Sailing To Oblivion

Thunder roared in the distance as Gracie sifted thru the rubble of yet another town destroyed by the Great War. Survivors that she had met along the way each called it something different but since she was only in her late 20’s, to her it was the Great War. Her mom’s had guessed early on that there might be trouble and would prepare her for survival as best they could. With one mother being a nurse and the other being a soldier who flew Apache helicopters in Afghanistan her training was quite extensive. While Gracie was thankful for their training she still wished they were with her.

Her cart was filling quickly as she piled odd bits of metal, fuel and clothing onto her fishing cart. She and her mom’s would load up their fishing gear, chairs and umbrella onto the wheeled cart along with a cooler full of drinks and sandwiches and head out to the fishing pier for a day of fishing. It was one of many fond memories she had of her parents. But now that cart was a re-purposed survival wagon. Armed with several .45 hand guns and shot gun she was also well versed in encountering desperate survivors and malicious gangs. The usual procedure was to go the other way and not be a hero no matter how much firepower one had. But between the two parents they also taught Gracie the proper kill shots and made sure that when she aimed a gun at an animal or a human that she was prepared to kill. The silence was the other thing she had to get use to. While it was helpful alerting her to possible incoming danger it could also be deafening. Ocassionally, she would hear a songbird off in the distance.

As the red sun shone high in the clouded sky her eye caught a glimpse of something partially exposed in front of her. As she looked around she knelt down and brushed away the debris to expose a heart-shaped locket. The medium sized silver locket had a chain that still seemed to be intact. She gently pulled the chain from its sandy burial and blew off the remaining dirt. She had all the cart could carry so she placed the locket into her jeans pocket and headed back to her camp in the forest. The trees provided some protection from the sun but the sea breeze was what made the heat manageable. She was continually on guard as she made her way past the boobie traps she had set along the trails leading to her campsite. She lowered the dingy she had raised in the trees as a canopy and started to go thru her survival wagons items. Once the dingy was full she dragged it out onto the beach and headed for her boat that was anchored out in the water. Since the Great War, gasoline was a rarity and those that had it didn’t waste it on boats. Gracie had several gas cans that were still full of gas but hadn’t needed to use them due to her sailing skills taught to her by one of her moms. As she stowed away her finds of the day she adjusted the solar panels on her sailboat and sat down to the bread she baked yesterday and some preserves. She felt the bulge in her pocket and removed the heart shaped locket. She thought the latch was a bit odd but was able to figure it out and flip it open. There, securely mounted was a tiny SD card.

“How odd? That was not at all what I was expecting”

She spoke as if the seagull that was now perched at top the cabin could understand. She saved a small bite of bread with jam and threw it to the seagull who grabbed it as if on cue. She went into the cabin and pulled out a milk crate from under her bunk. A hodge podge of electronic boxes, wires and old laptops were stored in the crate.

“Ahh…here you are!”

Gracie pulled out a small box with several SD cards, flash drives and housings. She sifted thru the box until she found a housing that the tiny SD car fit into. Now all she had to do was find a laptop that was charged. She slid that milk crate back and pulled out another one that had various tablets and electronic notebooks in it along with an MSI laptop. As she checked its charge she placed the SD card housing into the laptop. It had been a while since Gracie got excited. As she clicked on the file she thought she would see photos of a family but instead she saw photos of the impact of the bombs and the aftermath. Photos of charred bodies and trucks that seemed to be collecting samples of some type from the charred bodies. It wasn’t what Gracie was prepared to see. She closed the laptop and threw it down on her bunk. She walked outside to a strong breeze. She looked up and saw several rain clouds. She prepared her jars for collection of rainwater as she sat back down to process what she had just viewed.

“Why would anyone keep that in a locket of all places. And what does it mean?”

As the wind increased she secured her lines and went down below. Her stash of Ramen noodles was halfway thru chicken and while she wished she could start on the Oriental, Beef, or Soy Sauce she knew that eating one group helped her keep track of how many more she had left. She starred at the laptop and once more opened it to resume her viewing. It showed a lab that Gracie remembered passing in her travels. The only photos of living people were at the end. One Asian looking female in a lab coat and what looked like her small daughter next to her. They were both smiling in front of a nice looking beach front house with a porch. It also had a very distinctive wooden mermaid standing upright in the sand. Gracie loved a good mystery but this wasn’t some tv drama. She wondered if there was anyone still at this lab that was in the photos. Were the woman and her daughter still around. She opened up her map to mark off her scavenged area and looked back at the photo.

