The Tsunami

by Marshall Miller

  “So, what happened? Why aren’t you still there?”

  Both of the Admiral’s bodyguards faces’ turned into expressions of anger. “The fucking early Church of Kraken showed up,” Sharon blurted out.

  “Early one morning, at least a dozen armed men with those God awful Squid tattoos on their faces, necks, and chests showed up. They just came in shooting. A couple of them began hacking body parts off of the dead and dying. I swear to God I saw one start to eat pieces of raw human. This was before the word was put out that eating humans if you were a human did not make you a good Squid lover. The Tschaaa definitely do not understand cannibalism.”

  “We were asleep when they hit. Susanne and I tried to run but were soon staring down gun barrels.”

  Sharon snickered. “I did crush one guy’s nuts when he tried to grab Susanne. The rest of his fellow Krakens laughed and left him there.”

  “What happened next?”

  “Well, they grabbed Susanne and I, surviving women and children. We never saw any of the guys again, so we assume they were killed, probably harvested. They loaded us into the back of a small moving van and headed south.”

  “Hours later, we were in Homestead, Florida. They had a shithole motel and someone’s large yacht in the nearby Marina set up as confinement areas. We could tell some of us were destined to be playthings. Others were to be slaughtered. We saw some human torsos hanging from a meat hook.”

  “Then what? I know I’m being nosey, but I promise you’ll hear my story also.” People who survived harvesting and the Long Winter shared their stories as a way of bonding, as well as a way to say “See, I survived. I will survive.”

  The women smiled. Susanne answered. “Then the Director and the Chief showed up. And the ass-kicking began. The Krakens thought just two guys would be a pushover.”

  Sharon got a feral grin on her face. “Adam Lloyd walked up to the leader, and did not say a word. Just gutted him on the spot. His guts spilled out on the ground, and the Chief started shooting a 12 gauge, cutting people open with dime and buckshot loads. Then he pulled a huge Desert Eagle Pistol out from a bag and started blowing limbs off. This was about two weeks after Adam and the Chief had made contact with His Lordship. He had made an arrangement to clean up Dodge City, and get things organized in exchange for no harvesting. And that is why Adam Lloyd is loved by many of us.”

  Susanne continued the story. “They found us chained in a back cabin, though we were able to watch the festivities through a porthole. At first I thought we may be exchanging one devil for another. Adam saw us, nude, chained. He found some clothes, had us cover up first. Then he cut us loose. We saved the chains as mementos of what we went through. We then knew the Director was…different. As well as the Chief.”

  Sharon spoke almost reverently. “Neither one tried to touch us. Ever.”

  Susanne sniffed. “He hooked us and the other survivors up with the Admiral. We’ve been with him ever since as two more of his ‘daughters’. And he has never tried to molest us either. How two men in the same area keep such morals in a crazy world is a mystery.”

  “By the way, not a Kraken was allowed to live.”

  Heidi looked at the two women, trained protectors, hugging each other for support. And she thought she had it rough. No one had chained her up, tried to made her a human sex toy. It was funny how things looked bad until someone told you how rough they had it. Then, things did not seem so bad. Their story told, Sharon and Susan relaxed their grip on each other, laid back in the hot tub. Everyone was silent for a few moments. Then Sharon asked, “So, what’s our story? How did you get here?”

  Heidi smiled. “A bit simpler than your story. I was on a Coast Guard cutter a week and a half after the first rock strike. We were trying to sortie out from Miami Harbor without getting sunk by a marauding Delta or Falcon. Any vessel above about fifteen foot was treated as a threat by then. We were trying to get to open sea, try to lose ourselves in expanse of the Atlantic Ocean; maybe find some other surviving Naval units.”

  She snorted. “The cutter had just left the harbor, was about a hundred yards or so out from the inlet to Miami Bay when it blew up. I figured a Squid let loose a mine just as we were passing over a small reef area, timing it just right. Hit us right at mid-ship, split us in half. Suddenly, I was in the water in my floatation gear, all alone. I looked around for others, but soon discovered I couldn’t find anyone else.”

