Mei was there, double-checking their supplies and making sure they were packaged properly for transport. She had been berating herself for days for not stocking pre-natal vitamins. It would have been so easy to pick some up during one of their foraging missions back at the camp. Hearing footsteps she looked up.
Private Tsou slipped into the room and closed the door. Mei’s heart began to race. She had never felt frightened by the attention the crew paid to the women, just mildly annoyed. She was frightened now but determined not to show it.
“Do you need medical attention, Private Tsou?” She spoke in the classic Mandarin her parents had taught her.
“No, but I thank you for the skillful care you have shown me in the past, honored lady. I also wish to tell you that you and your fellows are no longer safe on this vessel. Tomorrow evening, you and the other female members of your group will be confined to the hold and the men will be placed ashore. It was only with great difficulty that I was able to persuade the crew not to kill them.”
“Thank you for this information. I will inform my friends but I will not reveal it was you who told me.” She hesitated. “I have something for you, Private Tsou. It’s the cure for the virus.”
His eyes widened and she continued, “It must be given as early as possible to the infected individual and the fever that results must be allowed to burn in order for the virus to be destroyed. It has been used successfully only twice that I am aware of and the cure is not a certainty. It must be kept in cool storage and I am uncertain of its shelf-life. Do you understand?”
He bowed and accepted the small Styrofoam package and turned to leave but she stopped him.
“Private Tsou, would you like to leave the ship and join us?”
“I thank you for your kind offer but it is my hope to return to China and to my family. The last time I heard from my wife she told me our daughter was safe and she was taking her to stay with family outside the city. My best chance for seeing them again lies in remaining on my ship.” He bowed again and left.
Mei filled two backpacks with supplies and slipped out into the corridor. Bea wasn’t in their shared room so she shoved the packs under a bunk and went to look for Cam. They had spent the entire day together, the joy that they had found each other making it difficult to break away but Fitz had finally assigned him a bunk and Cam fell into an exhausted sleep, not even waking for supper.
The door at the end of the passageway opened and Bea and David emerged, releasing their entwined hands just a little too late to prevent her from seeing it. Bea actually blushed.
Mei refrained from smiling. She had had suspicions about the two of them for a while.
She spoke in a low tone, “We need to talk.”
David went to find the rest of the group while the women woke Cam. After a few brief disagreements they settled on a plan. They would leave tonight.
Chapter Sixteen
Virginia wandered in a dark landscape of grief, searching for a way out, but there was no escape. Every morning she awoke and sometimes it was a few seconds before she remembered that her son was dead but then the knowledge came and with it the crushing sadness that kept her separated from everyone around her. She and Ian were often mute when alone, unable to speak of this death that had taken the light from their world. With everyone else she said the things she thought she should say but later had no memory of the conversation.
The news that they were leaving left her indifferent. She listened as they outlined the plan but made few comments. Nodding to the whispered instructions she then left for her cabin to gather all the children’s belongings, calmly folding clothes and making sure nothing was left behind.
The mildness was deceptive. Inside, she felt enough grief and rage to set the world on fire and happily burn with it. Her baby was gone and she wanted the desolation she felt to encompass everything, for heaven to weep unending tears for the little life that was no more, for the little boy who would never grow up. She held his blanket in her arms and rocked back and forth, searching for memory of his voice, his scent, the velvet warmth of his neck. Tears, which never seemed to completely stop, dropped unheeded onto the bedraggled, beloved cloth. Folding it then pressing it to her cheek, she tucked it tenderly into her pack.
Bea and a few others were taking the children on deck, ostensibly to play shuffleboard before bedtime, while Virginia and Mei gathered packs and supplies. The ship had landing craft but they were using the inflatables stowed in the hold. They were quieter.
Something clattered to the floor and she picked up her knife, her grandfather’s KA-BAR knife that was meant to be passed on to Greg. She held it tightly for a moment then began to methodically stab the thin pallet that served as a mattress. Stabbing, tearing, ripping the bed apart, she finally stopped, looking around with a small sense of satisfaction at the mess she had made. It was a start to the havoc she wanted to unleash everywhere. She slipped the knife into her boot, picked up the backpacks and left to join the children on deck.
As soon as she emerged into the corridor, someone grabbed her arms roughly, spun her around and slammed her against the wall. A hand clamped her mouth as her captors fumbled to tie her hands. She bit down hard, capturing the thumb between her teeth, not stopping until she felt bone and her attacker cried out. When the hand was pulled away she didn’t scream but managed to twist around and go in for a bite of the man who still held her arms. He pushed her away and she rolled to her feet, coming up with the knife in one hand. Blood ran down her face.
Bringing the knife up in one fluid motion, she buried it in his neck then tugged it free. He went down and his companion tripped over the body as he came after her again. Virginia recognized Private Chang. The knife went deep into his belly and, thinking of the red, slap mark and bruise on her daughter’s face, she forced it up, stopping only when she hit the sternum. His life poured out onto the floor, a hot rush of blood and viscera.
A few feet down the corridor she came upon Mei, tied up, gagged, and struggling furiously to get free. Her eyes widened in fear at the sight of Virginia but she stopped struggling while Virginia cut the plastic cuffs and untied the gag.
