Fort Mason and what happens there

Posted on Mon Feb 23rd, 2026 @ 8:10am by New York Survivor Briar Maddox & New York Survivor John ("Dodger") Smith & New York Survivor Jordana Venturi

3,885 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Safe Harbor
Location: Fort Mason Island
Timeline: 27th September 2010

==Fort Mason, Ruined Building==

Elliot, sat in silence in one of the run down buildings on Fort Mason island. Around him 4 others were huddled. They were prisoners and they all knew it. To his left was Lisa, she was 12. Then Mateo, he said he was 11, too scared to lie about that. Then Hannah who was 9 and then the eldest in the group Jordanna, 16.

They were told to consider themselves 'guests', which was so not the case. They and other children were rotated around between island, mainland and boats. They were never sure where they were going next.

JV looked around in the dark, ruined building. Formerly a fort, the run-down construction displayed its age and worn status. She gulped, hiding her fear quietly behind her observant, unreadable features, which she copied from her older sister. The last thing she remembered before the event was right before entering the building, two thugs drove by in a van and abducted her.

Turning back to the kids younger than her, she whispered, "Hey, it's okay. We'll be okay."

Hannah curled in on herself a bit more. “They said we need to behave or they will leave us to the monsters” she whimpered.

Elliot bit his lip and took a shaky breath. “They have guns.”

Jordan looked around, thinking quietly. She exhaled, shaking her head while closing her eyes for a brief moment. Untrained and unprepared for this moment, she opened her eyes and replied, "We'll have to be quiet. And careful. Take them down unawares. There aren't too many of them. They have specific patrol routes."

Elliot was concerned. He had seen bruises on others and knew what would await them if they tried and failed. “When?”


==Fishing boat- Safe Harbour group==

Briar piloted the boat slowly around the corner of the island. There were two landing areas. She kept their speed down and their noise level down. They knew no matter what they saw it did not mean others were not around. Behind her was Dodger and Austin. Austin took his role very seriously, as he felt honoured that the older kids were adding him to their missions.

Dodger placed his hand on Austin's shoulder as they approached the island. "Just listen to us and everything will be fine and keep your eyes open." He grew quiet as his eyes took in the island. He didn't see anyone but that didn't mean a thing. In fact it put him more on edge. "All quiet." He announced, "Maybe too quiet."

Briar nodded and picked up her spear. "Maybe its normal." She said softly as she piloted the boat to the shore and beached it.

Austin grabbed the rope and jumped ashore to pull it up the beach.

Dodger grabbed his baseball bat and jumped out. His eyes were searching the rocky landscape around them for anything out of the ordinary. He nodded slowly at Briar's statement, "Yeah, maybe."

The trio moved slowly, pulling the boat up so it would not float away, and then Briar threw an old net over it.

As the trio moved, Dodger couldn't help but feel something was amiss. "Eyes sharp, everyone." He whispered as he gripped his bat tighter.

Austin kept low to the ground with the older two behind him as they made their way up a gentle slope.

As the trio moved up the gentle slope, Dodger's eyes swept the area looking for anything that might indicate danger but so far there was nothing.

When they reached the path Austin froze and then dove for the underbrush.

Briar didn't hesitate, she followed him under the bushes.

Survival was wired into Dodger, so when first Austin and then Briar dove into the bushes he did the same. Once out of sight he looked at Austin and savagely whispered, "What did you see?"

Austin merely pressed a finger to his lips and pointed. There, just visible was two men. Full grown adult men, with guns, walking around the buildings that were now only visible as they had reached the top.

Briar was barely breathing as she watched through the leaves.

Dodger peered through the undergrowth and uttered a silent curse. Adults! Two grown men with guns and maybe more they didn't see. He looked back at the men, saw them walking around the buildings. They were guarding something but what? He thought for a moment and then had it, The men were guarding a person or people! Keeping them from walking about.

He looked at Briar and then Austin, "They're guarding people." He whispered.

