“Give her a wide berth until the girls see that it’s us. Actually do you have your air-horn? We can at least get their attention, so they know we’re out here and don’t feel like we’re trying to sneak up on them.”
“Yes sir; got it right here.” He reached under the console and retrieved the canned air, pushed the button on top and blared a short blast followed closely by a longer one.
Ellen would recognize the sound for what it was and not be alarmed when she saw the boat. She would know that pirates did not announce their arrival beforehand.
As they drew closer they saw first Ellen and then Hannah standing in the cockpit. They were standing like two warriors’ both of them holding a rifle.
“What the heck is that?” Alan asked, pointing at the bow. “Holy crap!” He recognized the big gun that had been hidden in the aft stateroom since leaving Pelican Bay. He’d completely forgotten about it, but it was apparent the girls hadn’t.
Frank saw exactly what Alan was talking about and looked at the Private to see how he would react. They exchanged glances, both of them with a grin on their faces. “That looks a 50 caliber sniper rifle.”
Chapter Eighteen
As they got closer, Alan stood and waved his arms. The Private nudged Frank’s shoulder with a pair of binoculars. Frank took them with a nod and put them to his eyes. He saw Ellen standing and looking directly at him with her binoculars. He grinned at her and mouthed, “Hello.”
She mouthed something back and smiled, he thought she said, “Welcome back.” But wasn’t sure. She said something to Hannah and put the glasses down. They began moving the dinghy to the port side to make an easier approach for the big Zodiac. Tied there the dinghy would be safely out of the way.
Alan was having a hard time sitting still, his eagerness to be back on the Annie-C was evident by his actions. He would bounce to his feet wave in the girls’ direction, when he saw they were not waving back or even looking, he would sit and jump up again when they faced his way.
“Sir, would you cleat this line?” He threw the bitter end to Frank and Frank made it secure. “I’m going to put the starboard side to your stern. I’d like to get unloaded and back to business as soon as possible. I still have to make a surveillance run down the coast, but I have to stop at the marina to pick up the other guys. We’ve been having some reports of pirates south of the canal. As much as we try to stay out of the local skirmishes, we still feel obligated to make our presence felt when these guys are involved. They are a pretty ruthless bunch. They have the locals believing they are the new ruling body and can do anything they want, whenever they want. We’ve lost count of the local women that have disappeared in the last two weeks. We try to interfere when we can; it keeps them off balance.”
With the use of his motors the Private held the Zodiac tight to the stern, while Alan climbed over the pontoon to the transom. Frank handed the fuel jugs up to Alan. They made a human chain and lined the jugs up down the gunnel. The food boxes and packs were transferred quickly followed by Frank.
“We’ll see you in the morning then sir? I know they want to get you guys through the gates before the locals are up and moving around.”
“We’ll be there by 0600. Is it safe to anchor in the bay until morning?”
“As safe as it gets nowadays. If you stay to the north side of the bay, it will keep the channel clear for the freighter and you won’t get run over. There are three other sailboats anchored there as well. You’re all going in together.”
Frank threw the line back into the Zodiac and they watched as he drifted back. As soon as he was clear he powered away.
“Can I come up now?” Olivia asked from the top step.
“Come on up,” Alan told her. He had already given Hannah a hug hello and spread his arms open to Olivia. She jumped and he caught her as if they had been doing this forever. Her arms were tight around his neck and her legs wrapped his torso.
“Where did you go? I woke up and you weren’t here. You should have let me go too, so I could walk on the sand with you.”
“I promise next time we go in; you can go too.” He set her back down. She continued to cling to him while staring at Frank. “Hey did you give Frank a hug?”
She dropped her head as if she couldn’t look at him when she answered. “No.”
“Hey Olivia, do I get a hug too?” Frank asked and went down on one knee. He had not spent enough time with Olivia and she hadn’t gotten past the shy stage with him. He decided right then he was going to have to make more of an effort to get to know her. They all needed to have mutual trust and it was obvious Olivia trusted everyone but him.
Alan gave her a little nudge from behind and she went reluctantly. Frank held his arms wide as he’d seen Alan do and when she was finally standing in front of him he leaned toward her and gave her a brief hug. She hadn’t hugged him back, but she had lilted her face slightly and grinned at him, before she turned and went to stand behind Alan. She reminded Frank of a much younger child, but then she had been through so much already. Her grin, although brief was a start.
“Okay, are one of you ladies going to tell us what happened while we were gone? We couldn’t help but notice your deck ornament.”
Ellen hadn’t said anything to him or Alan. Now, she frowned and shook her head no followed by a side look at Olivia. It was pretty obvious she didn’t want to discuss it in front of the child. The 50 cal. sitting on the deck and the body floating in the water were beginning to add up. It appeared as if the girls had their share of troubles while they were gone.
