The Onyx Seed - A Story of Survival by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 23

Had it not been for the storm surge, they would have drifted for hours, perhaps days and running aground would have left them at a standstill, but the waves were strong, and the water was high. As they continued to navigate the outlet by line of sight, they began to discover how large the city really was. Knowing little about navigating the sea, Marty gave directions to Julie, not in degrees, but with the words ‘left’, ‘right’ and ‘stop’. Occasionally, Julie would join him on the stern, curious about what surrounded them. After two hours, they found themselves approaching the narrows of the outlet as docks on either side became visible. Other boats had broken from their moorings and drifted. Pitching and rolling in the wind-whipped water. The rain’s intensity refused to yield as water made its way through the open hatch and down into the cabin. “We’re getting closer to the docks!” Marty yelled. “Stay to the left!”

Julie turned back toward the stern. “Where do you think we are?!” she asked. “I have no idea!” Marty answered. “Maybe Tampa!” The hurricane was strong enough to reverse the current of the outlet and served to speed them toward the docks. At the same time, without a working motor, maneuvering into a specific slip would be impossible. They would have to tie up at whichever dock they drifted into.

Sitting in one position brought cramps to Julie’s legs and back. Expressing her discomfort, she asked Marty if they could switch places. But, as Marty was informing her of their proximity to the nearest dock, the wooden structure announced its presence with a thump as the hull of the Stellar Storm made contact with it. Bouncing away slightly, it set itself adrift by only a foot or so. Marty was at the ready with a length of rope he’d fashioned into a crude lasso. He threw it toward the dock, trying to loop it around a wood piling that stood near the end of the dock. During the storm’s fury, accomplishing this proved to be more difficult than he expected. As the boat continued to drift away from the dock, Marty quickly gathered up the rope. Gripping the loop in his right hand, he made a running start and leaped from the deck. Not for a single moment did he consider the risk of coming up short as his feet landed firmly on the docks heavy wooden frame. Hearing his footsteps trample across the deck, Julie was quick to crawl through the wreckage of the cockpit and onto the stern, fearing that Marty may have slipped and fallen overboard. She stood up just in time to see Marty wrapping the rope around the piling. Looking up at her, he raised his hands high in victory, prompting a broad smile to appear on her face. The Stellar Storm continued to drift and pulling the line taut, caused it to lurch to a sudden stop. Marty held up an index finger, then pointed at the rope yelling, “One more!” He wanted both ends of the boat tied to the dock, allowing them to get on and off without fear of it drifting away at an angle. Julie nodded her understanding and gave him a thumbs up. She grabbed another coil of rope and tying one end to the stern rail, threw it to Marty. Fighting the waves, he pulled the stern in and looped the rope several times around a second piling at the dock's opposite end. Once both lines were secured, Marty jumped back on board and motioned Julie back into the cabin.

Marty closed the hatch behind them as they descended the steps and returned to the cabin. The carpet at the bottom of the steps was saturated with seawater and small leaks had appeared along the ceiling after giving way to the weight of the mast. Julie threw her arms around him, not quite believing they were still alive after battling a hurricane that should have killed them both. They stood in the middle of the cabin with their arms around each other as the waves continued pitching the boat, even while tied up at the dock.

“Julie,” Marty said.

Her silent response spoke volumes for the exhaustion that had suddenly swept over her. “Julie, we can’t stay here. The boat’s shot.” She let out an exhausted sigh.

“I’m so tired.”

“I know,” Marty replied. “But it’s not safe here.” Julie took a deep breath and tried to re-energize herself.

“So, what do we do now?” she asked. Marty hesitated as his mind searched for ideas. “We need a plan,” he answered.

He knew they couldn’t simply leave without knowing how to proceed. They needed to determine what the next step would be.

“Come on,” he began. “Have a seat.” He walked Julie over to the dining table. And sitting across from each other, gathered their thoughts in an attempt to develop a plan. Neither of them possessed any knowledge of the area outside of what they could see beyond the boat. Back in L.A., Marty used road maps as well as the phone book to plan their escape. Here, wherever here was, they had no information at all and may as well have landed on the moon. The conversation was short. Marty determined that the first order of business was to find out where they were. It wasn’t as important to know the name of the city as it was to find a way out. And to do that, they needed information. Reconnaissance was one of the things Marty specialized in and quickly felt himself slipping back into his element.

