by E S Richards
Amy held her son in her arms all night as he shivered in the darkness of the underground room. She couldn’t allow him to live like this for any longer; he had survived a collapsing building, a bullet wound, and now this. That was more than he should have ever had to deal with but it would now end. Tomorrow morning Amy would take her son on the final stretch of their journey towards Grand Haven and tomorrow night she would tuck him in bed. She would sit beside him and read him a bedtime story, letting all the fear and worry he’d built up over the last couple of weeks fade away from his dreams.
Chapter 16
“Whoa! You’ve got a live one there, Cory!”
Andy and Brett sat on either side of Cory, who took a firm grip on his fishing rod and started to reel in his catch. The weather had died down slightly over the last couple of days allowing them to be out on the deck and Andy figured that was a perfect opportunity to do some fishing and catch something special for their dinner that night. Just because they didn’t have any power doesn’t mean they couldn’t whip up a great meal, it would just push them back to a more primitive way of cooking.
“Hang about!” Brett climbed to his feet, gazing out into the ocean while Cory wrestled with his rod beside him. “I think you might’ve got a reefer!”
Andy swore under his breath. “Seriously?”
“Yeah,” Brett replied and raised his right arm, pointing out into the distance. “Watch and see if the fin breaks the surface again.”
“What do I do?” Cory asked from in between the two more experienced fisherman. Even from the short exchange he knew what was going on and he didn’t want to end up fighting with a shark on the end of his line. Whitetip reef sharks were common in the waters around Ningaloo Reef; they’d seen quite a lot of them while they were filming the whale shark migration patterns. Mostly they were harmless creatures. It was only when a lot of them came together that it was dangerous to be in the waters around them. One of them shouldn’t be a problem though; Cory just had to figure out a way to get it off his hook.
“Let your line out,” Andy suggested. “See if she’ll let go herself.”
Cory did as he was instructed and stopped fighting the fish, giving it several more feet of line to swim away with. He wasn’t scared of the situation he’d suddenly found himself in, but knew he needed to be cautious and respectful of the animal on the end of his line. He’d always been fascinated by sharks—one of the main reasons he’d signed up to be a part of Andy’s team—but he knew that as much as he was in awe of them, he needed to be constantly alert whenever one was nearby.
“Do you think she can get off the hook on her own?” Brett asked Andy, the two older men watching the surface of the water carefully for any sign of the shark.
“I don’t know,” Andy ran a hand through his unkempt beard. “How’s the tension, Cory?”
“It’s pretty lax,” Cory replied. “Should I still be letting out line?”
“No,” Brett shook his head. “Hold the line now; see if she still fights or if she’s managed to get away.”
“Definitely still some fight in her,” Cory exhaled after a couple of seconds, feeling a sharp tug on his fishing rod as the shark reached the end of the extra line he’d let out. “What now?”
“You’re gunna have to fight her,” Brett sighed. “We can’t leave her out here with a hook in her mouth. We need to bring her in.”
“I’ll get the stuff,” Andy nodded, already understanding what Brett was intending they do and making his way inside. They needed to deal with the shark in the most humane way possible. It wasn’t anything new to them, he and Brett had tagged smaller sharks like reefers countless times before and he knew how to do it safely. It would require all of his crew to be on red alert though and he needed them to follow every instruction exactly.
“All right Andy,” Bryan smiled and looked up from the paper he was reading as Andy moved into the cabin of The Mako. “How’s the fishing going?”
“Cory’s hooked a whitetip,” Andy replied matter-of-factly. “We’re bringing it in to get the hook out of her mouth. Can you find Lucas and Pablo? We’ll need everyone on deck for this.”
Immediately Bryan pushed his papers to one side and rose to his feet. “Of course,” he nodded seriously, Bryan also experienced with dealing with sharks close to the boat. “Any equipment you need me to grab from downstairs?”
“Yeah, actually,” Andy snapped his fingers after a brief second of thought. “Can you get the sling hooks?”
“No problem,” Bryan nodded, making his way to the door that led to their sleeping quarters and the storage rooms. “Are you thinking of tagging her as well, or just getting the hook out?”
“Probably just removing the hook,” Andy replied with a shake of his head. “I know you’d like to tag her Bryan, but seeing as we haven’t planned for this, I don’t want us taking any unnecessary risks.”
“Yeah, I get you,” Bryan continued to nod. “Just the sling hooks then. Back in a second.”
Andy watched Bryan disappear and then set to work retrieving all the other bits and pieces they needed to free the shark from the line. He wasn’t worried about the task ahead of them; he would’ve just liked a little more time to prepare. It was something he’d done probably on over a hundred occasions, but dealing with a shark’s mouth was never the same, no matter how many times you’ve had your hand next to one. By the time Andy returned outside Brett had taken over fighting the shark, the fishing rod now in his more experienced hands while Cory watched on.
