16:00 PM
General Malloy needed to alert the President but had no way to contact the outside world, their transmitters were down and the government was blocking all civilian transmissions leaving Southern Florida. Damnit, he cursed, he’d have to think of a way. He crawled up the exit ramp and could smell fresh air at last, he caught a glimpse of daylight flickered off a broken windshield of a jeep; a concrete block had crashed through the windshield and cut the two occupants in half.
He gazed in disbelief as more rats poured down into the parking lot, where had they all come from, he wondered? Although he remembered reading somewhere that, you’re never more than fifteen foot from a rat. He shuddered and watched them make for the nearest corpse, presumably drawn to the squeals of their companions. The general squeezed between a jeep and a perpendicular slab of concrete, he squashed himself flat and went underneath the jeep to bypass the slab, when a rat ran across his arm. He flicked it off in utter shock. The rat sat on his haunches hissing at him. He thought for a moment that it might attack, but it turned and joined its colleagues, chomping on the already dead body.
He breathed a sigh of relief and chided himself for being frightened of a rat, with one last push he was out from under the jeep, stood upright and limped up the exit ramp and out into the fresh air. “Yes!” he roared triumphantly. “I’m back!”
His joy was short lived as he glanced around and took in the devastation. It looked like Hiroshima, with the gray cloud hovering above where the hotel once stood and every surface covered in a thick layer of dust. His eyes fell upon the immense pile of debris that had once been the magnificent tower, with the smoldering aircraft protruding from the bottom of the heap. “I’m going to get you for this,” he cursed under his breath.
20:05 PM
“Duuude, I am so sorry . . .,” Jake said, beside himself with shame.
“Forget it man,” Luke said, waving him away trying to ease Jake’s conscience.
The gang crowded around and he drew his plan in the dirt on the quayside. “It’ll be getting dark soon, and we need the cover of darkness to help in our escape,” he gazed around the crowd, who were looking to him to be their leader, not a role he relished, but he seemed to take to the position with ease. “OK, do we all know what we’re doing?” the others nodded, “We’ll take four speedboats head due north, and hang in one pack, because if we are being watched on radar we’ll look like one boat. If they should send a launch to apprehend us, we’ll let them get close then split into four directions.” Luke smiled. “They can only chase one of us, so hopefully at least some of us will get through.”
“Sounds like a plan,” said the man in the Kiss T shirt and raised his hand for a high five, Luke slapped it reluctantly not wanting to leave the guy hanging but still not forgetting that he’d been willing to sell him out.
“Come on, let’s get going,” he said with hope in his heart for the first time in a long while. Luke climbed down the wooden ladder, and balanced precariously on a gleaming black Kawasaki speedboat. The water lapped gently against the pilings, as he helped Sophie down into his boat. “You’re not going to trust them again, surely?” she queried, as she stood alongside him at the controls. She watched Jake clamber down into a cherry-red speedboat next to them.
“No fucking way,” he said shocking her with his outburst, “But I’m thinking safety in numbers.”
“You think they’ll still try to catch us?”
He fired up the engine and it throbbed throatily and heard the other three speedboats do the same. “Yep.”
He made a circle above his head and pointed out to sea. The four speedboats shot forward, Sophie almost lost her grip as the boat sped away. She clung on for dear life as spray covered her face and she felt refreshed in the evening’s relentless heat.
CHAPTER 29
20:30 PM
“There’s movement, Commander,” said the seaman staffing the radar, aboard the USS Thomas Jefferson, an aircraft carrier moored twenty knots from Florida’s east coast, near to Miami.
Commander Roscoe looked over his shoulder. “Where are they?” He asked.
“Miami beach, Commander.”
“How big?” the commander asked.
“Small, Commander. One vessel, a speedboat, I would guess, judging by its acceleration.”
“Will they never learn?” The commander sighed. The USS Thomas Jefferson’s task was to protect the lower east coast. “Send a launch to intercept. Shoot to kill.” He commanded as casually as ordering his eggs over easy.
