Burnt Sea: A Seabound Prequel (Seabound Chronicles Book 0) (23 page)

Up ahead there was something strange about the coastline, but he
couldn’t put a finger on what it was. Something about the hazy skyline looked
wrong.

Judith

Judith
studied the silent obstacles in the water as they drew closer to the city. The
Catalina
sailed slowly and carefully
through the jutting wrecks. It felt like they were approaching an alien
spaceport. Those were just buildings, but after the most harrowing weeks of her
life had been spent staring out at a nearly empty view, it was like she had
suddenly been transported to another planet.

Land.

Michael joined her on the balcony. He wrapped his arms around her and
held her close as the city approached. They didn’t speak. There was something
solemn about this morning, this moment.

Suddenly, Michael tensed.

“That’s not the coast.”

“What?”

“I mean
,
that’s not where the coast is
supposed to be. Look at the waterline. The water is actually lapping against
the windows of some of those buildings. The sea has risen a lot here.” Michael
went to the edge of the balcony and leaned as far forward as he could. “We’re
almost on top of the old port. We need to stop. This is a minefield. We could
rip a hole in the hull.”

As he spoke, the
Catalina
shuddered.

Simon

Simon
finally realized what was strange about the coast. He vaulted down the radio
tower ladder and back into the bridge.

“Stop! We have to stop moving!”

“What? We can’t just . . .”

Ren
threw the propellers into reverse and tried to slow
the ship. The
Catalina
groaned. But
it was too late. They hit something. The shock wave from the impact reverberated
through the ship. With a sickening shriek the
Catalina
stopped. All was still.

“Can you check the hull?” Simon asked.

“Something’s wrong with the computer system,”
Ren
said, striking rapidly at her keyboard. “I can’t tell if there’s a leak. I don’t
know if I’ll be able to shut the water doors.”

“Can it be done manually?”

“Yes,”
Ren
said. “I’ll get
Reg
on the intercom to check everything out. But we can’t
sail any farther.”

“The important thing right now is that we stay afloat.”

Judith

Michael
pulled on his shoes and headed out the door to find Reggie. People stuck their
heads out into the corridor and asked what was going on. Judith stared into
their worried faces for a moment and remembered Simon from the day before.

“It’s okay, folks, we’re fine,” she said, trying to mimic his calming
voice.

But no one listened. They thronged into the passageway, the volume of
their voices escalating. Their worry echoed around the narrow space, building
up.

Judith took a deep breath and shouted, “Shut up, everyone! Panicking
isn’t going to help. We’re near the coast, and we hit something. If you know
anything about fixing the ship, get to your posts. Everyone else, go back
inside your cabins and stay out of the way.”

“Well!” Rosa Cordova huffed, but she obeyed.

She sent her husband off down the passageway and herded her offspring
into their assorted cabins. The others began to disperse back to their rooms.

Judith felt a brief thrill of pleasure as everyone did what she had
told
them
to do. Then she rushed up to the bridge.

Simon

“It’s
okay, Simon,” Reggie said on the intercom from the engine control room. “The leak
ain’t
that bad. It’s mostly contained in the lowest
level by the propeller. We already shut the flood doors.”

“Okay, good. I knew you boys would have everything in hand,” Simon
said.

“We took some damage on our main propeller, though,” Reggie said, voice
crackling in the static. “We won’t sink, but we aren’t going anywhere in a
hurry.”

“I see. Thanks, Reggie. Let’s hope we won’t need to. We’re close
enough. I think it’s time we organize a landing party. Would you choose a few
men and send them to the starboard lifeboat deck?”

“Sure thing. Over and out.”

Judith

When
Judith reached the bridge,
Ren
was at work on the
computers. The view of the city was much better from here. Lights burned in a
few windows. Someone was alive there, or had been recently enough to leave the
lights on. Structures jutted out of the dark water all around them, blocking
their path.

“We hit something. Are we going to sink?” Judith asked.

