Enduring the Crisis (15 page)

After he woke from his nap, Ben couldn’t shake the horrible feeling from the nightmare that woke him. He wished he’d never slept at all. It only escalated his fears for his wife and daughters.

As Ben was washing his face in the bathroom, Anderson hollered at him to go out on deck. The Coast Guard was boarding.

Jackson greeted them while his brother took care of things in the wheelhouse.

“I’m Seaman Miller.” He shook their hands. “We don’t need to inspect your boat at this time. We know you have no communications or any means to track what’s going on out here right now. We’re trying to get the civilian boats out of harm’s way.”

“What is happening?” Jackson asked.

“There are foreign ships heading into our waters and we’re building our presence to prevent a potential invasion. With the E.M.P. down south and Alaska being an oil rich state… come to your own conclusions. We want to make sure you get to Kodiak safely. As soon you see land, you should be in the clear to use your communications and radar again.”

“Actually we were headed for Homer. We don’t want to be stuck on an island.” Jackson shook his head emphatically

“You don’t want to be stuck out here in the middle of what’s going on right now. So be sensible.” He was firm.

Jackson and Miller continued their discussion as they walked to the wheelhouse leaving Ben and Nate on deck with the other seaman.

“It’s been rather busy here lately, huh?” Nate asked.

“And getting more so. My companion didn’t want to mention it but we have a lost a few civilian boats and two of our cutters. When we’d respond to their SOS calls, all we could find was boat debris and an oil slick so tell your friend we’re serious. That’s also why all communications are jammed. At least now we’re coming across civilian boats that are still intact. My best advice is for you to stay put in the harbor once you get there.”

Seaman Miller returned and they were off.

“What do you make of that?” Jackson asked as he watched the cutter pull ahead and Anderson followed them.

“I believe we’re lucky we’re still alive.” Nate stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Are we heading to Kodiak?”

“We’ll pass by it, yes. But we aren’t staying.” He smiled at Nate. “Aren’t you up to the adventure? It’s already been an eventful one.”

“I’m beginning to think you are a bit of a lunatic,” Nate replied.

“Well, you sure are a stick in the mud. Actually, Anderson and I have been traveling for so long that the only adventures we’ve had have been on land and our time on the water tends to be rather… dull. This is far from that and it sure has the blood pumping. I’m taking us to our intended destination. To Homer. In one piece, mind you.” He raised his arm as if he’d already triumphed as he went inside.

“I’ll believe it once we get there,” Nate muttered. “What has you so quiet? It’s not like you.”

“I haven’t been able to shake off the nightmare I had. Usually I can brush that stuff off. That one is haunting me. It seemed a bit too real. It was like I was watching what was unfolding at home, what might be happening to Tammy and the girls. In the dream I must have been a ghost or something to be hovering there like I was.” He rubbed his eyebrows. “It’s like… does it mean I die out here and then my spirit is going to watch them suffer? Or are they going through all that terrible hardship there and I need to try even harder to get myself home?” He sat on the bench along the wall. “It’s starting to feel a little pointless. Everything is taking so long. We’re still so far. What if I do get all the way down there and I can’t find them. Or I actually find out it is too late, they’re already dead?”

Nate sat beside him. “Do you think they’re already dead?”

“No. But that’s the last thing I ever want to think or assume. You think anything like that about your family?”

“No. But they aren’t in the city like your family is.”

“You’re so reassuring.”

“Do you have faith in your wife?”

Ben didn’t answer right away as he thought hard about it. “Yes, actually I do. She’s the most capable woman I know. She just gets in her own way sometimes.”

“Is that in a way that will potentially harm her or the girls?”

“Actually, no. It just slows her decision-making down. But it could be one of those moments when she’s taking too long pondering what she’s going to do. That could be what hurts them all in the end.”

“Let’s have faith that she’s doing everything she can and that it’s enough.” Nate rested his hand on Ben’s back.

He thought about it and eventually nodded. “Okay, I can do that. And let’s have some faith that Jackson and his brother are
not
lunatics and will get us to Homer in one piece.”