“Virginia, what happened to you?” She couldn’t imagine anyone covered with that much blood could be unwounded.
“Nothing. I’m fine. What about you?” She extended a bloody hand to help Mei up. Mei took it reluctantly.
“Just bruised. They jumped me as I left the infirmary. I think these guys had a plan of their own. Let’s go.”
A few feet further they came upon the blood-soaked, lifeless body of Private Tsou. His throat gaped wide and blood pooled in the corridor. Mei’s breath caught in a sob but Virginia’s eyes hardened. She took Mei’s hand and, stepping over the blood, pulled her along.
On deck they found the children huddled together near the bow, unhurt. The women lay trussed and gagged, Bea among them. They cut them free.
Bea gasped, “Brian and Moshe, they’re in the water. The crew threw them in. Oh please, God, let them be okay!”
They ran to the side and scanned the darkening water but saw nothing. They had no flashlight, no searchlight. They listened and thought they heard a faint thumping somewhere.
“Did you see any of the men below?” Bea asked.
“No, but they should be here soon. Give it two more minutes. If they don’t make it up with boats we’ll-”
“There’s no time,” Bea interrupted.
She ran to the side of the boat and took off her shoes, prepared to dive in when she felt a hand on her arm. Virginia shook her head and put a finger to her lips.
The faint thumping grew louder and was accompanied by muffled sentences and exclamations. The rope ladder that Cam climbed up earlier was still on the rail and it shifted and twisted with weight. They looked down and saw two figures inching their way up.
“...fine. We’ll find the rifles again and…” The voices were lost in the wind but the two figures climbing were clearly Brian and Moshe.
Bea laug
hed in relief. The boys gained the deck and sat shivering in the cool, evening breeze.
“They just threw us over. We didn’t even have a chance to defend ourselves! And they took our weapons. Ian and David are going to be mad.”
“I think they’ll forgive you. Now be quiet, everyone.” Virginia went back to the hatch, listening for sounds of movement below. After a few minutes she moved aside.
“They’re here.”
The boats were soon over the side and tethered while the group climbed slowly down. The sea was calm tonight and a bright moon lighted their short journey to shore.
“How did you get out of there with no one seeing you?” Mei asked Cam, holding on to the side of the boat while Moshe and Brian paddled. “They’re usually all pretty busy at this time of evening.”
“Ah. That would be the grog,” Cam said.
“The what?” asked Moshe.
“Grog. Alcohol, wine, whiskey, whatever you want to call it. The fine gentlemen of the crew were having a bit of a tipple in the galley. I was scouting out our way to the top and took the opportunity to lock them inside. They’re angry but they’ll eventually think to shoot a hole in the door or wall and they’ll be fine. Which is more than I can say for the three chaps I found in the corridor. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, Mei?”
“I guess they suspected Private Tsou wasn’t on their side and they killed him. I was attacked and tied up. From what I heard them say, not all of the crew wanted to wait until tomorrow and were going to secure the women tonight. They also were going to kill you guys. I can’t help but wonder if they knew he had warned me. I feel responsible.”
“You’re not responsible for that. God rest his poor soul. And the other two blokes?”
“I’m pretty sure that was Virginia. She was attacked, too.”
“I thought as much, considering the state of her.”
“That wasn’t her blood. She’s struggling, Cam. She lost her son. She’s been almost catatonic until now.”
“I suppose angry is better than catatonic. We’re not the same people we were before all of this, are we?”
They ran the boats aground then dragged them through the surf, placing them among the rocks above the high-tide mark. Virginia took a moment to splash her arms and face clean and they moved on.
The seals that had thronged the rocks earlier were elsewhere and they had little difficulty climbing the narrow line of cliffs overhanging the beach. They emerged in a park, empty swings moving eerily in the breeze, the merry-go-round spinning slowly. There was a faint, salty aroma of dead things, not unusual near a beach. No dead were in evidence yet.
They moved on. The street contained several boutique stores, among them an upscale beachwear store, a yogurt shop, and a bakery. Just past a post office was a YMCA, beyond that, the lighthouse. The YMCA looked very new and a large American flag snapped in the ocean breeze. Glass front doors were broken and they stepped through the frames. Little piles of sand and dry leaves covered the tile foyer.
Cam and Bea wanted to press on, get farther away from the ship. Almost everyone else wanted to find shelter for the night, especially those with children. A vote was taken; the majority won.
They knew something had gone wrong here before they reached the front desk. Dark stains streaked the floor. Chairs and tables were overturned. Shell casings lay here and there. Stuck to the wall among the plaques honoring various board members and benefactors was a clump of brain and scalp with a few blond hairs still attached and dangling. The body they belonged to lay below, little more than bones and dried flesh, nothing above the neck.
A community bulletin board sported babysitting offers, bicycles for sale, and a reminder of an upcoming bake sale. There was also a reminder that hand washing was very important in helping prevent the spread of colds and viruses. They smelled mold and chlorine and came upon the indoor pool. A few bodies struggled feebly in the murky water. They moved on.
