I am a local in North America

Chapter 40 What happened?
soon.

Old Man Su returned to the deck.

Su Jierui asked curiously:

"What exactly happened to your Golden Crab? Was the wind and waves too strong, causing it to leak and sink? It's said that your ship disappeared without a trace without any prior warning."

Upon hearing this question, Captain Jonathan Nicholson, wrapped in a thick blanket, sighed deeply.

The sigh seemed to carry the chill and despair of the North Pacific, and the murky blue eyes were filled with lingering fear.

Turning his head to gaze at the now calm, yet still unfathomably deep, sea, Captain Jonathan Nicholson explained:

“I worked on the Golden Crab for several years and know this old crab fishing boat very well. I was also very familiar with its owner, Mr. Jackson.”

"This crab season, Mr. Jackson rented me the Golden Crab and a king crab catch quota of more than 15 tons, but it was delayed for some time due to maintenance."

"We set sail on December 1st and spent three or four days catching just over 3 tons of king crabs. To avoid the storm, we returned to the dock to rest for a while, thinking the weather had improved. But unexpectedly, we encountered storms again."

Mr. Su nodded repeatedly and continued:
"We also had to postpone, but it was because I filled out the documents incorrectly. We hadn't had time to fish those days, so we went back to the dock to rest."

Captain Jonathan Nicholson nodded and repeated:
"That was a nightmare!"

"When the accident happened, the sea was very rough, but the Golden Crab was able to withstand it. Although it is an old ship, it is still sturdy and durable."

“We were all very happy at the time because the crab traps we set out had yielded a bumper harvest. The ship’s hold was already filled with about 12 tons of king crabs. We even started discussing going to my house for grilled steaks after we got ashore and split the money.”

"Before we returned, we were busy on the deck, mainly securing the crab traps. We were all wearing heavy waterproof suits. Looking back now, it was these waterproof suits that could protect us from the cold and seawater, along with our efforts to huddle together to conserve body heat and move our hands and feet from time to time, that saved our lives and prevented us from freezing to death from hypothermia."

He pointed to the yellow container next to him, rubbing his temples, and said:

"At that time, wave after wave of waves were crashing in. We were so excited that all we could think about was getting back to port as soon as possible and selling all the king crabs in the hold."

"This made us overlook the crisis around us. Everything was normal at first, until a wave tossed us high into the air, and that's when I saw it!"

"That container... God knows which unlucky giant ship it fell from, it was appearing and disappearing in the waves not far from our port bow! By the time I realized it was rushing toward our Golden Crab, it was too late to avoid it."

“Our boat is being pushed towards the wave, and it is being pushed towards us by another wave... It feels like you are watching two out-of-control trucks about to collide in front of you, and you are strapped into the cab of one of the trucks and can do nothing about it.”

"Because there wasn't enough time to start the boat, I could only shout for everyone to secure themselves tightly to the deck railing with safety ropes."

"The moment of impact..."

The burly white crew member named Hank couldn't help but interject, his smile vanishing and replaced by a pale, lingering fear.

Hank added vividly:

"The sound wasn't a 'bang,' but a tearing, ear-piercing metallic scraping sound. The ship jolted violently, almost shaking our bones apart!"

Captain Jonathan nodded heavily and continued the conversation:

"Yes, it wasn't a simple collision. The huge edges of the container slashed open the front of our port hull, and seawater roared in. After flashing violently a few times, the lights went out with a 'pop!'"

"Shortly after the impact, I tried to rush back to the bridge to send a distress signal, but before I could run more than a few steps, I felt the ship listing at an alarming rate. The generator room was definitely the first to flood, and the emergency power supply didn't even have time to start before it completely went out."

"That wasn't the captain's fault; what's worse is..."

A younger crew member, whose face still bore a hint of immaturity, smiled wryly:

"The crab traps on the deck, whose anchoring cables had been broken, were like bowling balls that had gone out of control, tumbling and falling all over the tilted deck."

“One of them hit our life raft right off the starboard side! It crushed it completely, and the release mechanism jammed! We were... we were watching helplessly as our last hope turned into a pile of broken rubber and plastic right before our eyes…”

The cabin was completely silent.

Grandma Zhuang stopped what she was doing, and Grandpa Su frowned. They could both imagine how dark, cold, and desperate that moment must have been.

"The ship is sinking very fast!"

Captain Jonathan continued, his tone becoming calmer, carrying a numbness born from experiencing fear:
"We knew we couldn't wait any longer. Hank and two other people rushed into the flooded crew cabin and groped their way to a few bottles of drinking water and a few bags of unopened energy bars."

