by Damon Novak
“All good reasons. Sonya, you’re a cop. Why don’t you play around with that radio. Lil, give me one of them handhelds we got. The two-milers.”
“That’s right!” my sister said. “I would feel better if y’all took it.” She dug a pair of beat up radios out of the drawer underneath the counter. Turning both of them on, she pushed the talk button on one, and broadcast out the other. “Good to go,” she said, handing me one.
I clipped it on my belt. “C’mon, Georgina. Let’s go find Denny Jessup.”
Sonya said, “That’s right. Sally was outside your place, right, Lilly?”
Lilly nodded. “She was,” she said. “And she was … sick. Figure out a way to tell Denny, CB. Or maybe let Georgina do it. Could be a soft touch might make it easier somehow.”
“I’ve passed out a lot of bad news,” said Georgina. “I’ll do that.”
As we walked down the boardwalk toward our smallest airboat – a four-seater – Georgina asked, “How are you doing, Cole?”
I didn’t have to read minds to know what she meant. “I feel a quarter full,” I said. “Or three-quarters empty.”
“I’m so sorry. I saw it happen, and it still feels like it was something from a horrible movie I saw years ago. It can’t be real.”
“Right here,” I said, swiping my hand toward the boat with Individually Wrapped Gator Snacks screen printed on the side.
“That name is apropos,” said Georgina.
“Zombie snacks is more like it,” I said, stepping in and holding out my hand. Georgina took it, and I helped her down inside. “Sit on that seat just in front of the driver’s seat.”
I opened a box and pulled out a pair of ear protectors and an alcohol swab. “Here. Not sure if they were cleaned after the last tour, but those are extra-large wipes.”
Georgina tore open the alcohol packet with her teeth and wiped the large earphones off while I dropped the dock lines and fired the motor. We decided to enhance the experience, so a couple months back, we’d bought expensive earphone sets with Bluetooth speakers in them so we could talk to our passengers while underway.
“Will you be able to hear me?” asked Georgina.
“Nope. I’m the only one with a microphone.”
She nodded.
I bumped the key and the engine cranked once, twice, and the fan started crankin’. I kept the rudder straight as I slid the boat from the slip, then opened it up.
“Hold on, girl!” I said into my microphone, when I saw Georgina bobble in her seat before getting a grip on the rail. She turned and gave me a shrug. I said, “Never been on an airboat before?”
She shook her head. I pushed the lever forward and the boat responded, turnin’ hard right. As I rounded a big row of mangroves, I pulled it back and the boat turned left, makin’ a beeline to Denny and Sally’s place.
When I saw Georgina turn in her seat again, my old tour guide habits kicked in, and I pointed out a sizable gator on the starboard side of the boat. I pushed the lever hard forward and we headed straight for the sucker. He practically dove off the narrow strip of land he was on, and we slid over it about a half-second later, as I cranked it hard left again and sent a roostertail in his direction.
Georgina laughed, but it died quickly, I could see. I imagined a bit of survivor’s guilt had already settled in, like it had with me. But while I couldn’t actually hear her momentary laughter, the sight of it made me feel good. I’d had a real, real shitty two days.
Let me tell y’all a little about myself. First off, I keep shit inside. I figure my grief is my burden to bear; nobody else’s. I get so good at buryin’ it even I sometimes forget what had me so goddamned outta sorts.
I’ll never forget this feelin’.
Anyway, most times, I can focus on what’s needed in the worst of situations. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten stranded in the swamp, darkness fallin’ and gators on the prowl – even in matin’ season. I’ve been up against it a whole buncha times, but I never once gave up, and I never feared the worst.
Even when I should’ve.
That all changed yesterday. When I saw my brothers change into somethin’ that lacked the ability to speak or listen; when recognition was gone and only an animalistic instinct to attack remained, it was the last straw for me. It was like those things were monsters who swallowed my brothers whole.
That scared me. That made me doubt my very survival. My brothers were both as tough as me, and both of ‘em were dead.
