The Survivors Box Set

by Nathan Hystad

  Carey was walking around the yard, and he started barking. I thought our other two must have been coming back. “That was quick,” Mary said, both of us turning to the driveway. A man was walking down toward us.

  My heart pounded when I saw the stranger. It seemed so odd to see someone I didn’t know.

  “Mary, where’s your handgun?” I asked quietly.

  “On the dinghy,” she replied.

  “Go get it. I’ll see who this guy is.”

  She ran down the dock and onto the boat. Carey was backing up in my direction, and the man was crouching down, trying to get Carey to come smell his hand.

  “Hello there!” he called. He was tall, brown-haired, and broad-shouldered.

  “Hello.” I didn’t know what else to say.

  Carey was still growling, but came and almost sat on my foot, putting himself between me and the new man. The first thing I looked for was a green pendant, ring, or anything else that would match up with our stories. I couldn’t see any.

  “I know what’s going on, Dean. It is Dean, right?” His voice was sure of itself, and an accent I couldn’t place. Canadian, maybe?

  How the hell did he know my name? It clicked. He was one of them.

  “Stay back!” I called to him, and I could hear Mary’s footsteps approach from behind. “Who are you and what do you want?” I asked, voice raised.

  He lifted his hand in the air and spoke softly. “I’m here to tell you something. I’m on your side, I promise you this. You’ve been lied to. You don’t want to turn off that device. Think about it, why would...” A gunshot rang out, and it hardly registered as I saw blood spray into the air. The man crumpled to the ground. I stood in shock and Mary rushed forward. We scanned the area and saw the SUV with the passenger door open and Vanessa perched on it with a rifle and scope. It had all happened so fast. I’d just been there talking to him and then he was dead. Mary crouched down and turned his body on its back. Half his face was missing. I turned and threw up, bile burning the back of my throat. The SUV pulled out and I could hear Mary yelling at Vanessa, but the words were lost in the ringing in my ears.

  In a few moments, my head cleared, but I kept my eyes averted from the body.

  “We need to get out of here. Now!” Vanessa called. “Where there’s one, there are probably more.”

  “Why did you shoot him?” Mary pleaded.

  “He had to be one of them,” she replied.

  “Why? What if he was one of us, or trying to help?” she asked.

  I stepped forward. “He wasn’t one of us. He was trying to convince me not to shut the machine down.” It burned to talk.

  “Let’s take this stuff loaded and get moving. Vanessa is right; we better clear out of here.”

  It took less than five minutes to get the boat loaded and untied. Vanessa pulled the body by the legs and dropped him into the water by the dock. She reached down and grabbed his shirt collar and tugged him under the dock, to be hidden from anyone that might come looking. She coughed, a violent hack, when she was done. I noticed Mary didn’t take her eyes off Vanessa.

  ______________

  Once we’d settled onto the sailboat, we lifted anchor and ran the onboard engine to bring us out into the water a way. Vanessa had directed us on the sails, and just as the sun was setting in the western horizon, we were heading southwest.

  We hadn’t talked about it, and near midnight, once we were sure we were going in the right direction and everything was set, Ray, Mary, and I were in the underdeck, sitting around the small table. I’d never been below on a sailboat before, and it was quite cozy. It reminded me a lot of my parents’ tent trailer from when I was a kid. It had that same slightly musty, canvas smell to it. Everything was compact and folded up like the trailer too. The table had a ledge on it to prevent dishes and cups from sliding off in uneven water. Being down here was even stranger-feeling than being on deck, and my stomach was swaying in opposition to the waves. Part of that was the uneasiness I still felt from the murder of that man, or alien, or whatever he was. He’d breathed and spoken, and now he was nothing but a body under water.

  “What the hell was that?” Ray asked through his teeth.

  “I don’t know, but I don’t have a good feeling about it. Even if he was a bad alien trying to convince us to not kill the device, was it wise to shoot him?” I asked.

