They came across the Falmouth town line and continued towards their destination.
“Do you smell that?” Mauri asked.
The tank turned left into the Steamship Authority parking lot and came to a stop. Jessie handed Shawn to Mauri and stood up.
“How are we looking boss?” Jessie asked Patrick.
Patrick didn’t answer, he gestured Jessie to the viewing slot. Jessie looked out and thought he was going to be sick. His knees buckled and he grabbed Patrick’s shoulder to steady himself.
“What is it Jessie?” Mauri asked and started to get up.
“Stay right there.” Jessie barked at her.
She sat back down without protest. Jessie didn’t know if it was the look on his face or the gravity he gave those three words, but he was grateful she listened.
He turned back around and made sure what he thought he saw was real.
The lot was two football fields long and just about as wide filled with slanted parking spaces. On the right of the lot was a fence that separated it from the road they had just come from. On the left were small structures that housed charter fishing offices, tourism information and bathrooms. Beyond was the harbor filled with boats for fishing, sailing and pleasure cruising. At the far end of the lot was the Steamship Authority terminal and beyond that the dock for the boat itself.
Trapped between these boundaries were hundreds if not thousands of dead people. Every parking spot was full and cars filled the rows between. Cars were squeezed and slammed into fire lanes, on the grass medians…even between, and in one case inside of, one of the little shops that lead to the big terminal. Between the cars were the people that had driven them there. Everyone and everything had been incinerated. Bodies and cars alike looked like ash statues. There were no fires burning and nothing smoldering. Whatever had happened here had been days ago and now it was a silent dead place. It was impossible to say if these people were infected, or if they were just trying to escape…they were too badly charred to make out gender, never mind their health status.
Jessie climbed up and popped the hatch. The smell almost knocked him over. He turned away from the scene in front of him and nodded to Kenny driving the Jeep.
“Fall back to the Dunkin Donuts.” Jessie said.
“Yes.” Kenny said.
Jessie could see he and Abby had tears in their eyes and it looked like Abby may have been sick. He closed the hatch and climbed back down the ladder.
“Dunkin Donuts, Patrick.” Jessie said and slumped down against the wall next to Mauri.
“The boat wasn’t in the dock.” Patrick said flatly.
“I know.” Jessie said.
“Can I have a donut?” Michael asked.
“Donut!” Shawn repeated.
“I don’t think so pal, they probably aren’t good anymore.” Jessie said and then realized how much that depressed him.
They pulled into Dunkin’s lot and killed the engines. Jessie popped the hatch and climbed on top of the tank. He could still smell burning in the air even though they were a mile and a half back from the waterfront. He slowly looked around and saw no movement. He jumped down and went to the front door. It was unlocked. He went in and looked around. There was still power on, he could tell by the various red buttons on the equipment and the hum of the drink cooler. He checked the back door, the kitchen, the freezer and the bathrooms. Once he was satisfied the place was empty he went to the front door and waved the others in.
Mauri set the kids up at a table and produced some cinnamon and brown sugar frosted Pop Tarts from her backpack and got three still cold chocolate milks from the drink cooler. As they dug in Mauri joined the other adults behind the counter trying to figure out how to get the coffee maker going.
“You should all plug in your cell phones.” she said
“Good call.” Jessie said.
“You think there will be service?” Charlie asked.
“Probably not, but it can’t hurt. Music for the kids at least, and maybe we can find some WIFI.” Abby said.
“You guys go plug in and I’ll try to apply my degree in rocket science and get this coffee brewing.” Mauri said, shaking her head and pressing the “on” switch.
The kids asked for a second round of chocolate milk and Pop Tarts and then began a game of hide and seek behind the counter. The adults sat, not saying much of anything, drinking cups of coffee in rapid succession and taking turns visiting the bathroom. Jessie and Kenny took fifteen cases of bottled water from the back and loaded them into the back of the Jeep, then poured some more coffee and rejoined the group.
As they sat drinking the fourth pot of coffee Jessie suddenly slapped the table with his open palm and they all jumped.
“Fuck, dude.” Kenny said.
