SALT: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller

by Colin F. Barnes

  “You want to go, do you, Jim?” Graves said. “All het up and want to throw a few fists?”

  “Fuck you, Graves. Fuck you and all your family.”

  “Language, Jim, let’s keep this civil; people are sleeping.”

  “Frank’s not going anywhere,” Jim said, placing his hand on the knife handle.

  “You forgetting our deal in your old age?”

  Whispering, Jim replied, “I told you last night, it’s done; she can’t be… sent. Frank stays.”

  Graves stroked his chin and watched as Frank stirred in his bunk, and then he turned to Susan Faust’s cell. “We can work something out where none of us sheds any blood today.”

  It was a full minute before he spoke again, and by that time Duncan had come round and got to his feet. He looked groggy but okay. He rubbed at his chin. Squinting, he focused on Tyson and stepped forward.

  “Dunc, wait,” Jim said.

  Tyson spun round and brought his fists up, but Duncan stepped back, waiting.

  “Chill, Ty, everyone just chill.”

  Both Tyson and Duncan stepped back, eyeing each other, but they waited.

  Marcus stepped closer to Jim and dropped his voice. “You want Faust gone, but not like before, I get it. I’ll do you a deal. You get off my case and let Frank go without me taking him by force, and I’ll arrange for Faust to be dealt with as you please. You can’t say fairer than that, Jim.” Marcus moved back to give Jim room. “Well?”

  Faust was quiet on her bunk, but Jim sensed she wasn’t sleeping. She was probably analysing everything that was going on, but she wouldn’t have heard the last exchange. He wondered if he could actually do away with her with his own hands. Although he was never a violent man, this place had a way of twisting people, especially when the weight of their survival rested on a single man’s shoulders.

  “We’re imperfect,” Jim said. “All of us. We’re not who we’re supposed to be.”

  “What?” Graves said.

  “Never mind.” Jim sighed, deciding he’d just get this over and done with. “Look, I’m too tired to argue any longer. Take Frank and deliver on your promise; otherwise I’ll come for you, Graves, is that clear? I’ll come for you and your family.”

  Marcus held out his hand. Jim shook it, crushing the others’ grip.

  Marcus just smiled.

  Jim let go, reached for his keys, but they weren’t in his breast pocket.

  “My keys… I don’t know…”

  “Got them here,” Duncan said. “I found them earlier; it was why I was coming down this way… until these turned up, that is.”

  Duncan inched past Tyson and handed Jim the set of keys. “Dad, you don’t have to do this.”

  “It’s for the best.” Jim took the keys and unlocked the cell door. Frank had sat up and was smiling, an expression of smug self-satisfaction. “Come on,” Jim beckoned. “Get the hell out of my cell.”

  Frank dusted himself off and left the cell, embracing Marcus and Tyson.

  “Well, that wasn’t so hard, was it, Jim?” Marcus said. “I’ll be in touch about my favour to you later. But trust me, it’ll be done.”

  “Going so soon?” Susan Faust said, standing with her back against the rear wall of the cell, shrouding herself in shadows. “I’ll miss all this sparkling conversation.”

  Jim ignored her and addressed Marcus. “Now get off my ship. You’ve got what you want.”

  “That I do, Jim, that I do. And yes, we’ll be on our merry way. But before I do, I promised Eva I’d ask after Danny. How’s he doing?”

  “He’s doing fine,” Duncan said. “Where’s Eva? You’ve been to see her?”

  “She’s with me. She’s in good spirits. Must be my charming personality. Never fails to cheer everyone up. Well, gents, I’ll bid you all a good fucking day. I’ve got business to handle.”

  “So long, Jim, thanks for the hospitality,” Frank said.

  “Go fuck yourself, Frank,” Jim said, as he watched the three of them leave. Duncan stood aside, watching Tyson closely. When they left, he turned to Jim, but Jim already held up his hand. “I don’t want to hear a word about all this, okay? I’ve got bigger issues to deal with. Did you find Stanic last night?”

