Now It Begins

by Gary M. Chesla

  Dave watched for a few minutes, waiting for the ship to finish and move on.

  Suddenly the light stopped. A small motor boat was in the center of the lights beam. It was moving slowly away from the island.

  Dave waited to see if the ship was going to direct the boat to return to the island or if it would just let it continue on its way.

  The answer came a few seconds later when machine gun fire erupted from the deck of the ship.

  The small boat was cut in half, right before it burst into flames.

  The flames lasted for only a few seconds before the small craft sunk under the waves and disappeared.

  The ship began to scan the surface of the waterway again with the spot light and then slowly moved down the coast line and away from where Dave was hiding.

  Dave got up and started to walk quickly towards the motel.

  “The hell with talking to the Army tomorrow,” Dave thought, “I need to find a way to get Maggie and Joey the hell away from here.

  Up until today, their time on the island had been everything Dave had been looking for over the last two years. But no matter how great it had been, it wasn’t worth dying for.”

  The job and the vacation on Anna Maria Island had been a dream come true. Dave didn’t know what the hell was going on now, but the dream was quickly becoming a nightmare.

  Chapter 7

  Dave sat at the window of the cottage and studied the area around the motel.

  He hadn’t been able to go back to sleep last night after the soldiers left.

  He just sat at the window and tried to figure out what was going on.

  He could have saved his energy. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what had happened. Even his wildest thoughts were just too crazy to make any sense.

  All his thinking and analyzing only made him feel more confused and frustrated.

  Besides it was getting too warm in the cottage to sleep since the sun had risen and the light began to pour in through the cottage windows.

  The electricity had gone out around 5:00 o’clock this morning and had shut down the air conditioning.

  It looked like a week in paradise with air conditioning was all he was going to get.

  The loss of the air conditioning and the rising temperature inside the cottage started to remind Dave of his life back in Starke.

  The surroundings here were a lot nicer than his surroundings back in Starke, but at least in Starke he always knew what he was up against.

  Now he was just confused.

  Dave had been watching the streets to see what was going to happen next. There wasn’t any traffic or people on the streets this morning.

  The place almost felt like a ghost town compared to all the activity he had seen on the island over the past week.

  Other than a few army trucks that had driven down the street since the sun came up, the only other vehicle he had seen on the street this morning was the postal vehicle that had been parked across from the motel last night.

  A Post Office employee came out and moved the truck around 7:00AM this morning.

  Dave watched the employee get in the truck, then drive it around to the parking lot in front of the Post Office.

  About twenty minutes later two army trucks pulled into the Post Office, apparently alerted by the GPS unit that had been first on Dave’s car, then moved to the postal vehicle last night by Adam.

  The soldiers soon came over to the Pelican Post to investigate how their GPS unit ended up on the delivery truck.

  After talking to the Sergeant, Adam came up to the cottage to tell Dave what he had learned.

  Adam said he told the soldiers that not long after they had left the Pelican Post last night, he had heard Dave’s car start up and speed away towards the marina.

  He said the Sergeant then sent two men down to the marina to look for his car.

  When the men returned and informed the Sergeant that the car was parked down at the marina, the Sergeant and the men appeared to become upset and started to curse.

  The Sergeant thanked Adam for his help and said they would not be bothering him anymore and then had left.

  Adam told Dave that he didn’t understand the men’s reaction.

  Dave then told Adam about the ship out on the inter-costal waterway last night. How the ship’s search light had spotted the small motor boat trying to cross over to the mainland. The ship had then opened fire, cutting the small boat in half, sending it to the bottom of the channel.

  The army had apparently now decided that it was Dave in the small motor boat trying to make a run for it.

  But neither Dave nor Adam could understand why the soldiers had become upset. Dave thought the soldiers would have been relieved to know he was no longer on the run with whatever knowledge they thought Dave had that they were trying to cover up.

  Dave and Adam felt, for whatever reason the soldiers had reacted as they did, that they could now both breathe a little easier.

  The soldiers should not be coming around looking for Dave any longer.

  With the army thinking Dave was no longer alive, they could both stop worrying about the army and start to focus on their other problems, like what was happening on the island.

  Dave would still have to be careful, but without the army actively looking for him, he would at least be able to go out and determine for himself what all of this meant.

  Adam told Dave it would probably be better if he stayed in the cottage instead of moving back into unit seven, which Dave agreed. If the army noticed someone in unit seven, they might get curious and come back to the motel to see who was now staying in that unit.

  Adam also suggested Dave come up with an alias in case he ran in to any of the soldiers and had to answer questions to explain who he was and what he was doing there.

  Together they came up with an alias, Andrew Mooh from Amsterdam, New York, a former motel resident.

  New York and Ohio farmland had a number of things in common and Dave figured he could wing it if he was questioned about his life on the farm in Amsterdam.

  Adam also said he would adjust the motel records to support Dave’s cover to show Andrew had arrived before the bridges were closed.