“You did good, kid,” Andy clapped Cory on the back as he walked past him, making sure he didn’t think he’d done anything wrong by hooking the shark. When you dangle bait in the ocean, it’s completely out of your control what latches on; it’s like throwing a piece of meat in a lion’s den and expecting only a housecat to pick it up.
“Anything I can do?” Cory asked immediately, noticing all the gear that Andy was carrying. “What’s the plan?”
“I’m going to set up the sling,” Andy replied, pulling a few long pieces of fabric out of a box on the deck and laying them out in a certain way along it. “I just need —”
“Got ’em,” Bryan appeared at that moment, holding out the sling hooks that Andy had asked for. Pablo and Lucas were right behind him as well, both immediately moving over to where Brett was holding the line and gazing out into the ocean to try and catch a glimpse of the whitetip.
“Thanks,” Andy said as he took the hooks from Bryan. “Now, this is the difficult part.”
Andy looked above at the mast where the sling hooks needed to attach to. It wasn’t as high as where they’d tried to rig the sail several days ago, but it would still require someone to climb up. After what had happened with Pablo, he had quite a few reservations about asking anyone to climb up there but as it turned out, he didn’t have to.
“I’ll go,” Cory said from beside him, reaching over and taking the sling hook from Andy’s hand. The young boy had been watching where Andy was looking and understood what needed to be done. He’d made the climb up the mast before and he was happy to do it again. Even though he knew he couldn’t have stopped the shark from getting hooked on his line he couldn’t help but feel responsible for all the extra trouble it was causing.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be fine Andy, don’t you worry.”
“Okay,” Andy nodded, allowing Cory to attach the sling hooks to his belt so he had both his hands free to climb. “Be careful.”
Cory flashed a toothy grin at Andy and walked forward, not once hesitating as he started to climb up the mast. He made quick work of attaching the hooks, hanging off the mast and reaching down for the arms of the sling too so he could make sure it was all set up in one trip. Once his feet were back on the deck Andy clapped him on the back again, proud of the efficient work that had just been done. Brett had nearly brought the shark all the way to the boat now and things were about to get serious.
“Okay,” Andy started
to speak, turning toward everyone on deck aside from Brett, who already knew how things were going to happen. “I need you three to stay back,” he addressed Pablo, Cory, and Lucas. “I don’t want to put you in any unnecessary danger and having everyone by the side will make things too crowded.”
The three younger crew members nodded. They could all see how serious things were and while they were all desperate to be involved, they knew they had to follow orders.
“Bryan, once Brett guides her into the sling, I’m going to need to you to take the line from him and attach a tail rope, okay? The two of us should be able to handle her in the water, but I need you there to keep her steady just in case she tries to run.”
“No problem,” Bryan nodded, looking over to Brett for a second to see how close he had managed to wrestle the shark to the boat. Brett was one of the best fishermen he had ever seen and there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that he would be able to guide the shark into the sling without it breaking free.
“Get in position, guys!” Brett’s shout came at the exact right moment, everyone on board knowing exactly what they needed to do and where they needed to be.
“Keep a close eye on things,” Andy said quickly to the three boys. “Be prepared to step up if anything goes wrong.”
“Don’t sweat it,” Cory replied quickly. “You got this Andy.”
“Good luck!” Lucas added before the three of all stepped back in unison, giving their more experienced companions enough room to work.
“Here she comes!” Brett cried out from his position and Andy dropped to his knees above the sling, watching as Brett skillfully led the whitetip reef shark into the sling, momentarily stopping it from swimming away. Naturally the shark started to panic, thrashing about and sending waves of water up onto the deck of the boat and drenching Andy. In a matter of seconds, Brett was beside his oldest friend, the fishing rod handed over to Bryan who watched the scene closely from the side. “Ready?” Brett asked as he and Andy lay down on their stomachs, arms out and ready to tackle the shark.
“Let’s do this,” Andy replied, shuffling forward so his head hung farther over the side of The Mako, ready to face off with the shark below.
As the two of them set to work, Andy managed to forget about everything that had happened. The fact his boat had no power and they were stranded in the middle of the ocean didn’t occur to him. He didn’t think about how they had already gone several days without making radio contact with anyone and how—if he had to put a time line on it—he would’ve expected to have seen another ship or a plane or something by now. All the worries that had plagued him over the past few days faded into the background and he felt like he was twenty years younger, working on his old research boat with his mentor and learning how to unhook sharks for the very first time.
Brett dealt with keeping the shark still while Andy dug around in her mouth for the hook. He had the dangerous job, having to physically reach into the fish’s mouth and pull the hook out of her tough skin. One wrong move from him or Brett and the shark’s jaws could snap closed around his wrist, leaving Andy’s hand in the shark’s mouth rather than on the end of his arm. In their current predicament an injury like that would almost certainly mean death for the underwater cinematographer; their first aid on board was better than most due to the nature of their work, but they didn’t have the capability to reattach a limb.
