by David Wood
“Crazy talk.” Willis shook his head.
“One word: Bones.”
“All right, you got me there.” Willis threw his head back and laughed. “I’ll bet he’s down there testing out the torpedoes right now.”
“All right, ladies, break time’s over. Let’s finish our run.” Tam raised an admonishing finger. “And I don’t want to hear any more complaints about cardio. I don’t care how well you boys swim…” The words died on her lips. Along the shoreline, the water receded across a wide swathe, and the gentle roar of the waves dissolved into an ominous, sucking sound.
“You were saying?” Willis folded his arms across his chest and cocked his head.
“It’s a drawback!” she shouted. “Tsunami!”
Chapter 4
Tam dashed down the pier, the sunbaked planks trembling beneath her feet as she pounded along its length. All around, people looked at her in confusion.
“Tsunami!” she shouted. “Everybody get to high ground as fast as you can!”
Everyone looked at her like she was crazy, and well they should. The idea that a tsunami could hit with zero warning, and from the inland side of the island, was absurd. That, and there was no “high ground” to be found here.
She slowed her pace and turned on her most commanding voice. “Move it! Get to the upper floors of a building! Now!”
The authority and urgency in her voice seemed to convince a few people, who began trotting along in her wake, but others just stared.
“Come on, y’all. Look at the water!” Willis pointed to the receding waterline. “I’m a Navy SEAL and that’s a warning sign of a tsunami. Now move your asses!”
Whether it was the bizarre sight of the water drawing back, or the force of Willis’ words, the people on the dock were finally convinced. That was both good and bad, as some turned and ran, while others froze in fear, and some even began to scream.
“Sure.” Tam put her hands on her hips and frowned. “The woman yelling tsunami is hysterical, but if a man says it, they jump. Forgive me, Lord Jesus, but stupid people do vex me.”
Matt and Willis brought up the rear urging the stragglers along, while Tam ran ahead, continuing to call out her warning to those who might not have heard.
She knew they didn’t have much time. The wave period for a tsunami averaged twelve minutes, but there was nothing average about this situation. She stole a glance over her shoulder to check on Matt and Willis. They were falling farther behind as they tried to get everyone moving off the pier. She knew enough about them to know they wouldn’t want to leave anyone behind. A tsunami in Key West! Why had she let Maddock talk her into setting up shop here?
By the time she hit the end of the pier, the warning had spread and people all along the shore were streaming away from the beach, but it wouldn’t do any good if they couldn’t get above the waterline. She scanned the area, looking for anywhere safe. Most of the buildings in this area were small waterfront bars, restaurants, and shops, but beyond them, she spotted a four-story hotel building.
“Everybody to the hotel! Get to the second floor or higher!” She ground her teeth in frustration. These people were slower than boyfriends to a bridal shower. She grabbed a dazed-looking, heavyset woman who seemed to be clogging the flow of traffic, took her by the chin, and looked her square in the eye. “You see that hotel right there?” The confused woman nodded. “Good! You’re in charge of getting everybody to the top floor. Can you do that?”
The woman nodded again, shook like a dog fresh from its bath, and turned around to face the oncoming throng. “We’re going to the hotel!” she bellowed in a voice suited for a football coach. “Follow me!” With that, she lumbered away, the rest following in her wake.
Tam could almost hear her grandmother chiding her for lack of tact, but she’d gotten the job done, hadn’t she? Matt and Willis trotted up as the last of the stragglers cleared the deck of the pier.
“Where to now, boss?” Matt didn’t look the least bit concerned about the impending disaster.
Down the shore, a crowd milled about, some staring at those fleeing the beach, but not making a move to escape the wall of water that would soon sweep them all away if they couldn’t manage to outpace it. Willis and Matt followed her line of sight and they took off running. All three were in good shape but Willis outpaced his shorter colleagues, reaching the crowd well ahead of them and ushering them away from the beach. It didn’t take long for panic to take over as people realized what the receding water meant, and they fled in every direction.
