by Scott Todd
She looked at him wide-eyed in surprise, but was speechless.
"And Jan? How about...?
"Oh yes. I'll just leave it at that," she said.
"Brian? You?" Ben asked, looking at me.
"I believe I'm potent," I replied.
"Gary?" Ben asked.
"Yes Sir, as far as I know," Gary responded.
"Then because I've had a vasectomy, that only leaves two possible options," Ben surmised. "But whatever happens, I'd like to stay with Terry. Even if..." He looked at Gary again, and then looked at Terry.
She was mortified at first, but then just looked down. Then she glanced back at Gary with a different look, and looked away again.
"Whatever it takes," Terry finally said, and glanced back at Gary again. This time their eyes met briefly, but it was a short moment.
Then Ben looked at Jan, who was looking straight at me. "Whatever it takes," she said.
"Ok then, and thanks for getting through that so quickly," Ben said. "We have so little time. At this point I am going to suggest, given all that has been said, that Terry, Gary and me stay on the sub, while Jan and Brian plan on returning to the island. Just until we see what's going to happen with the water. It is by no means permanent, unless... Unless... But if the worst does happen and the sub doesn't make it, at least there will be one last hope for humanity."
"As much as I hate the idea of splitting up again too, I can't see any other way of handling this," I said. "We have to try and save the sub, but if you can't, well then Jan and I will have to make the best of it," I agreed. "That's the only way I see of covering both critical issues. We're going to HAVE to split up and see how it plays out. It sucks, cause... Cause... Well..."
I couldn't go on. The thought of losing Ben and Terry, and even Gary at that point, put as much fear in me as I'd felt yet through any of it- much less losing the sub too.
"I think we understand," Terry said sympathetically. Jan looked mortified.
"Yes, we most certainly do," Ben said. "These are extremely trying times. Fortitude, my friends. Fortitude. But now we have GOT to plan on. Jan and Brian, you need to get off this sub and back on land immediately. If that "drain plug" gets pulled, we are ALL going to be lost. Terry, how about helping them load whatever they can take in the boat, while Gary and I discuss some other plans about what to do with the sub, and where it should best be located."
"Ok... Ok..." Terry said.
"We can help them too while we talk about it," Gary said. "And we have some radios I can give them, so we can even stay in touch for a while with them on the island... Until the batteries run out, that is... So conservation will be key. Only use them if absolutely necessary. Otherwise, keep them off. I've got more ammo I can give you too. Come on, let's go."
We sprang into action, heading down to the kitchen, while Gary and Ben went another route, discussing where they should put the sub. I heard Gary say as they meandered off, "We are sitting ducks up here on the surface. We really need to submerge... ASAP." Knowing the important role stealth had just played for me, I couldn't agree more. And not just for me. For all of us.
By 3:00 pm, Jan and I were standing on the bow, looking at a fully loaded boat. Gary had opened a special hatch near the front of the sub to ease the loading. There was barely enough room in the boat left for the two of us. We had packed all sorts of things, but mostly food. Lots of cans, and other necessities. Gary had packed a few things which I didn't even know what they did.
"I'd suggest you move all that to high ground right away when you get there," Ben said. "No telling what that water could do if..."
"Well you know Ben, I was thinking..." I said. "I watched a lot of videos from the tsunami that hit Japan after the big quake there in 2011. I kept noticing how sturdy objects like trees would get a lot of debris right behind them, creating a sort of protected pocket- while the rushing water flowed around them. But I also noticed that the water on the front side of the tree would climb very high.
"So wouldn't the southwest side of the island be the best place to ride that out, seeing as the water would likely recede in a hurry to the southwest, and have to go around the mountain? It might create a pocket of well... Survivability, if you know what I mean. If you could find that spot, maybe you could use the mountain ridge as a sort of shield. It would be turbulent, yes, but nothing like getting caught in the direct current. Of course you'd have to move away from the mountain as the water receded and dropped to avoid getting caught on the emerging bottom," I concluded.
Ben looked up after thinking about it. "That's an excellent idea. You might have just saved our lives," he said. "But you better also realize that in this case, that front side swell might be so high it could come right over the mountain top. You two would surely be swept away. Your best bet might be to try to get to the southwest side too. I just don't think you're going to have time."
Jan just looked at me, waiting for a response. I had none. It would be all we could do to just get ourselves and the supplies up the hill on the north side of the mountain. I stared back at her bleakly.
"But for us, the question then would be if the sub has enough power to propel us fast enough ahead to keep up with the drop rate of the water, and keep us off the bottom- in addition to maintaining stability through that tremendous turbulence. Hmm," Ben thought out loud.
Gary immediately lit up. "Yes, I think so, but we'd have to run some complicated calculations on that."
"Well if there's one thing I'm good at, it's complicated calculations," Ben said.
"Yes Sir," Gary replied.
