Infected Series (Book 1): Mission: New York (12 page)

Judith looked at Simon incredulously, shook her head and looked at her Simon again. She had just heard a revelation from Simon that confirmed her suspicions. Her jaw dropped, and she wanted to speak, but she could not utter a word. Her face was just a mix of emotions as she stood there.

“What? You mean.. Really,” she said as her smile grew, looking at Simon. “Thank you, really. I.. like you too. And you have a very sexy ass.” 

Simon blushed then at the compliment and looked at Jones. They laughed at that, Judith and Simon hugged and stood together. He bent down and he took her face in his hands as she looked up at him. Her face was a picture and he studied her beautiful eyes; stroking her cheek softly. Judith stood on her tiptoes to stretch and kiss him softly on the lips. She savoured the taste of the coffee on his lips as she continued kissing him gently. Finally they broke apart and smiled at each other.

Clearing his throat, Judith’s uncle stood there with a raised eyebrow and looked at them. He burst out laughing and then grinned at the two of them. Their faces said it all. Happiness spread over their faces as the smiled at each other again. Emotion overcame him and Simon asked Judith if he could talk to Jones alone some more. He needed to find out more information on where the carrier was; and what the best way to get there would be. Judith kissed Simon on the cheek; nodded and left them alone as Simon made them another coffee. The two men sat down at the table, and started strategizing.

Judith climbed up out on deck and went over to the railing. She saw Dawson approach her and she smiled at her. She motioned Dawson over and then hugged her when she got close. She explained the little meeting that had just happened in the galley; with the indignation gone, she told Dawson about the kiss she had shared with Simon. Her face lit up as she regaled her with the whole conversation. Dawson had laughed and then hugged Judith back. She mentioned that she found Judith’s uncle quite attractive; and got another reaction from Judith she had not expected. Another huge hug, and together they stood there, holding each other and laughing. Ella joined them and Judith again told her the goings on below decks. Ella had gaped, but then also joined in the laughter as the boat slowly rocked on the small wavelets.

The radio squawked again, and George; who had stayed up top, answered the radio and heard the carrier captain asking if he could speak to Jones. George looked at Judith then called down to her to fetch her uncle. Judith had excused herself, and went back to the cabin to fetch her uncle. Frustrated at the interruption; Jones wanted to give the person interrupting them an ass chewing, but when he heard Judith’s voice, he softened immediately and went out after hearing who it was on the radio. Following Judith, he went quickly up on to the top deck, and reached for the radio; “Jones here. Go ahead base.” he said; then waited.

“Jones; I need you to get back here. Is there any way you can make your way here ASAP.” said the commander. Jones heard the exasperation in the commander’s voice.

“Base, what’s up? Is there something wrong?” Jones said earnestly with a worried look on his face. He was looking at Judith watching him.

“Jones, we have a problem incoming. There is another boat coming in fast, and they are not answering our hails. We may need you to help get rid of potential attackers. How is your group set for weapons?” base asked, voice impassive.

“Base, they are a very small group with very little combat experience; besides they have some weapons but not a huge amount. What can they do?” he queried, looking puzzled now. “What on earth can they do if something had to happen? Don’t tell me there is something happening!” Jones queried.

“It is possible that they are on a suicide mission that could either damage or cripple the carrier. If they have another boat they could be coming after you next. They have quite possibly been tracking our conversations. If they have, you guys could be in for a rough time.” said base, “We think they are possibly coming after the military.”

“Base, have you been transmitting this the whole time? If so we will be in trouble very soon.” Jones said, “Change of plans, we need to get moving away from this position and right now. Jones out”

Jones quickly organised everyone, and went to find Simon, who was just coming up the stairs as Jones put the receiver down. He explained the radio chat quickly to Simon; explaining that there was a boatload of attackers potentially about to engulf them. He told them about the boat that was targeting the carrier, he needed to explain the urgency to George and start making their way out to somewhere safe.               

“Do you know of anywhere safe we could go to?” Jones asked quickly, trying not to sound too panicked.

“Well; we were going to try and head to an island that we had heard of, just when the jet attacked and destroyed the bridge. You dropped in onto our boat. We have been floating here ever since.” Simon said, mystified. “How bad is it likely to be?” he queried Jones.