20:55 PM
The quartet of speedboats hugged the Florida coastline as they hurried northwards. Luke was almost at full throttle making the boat take off now and then, as they hit the larger waves. Luke allowed himself a smile and thought the plan might actually work, when Sophie tugged on his sleeve and pointed behind them, he saw a searchlight mounted on a naval launch cutting across the ocean was almost upon them.
Luke opened the throttle to maximum and roared forward between the others and pointed behind them. The drivers nodded and split off in three different directions, while Luke took the direct route north, as they had previously agreed that Sophie’s mission to escape was the most imperative.
In the launch the sailors whooped and cheered, glad to have some action finally. Man, this was the real thing, thought Seaman Matthers at the helm, no messing around, wasting their time catching the odd immigrant, treating them with kid-gloves as they went through the system, then slipping away never to be seen again. The immigration system sucked, that was for sure. What was the point of the navy catching them, if the courts were going to let them slip through the net? The odd one in a hundred they made an example of, got shipped back home only to hop on the next boat back.
They were fighting a losing battle, he knew that the Navy and Coast Guard between them were only catching about one percent and for most of them to disappear into thin air. In addition, the war on drugs was even more hopeless, he thought. Still, the plague had changed everything. He heard from the other patrol officers that the order’s were ‘shoot to kill’, he’d thought they were bullshitting until he heard it with his own ears.
This was going to be the first time he’d engaged with the enemy. They’d practiced repeatedly for this day and finally tonight he would do battle, show his mettle and knew they could count on him to do his duty. He was totally prepared to kill fellow Americans, having had it drummed into him, that they were dying and carrying an incurable disease, then he would have no qualms. In fact, he would be doing them a favor by all accounts, he’d had it on good authority that the carriers died a horrific death and he thought a quick dispatch with his rifle had to be better than the slow lingering agony that awaited the Black Death victims.
The searchlight picked out the cherry-red speedboat and they locked onto it. Matthers opened up the throttle and reduced the gap between them. Seaman Weston mounting the machine-gun had Jake firmly in his sights; Matthers nodded his assent to open fire. Weston aimed and fired off a volley, as Jake’s speedboat hit a wave and he soared into the air, ensuring most of the shots missed their target.
Jake nearly choked when he saw three bullet holes appear in his bow, he swung the steering wheel hard down, spun the speedboat 180 degrees and the momentum almost threw him over the side. He zigzagged towards the vessel, giving them no chance to take another shot and then he was behind them. He breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled pleased with himself and hoped he had gone some way in redeeming himself with Luke for drawing the enemy away. He chanced a look over his shoulder and was surprised to see that they had not given chase. Puzzled he slowed, turned a large arc, and sped after them.
“There!” screamed Matthers, thrusting his chin out in the rough direction. “Point the Goddamn light over there!” They hit another wave and he lost the speedboat to the darkness, he maneuvered the craft in the general direction, while Seaman Chen roamed the searchlight ahead, they finally picked out the yellow speedboat, only to lose it again, as i
t weaved from side-to-side trying to evade capture. When it was finally in the sights, the searchlight locked on following the speedboat’s twists and turns. Matthers smirked and shortened the distance to make sure of a certain kill.
“That’s not it,” said Chen confused.
“What do you mean?” said Matthers. “Course it is.”
“This speedboat’s yellow, the other one was red.” Chen told him.
“He’s right,” agreed the machine-gunner. “It was red. There must be more than one speedboat. Shall we call it in for re-enforcements?”
“I think we can deal with two boats, don’t you?” Matthers said. “Take this fucker out, then we’ll find the red one, it ain’t gonna be far away.”
They closed on the yellow speedboat driven by the guy in the Kiss T shirt, who did his best to avoid them, but they had the faster, superior vessel, Matthers nodded to the gunner who fired off three short bursts, each hit the fleeing speedboat. One of the bullets made contact with the engine, and the speedboat spluttered, then ground to a halt.