Ben looked at Gary, and between the two of them, I had no doubts the sub was in good hands. I just doubted they'd have time for any calculations.
"If we had more time, I'd vote for a second trip back to the sub for more supplies," Ben said. "But we don't. I think that water is receding faster now, and the pressure at the tear is probably reducing. It could shut off any minute. You guys have got to go. Now. Make a direct beeline, straight for the shore, and get everything up as high as you can immediately. AWAY from the water. Do it in stages if you have to, and that includes the boat itself. That water will climb a lot higher suddenly, as it rushes around the sides of mountain. You've got to be up high when it happens."
Ben shook my hand urgently with a very firm grasp, and gave me a hard hug. "The best of luck to you both, my friend. Sorry we don't have more time for good byes," he said. Then he handed me both the keys to his SUV and the keys to Sandra's car. "Jan, take care of him, dearest," he said, and they hugged hard.
Terry came up to me with tears in her eyes, and immediately hugged me. I comforted her as best I could, and then she hugged Jan. Jan kissed her forehead.
"Ok now GO!" Ben said urgently, shooing us away. "We're out of time!" Ben tossed me the tie line as Jan and I departed in the boat. It almost sank from the weight, but we were off.
I immediately noticed that the current had become much stronger, pulling us like a suction cup to the right. I had to orient the nose to the opposite side to counter it, but we were moving steadily to the shore.
"Look!" Jan said after a few minutes or so, turning around and pointing at the distant ghost of sub. It disappeared into the water, and then it was gone. I turned back around to see the shore approaching in the distance, but the current got even stronger as we got closer. The mountain was creating an obstruction, causing the water to move faster near the waterline.
By the time we reached the shore, I was having a hard time maintaining the boat. The rushing water became very strong, and Jan held on for dear life. The fortunate thing was that the water was also dropping, exposing more and more land, and at an increasing rate. But I knew that wouldn't last long, and that we would have a very short window of time to unload and get those things up the hill before the pressure finally dropped completely. And when that happened, I reasoned that we would likely see a sudden, massive swell that would overcome the drop rate. And instead the water would climb higher very fast until rea
ching equilibrium.
And then I remembered what Ben said about moving things in stages. It finally clicked why: To best manage the risk of getting us or the supplies caught in the swell.
"Ok get ready for impact, and prepare to jump off right as we hit," I said to Jan, handing her the tie line. "And whatever you do, don't let go of the line. See that tree ahead of us right there? Head straight for it, and do two very fast wraps around it immediately. Run around the tree with it, letting the rope out steadily. Then tie it."
She looked up at me and nodded desperately, but didn't say a word. Stepping over the pile of supplies, she got up on the bow, teetering, and almost went overboard a couple of times. But she held on.
"After that, we pull the boat up a bit higher, but it will be heavy. Let's just get it to stabilize on the shore first. Don't worry, cause it will likely be out of the water on its own as the water drops soon. Ok... Get ready... Here... We... GO!"
The boat impacted with considerable force, and sent her flying off the bow onto the land. She rolled over and over... But she held on to that rope- the little jewel. I held onto the motor handle for support, and managed to maintain. I opened the throttle all the way to force it pinned against the shore. The boat's stern immediately swung hard to the right in the current. Jan got up and ran with the rope to the tree, doing circles around it. She almost got caught by the rope on the first turn, but luckily ducked and kept going. Then she tied it.
"Excellent!" I shouted, after shutting off the engine and raising the motor. "Now we really got to move fast. Let's go! Food first, twenty feet up the hill and drop it, and then come back for more. Run!"
We unloaded it all to the first twenty feet up in a hurry, and both collapsed in exhaustion, panting. By the time we had done that, we saw the water had left the boat completely on land. It had dropped considerably, and started moving faster. But at least the boat was empty.
"I know this is tiring, but we have to do it again," I said. "First, help me get the boat up further." She nodded. We pulled on the line until the boat was right up at the tree. I quickly untied it, and then bolted uphill to another sturdy tree, as far as the rope would reach. I tied it down. I thought of using the tree as leverage to pull it further, but the supplies were more important.
"Ok, another move... Food first. Let's try for thirty more feet. Let's go!" I said urgently.
After that move, we were totally spent and collapsed on the ground, panting harder. I looked at the boat, knowing we were going to have to move it up again.
"Aren't we far enough?" she pleaded, looking at the waterline, now pretty far down.
"I wish," I said. "You'll see. Come on!" We hoisted the boat again higher, and this time we used a higher tree as a wench, making it a bit easier.
After another two times of the whole process, we were so exhausted, we could not continue. We had to rest. By putting some of the supplies back in the boat and then using trees as pulleys to pull the boat up, we saved a little time.
"This HAS to be far enough!" Jan panted desperately, as we looked down at the distant water. Between all our work and the receding water, I estimated us to be about four hundred feet away up the hill- from what I could barely make out through the trees.
