If we were approached before being able to offload them then they were going to pop up and blast away a few rockets at whoever came out to challenge us. Then it would become a race to see if we could get the nuke positioned and the timer started before we got discovered.
I was going over the plan in my head as Davis set us up to move into the bay when the engine started pitching a fit. A high-pitched whine came out of it and I noticed we lost a good bit of our forward momentum. Davis was messing with the throttle and yanking the wheel from side to side. Without the motor spinning the propellers we were starting to turn broadside to the rolling swells slamming into the bay. Wilson popped up from behind the tarp with his mask and flippers on. He had tied a rope around himself and he tossed the other end to Walker who had stood up and worked on securing it.
I assumed they were talking on the Seal radio. I had mine on but had forgotten to turn it on. I flipped it on now and put the mic and speaker in the right positons to be part of the comms. I caught the tail end of Wilson telling Davis to kill the engines until he gave the word then Wilson jumped into the water in the stern of the boat while Walker paid out line to him. He’d jumped in with a knife in one of his hands. A few minutes and several scary waves later we heard Wilson saying to try the engines again over the comms. Davis pushed up on the throttle. They whined super loud for a minute then the engine kicked back in and we felt the propellers as they bit into the cold Pacific water.
Wilson clambered onto the deck. He’d cut off a bunch of kelp that had gotten wrapped around the propellers and locked up the engine. Looking up I saw the next thing we were going to have to deal with that was now clearly visible was a jetty that disappeared into the water. The large rocks were sending water splashing high into the night sky as the swells crashed down on it. Instead of trying to reverse back through the kelp Davis just angled us away from the Jetty and pushed the throttle all the way forward. We came close to hitting the jetty but managed to avoid it and move into the mouth of the harbor.
As we were all breathing a sigh of relief at not having died before we even made contact with the enemy we saw running lights coming towards us.
Entry 27: Just Bobbing Around
The boat continued past us while we huddled in the cabin waiting to see if we needed to bust out and fight or if we were going to be able to keep moving in. The rain was coming down in sheets now and the wind was howling. If there were still cable TV news reporters they’d have been standing on shore with their ponchos on saying how bad it was. I don’t know if they even have hurricanes on the west coast. I’m guessing they’re called something else. Something to do with el Niño. Whatever they may be called, this seemed to be developing into one of them.
We were now bobbing around in the middle of the bay and the waves were still rocking us around. More boats were passing us and heading out into the ocean to ride out the storm. At least four or five boats equivalent to what we were in had passed us already. None of them had done more than give Davis a casual wave as they went past. We assumed it was a casual wave anyway. Luckily, we could barely see them so if they were giving us some other sort of signal they could easily just think we missed what they were trying to get across.
Up ahead, we had been seeing lights on the horizon. They had been getting brighter the closer we got. Abruptly, most of them winked off. I was thinking that meant either the power lines had gone down in the storm or they were getting ready to cast off the air craft carrier so it could get out into the open ocean and ride out the storm. We needed to destroy their carrier. If they got out into the open ocean we didn’t have a chance. This storm was screwing us over even as it was probably the only reason we hadn’t been riddled with automatic weapons fire already.
Wilson was staring at where the lights had just blinked out. I assumed he was thinking the same thing I was.
“How long does it take to get a carrier underway?” I asked him.
“They already had the reactor online to provide power. If they were a well-trained crew they’d probably be able to make the ocean in an hour or so. Since they probably barely know what they’re doing I’d say it’ll take more like two to three hours for them to make it out if they’re going full tilt.”
If we had a real warhead on board we could just set it to go off in an hour right here and then pretty much expect it to vaporize everything within a mile or so. This 1950’s cold war spy bomb we had was more on the level to do damage to about a city blocks worth of real estate. With this giant storm, we were stuck in going on we were probably going to miss out on a lot of the benefits of the boom from the bomb as well. We’d planned on it pulling in Zombies from all over the place. We hadn’t planned on mother nature drowning out the explosion with her own fireworks.
Our plan had us setting this bomb down near the carrier and setting it to go off an hour after we left. If we did that now the carrier may be out of the bay before it went off. Then we’d take out some buildings and make that big boom we’d wanted to make. However, we would not have accomplished anything of real import.
“Can we tie the nuke to the carrier?” Ann asked. “That way if they leave they’d drag it with them and still get blown up. We wouldn’t get the city but I’d feel pretty good if we took out one of their carriers. I call that a day well spent.”
“We can tie it on.” Wilson stopped to think about it. “I even know where we’d tie it to. They have cleats all up and down the water line to tie barges and supply boats off to. We should be able to find one of those. My bigger problem is we didn’t design the webbing holding the bomb and the triggering mechanism to handle being drug behind a ship at full speed out into the middle of a hurricane. I’m not sure it wouldn’t just fall apart. In which case, the bomb sinks down to the bottom and we accomplished nothing except for losing the bomb we’ve been dragging all over the damn countryside with us.”
