“Unless it moves, I don’t want to know what it is. In this new normal, it could be anything or someone whose luck ran out.” Alan yawned, covering it with his hand. “It must be two hours don’t you think?”
“Go wake Frank if you want, I’m good still.” Ellen kept an eye on the floater. As it got closer she could see it was just that. The bloated body of a man slowly drifted closer.
“What’s up? Frank asked. After only two hours of sleep he looked tired. He yawned and set two cups of coffee on the table. “Thought you could use this.”
He was right. They have been rationing their coffee intake, because it was one of the staples that Ellen had not stocked up on. She had could not have foreseen having four coffee drinkers onboard and her limited supply had dwindled quickly.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do when we run out.” She sipped from her cup. She appreciated it when Frank made the coffee, because he liked his exactly like she did. Strong and black. Hannah tended to use less grounds; she said she was conserving it. They had not opened the emergency supply of instant coffee yet. Somehow coffee out of a jar did not sound as appetizing as perked.
“Other than our new friend out there,” she pointed at the body, “It’s been quiet.”
“Any sign of Dan or Brian?”
“Nope. I can’t believe they wouldn’t at least sleep in their cockpit. I think I see why they have had troubles. They wouldn’t know anyone was there until it was too late.”
“Don’t be too judgmental, there are some people who fold under pressure. We have no idea what they’ve been through up until this point. Looking at their damage, something definitely happened to them. Maybe when we get through here and have time to talk, they’ll tell us. Frank did not understand how any man could have fallen as far and fast as Dan had. He wondered to what extent he had gone to in order to protect those on his boat.
Let me say that I’m just happy you are with us and not one of them.”
They remained quiet for the next two hours. When it came time for Ellen to rest, she decided not to. As long as Alan remained asleep she would leave him there. She didn’t think she could sleep anyhow and she saw no sense in all of them being awake.
“I just want to get through the canal and figure out what we are doing from there. I can’t explain, but just being back on the west coast will be a load of my mind. I know we’ll still have a long way to go and I’m okay with that. Having a couple thousand miles to go by water sounds better than a thousand miles by land, or even five hundred by land would be too many.”
“I understand what you’re saying, but you realize we could still meet people on the water. We’ve had it pretty easy on this trip…well until we got here.”
“You mean easy until tomorrow. You don’t say it right out, but I can feel the evilness of this place. The smell of death is everywhere. When that body floated up, Alan says, “it’s just a dead guy…” when did we become so heartless?”
“I think when we decided to become survivors and not victims of this apocalypse. If you start thinking of the individual facts surrounding everything that’s happened so far, we’d end up like Dan, unable to cope. When you distance your thoughts, it’s like maybe you read it or saw a picture somewhere, it’s not completely real.
Chapter Twenty-One
The sun was coming up and there was not so much a ripple on the water. The serenity was deceptive because in your heart you knew that at any moment all hell could break loose and in some places it probably was. Frank walked around the deck keeping an eye on all sides. Ellen decided she was not going to find a better time to put some words in her journal. Alan and the girls were still asleep and Frank had said to let them be. He said he also thought they were going to have to be on top of their game today, having them well rested would be imperative.
She pulled the tattered book from under the lazarette cushion. She had tied her pen to it with string, so she could always find it. Olivia had taken to gathering up every writing tool and putting them in with her things.
She wrote for an hour without interruption until Frank announced they had company coming their way. She quickly scribbled her last words and slid the book back where she’d gotten it from.
Frank came back to the cockpit to stand beside her. “I wonder what this is all about. I didn’t expect to have an escort. I thought they were bringing us a few things not two boats full of men.”
“Surely all that stuff isn’t for us. You said bringing some things not a boat load of stuff.”
“I guess we quit speculating until they get here. Maybe they have something else in mind.”
They watched the big Zodiac followed by a shorter inflatable motor their way. Both were loaded with gear of some sort covered by green canvas tarps. One soldier drove and three more sat in the stern and one on the bow of the Zodiac and three more in the smaller craft. All of them were armed with military issue rifles.
“Call me a pessimist, but this doesn’t look good. If I remember right, that looks like the last of the soldiers stationed here. I wonder who is running the locks?”
“So…that can only mean they’re moving out and we don’t get through the canal?”
“I honestly don’t know.” He sat on the cabin top to watch their approach. He was surprised when Ellen sat close beside him. Usually, she was the person that avoided personal space invasion and she was definitely invading his space.
Alan put his head through the hatch, not seeing them he called, “You guys here?”
At hearing Alan, Ellen scooted away. “We’re here. Is Hannah awake?”
“Yup, she’s got some kind of burrito things cooking. I’ll be right up.”
“Hold the food for just a bit. We have company and I’m sure there’s not enough for everybody.”
Frank stood and waved at the Zodiac as it drew closer. Staff Sergeant Wilson sat on the forward pontoon an M4 rifle in his hands. His uniform looked as if he’d slept in it. The other four soldiers looked no better. The Zodiac sat low in the water as if the cargo and men were heavier than the boat should have handled. The other boat was a duplicate for their dinghy right down to the gray color and Frank wondered where it had come from. Most everything the army had was painted dark green or green and brown camouflage.