==

The two guards circled the ruined structure at an unhurried pace, boots crunching over gravel and broken stone. One—broad-shouldered with a shaved head—kept his rifle slung loose but ready. The other smoked constantly, ash falling into the weeds that clawed through the old masonry.

“Place gives me the creeps,” the smoker muttered. “Too quiet.”

“Quiet’s good,” the other replied. “Quiet means compliant.”

They passed the collapsed doorway without stopping. No shouting. No movement worth reacting to. The kids inside had learned.

Down by the water, the large crew boat sat tied off at the dock—industrial, ugly, built for hauling people rather than comfort. Wooden benches had been bolted along the interior. Rope coils, chains, and tarps cluttered the bow. The engine ticked softly, still warm.

“That thing’s been busy,” the smoker said. “Rotation day?”

“Yeah,” shaved-head replied. “Island to mainland tonight. Keeps ’em guessing.”

From behind the fort, two more guards emerged. One carried a shotgun, the other a hunting rifle. Both scanned automatically, practiced.

Shotgun jerked his chin toward the sea. “Heads up.”

Beyond the shallows, a rigid inflatable boat (RIB) cut cleanly toward shore, its outboard whining low and controlled. It came in fast, then throttled down just before the rocks. The driver swung it neatly alongside the dock.

Further out—barely visible against the haze—loomed a larger vessel, anchored well offshore. Too far for casual eyes. Close enough to remind everyone who really owned the water.

The engine cut. The man aboard stepped out without help.

He was older than the guards, heavier, wearing a weathered jacket that had once been expensive. Calm. Unhurried. He moved like someone who never stayed long enough to be trapped.

“Boss,” shaved-head said quietly.

The man nodded once, eyes already sweeping the island.

“Report.”

“All quiet,” the rifleman said. “No noise. No movement. They’re staying put.”

The boss glanced toward the fort, then the crew boat.

“Boat fueled?”

“Ready to move at dusk,” shotgun replied. “Mainland run first, then back here.”

“And the houseboat?”

The smoker pointed past the rocks.

“Anchored on the far side. Same setup. Two guards awake at all times. Weapons stored below, rotation schedule tight.”

Out beyond the island’s curve, the large houseboat rocked gently. Windows boarded from the inside. Floodlights mounted along the rails. Below deck, crates of rifles, pistols, and ammunition were locked down—access controlled by shifts so no one man ever held all the keys.

The boss nodded, satisfied.

“Good,” he said. “Keep them moving. Island, boat, mainland. Never long enough to feel settled.”

One of the guards hesitated. “And if one of the kids acts up?”

The boss smiled thinly.

“Then they don’t travel anymore.”

He turned back toward the RIB.

“I’ll be offshore. Radio if anything changes.”

The engine roared back to life as the RIB pulled away, slicing toward the distant ship. The guards resumed their patrol, weapons ready, eyes scanning the ruins—

Unaware of the quiet shapes watching from the treeline above.

Dodger slid back down below the rise and looked at Briar and Austin. "Pirates with guns, guarding kids. Don't they know the old world ended?" He remarked bitterly. "We need to help but we are badly outgunned here and I mean that in the literal sense of the word. We need to separate and take the guards out without the others knowing what is happening."

Briar stared at him. "How do we do that? We are as you said, hopelessly outgunned"

Dodger stared back at her, "I know, I know. But we have to do something to help. Maybe some type of misdirection to use on the guards, Get them going in one area or direction while we get those being watched,"

Briar considered it. "They mentioned a house boat. We could sink it."

Dodger thought on the suggestion, "That's not a bad idea but we need to know more about the houseboat and number of guards there. They also mentioned there were a number of weapons on it."

Briar looked at Austin. "Get back to the fishing boat. Push it out a bit. But do not start the engine. You stay there."

He nodded and slowly edged his way back down the hill.

Briar looked at Dodger. "Lets go"

"Austin, stay out of sight and wait for us." Dodger whispered before clutching his bat and looking at Briar, "Let's see what we can see."