“Deal.” Nate shook Ben’s good hand to seal the deal.

The four girls packed up their clothes and special things in the totes she brought home a few days earlier. They helped her pack all the jars of canned foods in tubs. They wrapped each jar with a washrag or towel or a t-shirt so they were maximizing what they were packing to take to the cabin.

“Amanda, I need your muscles.” Tammy was in the garage removing the two by fours from the wall above the second bay in the garage.

“You need me to help you with that? Why are you taking it down?”

“We’re moving the trailer in here so we can load it.”

“But it’s already in the backyard.”

“I want to load it in here where we can keep things locked up until we need to go.” She headed out to the back. Her husband had welded some modifications to the tongue near the hitch so that they could add a long metal rod to move it by hand. Even though it was a big enclosed cargo trailer, Amanda and Tammy could maneuver it easily. The hard part was moving it through the gate and backing it into the garage as fast as they could when there was no one around in front of the house.

After Amanda helped her move the trailer in the garage, Tammy loaded it only to take everything out as she tried to figure out the best way to pack as much as she could in the big white box. Not having Charlie home to pack her things was holding Tammy up. She wanted to have the trailer packed that night but as the sun was setting, there was no Charlie.

Tammy grabbed her stun stick and stuffed the pepper spray in her pocket that she found when she’d been packing earlier. “I’m going after your sister. Hopefully I don’t have to use this and hopefully I won’t be so mad that I decide to test it out on her.” Right before she slammed the door, she paused and pointed at Amanda. “This is not the time of night I want to leave you girls alone. Lock every lock and recheck that everything is locked, got it?” She pointed the stick at Amanda.

She raised her hands in the air in surrender. “Got it mom. Don’t worry. I don’t want to feel that thing either.”

“Oh, sorry.” She glanced at the other three girls. “I’m not going to touch any of you girls with this thing.” Tammy started to shut the door. “As long as Charlie doesn’t stir the pot, she should be okay.” She winked at them before she closed the door.

At least her frustration muted the terror she felt as she left the house and headed down the road. The clouds looked as if someone had painted them on the sky colored canvas above with vibrant pinks and oranges coloring the cotton ball tufts.

Sunsets were nice but they also meant darkness was fast approaching, especially in September. The chill was setting in. The nights were already colder than they had been the week before. Smoke filled the air but it wasn’t from the house fires, people were using their fire pits.

She was about to go around the corner when she saw them. Immediately she ducked behind some bushes. She crept back on her hands and knees until she was able to hide behind it while they walked down the street. They had nothing better to do than act like a bunch of monkeys doing their chest thumping, thinking they looked tough. They were just a bunch of idiots.

She waited until they were out of sight before she made her way back to the sidewalk. It was getting dark way too fast. As soon as she was at Landon’s house standing on their doorstep, she wished she had left an hour earlier. She tapped her toes on the porch while she waited for someone to answer the door. She was greeted by the barrel of a shotgun pointed at her chest. Her arms flew up in the air as her heart pounded fiercely in her chest as if she’d already been shot.

“It’s just me, I’ve come for Charlie.” She turned away from the gun.

“You didn’t hear me ask who was there?” The woman scowled at her. Light barely trickled out from inside the house. It was hard for Tammy to see her face.

“No, not at all.”

“Mom.” A tall slim nice looking boy with a mop of dark hair hanging over his eyes pushed the woman with the gun back into the house. She didn’t even notice what he’d looked like at the church but he was totally Charlie’s type. “Are you Charlie’s mom?” he asked.

“When did you get here, son?” the mother asked.

“I just got back. She’s home already.”

“How come we didn’t cross paths?” Tammy clenched her fists.

“She was scared of those men that have been prowling the streets. We went through a neighbor’s backyard and climbed the fence to avoid them.

“And that neighbor was probably the one shooting doves this morning just like your neighbor behind you. You’re lucky you made it home in one piece.” Tammy turned to scan the street again. She shook her head to clear the anxiety that was building. She was going to have hard time getting home without running into the idiot monkey boys again.

