The Anvil

Chapter 4

Chapter Four

A few hours later, their ship had departed but was still in sight of land as it was moving slowly. All the passengers were completing the mandatory lifeboat drill, and most were heading back to their staterooms to return their lifejackets to their proper storage compartment. The US Coast Guard required all passengers to show up to their lifeboats with their lifejackets physically in hand. Everyone needed to know what to do in case of an emergency.

Marie and Alex took seats on the top deck, not wanting to get caught up in the hordes of people heading back to their rooms. There was a great view of the shoreline, and they relaxed, planning to wait until the crowds cleared out. They sat, enjoying the motion of the ship as it moved through the ocean, and thought about how nice it was to be away. Their peaceful thoughts, however, were interrupted by simultaneous sounds from their smartphones as text messages came through.

“See, babe. Even out on the ocean, the kids manage to disturb our peace and quiet,” Alex chuckled.

“I thought we’d have heard from them a little sooner,” Marie replied as she stood and fished her phone from her pocket.

At first, Marie was confused. The text wasn’t what she was expecting. Then slowly, clarity returned, “No. No … no!”

As she struggled to make sense of the two words on the screen, Alex was also holding his phone and processing the meaning and implication of ‘CODE ANVIL’. “This can’t be real. It has to be a test.”

“No, they made it very clear. It would never be a test. If we got the message, it was real,” Marie reminded him. “What do we do?”

“There’s supposed to be a second message. Meeting instructions and times.”

“We don’t dock in St. Maarten for a day and a half. How do we get off this ship? We need to get home now!”

“We can’t get off the ship. Even if we could, we’d never make it to the meeting point in time. We were told it would all move very fast,” Alex declared.

“What about the kids? We need to call them.”

“Do you mean to send them without us? We might never see them again,” Alex exclaimed, his voice growing unintentionally louder with each word.

“We don’t have a choice. It’s better than us all dying!” Marie yelled back.

A woman with her own cell phone in hand came around a corner. She was a medium height Caucasian woman in her thirties with short brown hair. There was a tattoo of a seahorse on her calf. She was hysterical and speaking louder than she probably intended. “What do you expect me to do? I can’t get off the ship. We’re in the middle of the ocean.”

There was a pause and she spoke again, “How am I supposed to do that? I can’t just swim to shore.” She noticed that she’d wandered close to the Wilsons, and her conversation was clearly audible. “I need to go. Figure out your plan, and I’ll call back in a few minutes.” She disconnected, lowered her phone, and turned to leave the area.

As soon as she turned, Marie said, “Miss, please wait a minute.”

The woman stopped and looked at Marie. She seemed uncertain as to whether she wanted to stay as asked. With a trembling voice, she asked, “What do you want?”

Marie walked to her with Alex and said, “We weren’t trying to listen to your call. But it was impossible not to hear what you said. Did you get a text message just before your call?”

Nervously, she replied, “Maybe, but I can’t talk about it.”

Alex proceeded cautiously, remembering how it had been drilled into them that they were never to discuss Anvil with anyone. He stepped forward, holding out his phone so she could see the screen. “Did it look like this?”

The woman burst into tears and Marie took her into her arms and held her while she too wept.

“What do we do? We can’t meet up as we’re supposed to,” the woman declared.

“I know. That’s what we were trying to figure out when you came up. Come over here,” Marie said as she gently guided the woman to where they’d been seated.

Alex nodded. “I’m Alex Wilson, and this is my wife, Marie. Our two kids are at home in central Indiana. We were just trying to decide what to do. Do we try to get home to them or have them proceed to a shelter without us?”

Nodding, the woman responded, “I’m Debbie Maxfield. I’m here with my sister. Her husband died a couple of months ago, and I talked her into taking this trip to try to help her have some fun. She’s not part of Anvil, and I’m not allowed to tell her about it. My boyfriend is at home with my kids and his. We need to decide if he leaves or waits. He’s in a panic. I guess I am too.”

Alex addressed both women. “I think we need to save our families. Help them do what is needed to get to their shelters. Once we reach St. Maarten, we get tickets on the first flights back to the US. From there, we try to meet up with them. That’s all we can do.”

“I agree. I don’t see any other choice,” Marie said, fighting to control her emotions.

Shaking her head, Debbie said, “We don’t even know what the threat is. Maybe it's not that serious. Maybe they sent the message by accident.”

“You got the same information we did. They wouldn’t activate Anvil unless it were something severe. If we get the second message, we’ll know it isn’t a mistake,” Marie told her.

“I was listening to the news on the radio while on the way to the ship. There was nothing that sounded at all concerning,” Debbie stated.

“I know,” Alex nodded. “But there has to be something happening.”

“I can’t just leave the ship in St. Maarten. My sister is on board. She’s my best friend. I can’t abandon her and fly home. Even if we both got off to the ship and made it to my shelter, there wouldn’t be a place for her.”

As she was saying this, she was interrupted by another text message. She glanced at her phone and then at her new friends. “I guess it wasn’t a mistake. It’s the instructions. We live in Colorado. We’re supposed to drive to a National Guard base to meet. The base is about thirty minutes from our house. They have to be there in two hours. I’m really glad we got to talk, but I need to call my family.”

Hugging Debbie, Marie said, “We are going to call our kids too … but I’m not sure what we are going to say.”

Nodding glumly, Debbie walked toward the bow of the ship while placing a call.

Alex was the first to speak after Debbie left. “Do you agree that we need to tell the kids to go?”

Marie was quiet for several seconds. “Yes. I guess we do. But we get off the ship as soon as possible and try to get to them.”

Alex and Marie would spend the next day and a half roaming the ship, observing other passengers. They didn’t see anyone else who looked anxious to get home.