Hope (21 page)

“I’ll show you,” Neal said. He grimaced when he exited the car; his knees were sore from the long brutal bike ride. He suspected he had developed tendonitis only because he had suffered from it before.

Seeing the difficulty he was having, Hope hurried over and offered her hand.

Neal paused. He looked at her small hand and smiled. He shifted his gaze and looked into her green eyes. The loneliness was still present, but something had shifted. He could see a glimmer of something more, better. He laid his hand in hers and slowly stood. “Thank you.”

She cracked a brief grin and pulled her gaze away from his.

The salty smell of sea air hit him. He cocked his head and looked out towards the marina.

Several seagulls reeled overhead and squawked their raucous calls.

He and Hope watched as they cruised past them and landed on a large pylon.

Neal couldn’t help but think that the birds were going about their lives as if nothing had happened. Their lives were the same, well, maybe a bit different; gone was the easily available garbage left by humans, but for the most part their lives weren’t affected. For all the talk and philosophizing that humans were the advanced species, they didn’t act that way when the lights went out. The thousands of years of evolution hadn’t removed the brutal instinct to murder or conquer. Mankind with all its luxuries, fashion, style, and so-called civilization wasn’t any different than a wild animal; in fact, it could be argued they were worse. The events that followed the EMP didn’t have to be a total collapse. If people had worked together for the greater good and rebuilt, there wouldn’t have been a collapse on an apocalyptic scale. But none of these musings mattered and thinking about them was a waste of time.

“Ever been on a boat?” Neal asked.

Hope shook her head no.

“Consider today your lucky day,” he said with a smile. “Please be there,” he mumbled under his breath. He limped past the rear of the car and looked directly down the long pier. When he saw the white hull and mast, he sighed.

Hope walked up to his side and asked, “Which one is yours?”

“It’s that thirty-six-foot Beneteau, the big white one.”

She cocked her head and shrugged her shoulders.

Feeling silly, he changed his response. “Oh, the big white sailboat at the very end, you see the mast and blue sail cover?”

Hope looked and nodded.

“Let’s go check her out and see how’s she’s doing.”

“She?”

“Yeah, boats are girls.”

“They are?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Good question, I don’t really know why.”

He took her hand and they walked together towards the pier.

“Tell me again about Costa Rica,” she asked. Hearing the stories about their new home filled her with happiness and gave her hope for a better tomorrow. A joy emanated from her with the anticipation of hearing about their new home.

“It’s a beautiful place, the beaches are filled with white silky sand, and the ocean water is warm, not like it is here.”

“Is it safe there?”

He stopped and knelt down beside her. “No matter what, I’ll keep you safe; I won’t allow anything to ever happen to you. What I know is what happened here isn’t happening down there.”

“So it will be safe?”

He looked deep into her eyes and said, “It will be safe.”

She lunged and wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you.”

Her embrace brought tears to his eyes.

“Why are you crying? Are you sad?” she whispered.

“No, not at all, these are happy tears. Now let’s get
Karen Knot
seaworthy.”

“The boat’s name is Karen Not?”

“Well, Karen for my wife and knot spelled with a k, representing speed at sea, kinda like miles per hour. It’s a play on words; it means caring not or being not caring, make sense?”

Hope didn’t quite understand nor cared; she smiled and hugged Cuddles.

He loved her smile. In fact, she seemed to smile more than anyone he had ever known and that said a lot. Beth had smiled often, but Hope clearly won the smile contest. “You have to be the happiest person I’ve ever known.”

“I am?”

“Yeah, I’ve known quite a few people and you always seem to be smiling. How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Smile all the time.”

“Is it bad?”

“Oh, gosh no, not at all, it’s wonderful. You’re wonderful. I wish I could smile more.”

She again hugged him and said, “I’ll help you do that.”

He couldn’t fight the tears; they again came to his eyes. “One day you’ll give me your secret on being happy, deal?”

“I’ll tell you now.”

“Will you, please?”

“Mommy told me all the time that in order to be happy you have to let go of what makes you sad.”

“Wow, so profound for a six-year-old.”

“Mommy had us memorize it.”

“How do you do it?”