“If that’s all the stragglers, we need to get ourselves to some place safe.” Tam pressed her hand to the stitch in her side, hoping she wouldn’t have to run any farther.
Matt turned toward the water and his expression grew stony. “I think we’re too late.”
Sure enough, a wave rolled toward them. It was difficult to tell at this distance, but Tam estimated it to be least four meters high, which meant the swell behind it would be powerful. They’d never outrun it.
“Time for some body surfing.” All signs of fear were absent from Willis’ face, but a hint of resignation lay beneath his words. “I always did like riding the waves.”
Tam looked around for anywhere close by they could go to escape the water. “We ain’t done yet. Come on!”
A nearby sign read “Glass Bottom Boat Rides” and two of the crafts sat on damp sand where the drawback had left them high and dry. Willis untied one from the dock while Matt kicked in the office door and retrieved a key ring. He tossed them to Willis and joined them in the boat.
“You think we’ll make it?” Tam tried to sound braver than she felt. The wall of water was now a hundred yards away and closing fast.
“The boat’s pointed the right way.” Matt couldn’t keep his eyes off the wave. “We’ve got a chance.”
“Y’all put on your life jackets,” Willis said found the proper key and put in the ignition. No sense cranking up the engine until they were actually afloat. If they managed to ride the wave, that was.
Tam strapped on her life jacket and braced herself as the wave broke fifty yards from where they waited and an avalanche of foamy white water came roaring toward them. When it struck, the boat shot straight up, its bow pointed to the sky. For one, heart-stopping instant, she was sure they were going to flip over backward, but then, as if in slow motion, the craft fell forward and hit the water with a loud crack. She felt the impact from head to toe, and icy water soaked her, but the boat didn’t capsize. She spat out a mouthful of salty water and blew more from her burning sinuses. This was crazy, but they were alive. For the moment.
The boat rocked and spun as Willis fired up the engine and struggled to gain control, but the water carried them inland at a breathtaking pace. They rode a swell and teetered perilously as they crested it and came down, sending up another curtain of cold salt spray. “Can’t you drive any better than this?”
“It’s just like a ride at Disney World!” Willis laughed. He was enjoying himself. Gradually, he turned the craft, but not out into open water, as Tam expected. Instead, he pointed it back toward shore.
“What the hell are you doing?” The roof of a submerged beachfront bar stuck up like an iceberg in their path, and they bore down on it with alarming speed.
“We can’t fight the water.” All traces of humor had vanished from Willis’ face. “Engine can’t handle it.”
“Well, you better make a right turn quick.”
With agonizing slowness, the boat turned, but not fast enough. The stern struck the roof of the bar, sending them spinning. Tam tried to see where they were headed, but couldn’t focus. She felt, more than heard, another crash. The next thing she knew, she found herself lying face down on the glass bottom, staring through drops of blood and churning water at a paved road beneath the swirling water. She touched her forehead and her hand came away red and sticky. That was going to be attractive.
Matt hauled her to her feet and leaned in to inspect her wound,
but she shoved him away. Grasping the side rail for balance, she blinked to clear the cobwebs from her mind and looked around. The boat still turned, but slower now, and the surge carried them along a thoroughfare through the middle of town. Buildings, half submerged, spun past, making her dizzy. She tried looking down, but the transparent bottom was little better.
“Hang on!” Willis shouted and, moments later, they careened off the top of a lamppost and crashed into a brick building. The impact jolted them, but the craft took no serious damage. “Man, this thing is tough.”
The current slowed as it swept them inland, and Willis gained control of the boat. Tam looked around, surveying the damage. She didn’t know what the rest of the key looked like, but this section was devastated. Only buildings two-stories or higher were visible. The tops of palm trees rose like shrubbery just above the surface of the water. Debris clogged the surface, and she spotted the occasional body carried along by the current. She was no stranger to death, but the sight made her wince. How could such a tragedy occur with no warning whatsoever?
