“You two are going to get us arrested or escorted to the nearest dock.” Anderson was about to go into a rage.
Ben covered his face just in case. Anderson flung a water bottle down the hall. It smashed on the stairs, spraying water everywhere.
“Do we go up?” Nate asked meekly.
“No. You hide and all your gear too.” He pointed at their suitcases stacked on the floor. “Hurry. They’ll be in that room up there any time now. You weren’t easy to wake.” Anderson strode down the hall and picked up the smashed water bottle as he headed for the deck.
Ben rolled out of bed and looked around. “There’s nowhere to hide these suitcases.”
Nate lifted his bunk. “I thought there might be storage under here. There’s some stuff in the way though.”
Ben hauled out the life jackets and boxes and placed them on his bed. He pulled out a few more heavy boxes, must have been extra parts or something, and set them on the floor before he tossed the suitcases in the space. “These take up a lot of room. Here, climb in.”
When Nate did, there was just enough room for himself. No room for Ben.
They heard the door open for a moment. “We have some of our permits and license info up in the wheelhouse. Let’s go there.” Jackson yelled.
“Where are you going to hide?” Nate started to sit up.
Ben pushed him back down and started to close the bunk. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll find the engine room. I just have to find a place that will fit skinny me.” He pushed down the bunk the rest of the way and hastily set the boxes on top.
He stayed close to the wall, trying to see if anyone was in the rooms up the stairs or looking in the windows. Sliding his back along the wall, he slipped around the corner and hustled down to the engine room. The noise was deafening. More than one engine hummed and vibrated as he worked his way around the tight space. It took some time for him to figure out the layout of the room and that there was hardly any place to hide. He went back to the stairs, perhaps he should have hid in Anderson’s room. It was too late. Jackson was talking to whoever was on the boat and they were headed towards the engine room.
Ben was frantic and then when he went to hide behind the stairs, he found a closet. Opening the door, it was mostly full but he saw some space on one of the lower shelves. He swept off the shelf with his arm and everything fell to the bottom. Kicking everything back into the closet and cramming it all in that space, he turned around and rested his butt on the middle of the shelf hoping that he was not only skinny enough but flexible enough to fit on that shelf. And once he did fit somehow and was inside the closet, he hoped the shelf could handle his weight for longer than five minutes. It swayed considerably under his weight. How to close the door? Did he want it shut all the way? He slid his fingers under the door to quickly close it as much as he could as they were coming down the stairs. The door had vent slats all the way down and he held onto one of the wooden slats with his fingertips while he kept the door from swinging open or latching shut.
He could see their silhouettes turn at the bottom of the steps and approach the closet where he was hiding. The engine room was rather warm and the closet was excessively so. He started to sweat profusely. His fingers began to tremble as he held the door still. They were standing right beside it now.
“You see here, here is my receipt of when we fueled up as soon as we got into the harbor.” Jackson shouted over the engines as he shuffled through some papers. “Sorry, we have a huge paper trail. We’ve been out sightseeing for weeks now.”
Ben wished he noticed the paperwork sitting so close to his chosen hiding spot. There was no sign of a desk or anything like it. However, he had no clue what the Coast Guard would have wanted to see once they boarded a boat.
“This is no longer a time to be sightseeing. There is some dangerous activity out here and it is highly possible that you could get caught in the crossfire or be mistaken as an enemy ship.”
“Are you trying to tell me we are at war?” Jackson asked.
“I’m trying to say it is dangerous out here.”
“It’s always dangerous out here. We’ve been crossing the Bering Sea in September. The Pacific so far hasn’t been forgiving either. I know I need to finish up my tour of Alaska and head home.”
“Actually, you need to find a port in Alaska and stay there. Honestly, there is no point in going to the lower forty-eight. That is if you survive out here with all that’s going on.”
“So are you letting me go on my way? So I can find a safe harbor?”
“I highly recommend it. We have our hands full right now and we don’t have time to escort you. If you don’t make it to a port, we can’t be responsible for what happens. We may not be able to rescue you if you take on water, if your ship completely breaks down, if there’s an injury, or if you’re taken hostage. That last one is a very real possibility right now.”
“I see.” Jackson’s voice turned very somber. “I will heed your advice and get us to safety.”
“All right. This is all looks good. You take care.”
Ben didn’t think he could hold the door shut any longer. His fingers were cramping as he tried to maneuver his other arm so he could switch hands but his fingers couldn’t stay in that position anymore. He bit his lip when all his fingers seized up. He couldn’t stop the door as it swung open.
Ben pulled his arms and legs in tight when he could see two members of the Coast Guard heading for the stairs. They might see him once they turned to go up. He held his breath as if that would make him invisible.
Jackson shut the door completely before he walked away.
Ben stretched his fingers as he worked on subduing the panic of not being able to open the door. The handle on the inside was a shelf above his and there was only a small gap between the edge of the shelf and the door. It was stifling hot. He had to breathe slowly to calm the rising panic attack which he had never done before.