“Sorry pal, just had to wake everyone up. We are rested and need to get going.”
“What’s the plan then?” Mauri asked in a fake British accent.
“A volunteer and I need to go see what the deal is down at the dock. We need to find a boat to get us all over to the island and then we need to get the Steamship back over here to get the tank and the Jeep.” Jessie said.
“I’ll go with you.” Charlie said.
“I’ll stand by ya.” Abby said.
“You can count on my steel.” Kenny said raising his hand pretending to hold a sword.
Jessie cracked up.
“You all watch too many movies.”
After a quick debate, it was determined that Charlie and Patrick would join Jessie on the excursion. They put on extra layers of clothes and gloves in case they ran into any Georges. They each took a pistol and an M-16.
“Please be careful. I know we haven’t seen any, but there have to be a few.” Mauri said and kissed Jessie.
“Not in front of the kids” Jessie said smiling. “We’ll be back in two hours. I love you.”
“I love you too.” Mauri said as Jessie walked out the door
Once the three men were in the tank, Jessie took a deep breath and told them what he wanted to do.
“Guys, before we go I want you to know what I’m thinking. It’s awful, but it has to be done.”
“I know what we’re doing,” Patrick said. “But what choice do we have?”
Jessie nodded.
“Well I’m half a retard so you guys want to fill me in over here.” Charlie said.
“Jessie wants to use the tank to make a path through the burned up parking lot.” Patrick said
Charlie looked at Jessie not believing. Jessie nodded.
“That’s fucking sick, man. We can’t do that.” Charlie protested.
“We have to Charlie. We have living people to worry about. Those poor people are dead. It’s very sad, but they aren’t going to feel a thing.” Jessie said.
“But they were people.” Charlie said quietly.
“I know little brother, but Jessie is right, they’re dead, and we didn’t kill them. I’d rather not do this myself, but we have to get the vehicles on the dock.” Patrick said.
Charlie stood motionless for a long time switching his gaze from Jessie to his brother and back. Finally he nodded and went to the controls. Patrick put his hand on Charlie’s shoulder as he prepped the tank to depart.
They kept the hatch shut and tried not to look out the slats. Charlie found the radio and was blasting something by The White Stripes that happened to be in the player. Between the tank and the music they didn’t hear much. The going was a lot smoother than Jessie expected it to be. The burnt people came apart like tissue paper and the cars crumbled underneath the tank’s weight. They rolled forward and backward the length of the lot twice and the job was done. Patrick drove the tank through the locked gate that led to the dock. There were more dead bodies on the side and behind the building, but these weren’t burned, they were shot. Jessie counted seven in total.
“What the hell happened here?” Patrick asked.
“Look!” Jessie said pointing out the slat towards the harbor.
&nbs
p; A hundred yards or so a giant boat was floating out in the middle of the harbor. The big building had hidden it from view.
“That’s great!” Charlie said as the giant boat crashed into a tiny sail boat tied to a buoy.
“How did it get out there?” Jessie asked.
“Someone untied it, maybe tried to get it running and didn’t know how?” Patrick said.
“Someone may still be on it.” Jessie said. “We have to get to it and see if it’s still working.”
Jessie looked at the other boats docked nearby. He saw a small sailboat with two paddles.
“I’ll take the boat and go get it. You two cover me.” Jessie said.
“These aren’t sniper rifles brother, you would be out of range half way there.” Patrick said.
“I’ll go with him.” Charlie said. “I know you…can’t.”
“Don’t start that shit.” Patrick said.
“He can’t swim.” Charlie said smiling.
Jessie rowed as Charlie held the M-16. The harbor was silent except for the sloshing of the ores. If it weren’t for the smell of charred people, it would have been a pleasant evening in Jessie’s estimation. They had less than an hour of sunlight to get the boat back to dock, and get back to Dunkin.
They came up on the rear of the boat and Jessie grabbed the hanging rope that was supposed to tie it to the dock. He tied the rope to the mast and they climbed up the side of the ship. Jessie went first and pulled his pistol as soon as his feet were on the deck.
“You stay there, I’ll clear the boat.” He whispered to Charlie.
