by Newman, AJ
Jill had a frown on her face. Her brow was wrinkled, and she shifted her lips from side to side. Jon said, “You’re deep in thought. What’s eating you?”
“How much diesel does this boat hold, and how far can it go? Those two big engines have to be gas guzzlers.”
Jon said, “Damned good questions. The tanks said half-full, and I added over a hundred gallons. I think the two tanks hold three hundred gallons. The owner of this boat took Dad and me out a couple of times, and he said at cruising speed with a full tank, the boat could go about four to five hundred miles.”
Jill said, “How far is it to the Keys?”
Jon said, “Just over five hundred miles. We’ll need to stop at least once. Twice would be nice, so we can arrive with plenty of diesel to escape if needed.”
“Jon, please be more positive,” Barbara begged.
“Sorry, but I’ve almost been killed several times, been kidnapped by your people, and my parents fled their home. It’s tough being optimistic. I am happy I met you and Jill. I’d hate to go through this alone.”
“Thanks, I feel the same way. Every time I think I’ve got you figured out, you surprise me. I’d hate to not have you to help me.”
Jon drove for a couple of hours and said, “Barbara, that’s a compass. Please keep us pointed in the same heading while I take a short nap. Jill, watch for other boats and floating crap. I’ll take back over in an hour, and then one of you can catnap.”
Jon didn’t want to sleep. He needed to think things through and make sure he really wanted to cross five hundred miles of the Gulf with a sick woman and no ability to get weather reports. Storms popped up frequently in the Gulf. He didn’t want to ride one out in an open boat. He’d traveled to the Keys with his family in his dad’s sailboat several times, but it was a much larger boat. Even then, a storm pitched it around and made his mom seasick.
Jon tried to stay awake, pondering what to do but fell asleep with Bo cuddled up against his back. He pushed the hot dog away a couple of times. He didn’t need a fur coat on a sweltering August day, but the mutt always came back against him. He was sound asleep when he heard a static sound and then a woman begging for help. It was the marine radio, and the voice said, “Please help us. We ran out of gas. My husband died, and my kids and me are floating in the Gulf. If you can hear me, please come and help.”
Before he could stop her, Barbara keyed the mic, “How can we find you?”
“We are floating about a mile off the coast at Pensacola. Please help.”
Jon jumped up, grabbed the mic from Barbara, and then took the wheel. He shoved the throttle down, and the boat surged forward and skimmed across the water at full speed.
Jon asked, “How long were you talking to that woman?”
Barbara glared at Jon, “Just a few minutes. She needs our help. Why did you take the mic? We’ll never find her.”
Jon pointed north. “There’s your woman in one of those boats. It was a trick to triangulate our position, so the bastards can kidnap us and take the boat. You’d better hope we can outrun them. It’s probably the CDC or some drug gang. Same difference to me.”
Jill said, “Look, they’re turning back to shore. We outran them.”
Jon kept the boat at full speed for a few minutes and then said, “What were you thinking?”
Barbara’s eyes grew in size, and her face was beet red. “I’m sorry. I just can’t believe a nice voice in so much trouble was trying to lure us in to be captured.”
Jon laughed, “Like you did to get people to experiment with?”
Barbara began sobbing, placed her head down to her knees, and wrapped her arms around her legs. Jon gave the wheel to Jill and tried to apologize to Barbara.
“Barbara, I’m sorry. I know I stepped on it. That was mean of me to say that. I know they forced you to lure people into their labs. I’ll put that behind me, and we can move on. Please forgive me.”
Barbara moved to the back seat without saying a word. She turned her back to Jon and lay in the fetal position for several hours. Jon and Jill kept watching as they cruised toward Clear Water, Florida. Jon had a map and a compass, so the heading was more than a guess.
They had been cruising along when Jill asked, “Why would the virus shut down those GPS satellites?”