  “Yeah. Reckons he’s found a way to fix the desalinators. Should be done within a few days.”

  “Good.”

  “Well, if that’s all?” Duncan said.

  Jim nodded, but didn’t look at his son. The thought that he had lied to him last night about Eva still jabbed at him. He and Duncan had always been so close, the best of friends and allies, but something along the way had happened. The way of all people, Jim thought. Even family.

  Duncan left, not saying a word. Jim thought about saying something, calling him back, but hesitated, and then it was too late.

  “Well, just you and me, Captain,” Faust said. “Why don’t you come inside and keep me company, eh? I’ve seen the way you look at me. I bet you even watch me when I sleep, don’t you? You want to fuck me, don’t you, Captain?”

  Jim thought about taking his knife and dealing with her there and then, but the crew were already moving about the ship. It wouldn’t take a genius to work out what had happened, and even though they were “his” crew, he couldn’t trust anyone any more, not even his own son.

  Still, he stepped closer to the cell. “What is it you actually want, Susan? I mean, all this act aside, deep down, what is it you want?”

  She brushed her wild hair from her face and bit on her finger as she thought, thrusting her lip out and pouting as though she were a schoolgirl. “For starters, to see you fall. I want to watch you hit rock bottom. I want to see you beg for forgiveness. Then”—Faust stepped closer, gripping the bars—“I want to see you burn for your lies.”

  Jim’s hand shook by his side. He could just reach out, grab her by the neck, choke the life from her. He took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. “People like you have no value to humanity. You want nothing but destruction.”

  “And you don’t, Captain? I can see your struggle. I can see how hard it is for you to resist destroying me. It’s man’s way, is it not? Destroy things you don’t understand. How long is it since you’ve been with a woman? Why don’t you come inside, experience the little death?”

  “If there is a hell,” Jim said, “we’ll both be there. You want to see us all burn? You’ll be right there with us. There is no rapture for you. Or any of us.”

  “I guess we’ll both find out, won’t we, Captain?”

  “Perhaps sooner than you think.”

  Chapter 17

  Eva winced as she leant over the table to grab another file from the cache of documents.

  “Here,” Catherine said, “let me help.”

  “It’s fine. I can reach it.”

  “Look, I know our reputation, and I know what you think of us. But I’m trying to help you here. Genuinely, I’ve got no grudge against you. I don’t understand your hostility.”

  Eva had to admit Catherine had a point, although she couldn’t extend that to all of Graves’ business doings. He’d been blackmailing, threatening and claiming possession of the flotilla for the last year and a half. Just because he was playing nice now didn’t make him what they’d call a “stand-up guy”. But Catherine certainly had done nothing towards Eva to warrant her hostility. She’d give her that.

  “I’m sorry. This is weird, me being here, working with you and Shaley.”

  “I can’t say I’m thrilled about it either,” Shaley said. “But we’ve got a common goal, so might as well make the best of a bad situation, right?”

  “Fair enough,” Eva said. “Can you pass me that file, please?”

  Catherine, sitting to Eva’s right, reached over and handed Eva the file. “What have yo
u found out?”

  “Nothing much yet. Just snippets from Mike’s and the first volunteer’s notes. Just trying to piece together what this could be about. Perhaps see if there’s anything that can help decode the text.”

  “You know, this is probably about the bacterium,” Catherine said, pouring another cup of tea.

  “Governments are always fucking with that kind of thing, aren’t they?” Shaley added. He was sat on the starboard side of the yacht, lounging with his legs up on one of the settees.

  “You’re suggesting it’s manmade?”

  “Could be,” Catherine said. “I heard Mike’s in a bad way with an advanced form of it. Who knows what he found out there? Could be that the government is behind it.”

  “The government are gone with the rest of the world. No one has heard from anyone of any authority since the drowning. It doesn’t make sense.”