“Why don’t you tell us about your trip to shore. Looks like you accomplished something?” Hannah asked pointing at their new clothes and then the extra backpacks. “Where are my shoes? You brought them back right? They were my favorites.”
She saw the crestfallen expression on Frank’s face. She knew he hadn’t but pushed him anyhow. “They still had a lot of miles left in them even without the toes.”
“No. I threw them in the nearest trashcan as soon as they gave me these.” He pointed at his feet. “But, I did bring you some replacements.”
“As you heard, we are going to transit the Panama Canal in the morning. That’s the big and the good news. However, we are going to motor on in to Limon Bay tonight. We are going to have to be attentive to what’s going on around us, so that means one of us on deck at all times. The only law enforcement on shore or on the water is a small contingent of soldiers and they are spread thin. So it’s up to us to keep ourselves safe for the night.” The somber look on each of his friend’s faces told him they would take his words seriously, and he wondered again what had happened on the boat while he and Alan were away. He was pretty sure Ellen wouldn’t have allowed the sniper rifle on the deck unless she was prepared to use it. He could hardly wait to hear their story.
Frank and Ellen rigged up a temporary cover to hide the 50 cal. They discussed putting it down below but Ellen insisted it remain where it was. She had wanted to use large screws to secure it in place until Frank explained they may need to use it facing another direction and it could be detrimental to have it permanently facing forward.
With their gear either stowed or tied down, they were ready to go. Alan went to the bow to pull the anchor. Frank, at the helm walked the boat forward as Alan neatly coiled the line into the locker. With a clunk the anchor itself was sitting in its holder and clipped in.
Ellen sat on the deck at the bow and watched the crystal clear water pass by the hull. At another time, the water would have been inviting, but today she remembered how the men she killed had floated off fouling the once pristine water. She didn’t understand how some people think they could just take and keep on taking what didn’t belong to them. She had no doubts about what the men were after; their arrogance had given them away.
“Oh thank God,” she muttered softly. She just realized she should be thankful they had presented as they did. If they had simply motored up and announced themselves in an unpretentious manner, s
he wondered if she or Hannah would have invited them aboard. What if it had just been Hannah and Olivia on the boat alone? Or what if she had been sleeping when they showed up? The outcome could have proved disastrous for them all.
They were going to have to upgrade their security to cover every situation. They could no longer afford to have a host or hostess mentality, especially with having Olivia’s well-being to think about. “And then there’s the baby.” She reminded herself.
Ellen had always enjoyed her solitary existence, but at the sound of laughter coming from the cockpit she found herself wanting to be with her friends. The feeling of wanting to be with people was an unusual emotion for Ellen to have, but she did and she wasn’t going to deny herself the experience. Before she could change her mind, she stood and went back to the cockpit.
They kept the conversation light and never said anything about the trouble of the day before. Other than Hannah being quieter than usual, no one would have known that Ellen and Hannah were both guilty of taking lives.
“Okay everyone, that would be Limon Bay directly ahead. This is where it can get dicey. The marina has been burned out and anything worth taking has already been taken. The town’s population has been pared down by disease and mass murder by the Columbian’s. When food imports stopped, the people here went crazy. Those that could, fled to the hills those that couldn’t or were afraid to leave, were murdered for whatever they had that the criminals wanted. The Staff Sergeant didn’t paint a very pretty picture.”
When food began to run short the jailers at Model Jail, turned the prisoners loose. Like in every prison there are gangs who want nothing more than to kill each other off. The same for the prison in Panama City. The different factions have done pretty well at killing each other off, but the ones who still alive are the are the worst mankind has to offer.”
Frank never took his eyes off the water as he spoke. He wanted these people to be aware of what they were headed into. The Staff Sergeant had made the offer and urged them to stay as long as they wanted. He’d also said they could use a few more guns on their side. Frank had declined the offer saying they wanted to get back to Washington State.
The Staff Sergeant had laughed, “Pardon me, but you’re shitting me right? No way you guys are getting all the way to Washington.”
Frank had told him that indeed they were and offered to him, “If you ever find yourself in a position you need to bug out, come on up. The door is always open and I’m sure we can always use a few good hands with a gun also.”
The Sergeant actually seemed to be considering the offer, “If we get hit one more time, I just might give this canal back to the Columbians and let them fight it out among themselves over who owns and controls it. We lose guys every time a boat looking for crew or a freighter goes through. Most of my guys have nowhere else to go and they have an allegiance to me. We came through Desert Storm together, but I’ll tell you we’ve lost more good men here, than we ever did in the sand trap.”
For a few moments they sat in silence considering each other’s words. To Frank it felt like the Sergeant was trying to scare them off from going through the canal.