  Heidi took a sip of her margarita. “The problem with thinking you are a true seafaring race because you have all these nice boats to run around in, is when you meet up with a true sea species, one that is born and dies in the ocean. You suddenly realize that you are just a rubber ducky in a bathtub by comparison.” She set her drink down. “The Squids cleaned our clock within thirty days. I don’t know how many capital ships were sunk. All I know is that the Tschaaa owned the oceans.”

  “Then what?” Susan asked.

  Heidi gave a short laugh. “Somehow, I made it to shore. I started working my way down to city proper. As I was nearing some apartments and condos along the shore front, this young boy, about nine, ten years old suddenly stepped out from hiding. He saw the remains of my soaked uniform, that I was female, decided I could be trusted...”

  It was like it was yesterday that she had seen him—a Cuban boy of medium complexion, slender build. He had approached her tentatively. Soaking wet, no cap, Heidi thought she must have looked like a wet rat.

  As her mind filled with memories, Heidi’s eyes filled with tears. Then she began to cry in earnest, trying to wipe the tears away. “Damn, I am such a big wimp. I can’t even handle something that happened years ago.” With that, she began to cry again. Then Sharon and Susanne were both hugging her, holding her as she sobbed.

  “He was like family,” said Sharon.

  Heidi managed to catch her breath. “He was like a little brother and a son, all rolled into one. And the fucking Krakens killed him.”

  The three women sat silent, with just the sound of the jacuzzi in the background. Finally Heidi spoke. “I killed the Krakens who killed him and some of my other friends, part of a small family we were building. Then the Chief showed up. We all voted to go with him. Now I am here.”

  Heidi face stayed dark as she looked at the jacuzzi water. She stayed quiet for a couple of minutes.

  Still really hurts, doesn’t it?” Susanne asked.

  Heidi took a deep breath. “Yeah. I’m missing some guts that were ripped out. Excuse me, ladies. I need to go to the bathroom.”

  Susanne and Sharon watched as Heidi went to the ladies room. They looked at each other. “We had each other, Susanne. That got us though.”

  “Yes it did, my dear. I think Heidi could do with a couple of close female friends right now.”

  “I think you’re right. I have this desire to help her take the mind off her…pain.”

  Susanne sighed. “Yea, Sharon, I feel the same way. She’s good people. I hate to see good people hurt like that. So, I suggest we just be good friends to her. I think she could use some women friends.”

  Sharon smiled. “Right as usual.” She glanced over and saw Heidi approaching.

  “Want a refill on your drink, Heidi?”

  “Yes, please. Sorry I lost it…”

  “Oh will you shut up. Damn, we all lose it from time to time. Here we are, worrying about getting eaten on a weekly basis, it would be a wonder if we didn’t cry once in a while.”

  “By the way,” Susanne interjected. “You are now officially a best female friend of ours. Sorry, no use arguing. We have already decided.”

  Heidi slid into the tub, went over and hugged the two Amazons. “Okay, I accept. But I doubt you two realize what you are getting yourself into.”

  “Trust us,” Susanne answered. “We know exactly what we are getting into.”

  Heidi sighed, and continued her story from where she had left off. “The Chief showed up and gave me a chance to start over again. However, I had to accept the arrangem
ent he and the Director had with the Squids.” She shrugged. “By then, I had accepted the fact we had been defeated. Besides, I had a working relationship with the Squids in the area, they had gotten used to me, and I to them. I also realized that they eating us was what came naturally to them. Like us eating beef or pork. Being a predator does not make you evil.”

  Heidi’s face took on a hard demeanor. “It was other Humans who had killed my little brother for meat. Like cannibals. That is evil. So, here I am. The Chief found me a job on the Base. Never had a chance to meet Adam Lloyd, he didn’t start the in processing briefings and the evening socials until later. ”

  Heidi smiled. “Then I picked up the Director after his boat broke down. Now I’m his trainer and bodyguard. And thanks to that, I have two new girlfriends.” She took a sip from the fresh cocktail Sharon had made for her. “Mmmm. That’s good.”

  “No special guy friend?” Susanne asked.

