Dauntless (10 page)

“You don’t really want to bring her along do you?” he asked, even as he uncoiled a length of rope with his good hand and helped me to bind Jessica’s arms and legs.

I nodded, my decision made, and helped him tie her up as, while she didn’t lunge at me, she snapped at Dan more than once.

“If the cure is a fluke, we can let her go, or put her out of her misery. But if it isn’t a fluke and there’s a chance for her . . .” I trailed off and found myself flashing back to the moment at our farm gate, thought of how I’d said goodbye to Jessica at our home, through the fence. How I knew if she’d been my daughter, I would’ve hoped someone looked out for her. I let out a sigh. She couldn’t be held responsible for the things she’d done as a Nevermore. I knew that, as much as a part of me wanted to hate her for coming on to Sebastian as she’d done when he first turned or how she targeted me even tonight.

Dan grunted and grabbed the rope around her ankles with his good hand and helped me lift her into the boat. “By the way,” Dan said. “Nice gitch.”

I looked down at my bra and panties, the once bright pink fading to a dull colour that was covered in what had once been hot pink lips with wings on them. I hadn’t even noticed till now how awful they were. Laughing, I pulled on my clothes while Dan bent and roused Sebastian.

He was groggy; the gash in his forehead didn’t seem that deep but was still bleeding. I started to get a strip of cloth to bandage it when there was rustling in the bush.

“Time to go kiddos,” Dan said. Sebastian didn’t answer; he was strangely mute as we helped him into the boat along with Nero and the rest of our packs.

Dan was able to navigate easily, if for nothing else than the fact that there were no other boats in the harbour. It didn’t hurt that he had a massive set of floodlights on the top of his boat that lit his path as well as if it were daylight. His boat was about twenty feet long and had a full cab that the four of us huddled in. The cold air whipped around us as he pushed the throttle slowly up, the boat quickly skimming over the waves. Even with a broken arm he got us out of the harbour in no time flat.

I held Sebastian’s head against my chest and whispered into his ear. “What happened back there?”

“I don’t want to talk about it Mara. Maybe later?” he mumbled, as he wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. Nero wriggled out of his sling and wobbled over to us, nosing his way in between our bodies.

Jessica lay across the cab and she stared at us, a blank look in her eyes. I got to my feet and wobbled over to her, the waves rocking my every step. Now that she was still and not trying to attack and eat us, I could see that she had been battered and bruised, her ribs showing every minor detail as the yellowed skin was pulled tight across them. Her eyes were sunk deep into her head and as she stared up at me, panting, I could see that several of her teeth had been broken off and one knocked out completely.

An old blanket lay bundled up in the corner of the cab. Though the wool was musty, it was at least dry. I draped it over her shivering body, the shreds of clothes she had left barely covering her. I shook my head. Even if I got her to the airport, they wouldn’t let her on the plane. Then I’d be forced to let her go into a new area, with a new pack that she didn’t know. Who’s to say that the new pack wouldn’t just kill her outright, as an intruder?

“You did the right thing.” Sebastian came up beside me, holding the railing for balance with one hand and pressing the cut on his head with the other.

“You shouldn’t be up and about,” I said, reaching out to touch his arm.

“If the cure works as well on the others as it has on me, you never would have forgiven yourself if you’d left her behind when you could have brought her with us. So stop fussing about the what ifs,” he said. Once again I was struck by how well he knew me, and I smiled, just the corners of my lips lifting up. A wave hit the side of the boat, sending a spray of salt water up and over the cab. I steadied myself on the railing, the tang of the ocean filling my nostrils.

“Thanks. Let me take a look at that gash. It may need to be stitched if we can stop and use the first aid kit, there’s no way I’m using a needle on you with the swells like this.” I glanced over at Dan at the wheel to see if he took note of my words. Nope. He stared straight ahead, a cigar clamped firmly once more in his mouth, a curl of smoke trailing out behind him. He must have had a stash on the boat.

Sebastian sat and leaned his head back while I gingerly pulled the cloth away. I didn’t want the bleeding to start again, but I would have to take this off at some point to see just how bad the wound was.

The bandage stuck and he winced as I had to work it off his skin. “The bleeding seems to have slowed down. That’s good,” I said.