  If things ever got back to normal, Adam said he could always delete the records.

  Dave hoped Maggie liked the name Arianna, the name he came up with for her alias. If he had time later, he would look up how to spell it, just in case she had to write it down anywhere.

  With everything that was going on, Dave doubted they would ever need to use their new alias, but again he never thought the army would be looking for him either.

  After they were satisfied with their cover story, Adam left to go back with Nicole and Everly.

  It was 9:30 when Dave heard Maggie getting out of bed.

  He was about to go tell her what all he had witnessed this morning, when he heard a vehicle pull up out in front of the hotel.

  Dave whispered to Maggie, “Maggie, there is a car out front. Get dressed but just stay quiet until I see who is out there.”

  “OK,” Maggie whispered nervously as she got out of bed and quietly pulled on her jeans.

  Dave stood at the corner of the window and looked outside.

  When Dave saw the army truck parked out front, he was at first concerned, but then became confused as he watched the activity out at the truck.

  He saw Carl jump out of the back of the truck.

  Carl then walked up to the cab of the truck and talked with the Sergeant for a minute.

  The truck then pulled out and Carl started to walk towards his motel unit.

  Carl looked more like he was staggering than walking, but other than another obvious hangover, he didn’t look injured or harmed from his time with the soldiers.

  Maggie was now by Dave’s side looking out the window.

  “That’s Carl,” Maggie said sounding surprised.

  “I didn’t think we would ever see Carl again,” Dave replied.

  “Me neither,”
Maggie said, “I thought the army would torture him for information and then make him disappear.”

  Dave chuckled, “Maybe Carl played dumb and the army didn’t think he knew anything.”

  “I’m not an expert torturer,” Maggie smiled, “but anyone who looks at Carl could easily see he doesn’t know anything. He doesn’t have to play dumb.”

  Dave ran over to the side window to be sure the army truck had really left the area.

  “Let’s go down and see what they wanted with Carl,” Dave said.

  “Do you think we should?” Maggie asked. “Maybe they made a deal with Carl so he would help them find us.”

  “Really Maggie?” Dave replied sarcastically. “We’re talking about Carl.”

  Maggie grinned, “Sorry, I guess you’re right. Let’s go see what happened.”

  Dave and Maggie ran out the door and down the steps. Carl was now at the door to his unit, trying to figure out how to get into his room.

  “Carl,” Dave called out as he ran across the parking lot.

  Carl slowly turned and looked at Dave and Maggie running towards him.

  “Hey, you’re alive,” Carl smiled weakly. “The General told me that you two were dead.”

  “Are you OK, Carl?” Dave asked as he came to a stop and looked Carl over.

  “I guess I really tied one on last night,” Carl replied and tried to grin. He had black circles under his eyes. The whites of his eyes were red, his skin was pale and Carl looked like he could barely stand. “I feel like hell, but I’ve felt worse. This is nothing that a few more beers wouldn’t take care of. If I can get into my room, I have a few cold ones in the frig waiting for me.”

  Carl blinked his eyes trying to clear his blurry vision as he studied the lock on the door to his room.

  “The army told me that you got blown up trying to cross the channel,” Carl continued. “I told them that you didn’t have a boat but they said you must have stolen a boat. I said that you were too honest and would never steal anything.”

  Carl leaned against his door, looking too weak or unstable to get his door unlocked.

  “Did they try to torture you?” Maggie asked.

  Carl smiled and chuckled then slurred out his words, “I guess you could say making me drink that shit for coffee of theirs was torture. If not torture, it was at least cruel and unusual punishment.”

  “What did they ask you?” Dave asked. “Where did they take you? What did they ask you about me?”

  “Too many questions,” Carl waved his hand in front of his face, overwhelmed by so many questions.

  Dave laughed and looked at Maggie, “Whatever they asked him, he probably frustrated the hell out of them.”

  “He’s lucky they didn’t just shoot him,” Maggie replied.

  “Why would they shoot me?” Carl asked looking confused.

  “Let’s start over,” Dave said sensing Carl’s confusion.

  “OK,” Carl grinned. “Where do we start over?”

  “What did they ask you?” Dave asked again, slowly this time so Carl would understand. Carl was obviously still drunk or at least had a really bad hangover.

  “Oh,” Carl replied, trying to think for a few seconds. “They kept asking me if I wanted more of their crappy coffee then they asked me if I could run the bulldozer.”

  “They wanted to know if you could operate the bulldozer?” Dave asked looking puzzled.

  “They said they needed someone to drive the big dozer,” Carl replied, “I told them only you knew how to operate that thing.”

  “That’s strange,” Dave said, “why did they want you to run the bulldozer?”

  “I think they were trying to block the bridge that connects the north end of the island with the mainland,” Carl replied.

  “Why didn’t they just park a truck with a few armed men on the bridge like they did with the other two bridges?” Maggie asked, “That would have been enough to keep anyone from getting off the island.”