“It doesn’t make sense.” Matt seemed to read her mind. “This is the twenty-first century. We detect these things ahead of time and issue warnings, but not this time. If you hadn’t noticed the drawback, no telling how many people would have been caught off guard.”
“That ain’t the strangest part.” They turned to look at Willis. “Didn’t y’all see? That wave, it wasn’t natural.”
“What do you mean?” Tam felt her insides turn cold.
“It was, I don’t know, concentrated. I could see where it ended on both sides. It was like somebody aimed a surge of water right at this spot.”
“Are you sure?”
“Definitely.”
“What could cause a phenomenon like that?” Tam mused. “Setting off a nuclear bomb underwater?”
“No.” Matt shook his head. “That would send out waves in an ever-widening circle, which isn’t what Willis saw.”
“I’m dead serious. It seemed like the devil scooped up some water and pushed it right at us.”
“I hope Bones and Maddock are okay.” Matt turned and looked back in the direction from which they’d come.
A shrill scream rang out. Tam turned and saw a woman clutching a child in one arm and hanging on to a treetop with the other. The current battered her as she struggled to maintain her grip. Instinct kicked in.
“Somebody needs help,” she barked. “Step on it.”
Chapter 5
“Muchas gracias! Dios le bendiga!” The sodden woman lay in the bottom of the boat, her body limp, but her eyes were alive with gratitude. She clutched her son, probably no more than five years old, to her chest. The boy stared up with glassy eyes, but he had no visible injuries.
“It’s fine. We just need to get you somewhere safe.” Tam didn’t know if the woman understood her, so she made sure to keep her voice calm and her expression friendly. Not her strong suit under duress, but such was life.
“I see somebody over there.” Matt pointed to a woman clinging to a boogie board. “You get these two to safety while I get her.” He didn’t wait for a reply, but kicked off his shoes and dove in.
“You boys expect me to believe you were ever in the military when not a one of you knows how to take orders?” Tam glanced at Willis. “You see anywhere we can take these two?”
“How about that church over there?” Willis indicated a high-steeple white church backed by a two-story brick building. A few faces peered out of second floor windows, gaping at the devastation. Willis guided the boat to the church and pulled up next to one of the open windows. A blocky, middle-aged man stared at them with unfriendly eyes.
The man didn’t give Tam a chance to speak. “We’re full up. No room here.”
“These people need help.” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Get it somewhere else. I told you, we’ve got no more room.” He set his jaw and fixed her with a flinty gaze. Those eyes held no compassion.
“I don’t know how full the rest of your church is, but I can tell from here that the room you’re standing in is empty, save for you.” Tam pointed to the space behind him. Soft music and the aroma of fresh coffee and cinnamon rolls wafted out into the air. The people inside were having a social while the world outside lay in chaos. “You can take them in.”
“Come on man,” Willis said. “This is a church, and you’re supposed to help strangers in need. Do I need to start quoting scripture to you?”
“I don’t need a Sunday school lesson from an uppity…” The man bit off his retort and swallowed hard. He didn’t need to complete the sentence for everyone to know what he’d been about to say. “Just move along. There’s a Methodist church around the corner. They’ll take anybody.” He screwed up his face to show what he thought of the Methodists.
“I want to talk to the pastor.” Tam had to stop herself from slapping the fool look off the man’s face.
“I am the pastor.” More than anything else he’d said, this news stunned Tam. “And I will go to any length to defend my flock.” He opened his jacket to reveal a holstered revolver.
Tam’s fingers twitched and she felt the lack of her Makarov, which she’d left back at headquarters. She vowed she’d never go jogging unarmed again.
“Let’s go before I take that toy away from him and give him an enema.” Hot fury burned in Willis’ words.
Tam nodded. “This is no house of God. We’ll shake the dust off our feet and move along.”