Charlie nodded and sat back down.
The name of the boat was the “Island Home.” It was painted in person size letters on the ship’s ass. Later, Jessie would find out it was almost three hundred feet long, two levels tall and had the capacity to hold seventy plus cars and twelve hundred people. He was hoping to find zero people.
As he walked checking his corners, it was apparent right away that the car port was empty and there was no one in sight. He went up the stairs to the sitting area and found no one. The pilothouse was empty, as were the bathrooms. Once he was confident the boat was empty he went to Charlie.
“I think we are good. Go get Patrick.” Jessie said.
“Here.” Charlie said and tossed the M16 up to Jessie. “Just in case.”
Jessie nodded and turned back to the ship.
Charlie took just under a decade to row back to the dock to pick up Patrick. As soon as he was back within earshot the brotherly insults were flying.
“Denzel rowed faster than you, and he was shot in the belly.” Patrick said chuckling.
‘Har har” Charlie said. “You can row us back fuckstick.”
“You better believe it. I want to beat the New Year.” Patrick laughed.
“Beep Beep, Ritchie.” Charlie said.
They got back to the Island Home much quicker with Patrick rowing and climbed aboard. Patrick went first. Charlie threw him the guns and followed. They found Jessie in the pilothouse trying to make heads or tails of the instruments.
“Don’t worry city boy, we’ve got this.” Charlie said.
They moved the boat with a deft touch. Within twenty minutes they had the boat turned around and backed into the dock like they were lifelong sailors. Charlie steered and Patrick assisted him verbally. Once they were in position Patrick and Jessie went down and tied the boat to the dock. They all met back in the café area.
“We need gas. It’s a little under half full.” Charlie said.
“Will half get us to the island?” Patrick asked.
“Sure. There and back twice I reckon.” Charlie said.
“Then we worry about it later.” Jessie said. “It’s getting dark. I want to be on the boat floating out in the ocean ASAP.”
The three men went to the nose of the boat and found the controls that operated the car bridge. They lowered it into place and walked off the ship. They were about to get into the tank when they heard a noise coming towards them.
“What the hell is that?” Charlie asked.
At first Jessie thought it was fire crackers, but as the noise came closer he recognized it for what it was gun shots.
“That’s an automatic.” Patrick said and started running toward the building for cover.
Charlie kicked in the back door of the Steamship Authority building and they ran to the front windows guns ready. They could hear gun shots, an engine and squealing tires.
“We should get in the tank.” Patrick said.
“Yup.” Jessie agreed.
Before they could get moving a vehicle turned the corner into the lot. It was the Jeep.
“Blue fucking hell.” Patrick hissed.
The jeep drove fifteen yards into the lot and slammed on the brakes. Two figures popped up from the passenger seat and pointed machine guns over the back of the truck. A small white hatchback turned the corner into the lot and almost crashed into the rear of the truck. It tried to reverse but the two figures in the Jeep with the machines guns opened up spraying the car hood to roof.
Jessie bolted out the front door in a dead run towards the Jeep. From the building, he could not tell who was driving the jeep, or who was firing. He hoped to hell it was his people and not someone that stole the Jeep and guns from Mauri and the rest of them at Dunkin.
”Charlie, get in the fucking tank” Jessie said, and ran out the door.
Fifty yards away he recognized the driver as Abby and the two shooters as Mauri and Kenny.
Abby spotted Jessie as he ran.
“Jessie. We got them!” Abby said.
Jessie ran past the jeep towards the white hatchback gun raised. He didn’t see any movement. He smashed the driver side window with the butt of his gun and swung the muzzle around. No movement. He smashed the rear window, no movement. He looked in the front seats. There were two men, each holding an Uzi and each shot several times in the head and chest. They were wearing what guys in Boston would have called homeboy doo-rags with bullet proof vests over black hooded sweatshirts.
Jessie turned back to the Jeep.
“What the hell happened? Where are the kids?” Jessie asked.
“The kids are in the foot well up front under a blanket.” Kenny said.
“Those fuckers killed Jessica and Dana.” Mauri said.