Briar nodded and headed off keeping low.

The pair kept below the ridge line as the made their way in the direction of the houseboat, to see if they could sink it or otherwise take it out of commission.

Briar kept low as she moved, one hand steadying herself against the uneven rock, the other tight around the spear. Every step was deliberate. No loose gravel. No snapped twigs. Noise got you noticed. Noticed got you killed.

Or worse.

She glanced back once to make sure Dodger was still behind her, then angled down the slope toward the far side of the island where the houseboat had been mentioned. The wind shifted and carried the faint scent of diesel and stagnant water.

Good. They were close.

Briar paused at the edge of the treeline and slowly eased down to her stomach, inching forward until she could see through the scrub.

The houseboat came into view.

Big. Ugly. Functional. Floodlights bolted to the rails, windows boarded from inside. No movement on the upper deck—but that didn’t mean empty. It meant disciplined.

Her jaw tightened.

Weapons stored below. Guards rotating. Keys split so no one had full access.

These people weren’t random scavengers.

They were organized.

And they were moving kids like cargo.

Briar’s stomach twisted, but she forced it down. Feeling came later. Thinking came now.

She leaned back slightly toward Dodger and whispered, barely audible.
“Two at least. Maybe more below deck. Lights mean they expect trouble at night… not day.”

Her eyes tracked the shoreline. The water here was deeper than at their landing point. The hull sat low. Heavy.

Fuel. Weapons. Probably supplies.

If that boat went, their operation would stall.

Maybe stop.

Maybe.

Briar’s gaze shifted to the dock line, then to the stern, then to the waterline itself. Her brain moved through possibilities the way Amy had drilled into them all—don’t fight strength, break systems.

Engines. Fuel. Mobility.

Take those, and the rest falters.

She swallowed, then murmured, “We don’t sink it loud. Too risky. But we cripple it… different story.”

She pointed subtly.

“Prop. Fuel line. Or cut it loose and let current take it. Make them scramble.”

Her eyes flicked back toward the fort.

“If they think the boat’s drifting or damaged, they’ll pull guards off the building. That’s our window.”

Briar finally looked directly at Dodger, her voice steadier than she felt.

“We’re not here to win a fight. We’re here to make chaos… and get those kids out.”

She exhaled slowly, then added, softer—

“Once it starts, we don’t hesitate.”

A beat.

Then “You ready?”

Dodger listened as Briar laid out her plan. When she had finished, he nodded. "I'm ready and I know what needs to be done." His hand went to his waist and he pulled the wicked survival knife from its sheath. "I'll cut the fuel line and damage the prop if I can. Something else. that boat may have a plug in the bottom of it hull if it does. I can pop the plug and it will start to sink which will add to the confusion and chaos." He looked across the space at her, "You just make sure you take care of you. Okay?"

She nodded. The Houseboat needed to be the distraction. "Then lets do it." With that said, she took off low and quick and made it down to the makeshift dock where the Houseboat and the other, larger sat.

The crew boat was not guarded. Why would it be? It was used to haul not live in or keep items.

She was slipping onto the houseboat moments later. She looked around the boat and smiled. There were bags of weapons. She grabbed them and carried them out and handed them to Dodger. "Hide these" four bags of guns and amunition.

She went back in silently and brought out three more. And then helped him hide them on the shoreline. Then she pulled her knife and began cutting the tielines but not all the way through.

Dodger took the bags of weapons and ammo and hid them under some low lying shrubs. "These will come in handy if we need to defend our home at some future point in time." He turned and glanced at boat as it began to drift, pull way from the dock and still unnoticed by the guards. "So far so good." He whispered.

Briar nodded. "Onto the other boat" she said as she cut the last rope. Then she pulled a flare gun from her pocket and launched a flare into the cabin of the houseboat. Smoke, bright and yellow began to pour out.

She grabbed his arm and they climbed onto the other boat and hunkered down.