The Zodiac came around the stern, Frank caught their line and the driver shut his motors down. The gray dinghy continued over to where Dan and Brian were now standing on Dan’s boat. While Frank and Ellen were watching the military boat arrive, Dan and Brian must have moved Brian’s things onto Dan’s boat. Black garbage bags and a gray container sat on the gunnel.
“Sergeant,” Frank said by way of greeting. “It looks like you guys are moving out?”
“We are. We’re going to the other end with you guys and then decide what we are doing. We got word from one of our local emissaries, that a Columbia faction has decided they want control over the canal. They will be here late tonight or at least before morning. We intend on giving it back to them without the fight that they are expecting. We, me and my men have decided with no orders to hold this position, we are going to head to the other end. We haven’t heard from those guys since last night. Either their radio took a crap or they’re all gone. We’re hoping it’s the radio. We also didn’t want to leave them any more than we had to in the way of armaments, so we loaded it up and here we are. Some you may find a use for and some maybe you can trade.”
“Why aren’t you guys going to keep it?”
“Well, last night we lost the last of our gas. Someone emptied the tank out and when these motors stop, they’re done. There is no more. We know they don’t have any at the other end either. So we’re going to run across with you guys to make sure you make it and decide from there.”
“So, who’s going to run the locks for us?”
“We’ve got that covered. One of our Panamanian natives, we’ve been helping out. He was running the locks when we got here. He was making a little on the side to support his family. We gav
e a bunch of our ammo and food to him and his family.”
“How do you know you can trust him?”
The Sergeant pointed at the tarp, “Some of that is going to the other end to our guy’s brother. His whole family is at the other end waiting on this stuff. So…I’m pretty sure there won’t be any double-crossing from them. As soon as we get through he will head that way himself…and maybe he’ll create a little havoc on this end for the new owners.”
“Okay, it looks my guys over there are almost ready to go, so let’s get your stuff on your boat and we’ll be ready.”
Alan stepped to the back prepared to hand things to Frank. Two large coils of rope were passed to him and Alan almost dropped them into the water they were so heavy. Alan looked at the soldier who had handed them to him, ‘What are we going to do with these?”
“Oh, sorry forgot this was your first time. These are the lines we’ll tie you to the side of the lock with. When the guy on shore throws you the monkey fist, you’ll tie these ropes to it and he’ll pull the line back up to the cleat and adjust them as you rise up. It’s not the proper way to do it, but we think it’ll be the quickest way for us to use so we can get through as quick as possible. As soon as the water levels you pull the line back on your boat, untie the smaller line and turn it loose. The guy on shore pulls it back and we have it for the next set.”
“Okay, I guess I’ve got it. We’re going to be on the wall side then?”
“Yes, with the other sailboat next and the Zodiac will be on the outside.”
“Okay, got it.”
Another one of the soldier’s pulled back the tarp and lifted out a long green suitcase looking box. Alan didn’t question he just took it and handed it to Frank. Frank gave a long low pitched whistle as he hefted it to Ellen. Next there were two wooden boxes, followed by several green metal boxes. Finally, a half dozen cases of M.R.E.’s and the soldier pulled the tarp back down. Staff Sergeant Wilson stepped forward and handed a small box to Alan.
“These could save your lives somewhere down the road. Don’t even go close to shore until you take a reading. We don’t know at this point where they used nuclear bombs or ballistic missiles, or a “what the hell bomb.” Trust me, you don’t want to expose yourselves to radiation poisoning. And the radios are set on the same frequency ours are on. There’s a pair of them but you won’t need them until we get in the lake itself.”
Hannah and Ellen had moved what they could down below, and returned topside to see the Zodiac motor over to Dan’s boat. The three soldiers from the dinghy were now standing on the deck of Dan’s boat and the dinghy was tied to his stern. Whatever had been in the dinghy, Brian and Dan were passing down inside the boat.
Staff Sergeant Wilson picked his guys up and turned to lead them down the channel to the lock. It was about two miles of channel until they entered the lock proper. Frank had already started the Annie-C and fell in line behind the Zodiac with Dan trailing.
A half hour later, one of the soldiers on the Zodiac waved a come forward movement with his arm. Frank looked back to see that Dan had also seen, and had powered his motor up to catch up to them. Side by side they approached the chamber.
Once they were grouped the Zodiac ran on ahead and dropped two men on the south side of the lock. They each carried a large coil of line over their shoulders and began the long walk to the top of the lock where they would throw the lines down from.
As soon as they were in the chamber, Dan motored up next to them and they used their own dock lines to tie the two boats together. The Zodiac came up on the starboard side of Dan’s boat and they repeated the process. Dan would use his motor to position them up next to the wall. Frank and the driver of the Zodiac would keep their motors running in the event something went wrong on Dan’s boat, but their transmissions would remain in neutral.
Hannah and Ellen spaced the boat bumpers along the port side. Three were tied close together where they would have the most contact with the cement wall and the last two were spaced out from the group, one at each end.