“I need you to stay here,” he said. “No!” Julie replied. “You’re not leaving me here!” Her eyes teared up as she felt herself, again, approaching a state of panic.

“No, I’m going with you!”

Marty reached out and took her hands. “Listen, I can do this a lot faster if I do it alone. Now, I need you to stay here with the boat. Everything we have is here and I want to be able to take all of it with us.”

He walked to the stern and reached into his pack, retrieving his nine millimeter. He walked back and set it on the dining table in front of Julie. “I’ll be back in one hour,” he said. “I promise.”

“Marty,” Julie replied. “I don’t think I can shoot someone.”

Her eyes began to tear up as Marty sat down across from her again and took her hand. “Well, you seemed to do pretty well when we first met,” he said.

“I thought it was empty!” she screamed tearfully. Marty paused, trying to find some words of comfort. Telling Julie that everything was going to be alright would be a complete lie, to say nothing of patronizing. He took his GPS receiver out of his pocket, setting it in front of her as well and set the display its built-in clock. Julie looked at him with tears streaming down her face.

“You better come back,” she said. Marty leaned over the table and kissed her gently on the lips. He could taste the saltiness of her tears as her eyes continued to well up. From the events of the last two weeks, the one thing she learned about herself was that she did not like to be alone. She didn’t have the strength to go up against the world by herself. Marty got to his feet and checked his watch, setting it to the exact time as the GPS display. Julie looked at him like a lost child, her heart filled with hopelessness.

“Please come back,” she said.

Marty looked into her eyes, realizing that leaving Julie, even for an hour, was the most difficult thing he’d ever done in his life. But, the boat was no longer safe, and they needed to leave. And the sooner, the better. Reaching down to kiss her again, she tipped her chin up and closed her eyes. Her mouth fell open as she returned his kiss as he put his hands on each side of her warm, tear moistened face. “One hour,” he said.

He explained that, upon his return, he would signal his presence by twice tapping the first line of Jingle Bells. Now, turning out the few lights that had been left on during their battle with the storm, Marty asked her not to turn them back on for fear that they would attract the wrong kind of attention. He made the assumption that there were survivors here as well.

Leaving Julie sitting at the dining table, Marty quickly walked up the cabin steps, pushed the hatch open, and disappeared into the storm. She listened as he jumped onto the dock, his steps fading into the distance. She was alone for the first time since the military swept through Corpus Christie. There, she’d spent most of her time in self-imposed isolation, trying not to be discovered. Yet, still in the presence of others. Now, she sat asking herself what she would do if Marty failed to return. Not that she believed he would abandon her, but there was something in the way he kissed her that told her Marty would never leave her behind. She looked down at the gun he’d left on the table and with a thumb and forefinger, pushed it away. Resting her elbows on the table, Julie brought her open hands up to her face and whispered, “Please come back.”

In her mind, she began to question everything that led up to this point.

Why did any of this have to happen? Why did they survive when so many others had perished? And what would they do now? She was tempted to nap as the hour crawled by, if for no other reason than to escape. Time became a curse as Julie’s eyes repeatedly went to the display of the GPS. She considered reorganizing their supplies then she remembered that Marty had asked to keep the lights off. Under the circumstances, it was critical to avoid getting noticed. As evening approached, the cabin began to grow dark. The air started to impose its heaviness, becoming stale and humid. Occasionally, her attention would peak at some nondescript sound coming from outside the boat. Moving to the other side of the cabin, she posted herself at a window and sat peering out into the rain. Every sound brought a random image of terror into her consciousness. She knew it would be foolish for anyone to be out in these conditions. Yet, that was of little comfort to a young, attractive woman sitting alone in the darkened cabin of a wrecked yacht. The near hour of isolation left her senses twisted and her fear of the unseen spiraling out of control. With her back against the hull, Julie began to drift off into a light sleep when she was startled by a familiar sound. She moved toward the window and looking outside, saw a pair of headlights making their way toward the dock. Suddenly thrown into a desperate panic, Julie ran over to the dining table and grabbed the gun. She went to the bow and huddled down on the floor with her back to the bedroom door, still uncertain whether she would be able to shoot another human being, but Julie was no longer reacting with a rational mind. Now, she was now driven by fear.

