Evacuation (10 page)

Chapter Seventeen

Char kept Cash close and held his hand. It was kind of like before.
Just different. Dad was off searching for missing people. The family was separated. What made it different was Allison. She was okay enough, but she wasn’t Mom.

Mom.
It was hard not to think about her. Wondering if she was all right? She couldn’t be. She was one of them, a zombie, when she and Cash left the house. Had to leave, because Mom’s husband attacked Char in the garage. He’d attacked her, and she’d chopped his hand off with an ax. It hadn’t been safe to stay. Cash had been reluctant to leave. She convinced him that the only way they’d be safe was by finding Dad.

She’d been right. He’d been looking for them, too. She knew he would have been and that he would have come for them. That was Dad. Everything he did, it was for them. While Cash might be too young to realize it, she was old enough to see and appreciate it.

Like before, Dad would be back. She knew he would. In the meantime, there was no way she’d let go of her brother’s hand. For what it was worth, Allison held onto her hand in pretty much the same way. Tight. Sweaty.

She hadn’t grabbed for Cash’s hand right away, and Allison hadn’t held her hand until the explosion somewhere in the camp. The sound made everyone jump. There was a moment of silence; either that or her hearing had been impaired before the rolling ball of flames had been spat into the night sky.

That’s when everyone held hands.

Three things happened, really.
The explosion. The captain couldn’t raise anyone on the radio. He tried, too. Kept shouting into the handheld and paced up and down. He looked like he depressed the button on the side so hard that his fingers might puncture plastic and wind up inside the thing. That was the second thing. The third was the one soldier standing like a guard by the ship.

That guy watched them.
Seemed to watch everyone on the ship, especially the Captain. Thing was, the Captain kept watching the guard. Something was going on, and Charlene had no clue what. Nevertheless, when those three things happened, she snatched up her little brother’s hand, and Allison snatched up hers.

The Coast Guard crew looked busy until the explosion. Once that rocked the night, they went from doing what looked like seamen things –reviewing maps, going up and down stairs, calling out to check for this and check for that—to staying positioned along the side of the boat with rifles.

The paramedic woman was with Crystal, the one from the other small group of survivors. The two talked, and whenever they caught Char looking at them, they smiled. It was one of those fake smiles, an everything-is-gonna-be-all-right smile. Unless they thought Char was four or dumb, then they were the oblivious ones. Clearly, nothing was going to be all right, or the same, or even halfway okay. And a stupid smile wouldn’t make things any better. Whatever. She just pacified them with a returned smile that maybe showed off a few more teeth under a slightly curled lip than necessary, but so what.

“I don’t have a good feeling,” she’d said. She watched the flame ball roll into the sky. Maybe she’d reached for Allison’s hand first. She definitely reached for Cash’s.

“Is Daddy, okay?”

“He’s fine.” Char gave his hand a squeeze. “He’s probably the one that blew whatever that is up.
Killing zombies.”

Cash smiled. “You think so?”

“Think so? No. I know so,” she said. “He’s out there kicking zombie butt.”

Cash giggled. “Yeah, he is.”

“Yeah, he is,” Char agreed.

She didn’t believe it. She had no clue where her father was, if he was all right, or what caused the explosion and who was kicking whose butt.

The boat sat on the river with the only light coming from the fire. The flames did next to nothing to pierce the darkness that enveloped them. 

“That’s it,” Captain Keel said. “We’re done. We’re pulling away.”

“Sir?” the paramedic, Erway, said.

“We’re pulling out. Not leaving, just going out onto the river. Not leaving, just getting away from land.” Keel walked toward the helm.

Char tugged on Allison’s shirt.

“Don’t worry,” Allison said. She let go of Char’s hand.
“Captain?”

“Not now,” he said.

Char watched Allison rush toward the man. “Sir, we can’t pull away. If they come back, if they’re being chased, the boat needs to be here. They might not have time to wait for us to get back into the slip.”

“It’s what we’re doing.”

“I don’t think…”

“Ms.
Little, if you do not like it, if you have a problem with my command, you are more than welcome to get off my vessel and wait with Corporal Spencer,” he said. “Deisenroth, fire up the engines.”

“Sir,” Allison said, grabbing the captain’s arm.

He shrugged out of the hold with a violent shake. Allison stumbled backward. Erway caught her from behind.

Char watched Allison closely; knew she was working out what to do next.
Had to be wondering whether they go or stay. Couldn’t be an easy choice. Had to be made. “Allison,” Char said.

Allison nodded. Their eyes locked. “Don’t let go of your brother.”

“You’re not seriously going to get off the vessel,” Keel said.

“We are, and we’re going to take some supplies.
And these weapons.” Allison spun around.

Keel reached out. His hands tugged on her hair. Erway stepped between them.
“Captain!”

“You are not getting off the ship, and you most certainly are not taking anything that
belongs the Coast Guard, ma’am.” Fat fingers fumbled with straightening his tie clip. “Do we understand each other, Ms. Little?”

“I’m sorry. I do not believe we do.” Allison backed away.

Char didn’t need direction. She gathered their weapons, and from the footlocker, extra ammo and knives.

“Young lady,” Keel said. “Maar, stop her. Stop that child.”

Maar wore a Coast Guard baseball cap that clearly rested on a head of thinning hair. When he got close to Char, she dropped what she’d gathered. Dropped everything except the handgun. She brought it up, finger inside the trigger guard, arms extended with the barrel half a foot from Maar’s forehead.

His hands went up.
“Sir?”

“Ah, geez, Maar.
It’s a child.”

“Don’t matter how old I am, does it?” Char said softly, her words barely audible. “I could be six or sixty, and kill you the same. Isn’t that right, Maar?”