== Ruins ==

The silence felt loud. The quiet felt tense. The air shifted in its place as Jordon walked through it, its stillness mocked her. The basement stayed quiet. Briefly, she looked back, watching the group of kids who rested on her actions. Inside, behind her silence, just a terrified sixteen-year-old girl barely holding her life together. A young Italian-American who tried to follow her elder sister as an intern for a paper company in New York. Outside, on her face, she kept an unreadable, stoic expression. A trained expression like her older sister taught her.

Brushing her long, raven hair behind her ear, she trailed her finger along the crumbling wall of the basement, listening to the guards. Their words, barely audible, stuck to her brain like a tack. Her mouth moved, not mimicking their words, but keeping them fresh in her memory. After a few moments, she turned to them and whispered, "We should go. Quietly."

She wasn't sure, but hoped she could be right about the guard's patterns. They haven't checked on them in a while.

Elliot looked out the window and shook his head. "Wait. 10 more minutes or more. Sometimes the main guy comes back to 'check'"

Silently, JV nodded. Biding her time, she took a quick, quiet breath. Suddenly, she heard voices. The guards' yelling reached her ears.



==GUARDS POV==

"HEY!" The shout came from the cliff above. "The Houseboat is drifting!"

That shout caused curses and yelling and the 4 men who were on the island guarding the children in rotation were soon thundering down the cliff path. All four of them were staring at the smoke pouring from the houseboat as it drifted out.

The four men hit the slope hard, boots sliding over loose gravel and dead scrub as they half-ran, half-skidded down toward the shoreline. One nearly lost his footing and slammed into the man ahead of him, swearing as he shoved past.

“Move!” the shotgun carrier barked. “If that thing goes, we’re dead.”

Smoke poured from the houseboat’s cabin now, thick and yellow, rolling out across the water as the vessel drifted farther from the dock. The current had already caught it, slowly dragging it away from the island’s lee.

The men didn’t slow.

At the base of the cliff, they splashed straight into the shallows, water soaking their boots and pants as they pushed toward the floating structure.

“Climb! Climb!” one shouted, grabbing the rail and hauling himself up.

The first man scrambled aboard, slipping on the wet decking. The second followed, rifle clattering against the hull as he nearly dropped it. The third grabbed the stern ladder and pulled himself up.

The fourth hesitated in the water, looking back toward the fort.

“Shouldn’t we—”

“Get on the damn boat!” someone snapped from above.

He obeyed.

They didn’t notice the missing tie lines.

They didn’t notice the weapons gone.

They didn’t notice the slight list to the hull.

They only noticed the smoke.

The first man yanked open the cabin door and was immediately hit with a wall of acrid air. He coughed, staggering back.

“What the hell—”

A pop sounded beneath their feet.

Then another.

A thin stream of water began spilling up through the rear hatch seam.

The third guard froze. “Why’s it taking water?”

The shaved-head man shoved past him and dropped to his knees, wrenching the hatch open.

Water surged in.

Fast.

“Plug’s gone!” he roared. “Someone pulled the hull plug!”

For a split second, the men just stared.

Then chaos erupted.

“Bucket! Plug it!”
“With what?!”
“Use your damn shirt!”

The boat dipped suddenly, one side sinking lower as water rushed into the bilge.

The man nearest the stern slipped, slammed into the railing, and dropped his rifle overboard. It vanished instantly into the murky water.

“Idiot!” someone shouted.

“Shut up and help!”

But help turned to panic as the deck tilted further. One of them lunged for the cabin again, searching for something—anything—to jam into the hole.

Another grabbed the railing and tried to haul himself back toward the dock.

The current had already taken them too far.

“Jump!” he shouted. “We swim back!”

“No!” the shotgun carrier snapped, grabbing him. “We lose the boat, we’re dead! Patch it!”

They shoved each other, voices rising, panic stripping discipline away.

A loud crack sounded as something shifted below deck.

Water surged higher.

The fourth man, the youngest of them, made the choice first. He pushed past the others and dove over the side.

The cold hit him like a punch.