Through the rains constant chatter, Julie heard the steady rumble of an engine. It drew near the dock and stopped seconds before a car door opened then closed. This was followed by the rhythmic pattern of footsteps, growing louder with each second. They made their way onto the deck as Julie brought the gun up and pointed it at the hatch. After a painfully long moment of silence, she heard a tapping against the fiberglass shell of the hatch. Its rhythm left a familiar impression with her and when she heard it a second time, recognized it as the first line of ‘Jingle Bells’. As promised, Marty had returned. And pulling open the hatch, he called down to Julie. Knowing she was in possession of his nine millimeter, he didn’t want to surprise her and end up getting shot. Julie let a deep sigh of relief while lowering the gun to the floor. As Marty descended the steps, Julie released the gun and leaving it on the floor, got up and ran to him. He had arrived carrying a plastic bag and dropped it to the floor, put out his arms as Julie collided into him. In that one moment, she had become like a child who, after a long search, finally found her puppy. She was silent in her emotions as she tightened her hold around Marty’s waist.

“I said I’d be back in an hour, didn’t I?” Marty asked. Julie nodded and wiped away the tears that once again flowed down her face.

“Please, don’t do that again,” she replied. “I won’t,” he replied as he wrapped his arms around her.

He walked her to the dining table and as she sat down noticed something different about his appearance. Pointing to the waist level jacket he was wearing, she asked, “Where did you get that?”

He glanced down at the green front zipped jacket he was wearing.

“Oh, do you like this?” he asked. “Forest green Gortex with a hood comically. Very expensive.” His humor lightened Julie’s emotional state as she put her hands on her hips and clownishly replied, “So, where’s my present?”

He smiled broadly as he got to his feet and returned to the cabin steps, where the plastic bag still lay on the floor. Picking it up, he returned to the dining table where he retrieved from it a matching jacket. “Don’t worry,” he began. “I got one for you, too.” Julie was tickled that both matched perfectly. But Marty’s choice was not motivated by style or sentiment. They were no longer traveling by sea and where they were going required them to blend in with any surrounding foliage.

“So, what else did you get?” she asked. Marty opened the bag again.

“Well,” he began. “A few things we’re going to need.”

He took out a few folding maps, explaining that they needed to know how to get out of the area. He had also recovered a phone book to be used in finding food and supplies.

“And I have a surprise,” he said.

He took out a folded newspaper and holding it up said,

“We’re in St. Petersburg.”

Julie was overwhelmed as she grabbed it from Marty’s hands. She studied its banner, as though there was something about it that wasn’t quite real. She looked up from it, her eyes lit with sudden realization and surprise.

“Holy shit!” she said. “We did it!” Marty grinned broadly as he absorbed the few moments of Julie’s exuberance.

“We actually got to St. Petersburg!” She leaped across the table and kissed Marty repeatedly, sharing her exhilaration of having arrived at their intended location. Having left Marty flushed and aroused, she dropped back into her seat, brought her hands together and with an elated expression and asked if he’d brought any more surprises. “As a matter of fact, I did,” he answered. He reached into his pocket and retrieved a set of keys and dropped them in front of her as her eyes followed them to the table. And picking them up looked at Marty with anticipation.

“What is it?” she asked with wide eyes.

She jumped from her seat and ran to the other side of the cabin. Her eyes strained to see through the sheets of rain, still driven by the now passing hurricane. “Holy shit!” she exclaimed. “Are you kidding?!” It appeared slowly as Julie’s eyes focused through the continuing torrents of rain. In the parking lot sat a large rectangular vehicle. White, with a heavy brown stripe down the side. Excitedly, she ran out of the cabin, jumped onto the dock, and sprinted toward the vehicle. Marty followed behind her, straining to keep up. Having left the Army some time ago, running was something he was no longer accustomed to. Arriving at the driver’s door, Julie fumbled with the keys. “It’s already unlocked!” Marty yelled. Upon hearing this, she threw the door open and climbed inside. Turning away from the windshield, she gasped in disbelief as her eyes were led down the middle of a thirty-two-foot motor home. Among its amenities were a flat-screen TV, a small washer and dryer, a complete bathroom and sleeping quarters for three. It was a house on wheels and Julie found herself at home immediately. She took a few steps into the living area with wide eyes and mouth agape in wonder. Marty followed her inside and stood between the seats, watching her reaction. She spun around and looking at Marty with excitement asked, “When do we leave?”