  “The other two bridges are draw bridges,” Carl answered, “On those they could just raise the drawbridge to stop people. But they said the bridge on the north end is a newer bridge. They made it taller so ships could go underneath and they could eliminate the draw bridge part.”

  “But still,” Dave added, “a truck and a few men with guns would keep anyone from leaving the island.”

  “I think they said that they tried that, but there were so many people coming over the bridge that they couldn’t keep them from coming over to the island,” Carl replied.

  “You mean there were too many people that they couldn’t keep them from getting off the island?” Maggie asked.

  “No, they were trying to keep people from getting on the island,” Carl replied looking more and more unsteady. “I think they wanted me to use the dozer to push stuff out onto the bridge to block the road, but I kept telling them I didn’t know how to work the damn thing. I don’t know why they kept asking that over and over.”

  “I think they were lying to you,” Maggie said.

  “No I saw it,” Carl replied. “They had about a hundred guys out on the bridge. They must have all been terrible shots. They were firing their weapons at the people but it didn’t look like they were stopping anyone. The people just kept coming.”

  “They were what?” Dave asked.

  “The General wanted to blow the bridge but he couldn’t get any of his men out far enough to set the explosives. The mob coming across the bridge kept attacking the soldiers,” Carl added. “I think that was what he said.”

  “That doesn’t sound right,” Maggie said. “They had that big aircraft carrier.”

  “Yea, they could have bombed the bridge if they really wanted to do drop the bridge,” Dave added.

  “I heard them say the ships were called away,” Carl replied, “Something about them being needed down by Fort Meyers. All I saw was the General and a few hundred soldiers,” Carl replied, “I couldn’t figure out what they were doing, but they seemed to be throwing everything they had at the people trying to get across the bridge.”

  “A General?” Maggie asked.

  “That’s what I called him,” Carl replied, again slurring his words. “He had a fancy uniform and bars or something on his shoulders.”

  “What did he ask about me?” Dave asked.

  “Nothing,” Carl answered, “he just wanted to know if I could run the dozer then a truck with some soldiers pulled up. The guys said something about you trying to get off the island and that the patrol boat had killed you.”

  “Then what happened?” Dave asked.

  “The General started cursing and then told the soldiers to get rid of me,” Carl grinned, “and here I am.”

  Dave looked at Maggie, “This doesn’t make sense.”

  “Can you help me get into my room,” Carl asked, “I have to lie down. My damn head is killing me. I have to sleep this off before my head explodes.”

  Dave walked over, turned the handle and opened the door, “Go sleep it off. We’ll talk later when you are up to it.”

  Carl staggered inside the room, fell onto the couch and passed out.

  “I thought the army was trying to cover up something,” Maggie said as she stared in the room at Carl, “I don’t know what to think now. I still think the army is up to something but I don’t know what.”

  “We can’t rely on anything Carl told us,” Dave added, “He’s not the most reliable person even when he is sober.”

  “He’s certainly not sober now,” Maggie chuckled, “For all we know he was made up everything he told us.”

  “Except we saw the army bring him back here and drop him off,” Dave replied. “We know that much is real.”

  “But why would the army be trying to keep people off the island if it wasn’t because they didn’t want them to see what they were trying to cover up?” Maggie asked.

  “That part makes sense,” Dave replied, “But the part about people still trying to come over the bridge even after the army s
tarted to shoot at them. That doesn’t make any sense at all. Why would people want to get over here so bad that they would risk getting killed trying to cross the bridge with the soldiers shooting at them? They would have to be crazy.”

  “I’m starting to think this whole place is crazy,” Maggie replied. “If they are trying to keep people from coming over to the island, do you think maybe they would just let us leave now? Maybe they don’t care any longer about anyone that wants to get off the island.”

  “After what we saw happen last night, I don’t think we should try to leave just yet,” Dave answered. “I think I’m going to go talk with Adam.”

  “I don’t think Adam knows anything,” Maggie replied.

  “I’m thinking that maybe I can get Adam to drive me up the island to see what is really going on,” Dave said. “I don’t think I should take our car, in case they are still looking for me, but maybe if Adam drives me we could go up the island a ways without attracting too much attention.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Maggie said.

  “No you stay here with Joey,” Dave said. “I need to know you two are safe until I get back. All that gunfire sounds like it is getting closer. It seems to be coming from all around us now. Until we know what’s going on I want you to stay here and keep an eye on Joey.”

  Chapter 8

  Adam drove his green Land Rover out First Street.

  He turned right onto Gulf Drive.

  “Are you sure Carl wasn’t delirious?” Adam asked. “His story sounds crazy to me.”

  “It sounds crazy to me too,” Dave replied. “I think the only way we can make sense out of any of this is to go take a look and see for ourselves.”

  “I already don’t like what I see,” Adam said, “I’ve never seen the streets around here this deserted.”

  “I’ve only been here for a week and I think it looks creepy,” Dave replied. “I don’t know what to make out of any of this.”