Life Goes On | Book 4 | If Not Us [Surviving The Evacuation]

by Tayell, Frank

  “That was us,” Adams said. “What happened to the other locals, and the ships’ passengers?”

  “The passengers were killed and dumped in the sea. Fed to the sharks. Usually after they were dead. Usually. But it was worse for the locals. Um…” She looked back at the house, and up to an upstairs window. “After we tried to escape, they beat Pete up. They were going to start on Olivia, but I got Mikael to stop them.”

  “The old man? About sixty?” Tess asked.

  “Yeah, him,” Corrie said. “He’s their brother.”

  “Whose brother?” Tess asked.

  “The sisters,” Corrie said. “He’s their younger brother.”

  “He’s dead,” Tess said. “The sisters had a brother?”

  “He’s dead? Good. He was a disappointment to them. Wasn’t evil enough, you see? He had a son, and the son, the sisters’ nephew, is the heir to their underworld. The sisters went to collect this nephew from somewhere up north. In North America. Mikael was brought here from Miami where he was sort of under house arrest in a mansion. The sisters, and the nephew, were supposed to come here, but they never arrived.”

  “Was Mikael a prisoner, too?” Tess asked.

  “Not exactly. Hernando was in charge, but Mikael was obviously way more important to the sisters than anyone else here. He was no saint, but he was also a lonely old man. He wanted company, and I thought maybe that was a way to keep Pete and Olivia alive.”

  “I understand,” Tess said. “So Hernando was in charge, but Mikael was the V.I.P. The sisters were supposed to come here with the nephew, but never arrived.”

  “What happened to the rest of the locals?” Adams asked.

  “Poisoned,” Corrie said. “They were given an injection of what they were told was the British vaccine. The cartel had their supplies stashed in Colombia. Food and medicine mostly. But the plan wasn’t to come here specifically. It was to take over an island. Any island. But not to decide on which one in advance. Find an island, kill everyone, and then wait. They thought they would be betrayed. Their original plan was to seize the Panama Canal and charge all the world’s governments for access. It was a route to legitimacy and empire. The sisters didn’t think the apocalypse would get so bad. But they never came here, and you destroyed their supplies in Colombia.”

  “We did,” Adams said.

  “After the plane spotted the smoke, Hernando decided he’d done enough waiting. If your warship came this way, he was going to drop poison on it. All the boats were going to scatter, but he was going to take the icebreaker and go look for the sisters. He was that scared of them. Even now, he was going to look for them. Mikael was certain they were dead, though. He wanted to stay here. Start a new life in paradise.”

  “The sisters bought the VX for Panama,” Tess said. “That’s why they had a base in Colombia, in the desert. Within range of the canal, but nowhere near enough they would need to worry about poison carried by the wind. Drop the VX, kill the survivors, and any new survivors who turn up, and then move in a month or two later.”

  “That’s more or less what Mikael thought,” Corrie said. “But he didn’t know about the VX until we came here.”

  “You said Mikael was brought here because they thought they’d been betrayed,” Tess said. “Was this suspected betrayal before or after the outbreak?”

  “Before, I think, but I’m not sure,” Corrie said.

  “Perhaps one of our two prisoners know,” Adams said. “Am I right that Lisa Kempton went looking for the sisters and this nephew?”

  “I think so,” Corrie said. “Lisa was hunting the politicians, too.”

  “As the sisters never arrived, perhaps she found them,” Adams said.

  “What about the lab?” Tess asked.

  “What lab?” Corrie asked.

  “Back in Australia, we caught one of their conspirators. He told us the lab which developed the zom-virus was in Colombia. That’s why we came to this sea. But if Hernando picked this island at random, the lab can’t be here. Do you know where it is?”

  “Sorry, Mikael didn’t know anything about it, or the zombies. I don’t think Hernando did, either. But I can’t be certain. He was less like a leader and more like a courier. A caretaker. He returned to Miami a day before the outbreak, with orders to get ready to move Mikael. Someone else was supposed to arrive and take charge. Maybe it was the sisters, but I don’t think it was supposed to be Hernando. More than half his people were just street-dealers. After the outbreak hit Manhattan, he grabbed everyone he could as quickly as he could, and fled south.”