  Mary leaned forward and kept her voice low. Vanessa was manning the ship’s wheel, so we thought we could talk openly, but you could never be too safe. “What’s with her? On top of all those other skills, she’s a frickin’ sharpshooter? That was some of the most messed-up shit I’ve ever seen, and I’m in the Air Force. Dean, what do you think about that guy? Why wouldn’t they have just killed us? It doesn’t make sense.”

  “I agree. He really wanted to tell me something about the device but didn’t have a chance, obviously. Did you see how cold and callous she was about it? And the way she dragged the body by herself? I don’t trust her,” I said.

  Ray got up and pulled a beer out of a cooler. He opened and passed one to Mary and then to me. “She was so pleasant and nice on our trip for supplies. Telling me about her little Dennis. He sounds like a great kid. Her husband collected African masks, and they’d been there over a dozen times. Normal rich white lady stuff, if you ask me. But that was seriously deranged. She told me to slam on the brakes, and she had that gun from under the seat in seconds. Before I knew what was happening, I heard the shot and saw that guy drop.” He took a long pull from his beer.

  “What do we do?” I asked, looking between the two of them. Thoughts of dumping Vanessa over the side of the boat entered my mind, and I shook the image out of my head. Where did that come from? Suddenly, my stomach felt even queasier.

  “For now, nothing. Let’s pretend we’re all good, but honestly, we can’t trust her. One of us should go up there and talk to her. I don’t think I can right now, though. I’m still so upset and fuming,” Mary said, taking a drink from her bottle.

  I knew where this was going. I needed to be the middleman, the buffer between everyone. It wouldn’t be the first time in my life I’d played the role. “I’ll go see how she is.” I grabbed a beer for her, in the off chance she was up for one.

  “Thanks, buddy. We owe you one,” Ray said, eyeballing the small bed in the corner.

  “Why don’t you two get some rest, and I’ll hit the hay in a few hours. We can just take shifts for alien watch, Vanessa watch, and sleep.” They nodded and I climbed the few rungs to the deck. Carey sat there and happily greeted me. He hadn’t wanted to come down the ladder. When I tried to pick him and carry him down, he just whined and shook ferociously. I’d settled on leaving him here.

  The night air had a chill to it, even though we were quite far south at this point. The smell of ocean, salt, and night mixed together and gave a somewhat calming scent. I headed to the back of the boat, or aft, or was it starboard? I really knew nothing about ships. Vanessa was at the wheel, one hand on it as she stared into the starry sky. It was beautiful out here.

  I settled in on a bench to the side of her and offered her the semi-chilled beer. She accepted it with a smile, had a sip, and kept staring into the sky.

  “Dean, I’m sorry if I scared you before. I know you guys must think I’m nuts. My instincts took over and I felt like I did what I had to do. I saw a threat and eliminated it.” She was speaking softly and I could see that she was upset.

  I stood up and put my arm around her shoulders. It was hard to imagine she was capable of killing anything, being a small-framed fifty-something. Her face pressed into my chest and she started to sob. Just when I’d passed her off as a threat, she softened my views of her, but I knew people were all capable of being manipulative. I thought I was a pretty good judge of it, and honestly felt like she was being real and in the moment. I held her and told her it would be okay, and in a few minutes, she was backing away, wiping away tears and apologizing to me for being silly.

  “There’s n
othing silly about it, Vanessa. Think of what we’ve been through in the span of a couple days. It’s been crazy! Not only did everyone we know and love leave us, ripped from our planet, but it’s just us left to fix it. If that isn’t pressure, then I don’t know what is. I used to think tax time was as bad as it got.”

  She laughed and we stayed there small-talking: talking about Peru and drinking our beers. Carey sat by my feet, surprising me by how well he was doing on a boat. The waters were quite calm and I could see other sailboats and ships in the water as we drifted on by in the moonlight. It was so quiet and serene out here that for a moment I forgot where I was and closed my eyes, feeling the sway of the boat and the lapping of the water as the wood cut through the slight waves.

  A few hours passed and Ray emerged from below. He stretched and Vanessa showed him how to hold the wheel and explained about the tiller. It all seemed easy, but I knew there was more to it than “take it and hold ‘er steady.” There were only a few boats in the distance, and when I asked how far she thought we’d traveled, she said about one hundred and fifty miles.

