“Yes! Now basic food should be taken care of.” Michael had a big grin as he held up the small fish as it struggled on a hook at the end of some thin wire.

It had only been a couple of days, but Michael had spent them well. He set up a rain catcher using the canopy. He broke down a few of the rear seats, turning pieces into makeshift hooks and fishing line, a sort of bucket to hold fish guts to help catch more, a pseudo bed with its own small roof, and a drying rack. Along with a few other miscellaneous adjustments he had effectively become self-sufficient, as long as it rained frequently enough.

“Perfect, now I just need a decent supply of fish so if my water runs too low, I can spare a few to squeeze only the liquid out of them.” He smirked at his resourcefulness as he looked around. His main worry was keeping the engine working well enough without having it running all the time. “I definitely should save the gas in it for the water pump in case I run into any leaks for any reason.”

*AWOOOOGA!*

Michael rushed to the side of his cannibalized boat. In the distance he could see a small yacht. It was a bit far away, but he could just make out someone at the helm pulling on the horn. He stepped back under his awning and considered using the engine to drive away.

“I don’t need any extra baggage,” he mumbled to himself. “I mean, I’m already pretty sustainable here. Adding in more factors could just make things too complicated to handle.” He sighed as he seemed to have made his decision as he shuffled towards the driver’s seat.

*AWOOOGA! AWOOOGA!*

His hand twitched as it rested on the steering wheel before he sat down. It almost felt like an invisible second hand had come down to rest on top of his, freezing it in place. A cool, salty breeze swept across his skin and into his nostrils. He turned to look out towards the distant boat. There was something about the desperation in the horn echoing out that pierced him to his core. “Damn it,” he muttered under his breath as he plopped down into the driver’s seat and cranked the engine on.

“Dumbest thing I’ve ever done. Stupid, stupid, stupid.” He mumbled as he drove his Frankenstein vehicle closer to what he assumed must be some desperate old man. Some wealthy fatcat broker caught at sea as his shares and holdings burned in apocalyptic fire. A shadow of a man desperate for companionship, comradery, and a chance to redeem his wasted life. Michael sighed as he slowly got closer to the seemingly stranded ship.

“This could be the end of the world; I need to band together with others and rebuild. Yeah, maybe he’ll be useful. If he can learn and work, I’m sure things will go even better.” Michael lied to himself. Even on his most optimistic day he could not imagine another human not stabbing him in the back for some petty gain. Especially in an apocalyptic scenario like the one he was in.

Yet, despite how sure he was of the traitor lying ahead he couldn’t leave him stranded. Maybe it was some misguided sense of justice or sympathy. Maybe it was some instinctual fear of true loneliness. Maybe it was the guiding hand of some far-off deity. Or, maybe he was just making excuses as he planned to kill the man for the supplies that must be aboard the luxury boat.