by J. B. Craig
“Well, well. Nice entrance, princess.” Uncle Timmy beamed at her as Maria hopped off the boat, running in for a tight hug. “About time you showed up.”
“Cut the sarcasm,” Maria said, laughing. “Come help us get this food before it sinks.”
“You know, the homeowner’s association is going to have my ass for this mess, Maria.” He grabbed the box, set it down on the deck and jumped aboard to help with the unloading. “It’s my niece!” he shouted, and the neighbors relaxed, setting their weapons aside as they came in to greet the duo.
With the extra help, they were able to rescue nearly everything off the boat. The only thing that didn’t make it was the bikes - they were still strapped down, and there was no time to go get them. Pete was at least able to save the med kit from the bike rack, though his shoes got soaked in the rescue. “I thought the Captain was the one who was supposed to go down with the ship,” he joked.
Pete’s attempt at levity fell flat. “I can’t believe I sunk my first command,” Maria groaned. “Dad’s never going to let me live this down. Unless we don’t tell him. Right, Uncle Timmy?” she asked hopefully.
“Not a chance! This is a story I’m gonna love telling him.” Timmy said cheerfully, patting her shoulder. “Either way, I’m so glad you’re here safely. Who’s your friend with the pea shooter?”
“Pete’s a friend from school. Long story,” Maria said.
“One we can sort out at home,” Timmy said, shaking Pete’s hand with a firm grip. “Your cousins will be so glad to see you.”
“It’s such a relief to be back with family,” Maria said. “Sounds like the boys are okay; how’s Aunt Sally?”’
A shadow passed over Uncle Timmy’s face, his shoulders sagging. “She was at work in Baltimore when the lights went out,” he said. “I was telecommuting, and the boys were in school. I was able to make the trip to pick them up, but ...it was a bad day to be downtown. We can only pray that she’s okay, and trying to get home.”
Maria’s face fell. “I’m sure she is,” she said quietly. Pete squeezed her shoulder, and together they and the neighbors helped to carry the supplies to the Beretta house.
12. Family Reunion
Maria’s Uncle Timmy had two boys that didn’t fall far from the tree. Uncle Timmy, a former lacrosse player, was her mom’s brother. While a year apart, he and Greg had roomed together while attending college at William & Mary, in Williamsburg, VA. It was there where Greg had met Leigh on a visit to her brother. Both of Timmy’s boys had their father’s athleticism. Sally was an emergency room doctor at the Baltimore Shock Trauma center, and the boys had also inherited her smarts.
Reid was four years younger than Maria, and built stocky like his father. He was a starting running back on the Gibson High Varsity football team, though he was only a sophomore. He clearly loved Maria. As soon as he saw her, he ran over, scooped her up and spun her around.
Bannon was leaner and taller, but still half a head shorter than Pete. He gave Maria a hug. “I was watching you come in on that ketch,” he said. Looking to Pete, he asked, “Somebody didn’t drop the sail fast enough?”
Pete looked frustrated with himself, but he met Bannon’s eyes. “Yes. We sailed through some high winds. The knots were cinched too tightly. I didn’t think to cut them until Maria shouted it at me, and by then it was too late.”
Faster than their eyes were able to follow, Bannon whipped out large blade from behind his back. “That’s what these are for, dude.” He waved the knife in front of Pete’s face, then burst out laughing at his panicked expression. “Just busting your balls, dude. If you’re here with my favorite cuz, then you’re good with me.” He looked over at Maria. “You sure I can’t kill him?”
“No, he’s a good guy, Ban. We’ve saved each other a few times already. He’s just a crappy first mate.” She elbowed Pete in the ribs, then looked back at Bannon. “Hey. You guys doing okay? Uncle Timmy told us your mom’s still stuck in Baltimore.”
Reid’s face went red. He clenched his fists at his side. “I still can’t believe Dad isn’t going to get her.” With a last nod to Maria, he stomped off to his room.