The guy in the Kiss T shirt held up his hands and smiled weakly, the machine-gunner lined up for the kill shot, when Matthers tapped him on the shoulder, “Me first.”
The gunner reluctantly relinquished the weapon to his superior. The two boats rocked on the water and were in danger of bashing into each other.
The guy in the Kiss T shirt squinted against the harsh searchlight pointed at his face, and could only make out the silhouettes of the men aboard the naval vessel, “OK, you’ve got me,” he smiled. “Take me to you leader,” he joked badly, and cracked a smile, when Matthers fired, riddling him with bullets from top to bottom.
21:15 PM
Luke cut the power and listened. He heard and saw the gunfire not so far away from them. Sophie bit her lip as the Kiss guy’s knees bent, and then he toppled head-first into the ocean. Luke brought his craft gently up alongside Jake’s. “Follow me, I’ve got an idea.” Jake nodded, Luke opened up the throttle throwing them back, and Jake did likewise. The woman in the white speedboat, saw them and followed suit.
On the patrol boat the sailors high fived and whooped. “That was gross!” laughed Matthers. “Did you see the way his guts spilled out? Right where’s the next one?” with blood lust in their veins they were determined to find the next target. Chen weaved the searchlight over the ocean and caught a flash of white. “There!” he yelled pointing ahead. Matthers pulled hard down on the wheel, opened the throttle and the trio leaned into the curve as the boat powered after their target. Machine-gunner Weston let out a whoop like a banshee and raked his machine-gun side to side randomly at the horizon.
They shortened the distance between them and the fleeing speedboats, as their more powerful craft jumped the waves with ease. Chen shone the searchlight ahead amazed to see the tight-knit group of three speedboats fleeing northward as the searchlight beam lit them up, when the white speedboat peeled off left and the red one right each taking a different direction.
Matthers locked onto the woman in the white speedboat, and gained on it easily. The skinny woman in the white speedboat looked over her shoulder aghast to see the naval boat had targeted her and closed the gap between them. She opened the throttle to maximum, and bounced across the waves, zigzagging in a futile attempt to lose them, she spun the wheel in desperation, but in her inexperience hit a wave sideways, the impact of the wave broadsided her, almost stopped her dead in her tracks as if she had hit a brick wall. The power of the wave practically threw her overboard.
She regained her composure, when the engine stalled. She turned the key, but it spluttered and failed to start. “Oh, come on,” she begged urgently. She wriggled the key again. The circle of the searchlight beam got larger she knew was doomed.
“Oh Christ!” she heard the rumble of the naval launch pulling alongside her. She turned reluctantly and raised her hands slowly. “Please, don’t shoot me, I’m not contaminated, I swear.” She burst into tears and sobbed heartily.
“We’re not going to shoot you,” Matthers said calmly in a soothing voice, he moved to the front of the rig.
“You’re – you’re not?” she asked nervously.
“We wanted to give you this,” the voice said. She saw the silhouette of a sailor leaning towards her and offering her a gift. She took the object and he forcefully enclosed his hands around hers. “No peeping, now, don’t spoil the surprise,” he said, as he made a signal with his arm and the naval vessel sped away.
She was shocked yet grateful to be alive, unable to believe they hadn’t shot her. When she thought they were far enough away she looked down at the object in her hand and her eyes opened in horror as her brain had half a second to register that it was a hand-grenade, moments before it exploded, shattering her body instantly and scattering the fragments of her remains into the night sky.
Jake spun a huge arc, caught up with Luke and sat behind him, riding shotgun, bouncing across their wake as they raced to the shoreline.
“Where are we going?” Sophie asked Luke as they headed straight for the beach.
“The Intracoastal Waterway,” he told her. “It’s an inland river, which runs parallel with the ocean. It links with canals and rivers, all the way up to Canada.”
I know it,” she said. “But won’t they be able to follow?”