Jon was thinking about that when Jill turned the Marine GPS unit on. The screen lit up, and they were surprised to see a boat icon speeding along in the Gulf of Mexico on the screen. Jon changed the screen to show the entire Gulf, including the Florida coastline. He’d used his dad’s unit a couple of times and went to the menu, found the Set a Destination, and keyed in Clear Water, Florida. He hit the autopilot button, and the boat slowly changed course a bit. The autopilot steered the craft and maintained the speed. This allowed them more time to rest. Jon played with the GPS unit and found they’d traveled two hundred and forty-seven miles. The diesel tanks were half-full. He was pleased to announce their situation to the others.
“Ladies, we have traveled two hundred and fifty miles on half a tank of diesel. We will easily make it to Clear Water or far past Clear Water if needed to refill the tanks.”
Barbara spoke for the first time in hours. “The boat runs on diesel, and larger boats and ships run on diesel. Why do we have to go to shore? There should be hundreds of boats floating near the shore. All we need is a siphon hose or a pump.”
She stretched out but kept her back to Jon. Jon said, “I should have thought of that. Of course, we can fill up from another boat. The big problem is we’ll need twenty-five to fifty feet of hose. A garden hose would work.”
“It could be nerve racking when we approach a boat and find armed people who want to keep their fuel,” Jill said.
Jill had a big grin. “I haven’t seen a garden hose in several hours, and it’s already getting dark. Should we be hauling ass across the water if there are abandoned boats strewn across the ocean?”
“Oh crap,” Jon said, and then added, “Another ‘oops’ on my part. I assumed we’d be the only boat out here. I don’t want to turn our navigation lights on. We don’t need to invite pirates to our party.”
Barbara pointed to Bo in the back and said, “We have enough water for three to four days and food for the same. So we don’t have to be in a hurry.”
“You’re right, of course. I’m just in a hurry to see my parents.”
Jill said, “What about Cindy?”
Jon shrugged his shoulders. “What about Cindy?”
“Being away from her has been good for me. It allowed me to clear my head. I was very grateful to her for helping me recover and thought I loved her. She went from being my therapist to asking me to marry her when I was still vulnerable. I’m trying to figure out what I want, and not what Cindy and Mom want.”
Jill said, “Oh, my God. Bo is taking a dump. What the shit did your dog eat? That would gag a maggot! The worst part of taking longer is we have to smell Bo’s handiwork. Jon, please clean up after your dog.”
Jon brought the boat to a halt and cleaned up after Bo. He poured a bucket of seawater on the floor to wash away the residue. Jon said, “Ladies, I’m sorry about that, but when you gotta go, you gotta go. I hate to broach the topic, but we can let you go in the water to pee, or you can follow Bo’s lead. It can be doused with water, and the bilge pump will send the water back into the ocean.”
Jill said, “Thank god. I was about to bust. Jon, how did you make it so long?”
Jon smiled, “Some of that smell was mine when you two were distracted.”
Barbara smiled and said, “Men can use the whole world as their urinal. It’s not fair.”
“I can’t help it if women are shy. We cut loose in the middle of a golf course or from the deck of a bass boat without thinking. I just say, ‘Look away, folks, or enjoy the show.’ I have a small bladder and can’t be embarrassed.”
Jill said, “Look away, or we’ll both be embarrassed.”
Barbara stood up and dove into the water. She said, �
��This water is too warm. It’s like bathwater.”
She motioned for Jon to help her to get back in the boat. Jon motioned for her to swim to the stern and lowered the ladder. Jon reached down and helped pull her up and on to the deck. He whispered, “Are you still mad at me?”
“Yes and no.”
Chapter 24
The Gulf of Mexico – Fifty miles from Clear Water FL - August 2038
They motored another hour until it wasn’t safe to run in the dark, and Jon cut the engines. Jon wished they had a sea anchor but just had to let the boat drift along with the waves. They were only drifting about five miles an hour. This wouldn’t take but a few minutes in the morning to make up for after they cranked the engines. The sky was crystal clear, and the vast expanse of stars was more than breathtaking. The new problem was the boat wasn’t moving. The rush of warm air had at least evaporated the sweat.
The ladies took turns, holding up a large beach towel to undress and take a swim. Of course, Jon turned his head away but snuck a few peeks. He felt guilty for a minute, then the devil took over, and he convinced himself it would be insulting to these women if a man didn’t want to peek.