  “If you see a ship coming in too hard, steer clear if you can. If you’re worried, then come and get me,” Vanessa said.

  “Aye aye, Captain,” Ray said.

  Mary climbed up top and asked what time it was.

  “About three AM. A few hours until sunrise,” I answered. “I think we’d better go get a little shut-eye. Keep an eye on Carey for me, would you?”

  I was below deck in moments, sharing the small bed with Vanessa: a woman who, hours before, had shot a man right in front of me. Even with my mind racing, I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

  THIRTEEN

  When I came to, I was alone in the bed. I was groggy, but when I stood to the lightly rocking motion of the boat, I knew I was finally rested. The sun blinded me as I climbed out, and I was greeted sloppily by a cocker spaniel’s wet tongue. I gave him a kiss on the top of his head and added a multitude of pets to tell him I missed him. He was such a good animal. Everyone was still there and smiling as they sat on the bench, eating bagels and drinking what looked like orange juice.

  “Well, aren’t we all just out of a Hamptons Elitist Magazine.” We laughed at the idea of the grimy group of us being on the cover.

  “I might need a little makeup first,” Mary said.

  “Me too,” Ray said with a chuckle.

  “Why didn’t anyone wake me? It’s after nine!” I felt bad for hogging the bed so long.

  “You needed it, and besides, look how nice it is out here,” Vanessa said.

  I scanned the horizon and was amazed by the wonder of it. The ocean stretched for far beyond my eyesight in every direction. I couldn’t see any other ships bobbing in the water now. We were getting much further south, and already my shirt was clinging to my back from the heat and humidity.

  “We passed Cuba about three hours ago and are well on our way to Panama. I think we should head there first, since it’s closer by a hundred or so miles, and traveling by boat is much slower than an automobile,” Vanessa said. We brought out a map of the area and agreed that the northern tip of Panama was probably our best bet. We’d hopefully land by noon the next day.

  I noticed Carey looking sheepish in the corner, and I found he’d made use of the bath towel I’d laid out. I’d hoped he would think of it like a patch of grass and was happy it worked. I took the towel by both ends and carried it to the rear of the boat, holding it away from my nose. I shook it off into the trailing winds and figured I’d better put it back so he knew it was okay to keep using it.

  Ray gave me a grossed-out face when I finished flinging it off. The things a dog owner had to do. I tried to imagine what this trip would have been like with a child and was glad I didn’t have to deal with the stress. Janine and I hadn’t been able to have kids, but they were something I still saw in my future. Not going on a date in years wasn’t helping my cause, though. My gaze lingered on Mary, who was taking lessons on the ship from Vanessa. Her ice from the night before seemed to have melted off in the heat, and the two of them appeared to be fast friends once again.

  The rest of the day went by quickly, as if we were sailing through time, and before we knew it, late afternoon was upon us. Dark clouds threatened to cause rain in the distance, the direction we were heading into.

  “What do you think of those?” I asked Vanessa, who was staring at the looming clouds miles away.

  “I think we may have reason for concern. The weather down here can be very touch and go, and that storm may pass, or we may pass through it with no problem.” She paused. “But we don’t have a choice at this point. We have to keep going.”

  “Why don’t I head down to the kitchen and make us something to eat? Who’s up for some world-famous grilled cheese?” I asked, hoping to take their minds off the potential storm.

  “I’ll help you,” Mary said, and we headed down the steps into the ship’s small underbelly.

  “I hope we don’t have to deal with anything too harsh. I don’t relish the idea of being tossed about the sea in this thing. We’ll get ripped to shreds.” I was surprised by her honesty. Again, I felt like I was getting to see the real Mary, the one behind the mask of the Air Force and tough attitude. The more time I spent with her, the more I enjoyed being with her. I turned to the stove.

  “Yeah, I agree. My stomach doesn’t want to deal with that. It’s uneasy enough as it is. How about we make some food and hope everything works out?” I kept my back turned to her.

