Apocalyptic pirates 2, p.24
Apocalyptic Pirates 2, page 24
“Oh,” I said as I took in all the unnecessary information he’d just provided. “It was no problem. We saw that she was in trouble, so we helped.”
“Well, you’re a good man.” Earle’s eyes locked on mine, and he nodded in a way that showed me just how much he respected me for what I’d done.
“Thanks.” I nodded. “You are, too. We appreciate the help.”
“I’m glad we was here to do it,” he said. “But y’all are gonna need to keep your wits about ya if you’re headin’ south.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, and a ball formed in my throat at his words.
“I mean Florida was already crazy,” he laughed. “And all this shit with the dragons has only made people crazier.”
“Shit,” I breathed, and I looked down and shook my head.
“Yup, the water’s pretty full where you’re headed,” Earle said, and he eyed me curiously. “Y’all been havin’ a lot a trouble like what just happened?”
“Quite a bit,” I admitted with a sigh.
“And it sounds like it’s only going to get worse,” Shannon added.
“You want me to tell you why you’re havin’ so much trouble?” he asked.
“Why?” My eyebrows pulled together.
“You’re on a fuckin’ yacht named The Magnum,” he chuckled and gestured to it. “And a nice one, at that.”
“Yeah, I had a feeling that was part of it.” I shook my head. “But there’s not much we can do about the kind of boat we’re on. Or the name, unfortunately…”
I side-eyed Ally, and she sent me a look that very clearly proved she had no say in the naming of her ex-husband’s boat.
“You could take that one over there,” he said with a point at the boat full of dead men we’d just taken out. “But I don’t recommend it. This yacht you got here is pretty damn fancy. Quick, too.”
“Any ideas on how we can avoid these Florida crazies, then?” Shannon pushed.
“Well, as one of them Florida crazies,” Earle laughed. “I think the best thing you can do is fix up yer yacht.”
He walked over to a toolbox that was bolted to the deck and rummaged around.
“I thought the problem was that it was too nice?” Ally cocked her head to the side.
“It is,” Earle chuckled and tossed something at me. “Catch.”
The thing nearly slipped out of my hand as I reached over the deck to catch it, but when I held it up, I realized it was a can of red spray paint.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“Look, if you’re gonna survive down south, you need to fit in,” Earle explained. “Those bullet holes are already helpin’, and so is that metal sidin’ you got there, but it’s not enough. This yacht clearly hasn’t been through it, so you need to make it seem like it has. Add a few details here and there to scare off the locals, and I bet you’ll be alright. Just don’t turn your back on nobody, ya hear me?”
“I hear you.” I nodded, even though understanding this guy was like trying to speak a totally different language.
“And remember,” Earle added. “Not all locals are bad. We’re all crazy, but we ain’t all bad.”
“I’ll remember that,” I chuckled, and I gestured to the boat that was sitting in the water. “We’ve got supplies. Why don’t you three take a look at that boat and take whatever you can find? As a sort of thank you for helping us.”
“You seem to be forettin’ that this was my way of thankin’ you.” Earle smiled. “Y’all go right ahead. We gotta keep movin’ and get up north to Janice.”
“Alright,” I agreed. “Well, thank you again. We really appreciate it.”
“Just keep payin’ it forward,” he told me. “You keep doin’ good deeds like that, and word will get around, just you watch. See ya later… Magnum.”
I couldn’t help snorting with laughter as he and his two sons turned and walked back to the cockpit. A minute later, they pulled away and headed north.
“You did tell him your name, right?” Shannon chuckled.
“I did,” I laughed. “But I can’t blame him for stalling on the damn boat’s name.”
I turned to Ally as Shannon started cracking up, and the redhead rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
“How are you only just now realizing the name of the yacht?” she sighed.
“I’m sorry, we’ve been a little preoccupied with the fucking apocalypse,” Shannon snickered. “The Magnum? Really?”
