Chapter 4
Dawson leaned on the railing and watched the large, hairy cows move around the field.
Four days ago, five people had set up camp near the platform.
They appeared to be in uniform and armed, which sent the people in charge into a small panic, even though Dawson thought it was reasonable for the inhabitants to want to protect their island.
Dawson waved to them the same way he’d done every morning since they arrived. And one of them waved back. Or at least that’s what he assumed the gesture was. Of the five soldiers, two appeared to be human. One of them had horns and hooves, which made him look like a satyr.
The other two guards were blue. And not a gentle sort of blue.
No, they were boldly blue like blue ink or the bright blue paint he’d used as a kid.
Not only that, but they appeared to have extra limbs or tentacles or something coming out the back of their tunics.
Some of the guys were calling them squid people.
Except squids didn’t live on land.
But the things Dawson was seeing on the island weren’t the strangest things he’d seen or heard.
The reason no helicopters had come to collect them was because dragon sightings had been reported, and the dragons had taken down helicopters and planes.
Cities had been damaged when the earthquakes shook the globe, and new buildings had appeared.
People had recorded footage of other creatures roaming the damaged cities, and fighting had broken out in several countries.
Management reminded everyone to remain calm, but it was clear this platform was a low priority without them saying anything. Other oil platforms had fallen, leaving no survivors. They were lucky.
To keep everyone busy, the people in charge asked them to continue doing their jobs even though they were no longer pumping oil.
The people responsible for the pumping made sure everything was turned off and safe.
Structural engineers had checked to make sure the platform was not about to fall over despite the tilt, and apparently, it was fine for the moment, and safer than venturing down to the island.
Their biggest issues were going to be water and food. They’d been resupplied only three days before what was being called the collapse happened. Showers were restricted.
While management kept their lips sealed, it was clear to Dawson that sometime in the very near future they needed to send a team onto the island because they couldn’t live up on the platform forever.
Were the guards waiting for them?
The soldiers had come from the castle…or at least from that direction. Did that mean the guards would take them to the castle, or would they kill anyone who stepped off the platform?
He was sure management were debating the same thing; however, if given the chance, Dawson decided he’d volunteer.
Not because he had a death wish or even described himself as adventurous, but he was curious about the island, and he’d rather do something than starve to death waiting.
This was an island from what scientists called the mythological world, and he wanted to explore it.
He also wanted a shower that lasted more than two minutes every second day.
The platform was about five hundred meters from the coast, which wasn’t that far, though it meant no boat would be able to dock below and collect them.
Not that any boat was coming.
No one was coming, so it was up to them to sort themselves out until help arrived. He watched the soldiers go through their morning routine, which seemed to involve having breakfast and a talk, before dividing up duties. Or at least that’s what it looked like to him.
Those duties included collecting firewood and water.
The river wasn’t visible from this side of the platform, but on the other side, it appeared to be a wide silvery strip cutting a path from the mountains to the coast. It wouldn’t be far to walk; the soldiers did the round trip in half a day—he only knew that because his job was to repaint the exterior of the platform.
It was a never-ending job that needed to be done to prevent rust from taking hold.
And while he knew management wanted people to stay busy, it felt kind of ridiculous to be going through the motions as if nothing had changed.
He finished his coffee and made his way up the sloping deck and back inside.
He’d check on the soldiers tonight because it gave him something to do besides sitting in the mess and joining in the gossip about what governments might do about the problem.
It was far too easy to get caught up in the fear of the other beings.
And while he cared about the situation back home, there was nothing he could do. So for the moment, the only things that mattered were the platform and the island.