“I told you.”

“No, how are you able to let go of the things that make you sad?”

“The only things that have made me sad were my family dying, but I know I’ll see them again.”

“You do?”

“Yes. I know they’re in heaven and God is hugging them right now.”

“He is?” Neal asked. He wasn’t mocking her; he was genuinely curious. He had never been an overly religious person, and with everything that had occurred lately, he had lost more of his spirituality and questioned if God truly existed.

“I saw him; he told me they were fine.”

“Hmm.”

Hope looked at him and said, “You don’t believe me.”

“I didn’t say that. I just haven’t met anyone who’s talked to God.”

“Can we go now?”

“Um, sure, but I hope you don’t mind if I ask more questions later. Is that okay?”

“Sure, it’s fine.”

They walked slowly down the pier. Silence washed over them as they drew closer to the boat. Neither really knew what lay ahead, but for Neal, the open sea offered a better life than what they were leaving.

Getting the
Karen Knot
seaworthy didn’t take as long as Neal thought. Of course, it was harder having to do it all by himself, and it had been a while since he had been on her, but he quickly remembered the little things and in short order had her on the water.

Hope was beyond thrilled. The cool bay air felt good against her face. Giggling, she raised Cuddles high above her head and pretended the stuffed teddy bear was flying.

San Diego Bay was smooth sailing, but the ocean beyond would be entirely different.

Knowing a game would make it fun for her, he said, “Permission to man the helm, Captain?”

She looked at him funny.

“You’re the captain and I’m the first mate. Now give me the order to take the helm.”

“Take the helm.”

“Or as a captain of a boat would say,
permission granted
,” he said, lowering his voice to make him sound like an old salty sailor.

“Permission granted,” Hope said. She then hugged Cuddles and asked, “What does Cuddles do?”

Neal got behind the wheel and looked towards Point Loma and the inlet that flowed from the Pacific into San Diego Bay. “We’ll make him our security.”

“Like a policeman?” Hope asked, walking up next to Neal.

“I was thinking a Marine or SEAL.”

“A seal, um, I don’t think seals can keep us safe,” Hope replied, not understanding what Neal meant by the term SEAL.

“Then we’ll make him a salty Marine, and his rank will be gunny. That’s it, Gunny Cuddles,” Neal joked.

“Yeah, Gunny Cuddles to the rescue.” Hope cheered, holding the teddy bear high again above her head.

“Look up there,” Neal said, pointing to the lighthouse above them on the right.

“What’s that?” Hope asked.

“That’s the Point Loma Lighthouse, and that over there to the left, or port side in sailing terms, is North Island Naval Center. So we’ll exit out the inlet here, you see we’re now heading due south; then we’ll turn slightly and head out to deeper ocean.”

“Where’s the ocean?”

“You can see a bit right there, but the whole ocean is just on the other side of Point Loma. We can’t really see it because of these tall cliffs.”

Hope nodded and again held Cuddles high just when a brisk ocean wind came and swept Cuddles out of her grasp. “No!”

Cuddles fell onto the deck.

She bent over to get him but kicked him accidently. He skirted across the deck and stopped just shy of going overboard.

Neal quickly grabbed her for fear she’d fall over. He reached out and picked up Cuddles. Holding Hope tight, he said, “You can’t just run around on the deck here. You can fall over.”

Scared, she simply replied, “Okay.”

“Here’s Cuddles.”

“Gunny Cuddles,” she reminded him.

Neal got behind the wheel and made a slight adjustment. They were now set to sail out of the inlet and into the ocean. “I need you to stay put right here. Just hold the wheel; make sure it doesn’t move. I’m going below deck to get something.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t move. Just stay right here.”

“I’m scared.”

“You’ll be fine. I’m just going below to get you a life jacket. I’ll be right back.”

After that incident, Neal was nervous. Why he hadn’t gotten her suited up with a life vest before was stupid on his part. He raced below deck to go find her one.

“Do you have one for Cuddles?” Hope asked.

Normally he would have just dismissed her or placated the question, but he wanted to make her happy. “You know, we just might have a very teeny tiny jacket that will fit him.”

