be over quick. I’m always so positive, nothing like a quick death to cheer you up.

Seth, I really hope this boat is capable of handling these types of storms. Karen says looking over my shoulder. I nod and want to say I do too, but I end up saying something else. The man that sold it to us said it could handle anything.

Seth, he was close to ninety, I don’t think he has left the dock with it in ten years.

I gulp.

What do we do Dad?

It looks like we’re going to have to head directly into it. We’re not going to outrun it at this point. Maybe we should have stayed at the dock too, so much for making it to ninety. I can feel the rain coming down harder. It's only a matter of minutes till we will be in the middle of it. I know for us to have any chance at all we have to head directly at it. One thing you don’t want is to get hit from the side and roll with a giant wave. It could throw you off the deck or worse flip you over. I quickly swing the wheel back around feeling the boat react underneath us like a wild animal being forced into a cage and head towards the storm. I feel like I’m looking at a three hundred pound NFL linebacker. This is not looking good. We are probably less than five to ten minutes away from all hell breaking loose.

You guys should probably go down below. I point at the cabin entrance.

What about you Dad? You can’t stay up here. She points the camera at me. I can see the red light blinking, so of course I try to smile.

Seth, do you really need to stay out here?

I do. I mean I need to keep the boat pointed in the right direction. Remember I am the expert yachtsman, not the autopilot. She just shakes her head as she always does.

Can you at least hook up?

I nod because I don’t think I can even talk anymore my teeth are chattering so much. I quickly open the storage compartment grabbing three life jackets. I throw one to each of them and put one on myself. The wind and rain are really coming down now. It is horizontal rain, you know the kind that hits you in the face and makes you curse. I hook the tether to my life jacket and secure it to the boat. I am now officially going down with the ship. I watch as Karen tries to smile, I know that worried smile. Hopefully, I will see it again, but I'm beginning to wonder as the boat begins to violently shake and rock as it battles the emerging seas. I feel like we're on a roller coaster falling off the track and did I mention I hate roller coasters. I'm actually a little scared. I can feel the butterflies swarming, and did I mention I hate butterflies too, but I know Marissa is probably filming this so I have to keep that confident handsome look. I know it will make great footage, if someone actually gets to see it. Things are getting really bad now, not only is the wind swirling, a deep dense fog is rolling in. It is coming so fast, I can’t see the sails or even the cabin entrance anymore. Maybe the camera won't be able to capture me now, so I can scream in fear without looking foolish later. I lower the sails to a minimum hoping they will just keep us stable, but it doesn't seem to be working. Every few seconds the bow of the boat rises way up in the air and slams down into the ocean. I'm sure it's going to snap in half. I can barely see the screen in front of me now, and it is no more than few feet away, but what I can see is covered in green. We are right in the middle. The wind gauge is already registering sixty-five mile an hour winds, we are closing in on hurricane range, so much for the peaceful relaxing vacation. I have to keep reminding myself that I actually enjoy this and we are actually on vacation. I am totally soaked now too and the rain is pouring down. It's like standing directly under a shower head with a giant fan turned on to the highest setting. I am beginning to wonder if we are going to make it, if only I had my Blackberry to send a farewell message. I think we are literally jumping out of the water and landing on the other sides of the waves now, the seas are higher than I have ever seen them. I try to imagine Karen and Marissa huddled down below probably praying and crying, but there is nothing I can do now except hold the wheel as tightly as possible and try to maintain the course through the storm. I doubt the autopilot could do that, more kudos to tell Karen about. I know there's some weather nut back on land watching this take place on some computer model and laughing knowing this is no place for man to be. I feel like waving, but there is no way I am going to let go of the wheel. I shudder as a huge wave breaks across the boat and almost pulls me with it, the water feels so cold, I'm shivering so hard, but I'm not sure if it's from the cold or my nerves. What a way to go out, I think as I look all around me. Everything is a dark eerily gray color. They say it’s better not to see death coming and right now I'm not able to see anything, so maybe that's a good thing, remember the positive thinking. I can’t even see my hands in front of me or the laptop screen anymore, I don’t even know if it's still there. I hope my hands are. It feels like everything is being swept off the boat. The noise of the wind and rain is deafening, I keep wondering if this is the end of the world. I mean I have been in many storms before, but there is something different to this one, it seems more intense, almost angry. I think I can hear Karen’s voice yelling for me, but it's probably just the wind taunting me as we continue to roll violently from side to side. Remember I said the side rolls are the worst and most dangerous. At this point I have no idea whether we are heading into the storm or away from it; I just know we are in trouble. Maybe I should let the autopilot take over, and go down below if I can even find it, but then Karen would think I'm not that great of a sailor. All right, at this point she probably doesn’t care and plus I'm not letting go of this wheel or I might find myself trying to swim. Did I mention I don’t like swimming either? I quickly turn the wheel, not really sure why, but it just feels right, at the same time I feel a huge rush of water blast across my body, this is it, I'm going under, our world is over, well at least someone will have a good story to tell. Unfortunately, it won’t be me. I close my eyes as I feel the cold water engulf my body, I think I'm floating or swimming I’m not really sure anymore. I remain this way for what seems like an eternity I think. And then all of a sudden everything is quiet, too quiet and almost blissful. I guess I have drowned. I'm scared to open my eyes, but I slowly do expecting to be hundreds of feet underwater with large sea creatures nibbling my feet, but instead, I'm sitting under the brightest and most glorious sun I have ever seen, I'm in heaven. I'll have to let Karen know she was wrong; I'm not going to hell like she tells me all the time.

