tickets a month in advance. I’m not waiting to do this some other time,” her husband responded.
The woman behind him kept checking her phone. She would look at it for a minute, put it away for another minute, and then make a call. “He said they would be landing an hour ago,” this woman sounded very worried.
“Maybe there was a holdover somewhere,” the man standing with her said.
“He was coming from L.A, Howard. It is a non-stop flight. I just hope he wasn’t caught up in whatever the hell is going on down there.”
“He sent you a text from the flight, didn’t he? That means he got out of L.A before they shut everything down. Take it easy. He probably just got stuck in traffic with a dead cell phone. He’ll be here.”
The sounds of an accident came from a few blocks down. Some of the tourists from towards the front of the line laughed. One of them was even heard saying, “Learn to drive, idiot.” This comment was followed by another round of laughter from the loudmouth’s group.
“That’s terrible,” Tyler said. “Someone could be seriously injured.”
“They have insurance and they’ll get a shit load of money from the lawsuit. Don’t worry about them,” Layla said. She was still bouncing with excitement, and Tyler was sure she wasn’t actually aware of what just happened. “Give me your phone so I can take a picture of us.”
Tyler dug in his pockets but couldn’t find his phone. “I must have left it in the car. Just make sure you don’t run your battery dead.”
The sound of another crash could be heard from down another street, followed by several more. Car horns roared through the city and out into the bay. Everyone stood still and quiet, waiting for what would happen next. There wasn’t another accident. Instead, the silence was followed by screams. The screams were followed by panic that tore through the group of tourists.
“Oh god, Howard. Do you think we are under attack?” the woman behind Tyler asked.
“I don’t know, dear. I just hope we get on that damned ferry soon,” Howard looked around for a moment, his bold head reflecting the sun’s radiance. “Can we get moving!” he hollered.
The captain’s nervous voice blared over the intercom. “All passengers may proceed towards the ferry. Please stay in an organized line to make this go as smooth as possible. Thank you.”
In that instant, the back of the line pushed hard to move to the front. Two men were knocked over the white fence and into the bay. Loudmouth’s group laughed at the two and kept going towards the ferry, while the next group back stopped to try and help the men climb out of the water. The line was moving along quick, but it seemed it wasn’t fast enough, as the people further back continued to push their way forward.
Tyler and Layla walked through the large white gate and down the walkway to board the ferry. Once onboard, they moved to the second level to try to find a less crowded spot. They stood next to an older woman who was bringing her two grandsons on the tour. They all watched as the last few groups approached the ferry. The screams from the city grew louder as scared citizens ran out towards the bay.
The deckhand at the entrance began to wave everyone through in a hurry. He closed and latched the door while two other deckhands on the outside undid the thick ropes that held the ferry tight against the dock. One of the deckhands, a tall black man with a shaved head, radioed up to the First Mate to tell him that they were prepared to move.
Water churned from under the large boat as the powerful engines roared. Just as the ferry began to pull away from the dock, two people jumped aboard and climbed over the railing. Unsure of what to do, the deckhands helped them over. As they pulled further away, another man jumped for the ferry. He grabbed the railing as he slammed into the side of the boat, his legs halfway in the water.
The oncoming crowd stopped at the dock and screamed for the ferry to come back. It was too far out for anyone else to make it too, but the ferry passengers could hear their terrified pleads. Several horrified citizens jumped over the fence and into the cool water of the bay in hopes of swimming fast enough to catch the ferry, but none of them ever caught up.
Being propelled out into the bay, the passengers on the ferry could do nothing but watch the horrors of the attack happening on the shore. As the growing crowd tried to avoid their attackers, people were pushed against the fence along the pier until it broke apart, causing the ones up front to fall into the water. Their screams skipped across the water like smooth stones across a calm lake.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is Captain Jim Carter,” he paused for a few seconds. “We are not sure exactly what happened on shore. We will continue to Alcatraz Island and await word. Everyone remain calm. I’m sure everything will be fine.” The captain hung the intercom handset on its clip and gave a desperate look to his first mate.