Jill laughed. “Jon, I think you are peeking. I’d invite you to join me, but I know you are engaged to Cindy.”
That was a buzz kill for Jon. When they were done, he jumped in and washed off several days of sweat, grime, and dirt. The clean clothes made all of them feel better. Their shorts and t-shirts were okay during the daytime but were soon soaked with sweat and clung to their skin and felt clammy.
Jill was quiet after her swim, and her thoughts turned to Jon and what a good man he was. She felt pangs of jealousy when she’d caught him peeking at Barbara’s nude body. She was mad at herself because she knew Jon wasn’t right for her, but she needed him to survive. Most people found her to be a bit overwhelming and too sure of herself. Being a Military Police Sergeant in a war zone toughened her up. She found it hard to use her feminine charms.
Barbara pointed to the North Star and then other familiar groups of stars. “Imagine, our ancestors navigated using only the stars and thought the compass was a gift from God. I wonder if there is life on other planets.”
She looked up and saw the other two snickering. “What are you two up to now?”
Jon laid his fishing rod down, and he and Jill joined her on the front deck. “Well, what were you chuckling about?”
“I can’t speak for Jill, but I was amazed that anyone can see all the beauty in the world during this disaster. We need to keep you around to keep us from always being so negative,” Jon said as he patted her on the back.
Jill chimed in with her thoughts. “Jon is right. I’ve been a cop for eighteen years. I became an MP right out of high school, and cops aren’t very trusting and are pretty skeptical about world events. You bring some sunshine into our lives.”
Jon started singing, “Come bye ach.”
They laughed, and Barbara told Jon, “You suck at singing, and those aren’t the words.”
Jon replied, “I need a campfire to bring out my singing voice.”
Barbara laughed, “We’re sweating our butts off, and you want a fire?”
Just then, one of the rods started bouncing, and the reel began unwinding. Jon grabbed the rod and set the hook before winding the reel. The fish was large and fought for a while. Jon worked the rod up and down while winding on the downward motion. He finally brought the fish to the surface and fell backward.
“Shark! It’s a freaking shark!”
Jill laughed at Jon, freaking out. “It’s only four feet long,” and then stabbed the fish with her hunting knife.
The shark scared Barbara. She knocked into Jill and caused herself to fall into Jill’s lap. Jon tried not to gawk at Barbara, who looked very comfortable with her arms around Jill’s neck. Jill wrapped her arms around Barbara and said, “Are you okay? I haven’t had a woman in my lap in a long time,” she chuckled.
Jill’s arms were still wrapped around Barbara. She saw the look on Jon’s face as he helped Barbara up to her feet. Jill smiled at Jon and then watched him reach into the shark’s gills and lift the dead beast onto the boat. Barbara cut the head off and pitched it back into the water. Then she cut a half-pound slab off the side and tossed it to Bo. Bo was happy. He tore into the shark steak, and it vanished in a few bites.
“I wasn’t sure if we’d eat it, but now Bo doesn’t have to eat our food. Darn, we should have brought a portable stove. Let’s save some of the meat for bait, just in case this three-hour tour turns in to a three-week tour,” Jill said, and then chortled.
Jill took the first watch that night, so Jon smiled back at her and withdrew into himself. He tried to think about Cindy because he found himself thinking very impure thoughts about his new friends. The glimpses of their semi-naked bodies gave him the urge to take a cold shower. The hot August air only made him sweat and stick to the vinyl seats. He couldn’t get comfortable but finally drifted off. He never liked summers in L.A. Lower Alabama was humid, hot, sweaty, and sticky in the summer. Swimming in the ocean and Mobile River were the only ways to feel comfortable without air conditioning. Every summer spent with his parents reminded him to thank God for air conditioning. That night was particularly bad because there wasn’t a hint of a breeze.
The stars disappeared an hour after the wind gusted the first time. Jill had dipped the bucket in the water and drenched herself a couple of times to stay somewhat cool. The wind felt good and dried some of the sweat. She was afraid a storm was brewing in the Gulf. She waited to wake the others up until she saw the massive lightning strikes many miles south of them.
The waves began to hit the boat while Jon and Barbara wiped the sleep from their eyes. Jon sat up too quickly, and the skin on his bare side stuck to the seatback.