“Subtle.” I gave a sarcastic nod and flashed Ally my biggest shit-eating grin.
“I wasn’t gonna say anythin’ but…” Letty arched an eyebrow.
“Just…” Ally huffed. “I know, okay? Can we move on?”
I tried so hard to rein in my grin, but Letty had to hide her giggles behind her hand.
“Well,” Shannon sighed. “Should we see what this boat has to offer?”
“May as well.” I nodded. “But we should make it quick. We don’t want to be sitting out here for long.”
“No, we don’t,” Ally agreed. “I’ll pull us over there.”
It didn’t take long for Ally to get us over to the other boat, and as soon as she did, Shannon and I climbed on board to do a quick search.
The deck was covered in dead guys and blood, with not much else around, but we picked up whatever weapons we saw and passed them to Letty. There weren’t many, but anything helped. I tallied one shotgun, two semi-automatic rifles, and three pistols. I also checked the guys’ pockets and found a few extra bullets, so I took those as well.
Then we made our way down to the sleeping quarters. I was half-expecting to find a bunch of drugs like we had on the other boats, but this one was just full of cheap liquor bottles and dirty clothes.
We found a small duffle bag with extra ammunition, some of which didn’t even go to the weapons they had, but we took it anyway. Then we searched the kitchen and found it to be better stocked than any of the ones before.
The cabinets were all bursting with food, and there was even a large box full of canned goods on the floor.
“Jesus,” Shannon breathed as she opened the cabinets to poke around. “They were well stocked. Why were they coming after us?”
“I don’t know,” I sighed. “This is a good supply for us, but there were like eight guys on this boat. I bet this would only last them a month or so.”
“You’re probably right.” She nodded.
“I also thought they might be after our fuel,” I said. “It’s too visible. We need to figure out a way to cover it.”
“You gather up this food,” Shannon said. “I’ll check the little bedroom back there and see if there are any sheets we could use to cover it.”
“Good idea,” I agreed. “And we have a washer and dryer, so even if they’re dirty, they’ll work.”
“Right.” She nodded. “I’ll be right back.”
I piled some more food into the box with canned goods, and then I took it up to the deck to give to Ally and Letty.
But I’d just barely got my head through the hatch when I heard Ally yell at me.
“Drew!” she hollered. “Hurry up!”
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“There’s more boats coming,” she explained, and she pointed over to the right. “They were in the distance earlier, but they’re getting closer. You guys need to get back on board.”
“Shit,” I breathed, and I quickly jumped up and ran the box over to Letty. “Ally, go get me a bag, quick!”
“I’m on it,” Ally breathed, and she ran over to the hatch that led below deck, jumped down, and tossed an empty duffel bag up.
Immediately, Letty rushed over to the bag and handed it to me.
I took a quick look at the boats that were headed toward us, and then I practically dove down the hatch and nearly knocked Shannon off the ladder on my way down.
“What’s going on?” she asked as she got out of my way.
“There are other boats headed over to us,” I explained.
“Shit,” she breathed.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s grab whatever food will fit in the duffel bag, we’ll have to leave the rest.”
“Good idea,” she agreed. “I found a couple of sheets to cover the fuel, but they’re gross.”
“They’ll do,” I said as we ran over to the cabinets and shoved boxes and canned goods into the duffel bag. “I brought the box of food up already, too. But I don’t want to deal with more assholes tonight, so let’s make this fast.”
Shannon nodded, and the two of us threw whatever food we could grab into the duffel bag until it was bursting with boxes and cans. And once it was full, we rushed over to the ladder, climbed up onto the deck, and sprinted over to the railing.
Letty was right there to help with the duffel bag, and once it was over, Shannon and I followed closely behind.
As soon as we were over the railing, Ally gunned it, and the yacht took off through the water like a bat out of hell.
As we sped away, I turned to watch the other boats. I expected them to follow us, but instead, all of them beelined straight for the boat we’d just come from.