He counted to ten, then to fifty and if he had to count to one hundred and fifty, he was going to smash the slats so he could get out. He wiped his forehead on his T-shirt as he counted. He was getting closer to smash time, one hundred twenty. Jackson wasn’t coming back. One hundred twenty one, what would Anderson do to him if he breaks the door? One hundred twenty two, how long does it take for the Coast Guard to get off a boat? He was at one hundred forty two when he finally heard someone on the stairs.
“Ben?” Nate shouted.
“I’m here!” he banged on the door.
“Where? Man, it’s loud in here.”
“Under the stairs, the closet under the stairs.”
“Seriously?” Nate was right outside the closet. “It’s jammed, why is it jammed.”
“I don’t know, hurry and open it before I smash my way out.”
“I see,” he pulled on the door really hard.
It swung open and Ben about launched himself off the shelf.
“How did you even fit in there?” Nate leaned his head to the side and looked in the space where Ben felt like he had just spent hours folded up like a towel.
He stretched his back and legs. “I guess I fit in there out of desperation. This was a poor choice of a hiding place.”
“I’d say.”
“So are they gone?”
“Yes. Thanks a lot for piling so much crap on my bunk. That was not easy to get out of. Especially when the buddy that put you there is stuck in a closet.”
“Well, at least they didn’t discover us. I don’t think it would have been a huge deal if they found us because they are already preoccupied with what’s going on. It is sounding more and more like we actually are at war.”
28
Tammy
Tammy didn’t even want to think about how much sleep she might have had. It was not enough.
Mae wouldn’t leave Tammy alone as she pestered her about going to check on her friends the next morning.
She was in the throes of explaining to the very persistent little girl that there w
ere more important things that needed to be done first when where was a knock on the front door upstairs. She hadn’t even brushed her teeth yet. Having someone on her doorstep only brought her anxiety. Enough time had passed since the E.M.P. that most people were running out of food. There was no word if any emergency supplies would arrive. The one thing she did expect was that people would show up on her doorstep eventually to ask for help.
Her church had already dispersed what they could and she’d overheard the rumors that lines were down the street at the huge Catholic Church down the road. A riot had started at the end of the day when they had to turn people away when there was nothing left to give. Tammy had stopped eavesdropping on the neighbors’ conversation after that when all the bloody details were shared.
Mae and Amanda were the only ones up and they looked to her as if she was supposed to know who was knocking at that early hour.
“I don’t want to answer it. I’m annoyed they are at my door so early.” Tammy pretended to look for something to eat in the cupboards.
“What if the fire spread to our street and they’re letting us know?” Mae gripped the table and her eyes widened.
“Honey, I’m sure they wouldn’t be waiting politely for us to answer if it was that.” She went to sit down with a box of cereal and a bowl.
The banging was louder and not nearly as friendly as the first knock on the door.
“How about now?” Mae asked.
Amanda clenched her jaw and sat on the edge of her chair as if she was certain there was danger waiting out there.
Tammy motioned for the girls to stay put. “I’m going to tip toe up the stairs and see who it is. If it isn’t an emergency like our house is about to catch fire, they can come back later.”
She jumped when they banged on the door again when she reached the top of the stairs. It sounded as if they might consider trying to smash the door in.
She softly crept to the door and strained to listen. There was more than one person out there. Sounded like a woman was with them too. That was a relief. It couldn’t be the gang.
She peered through the peephole. Their faces were all distorted like characters from a Dr. Seuss movie. She didn’t recognize any of them. She would probably look weird too if her nose was stretched out of proportion like all of theirs were.
“They say she has lots of food. She could feed the whole neighborhood for months. And water too. It looks like her house is all boarded up inside. She is in there. Has to be. Turned this place into a fortress.”
“Shh,” the woman whispered. “She could be listening right now.”
“So what? She should help people out. There’s people starving out here and she’s all holed up like a squirrel getting ready for winter.”
Tammy wrung her hands. She didn’t want to open the door. She didn’t want to see anyone starve either. Her neighbors had to be spreading rumors about how prepared she was. And yet not one word about what all she had already given away to help everyone. Why did the unprepared think they were so entitled? She rubbed the back of her neck. The muscles were so tight. A hot bath or even a hot pad would be really nice. Lots of wishful thinking of things she couldn’t use.
“Try again.” Someone banged on the door once more.
She chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment before she spoke.
“Stop banging on my door,” she yelled. “It’s too early to be neighborly.”
“Lady, umm. Is it Tammy? I’m sorry. We came early so not everyone would see. Can you help us?” the woman pleaded. “We have children and no help has come, the church closed their doors before we could get food and we barely made it out of there with our lives. We’re desperate.”
Tammy pressed her forehead against the door. It felt cool against her flushing skin. “I can’t open this door. I’m not going to. People have been trying to kill me too. I might be able to help a little bit. Only because you have children. You better not be lying to me.”
