“Robert… Get on the fucking boat,” I say as I grow frustrated and drag him with all of my strength until he is physically on the boat. “There now… keep them off of us.”
I run into the control room. “Claire, can we go…”
“Everything… I think… looks ready,” Claire whispers as she goes over the monitors. “Disembark.”
“We don’t have much time here!” Robert says as he shouts. “Running out of ammo….”
“Disembark…” Claire repeats more forcefully.
“Welcome Claire Derry—please state desired destination?”
“Hawaii…” Claire says as she once again commands. “Disembark.”
“We’re about to be really fucked here guys!”
“Coordinates?” The male voice asks.
“Just leave,” I shout.
“Coordinates?” The voice repeats.
“Lat…” Claire stutters as the sound of gunfire from the rear of the ship is causing her to panic. She shakes her head to clear the terrible sounds away. Lat… latitude 21.31… Longitude -157.8… Disembark!”
The engines rumble to life and the boat pulls away. I rush back to the stern of the vessel and find Robert sitting against the wall. He gives me a thumbs up. He releases the clip from his assault rifle… it is empty. I watch the dock as we speed away. The remaining Aggros scream out in frustration. I suppose they are not very strong swimmers—to our benefit.
“You did great,” I say as I help him up.
“You had five more seconds or so… what was the rush?” Robert says as he lets out an exhausted laugh and collapses upon the couch. “Fuck…”
“Robert…” I say as I get into the fridge and toss him a bottle of water.
“Yeah man?”
“Will you stop trying to martyr yourself?” I ask as I shake my head and let out a sigh of relief. “From here on out—just stop. You’ve more than proved you are brave. You do not have to die trying to prove it any further. Alright…?”
“I hear you—loud and clear,” He says as he downs the bottle of water.
I walk over to the console and stand beside Claire. I reach down and kiss her on her cheek. She is busy going over a map on the monitor. She looks to me and smiles.
“You did great, you really did—I don’t know how you pulled it off, but you saved us.”
“You saved us…”
“I hardly did anything… other than pull Robert onboard… I think I was the most useless one of us…”
“I think… I was the most useless one of us.”
“Got it,” I say with a short laugh. “That’s good timing though.”
“Good timing… though….”
I walk to the back of the door and I’m about to hit the switch and a flash of light fills the air far south of us. Robert gets up and stands beside me. Off into the distance, far away—a mushroom cloud fills the air.
“And so Los Angeles has fallen as well…” Robert says as he reaches into the side pouch of his uniform and pulls out the small TV.
A man on the small screen is standing alongside the wreckage of what appears to be pieces of black metal that has washed up along the shore. “I am standing by what appears to be what remains of a submarine that has washed up upon the shores of Georgia. From what I’ve gathered a rogue group of subs has declared war against those launching missiles upon the United States—so for now, hopefully, it appears that the threat of more cities being wiped off the map has passed. Reports have also been coming in regarding a cruise ship off the coast of Virginia firing guiding rockets, or what they call ‘bunker busters’ into the underground command room of the White House—whether this has been an effective measure still remains to be seen, as supposedly the command center is impervious to even a nuclear strike. However, it is now clear at this point that what remains of our military forces are no longer following the orders of the government…”
“Thank god,” Robert says as he places a hand upon his bald forehead and wipes away a heavy sheen of sweat.
“A resistance group….” With that, the TV fizzles out. Robert messes with it for a few moments—however, it remains unresponsive. “Fuck it,” he mutters as he tosses it into the ocean.
We enter the control room, I flip the switch and the door shuts behind us. Robert takes his place back on the couch as Claire gets up from her seat. “We’re good—we just have to pass the time…”
“How long…?”
Claire pauses apprehensively… and bites her lip. “Fourteen days.”
“That’s a long time,” I say as I let out a sigh. “I hope that we still have time to fix things.”
“I hope so…” Claire says as she wraps her arms around me. “Finally though, we’re safe. You kept your promise. At least… feel okay about that?”
“I do,” I say as I hold her tightly against me. “I’m so proud of you. We’re safe because of you.”
“You helped,” Claire says as she smiles up at me and laughs. “You got us here. You saved me… you saved Robert. I’d say you did something good.”
“Now just to save the world,” I say as I laugh uncomfortably. “Should be a piece of cake after what we’ve been through, right?”
Claire nods as she kisses me.
After we eat, we head down into the bedrooms.
“Goodnight Robert,” Claire says as she hugs the large man.
“Goodnight Claire, Ethan…” Robert says as he smiles.
“Hey Robert…” I say as he pauses and raises an eyebrow.
“No jerking off in there now…” I say as I laugh.
Robert laughs heartily as he shakes his head and shuts the door behind him.
As I enter the bedroom with Claire I hear soft beeping noise. I make my way to the case that rests upon the bed. There is a green light that reads ‘ready’ upon the case. I quickly pick it up and make my way out of the room—Claire follows me. I knock on Robert’s door.
“I’m not jerking off,” Robert says as I can hear the bed creak as he gets up. He opens the door and looks down at the metal case.
“It’s time to figure some things out,” I say as I lead us to the control room. We all sit down upon the couch as I place the metal case on the table. I anxiously hold my breath as I run my finger across the metal strip on the top. The case pops open revealing a huge stack of papers. I pick up the first one. It simply reads ‘YOU ARE THE MESSAGE.’
“What does it mean?” Claire asks as I pick up the second paper.
“You are the message?” I say aloud as I read it. I quickly pick up a stack and go through them. They all say the same thing… ‘YOU ARE THE MESSAGE.’
“I don’t understand,” Robert says as he fingers through the remains of the pile. There’s nothing here—it just says the same thing over and over again.
“Maybe… it is a code?” Claire asks as she holds up the paper to the light.
“It’s just the same computer paper over and over,” I say as I thumb through my pile once more. “It’s just… the same thing.”
“Don’t be upset,” Claire says as she notices the frustration upon my face.
“Maybe he means for you to tell the story…” Robert says as he places a hand upon my shoulder.
“This was supposed to be proof—this was supposed to be what I was to give to someone important… instead this is… nothing. It really was all for nothing. No one will listen to me without real, concrete evidence.” I say as I toss the papers back into the case. I get up and walk out of the command room.
“Ethan…”
“He just needs a moment,” I hear Robert say as I head out onto deck. I walk to the bow of the ship and see the ocean spread out before me. It is dark—it reminds me of that dream I had. I watch as the waves stir and the sea is in a constant state of movement. It reminds me of something Noah said once… I think, the first day that I met him. “The sea comes in many shapes… it’s never in one constant shape… you can’t stop the sea and make it into one singular shape; you can’t control something so big.”