The pastor’s face turned beet red at the insult, but he didn’t reach for his weapon. Apparently, he believed Willis could, and would, follow through on his threat.
“Do you keep office hours, Pastor?” Willis asked.
“Why?”
“Because, when this is over, I just might drop by and teach you some manners. Keep your appointment book open.” Willis gunned the engine, drowning out the man’s sputtered retort.
Tam kept her eye on the pastor as they drifted away. If he wanted to shoot them, there was nothing they could do but duck, and she wanted to be ready. Thankfully, the man settled for staring daggers at them until they were out of sight.
They collected Matt and the woman he’d rescued, a Hooters girl who declared him her hero and offered to give him her number. While Matt searched in vain for pen and paper, they continued on until they came upon a group of survivors gathered on the roof of a local bar.
“Oh man, not Sloppy Joe’s.” Matt raised his hands in dismay. “Best joint in town underwater.”
The survivors atop the building welcomed the newcomers, particularly the Hooters girl, who was already eying one of the men on the roof. Their charges now safe, Tam decided they should continue to look for others who might need help, at least until they ran low on fuel.
They continued their search, finding victims, but few survivors. They passed two more churches, both packed with refugees. They were considering trying to make their way to safety when they caught sight of two men clinging to a child’s inflatable raft and struggling to keep their heads above water. Here, floating debris choked the streets. They had scarcely closed the gap between them and the struggling swimmers when a diver surfaced near the two men.
“Thank God!” one of them cried. “Can you help my partner? He can’t hold on much longer.”
Something glinted in the sunlight and the man fell back, clutching his throat as a curtain of scarlet poured from the gaping wound below his chin. He treaded water for a moment, the disbelief in his eyes evident even at a distance, and then he sank. Still clutching the inflatable raft, his partner managed only a startled cry before the diver’s knife flashed again and the second man disappeared beneath the water.
“What the hell are you doing?” Tam shouted. The diver jerked his head in her direction, and then disappeared beneath the water. Tam gaped at the empty space where, moments before, two cold-blooded murders had been committed before her eyes. The world had gone mad. “Get after him!” she shouted to W
illis.
“He could be anywhere,” Matt said.
“Just go that way.” She pointed to the spot where she’d last seen the diver. After a few minutes of searching, though, they had to give it up as a bad job. The man was nowhere to be found. “Dammit.” She pounded her fist into her palm.
“Sorry,” Matt said. “There are just too many places he could have gone.”
“It’s not just that. He made me cuss, and I had a three day streak going.” She sighed. “Well, another dollar in the jar.”
“You might want to add a few more dollars.” Willis pointed down the submerged street to a boat speeding toward them. A man stood in the bow. At first, Tam thought he was pointing in their direction. Then a bullet smacked the water a foot from their boat, and she heard the report of a rifle.
They were being attacked.
“Something strange is happening up on the surface.” Maddock checked the readouts on the display in front of him.
“How so?” Still distracted by the bells and whistles of this new craft, Bones sounded disinterested.
“I’ll skip the details and just say I think Key West has just been hit by a tsunami.”
That got Bones’ attention. “No freaking way! Corey would have let us know about any warnings.” Corey, their crew’s resident techie, was minding the shop back at their temporary headquarters.
“I’ll bet you a bottle of Dos Equis.” Maddock wouldn’t mind losing that bet, but he knew better. His heart sank at the thought of his home being struck by such a disaster. And then he thought of Matt, Willis, and Tam. “Say, do you know what Tam and the guys had planned for today?”
“Besides bitching about us getting first crack at the sub? They were going to… Holy crap! They were going for a run somewhere around the pier. She’s been ragging Willis about his conditioning.”
“I’m taking over. See if you can raise Corey on the radio.”
Bones made several attempts to reach their friend, but failed. “He’s got to be okay. He’s minding the radio, so he wouldn’t be down on a bottom floor.”