It opened my eyes. I shoved it aside for the moment. If I let my mind drift any further off, I might wreck this boat.
Denny’s canal appeared on the right, so I pushed the rudder full forward and turned into it, hitting the gas hard.
When I got to the end of the canal, I let my foot off the throttle and pulled the rudder lever full back, spinning the boat counter-clockwise where it came to rest against a short pier.
I cut the engine and hopped down to tie the boat off. Georgina took off her ear protectors. “My teeth are rattling,” she said.
“Airboat’ll do that,” I said. “You like it?”
She nodded. “I wish it was under different circumstances,” she said. “I’ve never ridden on one before.”
“How long you been in Florida?” I asked.
“I was born here, so I refuse to give you an exact number.”
“All your life woulda done it,” I said, looking at the Jessup house. “Seems Denny would’ve heard me pull up.” I checked my watch. It was 2:45 in the afternoon.
The sound of something slamming against something else broke the sound of wind through sawgrass and mangroves. “Did you hear that?” asked Georgina.
“Yeah, I did.” I searched near the house and saw Denny carryin’ some kind of long gun. I bent over and pulled back the rubber latch of my dry box and pulled out my air horn. “I’d put those back on if I were you,” I said.
After Georgina put her ear protectors back on, I gave it a long press, and the ear-piercing shriek got Denny Jessup’s attention right away.
He started wavin’ his arms in the air like I was really pissin’ him off. I put the air horn down and got out of the boat. Georgina dropped her headset onto the seat and I helped her out, too.
Denny was approachin’ the dock, his gun still in his hand, but the barrel was pointed toward the sky. When he got close enough, he said, “Jesus, CB, you need to keep it down!”
“You got a bunch of those things near you?” I asked.
“You know about ‘em?”
“Hell yeah,” I said. I didn’t have it in me to mention Sally yet. Instead, I said, “I’m glad to see you’re okay. Mind if we head inside, talk for a few?”
“Yep. Don’t see why not. Watch your step,” he said, pointing down. “Got a good crack in that walkway.”
Sally and Denny Jessup ran an airboat tour company, too, but they also put on shows and the like. They didn’t own their own animals, but hired an outside company to provide cockatiels, turtles and other animals, putting on exhibits in their large gazebo. They did a pretty brisk business.
Over the years, we’d worked on each other’s boats, traded parts, and generally helped one another out when we needed somethin’. As I followed Denny to his house, I got the distinct impression there was nothin’ he needed now that I could do a thing to help him with.
“End o’ days,” he mumbled, as he opened the door. “You heard that goddamned Indian started this shit.”
Georgina and I walked past him, and he gave the area outside a quick once-over before closing and locking the door.
“Sit down,” he said, indicating toward some molded, red plastic chairs sitting around a diner-style rectangular table with chrome tube legs, long rusted. He stayed on his feet.
“We can’t stay long, Denny. Just wanted to come over, make sure you were okay.”
“Never worse,” he said.
“It’s understandable,” said Georgina. “My name is Dr. Lake. First name, Georgina.”
> Denny looked between us. “Nice to meet you. What do you know about this thing?”
“Before we get into that,” said Georgina, “there’s something you need to know.”
Denny moved to a one of the chairs, pulled it out and spun it sideways, and sat. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his intense blue eyes focused. “What is it?”
I decided to jump in. “Denny, do you know where Sally is?”
His eyes widened and he leapt to his feet. “She at your store?”
I shook my head, and my expression had to look like death warmed over.
“We were at Lilly’s house,” continued Georgina. “Last night. We got there late yesterday after a harrowing encounter at my place.”
Now she stood, walked over to Denny, and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Denny, Sally was outside of Lilly’s house.”
“She at your place now?” he asked hopefully. “She went out to get some batteries and stuff –”
“Denny, she’s … she’s one of them,” I said, interrupting him. “Those changed things.”
Denny just stared. “That’s not possible. She might’ve just gone to see her sister. She gets the itch sometimes.”
