Megalodon Riptide

by Watts, Russ

  “The Megalodon? With my own eyes. Too close, I can tell you. What do you think ripped a big hole in the hull of our ship?”

  “Now I know you’re full of it,” said Lance. “Mckade says they’re stories designed to keep people out of the water. The government invented them as a way of keeping people on the dying mainland, a desperate last ploy to keep control when we all know they’ve lost it. Get your ass down to the lounge and I’ll find out just what else you’ve been lying to me about.”

  I reached the bottom of the stairs and put my hand on the door. I couldn’t hear any chatter or noise from the other side and guessed that Donovan had them under control. “Fine. Have it your way.” I pushed open the door and walked into the lounge, recognizing the room immediately. It was the same one that I’d seen when getting aboard the yacht a few minutes earlier. The outer doors were closed now and everyone was sat on the couches and chairs. I caught Pippa’s eye, but said nothing. In the center of the room was a heavy-set man, thick hands holding a gun similar to Lance’s. He swung it toward me as I entered the room.

  “Lance, you had about ten seconds left before I was going to throw the black guy overboard. What took you so long?”

  The man who I assumed to be Donovan wore a flannel shirt and grubby jeans with frayed heels. He had steel-capped boots and a look in his eyes that told me not to say anything, or I would end up just like Honey.

  “This piss-ant’s been trying to convince me there’s a giant shark out here with us.”

  “Yeah, I heard those stories too. Total BS.” Donovan scratched the stubble that ringed his face. “We should be within range any moment. Let’s radio Mckade and tell him what we got here.”

  Donovan raised the radio to his mouth and then Ava sprang up as Lance came out from behind me into the room.

  “Lance?”

  He looked at me with disbelief and then at Ava before breaking out into a laugh. “I thought you were full of shit. Ava?”

  She began to smile and approached us. But before she could cross the room Donovan grabbed her arm. “Sit down.”

  “Sorry, sis. Better do what he says,” said Lance.

  “But Lance, you can tell them to leave us alone, right?” Ava sat back down next to Manny. “Explain to him who I am. Tell him.”

  Lance ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Sorry, you made your choice. You had a chance to join me, to join Mckade on your own terms, but there’s nothing I can do now.” Lance quickly scanned the room and then turned to Donovan. “Get the boss on the radio. Tell him we’ve got seven survivors, including four women. Pretty good haul, I’d say.”

  Donovan licked his lips. “Damn good haul.” He let his eyes drift over to Chelsea. “I’m looking forward to getting back. We’re going to have some real good fun tonight.”

  CHAPTER 18

  “Nothing. Must be the storm.” Donovan lowered the silent radio. “I’ll try again in a minute.”

  Lance wandered over to the bar and began to pour a bottle of open whisky into a glass. “Luke, take a seat. We may as well get to know one another. I’m sure the captain will have his own questions.”

  “I’ve got a few questions for him myself,” I said, as I went to stand next to Pippa and Chelsea. I wanted to try and put myself in between them and Donovan. I didn’t like the way he was looking at them. “But let’s start with you.”

  “Me?” Lance drank from a glass tumbler and then threw the glass behind the bar where it smashed on the tiles. “Oh no, I think it’s time for a family reunion. Think of the tears, the joy; the drama!” Lance wandered back into the center of the room. “How about it Ava?”

  I was pleased that Ava was close to Manny. If anything happened he would stand up for her. Weir and Estelle had their own chairs around the side of the room. Douglas’ yacht was furnished with expensive niceties and artwork that oozed money, and yet many of the windows were broken or cracked. I remembered how the side of the boat had been scratched and dented. Mckade must have let Douglas go to follow him, fooling him into thinking they had escaped when he had just been a decoy to round up more survivors.

  “Lance, what the hell is wrong with you?” Ava asked angrily. “You wave a gun in my face and expect me to be ok with that? And what happened upstairs? Donovan said you had some trouble with Douglas and Honey.”

  “It’s all sorted now. They just needed teaching a lesson. Forget them. Let’s talk about you. Let’s talk about how you abandoned me.”

