TYBEE ISLAN
ISLAND
Continued from the August 2020 Beachcomber.
Catch up @ http://tybeebeachcomber.com/magazine
CHAPTER 37 - TANKER JOE
DAY 11
“Two days?” Doug asks. “Did I hear him say two days before they get here?”
“That’s what he said, yeah,” Tony answers.
“If they’re passing Port Canaveral, they should be here tomorrow morning at
the latest. Those new cutters move pretty quickly.”
“I agree. Something’s wrong.”
“Or maybe he’s misleading whoever might be listening” Doug says.
“I bet Patch isn’t even on the USCGC Charles David Jr,” Tony says.
“Remember the last thing Patch said?”
“Yeah. ‘Don’t believe everything you may have heard.’”
“He knows we haven’t been able to contact anyone else.”
“Are you saying he gave us misinformation to throw someone else off his
trail?” Doug asks.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Something big is coming our way.
Something, well, ominous.”
“I have a real uneasy feeling about this.”
“Me too. Let’s get the gang together and make sure we double up on our
watches. Everyone needs to know there may be a threat heading our way.”
“Okay. How do you propose we do this without freaking everyone out?”
Doug asks.
“We tell them the truth,” Tony replies. “One thing I hated when I was serving
was ‘need to know.’ We only knew what the leadership thought we needed to
know and nothing more. I find this way of thinking faulty. What happens when
the folks that know die and those that didn’t need to know were left without all
the information they actually needed?”
“Awkwardly put, but I’m picking up what you’re putting down.”
Sara walks into the room. “Hey, you guys want some cookies? They’re fresh
out of the oven!”
“Ummmm…” Tony says. “Does a frog bump his butt when he hops?”
Sara just stares back at him with a look of confusion on her face.
“Of course we do! Can you gather everyone in the kitchen? We might as well
have some of your awesome cookies while we fill everyone in on what we’ve
just learned.”
“I’m on it,” Sara says and skips off. She gathers the entire group in
the kitchen and Tony and Doug explain everything they learned from their
conversation with Patch.
Rudy speaks up, “So, you guys are saying that Patch may or may not be on
the way, there may or may not be some mysterious people listening to our radio
traffic, and there’s bad news to be heard if and when Patch gets here? Oh, and to
not necessarily believe any of it!”
“Exactly!” Doug says and laughs.
“Well, if that’s not the most useless information I’ve ever heard,” Joey scoffs.
“I think what we should take from this is that we need to keep our security
30 TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | SEPT 2020
By By Paul Paul Cales Cales & Becca
tight and stay vigilant.” Johnny says.
“Yes Johnny, you nailed it,” Tony says.
“Do we really want Patch coming here?” Cheryl asks. “I mean, he might be
bringing trouble along with him.”
“We’ve been in contact with him for about a week now,” Rudy says, and
reaches for another cookie. “He’s our only connection to anyone else alive out
there. I think we would be remiss if we didn’t consider him an asset.”
“I agree, but we still need to be cautious,” Says Doug.
“What about Eric and Sarge?” Becky asks. “If someone is listening to us on
the radio they might be in danger.”
“Sarge and Eric know what channel to listen to and what channel to jump
to when given one of the key words,” Tony answers. “I think we’ll be safe as
long as we jump channels every two minutes or so. We need to let them know
about this new danger as well, but we’ll leave out any specific details just in
case.”
“Yeah,” Doug says. “We wouldn’t want whoever may be listening to know
how much info we have. As far as they’re concerned, we’re just a small group
of beach bums who miraculously survived on a little island in Georgia.”
Tony finishes his cookie in one bite and stands up. “This is what I have
planned so far. Anyone who disagrees with any of this, speak your mind. This is
a democracy after all.”
Tony throws one finger in the air. “One. Joey, move one tank to the backyard
overlooking the Back River. If a large vessel comes up the river, we need to
make sure there’s a 120mm main gun pointed at it but keep the hull of the
tank hidden. I don’t want to show whoever might be coming all our cards
before they make any moves.”
“Got it. I’ll camouflage the tank with palm fronds,” Joey says.
“Just make sure you don’t cover the Gunner’s Auxiliary Site, the doghouse,
the driver’s periscopes, or the end of the gun tube. If you don’t know what any
of those things are, just look it up in that handy dandy TM 9-2350-255-10
manual you’ve been reading.”
“You mean this manual?” Joey asks and pulls it out with a flourish.
“That’s the one!” Tony beams. “You know what Joey? We’re gonna have to
change your name to Tanker Joe here pretty soon.”
“Is Joey blushing?” Becky whispers to Sara and takes another cookie.
Tony eats another cookie in one bite and smiles at Sara. “Okay, moving along.
Two. Doug, can you patch the short-wave radio to the speakers built into the
house? If we can hear the radio through the house speakers, we won’t need
an extra body on the radio just sitting there. If someone calls, we can just run
down to the radio room and answer.”
“Good idea. I can do that. Shouldn’t take more than ten minutes,” Doug says.
“Three. We need to make sure the tank at the front of the house and the
one pointing at the Back River are manned at all times. The .50cal on the back
deck needs a guard posted 24/7 as well. Joey and Rudy, you take the tank in
the front yard. I’ll take the tank in the backyard with Doug. Sara and Becky
can take the .50cal on the back deck. Johnny and Cheryl can cover for anyone
needing a break and continue to run the household duties.”
“Why do I have to be paired up with Johnny?” Cheryl asks.
“Cause he’s your husband?” Tony chuckles.
“That doesn’t mean I want him next to me all day,” Cheryl quips.
“I love you too honey bunny!” Johnny laughs and breaks the tension in the
group.
“Four,” Tony says loudly to get back everyone’s attention. “I’ll set all the local
radios to jump frequencies so no one can listen to our conversations. So feel
free to talk, check in with each other, and most importantly, observe and report,
even if the report is ‘clear.’ Got it?”
The group all replies in unison, “Got it.”
“Does anyone have any questions, concerns, or comments?”
“I’m getting the feeling from you that you’re really worried about what’s
coming. Are you telling us everything?” Sara asks.
“Yes Sara,” Tony answers. “I’m telling you all everything. I am worried.
I’m worried that what we’ve built in the 11 days since the world turned into
hordes of flesh-eating monsters is going to be destroyed. I’m worried that my
decisions could get us all killed. Should we pack up, run, hide? I don’t know. I
don’t know what’s coming. Hell, nothing may be coming. I’m mostly concerned
that zeeks are no longer our biggest threat. How the hell did that happen?
Listen guys, you’re my family. I’ll do everything I can to keep us all safe, but
you have to trust in yourselves. We’ve come a long way in 11 days. It’s not over
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