Marty grinned broadly at her childlike reaction. “Well,” he began. “There are a few things that need to be done first. We need to get everything off the boat and in here. Then, we have to figure out how to get out of the state and find our way north.”

The storm, again, made its presence known as the wind pushed at the side of the RV, rocking it hard enough to startle both of them.

“And I don’t think the storm’s going to be much help.”

“So, do we pack now or wait until tomorrow?” Julie asked.

“I think we should, at least, get started now,” Marty answered. “If we wait ‘til the storm lets up, we might start seeing a few survivors coming out of the woodwork and I’d like to be gone before then.” Julie understood the risk of running into other survivors and that people are irrational by nature, necessitating the need for government, religion and social order. People, she believed, need someone to tell them what to do, how to behave, what to believe, and have always carried with them the potential for lawlessness. It is their need to be governed that allows them to willingly be kept in check. Now, they would be lost and many would be ruled by the irrationality of their animal nature.

They spent the majority of the night transferring supplies from the Stellar Storm. Some lighter items were lost. Blown away by the storm. Without Lucas, packing the RV seemed to take forever as the warm rain turned cold with the coming night. By the time they were finished, the cabinets had been filled as well as all floor mounted storage. Marty and Julie sat in the driver and passenger seats. Their clothes soaked. Their skin wind burnt. They stared out at the Stellar Storm. Its mast and deck in ruins as it bobbed in the water, still tethered to the dock. They quietly reflected on all the things that had transpired aboard her. Gathering around the radio. The long conversations. However, the most memorable event was, unfortunately, the most painful. Seeing Lucas taken by a swarm of the seas hungry monsters. Neither of them would ever be free of the sight of churning blood and water, or the silent scream that covered his face. Julie reached over and placed a hand on Marty’s leg.

“We should get going,” she said. He looked over at her with a distant expression, started the RV and slowly backed out of the parking lot. The plan was to leave the state and continue up the east coast. Marty’s goal was the Fulton County area of upstate New York, where they would largely be isolated yet still within easy reach of several outlying cities. They could travel to Amsterdam, Schenectady or, as far as Albany to acquire any needed supplies. But they still had a long journey ahead of them and it would not be without risks. By this time, both Marty and Julie had become fully aware that anything could go wrong at any time and on some level, each knew that the only thing that would be of real comfort to either of them was each other. Julie turned and looked back into the RV’s living area.

“Nice choice, by the way,” she said. Marty glanced over at her with a grin. “There were some that were bigger,” he said. “But they use more gas, and they’re harder to drive.” Julie leaned over and looked at the gas gauge. “How much gas do we have?” she asked.

“Normally,” he began. “Before you’d drive off the lot, they’d put about five gallons in to get you to the nearest gas station. But while I was out, I picked up a siphoning hose, so we’ve got a full tank.” Julie looked at him with a broad smile. “So,” she remarked. “You’re not just another pretty face, are you?”

Her clothes still soaked, she got up from the passenger’s seat and walked back into the RV. “God, I’m drenched,” she said. “I need to get into some dry clothes.”

She went to the back bedroom and in the dark, hunted for a clean set of scrubs. Having found the correct size, she turned toward the hallway. “Hey, Marty,” she yelled. “When the storm lets up, can we stop someplace where I can get some real clothes?”

Marty glanced up at the rearview mirror, seeing nothing but shadows. Not that he was trying to be ungentlemanly. It was simply a natural reaction for one to look where another’s voice is coming from. “Uh, yeah, sure,” he answered.

He started across the bridge leading into Tampa as Julie returned wearing a clean set of scrubs and toweling the rain out of her hair. She sat down in the passenger’s seat, wrapping the towel around her head. “Julie,” Marty said. “It’s got to be about midnight so, if you want to get some sleep... I mean, it might not be a bad idea. We can drive in shifts.”

She let out a deep sigh that prompted her body to suddenly release the long day’s tension.

“You know,” she began. “I didn’t realize how tired I was until now. I think, maybe, I should get some sleep.”

As she got up, Julie steadied herself by putting a hand on Marty’s shoulder. He turned slightly and noticed her scent. Although each realized they were headed down the road to a deep passionate bond, Marty also knew that this was not the time or place for matters of the heart. He glanced up at the rearview mirror again as she disappeared into the back bedroom. He heard the bed gently give way beneath her slender body and as soon as her head touched the pillow, her mind quickly drifted off into a quiet, undisturbed repose.