  Ava leant forward and stared at Lance. “Abandoned you? Are you crazy? Jesus, Jonah offered us a place and you threw it back in his face. You left me, Lance, left me alone and—”

  “You were with Jonah. You were safe. I had to leave and you know it. He hated me. Jonah treated me like dirt, not like Mckade does. Jonah was a stupid old man who didn’t respect me, didn’t see my potential. Where is the old fart anyway?”

  “Jonah’s dead, Lance. And he treated you fairly, the same as me. You were just too stubborn to see it. Jonah helped me and he would’ve helped you too, if you’d given him half a chance. Now he’s gone and these people are all I have left. The Tukino sank and… look, it hardly matters now anyway. What are you playing at with Mckade? He’s bad news and he’s going to get you into trouble. More trouble than you’re already in. You don’t know what you’re doing. You don’t know what’s out here or you wouldn’t be messing around with him.”

  “Enlighten me. What’s out here that I should be so scared of?”

  Ava looked at me and I silently nodded my head.

  “A shark,” she explained. “A Megalodon. It’s big enough to chew this boat up and tear it in half. And believe me, you don’t want to piss it off. So, where exactly are you taking us?”

  Lance looked at Donovan and then the two of them chuckled. It was forced, for our show only. They weren’t giving anything away.

  “You know, I don’t believe in monsters, Ava.” Lance walked across the tiled floor to his sister. “But maybe you should. Mckade is going to put you to work. He’s the captain I follow, the man who is sorting this crap out. He’s waiting for us now on his boat and it puts this one to shame. It’s got a helicopter landing pad, three bars, a heap of bedrooms; everything you could possibly want and everything you never knew you wanted. It’s a floating palace. You think I want to scrounge out a living on a trawler, fishing for scraps when I could be living in luxury? Dream on, Ava. If you know what’s good for you, then you’ll sign up. There’s a lot of hard work involved, but nothing’s for free, right? Someone like you will be of use to him. I’m sure he can think of a service you’ll be able to perform. You and the other girls are very welcome on our ship. Luke and you men here can sign up or swim back to the mainland. There’s no in-between anymore. Mckade has control of all the diesel depots down the eastern seaboard and he’s expanding. He needs willing workers.” Lance whirled around to talk to the room. “That goes for all of you. This is an opportunity for you. Take it. Or not. There are plenty of bullets to go round.”

  “Okay, tone it down, buddy,” said Manny. “We’re just trying to get a handle on the situation. There’s no need for threats.”

  “Threats? Oh, I haven’t even started. Donovan, you got anything on that radio yet?”

  I bristled as Donovan tried the radio again. He was a large man and rushing him would probably be a very bad idea. But waiting to face Mckade seemed like an even worse option. It was clear that his operation was run on fear of death. I had no intention of joining up and was quite sure nobody else would either. The inference from Lance was all too clear about what fate the women would have, and I would do anything in my power to stop Mckade getting his hands on my family and Ava. I glanced at Manny and wondered if he could read my mind. Donovan was close enough to me that I could rush him, maybe not enough to stop him shooting me, but it would give the others a chance. Manny was behind Lance and had the same chance. If we went together then maybe, just maybe, we could overpower them. Quite how I was going to communicate my idea to Manny
escaped me. If what Lance said was true, then it would only be a few minutes before we reached their ship. If we let them take us on board then it was over. He would have the numbers to do whatever he wanted. I might not be able to stop Mckade, but I could stop Lance and Donovan.

  “Come in, this is Donovan. Are you picking me up? We’ve picked up seven lowlifes. Come in, come in,” said Donovan, as the radio finally crackled into life. It hissed and spluttered, and then a male voice came over clearly.

  “Donovan, that you? Where you been?”

  The big man smiled. “Harry, where’ve you been my whole life? Is Mckade with you? This weather held us up a while. Don’t worry, it’s all under control now. Lance had to off the bitch, but we got seven more people now.”

  “Mckade is here. He wants to know exactly who you picked up.”

  “We got three men and four women. Oh, and a special guest star: Lance’s sister.”

  “Ava? She as pretty as I remember?”

  Donovan let a salacious smile creep over his face as he leered at her. “You bet. But I got dibs.”