  Heidi shook her head. “I tried a couple of relationships. Enjoyed the sex with the men, but never really felt…close. And, gals are nice and soft, but don’t do much for me. Sorry.”

  Sharon laughed. “I was kind of obvious looking at you, wasn’t I?”

  “Hey, I know I’m easy on the eyes, even to women. But sex with women, there is something…missing.”

  “I think it’s called a prick,” Susanne suggested.

  That started up laughter again. They sat in the hot tub, sipping their drinks, enjoying the female friendship.

  “Time for me to ask you both a question, ladies.”

  “Shoot, Heidi,” Sharon answered.

  “You two are a couple. What if Mr. Right came along? Or, could there be a Mr.

  Right?”

  The two Amazons looked at each other. They both nodded.

  “Yes, Heidi,” answered Susanne. “We still really like men, would like to start a family. We could even share a Mister Right—as long as I was the senior Wife.”

  “You? Senior? You’d have to fight me for that.” Sharon shot back.

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah.” The two women suddenly closed in on each other, grabbing and playfully wrestling.”

  “Quit that.”

  “You quit that.”

  “Get your fingers away from there.”

  “You liked it before.”

  Heidi laughed. “Ladies. Come on. You’re playing too rough. Someone’s going to get hurt.”

  Sharon and Susanne hugged each other, laughing, kissed, and then separated. “We play like this all the time. We know how not to hurt one another. We feel bad when we spar, work out, and bruise the other. But we enjoy fussin’ and fightin’. Like families do.”

  “Hmmmm. Want to work out some time? Spar or train together?”

  “Hell, yeah.” Sharon answered. Then, she closed in on Heidi in one quick move and began to wrestle with her in the hot tub.

  “Hey! I didn’t say now,” Heidi laughed. Susanne joined in and the three women were soon laughing hard. A boat horn interrupted their play.

  “Admiral’s back. Guess we had better get dressed. I think his head may explode if he saw three pretty women, nude, in a hot tub.” All three women laughed.

  They went to the nearby locker room to dry off and get dressed. Sharon hugged Heidi while they were still nude. “If you ever get really lonely…”

  Heidi unexpectedly kissed Sharon on the mouth. “You will be the first to know, sexy thing. But like I said, something is missing…”

  “Yeah, still need a prick,” Susanne joked. Which started them laughing again.

  As they were finishing dressing, Susanne asked, “You’re attracted to Adam, aren’t you?”

  Heidi paused for a minute while buttoning her top. “To be truthful, yes. If you say anything I will deny it. He’s my boss, with two very nice and sexy sister wives. Both of whom are also pregnant. I would not do anything to screw that up.”

  “See, Susanne. I told you she was cool. But, two wives could become three…”

  Heidi shook her head. “Too much drama. I don’t know if I could share my man with another woman. I’d probably start a hair pulling contest.”

  The two Amazons smiled. “Well, we’ll keep an eye out for you. Maybe we can find someone who can hold his own in the martial arts area also.”

  Heidi snorted. “Already found him. The problem he is on the Other Side. A certain Japanese Soldier who was with the group who tried to get Adam. The only person who ever cold cocked me. Believe me, I’d like to find out just how big his manhood was, after I pinned him and pantsed him.” This started another round of laughter. They put their clothes on, and went to meet the Admiral’s boat.

  As Susanne and Sharon helped to tie the large Hatteras up to the dock, Heidi saw that fishing had been good. A large cooler that the Director had brought along was brimming over with sea life. Heidi stepped up and helped Adam and the Chief get the cooler onto the dock.

  “Gee Boss, you did good.”

  Adam smiled. “The Squids seem to ignore a lot of the coastal species. They like the larger, predator marine species, like sharks, killer whales. The young warriors like the challenge of taking and eating something that can kill and eat them if given the chance.”

  Heidi snorted. “Too bad they didn’t give us that chance. Dropping a bunch of huge rocks on us did not exactly give humans a sporting chance to fight them.”

  Adam shrugged. “They needed us as a replacement for their primary food source. They did not want to take a chance that we would deny them their dark meat supply.”

