by AJ Newman
Well, damn…
The man who came with us was definitely not the old “step and fetch it” he portrayed. He was, indeed, sound of mind and body.
He talked about his career in the military, but still asked several questions probing our backgrounds. He stopped a couple of times to rest, but always got back up and walked, as if nothing was wrong. I heard two clicks on his walkie-talkie and he reached into his pocket for a second before pulling his hand out.
He stopped at the front of the parking garage and said, “Not that I don’t trust you, Matt but, I will feel much more comfortable if you bring the kids and Nuns out here so I can meet who we are going to be stuck with on a boat for weeks on end.”
Mary pulled out her walkie-talkie and said, “Sister Angela, please come down to the front entrance to the parking garage and bring the kids. We may have found passage south.”
“Okay, it will take a few minutes to herd them down.”
We passed the time telling Brett about the events in Wyoming and our journey to Corpus Christi until the Nuns and kids arrived. He picked a little girl up and immediately became the grandfatherly type, and immediately fell in love with all of them.
I noticed he reached into his pocket again and that was followed by two clicks on his walkie-talkie. A few minutes later a woman dressed in fatigues also carrying an M-14 sniper rifle came walking up to us with her hands raised. Her face looked familiar, but she was not the same lady we saw on the beach fishing.
I said, “Ma’am, you look different.”
“I hope so. My wig and pillow for my belly do tend to put most would be bad boys at ease.”
“Who were you trying to fool?”
“Well, you at first, but mostly there have been some scumbags preying on some of our friends. I was the bait this morning and Brett was the sniper.”
“So I guess you were the sniper making sure we weren’t the bad guys.”
“That about sums it up. Now, who are you?”
The Nuns introduced themselves and the children, and then Mary and I told them about us.
“Wow, moving 11 kids to Central America. That is quite a chore. Brett are we up to this. That’s only four fighters protecting 13 innocents, bad odds.”
“We can teach some of the older children how to shoot. Looks like some are 12-13.”
The Nuns objected at first, but Brett calmed them down by saying, “Ma’am, there are now a lot of bad people in this world that would enslave the kids, kill the rest of us, then take our boat and supplies.
We’ll need all of the firepower we can get if you want to make the trip. We won’t have them do anything unless it’s for the survival of the others.”
I caught the part about “our boat” and said, “So you have a boat?”
“Yeah, well, we actually have two boats. One is too small to take this size group. We could have sailed out by ourselves, but we decided to wait until the rush of people was over.
The large one is an older Oster 56. It will be a bit uncomfortable, but the boat will make it anywhere in the world. We have been stocking it for a cruise to South America for a month. It looks like we’ll need to rip out some furniture to make room for mattresses and supplies.”
I replied, “We have enough MREs for three people for a month, several ARs and Glock 9mms and several thousand rounds of ammo. We also have 200 gallons of diesel and 100 gallons of gas. We can help scrounge for food in this area.
Sisters, I am sorry that you have to face this with us, but there it is. It is, and will be, kill or be killed for a long time coming. Can you deal with this new world?”
“You do understand that we do not believe that violence is the only way, but just let some pirate try to take one of my charges. We are willing to learn how to shoot, so you’d better be ready to teach us,” said Sister Angela.
Just a bit stunned I added, Sister, I wonder if God would forgive you if you did not take that stand. They are his children, too, and I’m pretty sure that is why he has chosen you to protect them.”
Brett let out a deep breath, and stammered, “Whew, okay, good. I still have some friends over at the Naval Air Station CCAD. I happen to know that we can have a shit pot full of slightly toasted MREs. Some idiot grabbed what he wanted and set fire to the building so no one could use the rest. It rained that day and put the fire out.
Sister, I am going to look at that rain as a sign that the remaining food was meant for us, especially the children, wow.”
We helped sort through the mess and found perfectly good supplies of those delicious MRE’s under the burned stuff.
We have enough together to feed the entire bunch for about a month. We can extend that by several weeks if we stop and fish along the way.”
Brett even managed to hustle a few thousand more rounds of ammo, and four squad machine guns equipped with pintle mounts, and an old ambulance to carry out booty. Things were definitely looking up.
I asked, “Is there any hope of finding any warehouses or trucks with food that haven’t been found?”
“No, I think we have pretty much searched every square inch of the immediate area, and can only find drinking water, alcohol and fuel. Alcohol, yeah, who’d have thought it, but every corner bar in town had lots of that stuff.”
“Are there any distilleries or beer brewing facilities in Corpus Christi?”
“I like your thinking. They use grain. Hell, what about granaries?”
“Let’s split up into two teams. One loads what we have on the boats and the other searches for food.”
“Works for me. Take Meg with you since she knows the town and I’ll put the kids to work on the boat. We’ll need to get rid of anything not needed to safely get there so ladies, be ready to wear one set of clothes while the others are drying in the breeze.”
Brett stopped in the road, got out of his truck and walked a few feet into the woods. A few minutes later, he waved for us to go around his truck and wait for him.