“If we do, we can swim to land,”
Ren
said.

She didn’t meet Judith’s eyes. They had barely spoken since Nora died.
Judith knew it was her fault for not reaching out to her.

“Someone’s alive over there, right?”

“Kim got some traffic on the radio,”
Ren
said. “None of it’s friendly.”

“Where’s
Vinny
? I’d think he’d want to be up
here for this.”

“
Vinny’s
dead. Hung himself.”

Judith didn’t answer. She barely registered her response as sad.
Surprised maybe. She didn’t have enough emotional energy left to be sad.

“Where’s Simon?” Judith asked.

“Went down to get the landing party on their way. We’re sending a boat
over to check things out before we all disembark,”
Ren
said. Her voice seemed to come from a great distance. Detachment must be
easier. It was the way to get things done.

“Who’s on the team?”

“Not sure. Simon’s sorting it out,”
Ren
said.
She finally turned to meet Judith’s eyes. “I don’t think he should go over
there. We need him here.”

“I agree,” Judith said. “I’ll make sure he’s not on that boat. I want
to go, though. I want to see.”

Ren
nodded. “Be careful.”

“I will. And . . .
Ren
, I’m really sorry for
not coming around lately.
And for . . . for Nora.
I
should have come to talk to you.”

“I understand,”
Ren
said heavily. “There’s
nothing to say really. Look out for yourself, Judith.”

Simon

Simon
wrapped a green scarf around his neck and prepared to board one of the smaller
lifeboats. He had to find out what was happening on land. This could be the
place where they would finally disembark and try to make their way home. It was
time to see what their new lives would be like.

Michael had already climbed into the boat, which swung gently above the
water. Reggie had selected him and Pieter, a burly blond sailor Simon thought
was from the Netherlands, to make the trip. Reggie himself would stay on board
to fix the propeller that had been damaged in the collision, just in case they
had to keep moving.

“Wish we were armed,” Michael said.

“If they don’t want us to stay,” Simon answered, “I doubt that would do
much good.”

“Still, if they’re hostile—”

“It’ll be better for us to appear nonthreatening.”

Simon held on to the railing and dropped one foot into the lifeboat.
His head wobbled with vertigo as he glanced at the water forty feet below him.
It was a long way down.

“Simon! Wait!”

Judith burst out of the ship with Kim Wu in tow. Simon clambered back
onto the deck of the
Catalina
, limbs
shaking slightly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t think you should go to the city,” Judith said. “It could be
dangerous.”

“I’ll be okay, Judith,” Simon said.

“The
Catalina
won’t be okay
if something happens to you.”

“But I want to see—”

“It’s not fair to us for you to risk yourself.” Judith crossed her arms
tightly, her lips in a thin line. She looked positively formidable. “You need
to keep people calm so they won’t go running off to the city until we know it’s
safe. They’ll listen to you. I’ll go in your place and report back.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Simon said.

“Exactly why you shouldn’t go. The
Catalina
needs you. Esther needs you.”

Simon didn’t want to put Judith in any danger, but he would not leave
Esther an orphan no matter what. He’d been caught.

“Maybe you’re right,” he began.

“Of course I’m right. I’m taking Kim with me too,” Judith said,
gesturing to the woman hovering behind her. “It’ll be more useful to have a
Mandarin speaker in the city in person than as an anonymous voice on the radio,
especially if we have to negotiate anything.”

“You’re probably right about that. Okay, Judith, let’s do it your way.”

Judith nodded as if she had expected nothing less. Michael offered her
his hand and helped her into the lifeboat. Simon didn’t like sending Judith
into danger, but he trusted her judgment. And Michael and Judith would look out
for each other.

A few minutes later the boat was lowered away from Simon. A strong
breeze swept across the water, bringing with it the smells of land. City
smells, earth smells. He wished he could go along, but Judith was right: he had
to make sure everyone on the
Catalina
didn’t try to go into the city before it was safe.