With the bandage off, I cleaned all around the gash, before starting to work on the wound itself. I too a deep breath, waiting for a calm between waves. Sebastian held stoic underneath my hands.

“How’s it look?” He asked.

I swallowed hard as the blood disappeared under the cloth, revealing shiny, pink new skin where his body had healed the injury. In less than half an hour. I closed my eyes and bit down on the inside of my cheek.

Sebastian was still healing like a Nevermore.

16

“What is it? Mara?” His voice cut through my fear and I snapped my eyes open. Sebastian stared at me, his brows pinched with concern. “Is it that bad?”

I slowly shook my head, then picked up his hand and placed his fingers where the gash has been.

His eyes widened as his fingers probed and slid over the new, healed skin.

“You’re still healing fast. Too fast,” I said.

He shrugged. “It’s probably just a hangover from the drugs. No doubt it will fade too, like the rest of the symptoms.”

I nodded and he pulled me into his arms, kissing the top of my head. He was right, I was sure of it. But, in the back of my mind I wondered.

I fell into a fitful sleep, nightmares and fear chasing me through dreamland. Every time I startled awake Bastian was there, soothing my anxieties, holding me close. I finally fell into a heavy sleep, one that took me too deep for dreams and allowed me a measure of peace.

As dawn crept over the horizon and the rays of light settled on my face, I slowly woke up. Sebastian was snoring lightly, his chin on his chest. I unravelled my limbs from his without disturbing him and went to stand next to Dan, who was guiding the boat down the coast.

“How long before we have to disembark?” I asked, knuckling my back and suppressing a yawn.

“We got company,” Dan said, jerking his head to the right.

I turned to see a small row boat making its way towards us, two people waving like mad at us.

“What do you think? Should we help them?” Dan asked.

I frowned. “What do you mean? Of course we should help them!” I snapped. How could he think we would just walk away from someone in need?

Dan grunted and spun the wheel with one hand, taking us out towards what I realized now was a floundering boat. As we drew closer, I saw, with great surprise, a young woman I recognized.

“Annie?” I called out, dredging her name up out of my memory banks.

Her blond head snapped up, purple highlights catching the morning sun. She frowned and then her eyes widened with recognition. “You didn’t get eaten!” she cried out. I smiled and then the smile faded as I recalled how afraid she’d been when she’d seen Sebastian passed out in the Jeep.

What would she think when she saw a fully fledged Nevermore tied up in the bottom of the boat?

We helped Annie and her brother on to the boat just as the wooden dingy they’d been in began to truly sink, water swelling over the sides and up through the bottom. The young man, he looked to be about thirteen or fourteen, cried out as we hauled him into our boat.

“I can’t swim,” he whispered, his blue eyes wide, beads of sweat popping out on his forehead.

I racked my brain. “You’re Dustin, right?” I asked. He nodded and I helped him into the cab and settled him into one of the seats. He glanced down at Jessica, looked away and then back again, letting out a scream as he scrambled to get away from her.

“Shhh. She’s tied up. She won’t hurt you,” I said, trying to calm the suddenly frantic and terrified boy.

Nero started to bark while Jessica let out a growl and attempted to lunge at Dustin.

Dustin threw his body back, right into the controls. The boat lurched into action and I heard Dan yelp, but I didn’t look back. I grabbed at Dustin and all but threw him out of the cab, shoving him out past Jessica and into the waiting arms of his sister.

Dan rushed past me. “What the hell!” he snarled, as he grappled with the controls. One look up through the window and I knew why he was scrambling. We were headed for a sharp out cropping of rocks that were scattered through this section of water—and we were a long ways from shore.

“Brace yourselves!” Dan hollered, and I reached for one of the railings just as we hit the first rock. The boat shuddered, the hull groaning, and water started to roll in through the hole.

Jessica let out a howl as the water splashed in around her. Of course; she would sink and she knew it. “Sebastian!” I yelped, as I pulled Jessica to a sitting position. She was chattering at me, her teeth clacking together, her yellow eyes wide with fear. I worked at her knots furiously until a hand tried to pull me away.