  “If he could only recruit amateurs, let’s hope that means the professionals are all dead,” Tess said. “Do you know where they were fleeing to from here?”

  “Sorry, no,” Corrie said. “Before you destroyed their depot in Colombia, that was their rendezvous. They must have picked somewhere new, but they didn’t tell Mikael. Or he didn’t tell me.”

  “We think they had some kind of attack ship,” Adams said. “Something sank a flotilla of sailing ships on the southern shore of the Caribbean Sea, but there’s nothing on this island with that capability.”

  “I wasn’t allowed out much,” Corrie said. “The cellar, Mikael’s rooms, and sometimes we’d sit out on the veranda behind the house, but that was it. The only time we made it to the shore was when we failed to escape.”

  “Do you know where Hernando slept?” Tess asked. “I’d like to search his things.”

  “It was one of the big houses on the other side of the junction,” Corrie said.

  “You won’t have long, Tess,” Adams said. “We can’t guarantee we’ve caught or killed all the enemy. I want to be gone before nightfall, when a sniper might come looking for revenge.”

  The sound of an approaching engine had them turn to look north. The truck was returning, with Zach behind the wheel.

  “We’ll talk again later, and in more detail,” Tess said. “Sorry, it’s vital, but it can wait until we’re aboard the ship and sailing for home. You should go there now. See the doc.”

  “I’m fine,” Corrie said. “I’ll help them move the food. I’d prefer to keep busy, you know?”

  Tess nodded, walking back across the courtyard, Captain Adams at her side.

  “What’s your view of her story?” Adams asked.

  “Officially, or personally?” Tess asked.

  “Are they different?” Adams asked.

  “Officially, the sisters didn’t come here. They should have. As this is where their brother was, they surely must have intended to. They didn’t, so they’re dead. Probably killed trying to find this nephew. Possibly killed by Lisa Kempton. Officially, we will assume they are missing, presumed dead. The lab could have been in Colombia. I’ll look at Hernando’s possessions for clues, but if he was that scared of the sisters, I doubt he’d even dare write it down. If he was just a go-between, he wouldn’t have been told. No, considering the resources we have, and the effort in getting here, finding the lab would be next to impossible. So, officially, I’m going to say that the sisters are dead, the cartel’s principal supply-stash has been destroyed, and they no longer present a threat.”

  “And personally?”

  “These people are fanatics,” Tess said. “I’m certain a few of their agents escaped capture in Australia, but the sisters ran a global empire. Even if they’re gone, a new underworld will emerge, headed up by people who think nothing of skinning victims alive. Ideally, I’d take a few days to gather any intel left here by Hernando and Mikael. Specifically, I’d want the address of the mansion in Miami. There we might find other addresses, hopefully in the Pacific. We’d go there, and follow every other lead, building a dossier on any missing terrorists. The first time we found a hint of their activity in home-territory, we’d open the file, and check the photos. I’d run them in the papers. I’d run them on the TV. I’d make a big show of the hunt. Remind people that justice might sometimes be slow, but it’s inescapable. Except, sadly, that’s impossible.”


  “For me, it’s the Russians and the British,” Adams said. “Were those submarines hunting for the sisters? Who sank the flotilla of yachts? What kind of threat will they be in the months to come? Those are the questions I want answered.”

  “That’s it,” Tess said. “It’s the months to come. But in the years after that, the real danger to our future is radiation. We’ve not avoided extinction yet, so we must put aside the personal, and take back an official report that’ll reassure our citizens.”

  “We can hope it will prompt any stray gangsters to reform,” Adams said.

  “The best we can hope for is they’ll keep their heads down,” Tess said. “But I’ll take a look at Hernando’s place, anyway. See if he was kind enough to leave us a signed confession.”

  “Before you do, there’s one other issue to settle,” Adams said. “The two prisoners. Our options are limited. In fact, realistically, there’s only one thing we can do.”

  “I know,” Tess said.