Chapter 2

Well here we are now in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle and things have been pretty quiet and calm after that awful storm. It took a while to bail out some of the water and we had a few broken dishes and shelves down below that I was able to fix, but other than that we all seemed to come through it okay. And by the way I didn’t drown. I guess that qualifies the Jupiter 6 as seaworthy, maybe I will make it to ninety after all. Even after that rough day we are still having a ball. It has been too long since we've gone out to sea. Almost exactly a year to the day, not that I’m keeping track or anything but when you have two demanding jobs and a kid in high school, I guess you take whatever you can get. I am lucky though, I have a great family. I mean how many teenage kids are actually excited about spending three weeks of their summer vacation on a sailboat with just their parents. Marissa spent at least a month prior researching every aspect of the Bermuda Triangle. Just this morning she told me another story of a young family that had disappeared off the face of the earth after they entered the Triangle, I need to find out where she is getting her books from. I don’t see any real danger in the Bermuda Triangle, maybe because I'm reading different books than she is but it is still an intriguing place, and I'm looking forward to something different this year instead of our usual cruise to nowhere off the coast of Long Island. This is the official Winston annual vacation and we have been doing it now for years. I still remember changing Marissa’s dirty diapers in a cramped cabin with very little light or air for that matter, maybe the lack of light had been a good thing or was it the air, I can’t remember, but we have come a long way since those days. We just purchased this fifty-foot Gulfstar ketch. It's one of those large sailboats with the cockpit located in the center of the boat slightly above the deck allowing a much better view out ahead. It has always been my dream boat, and believe me every boater has one. I have every instrument available to me. I already told you about the weather feed. I look at it a little more often now and this morning I actually looked behind us, but the most amazing thing is, it is all located on a small laptop right in front of me, the manufacturer a hot stock in my opinion. That brings me to my other passion, the stock market, I like it so much I became a stock broker, or financial advisor as my company prefers me to be called right out of college. This consumes all my waking hours and really drives my family nuts, I have computers setup in almost every room of our house, even the bathrooms, okay not really the bathrooms, not that I didn't try though. They all display the current market information from all over the world. You know that annoying scroll that runs from one side of the screen to the other that no one over the age of thirty-five can possibly read. Yep that’s my passion. Marissa always gives me that look that only a father with a teenage daughter can understand when her friends came over, I can’t possibly understand why. I even have the doorbell to our house set to the opening bell sound as well as all the alarm clocks in the house, drives everyone crazy, but I love it and they love me or at least they say they do. That brings me to another point, the dreaded three weeks without the stock market. It is going to be tough. We all have laptops with us but none of them are capable of picking up a signal, except of course my Blackberry, but I vowed to them, especially Karen that I wouldn’t check it, at least until the third week. I mean that’s a long time without a Dow update, but it’s worth it and I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to do it. It doesn’t hurt that Karen hid it before we left and with the amount of storage and compartments on this boat there is virtually no chance of me finding it before the three weeks are up. I guess I will have to start being really nice to her towards the last week. Truth is we all get along great and always have a good time no matter what. We each have our own interests that we spend time on during the vacation, mine is operating the boat and of course this year searching for that damn Blackberry. Although the boat operating can all be done automatically which is really helpful at night, I still like to keep my hands on it. Marissa, as I said is intrigued by the Bermuda Triangle, but her real passion is documenting things. She is equipped with her cameras and her laptop and every where she goes she is recording. It’s always fun a few weeks after we return home to sit and watch her final edited project. She was joking earlier; at least I hoped she was that we wouldn’t be able to watch this year’s project since we will all be sucked up by the powers of the Triangle. Did I mention my family has a unique sense of humor? I think she is going to grow up and be a director, despite my constant nudging how exciting the market is, and of course the constant reminders throughout the house. How could anyone not want a life surrounded by that? Karen, the other woman of my life, my wife, she loves to read, and before every cruise she packs the boat with novels filling compartment after compartment, my Blackberry is in one of them I might add. Her favorites are mysteries, she reads though them as if she were the prime investigator. I have even seen her take notes. I keep waiting for her to act one out on me, but thank God she hasn’t thus far. Me, I’m not a big reader, except stock reports, did I mention that is my passion, so I’m probably not one to understand the novel thing, but I guess it’s a good sidetrack from her occupation as an RN at a busy OB/GYN office.