“Heads up, a voice shouted from above. A thin quarter inch line with a monkey fist at the end, a special knot with a lead or metal weight inside of it, dropped down just above Alan’s head. He reached for and grabbed the line.
“Give me a little more,” he hollered back and pulled on the line. He tied their heavy rope on and the guy up top pulled it up he cleated it off. Alan wrapped his end of the line around the cleat on the boat but didn’t secure it. He would use his end to take up the slack as the boat rose with the water.
On the bow, Frank had also wrapped his line around the cleat and waited to take up the slack on his end. He was surprised to see Staff Sergeant Wilson climbing from Dan’s boat on to theirs.
“Frank, I just talked to Miguel…the guy running the gates, and as soon as the water levels and the other gate opens we have about five minutes to clear the locks before the gates close. That’s all the time he can give us. There’s been some trouble on the Pacific side and he’s worried about his family.”
“So, what does that mean for us? Can we get through in that time?”
“I’ve already spoken to Dan and as soon as the waters up, my guys are going to just drop the lines and you guys will have to pull them aboard. We’ll straighten them out when we get away from here. I need to pick up my two guys and we’ll follow you out. That guy with Dan is going to have them ready to go as soon as we get close to the top. Instead of going out rafted up like this, just go on your own. We need to get through both gates in front of us before they close because Miguel won’t be up there to open them again if we miss it.”
“Okay, we’ll be ready. How long does this take to fill?”
“About eight to ten minutes, so I’ll get out of here. And hold on, this is usually a pretty rough ride when you’re tied from both sides. Tied up like this, it could get hairy.” He jumped back onto Dan’s boat and then down on to his own.
“Miss Ellen, look!” Olivia was facing aft pointing at the huge doors that were swinging slowly closed. She was about as animated as Ellen had ever saw her.
Ellen looked up, realizing they would be trapped inside until the gates in front of them opened. If someone was going to try anything, this would be an opportunity to catch them unable to defend themselves. With the gates closed the water around them began to boil as the chamber began to fill with freshwater.
“Ellen, get Hannah and Olivia back down inside and tell them to hold on. This could be a rough ride.”
He could have saved his words, when the boat started to gyrate from the swirling water, Hannah had grabbed Olivia and they were already on their way below.
The trio of boats swung back and forth in a dance of protest. The swirling water had them jumping all over, and swaying side to side, much like a game of crack-the-whip. It would be easy to see that if they were not tied up at all, how easily a boat to could be swamped in the turmoil.
In a matter of minutes, the water leveled off and the boats settled down. Brian, flipped the lines off releasing their boat and Dan motored off towards the open gate.
The wave action created by Dan’s boat motor as he pulled away, pushed the Annie-C into the tires lining the top edge of the chamber wall. Intent on coiling the line, and not paying attention, Alan had almost toppled into the water where he could easily have been crushed between the wall and boat.
The soldier who had thrown the line, pushed him back into the boat.
“Thanks! Are you coming with us?”
“Nope my Sergeant is picking me and Perez up as soon as you move.”
It was then that Alan saw the Zodiac pull up behind them. The Sergeant waved them out of the way. Frank must have seen him because he shifted the transmission into forward and they began to move away. Ellen pushed the bow off the wall with the boat hook. They were finally following in Dan’s wake into Gatun Lake.
“Well that was exciting. I wish we were making this crossing under different circumstances. If you discount the
burned out buildings, look how beautiful it is. Have you ever seen so many shades of green, and look at the sky? Where have you seen one as blue as this.”
“Well I wonder what part of “let’s stay together as a group” that Dan doesn’t understand. I told him we would only be travelling at four to five knots to conserve fuel.”
“He isn’t even going the right direction. If he keeps going he’ll run into a set of train tracks. I guess then he’ll turn around.”
“Well, I don’t know about you but, I think we’ll just keep following the markers and let him figure it out. I’m pretty sure the Staff Sergeant told him how imperative it is to get across as quick as possible.” Frank looked behind them expecting to see the Zodiac. “Now where the heck…” The sound of gun fire broke the silence.
“The gates are almost closed. They’ll be stuck behind them. We have to go back and help.”
“We can’t go back. The gates will be closed by the time we got there and Chuck said not to turn around for anything not even each other. We have to get through the other locks or walk home from here. There will be no getting out of this lake with the Columbians in charge.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m doing exactly what he said. Keep going no matter what we heard or saw.”
Ellen stared back behind them. “Why does this have to be like this? Wouldn’t you think that with the few people left, they would band together and help each other?”
With the sound of continued gunfire, Frank kicked the rpm’s up. He wanted to put space between him and the locks. Dan had disappeared out of sight behind a small brushy island. He had studied Ellen’s charts and knew there was a short cut to their first marker, but it looked tricky and brought them too close to the island and the water was too shallow. He thought they would have a chance going that way as they only drew four feet three inches, but he knew Dan’s boat had a draft of six feet.
Dangerous Shores: Book Two; Hell or High Water Page 16