“What are they doing?” Letty asked as we watched the boats.
“Scavenging,” I answered.
The three boats made it to the one we’d just left, and then they all sent men over the railing to take whatever was left. They were like fucking vultures trying to get a piece of the pie.
But they weren’t focused on us, and I considered that a win.
“Jesus.” Shannon shook her head. “People are really desperate.”
“Can you blame them?” I asked.
“Not one bit,” she sighed. “I just hope they’re good people who deserve the scraps we left behind.”
“We didn’t leave much,” I said as I looked down at the full duffel bag and accompanying box of food.
“No, we didn’t,” Shannon agreed, and she grabbed the sheets and headed toward the hatch that led below deck. “I’m going to go ahead and wash these right now.”
“Good idea,” I said. “I’ll bring the food down.”
“I can help,” Letty offered.
“That’d be great.” I smiled. “Thanks.”
“Of course,” she said, and she grabbed the duffel bag and took it over to the hatch.
We all made our way down to the bunk area below deck, and I grabbed our food manifest and added what we got to the tally as we put it away.
It didn’t take long for Shannon to start the wash and join us, and by the time we finished putting the food away, it was already time to switch the sheets over to the dryer.
After we did that, I made some corned beef hash for everyone for breakfast since it didn’t seem like anybody was going back to bed at the moment. That experience with the other boats had woken us all up, and I didn’t see a point in trying to go back to bed now. It was probably nearly dawn.
So, I fried up our food, washed the pan, and brought all the food up to the cockpit so we could eat with Ally.
“Hey,” the redhead greeted us as we made our way down the small flight of stairs. “How’s everything down there?”
“All good,” I said. The sheets are in the dryer.”
“Mmm, that smells delicious,” Ally breathed, and she stepped closer to see what I had in my hand.
“Corned beef hash,” I chuckled and showed her.
“Is that new?” she pushed.
“We found a few cans on that boat earlier,” Shannon informed her.
“Oh, I see.” Ally nodded. “Did you all mark everything down in the manifest?”
“We always do,” I told her with a little wink.
“No, you don’t,” she laughed.
“Yeah, you’re right.” I smirked. “But we did this time, I swear. Just ask Letty.”
“I know I saw him writin’ a bunch of stuff down,” Letty said.
“Good enough for me,” Ally chuckled.
“Alright,” I said as I got our fold-out table out and set the food down. “Let’s dig in.”
We all gathered around the singular plate and used our individual forks to lay claim to our pieces of fried, delicious hash. We had a few other plates, but we’d been sharing them for a while now, which saved us on water and dishwashing. It worked out better this way, and Letty seemed to adjust quickly.
After we finished devouring the food, I looked over and saw the spray paint can sitting near the controls.
“Well,” I said with a shake of my head. “I guess we should go ahead and get to fucking the yacht up.”
“Awww, do we really have to?” Ally pouted.
“You heard the man earlier,” Shannon scoffed. “We have to avoid being a target at all costs.”
“I know,” the redhead sighed. “I’m just a little bummed to have to spray paint the yacht. But I guess we’re pirates now, right?”
“Yes, we are,” I chuckled. “The good kind, though.”
“Right, the good kind.” Shannon shook her head.
“It won’t be so bad,” Letty told Ally with a little smile. “I’m sure we’ll be able to clean it up when this is all over.”
“I don’t think spray paint is that easy to get off,” Ally said, and she pursed her lips.
“Actually, it’s not as difficult as you might think.” Letty shrugged.
“No?” I asked.
“A little heat and a paint scraper is all you need,” she said. “It’s a bit tedious, but it’ll come off. They make special paint remover stuff, too, but I doubt we’ll be findin’ much of that after this is all over and done with.”
“You’re probably right about that,” I chuckled.
“So, what should we paint?” Shannon asked.
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I was just going to sort of wander around and spray paint random stuff. Is there something you think we should do?”
