Convergence: The Zombie War Chronicles - Vol. 2

by Damon Novak

  “Sleep on what?”

  “Let it go for now, CB,” said Lilly.

  “I agree,” said Roxy. “He’s been through an ordeal.”

  I stood up and arched my back, workin’ out the kinks. “Yeah, probably for the best. But you and I are gonna have a talk tomorrow, okay? Man talk. Just you and me.”

  “I still qualify for man talk,” said Terry, smilin’ at me.

  His smile was kinda infectious. I found myself smilin’, too. “Fair enough,” I said. “Just the three of us, then.”

  Ω

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The weather was grindin’ on my nerves. What was worse, I couldn’t see shit with my eyes, and had to rely on the GPS map to guide myself toward the southern tip of Florida.

  The track line said we’d made it about halfway. That depressed me, because I felt like I’d been drivin’ that boat for a full day. I checked my watch, keepin’ one eye on my depth gauge.

  It was only 11:45 AM. Hell, it felt like closer to 3:00.

  I was down to about 18 miles an hour, and at that rate, it’d take me another three hours at best to get to the marina in Marco Island, on the Gulf Coast.

  I knew that marina pretty well, ‘cause me and my childhood best friend, Danny Williams, used to go out on his dad’s center console out of there, and fish for anything that was bitin’.

  I admit, it was more about pickin’ up chicks than fishin’. Danny, a handsome black dude who’s about six-foot-four inches tall and all muscle, could buy beer from the time he was sixteen. I think it was just because nobody had the balls to ask him for his ID.

  By the time another hour had passed, the wind died down, and I started to see blue skies north of us. That was good; I was grindin’ my jaws together and grippin’ that wheel like I was on a roller coaster.

  “Easing up out there it looks like,” said Georgie, sittin’ down in the curved couch just behind me. Nokosi was right behind her, and she plopped down on the floor at her feet. She’d really taken to Georgina Lake after Sonya was killed. She was real good with everyone else, but she followed Georgie like she was her owner.

  “That coffee?” I asked. I knew it was, but I was lookin’ for an offer.

  “It is, would you like a cup?” asked Georgie.

  Worked like a charm. “Oh, yeah. Where’s Roxy and Terry at?”

  I knew Lilly was takin’ a nap. So was Liam, who had to be wiped out.

  “They’re out on the stern. They zipped the enclosure up, so it’s dry out there.”

  “They’re not gonna need it in about twenty minutes or so. You’re right. The weather’s almost past us.”

  “God, that’s a relief,” she said. “I’m sure it is for you.”

  “How does Roxy seem?” I asked. “I don’t know her, so ….”

  “Really good, actually. I was afraid she’d be traumatized. Terry’s funny. I think he kept her sane with his jokes.”

  “Priceless,” I said. “Sometimes laughin’ at the absurd situation you’re in is what keeps you from goin’ nuts.”

  “Is the plan still to head to Kansas?” she asked.

  I thought about it for a few seconds before answerin’. It seemed foolish, even to me, to follow a classic rock DJ across the country.

  “Georgie, if we hadn’t seen the video he was talkin’ about, I’d really be strugglin’ with the idea. But that rain was fallin’ behind Wattana, and he clearly set up his camera and stuff before it started. You were asleep, I guess, but the black rain didn’t go on all that long. Maybe twenty minutes. He’d have had to know it was comin’ ahead of time to get everything in place.”

  “I didn’t consider that,” she said. “But it doesn’t tell us anything about Micky Rode.”

  “I judged your character pretty well. And you judged mine. What do you think of him, based on what we’ve heard?”

  She got up and went to the Keurig coffee maker, and I heard her lift the lid up and pop in one of the little plastic pods. A second later I heard it heatin’ the water. “He sounds clear-headed to me, but even Charles Manson could sound sane when he wanted to.”

  “Nah, he couldn’t.”

  She laughed. “Okay, bad example. Let’s use Ted Bundy.”

  I whistled. “Yeah, now I agree. Slick son-of-a-bitch. So, you think Rode’s a serial killer?”