We were passing a bunch of docks now. Wilson told us those were where the subs were tied up last time he was here. He was sure those were probably out to sea or scuttled in the bay somewhere. No way the Navy would have let the Koreans get their hands on them. We continued making our way through the storm towards where the carrier should be docked at. The waves and wind were driving us towards the docks on the north side of the bay. We had to steer against the wind and the waves to keep from being smashed apart on the docks. That was making it slow going to get over to where the carrier should still be tied up.
We all knew the carrier could come steaming towards us at any time. The Koreans would be hustling to get their only source of energy out into the ocean where it could easily ride out the storm. The carrier should have had the equipment on it for the Koreans to have predicted this storm coming and gotten out earlier. They must not have the skills needed to utilize the weather equipment on board or maybe it was all tied into satellites that weren’t working right anymore. The stream of small boats headed out of the bay had stopped with no one coming to questions why we were headed into the bay.
Any of the boats that had seen us could have reported us back to the harbor master. Letting him know some idiots were coming into the bay in the middle of a storm instead of staying out in the ocean where they probably would have been ok. The weather was getting to the point where we were now trying harder to survive than to find the best place to attack. We made it around the bend into the slightly more sheltered side of the bay in time to see the massive carrier move out from its dock and head straight towards us.
We saw that in between sheets of rain beating down across the windshield. The carrier looked so much bigger than we were that it seemed pathetic we were attacking it. Like a gnat attacking an enraged werewolf. The carrier probably did not even know we were there but would very likely run us over and send us all to the bottom if we didn’t get out of its way quick. The swells seemed obscenely huge inside the bay. The water here should be calm and flat with only the wake from the occasional sports fisherman going too fast disturbing it. Instead, boats were being thrown on top
of docks and pilings were bending from the pressure being exerted on them. All around us we heard groaning and snapping noises as the creations of man were tested and found wanting by the gods of the sea.
Wilson was frozen in place. None of the rest of us had much of a clue as to what should be our next move either. This plan had gone completely sideways at this point. I decided we needed to face up to reality here.
“Hey Wilson. Hey guys.” Everyone nodded to show they were paying attention even as most faces remained stuck to the windshield watching the storm and the progress of the carrier. The lights on the carrier got closer every time we got to the top of a swell and could see around us easily. We did not have much time to come up with a plan. Once I had everyone’s attention I threw my thoughts out on the table.
“The carrier is going to pass us and make it out of the bay. It’s going to ride out the storm then probably come back in here and get hooked back up as a power plant for the hotels here. I’m sure the top brass can’t last long without ice for their cocktails. We’re going to end up smashed into something if we try to catch the carrier or do anything stupid. I say we choose where to crash and hole up with the bomb until the carrier comes back. Then we set it and forget it. We need to try and not smash our boat up too bad so we have something to get out of here on.”
Wilson and Davis were the only two not nodding along. They both wanted to take out the carrier so bad that they were probably willing to just go ahead and get close and set off the nuke. We all sat in silence waiting for Wilson to say something. The howling wind was getting higher pitched by the minute. The swells were getting noticeably larger. The carrier was going to pass by us in a few more minutes and there was no way we would catch it. Wilson had taken us close in to the northern part of the docks. It was on the side opposite of where the carrier had been docked.
No one said anything as the carrier steamed by. Here we sat with a weapon that could easily take it out and we couldn’t use it without killing ourselves in the process. I knew it was killing the warrior ethos of the Seals. I didn’t care though. We hadn’t made it this far by being impatient and impulsive. As a matter of fact, our most valuable weapon time and time again had proven to be patience. Sitting quietly in place while Zombies and Koreans moved all around us. I knew Wilson understood that intellectually. He just really wanted to put a hole in that carrier and watch it sink. Preferably on fire.
The carrier disappeared into the storm as we started making way for the northern part of the bay. We figured it would be less populated than the southern side where most of the buildings were. The southern side had been where we saw all the lights at as well before they had blinked off. We were making way against the large swells when Davis squeaked. When a bad ass special ops guy is on watch and he sees something scary enough to make him squeak like a ten-year-old girl watching her first Friday the 13th movie you pay attention. He was pointing the way we were headed and telling us to turn hard to port and full ahead. I kept looking but all I saw was blackness in the direction he was pointing. I didn’t have a pair of ten-thousand-dollar terminator binoculars like Davis but I didn’t see what he was all worked up about.
Wilson turned hard to port and pushed the throttle all the way forward. We’d all learned to act first and question later when someone told you to do something immediately. There was typically a very good reason for the urgency in today’s world. As we moved parallel to where the shore would be I saw the outline of a large building. The large building seemed to be moving towards us.
“What is that?” I asked loudly, in the general direction of Davis.
“Looks like a cruiser. Storm must have broken its moorings and sent it in our direction. Scared the crap out of me when I saw it coming at us and figured out what it was. I think we’re good now.”