“Hm.” She pursed her lips. “Maybe we should spray paint some of the sheets before we throw them on top of the barrels. It might make it less apparent that we’re hiding something.”
“Good idea,” I agreed.
“I’ll go see if they’re out of the wash yet,” she said, and she got up and walked over to the little stairs.
“Maybe some graffiti would help?” Letty asked.
“Any graffiti ideas?” I chuckled.
“A lot of times they’re just random symbols,” she said. “Or names that go with them somehow. We could just make some stuff up.”
“What about your phone, Drew?” Ally asked. “Does it have service right now? Maybe we could get some inspiration from there.”
“Let me see,” I said, and I pulled my phone out, but it didn’t turn on when I clicked it open. “Shit. I think it’s dead.”
“Oh, damn.” Letty frowned.
“It’s alright,” I said. “I’ll go plug it in downstairs.”
I didn’t like for my phone battery to get that low, and I especially didn’t like when it died since I never knew when Sam would try to get ahold of me. But between the helicopter last night and the men early this morning, I hadn’t even thought to put it on to charge.
I made my way out of the cockpit, onto the deck, and over to the hatch that led below. Then I climbed the ladder down to the living area and plugged my phone into the charger that was in the small bedroom.
“Hey,” Shannon said as she came out of the back with an armful of sheets. “They’re done.”
“Nice.” I grinned.
“It’s so crazy to me that this fucking yacht has a washer and dryer,” Shannon laughed and shook her head. “I mean, it’s not like this was the guy’s houseboat or something. It was just his sailing yacht. Where was he sailing where he needed to wash his clothes so much?”
“I have no idea,” I chuckled. “It is pretty wild now that I think about it. But it’s come in handy for us, so I can’t complain too much.”
“No, I guess I can’t, either,” Shannon agreed.
“Here,” I said, and I took the sheets from her. “Let me help you.”
“You just want to watch my ass as I climb up.” The dark-haired beauty smirked.
“Absolutely, I do,” I laughed.
“I don’t blame you,” she said with a little wink. “It’s a nice view.”
I shook my head at Shannon, but I did take the opportunity to check out her perfect ass as she made her way up the ladder. Her hips swayed back and forth in the best way, and the sight of her bikini strings poking out of the top of her pants was enough to drive me wild.
I climbed up behind her, and then the four of us threw the sheets over the barrels of fuel and used some ratchet straps to tie them down. Once they were all settled into their positions, I went to town with the red spray paint. I had no idea what to draw, so I did the first letter of each of our names in as much graffiti style as I could manage.
“Those look good,” Letty chuckled when I stepped back to admire my handiwork.
“You think?” I asked.
“Let me give it a go,” Ally said.
“Sure.” I nodded and passed her the spray paint.
But instead of using it on the barrels like I thought she was going to, she picked up the final sheet we had left and laid it flat on the deck.
Shannon had gotten half a dozen sheets of varying colors and sizes, but it only took five of them to cover the barrels, which left one smaller-sized plain white sheet.
We all watched curiously as Ally held the spray can at arm’s length and drew a strange, oblong circle.
It took me a few minutes, but eventually I realized she was making a Jolly Roger.
“What are you doing?” I chuckled.
“Making a pirate flag,” she said as if that were the most ordinary thing in the world.
“A bit on the nose, don’t you think?” Shannon teased.
“You better hush if you don’t want spray paint on your nose,” Letty warned.
“Ally wouldn’t dare,” Shannon laughed.
“Girl, she’s got the can right there,” Letty scoffed. “Why would you fuck with her?”
“She wouldn’t spray me with spray paint,” Shannon said, but her eyes darted to Ally nervously.
“I never thought to.” Ally’s eyes narrowed on the can. “But I technically could.”
“Of course you could,” Letty laughed. “Or you could threaten her with it. That would probably work, too. But you need to do something at least once so she knows you’re serious.”