"That was all the food and fresh water we had. Then someone yelled, 'Get in the container! Climb onto that damn container!' and that's when we realized it had started to detach from the ship after the impact."

"Captain, it was me who called!" The burly white man, Hank, wiped the sweat from his brow and forced a smile.
"That was a glimmer of hope in the face of despair. The Golden Crab was sinking right next to it, and the height difference between the two was rapidly decreasing. We helped each other, desperately cutting the safety ropes, and scrambled and crawled to jump onto that container."

"I swear, I really thought we were going to die, just like those people in Titanic!"

"The Golden Crab sank in just a few minutes, leaving only some oil and debris on the surface. Having grown up by the sea, I now feel weak in the knees whenever I see the ocean, and a few days ago I was even so afraid that I couldn't sleep."

Another crab fisherman also said:

"For the first few hours, or even the whole day, we were almost numb and cold."

"Outside the waterproof suits were icy waves, and we huddled together to keep each other from falling in."

"The nights are especially hard to endure. There's no light, only endless darkness and cold. I feel my life force draining away little by little along with the warmth."

At this moment, the burly Hank, once again flashing his signature smile, broke the heavy atmosphere with his booming voice:
"At the time, I didn't know how long it would take before we were discovered. I was filled with worry, afraid that we would starve or die of thirst in that godforsaken place!"

"So, when I jumped onto the container, besides water and biscuits, I also grabbed two of the biggest king crabs from the deck!"

"They were stunned by the impact and stuck in the corner, unable to move. Even better, I brought a large waterproof tarp, which I've used to shield them from the wind and rain for the past few days! Hey guys, you should really thank me for surviving this long!"

After surviving the ordeal and confirming their complete safety, everyone's tense nerves finally relaxed, and the atmosphere was no longer as tense as before.

Compared to them, Su Jierui felt that his experience participating in "Living Alone in the Wilderness" seemed insignificant.

At least those crew members were in dire straits, while he always had the opportunity to call and withdraw from the race, and did not face a real life-or-death crisis.

Upon hearing Hank's words, another younger crew member immediately smiled and said:
"That's right! Thanks to Hank! Although those two king crabs tasted terrible raw, with their salty, fishy smell and cold, slimy texture, they at least provided moisture and some protein, which helped us last for two more days. In the end, we even scraped every last bit of soft meat from the crab legs!"

Hank grinned, his lips cracked but his smile was incredibly bright, radiating the pride of escaping death.

Captain Jonathan said nothing, but simply reached out and patted Hank's broad shoulder heavily, everything understood without words.

This "survivor team" relied on each other for survival for several days and nights in dire straits, and their friendship grew rapidly.

Su Jerry captured this entire scene on his camera, overwhelmed with emotion, and then said to Captain Jonathan:

"The satellite phone is available anytime, but your health needs to be addressed first. Sir, who has a fever, please don't eat your sandwich yet, take your fever reducer first."

The crew member was indeed choking; his mouth was stuffed full of food, and he was swallowing with difficulty. His face was flushed an abnormally due to fever. He took the medicine box and smiled.
"Thank you! To be honest, just this morning, when I was floating on the sea, I felt cold all over, and my head felt as heavy as a lead ball. I felt like I was going to die and couldn't hold on any longer... But now, I suddenly feel much better! It's like I've come back to life!"

Beside her, Grandma Zhuang had been engrossed in the conversation and had been listening all along. Only then did she skillfully begin to examine, disinfect, and bandage the injured person, softly offering words of comfort:

"It hurts a little, just bear with it, it'll be over soon."

Father Su then gave instructions:

"It's windy on deck, don't let them catch a cold right after we rescued them!"

“Are! Take them to the crew’s lounge; it’s warm there, let them get some rest.”

"Old Feng! Don't just stand around, go lend a hand and see if you need anything!"

Everyone busied themselves, some helping each other, others carrying things.

The five stranded people, though in high spirits but still physically weak, were carefully settled in a relatively warm and comfortable cabin.

The rest area wasn't large, but compared to the cold, damp, and exposed container, it was like paradise.

After resting for a while, Captain Jonathan and the others, accompanied by Old Man Su, each made a brief phone call to let everyone know they were safe. During the call, someone couldn't help but choke up and exclaimed:

"We're saved...we're all alive..."

Su Jierui's eyes welled up with tears.

It wasn't that I was moved, but rather that the white old smoker hadn't had a cigarette in days, and he was smoking one after another.

The others joined in, smoking cigars to calm their nerves and continuing to press for details about their survival, filling the room with a thick cloud of smoke—it was absolutely awful!

(End of this chapter)