  The Admiral whistled a tune as he put the boat back in order. Finally, he joined the others. “Another successful fishing trip. Must be due to my superior nautical skills.” At this comment, Sharon and Susanne rolled their eyes.

  “Come on, Admiral,” said Susanne. “Let’s head inside and get you cleaned up. You said you wanted to check out your new chef at the restaurant tonight, to make sure he was working out.”

  The Admiral sighed, “Again, my poor memory betrayed me. I had forgotten that. This three hour trip went by much too fast.”

  Heidi checked her watch. Damn. It had been three hours. Time went by fast when you were having fun. She smiled at the thought. This had been fun, and she had made two more good friends.

  Adam noticed her subtle smile. She looked like she had some relaxed fun, private time.

  The Admiral jumped to the dock. “I guess I smell like fish and sweat as usual, ladies. I guess I had better take a bath.”

  “Yes, Sir,” Sharon answered.

  “So, ladies, I will need my rubber ducky and someone to wash my back.”

  “Fine, Admiral. Susanne will find your ducky, and I’ll wash you back.”

  “Can I get you to wash my front too?”

  “Admiral!”

  The Admiral smiled sheepishly. “Oh, I was just kidding. No one has a sense of humor anymore.”

  Unexpectantly, Sharon kissed the Admiral on his cheek. “You know we love you. But just remember we are your daughters, two of many. If you want something else, Susanne and I will get it for you. Deal?”

  With that, the Admiral leered at Heidi. “How about you, Petty Officer? Will you help me with my ducky?” As Heidi’s mouth fell open, the two Amazons grabbed their boss, one on each arm, and began to march him up the dock.

  “Come on, Admiral. Time to keep you out of trouble,” Sharon said, as she flashed her smile at the guests.

  “I will call you later, Admiral.” Adam called out. He was having trouble not to burst out laughing, knowing this persona of the Admiral was all for show.

  Heidi gave her signature laugh. “I will have to admit, it is never a dull moment around him.”

  Adam chuckled. “You don’t know the half of it Heidi.”

  Between Adam, the Chief, and Heidi, they got the fish and their equipment to their vehicle.

  “Pardon me, Director, while I go and visit the little boy’s room.” Chief Hamilton said as he walked toward some public restrooms.
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  Adam looked at Heidi. “You had fun today, with Susanne and Sharon?”

  Heidi grinned. “Yes Boss. I made myself two new friends, I think. Thanks for bringing me along.”

  Adam smiled. Then, his face took on a more serious visage. “Heidi. I need to ask you something important. But it has to remain completely secret.”

  “Boss, we’ve been working out, then doing this bodyguard thing for what, a few months now? I think you already know the answer.”

  “Yes, I guess I do.” He took a deep breath. “If I bugged out with Chief, and my ladies, would you want to come?”

  Heidi paused for a minute. “That bad, huh?”

  “Yes Heidi, it’s getting that bad. I don’t know how long it will before Kray shows up with his Krakens and takes over.”

  “His Lordship knows I have been resisting attacking the Unoccupied States.” Adam paused, his gaze drifting to the sea. “After the Tschaaa took out their anger on us, only a handful of people here in Key West can be depended upon to fight for the Tschaaa. I am surprised I have not had a bunch of desertions.”

  He looked at Heidi, then took her left hand. “I really care about you. I would like for you to be safe. Plans have been made, with the Admiral’s help. Don’t look surprised. There is a side of him he keeps hidden. That is a secret too.”

  Heidi swallowed and answered. “I’d like to survive. But I do not want to be a fifth wheel. If you bug out, I may go with you for a while, to make sure you are safe. Then, I’ll probably find my own way.” She looked into his eyes. “I really care about you, Boss. As a person, not as my boss. But. You have two nice, gorgeous wives, with kids on the way. A different time, a different place…” Heidi shrugged.

  Adam felt the urge to kiss her. Heidi must have sensed that, as she put her finger on his lips.

  “Don’t, Adam. We know where that will lead to. Way too many complications. Let’s just keep it the way it is, until something for sure happens. Okay, Boss?”