  “Well,” Shaley said, sitting up and leaning forward, his elbows on his knees. “It’s got to be some big secret, some conspiracy, ain’t it? Otherwise, what would be worth killing for? It seems to me that this killer is either trying to cover something up, whatever is written about in those documents, or he’s trying to use the information for his own good.”

  “Yeah,” Catherine added, “think about it. There’s nothing left, right? We’ve been on the radios since the damned apocalypse, and who have we found? A few survivors here and there. If there’s nothing else out there, why would someone on this flotilla be so interested in these documents?”

  Eva felt like there could be something in that. It did make sense. What was there to gain from top-secret documents now that this flotilla was all that there was? It wouldn’t matter either way. Even if the infection was manmade and part of some government conspiracy, so what? It wasn’t as if it would change anything now.

  “I don’t know. There’s something else going on here. But either way, we won’t know that until we decode this stuff, and I’m making no headway. I sometimes think I’ve identified words, maybe similar ones throughout the text, but they don’t match any kind of sentence structure. I think without that USB drive we’ll never know.”

  “What do Mike’s notes say?” Catherine asked, pointing to the scraps of notebook paper among the files.

  “Not much, just talking about the first survivor and his experiences of tracking the files down to a safe in a yacht. Beyond that, there’s nothing else. Hopefully, Dr Singh can help him and we’ll be able to question him directly. I’m sure he must know more than what he has written down here.”

  “There’s also the engineer guy who left first,” Shaley said. “No one seems to remember his name. But if we ask around, perhaps someone will remember him and give us a new clue or direction.”

  “That’s possible,” Eva said, but doubted it. It was a long time ago, and many people on the flotilla had died since then. Two years of post-drowning living was much more difficult to recall than regular life, with almost a daily struggle to keep things going. “One thing that would be interesting to find out: why both he and Mike wanted to leave the flotilla after finding this stuff. There’s something we’re not seeing. And that doesn’t sit well with me.”

  Shaley stretched out and shrugged. “We could probably just wait until the killer turns up and ask them.”

  “Yeah, no,” Eva said. “I’m not going to wait to be killed. That fucker’s going to pay for what they’ve done, and I’d rather find them before they come after us.”

  Eva realised at that point that the killer probably knew who she was and where she was. After all, she was there with Ade when he attacked. He must know, too, where the files were being held. Probably all the more reason to stay with Graves, she thought. Strength in numbers. Also, by staying away from Duncan and Danny, it meant they were unlikely to be put in harm’s way unnecessarily.

  “Look who’s back,” Catherine said, smiling and moving toward the steps that led onto the main deck.

  Oh, great, Eva thought. Frank. As if she wasn’t feeling awkward enough.

  Marcus, Tyson and Frank came below deck and quickly filled up the yacht’s lounge area. Shaley stood and shook Frank’s hand. “Glad to have you back, you old crazy bastard.”

  “How’s the wife?” Frank said. “Where is she?”

  “She’s fine,” Shaley said. “Over in your boat. You wanna pay a conjugal visit?”

  “Nah, poor woman’s suffered enough,” Frank said as everyone laughed.

  Eva, to her horror, found that a smile almost approached her lips. God, she thought, these bastards are rubbing off on me. She would have to watch for that. She’d have to remind herself these were not in any way good people, even if they were helpful right at this moment.

  “Eva,” Frank said with a nod. “How’s the ribs? I heard the news about you and Ade. Terrible business that.”

  “I’ll live,” Eva said, and then added for gratitude, “It’s easier with Marcus’s kind hospitality.”

  “Well,” Marcus said, stepping into the middle of the lounge, “aren’t we all a happy little family. Now that all this nasty business is dealt with, I guess we ought to turn our attention to the bastard who’s being a bit naughty in our manor. Where are we with the files, love? Any progress?”

  He looked at Eva expectantly.