  I looked at Ava who had no reaction. She had met these people before, and knew how they operated. They seemed to enjoy shock and fear tactics, yet I was worried that before we even got back to Mckade’s ship that these two men might take matters into their own hands. Lance had no reaction when Donovan looked at his sister. I couldn’t understand how he could be so cold. If anybody had said anything like that about her, or my own sister, I would be beyond angry. There was nothing I wouldn’t do to protect Pippa. It had been that way since we were young, and probably a big part of why I had stuck around after her ex had taken off.

  Lance simply pointed his gun around the room as if picking out a target. The conversation over the radio meant nothing to him. Suddenly, the radio crackled and then a different voice came on that seemed to scare Donovan.

  “Donovan, put Lance on.”

  “Mckade? Yes, Captain.” Donovan held out the radio at arm’s length, as if it were radioactive. “Lance, he wants to speak to you.”

  “No shit,” said Lance snatching the radio from Donovan. “Captain, this is Lance. Everything is under control. We’re on our way back now.”

  “Good. Men and women. They’ll be a good addition to the crew, especially as I hear we lost Honey. I’m pleased to hear that Douglas came through.”

  “He’s charting a path to you right now, Captain.”

  I studied Lance’s face, trying to gauge whether he was as scared of Mckade as Donovan so clearly was. There was definitely a nervousness in his voice, but he was a lot calmer than I expected he might be. After killing Honey and finding his sister, he could’ve been forgiven for being in shock. But he appeared to let it all slide off him. If anything, listening to him talk to Mckade, I got the impression he was in awe. Lance wanted to please him, as if Mckade was his father. I listened to the radio intently, trying to pick up any useful information I could. There was no background noise, and Mckade’s voice kept faltering, as if the radio signal was weak. He had an accent that I couldn’t place, perhaps Irish or Scottish. The crackling was intermittent, and all I could do was listen and focus to find out what was going to happen next.

  “You want us to tie them up, Captain?” asked Lance. “Douglas has plenty of rope if you—”

  “No, that won’t be necessary, unless they give you any trouble. When you reach us get everyone aboard. You still have the weapons and grenades, I assume?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then we’ll leave Douglas a parting gift to say thank you. I don’t want that boat falling into anyone else’s hands. Have you found out if we have any sailors amongst the people you picked up? Anyone who might be willing and able to get straight into things for me?”

  Lance hesitated and I detected a ripple of fear in him for the first time.

  “Um, no, I hadn’t found the time to talk to them all yet. I’ve—”

  “You’re not going weak on me are you, Lance? Try. Now.”

  Lance lowered the radio briefly and looked around the room. “I know Ava can’t sail for shit, but how about the rest of you? Volunteers? Who knows their port from their starboard?”

  With Gills dead, there was only one man left from Jonah’s crew. None of us otherwise had any experience on the ocean, certainly nothing we could offer to help or use for bargaining.

  “I know these seas,” said Weir slowly, getting up. “I’ve lived on a trawler longer than I’ve lived on land.”

  “Sit down, Weir, you can’t be serious,” said Ava. “You’re not going to join these pirates. Mckade is a psychopath. He doesn’t run an army, just a bunch of madmen who go around raping and killing people for sport. He’s the only one who needs a bullet. Give me a gun and I’ll do it myself. Sit down while you still can, Weir. We’re on your side. No matter what you’re thinking, you don’t have to do this.”

  Weir ignored her and took a few steps forward. As usual there was no fear in him, and as he approached Lance I almost felt sorry for the boy. Was it better to have Weir as a friend or an enemy?

  “Mr. Weir? You up for it?” asked Lance. He pointed his gun at Weir’s chest. “This is no time for tricks or games.”

  “Does it look like I’m playing games, boy?”

  There was no doubt in my mind that Weir was serious. Even after everything, after our disagreements and fights, I couldn’t believe he was siding with Mckade. He had to understand what it meant, or maybe the death of Jonah and Gills had hit him harder than I’d realized. Losing the Tukino had been the final straw. He had nothing left and this was his way back in, back to the only life he knew. It crossed my mind to warn him, to dissuade him from making another stupid decision, but he wouldn’t listen to me. Anything I said to him was only liable to push him further away.