“I’m not. Believe me. I’m not.” The woman tried to look through the peephole. “Please. If I had anything to offer, I would give you something in return but we are stranded. We don’t have anything.”
“If you are stranded, where are the children? Why are all these men with you?” Tammy didn’t have a good feeling about them at all. However, people like them, desperate and at her door, they were the reason why she didn’t give all her donation food away.
“They are still sleeping at the park and there are three other women with them and my husband.”
There were so many of them. Looked like four couples, and who knew how many children. She needed to stop chewing on her cheek. It wasn’t food. “I don’t have much that I can give to feed so many. What I mean is it won’t last long.”
“We will be appreciative of whatever you have,” she said. “There are people eating squirrel. Not us. But it’s getting that bad. I think someone else tried cat last night. I just can’t do that.”
It was hard for her to see any details of the people on the other side through the little hole in the door that skewed anyone that was is in view. However, they did look as if they had worn the same clothes for days and the woman looked sunburned. She almost glowed red and it looked as if she was lighting up her front porch. But it was just the early morning sun.
“You need to leave for at least a half hour, take a walk around the block or something. I can’t have you hovering in my front yard or you’ll start a line. When you come back, I will have four boxes for your four families waiting in the plastic storage box I’m going to leave outside the fence on the side yard. Do not share with anyone where you got your supplies. Tell them a church gave it to you. There’s about ten different ones around here so that’s pretty generic and that’s where they need to go anyway. And do not return for more tomorrow. I am not the local food pantry.”
“Thank you,” the woman said with genuine relief. “The children were sobbing when they heard someone was having cat for dinner last night.”
“Yes, thank you,” one of the men said.
“Shhh,” the woman shushed him loudly.
“Please tell me something. Is there still a fire burning in that neighborhood still?” Tammy asked.
“It died down when it started to rain. Miserable night for us in the end but at least the whole neighborhood didn’t burn down.”
“Thank you. I have things to do.” She kept an eye on them to make sure they left as they were told.
“Yes, yes. Thank you.” They waved as they left her front porch.
Tammy quickly collected the things those four families needed. She also stuck tubes of sunscreen, hand sanitizer, and some small containers of lotion in the boxes for them too.
When she went into the kitchen, she stopped Amanda just as she was about to crack an egg for her breakfast. “I need those. I need to give those fresh eggs the chickens laid this morning to some families that are staying at the park.”
“How do you know they didn’t just make that up so you’d feel sorry for them?” Amanda asked, totally peeved that her mother was taking away her breakfast.
“It doesn’t matter, does it? If they are hungry, they’re hungry. It doesn’t matter if they’re telling me the truth. It is getting desperate. People are eating squirrel and cats now. Either those people find what they need to survive today or they will die. I can’t turn them away. When I could have done something and didn’t, then that accountability falls on my shoulders, doesn’t it?”
Amanda teared up. “I’m sorry. We are lucky you and Dad have been doing all this. I have taken it for granted. I still do right now. They are eating people’s pets now? I just want to stay here like it’s our little cave away from all the people and stay put till it’s over.”
“I would love to do the same. However, they can still burn our house down if they want what we have. Then we will have nothing. We are going to get out of here before things get worse. I can’t make that happen right this second though. We will need to make sure we bring e
verything we can and I need to figure out the safest time for us to go. Because all this, the gangs, people at our door begging, a whole block of houses burning down. It isn’t going away anytime soon.”
A tear fell down Amanda’s cheek. “I sure wish it would.”
Tammy packed up four boxes as full as she could. Some more toiletries, basic medicine, peanut butter, jelly, crackers, some cereal, water bottles, powdered milk, whatever other foods she could fit in there along with some matches, a fifty hour candle, a few small LED tea lights for the children, and a small buddy burner with extra wax and a hobo stove.
Long before the EMP, her family had created a stockpile of buddy burners with rolled cardboard and wax in a tin can and hobo stoves made out of a gallon sized aluminum cans. The girls also created and printed out a small stack of instructions during one of their family nights on how to use all the emergency supplies they had made just so they would be prepared even when those around them weren’t. At the time, most of their discussion had been about how they would probably never need to use any of those things. She stared at the instructions for the buddy burner for a long time trying to remember that time when the power was still on, they were safe, Ben was home, and it felt as if their world would stay that way forever.
Tammy cleared out the outside storage box while she let Buddy do his business and let him stretch his legs as he chased a squirrel. What a strange thought that perhaps the neighborhood squirrels would soon be gone.
A couple of mourning doves flew up from one of the neighbor’s backyards. She ducked when she heard gunfire and a fluff of feathers flew up as the dove fell to the ground.
She shook her head as she pulled the massive plastic storage box just outside the gate with the boxes already inside. She looked around to see if anyone was watching. Of course her nosy neighbor was standing on her porch and waved. Tammy gave her the briefest acknowledgment just as she shut the gate.
Enduring the Crisis Page 13