He said the words the way a person busy with a task might impart information to someone asking directions. No attachment to the words; no investment in ‘em at all.
Georgina knelt beside Denny’s chair and put her hand over his. “We know she changed, Denny. We all saw her face, and CB and Lilly know what Sally looks like. They said who it was the second they saw her. It was no mistake.”
Haunted eyes looked at us, the sockets appearing to get deeper and darker with each passing second. Sobs suddenly racked his body, and he slid from the chair onto the linoleum floor, his legs extended out in front of him and his back hunched forward as far as he could bend.
The body-shuddering cries were heart-wrenching, even to someone like me, who’d had his share of real fresh loss. I decided to share it with him. “Denny, Lilly and I lost Clay, Tanner and Pa,” I said. “Yesterday. I had to put both my older brothers down, and Lilly put Pa down. All of ‘em turned into those … well, they’re monsters I guess. They attack you and try to bite you. I saw ‘em … there was this baby, and –”
“And it was horrible,” interrupted Georgina. I was grateful. I get started and I can’t stop sometimes.
Denny stared at us for a long moment, saying nothin’. “Kyle and Jake took off two days ago,” he said. “They was goin’ deer huntin’ up north. I guess with what I seen on the news, that venison might come in handy. Stores are all closed, right?”
“Curfew,” I said. “From dusk ‘til dawn.”
“Oughta make it permanent with those things out there,” said Denny, wipin’ his eyes.
“You okay?” asked Georgina.
“Nope, but I’ll cope until my boys get home. You didn’t happen to see Jax out there on your way in, did ya?”
Jax was Denny’s dog. He was a golden retriever, and he loved the water almost more than anything in the world. When Ma or Lilly would invite the Jessups over for dinner, she’d always let ‘em bring Jax with ‘em. It was inevitable. If we were all inside, and we couldn’t find that dog, all we had to do was go into the bathroom and pull open the shower curtain, and there he’d be, just sittin’ and waitin’ for someone to turn the water on.
My mind went to the dead dogs we’d seen. I didn’t mention it. “Didn’t see him on the way in,” I said. “We’ll keep an eye out. He still like to hang out on that south bank as you head outta here?”
“His favorite spot, but he ain’t been there since all this shit started. Yeah. Just keep an eye out. I might head over to your place.”
I saw Georgina jerk her head toward me, and I caught her eye. She spoke before I could.
“You shouldn’t go there,” she said. “It was … well, overrun. It would be dangerous.”
Denny hefted his gun. “I got this, and I got a shitload of ammo. If I see her, I’ll either bring her home or put her out of her misery.”
I stared at him hard, wonderin’ whether to say what I meant to. In the end, nothin’ else would be fair.
“Denny, she ain’t comin’ back from this. I told you what I did to Clay and Tan, and you know damned well that had there been any other choice, I’d have done anything I could to save ‘em. They were monsters. And I’m sayin’ that about my own blood.”
I didn’t have any idea whether Denny got it or not. In the end, he nodded and said, “Keep an eye out for Jax. I’d appreciate it.”
I worried for him. I supposed it was possible that his boys, Kyle and Jake, were out huntin’ in the middle of the woods somewhere, stayin’ in a rustic cabin. They truly might not know anything about this.
I didn’t give that scenario very good odds, though.
“Why don’t you come over to our shop,” I said. “I got a handheld radio we could leave a note here with it. If your boys show up, they’ll find it, call us to say they’re okay, and come on over.”
Denny looked at me like I was crazy. “Thanks, but no. I’d rather be here if my boys show up. And if you see my Sally again – and she’s like those damned things – you do me a favor and shoot her dead. If you don’t, I will. I can’t have my boys see their mama like that. I saw those freaks on the news. No way. Go on, now.”
I nodded. “We’ll check on you in a day or two. How’s your propane and gasoline supply?”
“Both filled early this week. You need any, you just come on over. I’ll take a trade of some of that gator meat you got. When Kyle and Jake show up, we’ll come over and figure out what we should do next. Could be this shit’ll blow over by then.”