  “Excuse me, Captain, Commissioner?” Pete Guinn called. He and Olivia walked over.

  “Pete, hi,” Tess said. “Everything okay?”

  “Kinda,” Pete said.

  “Not really,” Olivia said. “Corrie says you’re returning to the Pacific?”

  “Via a few fuel stops,” Adams said. “We should be back in Perth in two weeks.”

  “Could you drop us off on the mainland?” Pete asked.

  “The mainland? Why?” Tess asked.

  “Over to you, Pete,” Olivia said.

  “Judge Benton sent us to make contact with the Pacific,” Pete said. “And we did. So now we’ve got to go tell her.”

  “Who’s Judge Benton?” Adams asked.

  “General Yoon’s deputy,” Pete said. “She took over the Canadian army after the bombs fell.”

  “What was left of it,” Olivia said.

  “Do you know where she is?” Adams asked.

  “Not exactly,” Pete said.

  “But it would be in Canada?” Adams asked. “So closer to the pole than the equator? You want to walk a quarter way around the planet.”

  “Hopefully we can drive,” Pete said.

  “You won’t make it,” Tess said. “Even if you had a specific destination in mind, you probably wouldn’t make it. When we left Canberra, we thought we could reach New York. Here we are, about to turn around, and I had a warship and no need to worry about zoms on the open sea.”

  “I know it’s a long shot,” Pete said. “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.”

  “If you found her, what would you say?” Adams asked.

  Olivia folded her arms. “Yeah, Pete, what would you say?”

  “Um… head for the Pacific, I guess,” Pete said.

  “No,” Adams said. “It will be a minimum of two weeks before we’re back in Perth. At least another week before we, or another ship, could sail north. Two more weeks before we reached the northern coast of northwest America, and we still might get there before you. But where should we go? We don’t know where’s safe, and nor do you. It’s spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Anyone who’s survived this long will be thinking about planting. By the time you find them, they’ll have a crop in the ground, and a secure farm from which to watch it. You can’t ask them to give up that to trek west in the hope a ship might be there. And what if there are more people than we can fit on one ship?”

  “You see, Pete?” Olivia said. “A rescue is impossible.” She turned back to the captain. “But as much as I hate to admit it, Pete’s right, we still have to go ashore.”

  “You do? Why?” Adams asked.

  “If not us, who?” Olivia said. “There are people who need help. Maybe we can find a safe route to the Pacific, and somewhere we can keep them safe until a ship comes. Or maybe we find somewhere to wait until you find us. But Pete found Corrie, and they found me. I don’t know who is out there who needs finding, but if we don’t look, they’ll die. It’s the right thing to do. The only thing.”

  “A noble sentiment,” Adams said. “But I’ve got to think of my crew, and the people in the Pacific in desperate need of a ship which can carry medical supplies to the millions of refugees.”

  “Right, exactly,” Pete said. “So if you just drop us off on the mainland, and maybe with some gas, we’ll drive north.”

  Tess laughed. “Strewth, mate. Talk about sticking me in a corner. How can I go back to Canberra and announce to the world that I let you three trek off alone? Again! Captain, that icebreaker works. What kind of range does it have?”

  “Twenty to thirty thousand kilometres,” Adams said.

  “Loan it to me,” Tess said.

  “You’d need a crew,” Adams said. “I won’t give you one if you intend to go to Canada. Not when we know so many bombs were dropped there.”

  “Agreed,” Tess said. “Puerto Morelos would still be worth investigating. It’s too close to here for me to hold out much hope of finding people, or a tanker, but we should still look. Same with Savannah. From there, would we have the range to return to Robben Island?”

  “You should, but I’ll ask Mr Dickenson to examine the engines and confirm it.”

  “Or maybe we return to Dégrad des Cannes and go south, and around the Cape,” Tess said. “But first, we’ll go as far north as we can, and then we’ll turn back. All of us. Including you three. Would that satisfy your conscience?”

  Pete opened his mouth, but Olivia beat him to it. “Absolutely,” she said. “But there is one final favour to ask, Captain.”

