The Forgiven The Fallen The Forsaken

by S. M. Armstrong

  He paid to moor the boat in the marina and took the dinghy into shore. Once there, he was able to take a taxi into town and stock up on fresh foods, toiletries, paint, and some other essentials. He intended to live on the yacht so wanted to be comfortable within reason.

  He was surprised to find that the locals were at all interested in him. He gave enough information to pass him off as a computer nerd and they generally lost interest, though when he was invited to a BBQ, that night, he declined despite almost drooling at the thought. The steaks he had picked up would have to do, though he sure would have enjoyed human company, dangerous as that could be for him.

  When he got back to the dinghy he found a couple of young women waiting for him. Sandy, who he had met in town, introduced her friend Maria. Both of them appeared to be in their late 20's and made his mouth water. Sandy lifted the bags she was holding and said, "Since you wouldn't come to the BBQ, we decided to bring it to you!"

  "You two just want on the yacht," he answered, smiling, but waived them on board the dinghy. He pushed off of the shore and paddled out to where he could start the outboard engine. He was pulling up beside the yacht a couple of minutes later.

  The girls both hopped out onto the boarding ladder and reached back for the various bags he handed up. Once everything was on deck, he tied the dinghy and led the girls to the kitchen and the bar.

  Sandy looked around the yacht and said, "Wow, this looks like a shipwreck."

  Kemp laughed and said, "The old girl's had a rough few months, with all that's happened, but she'll bounce back, I promise you that. Just like the old USA."

  The girls looked doubtful, maybe on both counts.

  "Okay you two. Here's the rules. Be comfortable. I think that about covers it. Beer?" From the way they were looking, he had a feeling things had been scarce on the island for a while. He pulled out a beer for each of them and started pulling items out of the pantry to cook with the ribs they had brought.

  "Okay, so tell me what you want from me now, assuming of course you don't decide I'm a total douche bag before dinner is over."

  The girls looked uncomfortable. "Relax, I don't take advantage of beautiful young women who fall in my lap, but I'm old and crusty enough to know I'm not your idea of a romantic evening. So, you want something. News, a story, booze, a ride, a job, something. You might as well spit it out now so we can enjoy dinner."

  "Maria said, "We're broke. We stole the meat this afternoon."

  Kemp laughed. "Perfect! Tonight we dine on stolen loot! I'll drink to that." He drank but the girls just looked at him. "Sandy, open that top drawer in front of you. Yes, that one. Now split the cash evenly between you. That's all I'm going to give you and, frankly, until I get into shore and got to the bank, I don't have much more than that left, but it's enough to get you off the island and give you a start somewhere. I promise you that you won't find anything more on this ship if you spend days looking, and I promise you that I'm one of the most dangerous men you've ever met, so if there are any untoward plans, you should call them off now."

  Maria started sobbing. "We just want off that island. We got stuck there and haven't been able to leave."

  "Well then, you want money and a ride. That's easy enough."

  Sandy asked, "Can we leave now, please?"

  Kemp read them carefully. "So there are people coming to rob me and take the boat? Interesting. I imagine that the plan was to wait till I'm intoxicated and sleeping so they'll have an easy time of it, yes? Okay, I have the picture now.

  "Are there more like you who need to leave as well?" The girls both nodded. "How many?"

  Maria answered, "Three."

  "And how many guys?"

  "Four."

  "Will all four of them come for me?"

  They both nodded.

  "Do you have any problem with them being deceased?"

  Both girls instantly said, "No."

  "Then I'd say that we're doing just fine. See how things work when you communicate?

  "Let's get this dinner going. I hate fighting on an empty stomach. So, tell me what you can about these fellows who do such awful things. And start looking like you're having a good time. I'm sure they're watching us right now. Am I wrong?" They both shook their heads.

  Sandy asked him to turn on the heat. They ate a small meal and once it was hot on the boat, Sandy pulled off everything but bikini bottoms. Maria did the same. Kemp was surprised by the large tattoos each of them had. Maria's was a large dragon across her back, and Sandy had a massive eagle. He wasn't into tattoos, but these he could learn to like.

  He gave the women his best leer and hit the remote to close all of the curtains.

  He said, "Thank you ladies. That was a good show. You can get dressed now. And you can put the leftover food in the fridge for later. No point in wasting it."

  Once they had, he said, "Now it's time to move back into the bedroom. I'll turn the light on in there and this one off out here." They followed him into the bedroom. "You stay in the bedroom and play the stereo loudly. Turn the lights off in fifteen minutes. There's a clock over there. Don't come out until you hear me knock and say 'all clear,' no matter what else you hear. Can you do that?"

  They quickly agreed. Hopefully they will follow directions.

  Kemp slid through the dark bridge and up onto the roof of the yacht. Through his night vision scope he could see four men and three women on the shore. The women appeared to be cowering. He watched as the men go into a small aluminum rowboat and started paddling out to him.

  Kemp waited patiently for the men to reach the yacht. They were amateurs hunting a professional. It just wasn't a fair fight. As the lead man grabbed for the ladder onto the boat, Kemp fired four silenced rounds. Each of the men collapsed as they took a round through the brain. It was over in less than two seconds.

