“I’m afraid America isn’t in much better shape than some of the third world countries. Actually we are maybe in worse shape. Most Americans don’t know how to grow food or hunt or fish. For too many years too many people have relied on the government to survive. I am thanking God for everything my parents taught me all those years ago. I sure didn’t think I would ever have to use some of them, however it looks like some of my hidden talents will come in handy now.”
“Okay enough of the depressing stuff. We need to have a plan. Hannah, I’d like for you to be in charge of the food. You already know what we have and you cook better than any of us. Let’s not break into the survival food until we’ve used everything else. The stuff in the tubs and buckets has a twenty-five-year shelf life so it’s not going to spoil. Pull the cushion backs off and you will see where I have stuffed canned goods and packaged food. I’ll leave it up to you to figure out what caloric intake each of us needs to stay healthy.”
“We also need to think about our fresh water. I am as guilty as the rest of you and I am not sure how much you carry, but don’t we have to be getting low?”
“We’ve only been using it to drink and cook with. Everything else we use salt water for. Alan tried to get the water-maker going but we don’t have the parts for it. I try not to waste it…” Hannah sounded defensive as she was the only one using the fresh water, “But I can’t cook with salt water.”
“Alan, under the starboard settee is a blue bag. Bring it up here please. I made a water catcher, it’s primitive but it works.”
Alan threw the bag into the cockpit following it up. “I’ve seen one of these before. Where do you want to hang it?”
“Across the boom and there’s small line at the corners, tie those to the shrouds. Ellen helped Alan spread it out across the boom. “Not so tight,” she said when she realized he was stretching it tight. “We want it to belly down in the middle. Frank can you…of course you would know.”
He had the middle-forward line and was tying it off up high on the mast. “This is pretty ingenious. You made it?”
“I did, I found the directions on the internet and thought I’d try it. All it is a piece of sunbrella I cut to the shape I wanted, rolled the edges and added the grommets where I needed them. I reinforced a patch in the middle and put in a small thru-hull valve. As soon as the rain starts I open the valve to let the water run through and after I think it is washed clean I put one of the jugs under it and catch the water. I filter it as I pour it into the water tanks. If you’re real lucky you can get the tanks full and still have time to refill the jugs.”
Alan stood admiring her work, “Well I think this could be used anywhere there is lots of rain. Because you filter it before you use it for drinking water, so you could tie it off to trees or anything to hold it up.”
“If you wanted, you could boil it first just to be sure. There are so many products nowadays, water purification tablets, or plain old bleach. Someday the tablets and bleach will run out so I like the idea of boiling it.”
“Well, who’s going to have the first watch? The rest of us should try to get some sleep, because it may be the last time for a pleasant rest. As soon as the wind hits, we are out here.”
“Well I for one will be glad to get moving. And I will take the first watch. Four or six hours maybe?” Ellen asked Frank. He nodded as he went below, followed by Hannah and Alan.
“No longer than six hours either. You don’t want to get too tired,” Frank hollered up to her.
The Journal; Five Weeks After
I must apologize for the drivel I have been writing lately. I’m sure none of you are impressed with my fascination of Frank. But if you could see him…Big brown eyes, hair a little too long to be fashionable and curly. Honestly guys he could be on the cover of one of those sexy romance novels or a firemen’s calendar. He’s probably a little thinner than those guys, but then I think we are all trimming down. I don’t think I have ever been this fit. Hannah and I swim every morning and evening.
She has opened up to me about her ordeal. All I can think of, is thank God Alan found her when he did. She thought she would die locked in that cabin when the guys failed to return. Her burns from the cigarettes have healed. If you didn’t know to look, you might not even see then. I know Alan doesn’t see them.
That boy is infatuated with her. However, in this new world, he is not a boy anymore. As far as I know other than his confession when we introduced ourselves, he hasn’t mentioned the guy he killed with the highball glass to Frank. Maybe he talks to Hannah about it. I can only imagine how he must feel.
Today I think we finally are coming together as a group. Frank thinks we need to stand watches and he could be right, but out here in the middle of nowhere it seems crazy to me. Maybe he is trying to get us up to “marine speed” before we need it.
I’m laughing, because everyone was assigned a task but me. Frank and I are going to be standing the longest night watches, but I don’t consider that a task. Hannah has the food detail, while Alan is in charge of water. Frank is going to do the navigation chores, because I really suck with the sextant. He is diligent about taking a fix every evening and then again in the morning. Not sure why he does it twice a day while we are sitting at anchor, but who am I to say anything. I’m just grateful he is.
I can’t help wondering what is happening back on shore. The thought has crossed my mind more than once that maybe we are sitting out here for nothing. I remember after Katrina devastated New Orleans, people went crazy. But eventually order was somewhat restored, and maybe that’s what’s happening here. We don’t know for sure the power didn’t come back on after we left.
Well that’s not really true. I caught Alan checking his cell phone a couple of days ago. If the power is back on the phones would probably work. But would they work way out here? At least it should show the no signal message…right?