A janitor still performed a staggering perambulation around the wooden floor in the gym. Cam split his skull with the cleaver and they dragged the body into the pool area and closed the door.
Yoga mats stored in a supply closet were perfect for sleeping but they found nothing with which to cover up. Still, the place was fairly clean and had room for all of them. There was no drinking water. They found buckets and decided to fill them with water from the pool to flush the toilets.
A few precious bottles were in packs and children were given sips as they lay down on the yoga mats. Prayers were said, a comforting routine to most of them, and they were soon asleep.
Virginia lay awake next to Daniel and Anna in the near-total darkness, listening, thinking she heard dragging footsteps and occasional moans. Was she imagining things? Were there dead hunting them? The gym was secure with its only windows near the ceiling but she had no way to look outside. Ian and Fitz had first watch at the entrance doors and she knew she had to get up in four hours but she couldn’t fall asleep. She placed her hands gently across her belly, searching for the expected swelling curve but couldn’t feel it. It was still too soon. Nevertheless she wrapped her arms protectively around her middle and fell asleep.
The faint, rosy light of dawn woke her. No one had roused her for her watch and she felt completely disoriented. The children still slept beside her. She instinctively searched for the small figure that would never be with her again. The pain of realization was as sharp as ever.
She pulled on her boots and slipped past the sleeping bodies into the hallway. Fitz and Ian were near the entrance, still keeping watch. Looking for a bathroom she found instead a door at the very end of the hallway, marked “Lighthouse.” It wasn’t locked and hoping curiosity didn’t always kill the cat, she opened it, crossed a short breezeway then ascended a twisting, metal staircase. Reaching the top she stepped out onto the encircling viewing platform.
Foamy waves broke in ceaseless booms on the rocky shores. Dark figures cavorted playfully in the water, the seals coming ashore and climbing onto the wet boulders, their ponderous bodies surprisingly quick. Gulls screamed, swooping down and plucking fish from the water with deadly accuracy. The Chinese ship was gone. They hadn’t been interested enough in them to follow them onto land. To the east she glimpsed the top of a mammoth, white windmill, turning lazily in front of the rising sun.
A binocular viewing stand swiveled 360 degrees. To her surprise no coins were required and she peered through the view finder, slowly turning to look inland at the sun rising over the low mountains to the east. She stopped abruptly then focused the viewer lower.
Dark figures swarmed over the hills. At this distance they looked like colonizing ants or a coven of black locusts but of course they weren’t. She shivered in dread and ran for the steps.
“Do we make a stand or do we run?” was the question on everyone’s lips. No matter what Virginia or Ian said, they couldn’t make these exhausted survivors understand they couldn’t win against the numbers that approached. The charming little seaside town lulled them into a false sense of security and most of them wanted to stay. They seemed to think they were weaklings if they didn’t try to hold this town and some of the men were in the process of whipping themselves into a frenzy about it.
David stood frowning over a map. Taking a route farther north would also take them close to the Cascade mountain range and his parents. They weren’t really all that far away now. He’d never reached them again by phone but he refused to consider them not being okay. They were tough and smart and resourceful.
Ian was still trying to persuade the men to leave. “You have no potable water source, an uncertain food supply, no escape route other than the sea and the only boats you have are the rafts. This is not the place to make a stand. We haven’t even scouted out the area yet. We have to go. Even now it may be too late.”
He closed his eyes briefly and released an exasperated breath. He had kept watch all night, wanting Virginia to rest, desperately wanting to protect the child she car
ried, deliberately not waking her. He was too tired to argue with the increasingly hostile group and he wanted to leave and keep what was left of his family alive.
Fitz lumbered into the room, returning from the lighthouse. He caught Ian’s eye and shook his head. He had been scanning the sea, looking for possibly derelict ships they might be able to row out and board.
Minutes ago Virginia had given up on the group and, gathering the children, she waited for the signal to go. She knew Bea and the boys and probably David and Fitz as well, would go with them. She wasn’t counting on anyone though and was surprised and pleased when Mei, holding two packs, joined them.
“Cam, too?” Virginia raised an inquiring eyebrow.
“Yes, he’s staying with Ian and David in case they get any real grief from the rest of the group. He wants me to slip out unobtrusively. He’s afraid they’ll try to stop the only nurse from leaving.”
Virginia nodded. They were going to take the High Street north, following that until they came to the coastal highway. They should be able to find transportation after that. It still nagged her that they had seen so few of the townspeople. Where had they gone?
They were also seriously in need of drinking water. She was thirsty and so were the children and she hoped they would come upon a market that hadn’t been raided. They could make it for a while without food but not water.
Loud shouts then whistling and hand clapping rang out from the gym. A door opened and shut then David, Ian, and Fitz joined them. With nothing more to be said, they walked out through the door frames into the street where the boys and Bea waited.
They passed a travel agency and an ice cream shop. Two cars, both with flat tires sat in front of a corner market that was just a burned out husk. Just over a hill the gargantuan, white windmill sliced the air, impelled by the ocean breezes. They crested the hill.
The Living Dead Series (Book 3): Dead Coast Page 22