  “I’m not saying that,” she said. “Just that we have no way of checking his backstory. Had you ever heard of him before all this?”

  “I listen to country, mostly,” I said. “I coulda passed his station a dozen times, maybe only caught a snippet.”

  The coffee maker started sputterin’, and I heard the beautiful sound of coffee pissin’ into a ceramic cup.

  “You never know,” she said. “We might get to Marco and find the police or the National Guard is back in control.”

  “I, for one, will cling to that hope. We’ll know in a few hours if I don’t get us stuck on a sand bar.”

  I smiled as she scooped sugar into my coffee without asking and stirred it. Not sure why the thought of her rememberin’ how I liked my coffee made me happy, but it did. Georgie handed me the cup as she said, “If you do get us stranded out here, we have those water scooters you grabbed. They’re in back. We could get to shore that way.”

  I took the cup she held out and turned to look at her. “You know how freaked out I was when Liam was in the water? I just kept thinkin’ about those gators, wonderin’ what else was swimmin’ around out there changed. Bull sharks were on my mind, for sure.”

  Georgina visibly shuddered. “Too much to worry about. At least my daughter’s off that list. I don’t even know how to thank you for that. She’s so skinny.”

  “I was gonna say,” I said. “Thought she might be anorexic.”

  “No, no. I’d guess she lost ten pounds or more in that house. Maybe fifteen. I need to fatten her back up.”

  “Where’s your ex? Is Doctor Richard Lake her dad?”

  “Yes, and the alimony checks have been coming from an address in Orlando, so I assume he’s there. Believe me, I’m not giving him a thought.”

  “Good,” I said. “That’s on the other side of the state. Is Roxy givin’ him a thought?”

  Now she was quiet again. “Shit. Now I feel selfish. She didn’t ask about him, but he’s got to be on her mind. She was still mad at him for what he did to me, but that doesn’t negate the fact that he’s her father.”

  I was still reelin’ from the fact she’d said ‘shit’. I hadn’t heard her cuss since I met her. She stood.

  “Leavin’ so soon?” I asked.

  “This won’t wait,” she said. “I should talk to her about it. I didn’t ask, but she might have been texting him, too.”

  “But he didn’t go rescue her.”

  “Maybe he’s on his way there now. Or dead. I’ll talk to you in a little while.”

  “Good luck,” I said.

  Ω

  Lilly kept me company over the next couple hours. She said Liam was still sleepin’, and Georgie was havin’ a conversation with Roxy.

  “Georgina asked Terry if he wouldn’t mind giving them some privacy,” said Lilly. “Roxy told her it was fine if he stayed. She said Terry knew all about her parents and what they’d gone through.”

  “Yeah, he cheated on her,” I said. “Can you believe that?”

  “Doctors have big egos,” said Lilly. “I dated a couple boys who planned to become doctors. They were already well on their way to thinking they were God’s gift to women.”

  “And?”

  “One of them was a master with his tongue.”

  “Jeez, Lilly! I hope you’re talkin’ about what an orator he was.”

  Lilly smiled, and I saw it go away as quickly as it came. I knew she was glad I was still around, but it would be a long time before she got over her dead brothers and father. Just like me.

  “Land!” said Lilly, jumpin’ to her feet.

  “Yeah!” I yelled. “Fuel gauge is still good, but I can’
t tell you how good it feels to see that!”

  “What’s the plan? Docking in Marco?”

  “It depends, right? We need to scope it out. Georgina said maybe the cops or the Guard’s got it back under control.”

  “In a day?” asked Lilly. “Doubtful.”

  “Fuck, it’s only been a damned day since we left there? Why does time move like molasses in this mess?”

  Lilly stood beside me, her arm over my shoulder. “CB, you don’t know how I’ve hoped I’d wake up. Find out this is all just the weirdest dream ever.”

  “I nodded off a couple times, drivin’,” I said. “I’m not tired, so I don’t even know why. But yeah, I was hopin’ the same thing. Damned if every time I opened my eyes, I was still drivin’ somebody else’s McYacht.”

  “McYacht?”

  “Well, it ain’t quite a yacht, is it? Kinda short.”

