Apocalyptic pirates 3, p.11
Apocalyptic Pirates 3, page 11
“Uh, Drew,” Shannon murmured. “I think we’ve got visitors.”
A large, pale green dragon was crawling out of the line of wrecked palm trees and heading toward the dock. Its coloring reminded me of a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone, if ice cream cones were also full of teeth and claws and bloodlust. It was moving slowly, but the ferocious hissing noise it let out when it spotted the yacht did not make me feel at ease.
Shannon had already loaded the rifles and raised hers to her shoulder.
“Wait,” I cautioned. “The gunshot might attract even more of them.”
“But what about the woman?” Shannon demanded. “What if it ends up blocking her way?”
“But what if we end up calling them all down on us?” I argued.
There didn’t seem to be a good answer to the question either way.
The mint dragon lumbered down out of the tree line and appeared to be making a beeline for the dock.
“Okay, I’m taking this guy out.” Shannon raised the rifle again, and this time I didn’t stop her.
The shot cracked out as the dragon took its first steps onto the dock. The bullet took it square between the eyes, and its head snapped back with the force of the impact. One more swift shot to the head sent it slumping to the ground, and it toppled into the ocean with a thunderous splash that sent saltwater droplets flying in all directions.
A high-pitched, raucous shriek rang out, and two more dragons appeared at the tree line.
“Of course,” I sighed.
These two were dull brown, and I smothered a private smile as I thought of a pair of chocolate flakes joining the ice cream sundae.
If a small cherry-red dragon appeared at any point, I’d think I was being punked.
“Where is this woman?” I scanned the trees, and for a moment I thought about sending the drone back up to see if I could catch a glimpse of her.
“If she’s not here soon, we might have to leave and come back.” Shannon threw me a worried glance.
Neither of us wanted to leave her, but we were sitting ducks here at the dock.
I raised my rifle and took aim at the larger of the brown dragons. The bullet tore through one of its large leathery wings with a sound like canvas ripping, and the dragon thrashed and shrieked as it knocked its twin over on its side, where it lay feebly clawing at the air with its clawed feet like a big dumb tortoise.
I fired another shot. This time I finished my target off. Its legs went out from underneath it, and it collapsed. The other dragon carried on writhing and trying to get up until Shannon’s bullet put it out of its misery.
“These guys are pathetic now that we’ve got decent weapons,” I chuckled.
But even as I said it, more of the dragons started to emerge. Some came from out of the trees, and more from the road.
“Drew, should we stay?” Shannon asked with her eyes wide.
“I’m going to text her.” I pulled my phone from my pocket.
One of the dragons shrieked, and as the sound died away, I heard another noise, far away at first and then louder as it came closer.
It was the sound of a truck engine.
The dragons heard it, too, and some of them began to turn away from the marina path to see what this new sound was.
A bright blue truck shot out from between the trees and barreled its way down the road toward the dock. It must have been doing at least eighty-five, and the tires squealed as the driver maneuvered around the junk and burning garbage that stood in the truck’s way.
Shannon’s nails dug into my arm. I was aware of Letty and Ally yelling encouragement from inside the cockpit. All I could do was stare and hope that this woman knew what she was doing.
Just then, a small purple dragon broke away from the others and lunged right at the approaching truck.
It was moving too quickly for us to do anything, and from this distance, even Shannon might have had difficulty shooting it in time without hitting the truck as well.
The dragon bore down on the truck with its jaws bared and its tail lashing in fury.
But at the last second, the woman swerved to the right. At the same time, she kicked open the passenger door, and it hit the purple dragon right in its thick skull.
The force of the impact broke the door off the truck and sent it and the dragon tumbling away off the road. The dragon gave a shocked high-pitched yelp as it was sent hurtling away.
The truck swung around and skidded down the road with its tires burning black marks onto the tarmac as the driver fought for control of the wheel. For a second it looked like the truck was about to tip over. Then it thumped back down onto the ground with a smash and roared back into life.