Bannon sighed. “Yeah, he’s still pretty pissed. He and Dad had a huge fight about it. But I get it. Mom would kill Dad if he left us alone at a time like this, and he doesn’t want us going downtown.”
“So what are you guys going to do?” Maria asked.
Bannon shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. “I honestly don’t know. I think she had some friends from work in Dundalk, so if she’s not still at the hospital trying to help, she’d probably lay low with them until she can figure out how to get home.” With a lopsided smile he added, “Not everyone can find themselves a boat and sail here. Did you guys sail all the way from Philly?”
Maria shook her head. “No, Ban, just south of Aberdeen. We made the first part by bike.” She looked over at Pete with a rueful smile. “Our bikes, by the way, are now at the bottom of the harbor.”
“Still my fault, Bannon.” Pete ducked his head down a little farther. “Just stick that knife in my eye and get it over with. I’ll never live this down.”
Uncle Timmy came back over, a box on his hip. “Hey, guys. Some of the neighborhood folks are gonna take the bulk of this stuff to the community center, so we’ll get to take our time catching up.”
“Shouldn’t we keep it?” Pete said.
Timmy shook his head. “We’re alright. And all of that stuff would be on the bottom of the river without their help. It’s all for one, one for all around here. We even set up guard rotations at the island gate. How do you think we’re still a community?”
“It’s cool, Pete. Look around. We’re safe for a while.” Maria nudged him.
“Well, duh. With these beastly guys watching our back, who would mess with us?” Pete said. He and Bannon grinned at each other.
“Damn straight,” Uncle Timmy said. “C’mon, missy. You too, Pete. I’m sure you guys have had quite the ordeal; you should come in and take a load off while you catch us up.”
The four went into the living room of his ranch style house. They opened the window screens, letting a nice breeze blow through. The day was unseasonably warm for late April, and it felt amazing to Maria after so many cold nights.
As the four settled on the couch, Maria and Pete took turns telling the Berettas about their journey south, from their initial move off of campus to all of the help they’d received along the way. Afterwards, Uncle Timmy and Bannon caught the two up on getting the boys home and organizing their local community. “Dad took a page from Great Grandpa and Uncle Greg’s war stories and organized a defense of the peninsula at a choke-point,” Bannon said. “We’ve got a barricade manned with at least twenty people from the community at any given time.”
“I’m surprised you have so many people to spare and still get sleep on rotations,” Pete said. “We walked through whole towns who had as many.”
“Enough of the neighbors here are self-employed or telecommuters that we’ve got a good population of defenders,” Timmy explained. “It’s a bit of a hike from our house, but we set up our defenses right by the fire station on the mainland just outside the gate. It’s a good choke-point, and it gives us a fall-back position on this side of the bridge. The fire chief is in charge of the area at large, but he’s assigned a few people from each community to be his lieutenants.”
“Dad’s one of his officers now,” Bannon said proudly. “Bet Uncle Greg would love to hear that!”
Maria grinned. “I bet he would too. He doesn’t hate all officers. He had a great mentor, but in general, he liked the noncoms who worked for a living.”
“You guys set up at the fire station?” Pete asked. “I may be of some use there, if you guys need more manpower. I’m a trained paramedic; I worked at the fire station across from Maria at Penn.” He patted the aid bag next to him.
“Yeah, you’ll definitely be useful, Pete,” Timmy said. “We occasionally get bum-rushed. We’
ve managed to drive the attackers off every time so far, but there’s a lot of hungry people out there. He shook his head. “Who knew it’d only be a few weeks after the lights go out that people would start doing this to each other?”
“We’re in a lucky area, at least,” Bannon said. “Gibson Island is a great place to salvage. A good amount of people were home, but not so many that we’re worried about too many mouths to feed. It’s difficult to access except by water, which makes it more defensible than some other areas around, and since it’s on the water we can crab and fish as we please.”