“Oh shit! That hurts. What’s going on? Boy, that breeze feels good.”
Jill said, “There’s a storm heading our way. Do we try to run away or stay and ride it out?”
Jon said, “Tie a rope to the bucket handle and attach the other end to the boat. The bilge pump won’t keep up with the water from the waves and rain. Stow everything in the hatch below the front deck. We can all fit in there if needed.”
Lighting struck a short distance away. “You didn’t answer my question.”
Jon started the boat, set the engine at low cruising speed, and headed into the wind. The autopilot would keep the boat on that direction until Jon changed it, or the boat ran out of fuel. “Sorry, I had to think about what Dad would do. My dad always steered into the storm because you don’t want a rogue wave to hit the boat’s side and capsize the boat. Get ready for a rough ride. Put your life jackets on.”
Jon placed a life jacket around Bo but wasn’t sure whether it would float him or drown the poor dog. Jon checked the straps on the women’s life jackets and double-checked to make sure their supplies were stored. He knew they were as ready as possible. He had thought to angle the boat toward the shore, just in case the boat was capsized. The GPS said they were now three miles off the coast just above Clear Water.
Jon decided to get closer to shore, in case the boat was overturned or capsized. He yelled at the ladies to warn them and then pulled the throttles toward him. The boat launched forward, and Jon steered due east. The waves rocked the boat as they hit the side. The boat wallowed in the waves, but the nose stayed above the water. He had to slow down, or they would sink. He pushed the throttles back, and the boat plowed ahead in the rough water. Jon saw they were about a half-mile off the coast and steered the boat back into the wind and waves. The wave height and wind speed increased every minute. The boat was almost clear of the water on most of the waves and crashed down to the bottom of the waves, jarring them severely.
The bilge pump ran full time, but the boat took on more and more water. Jill and Barbara heaved bucket after bucket overboard until Barbara collapsed. Jon took turns with Jill manning the bucket, and they managed to keep the water level down to less
than two inches in the bottom of the boat. Bo hid under the steering wheel and console, shivering. Everyone was soaked to the bone and was beyond tired by the time the full force of the storm hit them. Jon couldn’t see ten feet in front of him but couldn’t cut the engines for fear of being swamped.
Jill took her turn bailing water, and Barbara moved closer to Jon and placed her arm around his waist. “Jon, I’m scared. I’m just starting to like you, and I’m afraid we’ll die before we get a chance to know each other. I hated you at first, but you are really a nice guy.”
Jon placed an arm around her. “I like you. You try to be too tough at times, but I can see the softer side. We’ll live through this, and perhaps we’ll go on a date.”
“I’d like that.”
The wind was howling, and they could barely hear each other’s words. Jon turned and gave her a kiss on the cheek and said, “I promise to keep you safe.”
Jon didn’t see the large dark gray object ahead until seconds before striking it. He screamed, “Hold on!” as he spun the wheel to the right. The boat struck the object a glancing blow, throwing Jill and Jon into the raging sea. Barbara was thrown under the console with Bo, which saved them from being tossed out of the boat. She crawled from her position on the floor to take the wheel and steered back into the storm. She tried to circle back to her friends, but the waves hitting the side of the boat almost sank the boat. She steered back into the wind, crying while praying for God to save them.
Jon was soaked to the bone and woozy, but quickly found Jill’s body. She was limp and bobbing in the water. Jon placed an arm under hers and began to swim to the huge object they had struck. His muscles burned, and he became weaker by the minute. He could barely see the fishing trawler, and the pounding waves tried to wash him past the ship. Jon could now see the dark gray paint above the waterline and dull red below. He drifted along the side until he struck a ladder. The trawler bobbed up and down viciously, so Jon held on until it bottomed out in the waves and shoved Jill up onto the landing that would normally be about five feet above the water. He was sorry for being so rough on her but had to save her life. He had used his last ounce of strength, saving Jill, but clung to the bottom rung of the landing for dear life. Just as he was about to give up, a hand grabbed his arm and pulled him up when the ship bottomed out in the waves. He reached for the next step on the ladder and was soon lying beside Jill.