I decide to take another look behind us, no taking chances for this guy anymore, or as they say in the nautical world astern, but no one in my family enjoys my nautical mouth so I usually just call out for them to look over there and point when I see something of interest. We are in what looks like a giant blue cloud, bright blue water and bright blue sky in every direction. It doesn’t get any better than this, especially compared to where we started from, New York. Though we live in New Jersey we keep The Jupiter 6, I think it would more appropriately be called the Hole in the Water on Long Island. It’s just easier to access from there and since we had both grown up on the Island we maintained some roots there as well. We named our first boat The Jupiter thinking it meant some kind of exploration thing, it seems corny now, but we keep it anyway because boaters always like to let other boaters know that their current boat is one in a series of boats. That is why you always see the numbers after the boat’s name. Kind of like saying hey I know this boat is great, but wait until you see number seven. But of course we aren’t like that, no, not us. Well we're coasting along under full sail, the tranquil breeze this morning has turned into a steady one and is moving us along nicely. It's just something about the freedom one can enjoy knowing that they are solely under the hand of Mother Nature. I mean you could literally sail around forever if you wanted to and never have to worry about fuel or anything as long as you’re not in a rush to get anywhere. Karen is up on the bow coiling all the lines, I guess I should mention the OCD thing now, she is pretty obsessed with straight and order, I always tease her that she should have been in the Army, but it works out well because Marissa and me, well we are kind of the complete opposite. Okay we aren’t slobs, but we sure aren’t neat freaks and it drives Karen nuts. I watch as Marissa steadily holds her camera and points it all around us capturing the beautiful scene. It doesn’t matter what direction you look in, everything is a soft comforting blue with no land in site. In fact we haven’t seen land in over a week now. You really don’t miss it as much as you thought you would after a week or so. It’s kind of like when you give up sweets, I never have, so I’m not speaking from experience here, but after a little time you really find you don’t miss them all that much, or so I have heard. There are some things that one must never give up but I won’t go into any of those just right now.

What do you think Seth? How does she handle?

I take long hard look at Karen. She is still so beautiful at forty-three. It's like God has spared her of any aging since her twenties. Her medium length brown hair appears aglow in the sun’s rays, outlining her soft petite features on her small frame. I always wonder what she sees in me, not that I’m ugly or anything, but she's just beautiful in a way that I can never really explain doing her justice. You'll have to take my word for it. Feels like a dream. I clutch the wheel hard between my hands feeling the ocean water rush beneath. Nice job with the lines. I say. I figure it won’t hurt to butter her up now a little because I'm already missing that Blackberry, but don’t tell her. Even though it's a Saturday morning, there is financial news coming from somewhere.

Since when did you start caring about the lines? If it wasn’t for me they would probably be still hanging off the side.

I wanted to say we are going to be away from any human beings for three weeks, so no one would see the lines hanging off the side. Sort of like when a tree falls in the forest, but for once I keep my mouth shut. You’re right honey.