“Occasionally a resident makes it to the gate, and we let them in after checking their ID or finding someone else from the community to vouch for them,” Timmy continued. “We start by explaining our concept of salvage, and that they’ll be fed and taken care of - as long as they’re willing to work!”
Maria nodded her head towards Reid’s room. “I heard you guys had a disagreement over what to do about Aunt Sally?”
“Yeah,” Timmy said. “Reid wants to go ‘guns blazing’ into Baltimore and just shoot people until they give up his mom. He’s having a hard time sitting and waiting for her, but he’ll come around. In the meantime, we have him out at the front gate a lot. He fights like a trapped tiger.”
“We might need that fighting spirit.” Maria said. “When we were out on the bay, we saw a huge battle at the bridge. A truck got rolled into some of the barricades on the Eastern Shore side - it seems like people escaping Baltimore are trying to head out there.”
“We know,” Bannon chimed in. “I’m kind of the military intelligence guy here now. Uncle Greg got Dad hooked on the prepper way, and Dad told me to build a faraday cage to protect some key electronics.”
“You mean you guys actually have things that still work?” Maria asked. She exchanged a glance with Pete. “Wish we’d known to do that.”
Bannon shrugged. “Wasn’t hard. I basically wrapped an old microwave in rubber after I’d put some stuff in it - a small HAM radio, an old iPad loaded with survival books, and a solar charger your dad gave mine for Christmas. Since we have the charger, we’ve been able to salvage or rebuild some other radios, so we hear some chatter. The timing was just dumb luck.”
Pete asked, “Why does a microwave preserve electronics?”
“Think of it this way – If the wire mesh didn’t stop microwaves, your face would melt if you looked into a running microwave,” Bannon explained. When Pete nodded, he continued, “After I wrapped it up, I put it in one of those big steel trash cans we use for yard waste, and sealed that with aluminum vent tape. I didn’t know if just the cage would be enough for an all-on EMP, so I doubled up.”
“You probably know more about what’s going on than we do, then?” Maria asked.
“At least about the local area,” Timmy said. “We think most of the push across the bridge is coming from Baltimore and DC. Our understanding is that DC was right under the Nuke that did the EMP, and the situation there is even worse than in Baltimore. After 9-11 and the Pentagon attack, people weren’t taking any chances. As many people packed up and fled as they could.”
“With the poverty in the rough neighborhoods, there probably wasn’t much food to go around,” Bannon continued. “It sounds like east and north of the city were the easiest routes out. We’ve heard about huge battles in Bowie, Crofton, Annapolis - and worse. It sounds like a nightmare of raiding, raping and fires in DC as well as in Baltimore.” Bannon swallowed, no doubt thinking of his mother, potentially stuck in the city. “Fortunately, the Bay Bridge has held so far.”
“Do you guys have any ideas about what actually happened?” Pete asked.
Bannon shook his head, as did Uncle Timmy. “It’s pretty spotty,” Timmy said. “North Koreans, Russians, Cubans. Everyone has been quick to point the finger, but no one knows what really happened. All we’ve heard from the HAM is that most of the US is basically offline. Most of the transformers are blown across the country, and while there is a working government, they have no way to get information out to most people, so we’re on our own for the foreseeable future.”
As Bannon finished, Reid came out of his room, armed with what looked like a Glock-type pistol that Maria and her parents each had and a hunting rifle of some sort on his shoulder. He walked over and kissed Maria on the cheek and addressed the group tersely. “Heading on shift early,” he said. “Pete, if you’re up for it, I’ll give you the tour, get you fed, and introduce you to the Chief.”
Pete gave him an easy smile. “If the Captain here is cool with it.” He touched Maria’s shoulder gently, and she gave him a smile and a nod of approval. “Alright, I’m up for it, man. Let’s roll.” With that, Pete headed out the door with Reid, his medic’s bag, and his Scorpion.