I was grinning in awe at the stunt I’d just witnessed. The women cheered, and Shannon bounced up and down with excitement.
The rest of the dragons didn’t seem to know what to do about what had just happened, but it was clear that they were angry about it. One of them roared and made a lunge at the truck as it flew by, and then it began lumbering after it with the others following suit.
The truck screeched to a halt at the edge of the marina. In one smooth movement, the woman opened the driver’s door and hurled herself out of it just as the dragons reached the truck.
There was a bang, and the truck slumped sideways when one dragon’s claws burst a tire as it clambered onto the truck’s roof. Another crashed into the truck’s rear end and almost fell over its own feet.
There was no way for the woman to reach the dock.
Shannon and I opened fire on the dragons swarming over the abandoned truck, but the woman didn’t hesitate for a moment. She took off and executed a perfect running dive into the water.
Shannon immediately rushed to the end of the boat to grab the life preserver.
One of my shots plunged into the ground at one of the dragon’s feet– a dark blue bastard with gleaming red eyes– and it tossed its head and let out a piercing screech.
Yeah, these guys were definitely getting pissed off.
The blue dragon narrowed its eyes at the woman who was swimming frantically toward the yacht. It seemed to consider things for a moment and then did something I didn’t expect: it launched itself into the water after her.
“Oh, shit!” I tried to get a good aim, but I didn’t want to accidentally hit the woman instead.
She was a fast swimmer, and the blue dragon was already regretting its decision, but it still had some fight left in it, and I didn’t want to take any chances.
“Here.” Shannon was suddenly at my side, and she pushed the life preserver into my hands. “I’ll keep firing.”
I ran back to the stern with the life preserver, and Shannon took careful aim. She was the best shot on the team, and her sharpshooting skills and clear head were exactly what this situation called for.
The shot cracked out.
The blue dragon gurgled out a bubbling roar as the water turned red. It churned up the waves into a frothy pink foam, and its splashing created a wave that actually helped push the woman closer to the yacht.
“Here!” I yelled and threw her the life preserver. “Grab on!”
In a few quick strokes, she’d reached it.
Shannon fired off a few more shots into the dragons still clustered on the beach, and I worked on hauling the woman on board.
I reached down to help her up the ladder, and her wet hand found mine and held on tightly. I pulled her up, and she staggered onto the deck and doubled over as she gasped for breath and dripped water everywhere.
“Ally!” I shouted. “Let’s go!”
The yacht was already in motion, and we pulled out of the marina in record time. Shannon kept the rest of the dragons at bay, but the fate of the blue dragon seemed to have reminded them that the water was not their friend, and they seemed content to hiss and roar at us until we were out of earshot.
Shannon joined me, and we turned our attention to the newest member of our party.
She was soaking wet and out of breath, but she waved me away when I took a step closer to her.
She looked up at me with a cheeky grin.
“Paws off, buddy,” she gasped, and even with just those three words I could hear the Latin accent of her husky voice. It didn’t sound like a Mexican accent, so I guessed it was more from Venezuela, Colombia, or Ecuador.
“Are you okay?” I asked. “I just want to make sure you’re not hurt. It was amazing what you just did.”
“Damn sure,” she wheezed. “Just give me a moment.”
The water droplets rolled down her full cheeks and collected like a diamond necklace on her collarbones. Her wet shirt was soaked into transparency, and the outline of her red bra was clearly visible as it cupped her full breasts. Even the little divet of her navel could be seen through the wet fabric. The breath whistled in and out between her full lips, and the saltwater shone off the sharp arches of her cupid’s bow mouth.
Fuck, she was seriously gorgeous.
I’d never seen a woman so confident behind the wheel of a truck before. Maybe it was a cliche, but give me a beautiful woman and a fast car, and I just get weak at the knees. Put a beautiful woman inside a fast car, and I was lost beyond rescue.