  Epilogue - Do You?

  Corn Island

  The two cartel-terrorist prisoners had been brought inside the shore-side bar-restaurant. They were seated two metres apart, with their hands cuffed behind their backs, and with three sailors on guard.

  “That’s Felipe,” Corrie said, indicating the thirty-year-old with the broken glasses, receding hairline, and mouse-muscle physique. “He had something to do with import and export before the outbreak. It sounded like accounting work, but only in the U.S. I think Mikael knew him in Miami, but they’d met infrequently. I got the impression Felipe would sometimes come to Mikael’s house, but not to meet him.”

  “Was he meeting Hernando, or the sisters?” Tess asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Corrie said.

  “What do you know about her?” Tess asked.

  The other prisoner had been knocked unconscious by an explosion at the western dock. She was in her early twenties with the well-defined musculature of someone who’d devoted time to her physique. The placement of her tattoos suggested some of that time had been in prison. Both sides of her scalp were shaved, revealing the ink beneath. On the right was a death’s head. On the left was a single branch from which three roses grew. A cartel tattoo which could be hidden as quickly as it took for the hair to grow out.

  “That’s L.C.,” Corrie said. “Lucia Catalina. She was the one who grabbed us up in America. But I think she came from south of the equator. She didn’t like taking orders from Hernando, and really, really didn’t like Mikael.”

  “Do either of you want to talk?” Tess asked.

  L.C. glared at Tess. Felipe glanced at her, then bowed his head.

  “He knows stuff, sure,” Corrie said. “But it’s all about drugs and import and sales. She knows a bit more about the sisters’ plans, but not where they are now. I think she’s just muscle. Another assassin.”

  “So he knows where the bodies are buried, and she knows how they died?”

  “Pretty much,” Corrie said.

  “Do they speak English?”

  “Absolutely,” Corrie said.

  Tess turned around, checking Zach was pointing the camera the right way. This had to be recorded for posterity, and for public broadcast back in Canberra.

  “My name is Commissioner Tess Qwong, and I speak with the authority of the Australian Government and the United Nations. You are being charged with war crimes. Specifically, complicity in genocide and the use of a banned chemic
al weapon, a substance we believe is VX nerve agent.” She paused, looking between the two prisoners, watching for any reaction. “And you are being charged with crimes against humanity for your involvement in the development and distribution of the virus which caused the outbreak, and for involvement in orchestrating the nuclear war which followed.” Again she paused.

  Felipe had hung his head, but L.C. had lifted hers, and was now watching Tess. She appeared calm. Puzzled, perhaps. Amused. But not scared.

  “Do either of you have anything you wish to say?” Tess asked. “No? Zach, stop recording. Take the camera outside.”

  Felipe looked up. L.C. looked across to Felipe, but she still said nothing, nor did Felipe.

  “That was your chance,” Tess said. “Reflect on that in what little time you have left. Take them away.”

  Felipe began struggling as the sailors stood him up. L.C. spat at Tess’s feet.

  As they were led away, Corrie crossed to the bar, leaning against it. “That wasn’t as satisfying as I’d hoped for.”

  “It never is,” Tess said.

  “I was hoping for some weeping or pleading, or something,” Corrie said.

  “I hoped for some solid information,” Tess said. “I gathered what I could from Hernando’s place. But I don’t think it will help us, nor would anything those two have to say. The impression I’ve gathered is that they ran the operations in the Caribbean and the Mexican Gulf, yes?”

  “Hernando did. But I don’t think even he ran it. He was more of an overseer, or a messenger. He’d take messages from the sisters to the local gang-leaders, and then check in on Mikael, and then go back to the sisters. He was trusted to know their secrets, but not critical to their operation.”

  “Since he wouldn’t have had the answers we want, those two certainly won’t,” Tess said. She walked over to the bar, looking at the rows of empty shelves. “Times like this call for a drink.”

  “Champagne is traditional,” Corrie said.

  “Nicko found a couple of bottles of rum,” Tess said. “That will have to do, but it’s aboard the ship, and we should be getting aboard ourselves.”