“Good, I want him to be safe; I don’t think he knows how to swim.”

Neal opened the cabinets the jackets were normally stowed in but couldn’t find them. “Argh,” he grunted. He went from one cabinet to another. Unable to find them, he thought for a second, and then he remembered where they might be. He lifted up a cushioned bench seat in the dining space, and voila, there they were.

The ship began to rock more, indicating they were heading out to sea.

Neal grabbed several jackets. He then heard Hope speaking loudly.

“Hello, hi, hello,” Hope said.

She must be playing make-believe
, he thought. He stepped up the ladder well and onto the deck. He dropped the jackets in shock when he saw the towering gray hull of a massive warship.

Hope was right where he left her. She was waving to the sailors on board, who were waving back with big smiles on their faces.

Neal’s jaw dropped. The beaming and smiling faces wore uniforms he hadn’t seen before. These weren’t American sailors; they were from somewhere else.

They sailed past the ship without incident.

Neal looked back and saw the bright red flag with the sickle and stars; it was the flag of the People’s Republic of China.

“Look,” Hope said and pointed north.

Neal snapped his head in that direction, and what he saw along the coast as far as the eye could see was frightening, not because of the sheer size and number of ships but because of why they were there.

All the way to the horizon and stretching from the coast to the west out of sight was an armada of ships bigger than anything he’d ever seen in his life, hundreds by a rough count, maybe thousands depending on how far north they went. This wasn’t a humanitarian force, this was an invading force.

“Are they coming to help?” Hope asked.

He took her hand and replied, “I don’t think so.”

“They’re bad people?”

“Yes, I think they are.”

“What’s going to happen?”

“I don’t know, but we left just in time,” Neal said. With Hope in tow, he walked to the wheel and adjusted their course away from the ships. To the south, the ocean beckoned. He wasn’t sure what lay out beyond the horizon, but the unknown seemed to offer greater certainty than what lay behind them.

The United States was gone with no promise of return.

Neal knew he couldn’t make guarantees, but he would do anything and everything to keep his promise to Karen and Charlotte to ensure Hope would be able to live her life in relative safety.

They both had experienced tragedy and bitter loss, but together they could find something better. Together they could establish a new family. They’d left the country they had called home, but they weren’t leaving home as much as they were…Going Home.

THE END

READ AN EXCERPT FROM AN UPCOMING BOOK BY A. AMERICAN
CRY HAVOC

After a campaign full of infighting and mudslinging, Hillary Clinton narrowly dodged being indicted. Or so we were led to believe. She went on to win the election for president of the United States in what appeared to be a landslide. As bad as this would become, it could have been worse. But there were serious issues with the election. Her victory was so overwhelming, in fact, that many believed it a farce. This caused even more problems; the campaign had already stirred up a lot of angst in the country. Her predecessor, Obama, ran a campaign that really played the social equity angle, some called it the race card. Either way you looked at it, a wedge the size of Mount Everest was driven through the country. There were cries of rigged elections from the right. The left shouted from every microphone they got in front of that this was the true season of change; after all, the nation had spoken, a second time. The people of America really did want the hope and change started by President Obama that was sure to continue under a historic Clinton presidency.

One of the first things the president did was to push Congress and the Senate to ratify the Small Arms Treaty. Oh, there was great outrage from the reps on the right, lots of pulpit pounding and chest-thumping, but in the end it passed both chambers with a nearly ninety percent yes vote. This was gasoline on the fire. The second act of the president was to capitulate to Iran and acknowledge their right to self-defense and, in that light, their right to nuclear weapons. She legitimized their nuclear program with the stroke of a pen. This process was begun under Obama, Clinton just acknowledged it. Israel went mad; they pled their case in the public court. But with so much going on at home, many Americans simply ignored it or paid little attention.

Further emboldened, radicals in the Middle East pressed their campaigns of terror and fear throughout the world. Israel was under near constant attack from the West Bank. When ISIS was defeated despite the best efforts of the Obama and Clinton administrations, Iran was even further emboldened. Hezbollah began direct action operations against Israel. Of course, publicly they denied this. But with the full backing of the Russians, there was little the world could do short of a full-scale world war.