Maria, Uncle Timmy and Cousin Ban got caught up until it was time for the night shift to go on duty. Uncle Timmy encouraged her to take a bed. “We can hot-cot it. You’ve been sailing all day,” he said. “I’ll make sure to send Pete to find you when he and Reid get back.”
Maria blushed. “Uncle Timmy, it’s not like that. We’re just friends.”
“Never said you weren’t,” Uncle Timmy said, though his Mona Lisa smile seemed to tell a different story. “He can grab another bed – Bannon has a top bunk that he only uses to hold his laundry up. We’ll get you two on day shift at the station while we figure out what’s next. Everyone here contributes, and I know how good a shot you are. We’re not wasting your aim on a salvage or kitchen crew, even if all you’ve got is your cute little .22 there.”
“Hey, Unc,” Maria said indignantly. “It’s a Magnum!”
13. Pete Meets the Dragons
The walk across the short causeway to the mainland and down to the fire station was nearly a mile from the Beretta house. When he got there, Pete could see that the community had managed to push the ‘dead’ fire trucks into the road between the fire station and a line of closed storefronts to form the community barricade. They’d chosen a sensible location - the forest on either side of the station and the closed businesses would provide good cover for their defenders should anything serious go down.
Reid escorted Pete into the fire station and introduced him to “Chief - just Chief.” Afterwards, Reid left to take up a position in the forest on the station side of the barricade.
“We can use an EMT,” Chief said. “Do you know your stuff, son?”
“Yes, Chief,” Pete said. “I’ve had all the basic and advanced courses, and I have three years under my belt. I mean, I’m not exactly grizzled...” Pete grinned, taking a chance on the older Chief’s sense of humor, and he grinned back. “But I’ve done all kinds of trauma. Do you have a supply that I can top off my kit with? I’m down a few pressure dressings and bandages. All drugs still intact.”
The chief nodded and said “You’ll do, Rook.”
Pete topped off his supplies, slung his pack over his back, and got some chow in the mess hall. He noticed that he got a scoop of peach cobbler with his sausage and pasta. He suspected they were the peaches that had been ‘shipped in’ on the Lady Maria.
Bannon and Timmy showed up in time to get a bite with Pete before they had to go on shift. As Unc left for his post, he told Pete to head back to the Beretta house and crash, letting him know that he’d have further guidance in the morning.
Just as Pete was turning to leave, Reid came barreling out of the woods. Others coming on shift gathered around. After briefly catching his breath, Reid said, “About twenty Tangos approaching through the woods. They’re clumsy and loud. Let’s waste ‘em!” He then ran back into the woods without waiting for the others to acknowledging his request.
Pete followed Reid at a distance, stepping as quietly as he could. He looked behind him and saw a grudging respect from the rest of the fighters, who had followed them like ghosts. They were quiet, nearly invisible.
Timmy tapped Pete on the shoulder and motioned him to stay back. Uncle Timmy pointed to his medical bag and murmured, “That’s
more valuable than your gun.”
Pete watched as the group of fighters fan out into the woods, taking up positions behind trees. After a few tense minutes, Pete saw several intruders move into the firing line. Uncle Timmy shouted out “Drop your weapons! Face the Dragons, or turn and run!”
One nervous intruder fired blindly into the woods around him, and the ‘Dragons’ opened up on the attackers. Pete saw one running from the rear and nearly shot him - then he realized it was Reid. Heedless of the incoming fire, Reid moved one by one, knifing them in the kidneys with brutal efficiency. He didn’t stop to finish them as they fell to the forest floor in anguish. In his path there was nothing but destruction, pain, and blood.
As quickly as the fight had broken out, it was over. None of the Dragons were wounded, and none of the would-be attackers had been left standing. Pete ran out to the first wounded attacker he saw. Reid had done a precision kidney stab, thrusting up through it and into his lung. Pete started to open his med kit, but a hand fell onto his shoulder. He looked up to see Bannon, the same knife he’d ‘threatened’ Pete with earlier in the day in his hand.