He backed up.

“Cash, pick up the guns and the knives, now.”

Allison and Cash picked up as much as they could. “This could have been avoided,” she said.

“Here’s the thing now, Ms.
Little. You want off my ship, good. Go. Because when your friends return, when the military gets back, we’ll bring them on board. But you and your kids, you’re going to be stranded. Left here. Shit out of luck,” Keel said.

Erway said, “Captain, I think we’re…”

“Enough,” Keel waved a hand at the paramedic. “Let them off the boat, Maar.”

Like Maar had done anything to stop them.
Permission from the Captain didn’t mean a thing
, Char thought.
I’d already granted myself permission.

“Where are you going?”

Char took her eyes off Maar. Spencer was by the side of the boat. He was yelling. Deisenroth had revved the engines. In the silence of the night, they sounded like rockets firing up on the space shuttle.

“We’re pulling out of the slip,” Keel said.

“No. You’re not. You want to keep the engines running, that’s fine. But you, Captain, are not going anywhere,” the corporal said.

“This is my ship.”

“And I have my orders, Captain.”

Travis Keel laughed. “What orders? I never gave you any orders.”

“You’re not my Captain, sir. I wouldn’t take orders from you under any circumstances,” Spencer said.

“These orders, what are they?”

“No reason I can’t tell you. You try moving this boat; I put a bullet in your skull. I’m paraphrasing. Kind of. I think you get it though, don’t you?” Spencer raised his rifle.

Maar looked sideways at Char. She cocked her head to the side. “No funny ideas,” she said. She motioned with her gun for him to step aside.

She wanted her back to Spencer and the Coast Guard personnel in front. “Allison, you and Cash get off the ship.”

“I don’t think now’s the time,” Allison said.

“We’re getting off,” Char said. “Now.”

“You must be out of your mind,” Keel said. “You are not going to shoot a captain.”

“I don’t care if you were the president. You try to move this boat, and you’re dead, and I’m not fooling around.”

Char jumped.
Didn’t expect it. The gunshot boomed.

She stared at Keel. Thought he’d been hit. Way he put a hand to his chest, maybe he’d thought so, too.

“Was a warning shot,” Spencer said. “I’ve changed my mind. Shut the engine.”

Keel removed his hand real slow. His lips spread wide and he laughed. “You are out of your mind, corporal. You know how many guns are aimed at you right now.”

Char took a look around. All of them. Even Deisenroth with one hand on the wheel, one on a gun. Where were Allison and Cash? She didn’t want to take her eyes off the Coast Guard. She never let her gun waver; if she pulled the trigger, Maar was dead.

Despite the engine chugging, the river water slapping up against the side of the ship, there was no mistaking two sounds. If the wind wasn’t blowing, Char knew she’d smell them, as well.

Moaning.

Growling.

Both fast and sluggish zombies were coming.

She knew the sound attracted them.
The engine. The warning shot. Calling cards. Zombies were coming. Getting off the boat didn’t make sense.

Keel must have heard them, too. He wasn’t laughing. His smile froze on his face. He looked up and to the left, but it was far too dark to see anything. He said something to Deisenroth, and then turned. “Get off my ship!”

Allison pushed Cash behind her. “The things are coming.”

“You wanted off. You wanted to go wait for your man. Go. It’s not a request. Get off my ship.”

Spencer climbed aboard.

A gunshot was fired. Char didn’t see who did it. She saw, instead, Spencer stumble back a step, another, hit the side of the boat before falling over and splashing into the icy river.

Something slammed into her arm. She dropped the handgun as she turned her attention back on Maar.

He twisted her arm at the wrist, spun her around and shoved her arm halfway up her back.

“Get them off my ship,” Keel said.

“You can’t do that,” Allison said.

“Break the girl’s arm,” Keel said.

Maar applied pressure. The threat, the possibility he’d break bone was very real. She didn’t want to cry out, but couldn’t hold it in. Pain shot through her arm to her shoulder. “Let go of me!”

Maar forced her to walk.

“Keel, tell him to stop,” Allison said.

Keel shrugged. “We’re pulling away. Either you get off right now, or once we pull away, we’ll throw you into the water. All three of you.”

“Captain,” Erway said.

“Stop choosing the wrong sides, Erway. Learn your place, dammit!”

Erway grit her teeth and hefted a medical bag over her shoulder. “I’m getting off, too.”

Again, Keel laughed. “You’re not going anywhere. I’ve had enough.”

The zombies were closer. Char couldn’t tune them out. She couldn’t look to see how many either. Cold tears filled her eyes. “Let me go, please,” she said in a whisper.

“You put a gun to my head,” Maar said. “Where was your mercy?”

“She’s a kid. Leave her alone. She doesn’t have a gun. She’s not a threat.”

The pressure stopped. Just like that. Gone. Char pulled her arm up to her chest and cradled it.

Allison was wide-eyed.

Char turned around. Maar wasn’t behind her. He was balled up on the ground, out of it. Blood spilled from a crack on the back of his head.

Sues Melia held a fire extinguisher in both hands. She smiled.
“Now what?”

The rest of the Coast Guard crew was on deck. Char counted them.
Too many to fight. She bent down, picked up her handgun. “We’re out of here,” she said.

Allison said, “What?”

“We’re not staying on the ship.”

“Charlene,” Allison said.

Char faced her. “Staying on this ship isn’t safe. They’re crazy, Allison. We won’t be safe. Look at him. The captain has lost his mind. They’ll kill us. They just shot that corporal guy. See anyone flinch? We’re getting off.”

Char went to the side of the
boat, put one leg over, and then the other. “Cash, come on.”