We start the motor every couple of days to keep the batteries topped off, though we seldom use electricity with the 12 volt lights. We have adopted the ways of the farmer; sleeping and waking with the sun. It was an easy switch for me; as most of you know I grew up living by the sun.
We have a front that appears to be headed this way so we are going to be leaving here as soon as we get so much as a breeze. I am not sure if I am ready to see what’s out there, but it’s time. I guess so far we have been lucky with the weather. This probably would have gone down as one of the least active hurricane seasons in history.
In reality I think I am ready to go. I am thankful to have missed the die off on land if that’s what happened. I have no living relatives to worry about and all of my closest friends still live in the Pacific Northwest. If shit really has hit the fan, I hope they remember the farm. We all grew up hunting and fishing and even the women know how to chop wood. If anyone can survive this catastrophe, it would be my friends.
My mind still wonders about Major Markowsky. Who was going to come to the meeting he told me about? I am assuming that there are three people or organizations involved in his group because of the patches I saw on their uniforms. Three arms, hands holding wrists to form a circle with the letters, N.W.C. in the center.
I understand why they picked the Dry Tortugas for its isolation, but it does surprise me for them to have come to Florida at all. Wouldn’t you think they would have wanted to be near D.C? I mean if they are planning on a government overthrow, wouldn’t they want to be there to take control? Why would they be conscripting civilians? The biggest question I have is one that Alan keeps asking. Why was a Coast Guard cutter headed to Garden Key? Were they going to rescue someone or were they transporting the other members of the group to the supposed meeting? I think another important question would be if this is a worldwide event? If it is, what are our chances for getting through the Panama Canal?
The questions keep stacking up. I almost wrote that I needed to sleep now, the sun is long gone, but, (Yeah I’m laughing) I have a watch to stand.
Chapter Four
The water tanks and extra jugs are full but the rain hasn’t quit. We had a brief period of 5-10 knot wind on the leading edge of the storm but it died before we could drag down the water catcher. Now we have had three days of never ending rain.
Everything they had onboard was damp or dripping with water. Tempers were pushed to the limit and each of them was being overly polite so as to not ignite an argument.
It was Ellen’s watch and she didn’t even have the stress relief of writing in her journal. The pages were too damp for the ink to write on. She sat staring off into the curtain of rain when something caught her attention. She couldn’t see anything but the hair on her neck was standing on end. She didn’t know if it she’d heard something or seen something, but she felt like there was reason to be on guard.
Frank had been doing his sightings every morning and night and each time he had put them twenty nautical miles off the southwest coast of Cuba and about eighty nautical miles northeast of Jamaica.
She couldn’t decide to wake Frank or wait and see if there was something to be alarmed about. Maybe she was just feeling spooked because of the rain. They were all on edge the last few days and she blamed it on the rain. There wasn’t a chance anyone would be out in this downpour.
Earlier they had decided to use the motor and leave the next morning. They were going to have to start it anyhow to charge the batteries. Her little 30 horsepower Universal only used about a half of a gallon an hour at 1500 rpm’s. The tank gauge said they had a half tank there and they still had the jugs they had recovered from Hannah’s trawler. She had dumped an additive in them to keep down algae growth, so she was sure the fuel would still be good.
“Oh crap,” she whispered under her breath. She had heard something, and it did sound like someone coughing. It was muffled, but she was certain that’s what the sound was. As ludicrous at it seemed for anyone to be out there, she was sure of what she’d heard. It was time to wake Frank. She would rather take some flak for being too cautious than having someone sneak up on them.
She hurried below, “Frank…Frank, wake up.”
He practically threw himself upright, causing her to jump back in alarm. “It’s just me. Ellen. I think we may have company.”
“You’re kidding right?” He rubbed his hand down his face as if that would help clear the sleep away. “You sure you’re not just hearing things.”
“No…I’m not hearing things!” She hissed out. She realized how abrupt she must have sounded, “Sorry, I do think I heard something. Could have been someone coughing. But I would feel better if you came up top.”
He slipped into his shorts, zipped them and reached under his pillow and for his 45. Barefoot and shirtless he headed for the ladder.
She didn’t want to influence him, so she decided to pour him coffee from the thermos Hannah had set aside for morning.
Frank was crouched down beside the cabin listening. He turned and came back to the cockpit. “I think you might be right. I heard something when I first came up but nothing now. With this damn rain it’s almost impossible to see.”
“Maybe it’s was just a dolphin blowing, but to my ears it sounded human.” Ellen handed a steaming cup to him. “Would you mind staying up with me for just a while. I have this really creepy feeling that over the years I have learned to pay attention to.”
“Exactly my intention. You and I never have five minutes to get to know one another. I was beginning to think you were avoiding alone time with me.” He sipped his coffee. “I’m sure going to miss this stuff.”
“No. not avoiding you really. I admit I am confused; I admit I am drawn to you but how do I know if this is not just a reaction to this end of the world as we know it crap. I put off having relationships for so long, the last couple years I it seems like I can’t get one going. Most guys find me intimidating. I’ve learned over time to take care of myself and don’t really need a man to do the guy things.” She was sitting looking in to her cup not watching for Frank’s reaction to her words. She had always found it difficult to discuss her feelings with anyone.