But we were totally done. There was just no more energy. None. We both just lay there next to the boat and pile of supplies, nearly dead.
Little did we know that we were being watched. Not by mountain lions, either. No. It became apparent quickly that we had entered the bear's side of the mountain, when three large ones appeared out of nowhere, staring at the two of us menacingly. One of them was absolutely huge, and stood out against the other two. It stood in front, almost like leading them, and it put its head down and looked up at us, bearing its massive teeth.
Jan quickly grabbed me, in total shock. But hell, I wasn't much use. That big bear scared the living crap out of me. And the sight of three of them total... Well, let's just say my pants weren't the driest I had ever seen.
"The guns..." she said, trembling. "They're at the bottom of the... Pile." And we were laying down, totally spent of energy, without even the strength barely to stand up. Maybe it was just time. Time to die- victims of natural selection.
What was strange though was that while the big one maintained his ground and demeanor, the other two were not advancing, or showing their teeth. It was almost as if the leader wanted to attack, but the other two weren't so sure, and were stalling. Catching onto this delay and standoff, those precious seconds allowed me to remember my lone bout with the mountain lion, and the advantage height seemed to offer.
"Think you can get one of those guns if I stand up and distract them?" I said quietly to Jan, panting. I could barely speak.
I didn't wait for her to respond. It took every last ounce of energy I had, but I suddenly wobbled up to my feet and raised my arms to try and startle them, hoping to give Jan some time to grab a rifle.
The two in the back retreated a bit more, but the big one wasn't amused. At all. No, in fact I really just pissed it off, and it reared up on its hind legs and let out a loud roar that pierced our souls. The roar ignited a primal fear in me that is difficult to describe.
It towered over me for a few seconds, and then it started to descend on me all at once, like it was just going to fall on me and consume me too in one fell swoop.
My only instinct was to quickly dart out of the way as it came down. I don't know where it came from- adrenaline perhaps- but I ducked and made a diving leap out to the side, away from Jan, and landing laying down. The tips of one of its mighty claws had cut into my back, and I registered the stinging pain and felt wetness. I looked over at Jan in that split second, and saw her pointing a rifle at it, but all I heard was "...click" when she pulled the trigger.
Shit. Gary must have emptied the chamber for safety on our trip. God damn it. As a last resort, I pulled my Glock from my pants, but before I could fire, it was already on me. The beast took another swat at me, caching my arm and knocking the gun from my hand easily. It went flying. Its claws left deep, bloody slices on my right forearm.
It then stepped on my chest, knocking the wind out of me with its tremendous weight, and I raised my arms to cover my face- expecting to be decapitated any second.
But then it stopped frozen, just as I smelled its wretched breath. It looked up as if something was coming, its expression changed, and then it just ran away inexplicably with the others into the forest up the hill.
And that's when I felt it. The ground started shaking, and at first I thought it was just another tremor.
"Thank you Heavens..." I started to gasp, and just laid there for a minute to weather the quake. Heck, no biggie- we were used to them by now. But it didn't stop. It kept shaking more and more. Then I heard the sound of the ocean, and it quickly opened up into a massive roar.
"Oh no, it's started!" I screamed to Jan- who was still standing there paralyzed- looking straight ahead at the bear's exit path into the woods. She had dropped her rifle.
"JAN!!!" I screamed.
I ran to her and grabbed her hand, trying to yank her out of her daze. "JAN!!!" I screamed right in her ear. But she went limp in my arms, fainting. "Oh no... Don't..." I started to say, but all I could do was try to catch her. I was still so exhausted, that I just didn't have the strength. I had to let her slide down on to the ground. My legs finally gave out from under me. They had given me everything there was left. I fell hopeless on the ground beside her, and then I just tried to cover her. I was done. There was nothing else I could physically do. I just didn't have any strength for anything left.
Looking weary-eyed, up and over Jan's breasts in my face, I cast one last glance down the hill to see the massive turbulence coming up the hill towards us in unforgiving, swirling whitecaps. And then I heard trees starting to snap and break around the northeast side of the hill below us. The roaring of the water intensified, but all I could do was just lay there.
"So sorry, Jan," I barely mustered. "So, so.
.. Sorry."
My system shut down, and my senses blurred as I prepared for death. I anticipated that I would feel the water for a brief second, and then probably get smashed up against the nearest tree, choking as I fought for breath and inhaling the water. I went into shock, seeing no other way out, and finally just gave up- defeated. The last thing I heard was insanely loud water rushing, so very close to us. And then I blacked completely out. I really, really thought that was it.
Chapter 41: Clinging to Last Hopes
At first it was distant, and the pain just barely registered. But something was jarring me out of my deep sleep. When it happened again, I felt it harder on my cheek, and it really hurt. But my body didn't want to come back. When the third one hit me, it stung like hell, and brought me screaming back into consciousness.