It’s a new boat. I really want to keep it looking that way. She eyes the potato chip bag by my feet. What can I say I love a beer and a bag of barbecue chips while I’m on the boat. It’s not really new Karen; you know it’s almost ten years old.

I know Seth, remember I was there when we bought it, but it’s new to us. She puts her arms around me. I love it when she does this. I just want this cruise to be perfect. I have a good feeling about this. I smile and hug her back watching the boat icon on the GPS screen near the approaching buoy. You could navigate this thing as well in the dark as in the broad daylight and it could do it all by itself even better. I'm a little nervous about going to sleep with just the autopilot controlling us, but I am every year and after two or three sleepless nights I finally give way to the sandman. Yes, he even visits you when you’re out to sea, not sure how he gets here though, and by the second and third week I’m sleeping a good three or four hours a night. That’s a lot for me even back at home, especially with the foreign markets opening in the middle of the night.

It’s going to be fun. I have it all plotted out.

Marissa’s so excited about the Bermuda Triangle Seth. We both look at her sunbathing on a towel near the bow. I'm so glad there are no teenage boys nearby. Her camera is at her side.

I just hope it’s as exciting as she thinks it is. Besides that storm we really haven’t seen anything really exciting.

I know but she spent so much time learning about it.

It isn’t really anything. Most of it is just folklore I say, trying to sound as though I have done some reading too.

We’ll just make a big deal about it for a while.

No problem. I answer back grinning a little too much.

Seth. I know that look. What are you thinking? Karen’s big blue eyes bore into mine.

I was just thinking we could play a prank and pretend all the instruments are going crazy and say we’re going to go down.

Karen is shaking her head. Seth, that is your daughter up there. I don’t want you scaring her. Besides didn’t we already have enough excitement with that storm? I’ll have my eyes on you. She squeezes me even tighter.

I promise. I’ll be good.

That would be a first, but like I said before this feels good this time, like it’s going to be a special vacation. I’m going to head down to our cabin and straighten things out, you stay up here and steer this big ship, Captain.

I watch her climb down the stairs behind me into our cabin which takes up the rear of the boat. Notice I didn’t say aft, remember the nautical talk thing. Marissa’s quarters are in the front, the middle of the boat is made up of a small galley, a dining area and a few chairs and couches to hang out on. We even have a small LCD TV built into the wall to watch DVD’s on. I know so much for the one with nature thing, but hey even we Winston’s needed a little artificial entertainment once in a while.

Chapter 3

It’s now been over two weeks without land or any human interaction besides Karen and Marissa. I can definitely get used to this. Maybe I’ll have to learn how to use the self-checkouts at the grocery store next. We are actually heading back towards New York. The last week is the trip back home. We have to cross the same area that storm hit us from before, but we are prepared this time…well not really, but at least I know we'll survive. Marissa had gotten some pretty good footage from it; it was the highlight of the trip so far. The Triangle has turned out to be pretty boring and Karen muzzled any attempts I made at playing a joke on Marissa, so much for fun. There's also that Blackberry thing that kind of encourages me to follow her rules. Last night we spent a good portion of the evening laughing at my expense on the television screen. It was pretty funny watching me trying to steer the boat through that that storm. Marissa had left the camera rolling the whole time trained on me. I'm constantly fading in and out of view. Luckily, it didn’t capture my defeating moment when I closed my eyes and left our destiny up to God and Mother Nature. I didn't want Karen to see that, might ruin my image and put an end to any kudos, but you could sure see the water splashing all around me.

Dad, I’m not ready to go home yet.

I get this every year at about this time. As soon as I say we are heading home, she gets like this. I watch her as she sits down next to me and looks around. She's probably looking for another storm. I'll have to let her know I already checked.

Honey, we need to get back home. I have to work and don’t you want to see your friends? Luckily, none of them were boys or at least any of her close friends. I know that is going to change real quick, but I don’t want to think about that now.

I guess, but I like filming all this.

Didn’t you get enough during the storm?

She smiles, same smile as my wife I might add. I guess, it will be kind of funny to show that to everyone. Maybe we should submit it to America’s Funniest Videos.

You’re funny Marissa the only place that tape is going is to me.

Ohh…Dad. It was good. And you were so brave.

I shake my head. If you’re trying to butter me up, it’s not going to work. I reach out and softly rub her shoulder.

Why not Dad, you do it all the time with Mom. Did I