“Do you think this has to do with the attacks happening down south?” First Mate Shawn Stewart asked. He was as scared as anyone, but he didn’t show it.
“Unfortunately, I do,” responded the captain gravely.
Three
“Tyler, do you think all those people are dead?” asked Layla as they stepped off of the ferry.
Tyler found that he was disheartened by her question. He did believe they were all dead. He had listened to the radio that morning while she slept. Deep down, he knew they were dead, but he hoped he was wrong. “No,” he said after a minute. “I think everyone is going to be fine.”
They stood together, not even looking at the massive prison behind them. Instead, they looked out across the bay. The city would have been beautiful, except the faint screams of the local populace could still be heard. Small plumes of smoke were starting to rise from different parts of the great city. The calm day allowed the smoke to drift high into the sky before dissipating in the atmosphere. Layla grabbed Tyler’s hand, their fingers intertwined.
“If I can get everyone’s attention over hear for one second please,” hollered a man in his late twenty’s. He was wearing a dark-green jacket with a brown button up shirt tucked neatly into his black slacks. He removed his tan park ranger hat and ran his fingers through his blonde hair and waited for the crowd to gather.
In the back of the crowd, a small group huddled around one of the men who jumped on board the ferry after they had pulled away from the dock. Tyler could see that his legs were wet, so he guessed he is the one who almost didn’t make it. The man howled in pain while they waited for one of the deckhands to return with the first aid kit.
“Just hang in there bud,” said the tall black man. The man’s shaved head gave way to a thin beard that thickened as it approached his chin. “Ji ran for the first aid kit. He’ll be back in a flash, OK? He’s a fast little Asian dude,” he let the man scream until he needed to catch his breath, and the deckhand spoke again. “My name’s Roy. I’m gonna be right here with you bud.”
“I got it. I’m back,” said the Asian man, slightly out of breath. Ji was in his early twenty’s and in great shape; his shaggy black hair was styled to look unkempt. “Sorry it took so long.”
“You know, it really didn’t take that long at all, man,” Roy said over the man’s screams.
“Everyone needs to give us room. If you would all step towards your tour guides, I think they have some things to say,” shouted the older deckhand. Terrence was the name embroidered on his work shirt. Tyler overheard him telling another passenger on the ride over that he was retired and working on the Bay Cruiser part time to keep him busy.
When the group turned back to the guides, the guide continued, “My name is Phillip, and this is our other guide for this evening, Elaine.” Elaine smiled and waved at the group. She was a woman in her early thirties. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail under her park ranger’s hat, and she wore an outfit that matched Phillips. Her green eyes looked like emeralds behind her dark eyeliner.
“To be honest, folks,” Phillip took a breath and looked out at the scared tourists. “We are really not sure what to do. I know we would be delighte
d to continue with the tour if it will help keep everyone’s mind off of what you all just witnessed. The captain and his crew will remain here at the dock, so they will inform us of the plan when we return.”
Tyler pulled Layla through the crowd and out into the open just as everyone began shouting. They were all scared, but many of the tourists had become angry. The couple walked down towards the guard tower just off of the dock. Another couple was standing down there, and Tyler recognized them as the couple that made it on board the ferry just as they pulled away from the pier. Layla flashed a quick smile at the couple, but the smile wasn’t returned.
“How’s it going?” Tyler asked as they approached the young couple.
“Fine. About as fine as it can be, anyway,” the man replied as he scratched the top of his head through his shaggy brown hair. When he realized that Tyler and Layla were not just passing by he said, “My name’s Ryan Burke. This is my wife Jen.” She smiled, but her eyes were red from crying. Her long black hair flowed down out of a flat-billed San Francisco Giants hat.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Layla,” Layla said, “My husband, Tyler.”
“You guys came from the city? What happened?” Tyler asked. His eyes followed the spiral staircase that led all the way up the tall tower, and then he looked back at the couple as he awaited an