“Maybe I could drive along the coast and see if I could see the house? But I don’t even know if this is on the east or west coast. This photograph could have been taken in California for all I know!”

She starred at her stuffed lamb that sat on her bookshelf as she spoke out loud. As she put her map away she straightened up her table. The wind picking up due to waves rocking the boat. She laid down in her bunk and starred up at the photos of her parents that were attached to the underside of the top bunk. As the boat rocked she drifted off to sleep.

When she woke only the glow of her electronics were seen. She dimmed the light and went out onto the deck to smell the salt air as she looked towards the shoreline. Small glows could be seen in various areas as she wondered if they were friend or foe. As she put up her hammock she wondered if maybe she should keep heading North up the Gulf Coast. Maybe she would take a brief detour and check out the beach heading back south. Perhaps she would get lucky and check out the beach front homes to see if she could find a match to the photo. She yawned as she climbed into her hammock. Once again she fell asleep but this time gazing at the stars. An errant seagull flew overhead as Gracie was awakened buy its morning greeting.

“Well good morning to you. You know….if you keep hanging around here I’m going to have to give you a name. “

She stowed her hammock away and went down into her cabin. She felt a bit guilty as she cracked open two of the duck eggs she found yesterday and placed them in the frying pan.. Her bread was a little flat but was still tasty. As always the scraps of bread she saved for her seagull friend.

After breakfast she lifted up anchor, unfurled sails midway and headed down the coast. She was careful to stay at a slight angle and far enough away to avoid possible shootings from random gangs that she had seen. Her binoculars gave clear views when Cassie needed it. Hours passed as she sailed down the coast. Finally she caught glimpse of something familiar. She looked down at the photo and looked up as she smiled.

“Gotcha!”

There in her binoculars sight was the wooden carved mermaid in the photo. Gracie dropped anchor, lowered her sails and looked at the spec that was the house with her naked eye. The one thing she learned from hunting and fishing is patience. So she hunkered down and watched. It became overcast and the sudden pelting of rain could be felt. But just as she was about to go below her eyes caught movement on the beach. A cloaked figure moved one of the boxes and lifted out a blue barrel.

“So, you collect fresh rainwater like I do. That means you must be staying there.”

Gracie would wait until nightfall to see if there were any lights.. She took the canoe and paddled at a slight angle to the beach house. Once on shore she dragged the canoe behand a fallen palm tree and headed towards the house. As she came to the occupied house she could hear singing inside. As she quickly made her way underneath the stilted house she could see a wheelchair and an elevator. Gracie made her way up the walkway. She got to a window and peered in thru the kitchen area. She saw a young woman in a wheelchair dicing onions. As Gracie stood up she was greeted with a shotgun barrel aimed at her face.

“Can I help you?”

The older woman seemed very sure and controlled. Gracie lowered her gun and placed it very slowly back in its holster. She then cautiously removed her hood portion of her camo hoodie as her hair cascaded down around her shoulders.

“I mean you no harm.”

The woman scoffed at Gracies comment still aiming the shotgun.

“Please….if I may. I think I have something that belongs to you.”

Gracie carefully removed the heart shaped locket from around her neck and handed it to the woman. Finally, the woman lowered the shotgun and gently took the locket from Gracies hand.

“I gave this to my daughter and it was stolen by some men we met along the road when our car broke down. It was several days after the EMP pulse. They said they would help us but they had other things on their mind. Chelsea my daughter was shot as we were trying to runaway. Come inside.”

Gracie unzipped her hoodie as she entered the home. The young woman was similar in age to her as she turned to face Gracie.

“Hi, my name is Gracie Howell.”

The young woman nodded and smiled as she rolled her chair over to Gracie.

“My name is Maya Young. Pleasure to meet you Gracie”

Part of Gracie was warmed by the young womans refreshing smile and demeanor.

The older woman looked at Gracie as she spoke.

“My name is Michelle ….Michelle Young. Would you like to join us for dinner Gracie?”

It was as if her mothers were looking out for her. She eagerly said yes and sat down to the first relaxing dinner she had known in quite some time. The sounds of laughter filled the air .