Hannah saw that Olivia had curled up leaning across Alan’s lap. Her thumb rested on the side of her mouth as if it had just slipped out. Alan stood, careful to not wake her and took her below.
When Hannah started to rise to go with him, he shook his head, “I’ve got this. I’ll be right back.”
Ellen watched him leave and turned to Frank. When he returned her look she blurted out, “We had to kill some guys the morning you left.”
“That’s the reason for the big gun on the bow?”
“No. We put that out there afterwards, to discourage anyone else from coming out here looking for them. Once the sun came up and they didn’t return back to where they came from, we were afraid they would send more people out.” She sighed, “I don’t think we had a choice. I…We couldn’t let them take us or Olivia.”
“If they had listened when we said that we weren’t going with them and left, they would still be alive.” Hannah said in their defense. “But they didn’t they laughed and tried to come at us from two sides.” Hannah seemed to be speaking through clenched teeth, “If they had only left they would be alive.”
“Sounds to me like you girls handled a tough situation the way it needed to be handled. Unfortunately, this is probably only the beginning. We can expect that everyone one we meet from here on out is after what we have. Everyone we see is a potential murderer, thief, rapist or criminal of some kind. We give a warning when we can; otherwise we shoot first before they do.”
“Is that a little extreme?” Ellen asked. She had killed the day before as a gut reaction to Hannah shooting. Had Hannah not fired, she wondered if she would have. She hadn’t seen any guns or rather the men hadn’t been waving any around. But their intentions had been clear. They were going to come aboard and take them back to land with them. She knew in her heart, regardless what her brain told her, they had acted correctly.
“No it’s not. From everything we’ve heard from the soldiers, we need to be proactive and not reactive. If you hesitate, you could be putting all of us in danger. Until we get through the canal tomorrow, I would like to see Olivia kept down below. If things go bad, we don’t want to be worried about where she is. As for you girls staying safe, there’s a little present in one of those packs for the two of you.” He rapped on his chest to and produced a hard hollow sound. “If you’re on deck you have them on. I know they’re heavy and uncomfortable, but wearing them could save your life.”
Once inside the bay, they were able to see that everything that Frank had told them had not been blown out of proportion, if anything he had downplayed the actuality of the situation. The few standing buildings were singed around the edges, doors and windows missing. From behind the surrounding hills on the south end of the bay, a smear of black smoke hung in the sky, crowning the tops of trees. The destruction was beyond comprehension for the girls.
“Oh my God…” Ellen whispered. Her eyes glued to the anchor field across the way. While she had not said anything, she had thought they would be able to replace their sails here. Sailboat people were notorious for having spare sails stuffed away somewhere. Instead of beautiful sailboats and powerboats, burnt out hulks sat in their places, still anchored. A rainbow of oil skimmed the waters around them.
Eyes glistening with tears, she asked Frank, “Did this…”
“No, this happened within the first week before anyone ran out of food. This is a perfect example of what happened here and I think all over. People who are bad to begin with do crap just because they can. People who have walked the thin line of civility their whole lives see this as a chance to finally let their unscrupulous side loose and this is what you get. They meet up with someone with less scruples than they have and join them. It doesn’t take long for people to lose any self-discipline they had before this all started. Sometimes I think they are the worst. They no longer let their inhibitions rule their lives and they feel the need to play catch up with the convicted criminals.”
“Those have to be the other boats.” Alan said, pointing to two other sailboats. “They said there would be two other boats and a freighter going through together.” Of the two, one was missing her mast and the other has crude plywood patches on the hull. He stood open-mouthed with his hand shading his eyes as if the act would help him to see better. “Hey! Isn’t that the guys from Garden Key?”
Chapter Nineteen
Ellen, who had started down the ladder to go below, quickly reversed direction and came back on deck. Her eyes darted around trying to see who Alan was talking about.
Spotting the boats, she was inclined to say no as her first response, until she studied them. She looked at Frank, both eyebrows raised in question. He was shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“It’s them,” he finally said. “Alan, get up there and get ready to set the anchor.” He figured by the t
ime their speed dropped enough to drop the anchor they would be as close to the other boats as they would want to be. He pulled the shift lever into neutral.
“I thought they were going across the Gulf to Texas? Isn’t that what they said?” Ellen stared at the two boats watching for movement on either of them. She was positive she remembered them saying that when they first met them in Pelican Bay, but they hadn’t had the chance to talk to them about their future plans at Garden Key. She hadn’t even thought to ask them what they were even doing there when Texas was the other direction. They had chosen to leave Garden Key in the middle of the night when everyone else was asleep, just as they had at Pelican Bay. They seemed to have a habit of leaving when no one else would know about it, until after they were gone.
Dangerous Shores: Book Two; Hell or High Water Page 13