“Simon, I would say that they want the supplies on board any boats that people are trying to use to escape New York. That being the case we are a pretty good target; just like the carrier. We need to hide; Now!” Jones said; his face devoid of emotion. “Besides, that will not be the only thing they will want to take; if you take my meaning.”

“After the last two days I do get your meaning. I think we do need to get away from here as fast as possible. Dawson and I were actually looking at maps earlier, and you could possibly help. We think we may have found a way to get through; but could do with your knowledge,” Simon said hesitantly, “With the weapons we have we have limited ammunition and range.”

Jones took the map that Simon held out; spread it quickly on the deck as he kneeled next to it. He looked at the marked area that represented the island; looked over the rest of the map excitedly and looked at Simon with a twinkle in his eye. Calling George over to join them, he asked George the exact dimensions of the boat; then when he got the answer he thought he would get he grinned and clapped both Simon and George on their backs; stood stretched, and headed towards the steering wheel. George and Simon followed him, wondering what he was up to.

Chapter Twenty Six

“My plan is to go through some of the older tunnels that still exist under the streets of New York. I bet you two did not know they were even there, did you?” Jones spoke, smiling.

“Tunnels? Where?” they both spoke nearly simultaneously; looking puzzled.

“There are tunnels that are under New York that have been forgotten; however I know of several that are perfect for our purpose. Large enough that we do not have to worry about the boat getting trapped. We will still have to be careful though.” Jones said, “Mind if I steer for now? Then I can get us in and we can avoid any trouble hopefully.”

Simon and George gaped at him as he took the wheel and powered the boat up to a respectable speed, and turned back the way they had come. While this was happening he explained that there had been loads of tunnels dug when the city was being constructed. Lots of the tunnels had been used for smuggling both illicit goods as well as people. The boat quickly reached a point near the Brooklyn Bridge; where Jones slowed the boat down rapidly. He seemed to be looking for something in particular, and finally he exclaimed that he had found it. He pointed toward a grate that looked like part of the old sewers; but noticed that it was shinier than the others that were spaced intermittently along the shoreline. As the boat moved closer they could see the lock was also shiny. Jones nodded to Simon and George who looked on in utter astonishment as they brought the boat right up to the grate. It was massive, the same size as the boat. George was tasked with getting the boat reversed up to the grate so that Jones could get the grate open. Jones jumped down to the platform that was on the back of the boat; getting a firm grip on the lock he reached up and spun the combination dial to open it up. The gate would need to be swung open slowly; towing it open would be the only way they would be able to get the boat in successfully. Once they had the gate tied off to the back of the boat, George carefully towed the gate open and they saw the massive grate slowly open up to a dark maw behind it. They untied the rope; manoeuvred the boat so the bow was facing the opening, and George slowly started to manoeuvred the boat into the opening.

Before he got too far, Jones was reminded by Ella who had overheard the discussion about the carrier being attacked; and mentioned that they might be followed. Jones had not forgotten but was thinking how they would accomplish the closing of the grate. Simon had also been pondering that, and had thought that maybe they should just tow the gate closed again. Jones looked at Simon’s idea and nodded. Simplest was often the best. So they attached the rope again and tied it off onto the boat. Slowly George increased power to the engines and they watched as the massive grate swung closed behind them; George manoeuvring extremely carefully. George steered very carefully; making sure there was nothing obstructing their way as they proceeded slowly into the passage behind the grate. Jones nodded at George as they got the gate closed just enough; then he motioned for George to reverse the boat so they had enough slack. Unfortunately they could not take the other boat that Dawson’s sons had been on so they had let it go earlier on and left it floating around in the harbour. After untying the rope they had used to close the grate; Simon had hauled out a huge battery operated lantern to guide them. Outside they heard the noise of an engine; specifically a plane engine. It sounded like a Cessna to the trained ears of Jones. He wondered aloud if the plane was searching for any sign of them in the harbour.

