The Last Ship~ Season 1

Chapter 5~ El Toro

I set a course for Cuba to find primates to test Dr. Scott's vaccine. "How's it looking so far?" I asked her. "We won't know until I test it though the mice gave some promising results." She replied. "You can forget Cuba though." She added. "Why?" I asked. "It's inhabited and the virus is running rampid there." She replied. I nodded. "So, where to then?" I asked. "There's a monkey reserve in Nicaragua. When I went there the only other people I saw were anthropologists." She replied. "But the entire Central American region is a hot zone." "Understood, so Nicaragua then?" I asked. "Nicaragua."

I made an abrupt change of course after relaying it to Captain Chandler. Within a day, I was anchored at the mouth of a river. "Two teams will head 30 miles inland to the western edge of the reserve." Captain Chandler said. "With all due respect sir, 30 miles is outside my radar range and outside radio contact. How are we going to know if you're okay?" I asked. "The teams will shoot up flairs every couple of hours. Green means everything's alright, red means we need help and you bring the rain, got it Nathan?" He said. "Understood sir." I replied. He led the first team while Dr. Scott led the other. She moved the boat up to my bow. I looked down at her. "Be careful." I warned. She nodded. "I will." She replied and gave me a kiss, I returned it and the boat sped away. On the bridge, Chief engineer Garret took command. "They'll come back." She assured me. "They'd better." I growled as I inspected the horizon of Jungle Mountains and impenetrable forest. My radar kept tabs on them and they stopped when they reached the reserve edge. Minutes later, they were on the move again and there was something odd about the way they were going. "They're splitting up." I realized as I watched one team head back towards me and another continue on upriver. "I wonder..." I murmured. The team that was returning carried Dr. Scott and I won't deny the relief I felt. I kissed her as she pulled up alongside. "Nathan, relax it's only been a few hours!" She said. I shrugged. "A very tense worrisome few hours." I corrected. "You're such a baby." She teased. I nudged her playfully. "What happened out there?" I asked. "Why'd you split up?" Her face turned serious and she replied "well, turns out there were people gathering at the waterfall. They were infected. Chandler continued on upriver to see if he could find a safer place." I nodded. "I'll keep an eye out for flares." I said. She gave me a pat and climbed aboard.

The next 36 hours were tense ones. I was on edge the whole time and my guns were locked at the ready. I was so ansy I shot down at least two birds that took flight in the trees and fired a torpedo at a school of fish, much to Garrets annoyance. "Nathan, you have to relax. As long as the flares are green, they're fine!" She scolded. "But what if they can't fire off a red flare in time? What if they're ambushed? What if they're all killed? What if..." By this point, I was hyperventilating. She patted me. "Easy now, take deep breaths. In and out, there you go." She said as I did as she instructed. "Think they're alright?" I asked. "Nathan," She began again. "Do you think that they're alright?" I repeated. She sighed. "Yes, yes I think they're alright." She replied. I smiled, relaxing but kept my gaze firmly fixed on the horizon. If there was a flare, I'd see it. "I wonder what they're doing right now..." I murmured. "Sitting around a fire, cooking marshmallows." Garret replied. I chuckled. "Sounds delicious." I said. "Sounds like something you want to do with Dr. Scott?" She asked. I blushed and she laughed. "Ah, I'm just teasing ya." She said. "Whatever you decide to do is up to you and her. I'll keep my nose out of it." She assured me. "Thank you." I replied. "Still, sounds tasty." I murmured. "Marshmallows are your weakness, I forgot." She said. I laughed. "Creamy white goodness with a hit of crispy golden brown around the outside with a bit of chocolate in a s'more, heaven." I said wistfully. She rolled her eyes. "You're something else Nathan." She said.

Early the next morning, I saw something out of the corner of my eye and I turned my head in time to see the flare, a green one peak the horizon about 5 clicks southwest of my position. Minutes later, as they came back into radio contact, I heard they had the monkeys and were heading back. I just about collapsed in relief. As Chandler approached he eyed me sternly and said "Nathan, did you sleep at all while we were gone?" I shook my head. "No sir." I replied. He sighed. "Well, get some. We cast off in five hours." He said. I nodded. "Understood." I replied. I was exhausted, having been up for almost a week straight. I curled up on the water and within seconds of closing my eyes, I was out.