  “Is everything okay, Dean?” she asked, hand coming to rest on my back. I spun around slowly and felt self-conscious with how close she was standing to me. All of a sudden, I wondered if I smelled fresh, or if hours of hot Caribbean air had washed away my deodorant.

  “Sure, everything’s fine,” I whispered as she took my left hand with her right. It was slightly cool, and soft in my grip. If ever there was a moment to make a move, this was it, at least under normal human circumstances. Still, I knew I couldn’t let this piece of time fly by without seizing it. “Carpe diem,” I said under my breath as I raised my other hand to her cheek. I closed my eyes and leaned in to her perfect face; our lips met for an instant, and it was like nothing I’d ever felt.

  “You guys better get up here! Looks like we’re in for some weather!” Ray called down.

  My hand lingered on her face, and she looked down to the ground. “We’d better get up there and see what we can help with,” Mary said, heading up the steps. I watched her go and remembered to turn off the gas burner before following after her. If only I could have turned off my own burner.

  The wind was blowing hard as I got above deck. The clouds were black and angrily spitting rain on us. “What do we do?” I called out.

  “We have to reef the sails. Ray, I’m going to turn into the wind. It’ll ease tension on the sail. Grab the reefing control line and untie it, letting it loosen. The sail will shrink and the wind will cut around it rather than catch us like a parachute. Mary, you grab the rope and help him tie it off when I tell you. Dean, come and help me manage the wheel. It gets tough in the wind and waves.” We were finding out Vanessa was good under pressure.

  Lightning flashed around us and the waves grew larger. Facing the wind, we fought the waves head-on, and the boat rose and crashed over and over. Thunder boomed as Mary and Ray finished their task; the sail contained, Vanessa called for them to tie it off. She told me to take the wheel and hold it tight. Pressure from both directions made it tough to control and keep even. Every time I felt it slacked in one direction, the wheel would try to spin the other.

  “See that clear patch over there? I’m going to use the engine to drive us over past the storm.” Vanessa turned and lowered the engine down into the water. She threw on a life jacket and we all followed suit, me wondering why I hadn’t done that the moment the clouds looked imposing.

  With the engine on, she took over the steering again and turned us to ride along with the waves, slowly e
asing us away from the lightning. The wind was so loud ripping through the mast, and the crashing of the waves against the wood was adding to the deafening experience. My heart pounded almost as loud as the thunder in my ears, and I told myself that my trembling was mostly due to the incessant rain and splashing of sea water onto the deck. I knew I was kidding myself.

  “Take Carey and go below, while I get us out of here!” Vanessa called.

  Mary picked up the panicked dog, and she and Ray climbed below.

  “I’ll stay with you!” I called over the noise.

  We were moving quite fast, and the rain was pouring down hard now. Vanessa smiled as she kept her hands on the large wheel, arm tendons and muscles bunched tight against the angry sea. A huge lightning flash shot out into the sky, and I thought I saw the shadow of a ship. Not a boat in the water, but one of the gray alien ships, which we hadn’t seen since the one that tore up the ground on the interstate. My heart hammered when I saw it again on the next flash. We kept moving along, and even though it felt like hours, in a few minutes, we were on the outside of the storm, the wind blowing it northwest of us.

  I scanned the sky for signs of the ship but couldn’t see one. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I didn’t think so.

  “Did you see that, Vanessa?” I asked, my voice wavering.

  “See what? One hell of a scary storm? I think I saw my life flash in front of my eyes...but that could have just been the lightning. Dear God, that felt close. Too close.”

  Mary climbed up top, Ray behind her.

  “Mary, can you check the GPS and see how far we are away from our landing spot?” Vanessa asked.

  “Sure, are you guys okay?” Mary asked back.

  I wasn’t sure if I was. I’d just had the fright of a lifetime and to top it off, I was quite sure I’d seen a ship. Did they know we were here? What were they waiting for? Us to kill ourselves? I found Carey curled up and drenched. When I held him, I could feel his little heart pounding away.

  “Yeah, we’re good. Vanessa really came through and saved our asses. We owe her big time,” I said. I decided not to bother telling them about the ship. Maybe it had just been my imagination.