Author's notes…. As always, the original copyright holders retain their rights, and this is intended for the non-commercial enjoyment of the readers. Comments and reviews are always welcome, as long as they bear in mind that I am not a perfect typist, do not always get timelines right, muddle items from manga and anime without regard for canon, and have other personal quirks like my low sense of humour. I plan on staying on the ecchi side of things, but these last few entries are definitely mature in outlook.
I do want to finish this story as mind-worms are bad things to neglect. I'm looking at two more chapters.
- So this is the tale of our castaways,
They're here for a long long time.
They'll have to make the best of things,
It's an uphill climb.-
Gilligan looked down at the prybar in his hands and then up to the doors of the container in front of him.
"Go on, dear boy!" came Lovey's voiced backed by the vocal support of Ginger and Mary Ann. The Skipper, the Professor and Mr. Howell all added their nods when he looked at them.
"Better step back everyone, as there's no idea what's messed up on the inside," he sadi as he stepped forward and wedged the prybar into the hasp of the first lock.
A couple of pulls had the lock spring and fall to the ground. He bent over, picked up the lock and slipped it into his pocket, then shifted over to the next lock and repeated the sequence.
Handing the prybar to the Skipper, he then lifted the latches for the doors and unlocked them. Fluid dribbled out along the bottom of the doors and partway up the overlap of the doors.
Gilligan wiped his fingers through the wet spots and then sniffed them. "Gasoline," he muttered and then looked back at everyone standing behind him. "Better move way away. There's gasoline in here so it could be dangerous."
The Skipper handed him back the prybar as everyone else went well off to the side of the containers but still retaining a view.
Gilligan went over to the side of the door overlap and wedged the top curve of the prybar into the crack and then pulled hard on it while twisting out of the way and back around the side.
A gush of water and gasoline cascaded out the door and was absorbed by the beach. Gilligan counted out a minute on his fingerips and then looked around the corner. The last of the fluid was being absorbed but nothing else. He then scooted around the container and approached the door from the other side. He grabbed the handle and then pulled the door fully open while going back around the side of the container once again.
Another minute-on-the-fingertips later, he went around the container in the other direction and repeated the same exercise and waited another minute.
Gilligan then walked over to the open doorway and took some deep breath. "Gasoline and lots of it. Everyone better stay way back for the next while. We have to get this out of the container. Skipper, is the manual pump on the Minnow still working?"
Mary Ann chimed in before the Skipper could respond. "We may not need that. When we were dumping the boxes out of the first container, I saw some that were addressed to a shipyard in San Diego. Since Hild seemed to know exactly what was in the containers and never said anything but 'it contains all you need', want to bet that one of those boxes contains manual pumps?"
The Skipper nodded. "I'll go and check what's on the Minnow just in case those boxes are just fittings."
The Professor and Lovey looked at each other and nodded. The Professor said, "Lovey and I will make dinner, while everyone else looks for those shipyard boxes, that includes you, Gilligan. Looking into the container won't clear the fumes any faster."
"Awwww, Professor…." Whatever else Gilligan was going to say was stoped by the expedient of Ginger and Mary Ann grabbing his arms and then frog-marching him and Mr. Howel in the general direction of the first container.
Author's notes: Please post any reviews or comments, but please use your name and don't use "Guest" reviews. I like to talk with my readers and some great ideas can come out of the conversations.