  “One, Captain,” said Lance. “The rest look pretty beat up. Don’t know if they’re much use. Two guys who look like they’d be more at home down below with the rest of the women if you ask me.”

  “I’m not asking you, Lance. I thought we had—”

  I heard Mckade sigh and then his voice faded to gray. The radio popped and fizzed, and Lance fiddled with the controls until his captain’s voice returned.

  “—to prove it. Don’t you think, Lance?”

  “Sorry, Captain, you cut out, repeat please?”

  “Lance, I need you to listen carefully. I’m getting tired of your immaturity. I thought you were on my team. Your sister will not align herself with us. I heard she is with you and what she had to say. Put Donovan back on.”

  Pippa reached a hand over to me and squeezed my knee. “What is this, Luke?” she whispered. “Why are they doing this?”

  “Boys and their toys, mom,” said Chelsea. She rolled her eyes. “Put a gun in a little boy’s hand and he thinks he’s the king of the world.”

  I could feel the dread and resignation in both of their voices and it filled me with anger. This wasn’t right, wasn’t fair; Mckade also had a problem with Ava and I wasn’t sure how that would play out. All I knew was that every second we wasted getting away from the shoals meant that the shark could return at any time. Estelle had kept quiet so far, and I wondered how much of what was going on she understood. She was afraid, that much was clear, but beyond that I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. I looked at Manny to see if he might be prepared to attack the two men, but I couldn’t catch his eye. For now, we had to go along with them.

  “This is Donovan.”

  He took the radio from Lance as Weir shot me a look. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to tell me I was doomed or if he was just pleased to have some sort of control back. I thought he might come around, but I could tell he was too far gone now. The radio crackled and hissed, and then Mckade’s voice came back.

  “Donovan, are you listening? How many times am I going to have to repeat myself?”

  “Captain, sir, yes, sorry the radio signal keeps dropping out. I’ve got you now. Go ahead,” said Donovan nervously.


  “I need to ensure the safety of my crew. I cannot afford bringing anyone on board who will jeopardize that, or compromise the integrity of my crew. Do you understand?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Very good. Then take the gun off Lance. Now. Then give him your knife.”

  Slowly, Donovan lowered the radio and walked over to Lance. The confusion on both men’s faces was apparent.

  “Sorry, man, orders are orders,” said Donovan, holding out an open hand.

  Lance reluctantly handed over the gun. “What is this about?”

  Donovan shrugged and reached down into his boots, retrieving a sharp knife before handing it to Lance.

  “Is this some sort of test?” whispered Pippa to me.

  “I don’t know,” I replied. “Just sit tight and let it play out. Until they try to hurt one of us we’ll let them argue amongst themselves.”

  Lance held the knife and turned it over in his hands. “This is bullshit. What am I supposed to do with this?”

  “Donovan?”

  The big man tucked Lance’s gun into his waistband and raised the radio to his lips. “It’s done, Captain. You want us to—?”

  “Can everyone hear me?” asked Mckade.

  Donovan looked at Lance. “Yes, Captain. Everybody is here.”

  “Good. As I said, I can’t risk bringing anyone on board who is going to be a disruption to our plans. Everyone needs to understand that there is only one way to get on in this world, and that is my way. You don’t like it? Tough. I need you all to understand how things operate, so here’s what’s going to happen before I can let any of you back on my ship. Donovan, leave the radio on so I can hear everything. I’m sure that if things go as I say I’ll be able to tell from the reaction in the room. And if you dare show up without following my orders to the letter then we’ll simply blow you out of the water. You know how much firepower we have. So, here’s the deal. The only way I am going to accept you back into the fold is with a sign of allegiance. We need to clear the path. I need to open the door to you and the others you’ve found, but I can’t do that based on trust. Look where that got Douglas and Honey. So, I’ll say this only once, and I expect it done. Lance, take the knife Donovan gave you and go over to your sister. Slit her throat. I want her dead. And Donovan – if he doesn’t do it - shoot him.”