“Almost got it,” Andy mumbled under his breath, jiggling the hook from side to side one more time until the metal came free from the shark’s jaw and Andy was able to toss it behind him onto the deck. A cheer came from the three boys who waited back there, but Andy knew the battle wasn’t completely over yet.
“You still got her tail?”
“Yeah,” Brett replied from beside Andy, the strong fisherman covered in sweat from his effort to keep the shark still while Andy had had his fingers inside its mouth. “We need some slack on this sling now.”
Andy nodded. “Cory!” He shouted without turning his head, he knew the young boy would be listening and would be ready to help. As expected, he was by Andy’s side in seconds, waiting for an instruction. “Give us some slack on the sling,” Andy continued. “Just loosen the arms by a few feet.”
“On it!”
Andy and Brett waited over the shark, doing their best to hold her steady as her thrashing intensified now the hook was free from her mouth. Only a few seconds later they felt the sling starting to sink deeper into the water, evidence that Cory had done his job and the tension was loosening. Andy looked at Brett out of the corner of his eye. This next part had to work in absolute harmony or one of them could get hurt. They didn’t need to speak to communicate though, years of dealing with sharks and other sea creatures both preparing them for the task and meaning they knew exactly the right moment to let go. Just as the sling was deep enough in the water, Brett pulled the safety line off the shark’s tail and Andy removed the cover from its eyes. Not waiting for any further instruction, the shark snapped into action, swimming cleanly off the sling and diving deep into the dark ocean below.
Whoops and cheers came from everyone on deck at that moment, everyone happy to see the shark swim away freely. Andy and Brett grinned at one another and rolled away from the side, both lying on their backs in the middle of the deck and panting heavily for a moment until they caught their breath.
“That was great,” Cory beamed down at them both from above, a massive smile on his face. “You’ve got to teach us how to do that!”
Andy laughed and climbed to his feet. “Maybe next time, kid. Though don’t go catching any more sharks on purpose just for that!”
At that comment all six of them broke out into laughter, each one of them equally impressed by what had just happened. Andy looked at his team between his chuckles and once again was thankful to have them all by his side. What had just happened was an exercise they would’ve needed to complete had there been power on the boat or not; there was no other way of freeing a fish from a hook other than simply doing it by hand. Still, if they had power now he could easily put the kettle on, cook everyone a hot meal, and allow them to relax through the evening. The reality was far from that.
Five days had passed since The Mako became stranded. They still had plenty of gas on board to cook by, plenty of food they could fish from the oceans, and enough water to survive indefinitely. But that wasn’t what worried Andy. He and Bryan had been talking more frequently in the early hours of the mornings and both found it increasingly odd that they hadn’t seen anything else at sea since they got stuck. They understood that it may be taking a little time for their loved ones back home to be sending someone out to check on them with the radio being down, but Ningaloo Reef was a popular spot, so it was strange not to see another boat or a plane passing overhead in all this time.
Andy was growing increasingly suspicious about what had caused the power outage on his boat and just how far it might have spread. For some strange reason, there was something inside him saying that they weren’t the only ones to be suffering and that was what made Andy feel truly afraid.
Chapter 17
Facing out toward the city of Washington, now all Dixon had to do was decide where he was going. At first glance things didn’t look to have been improved at all by the teams of soldiers General Shepherd had sent out into the city. Fires were still burning; people were either running around screaming or lying suspiciously still on the ground. There were even several people looting shops in plain sight in front of the White House. All order and proper law seemed to have been instantly forgotten, no control present in any part of the city. Dixon wondered what had happened to all the soldiers who had left the White House. He’d had several friends among them and yet, looking out at what had already become of the city, he was uncertain he would ever see them again.
Readjusting his uniform, Dixon did his best to hide his military-issue 9mm pistol that attached to his waist. After his brief time spent in the city already he didn’t want to get into any more sh
oot-outs. Seeing as he’d already technically betrayed the oath he took by running out of the White House and away from his duty, it was an easy next step to avoid the people looting stores and to cross the road to put them out of his sight.
It was starting to get dark and Dixon had a suspicion that was only going to make things worse. He needed to get to Mary quickly, and ideally he wanted to get to her without anyone noticing him. Sticking close to the hedges of the White House, Dixon edged his way around the perimeter, walking towards the exit he normally took at the end of each day and the start of his route to the campus library where he had agreed to meet Mary. He didn’t know for sure whether or not she would be there, but it was where they had planned to meet at the end of the day and so logically, it was the best place to start searching for her.
He was forced to keep his head low as Dixon approached the main entrance to the White House. He knew that there was a high chance of him being spotted and if that were the case he would surely be questioned and brought back inside. Stopping for a moment, Dixon noticed a dead man hanging out of the passenger window of a nearby truck. A horrible thought occurred to him that made Dixon grimace but, if he was going to get to his girlfriend, he knew it had to be done.