submarine’s sail and approached the tied up yacht.
The four people on the boat were getting ready to
board the submarine, but Sanchez stopped them.
He had no intention of risking the lives of his crew.
Sanchez said. “I’m Captain Sanchez. What are you
doing out here, and when was the last time you
encountered another person?”
The man answered, “We’re the Winters family. A week after the first case in New York we left
on vacation. We were following the news closely
and a month ago we decided it was too risky to return to Miami. We haven’t seen anyone since we
left Miami seventeen weeks ago. I know you’re
probably thinking we’re contagious, but I promise,
we haven’t seen another person since we left Miami.”
Sanchez studied the Winters family. He was
looking for any sign of the disease. He saw nothing
even remotely suspicious. He ordered his men to
secure a gangplank between the two vessels and
welcomed the Winters family as they cautiously
walked across a ten foot span of ocean.
Sanchez led the group through an access
hatch on the side of the submarine’s tall steel sail.
The Winters family looked around the inside of the
vessel with ever-widening eyes. Sanchez smiled at
them and said, “You’re the first civilians to ever set
foot inside this ship since it was commissioned.”
Sanchez and his senior officers met in the
officer’s mess area with their four guests. They
were served coffee and water. Jason Winters started the conversation. “What the hell is going on?
Are we the only people alive on the planet? What
are we going to do?”
Sanchez thought these were all reasonable
questions considering the length of time the Winters family had been in isolation. Sanchez then
asked his medical officer to brief their guests on
the status of the world.
Diane Winters, Jason’s wife, finally said,
“My God, you mean it spread throughout the world
in just a couple of weeks?”
It wasn’t really a question, more a statement of fact. Jason Winters asked, “So what are
you doing here?”
Sanchez answered, “We’re not really sure if
the contagious period is over yet, so we thought
we’d try picking up some food supplies on a deserted island. On our satellite imagery, this looked
like a promising location.”
Billy Winters, who was in his teens, interrupted, “Well there’s a whole group of wild pigs
running around the island. We couldn’t catch any
but I’m sure you can.”
Grace Winters, who also looked in her late
teens added, “There’re plenty of bananas and coconuts. We’ve been living on fresh fish for the last
couple of weeks.”
Sanchez smiled, “Well let’s see if we can
change our diets. My crew is going to set up a
campsite on the beach. We’ll kill some of the wild
pigs and that will give us a meat supply for the
next few weeks. Let’s do a pig roast on the beach
tonight.”
Ed Sanchez turned to his Executive Officer.
“Gordy, have the crew set up the campsite and
begin shuttling the crew onto shore. Set up a hunting party, and have the kitchen staff prepare to
butcher and freeze some fresh pork. We won’t be
keeping kosher for the next few weeks.”
Gordy Phillips laughed. “Aye, aye Sir; with
your permission, I’ll also set up a fishing team.”
Sanchez said, “Good idea Gordy, make it
happen.”
Billy Winters asked, “Can we have a tour of
the ship Captain Sanchez?”
Sanchez answered, “Well I’ll probably be
court martialed, but if you promise not to tell the
authorities, I think our Chief Engineer, Lieutenant
Collins can make that happen.”
Several inflatable small boats were set up
on the sub’s foredeck. Jason Winters had brought
four fishing poles over from his boat and two of the
inflatables left the ship and began trolling for fish.
They moved closer into shore where many fish
would be living near the protection of the submerged reef. The third inflatable began shuttling
sailors over the reef and onto the beach. The first
group
The four people on the boat were getting ready to
board the submarine, but Sanchez stopped them.
He had no intention of risking the lives of his crew.
Sanchez said. “I’m Captain Sanchez. What are you
doing out here, and when was the last time you
encountered another person?”
The man answered, “We’re the Winters family. A week after the first case in New York we left
on vacation. We were following the news closely
and a month ago we decided it was too risky to return to Miami. We haven’t seen anyone since we
left Miami seventeen weeks ago. I know you’re
probably thinking we’re contagious, but I promise,
we haven’t seen another person since we left Miami.”
Sanchez studied the Winters family. He was
looking for any sign of the disease. He saw nothing
even remotely suspicious. He ordered his men to
secure a gangplank between the two vessels and
welcomed the Winters family as they cautiously
walked across a ten foot span of ocean.
Sanchez led the group through an access
hatch on the side of the submarine’s tall steel sail.
The Winters family looked around the inside of the
vessel with ever-widening eyes. Sanchez smiled at
them and said, “You’re the first civilians to ever set
foot inside this ship since it was commissioned.”
Sanchez and his senior officers met in the
officer’s mess area with their four guests. They
were served coffee and water. Jason Winters started the conversation. “What the hell is going on?
Are we the only people alive on the planet? What
are we going to do?”
Sanchez thought these were all reasonable
questions considering the length of time the Winters family had been in isolation. Sanchez then
asked his medical officer to brief their guests on
the status of the world.
Diane Winters, Jason’s wife, finally said,
“My God, you mean it spread throughout the world
in just a couple of weeks?”
It wasn’t really a question, more a statement of fact. Jason Winters asked, “So what are
you doing here?”
Sanchez answered, “We’re not really sure if
the contagious period is over yet, so we thought
we’d try picking up some food supplies on a deserted island. On our satellite imagery, this looked
like a promising location.”
Billy Winters, who was in his teens, interrupted, “Well there’s a whole group of wild pigs
running around the island. We couldn’t catch any
but I’m sure you can.”
Grace Winters, who also looked in her late
teens added, “There’re plenty of bananas and coconuts. We’ve been living on fresh fish for the last
couple of weeks.”
Sanchez smiled, “Well let’s see if we can
change our diets. My crew is going to set up a
campsite on the beach. We’ll kill some of the wild
pigs and that will give us a meat supply for the
next few weeks. Let’s do a pig roast on the beach
tonight.”
Ed Sanchez turned to his Executive Officer.
“Gordy, have the crew set up the campsite and
begin shuttling the crew onto shore. Set up a hunting party, and have the kitchen staff prepare to
butcher and freeze some fresh pork. We won’t be
keeping kosher for the next few weeks.”
Gordy Phillips laughed. “Aye, aye Sir; with
your permission, I’ll also set up a fishing team.”
Sanchez said, “Good idea Gordy, make it
happen.”
Billy Winters asked, “Can we have a tour of
the ship Captain Sanchez?”
Sanchez answered, “Well I’ll probably be
court martialed, but if you promise not to tell the
authorities, I think our Chief Engineer, Lieutenant
Collins can make that happen.”
Several inflatable small boats were set up
on the sub’s foredeck. Jason Winters had brought
four fishing poles over from his boat and two of the
inflatables left the ship and began trolling for fish.
They moved closer into shore where many fish
would be living near the protection of the submerged reef. The third inflatable began shuttling
sailors over the reef and onto the beach. The first
group
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