“Are you okay?” Landon asked.

“I just wished I’d bumped into you before I got all the way here. I didn’t want to leave the girls home alone in the first place.” She walked off the porch as the urgency to get home consumed her.

“I don’t think she’s okay, Mom.” Landon started to follow.

Tammy waved for him to stay put.

“Son, none of us are in our right mind right now. When have I ever answered the door by pointing a shotgun at someone?” his mother asked.

“Thanks for letting Charlie stay today,” Landon shouted.

Tammy wasn’t listening. She was watching for shadows. People were not outside. Probably because they knew better. She did too and there she was. They wanted to hurt
her
, and her daughters were far too appealing to them. They were too close to her house and she was too far.

She looked behind her and then it was too much. Crouching behind a car, she stayed there until she could get her breathing under control. She couldn’t settle the panic that gripped her chest, though. It had been hurting since that stupid woman opened the door and pointed that gun at her.

People were already crazy. She was crazy. Yes, she was losing her mind. So tired, paranoid, and scared that they weren’t going to make it. What would she do if she lost even one of her girls? She couldn’t handle the stress as it was. The worst part was she felt as if she was mourning already, that she would never see Ben again. The hope she had the first few days was completely gone, especially as her own problems mounted.

She stood up when she was sure there was no one around. The urgency to hurry home took over and she headed for her house again. Gripping the stun stick, she swung it and pointed it at a house when she saw movement. It was just the wind blowing leaves off one of the early leaf dropping trees.

She stayed on the sidewalk and kept looking behind her. The flicker of a flame from a lighter caught her eye when she focused on the sidewalk in front of her again. It was not far in front of her.

“I was waiting for you.” That voice.

She knew it and her heart nearly jumped out of her body. Running for the street, she circled the abandoned cars. Age was not kind to her. She swung the stun stick at him when he caught up. She froze when he pointed a handgun at her chest.

“There’s no law to stop me. No one to convict me and everyone is too scared to step in.” An ugly smile spread across his face. “I make the rules and I get to play God tonight. I say your time is up.” He licked his lips as if he was waiting for her to beg for mercy.

That’s not how she worked. She was breathing hard, working on catching her breath. She wasn’t going to beg. As she clenched the stun stick, she squinted as she looked the idiot boy over.

“You got anything to say? How about some last words? Should I tell those girls mama sends her love?” he said, mocking her. “Beg, woman!” He screamed.

She was breathing even harder but didn’t move a muscle. She just stared at him.

“Come on, I know your scared. Show me!” He turned the gun sideways as he showed her he was preparing to shoot.

He wasn’t going to show her mercy, she already knew that. She could stand there, beg him to spare her life and yet it was obvious that would only encourage him. He already proved repeatedly he had no moral compass. There was little time left and she wasn’t going to let him win.

“Give me that stick, gently now.” He pointed the handgun at her face.

She turned it around to safely hand it to him and slowly raised it to meet his free hand. When he thought she was going to hand it to him , she swung it at the gun as she twisted her body the opposite direction. His arm flew up as gunshots fired. Before she figured out what happened, she felt an awful burning on her upper arm as idiot boy dropped to his knees. He looked up at her stunned for a moment before he collapsed to the ground.

She shined the stun stick’s flashlight on the limp body crumpled on the ground in front of her. Red spread across his shirt.

He was dead.

Tammy spun around, looking for who may have shot him. Or was it her they were trying to shoot because she was fighting him off and they missed?

Did anyone see? Would they think she did it? Who else was there? She couldn’t hear a thing as her mind raced and her body sent her in the direction of home.

She didn’t get far when someone stepped in front of her and he grabbed her when she couldn’t stop herself from colliding into him.

She shoved the man off her. He was big. Tall, broad, and strong. She swung the stun stick at him, reaching for the pepper spray in her pocket. “Leave me alone.” Before she could run far, he grabbed her from behind and stopped her again.