He rejoined us and said, “Follow me, stay close and do what I do.”
Brett drove about a hundred feet further then pulled off the road and drove in the grass for a while before getting back on the road. A minute later, we saw his home up ahead.
Brett and Meg’s place was a few miles south of the city and had access to Corpus Christi’s very shallow Oso Bay.
Their home was a nice ranch style house, with a large barn and a dock extending out into the water. As Brett had promised there were two sailboats tied to the dock. The large one appeared to be in much better shape than its smaller sister was.
“Brett, how were you able to keep two boats when every boat around Corpus Christi has been stolen?”
“Well first, we’re off the beaten path and the roads in have traps, trip wires and land mines guarding the place. Several have tried to come here and several have died. It’s a shame that some may have simply innocent people just trying to get by in a cruel world. These days, bad things happen to anyone who goes where they should not go.
Let’s not waste any more time. Meg, please show the women the supplies while I show Matt the boat.”
“How soon do you want to leave?”
“Matt, there is a group that’s been trying to find us and our boat for several weeks. Our mission in town was to flush them out and take them out before they kill us and take our boat. Therefore, the bottom line is that we need to leave in two days.
We’ll finish loading and I’ll give you and the others a crash course in sailing. I’ll use the small sailboat tied to the back of my large boat.”
We had a quick lunch while we stripped the boat of any unnecessary furniture and dead weight. The couches, beds and tables were torn out. We would sleep on the floors in sleeping bags.
We shuttled supplies from our vehicles, their house and barn to the boat. Everyone pitched in to carry supplies to the boat. It soon became clear that the boat wouldn’t handle all of the supplies. Brett and Meg had also been preppers and had several years’ worth of food, me
dical and sanitation supplies. He had as much buried in drums around his property as he had in the house and barn.
By late evening, the work was completed and Brett proclaimed, “We all must be aboard prior to sailing the day after tomorrow. Boarding will be before daylight and set sail with the tide.
Time is critical, because Oso Bay is so shallow, we must depart at high tide. If we miss it, we will be stuck here for another 12 hours.
Everybody, eat a good meal and get plenty of sleep. Be prepared for sailing lessons in the morning. We’ll need to split up and share guard duty until we leave.”
I took Brett off to the side and asked, “Why did we discuss the need for finding food when you have enough for all of us for many months?”
“Easy question, easy answer, we were feeling you out to see if you and your little Scout Troop would have a chance to survive on your own. You passed
“Brett, are we towing the small Venture behind your boat when we leave?”
“Yes, why?”
“I’d like to store some survival gear in it and also I thought it would be a good idea to use it to scout out islands and go ashore without exposing the larger boat to gunfire.”
Brett shared a huge smile and said, “Nope that is not another stupid question. Do it. You know, Matt, I like you.”
We spent the next morning sailing around the harbor during high tide learning the finer points of sailing and tacking the small boat. Lessons in navigation would come once we were on our way.
We tacked back to the dock as the tide began to wane. I loaded the little craft with my survival gear, which included half of my silver, gold and jewels. Another watertight bag had guns and ammo plus a weeks’ worth of MREs.
I tied the craft to Bret’s other boat and I planned to tie the small boat to Brett’s larger craft just before we left. I didn’t want him or his wife snooping around my cache.
***
The men were following Patty from a distance when they lost her. She made three turns and waited each time to see if she was being followed. They drove on past after her first turn. She waited for five minutes, drove to her next turn and waited. She never saw the car again and went on to her house.
One of the men shouted, “Look up ahead. Slow down, there are several vehicles heading south. It’s not the girl, but they could be easy targets.”
“Yeah, there’s a bus and a truck towing a trailer. Let’s hit them.”
“Hold your horses, dumbass, let’s follow them to where they’re holed up and take everything.”
***
The men had seen my truck, the Nuns bus and Brett’s truck as we headed to his home. We didn’t know they were preparing for an attack on us, or that Patty was just a few miles north.
I was sound asleep in a back room snuggled deep in my sleeping bag. I felt something bump up against me and fell back asleep thinking it was one of my dogs.
Later I woke up with a head on my chest and arms around me. It was Mary and her body felt good against mine. I fell back asleep trying to decide if I should give up on finding Patty. Mary snuggled tightly against me the rest of the night.
Mary woke me up at 5:00am to pull guard duty. I went to the kitchen and found coffee and a sandwich waiting for me. Mary was suiting up to check our vehicles and grab a bite herself. It was about an hour and a half until we would awaken our motley crew for debarkation.
I walked up to her from behind, gave her a hug and said, “We will be okay. Thanks for staying with me last night. I needed the company.”
“Me too. We don’t have anyone but us anymore.”
I walked up the road and stood in the shadows to guard the entrance as Brett and Meg finished getting the boat ready.
I remembered that I had to tie the Venture to the main sailboat and kicked myself for not doing so before I came on guard duty.
I watched from a distance as the kids were herded onto the boat with Mary and the Nuns behind them.