“That was so badass back there,” Shannon exclaimed. “Where did you learn to drive like that?”
“Cars are my thing, I guess.” The woman straightened up and pushed back her wet curls from her face. “If it’s got wheels and an engine, I like it.”
Letty and Ally joined us on deck.
“Oh. My. God.” Ally’s eyes were wide as saucers. “That was amazing.”
“Girl, you went full Fast and Furious on that dragon’s ass!” Letty crowed. “So badass!”
“Well, thanks!” The woman looked around at us and raised a full dark eyebrow. “Damn, this is some luxury setup you’ve got here. I know you said you had guns, but a whole-ass yacht? Full of beautiful people? Is this a prank?”
Her exasperation so neatly matched my own that I burst out laughing.
“I can hardly believe it either sometimes,” I chuckled. “But it’s all real. We’ve all saved each other’s lives more times than I can count. It’s how most of us met, actually.”
“Ally and Drew saved my life when I was trapped on a boat with a dragon,” Shannon explained.
“And all three of them saved me from gang members and helped me find my medication,” Letty added.
“Wow.” The beautiful olive-skinned woman slowly shook her head. “I had no idea. I thought you were just pirates with a YouTube channel.”
“Well, we are that, too,” I said with a grin. “But I guess we’re a family now as well.”
“A family?” Something seemed to close off in her face, and she looked down at her sopping wet sneakers.
“I’m Drew,” I said quickly. “And this is Ally, Shannon, and Letty.”
“I’m Dia,” she said. “Claudia Rojas. But only my mom calls me that when she’s pissed at me. Can I have a drink of water?”
“Oh, of course.” Ally switched straight into hostess mode. “You must be starving, too, do you want a snack?”
“We have cold leftover pizza,” Letty offered. “Or I can make you a plate of crackers and cheese. Or I can put a couple biscuits in the oven to warm up for you?”
The woman grinned. “Five-star dining, too? I have landed on my feet here, haven’t I?”
“You sure have.” Letty smiled back. “Tell you what, I’ll make you a plate of leftovers. It’ll be dinner soon, and I don’t want to spoil your appetite for the delights I have planned for tonight.”
“And I’ll show you where the shower is,” Ally chimed in. “I’m sure we have some dry clothes you can borrow.”
“Thank you,” Dia said, and when she looked back at Shannon and me, her chin was wobbling as though she was suddenly trying to hold back tears. “And thank you guys, too. I’d have been dead meat without your help.”
“That’s okay,” I reassured her. “We all have to help each other now.”
“Thank you,” she repeated softly. “I won’t forget this, Drew, Shannon.”
Ally put her arm around Dia’s shoulders.
“Come on,” she soothed. “Let’s get you warm and dry.”
Dia went below with Ally to get cleaned up, and Letty vanished into the galley to get started on her plans for dinner.
Shannon and I sat on deck and got to work reloading, checking, and cleaning the guns. It wasn’t the most exciting of chores, but it had to be done.
“That poor woman,” Shannon said as she reached for another box of ammunition. “I wonder how she ended up in the airport.”
“I guess we’ll have to wait to find that out,” I said. “It didn’t seem fair to quiz her seconds after hauling her out of the ocean.”
“Letty is probably nervous as a long-tailed cat in a rocking chair factory right now in case she does turn out to be a serial killer,” Shannon chuckled. “The way she drove that truck, though!”
“I know.” I shook my head in admiration. “I’ve never seen anyone do anything like that in real life. She’s one tough customer.”
“Not so tough,” Shannon reminded me. “I feel like she would have burst into tears if Ally hadn’t stepped in.”
“Suddenly having to fight for your life will do that to you,” I sighed. “It’s like you were saying earlier, how quickly all of this becomes the new normal. We forget that tons of people haven’t fully accepted this new way of life yet.”
“That’s true,” Shannon conceded.