“She’ll attack us!” Annie yelled at me, while Dustin muttered “I’m sorry.” Over and over again.

I ignored him and answered Annie. “No, I won’t let her attack anyone. Besides, she’s more afraid of the water than anything else right now,” I said.

Once she was free of the ropes, Jessica flung herself at me, clinging to me like a child. Her entire body was trembling, her breathing erratic and her clutch so tight it was almost unbearable. I turned to see where the others were. Dustin and Annie clung to one another; Dan had picked up Nero and Sebastian stood at the railing, staring out at the sky. At first I was angry—why hadn’t he helped me with Jessica? Why the hell was he just standing there?

Very slowly my mind grasped what he must be going through. Both his father and his brother were killed in a boating accident, before we’d met. It had been a freak storm that swamped the boat and the bodies were never found. And here we were, in a sinking boat. I couldn’t count on him right now to help me; for now I would have to make do with Dan.

Of the group, I knew that Dan and I might be able to swim the distance to shore. Annie probably could too and maybe, between the three of us, we could drag Dustin. But Jessica would sink for sure and Sebastian . . .

“This ain’t going to turn out well,” Dan muttered. “I only got one life jacket.” He held up an ancient looking orange rag, mold growing down one side of it, which appeared to be one of the forerunners to the modern life jacket. He handed it to me and I stared at the limp hunk of material.

“You’re kidding me, right?” I asked, my eyebrows climbing into my hairline. He snatched it back and tied it on to Dustin himself. The boat had a foot of water in it now and Jessica was crying as she clung to me.

Sebastian continued to stare out at the distant sky and ocean. “You got a flare gun, Dan?” he asked. We all went silent and looked out in the same direction he was. In the distance was tiny black speck in the sky. A helicopter.

Scrambling, Dan had to duck his head under water to get to the flare gun buried in a pile of his junk. The water had risen another foot and was almost to my knees now. Dustin was whimpering and Annie was attempting to soothe him. I couldn’t blame him for panicking when he saw Jessica. No doubt what the two kids had to survive to get to this point would have been horrendous.

Sputtering up to the surface, Dan stood. He set the flare gun and pulled the trigger. For a brief second I thought it was a dud and then a brilliant red streak of light leaped out of the barrel and into the sky.

The boat lurched; Annie and Dustin screamed and clung to one another. I held Jessica on her feet and Sebastian continued to stare out at the helicopter. They had to have seen that flare, there was no way they could’ve missed it. Even as the thought crossed my mind, the helicopter turned and flew down the coastline away from us.

Our mismatched group let out a collective groan. There was no one coming to save us.

17

“What are we going to do?” Annie whispered, her voice easily carrying over the water.

“We’re going to get to shore and set up camp,” I said, prying Jessica’s fingers off of me. Dan’s eyebrows lifted and he spit out his soggy stump of a cigar.

“Just how do you plan to do that? One can’t swim, one’ll sink like a rock, I got a broken arm and . . .” He trailed off and looked over to Sebastian’s broad back.

Sebastian turned his head towards us. “. . . And you don’t know yet whether I will be able to keep my head above water.”

I slogged through the knee deep water and looked over the side of the boat. The fishing buoys were still hanging off the edge. There were four of them. “We’ll use those. Annie and Dustin can use one, Dan and Sebastian can each have one, and I’ll help Jessica.”

In under a minute, we had the floaters cut free. They wouldn’t be perfect, but they would do the job.

“I don’t want to do this,” Dustin whimpered.

Before I could say anything, Annie grabbed his shoulders and gave him a shake. “Hey, you’ve faced down scarier things than this. So grab the floater and let’s go.” She turned him, her face drawn and looking far older than her years. But, she got Dustin in the water and they started towards the shore.

Dan went in next, his gun slung across his chest, taking Nero with him too. We tied the puppy to the buoy so once he tired he wouldn’t drown or get swept away.

The water was up to my waist now and Sebastian and I watched the two groups swim out into the ocean with no difficulty, other than Nero making an attempt to catch the seaweed as it floated by him.

“What if we tied the last two buoys together? Would that make it easier?” I asked.

Sebastian shook his head. “Yes, then if I sink, you can easily get to shore with two buoys.”