  “How long to get there?”

  Pushing the throttle forward, the Sea Ray’s bow lifted up. I trimmed the motors and it came back down. Now we were glidin’ over the water, doin’ the twenty-eight miles per hour I’d planned on. Smooth as silk.

  “Probably about an hour,” I said. “Now that I can run at a decent speed.”

  “Don’t fall asleep,” she said. She started to walk away, but stopped. She plopped down on the seat behind me. “On second thought, I’ll stay with you.”

  “Like I said, where else you gonna go on a McYacht?”

  “Stop it, CB, or I’ll McSlap you.”

  Ω

  By the time the mainland of Florida was on our starboard side, I’d moved back up to the flybridge, and everyone else was up there, too. Even Liam.

  “Can you cruise close to the shore?” asked Terry. “Maybe we can see something. Get an idea if things are bad.”

  I pointed. “See all that black smoke? That means fires are burnin’ and nobody’s tryin’ to put ‘em out. You can tell when they start hittin’ it with water, ‘cause it turns white.”

  “Not a good sign,” said Roxy.

  “Not at all,” said Georgie.

  “But to answer your question, the marked channels are deep, but on the Gulf side of the state, you really have to watch, ‘cause the water gets real shallow pretty far from shore.”

  “That sucks,” said Terry.

  “You and I agree. Remember the song It’s Five o’clock Somewhere? Alan Jackson said, ‘keep it between the navigational beacons.’ That’s what he was talkin’ about. Red-Right-Return. We’ll be lookin’ for the green markers to be on the left, and the red on the right, which means return to harbor.”

  “For someone who mostly drives airboats in the Everglades, you know your nautical law,” said Georgina.

  “It was the time out with Danny taught me that,” I said. “He could thread a needle with a boat. This thing would be like child’s play for him.”

  I wondered where my friend was now. I hadn’t heard from him since this whole mess started. We’d been best friends since forever, and although life sometimes caused us to go longer than we’d like without talkin’, our friendship was still strong. I hoped he was alive, out there somewhere really givin’ it to the rotters.

  I didn’t have that much hope, but I didn’t have my phone, either, so he’d have no way of gettin’ hold of me. I shoved it to the back of my mind. I had people to keep safe.

  We continued north, with me about a mile offshore. In some cases we were seein’ flames, but mostly it was smoke. I hoped like hell the marina wasn’t either of two things: outta gas, or on fire. Both would be bad.

  I didn’t know yet whether we’d need to keep the boat or grab another vehicle or two on shore. I figured it might be good to talk it out.

  “Lil, you wanna drive a bit?”

  “Sure,” she said.

  I got out of the seat and stretched my legs, then arched my back, hands on my hips. “Damn. Stiff,” I grunted.

  “Tension will do that,” said Georgina. I went over and sat down beside her on the couch. Roxy and Terry were on the same side, heads craned toward the shore, and Liam was on the other side, apparently uninterested in watching the shore.

  Somehow, through it all, Nokosi slept, long, deep snores breakin’ any silence we might allow.

  “Lil, be lookin’ for channel markers headin’ in toward Marco. I got no idea what the numbers are.”

  “There’s the Cape Marco building right there,” she said. “Marina’s just past that, right?”

  I moved up and looked. “Where’s the binoculars?”

  “Right here,” said Liam. He had ‘em around his neck. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay, man. You can have ‘em back when I’m done.” I looked out ahead of us. “Yeah, Lil. About half a mile more. Go real slow once you get in the channel. I don’t see any other boats on the water, which is weird. You’d think that would be a popular way out of the state.”

  “Unless nobody’s leaving,” said Roxy. “Maybe the government did get things under control.”

  I cleared my throat. “Fires. Burnin’ outta control. Y’all hear any sirens?”

  Everyone stopped and listened. The boat motor might’ve drowned out faint noises, but I didn’t hear anything.

  “We’ll be observers until we know it’s safe,” said Georgie. “Right, Cole?”

  “Until I don’t wanna watch anymore,” I said. “Might be a good time to say your prayers, if you believe in that sort of thing.”