He thrashed, trying to orient himself, boots dragging him down. His rifle strap tangled around his arm and he fought to free it, gulping water as a wave slapped over his face.

“Help—!”

He went under once, came back up choking.

On deck, the remaining three were no better.

The shaved-head man swung wildly at the smoker who’d grabbed his collar.

“You cut it loose, didn’t you?! You were on last rotation!”

“Are you insane?!” the smoker yelled back, shoving him. “You were!”

The third tried to separate them, but the boat lurched again and all three crashed into each other.

The railing snapped loose on one side.

One man slipped and went overboard.

His scream cut short as he hit the water wrong, vanishing beneath the surface for a terrifying few seconds before reappearing, flailing.

The remaining two stared at each other, breathing hard, soaked in sweat and smoke and fear.

The boat was sinking.

There was no saving it.

“Swim,” one said hoarsely.

The other didn’t answer.

He just shoved past and jumped.

Behind them, the houseboat dipped sharply, water pouring over the rear deck as it began its slow, inevitable slide downward.

In the water, the men fought the current, boots dragging, weapons gone, lungs burning. One tried to grab the other to stay afloat—panic turning to instinct.

“Get off me!”
“You’ll drown me!”
“Let go!”

They clawed at each other, pushing, shoving, trying to stay above the surface.

One went under again.

This time he didn’t come back up right away.

Back on shore, smoke drifting across the water, the island suddenly felt very far away.

And for the first time since the operation began— The guards were no longer in control.

==Crew Boat==

Briar watched the chaos offshore and went "Wow"

Dodger's eyes remained focused on the boat and the guards as first the boat went under and it was soon followed by the guards unprofessional descent into chaos and panic which cost them their lives.

He looked over at Briar, "Wow, is right. I wasn't sure what to expect but this was better than I hoped. Now, let's get out of here, collect the weapons, rescue hose other kids and get back to Austin."

Briar looked at the crewboat. "We are taking this boat as well." She decided. "Looks easy enough to handle." She climbed off the boat, and grabbed the bags from the hiding places.

It didn't take them long to get the bags stored and heading back up to the ruined fort.

"Hello!" Briar called out.

Elliot froze by the door of their ruined cell. He stared at JV and then at the other 3 in their confined space.

JV held a finger before creeping through the doorway cautiously. Seeing another kid approach, she warily replied, "Hello. Who are you?

Briar pushed her hair back from her face. "I am Briar and this is Dodger. We were exploring and found you being held hostage. We thought we would get you out."

"Geezus, What yahoos." Dodger whispered to Briar. "A thank you would be nice." He mumbled and then to JV, "If you want to get off this island, now is your chance by coming with us."

Elliot stepped out with Lisa, Hannah and Mateo behind him, walking around JV. He studied the two teenagers and then he nodded. "I will go with you."

Dodger nodded, "Come on then, times wasting." He looked back at JV, "You posing for a picture or are you coming with us?"

At his comment, JV narrowed her eyes at Dodger and exhaled with anger at his snark. It rubbed her the wrong way. She quietly directed her words toward him, "Fuck off."

Ignoring him, she followed the kids and nodded, still searching around. "Are the guards coming back? Are we safe? How much time do we have?"

Briar looked at her. "The guards that were here? Shark bait. As for time? Depends on how often they checked in with their boss. But if we move now we can get you to safety." Briar turned to Doger. "You take them to the big boat. I will go down and wave Austin in. You can follow us home."

Dodger ignored JV and listened to briar. "Right. Let's get a move on. Don't want the rest of the guards or their boss having a trail to follow." As he turned and headed for the crew boat. "Come on everyone, we are leaving this place."

"Okay," JV replied, following them.

Behind her the other 4 fell in and soon they were boarding the crew boat.

Elliot helped Dodger cast off. It was about five minutes later when the fishing boat came around into sight. Briar was on it with a younger boy. They waved and then led the way into the islands.

The crew boat followed keeping as close as they could. Freedom was now a luxury.


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