  He dropped to the lower deck and hurried aft, where he quickly took the guns off the bodies and secured a cargo net and a tarp across the top of the small boat. He gently pulled the craft to the far side of the yacht with all four bodies still in it and used a slip not to tie the front of it to a cleat with a rope, leaving most of the rope coiled loosely on the deck.

  When he knocked on the door the master bedroom and yelled, "All clear," the women turned off the stereo an opened the door.

  "They will never bother you again and that's as much information as I'm ever going to give you about it. Acceptable?" Both nodded. "So, your three friends are on the shore, waiting. You are free to go, stay, or whatever. If you want to get them and bring them back, that's okay.

  "I'm going to leave the port in a little while. I have to fuel up on the coast tomorrow, but I don't have any firm plans beyond that. You will all be free to go or stay at that point as well. I don't care which."

  Maria said, "I'll go get them."

  Kemp said, "Let's go. Sandy, are you okay staying here?"

  "Sure."

  "We'll be back as soon as we can."

  The other young women asked to come to the yacht, but asked to get their things first. Kemp agreed and waited impatiently for an hour until they came back. He took them back to the yacht and let them all pick out cabins while he hoisted the dinghy to its storage place and secured it there. Fifteen minutes later he was easing the yacht out of the port with the boat full of bodies in tow.

  Out of port, he left the speed set very low and stepped out to the port side to fire several rounds into the bottom of the small boat and through the bodies in it and gradually let the rope out until the boat trailed the full length of the rope.

  He stepped back onto the bridge and watched the depth finder until it reached over 150 feet. That's good enough, he thought as he stepped back out of the bridge to release the slip not. The aluminum boat was already half full of water and wouldn't float much longer. He released the slip knot and put the matter out of his mind.

  He reentered the bridge and throttled up to a respectable twelve knots. He routed around the island and anchored in 75 feet of water
a few miles from where they had started. It would do for tonight.

  He found the women already half lit in the kitchen and bar area. A couple of them were working on dinner. He looked them over and thought, They've been through hell and back. I don't even want to think about what happened to them.

  Kemp joined them for dinner and announced, "I'm heading into Dana point tomorrow to refuel and do some maintenance. All of you are welcome to stay or go at that point. As far as I'm concerned, you don't owe me anything beyond the understanding that tonight didn't happen. Are we good?" All of the women agreed.

  "For tonight, I'm going to eat some of this wonderful food, have a small drink, then tuck in. There's one cabin that's locked because it's not inhabitable right now, otherwise sleep where ever you want, except for the main cabin. I'm keeping that."

  He could tell some of the women were wary of him, but he couldn't concern himself with that. He expected that they would leave him tomorrow morning anyway.

  He left the girls to their own devices and turned in right after dinner. He locked the bedroom doors behind him and slept through the night in his own bed.

  Kemp woke the next morning feeling better than he had in years. He also felt confused about his overall plan until he realized that he really didn't have one.

  He had been horrified when he heard a shortwave radio news report about Russia and Flagstaff being destroyed. Larson must have had the targets reprogrammed. Kemp never would have launched them had he known. One thing is certain, the US government will never forget about me now. He only wished that Foster were still alive so he could kill him again.

  And who would have thought that someone like Ambrose would have been put in charge? Once he knew the Russians would launch, he didn't hesitate. The man is completely ruthless. By the time the fools are back in charge, it will be too late to change course. And he will be very dangerous to me.

  What the hell am I trying to do? I need to find a deep hole to hide in, and instead, I'm busy screwing around, pretending I have real options while he's busy sharpening the executioner's axe. It doesn't make sense.

  I need to lay low and get my head straight. The goal has to be just to survive for now.

  He trimmed his beard, showered, and dressed, then went out to the kitchen. He was relieved to see that he was the only one up as yet. He made coffee and turned on the television.

  He was surprised to get a TV signal after so long without one. He was watching a station out of Los Angeles, and a news show that was detailing the status of repairs to the infrastructure. The electrical grid was working again in cities, and rural areas were gradually coming back on line too. There were plenty of working cars now, though gasoline was expensive. A company called Kunoichi Imports & Exports was even bringing in ship loads of electric vehicles and hybrids from Japan and Korea.

  What really surprised him was that the US was already an exporter of food again. It didn't seem possible. Finally, he was shocked to hear about the US giving people $100,000 seed money to get started. It seemed crazy, but made sense in terms of jump starting the economy. All he had to do was walk into a New American Bank and present Frank's ID to access his accounts, assuming that they wouldn't be checking fingerprints. It started him thinking, and by the time the women started to get up, he had the rudiments of a plan for the next few days.

  Over breakfast he told the women about the federal give away. All of the women looked ecstatic. He said, "It means freedom for all of you. You can buy a small house and take a job or live off of it for a while, or do whatever the hell else makes you happy.

  "I'm going to fuel up and resupply at Dana Point today and could use a hand with that. In the next couple of days, I'm thinking about sailing up to Northern California for a few weeks. You're welcome to stick around to help with the boat or take off whenever."

  Maria said, "We're staying with you, Skipper."

  "You don't need to decide now."