The team of four waved at Simon as the lifeboat dropped into the water.
Pieter started the motor. They would try to keep the expedition short, just
long enough to determine whether it was safe for the
Catalinans
to take refuge in the city. Simon prayed this would be the end of their voyage.

Chapter 20—The City

Judith

The lifeboat motored through
a shallow wasteland of
sunken boats. A minefield of masts and shards of metal threatened to rip into
the hull. Oil lay thick on the water in places. The whole harbor could burn at
any moment.

It took an eternity to reach the shore. Judith tucked her hand into
Michael’s. It made her nervous that it was so quiet here. She would have expected
people from the city to be out on the water, salvaging the wrecks. Now that the
sun was all the way up—though hidden behind clouds—the city lights
were no longer visible. She wondered if they had ever been there at all.

The vacant windows of the skyscrapers stared at them as they crossed
what must have been the border between land and sea before. The former shore, a
ghostly line marking the drop from waterfront to harbor, passed beneath them.
The water level had risen at least five feet, possibly more. It was deep enough
for them to sail across the onetime boardwalk and up to the steps of the first
building. The doors yawned open in front of them. Inside they could see the
polished marble lobby of a hotel.

Judith and Michael crawled forward to climb out. The lifeboat bobbed
under their weight as they moved to the steps. But when they set foot on the
first dry patch, gunshots greeted them.

“Get back in the boat,” Pieter shouted.

The shots pinged against the steps about ten feet away. Judith and
Michael jumped back into the boat and ducked beneath the awning that covered
part of the stern. Kim crouched in the bottom, and Pieter bent low near the
idling motor.

“Is anyone hit?” Michael asked.

“We’re okay.”

“Who’s shooting?” Kim wailed.

“I saw someone inside,” Pieter said. “They’re gone now.”

Silence rippled around them. No more shots, no shouts, no movement.

“They obviously want us to leave,” Michael said. “Let’s pick a different
spot to disembark.”

“Wait,” Judith said. “They’re probably just scared. I don’t think they
were trying to hit us. Maybe we should try to communicate with them.”

“We’ve come too far to be gunned down now,” Michael said. “Pieter?
Let’s keep it slow and quiet.”

Pieter reversed the lifeboat away from the steps. He sailed along the
waterfront, looking for another place to land. The gaps between the buildings
revealed empty streets stretching away from the harbor. Glass glittered across
the pavement. Wrecked and abandoned cars, broken signs, and garbage marred the
streets. They passed what must have been a busy commercial avenue leading right
down to the water. Every single window had been broken.

“Let’s stop here,” Judith said. “Looks like a main street.”

“We can tie the boat to that street sign,” Kim said, peeking over the
top of the gunwale. “I don’t know all the characters, but one of them means
‘sea,’ and one means ‘street.’”

They motored up to the sign, and the boat bumped a bit against the
sidewalk.

Michael got out first. Worry clutched at Judith’s heart as he stepped
out of her reach. He walked a few paces, but there were no shots this time. The
city was deathly quiet.

“Okay, I think we’re good. Someone should stay behind and watch the
lifeboat,” Michael said.

“I’ll do this,” Pieter said.

He and Michael secured the lifeboat to the sign. Kim and Judith climbed
out too, looking nervously around the deserted street.

“Stay out of sight unless someone tries to mess with the boat,” Michael
said to Pieter. “You’re big and scary looking. They should leave you alone.”

Pieter nodded solemnly. He climbed back into the lifeboat and
disappeared beneath the awning.

Judith, Michael, and Kim walked a few paces across solid ground. The
street was silent. A cat tiptoed across the way, but even it didn’t make a
sound. Judith stayed close to Michael, willing herself not to cling to him. She
tried to project a confidence that she didn’t feel inside.

They walked on, but no one stopped them. There were no signs of life at
all.

