Cogs Of Fate

The Lost City

1588

The Lifeboat sat nestled in the thick treeline amongst the brush, overlooking the Atlantic ocean. Birds sang songs overhead as they darted from tree to tree. The sounds of distant seagulls along the coast echoed around them with the faint sound of the water lapping up onto the shore. The lush brush underfoot was overgrown, leading the team to believe that nothing had come this way in some time. The vines proved to be troublesome as their feet continued to get caught in the tangled web of the flora.

Rufus was the last out of the Lifeboat. "Well, if no one is home, we don't have to worry about blending in, right?"

The team glanced over at the man before wandering through the vegetation. After ten minutes of their leisurely walk in the woods, Wyatt stopped them. "Look there," he whispered. "It looks like smoke."

Through the breaks of the trees, they managed to see several small puffs of white smoke. "Is that chimney smoke?" Lucy asked.

Flynn nodded. "Would appear so."

"So, they're still here?" Rufus asked. His tone became disappointed. "Which means a change of clothes...potentially smelly and disease-ridden. My life is awesome."

"Come on," Wyatt whispered, carefully leading them through the woods toward the colony's location.

They stopped at the edge of the woods that overlooked the lost colony. The colony was filled with people who were going about their day. Wyatt turned to Lucy. "How many people are down there?"

Lucy replied, "They think about 115 to 120 people were living at Roanoke Colony at the time. There's evidence to suggest-"

"How do that many people just vanish?" Wyatt asked, cutting her off.

She shrugged. "We still don't know but there are a lot of speculations."

"Such as?" Wyatt asked, turning back to observe the people.

"Some think the message inscribed on the tree meant they headed to Croatoan island," she mentioned. "Others believe they decided to assimilate into the natives' lives and head further inland."

"So, they don't know?" Wyatt concluded. She nodded, realizing he wasn't interested in the facts - what little facts there were - and stopped sharing the details she knew.

Rufus asked, "Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist or anything but what would Rittenhouse or Bloodstone accomplish here?" Lucy turned her attention to him. He added, "I mean, they didn't do anything here to warrant any interest, right? Or was someone important enough to them? A sleeper?"

Wyatt finally turned his attention to Rufus. "Take a breath, man."

Lucy blinked at the two. "I don't know the answers to your questions but I do know this colony might have helped those who founded Jamestown."

Rufus's eyes widened. "Oh...good times," he muttered, turning to Flynn, "Right?"

Flynn rolled his eyes, remembering their experiences at Jamestown. He hadn't forgotten the beating he took on the beach - the very one Rufus kept referring to as 'The Mountain' attack. Even if he wanted to forget about it, his ribs still ached on occasion from the incident. He shook the memories away and said, "We can't linger here for much longer."

Wyatt nodded in agreement. "Let's see if there's a way to get down there and grab some clothes without being seen."

"You know they'll know we're not part of the colony, right?" Lucy asked. "There's not that many people down there-"