“I bet there are thousands of people who are still trying to convince themselves that things will go back to normal in a few days,” I continued. “That they just need to keep their heads down and stay model citizens, and they’ll make it through okay without having to adjust to anything at all.”
Shannon shook her head. “I can’t imagine that level of denial.”
“It’s true, though,” I insisted. “People can make themselves believe anything if that makes it easier for them. Right now there are probably groups of dragon deniers making big plans to storm somewhere with their message that the meteorites were all a big hoax, and we’re just sheeple for believing the government’s lies.”
Shannon laughed out loud at that. “Sadly, I believe you there, too.”
We worked quietly on the rest of the guns for a while longer.
The sun started to go down, and the sunset painted the sky with glowing pinks, reds, and oranges. Dark blue clouds piled up in the eastern part of the horizon, with streaks of yellow and green appearing high overhead.
The waves lapped against the sides of the yacht with a rhythmic, lulling sound, and the dying sunlight created a rippling orange line across the waves, like a long corridor was trying to reach out to us from the farthest edges of the universe.
There was a splash close by, and Shannon caught my arm and pointed. A single dolphin leaped out of the water and soared over the undulating road created by the sunset. Even in the shadows, the light gleamed on its smooth dark body, and the power and grace of its leap was breathtaking.
Shannon smiled at the sight. “So different compared to the dragons. They’re powerful, sure, but they don’t have any beauty, not like that.”
“You’re right.” I put my hand over hers, and we sat and watched the rest of the sun slip down below the horizon.
Then the smells of cooking meat and vegetables began to waft up onto the deck from the kitchen, and my stomach began to grumble.
“Dinner!” Letty called from below deck. “It’s gonna be fabulous, if I do say so myself.”
Shannon and I headed down into the kitchen where Letty had set the table.
Dia and Ally were already seated, and Dia glanced up when we came in.
The Latina woman was dressed in one of Letty’s pastel t-shirts. It was a pale pink number with a faint floral design on the front, and it hugged her chest like it was her best friend. On her lower half she wore men’s black cargo shorts, and the contrast between the masculine and feminine clothing was as unexpected as it was attractive.
Her dark curls were still damp, but she’d pulled her hair back into a high ponytail which left her defined cheekbones and soft jawline exposed. The hot water had given a flush to her skin, and her cheeks glowed with cleanliness.
She averted her eyes underneath my gaze, and I looked away at the thought that I’d made her uncomfortable by gawking at her. She was still a stranger, and she didn’t know much about us at all. The last thing I wanted to do was make her feel unsafe or awkward while she was here with us.
Letty placed a heavy casserole dish on the table and took the lid off with a flourish.
The heavenly smell of chicken with dumplings wafted up into our faces. The gravy was still bubbling in the heat, and the biscuit dumplings looked like fluffy islands swimming in the midst of shredded chicken and roasted vegetables.
“Oh, my god, Letty,” Ally groaned. “This looks so good.”
“A Southern special and my aunt’s own recipe,” Letty announced proudly. “Thought I’d whip up something comfortin’ and homey for our visitor.”
“Oh, no,” Dia protested. “You shouldn’t have gone to all this trouble on my account. Though I will say that it smells great.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” Letty laughed.
She filled our bowls to the brim with the stew, and we all dug in.
After my first mouthful, I let out my breath in a huge sigh that was almost a moan.
“Oh, Letty,” I mumbled through my bite.
The gravy was bursting with rich and creamy flavors, and it had a subtle tang that made me wonder if she’d added wine to the recipe. There were tiny pieces of fried bacon that added a delicious saltiness to the mix and balanced out the sweetness of the carrots and celery. The dumplings were fluffy and light and seemed to melt away in my mouth as soon as I took a bite.
Letty’s cheeks flushed with pleasure. “Y’all like it?”
“Letty, this is amazing.” I grinned at her and took another bite. “This is one of your best so far.”