I took one last glance over my shoulder to check the road into Brett’s house, and caught sight of several men running at me just as a blast knocked me off my feet. I heard gunfire and more explosions and that’s all I remembered before unconsciousness took me into total darkness.
The men were trying to capture the boat and my friends, but ran afoul of the trip wires and anti-personnel mines. The mines killed half of their crew before they got within a hundred yards of the boat. The mine that knocked me on my ass killed three of their men and wounded four more. Thinking I was dead they ran around me and charged onto the boat dock.
Mary and Meg opened fire. They shot several more as the marauders ran across the driveway. This pinned the remaining assailants down as Brett used the inboard diesel to motor away from the dock. The gun battle was fierce with bullets hitting the cabin and stacks of supplies on the boat. One child and Sister Angela received minor wounds though the rest remained unharmed.
“Brett, wait for Matt, “Mary yelled.”
Meg replied, “Dear, I’m afraid he is dead. He was thrown down by the blast and several of the attackers ran right over him. If the blast didn’t kill him they most certainly did.”
Mary cried as the boat moved out of range and they headed out to sea. Upon clearing the bay, Brett dropped the keel, and hoisted the sails. With Meg’s help they were soon skipping along the waves headed south.
I woke up in time to see the three surviving attackers jump into their truck and try to chase the boat down. They apparently hoped to use their automatic weapons to stop the boat before it headed out of the channel and into open sea.
I forced myself to get up and run to my truck in an attempt to stop them.
They drove like lunatics at breakneck speeds to no avail along the channel heading north. The boat had already made the turn out of the channel and I could see the sails being unfurled.
I came to an abrupt stop aimed and fired several bursts at the men who were firing at my friends. Two of the scumbags dropped dead with my first burst and the other ran to the other side of their truck. I hid behind the motor and front wheel while we exchanged shots. Then I dropped to the ground and shot the bastard in the knee that was poking out from behind the back wheel of the truck. He fell and I ended his suffering by placing one more round into the back of his head.
I ran over to the truck, yelled at my friends and then fired several bursts into the air before again lapsing into the soothing darkness of unconsciousness from exhaustion and my wounds.
My last thought before dropping back into darkness was that I’d lost Patty and now Mary was gone. I was alone and I already missed them very much.
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Chapter 19
The Ocean is a Vast Desert
The Gulf of Mexico
I don’t know how long I was unconscious, but I had bad dreams, good dreams and some dreams I won’t mention because they are too personal. I remember sweating, freezing and sweating again. A dragon chased me through a city and had me in his jaws when an angel smote him with her sword.
I remember waking up in my dreams; the same angel was wiping my face with a cold wet rag one minute and placing blankets on me the next. My head hurt as though it was in a tightening vise. I remember waking up with my angel in bed beside me. She kissed me and I fell asleep in her arms. Mostly I remember being tossed about in my bed between periods of blackness.
I was dreaming about my angle when I realized that there was a bright light in the room above my head. Damn, I must be dying because, don’t you always see a bright light as you slip into death. Then I felt pain in my butt, right shoulder and side. I tried to roll over and felt something damp and cold being placed on my forehead, easing the pain in my head allowing me to return to dreams of my angel.
I heard my angel’s voice, “Matt Jones, I think you might just live.”
I opened my eyes and saw the most beautiful angel I had ever seen and she looked just like Patty. I blinked my eyes and this beautiful angel hugged and kissed me for a long ti
me. I was in love with my angel. This dream was very real to me.
“Matt, you are going to be okay. Open your eyes.”
“Patty?”
“Yes it’s me, Oh, Matt, I have been so lonely, and I have missed you more than I can ever say. I promise that if you’ll have me, I’ll never leave you again.”
“She hugged me tight and kissed me again for a long time. I kissed her back and hugged her as tight as my injuries would allow.”
“Patty, you must know that I have loved you since the moment we met at the airport. Please, don’t leave me again.”
I fell back asleep, and didn’t wake up for several hours, well into the evening.
I looked around in the twilight and saw a goddess at the wheel steering what I believed to be a sailboat. I looked around and saw I was below deck looking up at this angel who had saved me from certain death.
Slowly, I began to realize that we really were on a small sailboat, and moving along at a fair pace. The cabin was filled with boxes of cereal, Spam and cans of vegetables.
Gathering my strength, I forced myself from the bed and started up the steps to join my angel.
When Patty saw me, she tied the wheel in position, came to the cabin door and helped me up the steps. She assisted my weakened gait until we were able to sit. We simply held each other for several minutes without uttering a sound.
Easing away, she said, “Matt I was so afraid I might lose you, again. I just could not allow that to happen, and I vow to die fighting before ever losing you again.
I have grown, and learned so much since being kidnapped on that damned helicopter.
I killed them all, Matt. Now, I understand how wrong I was to push you away. I love you.
Please, can we go forward together? I do understand, Matt, and I will fight at your side against anyone who tries to harm us. Please, I have been so lonely, and wanting only to be in your arms.”