She flung her head back to hopefully hit his nose and shoved an elbow in his sternum.

He groaned as the elbow made contact. Before she could turn on him and use what protection she had, he grabbed her wrists and held her arms high above their heads to where she couldn’t fight him as easily. She had to stand on her tiptoes.

“Tammy, I’m not going to hurt you. I just saved your life. Calm down.”

She focused on what little she could see of his face. “You’re the guy who wanted to help me get home. You know my name?” She started to relax and he eased his hold on her arms. “Wait, you killed that boy.”

“He was going to kill you and your daughters were next. He wasn’t going to stop his terrorizing. Believe me, everyone is better off.”

“How can you do that so easily?” Her eyes filled with tears, she was about to sink to her knees and she was suddenly so cold she shivered. Her head was feeling extra light.

“Come here before you pass out.” He helped her over to a car and guided her so she could lean against it. “You’re in shock.”

“My kids, I have to get home,” She took a couple steps and nearly fell to her knees. He caught her arm.

“Why is that wet?” He smelled what was on his hand. “You’re hurt.”

“I thought I felt something. Look, I need to go home.” She couldn’t make her body do what she wanted it to do.

He helped her sit on the sidewalk as he looked at her arm with a flashlight. “I think when he fired, it grazed your arm. Pretty good one too.” He pulled out a handkerchief and wrapped her arm. He looked her in the eye. “You did good, actually. You’re still alive because of what you did.”

Tammy tried to stand up again once he finished tying the wrap. “I want to go home to my babies.” She started to cry when she couldn’t control her body and make it move. “Stupid old good for nothing body.”

He helped her to her feet and held her in front of him. “I’m stalling you because my buddies are taking care of things and cleaning up the mess. Your girls are safe, totally unharmed. They might be shook up if they were peeking through the windows and witnessed the fight.”

“The fight? Were you there?”

“I was and I barely got here in time. What was her name? Mae? She remembered me and told me through the back door that you weren’t home and she was worried about you when the older one came home.”

“Who are you anyway?”

“My name is Dale. I used to be in the military. Combat veteran. So are some of my buddies. Those guys roaming the streets are nothing compared to the kind of people we’ve fought in the past.”

“Are you protecting us?”

“For now. We’ve been cleaning up some of the trouble spots in this area. There are some worse gangs over in the wealthy neighborhood over yonder.” When he waved to the north indicating where it was, she knew where he was talking about. “Those ones are a bunch of food hoarders and trouble showed up there like moths to a porchlight but we snuffed them out and now they are as dead as moths to a flame.” He smiled with great satisfaction.

Tammy was finally getting her balance back and desperately wanted to get home. She took a few steps. “Please, I’ll feel better if I can get home.”

“I think it’s safe to head back now.” He held her elbow for a bit to be sure she wasn’t going to collapse.

Tammy suddenly felt like she was a junior high kid again as she walked with the big guy by her side.

“Dale? You and your friends, are you some sort of militia?”

“I guess. But I heard the military is finally mobilizing.” He stopped and wanted her to stop too. “This is what I’ve heard. They are heading into some of the troubled neighborhoods, the ones with high body counts and areas that typically don’t have crime. They say they are coming to maintain peace, but one of my buddies said that not only are they searching for large stashes of firearms, they are looking for people with stockpiled food. They take it. Because I guess they don’t have enough to give to everyone? I say give them all MREs and call it good. You know it’s just survival right now.” He looked at her in a way as if he knew he was giving her information that someone prepared would need to know.

Tammy wanted to know how he already knew her name and was giving her information she needed to know. She chewed on her fingernail. “When are they coming?”

“I don’t know. Soon. Maybe even sooner when they find the current body count from this evening to add to the ones from the fires last night.” Dale rubbed something off Tammy’s cheek. “You’ll want to wash up.” He looked down at the ground when he was suddenly uncomfortable. “You’re married?”

Tammy looked at the ring on her finger and nodded. “Yes.” Her eyes welled up with tears again and she looked away. She shook her head trying to make it stop.