Frank chuckled softly, “Well that’s what I find so appealing about you. You don’t need someone to look after you. You have that little independent spirit that says I need to kick up my game so you would find something in this old man captivating. You remind me just a little of Amanda…”
“There.! Did you hear that?” Ellen crawled to the port side-rail and peered out. “Frank…come look. Is that another boat?”
Frank crouched beside her. “What the hell? They’re lucky that thing floats with all those people in it.”
“Is that what they call a chug? Like the ones abandoned in the Marqueses? Where do you think they are going?”
“Suicide would be my guess. Those people are sick. Listen to them.” Frank whispered, “Pray they don’t notice us.”
“What? Why? Maybe we can help them. Hannah is a nurse and Alan was a med student…remember?”
Frank turned to Ellen and wanted to shake her. She had no idea how bad this could be. She couldn’t know how bad things must be on land. First the people die off or are killed by thugs, some who kill just because they can. There would be no one to bury the bodies or in some cases incinerate them which should be the proper disposal of all the corpses. With a depressed country like Cuba or even Jamaica, these people could have the plague or something just as deadly. To bring that sickness onboard would be suicide for them.
“Ellen…stop and use your head. Where are you going to put all those people? There must be a dozen or more in that boat, and they are all sick.” He could see she wasn’t convinced. “Look, think about the dead bodies. With no one to bury them, the rat population would explode. Rats carry the plague or hemorrhagic fever…the list goes on and on. I was in Africa in 2003. I remember the hell there. Please think about this.” He was shaking with the need to convey how serious he was. He could not let her do this.
His hands gripped Ellen’s shoulders and again he was tempted to shake her. “Do you want to expose Alan and Hannah to the Plague or even Ebola? Don’t you realized these two kids could be our future?”
Ellen saw how serious Frank was and in the back of her mind, she knew he was right. They had few supplies with which to help these people. If they were to reach Washington, they would need everything they had. Antibiotics was the one thing they were short of. She had laid in a supply from the pet store but had no idea of the shelf life. She had gotten them as an emergency application.
She practically wilted in his arms as she let her breath out. Frank felt her acceptance of the situation. He understood her need to help, hell he’d been all gung ho when he went to Africa. It hadn’t taken many days before he saw the hopelessness in the doctors faces. They had lost more than 2000 lives before the disease was under control. Up until Amanda it had been the biggest heartbreak of his life.
“We can’t do anything for them. Please…let it go.”
“You’re right. But I don’t like it much, but you’re right. I just feel like I should be doing something. They’ll probably die out here.” She shook her head in defeat, “Why would you even leave shore?” she mumbled and sat down.
Frank knew she wasn’t asking him, she just needed time to put it all together. Some people are takers and some are doers. She definitely fit in the latter category. He silently thanked God, she had decided to use her head instead of her heart.
“Frank,” Ellen whispered, “We may not have a choice here. I think they are coming this way.”
Frank blew his breath out in resignation, he had been afraid they would be seen. Now he needed to harden his heart and stop them from coming aboard. If it was at all possible, short of shooting them all.
As the boat drew close, Frank stood up and hailed them. “Stop right there! Don’t come any closer!”
Ellen stood behind him listening to the sound of a child crying. She felt the misery and despair floating over the water. She couldn’t stop her tears from flowing.
&
nbsp; “Necesitamos ayuda!” The man slumped over the motor was yelling. A small child clung to his knees crying.
“Please don’t come any closer!” He turned to Ellen, “Do you speak Spanish?”
She was shaking her head, no when Alan put his head out the hatchway. “What’s going on?”
“You speak any Spanish?”
“Some. What’s going on?” Alan scrambled into the cockpit.
Frank pointed to the bobbing boat, “Them. Talk to him. Tell him to stay clear.”
“No te acerques maś!” Alan said, his accent was bad but he seemed to have gotten the point across. The old boat motor stuttered and popped as the man circled.
“Por favor, estamos enfermos. Necesitamos ayuda!” The man did indeed appear sick. He coughed loudly and spittle flew from behind his hand.
“He says they are sick and need help.” He looked from Ellen to Frank. “We can help them.”
“No we can’t! Unless you want us all to die.” He could tell Alan had already decided and knew he was right. No doubt he had learned of the plague in school.
“No te acerques maś! No podemos ayudarle.́” Alan’s shoulders were down in defeat.
“Por favor, tome mi hija. Ella no esta enferma!”
“He wants us to take his daughter. He says she’s not sick.”
“No. If she’s not sick yet, she will be soon. Tell him no.” Frank was trying to remain firm, but all the same his heart was breaking.
“Lo siento por favor entienda que no podemos”
“How can we do this?” Tears streamed down Alan’s cheeks. “What gives us the right to decide who lives and who dies?”
Dangerous Shores: Book Two; Hell or High Water Page 3