We missed the drifting cruiser by a solid hundred yards or so thanks to the Davis early warning system. If he hadn’t seen it in time we would have been demolished. Hopefully, with all the cleanup the Koreans would be doing when this storm swept by they’d ignore our little boat if we tied it up somewhere. I just didn’t see how Wilson was expecting to tie us off somewhere in these conditions. It was pretty obvious why the carrier and all the small boats had taken off. This bay was turning into a death trap. We’d just seen a cruiser randomly bobbing around. Who knew what else was out there and when it would decide to smack us. We’d probably never see a half-submerged submarine coming for us.
Entry 28: A Three-Hour Tour
The weather was getting worse. We were all getting thrown around in the confined bridge now. Wilson ordered us to put on lifejackets and be ready to abandon ship if necessary. All the lifejackets on board had been liberated to be used in the flotation device for the nuke so we ended up taking three of them out of that rig and Reeves, Ann and I each got one. All the Seals were pretty decent swimmers, of course, who would be hitting the water in their swim gear anyway. Once we had our jackets on Wilson asked us to move down into the cabin so he had room to move his elbows and look around while he was driving.
We stumbled our way down the stairs. All the stuff we had not put away earlier when making snacks was rolling all over the place in the cabin. We all ended up sitting on the floor by the stairs leaning against the wood paneled wall. Only Davis and Wilson were upstairs in the bridge. We were pitching so violently around now that there was a very good possibility I was going to accumulate another concussion pretty soon. Davis stuck his head down through the hatch.
“There’s a state park on the south side of the bay with a dredged-out channel beside it. We’re going to aim for that and see if we can beach somewhere or find somewhere out of the storm to tie off. It’s deeper into the bay so should be calmer.”
Davis delivered his info then looked at us to make sure no one had any questions or suggestions then disappeared back up into the bridge. A second later he stuck his head back down and asked Walker to come up and watch the port side while he would watch the starboard site for floating obstacles and to try and find the channel. That left Reeves, Ann and I sitting in the cabin while the boat pitched around violently. We’d occasionally hear objects bang hard against the hull. Each time I heard something I expected the hull to cave and water to come pouring in.
Reeves had his ‘water bottle’ out. I told him to chill in case we had to swim for it. That didn’t seem to settle his nerves. He took a big swig and put it back in his pack though. We were all geared up and ready to abandon ship as needed. The large clunky life vests did not make strapping our stuff on very easy. I could barely swim in a quiet neighborhood pool though so no way I was going overboard without a vest on in this mess. We were probably down there for a solid hour when Davis stuck his head back in.
“Ok. We think we see the canal. We’re headed for it now. Just letting you know as there’s a pretty good chance we may crash into something and sink.”
With that cheerful statement, Davis disappeared once more. Reeves slowly maneuvered himself onto his feet then projectile vomited onto the wall in front of him. It splattered. Ann was up and over me and halfway into the bridge before I had even figured out the stuff landing on me was puke splatter. Ann had actually stepped on my head to get her up the ladder faster. The cabin had a strong smell in it of vomit and spaghetti and booze. Reeves slumped back down against the wall then looked over at me and gave me a half-ass grin before sliding down the wall and putting his head in his hands and apparently passing out.
The boat was starting to jerk around and rock more as we got closer to the shoreline. Ann was holding onto the handles by the hatch and swinging around as the boat rose and fell. Reeves was moaning and trying to balance before giving up and pitching forward face first into his puddle of nasty. I tried to avoid looking at him as he was making my stomach queasy. Ann turned around to face me and yelled out to brace myself.
That didn’t sound good. I shoved my feet against the other side of the wall and reached over and grabbed Reeves by the lifejacket to try and keep him from
dying. I felt the hum of the engines increase to what must be full power as the boat fought against the waves to go where Wilson needed us to be. We must have missed whatever he was worried about since we didn’t die. I chalked that up as a win. The boat stopped jerking around as bad as it had been for the last few hours. I chalked that up as a big win.
I gave it a minute then headed up the ladder. Ann saw me coming and she went up into the bridge. I followed up behind her. Once I was up and could see around us I saw that we were hemmed in by land. Wilson saw I’d emerged out of the dungeon.
“This is Sweetwater River. I think there is going to be a marina coming up here on the port side.” He saw our confusion. “On the left side. I’m hoping it is sheltered enough where we can dock in there until this storm blows over.”
If Wilson was feeling good enough to be making horrible jokes then that was enough to spike my confidence. I stayed up in the bridge with Ann. I wanted to see where we were going and I also did not want to go back down in the vomit hole with Reeves. Hopefully, this marina would be accessible and we’d be able to chill there until the storm died down enough for the carrier to come back.
We still couldn’t see anything out the window as the wind was whipping the rain into a frenzy. Big sheets of rain fell hard before shattering against the windshield. Wilson stared straight ahead into the murk while Davis and Walker called out obstacles on the port and starboard sides for Wilson to try and avoid. It wasn’t long before Davis was calling out he saw the marina area off the port bow. I really needed a pair of those Seal binoculars. I couldn’t see crap.
Zournal (Book 6): The Final Countdown Page 16