“Well, I hope someone in this town speaks English,” Michael said after
a while. His voice sounded far too loud, but conversation was better than this
horrible silence.

“They will,” Kim said. “And my Chinese is okay. Wish I’d spent more
time practicing with my grandma, though.”

“Have you ever been here before?” Judith asked.

“Not to this city. I went to Shanghai when I was a teenager,” Kim said.
“I hear it’s changed a lot since then.”

Judith nodded. She was surprised at how sleek everything looked, despite
its abandonment. Unfamiliar characters adorned the buildings, but there were
English signs too. Designer names graced the looted shops. A stray high-heeled
shoe lay on the pavement outside one. The modern architecture and gleaming
advertisements made the emptiness that much more garish. They walked beneath an
imposing chrome-and-marble high-rise.

Suddenly glass shattered directly in front of them. Judith jumped,
reaching for Michael’s hand. Someone had thrown a bottle from a window above
them
.

A voice called down in an urgent whisper-shout. “Are you people crazy?
Get out of the street!”

A man was leaning out of a fourth-floor window of the high-rise. The
group stared up at him in surprise.

“Who are you?” Michael called.

“Did you hear me? Move! The patrols could come by anytime.”

They exchanged glances and darted toward the building where the face
had appeared. The lock had a keypad, but as they were about to touch it, there
was an electric buzz and the door opened automatically. They stepped inside.

Simon

Simon
paced back and forth across the foredeck. Others had joined him, some wrapped
in their blankets against the cold. They asked why they weren’t moving closer,
why they couldn’t see anyone in the city, what had happened to all these
half-sunken ships.

“I don’t know yet. We’ve got to wait a bit,” he told them. “We sent in
a team of scouts.”

Simon stopped to gaze at the city, then shook his head and resumed
pacing. He was keenly aware of the damaged propeller beneath the ship. He
didn’t know how bad it was. What if they had to move on? It could take them
days and more equipment than they had to repair the damage. And if they had to
keep moving, where would they go?

He’d seen the lifeboat stop and three people climb out, but they had
disappeared from view into the city. He wished they had a walkie-talkie or
something. On a whim he tried turning on his cell phone, which had a few
minutes of juice left that he’d been saving, but he couldn’t find a network. He
allowed it to roam about, searching for a signal, until the battery died for
good.

“How much longer, Simon?” the people asked. “When can we go ashore?”

“We’ve waited this long. Let’s be patient for a little while longer.”

Suddenly a large speedboat shot out from behind a wrecked cargo ship.
It sped across the harbor, expertly dodging sunken obstacles. It halted between
the city and the
Catalina
,
blocking their path to the shore. They
had been spotted.

The speedboat had the red flag with a yellow star of the People’s
Liberation Army painted on its side. It floated near the
Catalina
, not approaching or making any attempt to communicate.
Whoever was on board stayed hidden behind the
cockpit.
They didn’t seem to have noticed the lifeboat bobbing by the shore. But now the
Chinese military knew that the
Catalina
had arrived.

“We’d better get off the deck,” Simon called to the people gathering to
gawk at the speedboat.

“I want to have a look!” Horace called.

“We don’t know what they’ll do,” he said. “It’s not safe.”

“But they’re survivors!”

The people were desperate to see other humans who had survived the
catastrophe. They had been isolated for too long.

“We can’t risk it,” Simon said. “Come on, everyone. Inside quickly!”

As the people on deck obeyed, Simon hurried up to the bridge. He had a
very bad feeling about that speedboat. If it wanted trouble, they might not be
able to get away in time.

Judith

The
lobby of the building was an explosion of gold and polished marble. The high
ceilings featured twin chandeliers. A full-length mirror along one wall magnified
the light, bouncing it around the lobby and making it look bigger than it was.

Judith caught sight of
herself
in the mirror
and was shocked to see how thin she had become. She’d always been trim, but now
her bones jutted out from her hips. Her face had developed a
pinched
quality, and there was a permanent furrow between her eyes. She looked like
she’d aged ten years.