I didn’t have any idea how what we’d seen could blow over at all. I just nodded. “Come on, Georgie.”
We went back outside. As Georgina walked up beside me, she said, “I’m pretty sure he intends to find his wife.”
“Then he might die,” I said. “I ain’t his boss. Denny’s gonna do what he does.”
“We tried,” she said with a sigh.
We reached the boat and I helped her in by steadying her elbow. I uncoiled the dock lines and tossed them in the boat, pushing off.
Something caught my eye in the tall reeds. Just a small part of the tail.
“Shit,” I said. “That’s Jax, right there.”
I got out of the boat and stepped through the grass. I pushed it aside to reveal the dog’s body, lyin’ on its side.
The retriever looked like he was just sleepin’, aside from the maggots swarmin’ around his half-open mouth.
Looking back at Georgina, I said, “It’s his dog.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
I shook my head. “I hate what this means. That black rain must’ve had somethin’ in it that does what it does to people, and just to add insult to injury, it kills our best friends.”
I knew that wasn’t an answer. I stared down at Jax for a long while, then made my way back to the boat and jumped inside. “Denny don’t need this news now.”
As I fired the engine and Georgina put on her ear protectors, she turned her head in time to catch me starin’ at her. Even in this situation, with what we’d both been through, I recognized I’d taken to her. Maybe because of what we’d been through together.
She made me feel about as good as I could in the new, messed-up world around us.
Ω
CHAPTER ELEVEN
My mind stayed on the dogs on the way back. We always had one or two, but now we were in-between, and I was glad. Lilly and I’d suffered enough loss without losin’ a pet on top of it.
I worked my mind, tryin’ to figure out whether I’d seen any live dogs since the black rain. I drew a blank.
As we made our way in and out of the mangroves and other water-borne plants, I saw several gators along the way, and for the most part, the swamp seemed to have returned to its old, wild self.
It gave me a bit of a comfort. Not much else did. I
considered how soon I’d need to get back over to Denny’s place to take him up on the offer of propane and gasoline, and decided it wouldn’t be long. The Rover wasn’t topped off, and we’d need more fuel for the generator, too.
We rounded the final turn, and I leaned forward and slapped the seat behind Georgina. I pointed at the dock line, and she bent forward and picked it up. “Toss it on the boardwalk and I’ll tie us off. Then grab the bowline.”
She did. I slid the boat into the slip and we both did our parts to tie it off. We walked side-by-side back to the office.
“I’m at a loss, Cole,” said Georgina.
“No more than me.”
“I need to get to my daughter.”
I stopped and looked at her. “I know. Keep tryin’ her phone. Textin’ her and stuff. I don’t want you rushin’ off out there. It’s dangerous.”
She nodded. “I can’t ask you, because I don’t know you very well. But if you can’t go with me, you know I have to try to get to her on my own.”
“If this thing is as big as I’m startin’ to think it is, there’ll be nothin’ keepin’ me and Lil here. No idea what Sonya might wanna do. As far as my sister goes, I think I could talk her into goin’ on a run to the Keys. Hell, maybe we could even hole up in Hemingway’s place.”
Despite the situation, Georgina smiled. “I don’t want to wait too long. If you can’t, just tell me. I might need help getting a vehicle, though.”
I knew in my heart I wouldn’t be sendin’ Dr. Georgina Lake off on her own. One way or another, I’d talk Lilly and Sonya into goin’ with us. “C’mon. We’ll know more once we talk to them.”
Ω
It was almost 4:15 by the time we got back to Baxter’s.
“I radioed, why didn’t you answer?” asked Lilly, piss and vinegar in her tone. “I got some voices on the ham,” she said, as we walked in.
“Sorry,” I said. “We were in with Denny for a while, and I didn’t bring the radio in.”
“Next time don’t forget what’s going on out there,” said Lilly. “I need to be able to get hold of you, so I don’t think you’re goddamned dead.”