Proceeding slowly along the passage way; Simon and the rest of the group were amazed at how much there was to see. The graffiti that was sprayed along the walls was quite dynamic, and there was even painted scenes that were undeniably artistic. They spied several smaller passages off to the sides as they slowly motored along the dank underground tunnel. Turning to Jones, Simon asked him: “How did you know about these tunnels? How come nobody else knows about them?”

“Simon; we do our training locally here in New York, and some of it we do in these tunnels. We need to keep our teams well trained and disciplined. They get introduced to the tunnels after basic.” Jones explained, “There are tunnels throughout New York and the surrounding areas; the military often uses them to train for disasters and if we need to extract people we can. However, this one has caught the Army and all the other services napping. We thought we were trained for any eventuality. We were wrong.”

Ella asked “But how did the Army find out about the tunnels? Surely they were not common knowledge to everyone?”

“Nope, Miss Ella; some of it was blind luck, but research showed that there were all sorts of abandoned tunnels; old subways; disused bowling alleys all hidden below the streets of New York. Going back through historical records, the various armed services discovered that there were plenty of old abandoned waterways as well. Like an underground Venice; using it for training was the next best thing to train for infiltration and survival. These tunnels I know; because I have trained extensively in them. This particular tunnel has several off-shoots that we could use to get safely away from this other crowd.”

Simon nodded and the he felt Judith put her arm around his waist. She had sidled up to him whilst Jones was regaling them with the tale of the waterways. She snuck her arm around him as he listened then she had placed her cheek on his back, snuggling into his back. He felt her breasts on his back and he started to feel aroused; trying not to think about her closeness he turned his attention back to Jones. He carried on talking to the few people on the deck; having relieved Simon of the light he was using it to point out features in the tunnel. Simon placed his hands on Judith’s, and softly played his hands along her arms, feeling the flesh pimple with his touch. He felt so close to her; almost like she was meant to be a part of his life. He smiled and felt her kiss on his back, and relaxed a bit more into her. Judith wanted him to turn around so she could give him a proper kiss. She wanted to feel his lips on hers now; she was ready to explore the spark between them she had felt the day before. She wanted to feel closer to him and to sit down and talk. However she knew that the time was not right just yet. They had to survive this ordeal they were going through; then hopefully they would be able to start a life together. She was just enjoying the closeness; the hug she was giving him was an indication that she wanted more from him now. Ella noticed the two of them, and smiled as she looked at the two of them. Her wistful look said it all to Judith as their eyes met. Judith was feeling sorry for Ella, and did not want to get her feeling alone. She opened her arms, let go of Simon and moved over to where Ella stood. Her arms enveloped Ella, and the two shared a long hug; making Simon a bit jealous of their closeness now. Judith leant down and whispered to Ella; the two of them then moved over to Simon, and both put their arms around him. Blushing furiously, he now was in the perfect position to Kiss Judith; she had now come from the front. Ella hugged him from the back, and Simon felt her small breasts press into his back and immediately his erection grew. However, Judith felt the growing erection and giggled; briefly distracting Jones as he looked at the three of them standing there in a hug. His eyebrows shot up and he shook his head then carried on talking.

Simon felt heat suffuse his face, and he felt Judith reach up to him and pull his head down for a kiss. Mercifully the light was now showing everyone a passage off to the right, and they were in relative darkness. Her soft lips were slightly parted as she brushed her lips against his, then her tongue darted in briefly for a taste. She quickly placed her mouth over his, and kissed him deeply; passionately. He heard Judith moan softly as she melted into him, forgetting for a brief moment that the rest of the group was still on the boat with them. Judith felt the light start to swing their way, and she quickly broke off the kiss, standing still and leaned into Simon; trying to give the impression of not having just kissed Simon. The blush was just rising on her face as she put her face into Simon’s chest and let out a silent laugh. Simon tried not to grin as he felt the closeness between them growing more intimate. She tightened her arms around his waist, and squeezed. His breath was lost for a second and he just enjoyed the closeness of her. Her hair did smell a little bit of sweat and cooking oil. There was also a hint of perfume; something sweetish but not quite flowery. He inhaled her scent a little and just savoured in the smell of her. He felt her also just inhale, and he gathered that she was doing the same as what he had just done.