  Sandy said, "Look, we discussed it last night after you went to bed. We're staying as crew. That goes for Lisa, Sonya, and Pam, too." The other three young women nodded aggressively. "But you're going to teach us how to operate this boat and to defend it."

  Kemp thought for a moment, and said, "Okay, but I think you may feel differently when you get your accounts at the New American Bank."

  Sonya said, "Not on your life."

  "Can I ask you why all of you want to stay?"

  Lisa said, "You locked your door last night instead of trying to drag us into the bedroom like most men would have done. You saved our asses from a living hell without asking anything of us."

  Kemp said, "None of you ever have to sleep with me. From here on out, you never have to sleep with anyone you don't want to. That's non-negotiable. Nothing that has been done to you defines your worth or who you are. You know this."

  With tears running down her face, Pam said, "You're damaged goods, just like us, but we're keeping you."

  Is it that obvious? He felt his once perfect control slipping away. Something in him had broken in that mine and would not ever go back to what it once was. He would never again be the man who he had been. Maybe he didn't want to be.

  Kemp wasn't even aware of his tears until he felt them running down his cheeks. His new crew each came up and wrapped their arms around him. There was a bonding starting that was much deeper than anything he would have thought possible a few weeks before. Maybe this group was his new mission. Or maybe he was slipping down the drain.

  Once he finally regained composure, he started the engines, pulled up the anchors and gave the women their first lesson in steering a yacht. A few hours later, he was putting his new crew to work refueling the boat and securing it at the marina. Afterward, he sent them out to check into their government start up funds and to have some fun while he painted the cabin where he had found the body. He used two layers of quick drying sealant on the walls, ceiling and floors before the crew returned. Hopefully it would be enough.

  The girls came back with loads of groceries, cleaning supplies, computers, movies, and even more painting supplies. They bluntly informed him that they would be staying in port a few days until the ship was livable. He was actually relieved for the break and looked forward to the chance to do some maintenance on ship systems and to remove more barnacles before the next trip, but he never would have imagined this twisted reality even a few weeks before.

  NORTH EASTERN UNITED STATES

  OCTOBER 18th

  Jamie carefully drove the rig through the snow. They were in Maryland in a convoy transporting heating oil up the coast to New Jersey. It was a light snow, and they hoped it would stay that way.

  They still drove primarily in convoys with lead cars whenever possible, though hijacking attempts were seldom now. The truth was that the roads were still dangerous even if lawlessness was now the least of their worries.

  He and Jamie had been working their way through college lectures on US history and Luke found it very interesting to be driving through some of the countryside that had been so prominent in the early years of the nation. It seemed like the appropriate material for this trip.

  They stopped for fuel and a quick bite. As usual, they were immediately recognized and greeted by people they had never seen before. It was a bit unnerving, but seemed to be important to people that Jamie and Luke talk to them. Luke was never sure what to make of being treated as celebrities. He was just doing what needed to be done, and it's not like going back to school was really an option.

  The truck stop diner food was actually not too bad, which was a relief to both of them. Many of their stops were memorable only for how bad the food was.

  For the next leg, Luke drove. Twenty minutes in to the drive, the lead car reported an accident blocking the road. They stopped the convoy to load the injured into the lead car, which was actually an SUV this trip, and pushed the cars to the side of the road. Ten minutes later, they were on their way again. The lead car rushed ahead to the nearest hospital and would rejoin them la
ter.

  It was a typical trip. The drivers had become security, police forces, and emergency medical transport. All of them traveled armed everywhere they went. Luke couldn't imagine what it would be like to just drive.

  They steered clear of Washington DC, which would be radioactive for some time, and slowly made their way up the coast.

  "You know, the rest of the family isn't seeing what we see. They don't understand on the same level," said Luke.

  Jamie thought about it for a moment and said, "It's probably a good thing. I'd like to forget some of what we've seen."

  "Yeah, if mom knew how many firefights we've been in, she'd work a lot harder at getting us off the road. But what we're doing needs to get done and it's important that our family is not shirking its responsibility."

  "Speaking of shirking, how about if we grab a couple of days off in New York? I'd like to see Manhattan."

  "That sounds good. Maybe we'll get lucky and dispatch won't have anything too time sensitive," said Luke.

  "And what are the chances of that?"

  Luke laughed and said, "Then we may have to pull rank and take a day for strategic planning."

  "How convenient," answered Jamie, with a smile.

  In the end, they were able to grab a few short morning hours in Manhattan before having to pick up their next load of microchips and robotics equipment for a high priority shipment to Michigan. Still, a few hours in New York was better than nothing.

  SAN FRANCISCO

  OCTOBER 19th

  Julie was beyond frustrated with the pace of their progress. They were moving things as fast as they possibly could, but it just wasn't enough yet.

  Helen had set up a meeting with some angel investors in their corporate offices today, not to seek funding but to try to hire them to help with starting needed companies to get the economy jump started. Julie and Helen were wearing their standard black fatigue pants, polo shirts and light jackets, but had switched to Smith and Wesson .40 caliber pistols for concealed carry. They were also wearing body armor, steel toed boots, and concealed combat knives.