Free The Rig 1: Rough Seas by Steve Rollins

understand what was going on. But he knew that he was going to die. And he wanted to do that with a tiny bit of dignity. He shivered involuntarily and just waited.
     
    ***
     
    When Sheila came back into the room, all thoughts of dinner or television left Wes' head. Sheila walked in wearing nothing but a black thong and a pair of pumps. She slowly strutted towards him and sat herself down in his lap. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.
    With a sigh Wes responded. He kissed her back and their tongues began a dance of passion. He held her in his arms and his fingers stroked her soft skin.
    When their lips parted, Sheila bit her lip and looked at him with lust in her eyes. She stroked a finger through his fringe.
    “You rocked my world the moment I saw you.”
    Wes grinned and ran his hand over her body, up to her face. He cradled her cheek and kissed her on the forehead before gazing into her eyes.
    “You rocked my world too. I'd known about you from some of your research, but when I met you, you made everything happen.”
    Sheila bit her lip again and moved to kiss him.
    And then both their worlds were rocked. A massive blast shook ‘The City’ and Wes and Sheila toppled over and fell onto the floor. Everything in the room that was not bolted down shook and fell down. The television tumbled over and exploded on the floor, the lights shook, light bulbs shattered and the cupboards opened and emptied themselves of their content.
    “What the fuck?” Wes shouted.
    He looked up. He had landed on top of Sheila and shielded her from the shattering and falling glass by pure chance. His ears were ringing and he had trouble making out what Sheila was saying to him. He got up and made his way to the window, looked down and suddenly saw something that worried him even more than the sudden explosion. There was oil spreading from underneath the rig and pieces of sheet metal floating around in the waters below. Some of the boats had come away from their docks and were drifting in the oily waves. But he saw the gleam. He saw the gleam of flames above them and debris falling past the window.
    Wes ran back to a dazed Sheila and pulled her to her feet. He pulled her to the bathroom and laid her down in the tub, then covered her with his own body. He lay down just in time. Because just then he heard the roar of flames from the surface of the sea. Then there was another blast, a deeper one now, followed by a huge roar as the oil that pumped up through the pipes caught fire and enveloped ‘The City’ in flames. And in his heart Wes knew they were all doomed.
     
     
    Epilogue
     
    There were always blasts around San Clemente, Juan knew. He knew he should expect it when he went down there in his boat from Santa Catalina. He knew it was a dangerous place to go, but he kept going back. The places that were never hit by the US Navy's shells were great places for crabs and shellfish. But this time was different.
    He stood on a couple of rocks on the northwest side of the island, looking for crabs when he heard the blast. Immediately he jumped up and looked for the source, wondering whether he and his boat might be in danger. But they were not. It took him a while to locate the source of the blast. It must have come from the west, further out to sea, but he could not see anything. Then there was a second blast and he knew where it came from. It came from ‘The City.’
    Juan jumped from the rocks into the water and swam to his boat. He clambered on board and hauled his little anchor. It took him a while to start his outboard engine, but then it spluttered into life and he steered his little boat back to Santa Catalina. But barely had he begun to make headway into the waves then his curiosity got the better of him. He stopped the engine and looked west. He saw something glimmer there now and he felt he needed to know what was happening. So instead of heading home to his family, he changed course and went out to sea.
    Fifteen miles off