  She hated when he called her “love”. She didn’t care if it was his idea of affection or politeness, his voice grated on her. Still, in the spirit of cooperation and a shared goal, she let it slide. “Not a huge lot of progress. The encryption is definitely of a good standard, and Mike’s notes aren’t complete or all that helpful beyond what we already know.”

  “There’s something that might help things,” Frank said, passing Eva a key.

  “What’s this?”

  “A key, love,” Marcus said.

  “Funny guy. I mean, what’s it to, and why is it important?”

  Frank sat down at the table and leaned his elbows on the surface. “Well, the chap who blackmailed me to have a little go at Jim gave me that key as payment. It’s a key to one of the flotilla’s storage units. The one where a lot of the tinned food, seed, and water stocks are kept.”

  Eva shook her head. “You stole precious reserves from the flotilla?”

  “Hey now,” Frank said, holding his palms up. “I didn’t do no such thing. We might not be whiter than white, but we ain’t stupid. We wouldn’t steal food from our people. We’ve got our own luxuries anyway, which you’re benefiting from right now.”

  “Easy, Frank,” Marcus said. “She’s doing her job, aren’t you, love?”

  Eva looked at Marcus right in his eyes. “You call me love one more time and it won’t just be Tyson who’ll have bruised balls for a week. My name’s Eva, use it.”

  Catherine smirked. The others went silent, expectant.

  Eva thought she might have let her temper take her too far. But Marcus grinned and let out a belly laugh. “You’re precious, Eva, I’ll give you that. And fair enough, let’s all be civil, on both sides, right?”

  “Right,” she said, returning his smile, unable to decide if hers was genuine or mocking.

  “So anyway,” Frank said, “the key is a copy made from sheet metal. Who do we know who uses sheet metal and has the tools and equipment to make such an intricate copy?”

  “Someone in engineering,” Eva said. “We already guessed that, but this only adds to that theory.”

  “We’ll need a manifest of everyone who’s taken shifts there in the last couple of years,” Marcus said. “And who do we know who has such a document?”

  “Jim’s got it,” Eva said, “and if anyone is going to get it, it’ll be me. I know you guys have issues. He’s under a lot of strain at the moment. Let me handle it.”

  Marcus sucked in his breath and thought for a moment. “That might be best. Be
sides, I’ve other… things to do. Okay, we’ll keep the documents in my safe here. Shal, Ty, you mind staying behind and guarding it with Caff here?”

  “I ain’t going nowhere either,” Frank said. “The nutter will probably do me in for not taking Jim out.”

  “Bring the wife over,” Marcus added. “We’ve got room if we squeeze together.” He eyed Eva when he said that, and her skin crawled at the thought. That was her cue to leave the yacht. Before seeing Jim, she wanted to pay Mike a visit.

  When she’d eased her way out onto the deck, Marcus followed her up and shut the door behind him.

  “Hey, Eva, wait up.”

  “What is it?”

  “I’m not happy about you just wandering around on your own. It’s not safe for a—”

  “A woman? Were you really going to say a woman?”

  “Ha ha, no, of course not, I was going to say an injured woman.”

  “It’s sweet of you, but I think I’ll be fine. This guy doesn’t seem to take unnecessary risks.” She looked around and pointed to the flotilla citizens around them, busy with their various tasks. Kids were running between boats while their parents were tightening ropes and making condensation boxes for manual desalination.

  Whenever the wind dropped and the sun shone, it brought everyone out.

  “Let me send one of the boys with you at least, just to make sure.”

  Eva cocked her head, analysing this weird man in front of her. Clearly he was the biggest, sleaziest perp among all the survivors, yet here he was again, being all charming and caring. She couldn’t help but wonder what was in it for him.

  “I’m fine,” she said.

  He shrugged. “You can’t say I didn’t offer.”

  “Nope, and I appreciate it, but if I don’t move about, this wound will just keep me laid up for ages. Better to walk it off.”