  The red-headed boy put his hands together and started recitin’ the Lord’s Prayer.

  Guess his family was Irish Catholic.

  Ω

  We were about a hundred yards from the mouth of the harbor when I said, “Pull back, Lil. Coast to a stop. I think I wanna anchor for a bit before we go in. Just eyeball stuff, get the lay of the land, so-to-speak.”

  “Anyone hungry?” asked Georgina.

  “What we got?” I asked.

  “Well, I’m guessing whoever owns this boat has a penchant for two things. Smoked oysters and pork-n-beans.”

  “I’ll have a can of beans,” I said. “And my apologies up front.”

  “CB,” moaned Lilly. “Eat the oysters.”

  “Nope. That’d just come out the same hole it went into. Beans, please.”

  “Who else wants beans?” she asked.

  Liam, Roxy, and I raised our hands.

  “So, oysters for everyone else? They have Saltines.”

  Everyone started headin’ down but me and Lilly. “Go on and get ‘em hot,” I called. “We’ll anchor and come down in a few minutes.”

  Ω

  We got a little closer than we planned, just so we could see the shore clearly without the binoculars. When we were sure the anchor was set, we headed down to eat.

  When I was about halfway through my bowl of beans, which tasted like a gourmet meal for some reason, Roxy asked, “So what’s the plan?”

  Easier question to ask than answer.

  I shrugged. “Y’all already know we planned to head to Lebanon, Kansas. I say we just keep movin’ in that direction until somethin’ happens to change that.”

  “I’ll feel better if we keep picking up broadcasts,” said Lilly. “That’ll at least let us know what he’s put in motion is still happening.”

  “I know, and believe me when I tell you, I’m questioning everything,” I said. “I’m not blindly followin’ the guy, but have you heard anything else comin’ across the radio?”

  Everyone shook their heads.

  “Yep. So now we’re close enough to shore and whatever cell towers might be workin’, call anyone you know and see if you can reach anyone. Who’s still got workin’ cell phones?”

  “I charged mine,” said Roxy. “So did Terry.”

  “Terry, you got any friends over this way?”

  “Some in Fort Myers,” he said. “I texted everyone when we were at the Hemingway house. Nobody answered.”

  We were all quiet for a few moments, lettin’ that sink in. I parted the curtains and looke
d out at the distant fires burnin’. “I’m assumin’ your friends are reliable answerers of texts?”

  “Oh, yes. I text, they text back. Maybe some lost their phones, but nobody’s answering.”

  “Hold on to that hope,” said Georgina. “Lilly, are those two-way radios on board?”

  Lilly’s head bobbed. “Yeah, they were in one of the ammo bags. On top.”

  “I’m assuming we’re not all leaving the boat,” said Georgina. “Whoever goes should take one of the radios. So whoever’s here knows what’s going on.”

  “I’m goin’,” I said. “Call me a caveman if you want, but I’m puttin’ gender equality on hold. Just in case any of y’all had different ideas.”

  Terry held up his hands, palms out. “I’m chill. Rox and I can stay here and monitor both radios.”

  I nodded. “Good. Lil, you wanna come with? We may need shootin’ skills out there.”

  “That was my plan all along,” said Lilly. “Did you try Danny? Textin’ him?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t text, Lil. Plus, Tan didn’t have Danny’s number in his phone, and I rely on technology, so I don’t remember it.”

  “Oh, shit,” said Lil. “I might still have it.”

  My eyebrows went sky high. “Why would you have it?”

  She fiddled with her phone and looked up at me with a sly smile. “We dated a little while. You know we both went to college in Miami. Plus, we went out on his dad’s boat a few times.”

  I looked at her. “His dad’s boat ain’t in Miami.”

  “Okay, so we dated longer than a little while.”

  I shook my head and laughed. “And y’all didn’t tell me because?”

  “I thought you’d be jealous,” she said. “Me stealing your boyfriend.”

  Shakin’ my head, I said, “He never said anything, either. It never went anywhere?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Not yet?”

  “Our last date was two weeks before all this started. I tried calling him from our shop a few times. Never texted him, though. Didn’t think it would go through.”