The group looked around the deserted building, unsure what to do. Then
a shrill ding announced the arrival of the elevator, making them jump. Polished
golden doors opened to reveal a man in his fifties with salt-and-ginger hair
and wide, light eyes that matched his hair. He wore sweatpants and an
expensive-looking
peacoat
. There was a meat cleaver
in his hand.

Michael stepped forward, putting himself between Judith and the
wild-eyed man.

“We don’t want any trouble,” he said.

“Damn right you don’t,” said the stranger. “Are you people crazy?
Curfews not up yet.”

“There’s a curfew?”

“You fresh off the boat or something?”

“Yes.”

The man took in their wet trouser legs and mismatched clothing. His
almost-orange eyes didn’t miss much.

“I guess you are. All right, you can come up if you promise not to kill
me.”

The three assured him they would do no such thing and crowded into the
elevator, staying as far from the meat cleaver as they could. The man’s gaze
bore into them, but he didn’t speak. Mellow instrumental music played in the
background. The elevator stopped on the fourth floor, and the man gestured for
everyone else to get out first. Michael exited the elevator backwards, keeping
an eye on the stranger with the cleaver.

“Name’s Quentin,” he said. “I’m in the shipping business. Born and
raised in Chicago, but I’ve been here in Shantou since the early 2000s.”

Everyone introduced
themselves
. Quentin took a
key out of his coat pocket and opened one of the four doors on the floor. They
followed him inside.

The apartment was spacious and modern, with marble floors, black
leather furniture, and a bar that occupied much of the living space. Dirty
clothes and food wrappers were strewn over the couches, as if the place hadn’t
been tidied in weeks. Tall windows looked out over the street, and one was
still partially open. Quentin gestured to the row of high stools and walked
around to the other side of the bar. He set the meat cleaver on the counter
behind him, keeping it within reach, and studied them. Judith felt like a
student looking over a principal’s desk. She fidgeted on her stool.

“So what’s your story?” he said finally. “Lost backpackers?”

“We just arrived on a ship,” Judith said. “From California.”

“Come again?”

“Our ship is out in the harbor. There was nowhere for us to disembark
in the US after the eruption, so we sailed here.”

“You navy?”

“I am,” Michael said. “But the ship’s a civilian vessel. A cruise
ship.”

“We need food and water and help,” Judith said.

“Doesn’t everyone?” Quentin said. “You won’t find it here. They were
talking about throwing out all the expats last week. I don’t think they’ll take
kindly to new ones arriving this week.”

“Why?” Kim asked. “What happened here?”

Quentin snorted. “What didn’t happen? It all started when we got news
of the volcano. I take it you haven’t been at sea so long you don’t know about
that. Anyway, the experts get on TV and start preaching doom and gloom, telling
everyone the crops are going to fail for five, six, seven years. The local
government tried to keep the news outside the Great Firewall, but some of the
broadcasts and a lot of the rumors made it here anyway. Everyone panicked,
started smashing store windows and hijacking delivery trucks. I’ve never seen
anything like it. Before the satellites failed, it sounded like people were
doing the same all over the world.”

Quentin was talking so fast it was almost hard to follow him, to
process what he was saying. Judith gripped her stool, as if it were tossing in
a storm.

“I haven’t heard anything from outside the borders in a week,” Quentin
continued. “There were earthquakes to the south, and I expected to see tanks
rolling down the street any minute, but then we got hit with a typhoon like you
wouldn’t believe. Made me
regret renting a place so close to
the sea
,
believe me
. Everyone pretty much
battened down the hatches—those who hadn’t already made a run for the
countryside, that is. That’s when the PLA swept in and restored order. By the
time the rain let up, they’d implemented a strict curfew and rationing system.
Everyone gets fed, but if you’re outside anytime except between two and four in
the afternoon, you’re shot on sight. Obviously, there’s not much you can do in
that window.”