“What?” Jessie asked in disbelief.
“They were at the Jeep and we heard them say they were gonna come back and take it. They had to go get their iron.” Kenny said
“So we packed it up and were coming down here when they came up on us in that 1988 POS and started shooting.” Mauri said. “Dana and Jessica were in the back. When they started firing from the car, I looked back and they were gone, lying on the side of the road a few yards back.”
“I got the guns as Abby drove and we knew this lot was a bottle neck.” Kenny said.
“You should have let them take the Jeep and stayed hidden. We can’t take risks like that.” Jessie said.
“Fuck that!” Mauri said angrily. “We have all worked too goddamn hard to let some shit heads steal our stuff and leave us with nothing. All the water and gas and most of the guns were in there.”
“And we all don’t fit in the tank.” Kenny added.
“It was still dangerous and our friends are dead.” Jessie said.
“Yeah, and what if they got in the Jeep and saw the guns and decided to take target practice on the Dunkin not even knowing we were in there. Then what?” Mauri said.
“Alright.” Jessie said. “What’s done is done. Let’s get everyone on the boat and get the hell out of here.”
“No, enough with your passive aggressive approval bullshit. We did what was right and we are alive. You could at least acknowledge that.” Mauri said.
Kenny took this as his cue to go help Abby with the kids. Mauri stood her ground with an M16 across her chest and her face twisted with anger.
“OK, I’m sorry, you guys did the right thing. It’s good that we sti
ll have the Jeep. I just don’t want anything to happen to you.” Jessie said softening his tone.
“I understand that, but you have to understand that I am as capable as you at making decisions, we are not sheep.” Mauri said.
“I know that and I know you can take care of yourself. I just worry.” Jessie said.
“Well, knock it off.” Mauri said ending the conversation by walking to the front of the Jeep.
Fifteen minutes later, they had the Jeep and the tank on the boat, and were on their way out of the harbor.
Chapter 20 - Sisters
Jessica woke up to a deep throbbing pain in her arm and in her head. For a time she didn’t know where she was. Then she thought she was in the cowboy’s bed waking up from the most horrible dream she had ever had. Then she felt the rock under her and a blinding pain when she tried to move her left arm. The pain brought her all the way back. She was lying on the side of the road covered in dirt and leaves and blood. There was a bullet lodged in her right forearm and another in her right bicep. The second bullet had spun her off balance in the Jeep’s bed and sent her crashing to the ground below. She had landed on the grass, thank God, but her head still struck the ground hard enough to knock her unconscious. She looked at her ruined arm and then back up at the clear sky. Where the fuck were the others? Had they not bothered to stop and see if she was still alive? Not even her own sister? She thought about calling for help, but she didn’t know how long she had been out, and she didn’t know if there were any creatures around. She rolled off her back onto her left arm, folded her legs under her and struggled into a sitting position. Every inch of movement made the pain in her arm shoot bolts right up to the top of her head. She looked around and saw no one. She heard no one. Those sons of bitches, she thought. Then she had a second thought. What if those assholes in the white car had killed them? She felt bad right away for assuming she had been abandoned. She used her left hand to get from sitting to her knees, and then into a wobbly standing position. She stood still waiting for the waves of nausea to pass. What she would give for her stash of Perkcs right now. She looked at the spot where she had been lying and was shocked at the amount of blood that had pooled. She heard a rustling sound behind her and turned too quickly. Behind her some fifty yards away was a single shambling zombie. She couldn’t make out the features, but it was clearly a walker. She only glimpsed it for a second before the tears filled her eyes and her knees buckled under her. The magnificent pain from spinning around so carelessly sent her back into the gray. When she opened her eyes again the creature was five short yards away. It was coming toward her at a snail’s pace, but coming none the less. She once again rolled onto her left arm and gained a sitting position. She got to her feet and backed away from the creature. Her adrenaline was pumping and the pain seemed a little further away. She turned in the direction the others would have gone and started walking. She looked over her shoulder often and saw the creature falling further and further behind with each step. The last time she turned she saw two more creatures very far in the distance. …So much for Cape Cod not being infected.
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