“Yeah, but I kinda hoped to lose them in amongst the canals. We’re sitting targets out here on the ocean." He peered at the horizon and made out the entrance to the river amongst the multitude of unlit hotels on the beachfront. He headed into the river at full speed, and took a hard right, making he and Sophie tilt with the momentum. Jake almost missed the bend and had to lose power to avoid smashing into the embankment. He turned the wheel and cursed his loss of distance. He opened the engines and roared after Luke.
“We need to hide,” Luke told Sophie.
“What about over there amongst those other boats?”
He cut the throttle and steered to where half a dozen speedboats rocked against a jetty. He turned the engine off and ducked. He peeked over the side and saw Jake had copied him on the opposite side of the river.
Moments later the naval launch hurtled past with the searchlight swinging right and left. Matthers’ blood pumped fast, adrenalin raced through his veins, as he relished the hunt, but then he cut the power. “Goddamnit!” he cursed, “They’ve got away.”
“They outrun us?” queried Chen.
“Not a chance. Not me. No way. They must be hiding.” He turned a large arc and they slowly retraced their path. The naval launch bobbed gently at walking speed as Chen shone the searchlight onto the boats and footpath, but there were no signs of movement.
Sophie held her breath as the sailors chugged alongside. “Can’t we make a run for it?” she whispered urgently.
“Not an option, they’ll cut us down with the machine-gun.” He ducked back down as the searchlight headed in their direction.
Chen detected a movement on the embankment and shone the beam on it. The machine-gunner fired three short bursts at the movement, until he realized it was a pair of rats running along.
In the black speedboat, Sophie had to cover her mouth as the bullets ripped above her head. A few birds squawked their alarm, after that all they could hear was the echo of the gunfire, before utter stillness. She knew that the navy patrol was still close by and had not left the scene.
“There they are . . .,” Matthers whispered quietly in hushed tones.
“I don’t seem ‘em?” machine-gunner Weston said.
“Look at the exhaust port. It’s still dripping. That speedboat has been in use in the last few minutes. Take ‘em out,” he ordered firmly.
Sophie fired up the engines. “What are you doing?”Luke asked incredulously.
“We have nothing to lose,” she said. He shrugged as if to say ‘why not?’ She turned the wheel and aimed straight at the naval launch. The black speedboat rapidly built up momentum as it propelled towards its target. “Give them a tast
e of their own medicine.”
“Kill the bastard sonofabitch,” Luke agreed. He squeezed her hand, and looked at her sadly, “You know, if we’d met -”
“I know,” she smiled.
“Holy shit!” Matthers gasped and took evasive action to avoid a head-on collision, the wash from the passing speedboat almost over-turned them. The sailors gripped on tight to stop themselves falling into the water. “That does it!” Matthers thundered. “Get those darkie fuckers,” he said through gritted teeth. He pulled the launch around to follow, and the searchlight picked them out. He grinned cruelly, opened up the throttle, the engines jerked them back, and the power raised the bow from the water, with a flash of red Jake cut in front of them.
Once again, the navy launch swerved to avoid a collision. “We’re the US navy and these deranged carriers are making fools of us,” Matthers cursed.
“I thought they’re meant to be dying?” said Chan.
“They’ll be dead soon enough,” he said determinedly.
Further down the river Luke dropped Sophie off at the water’s edge. He pointed the speedboat back the way they had come, quickly tied the throttle on, and as it leapt into power he bailed over the side and swam to the edge, where Sophie helped him out.
The speedboat hurtled back down the river. “Go, go,” Sophie urged it onwards, desperately hoping that it would meet its target. She bit her lip and watched as the naval launch rounded the bend in the river. The searchlight caught the moving speedboat and locked on, but within moments the speedboat crashed into a powerboat moored against a private jetty and both vessels exploded, sending thick black clouds of smoke into the night.
The navy launch slowed, and went as close as it dared, circling the burning wrecks. “Did you see ‘em?” Matthers asked.
The Doomsday Infection Page 19