by James Harden
Once we were in the cabin we all collapsed on floor. I finally felt like I could breathe a little, I felt like we weren’t about to get blown up or torn to shreds by machine gun fire. We were lying there for what seemed like hours. I could've slept there all night I was that exhausted. But we knew we had to keep moving.
After we caught our breaths we raided the kitchen and found a whole bunch of energy bars and protein bars. Whoever’s boat we were on must have been a health nut. In the dining area were some photos on the wall. Most of them were of an older man. He looked like he was in good shape for a man of his age. He had dark tanned skin, silver hair and gold chains around his neck. Standing next to the old guy was a younger woman. She had long black hair and in all the photos she was wearing the world’s smallest bikini.
Jack stared at the woman in the bikini and whistled his approval. Maria, who was standing right next to Jack, smacked him in the back of the head. It was such a silly, normal thing to do I couldn’t help but laugh. And at that moment it made me feel just a little better about our current situation.
After we ate some food and regained some of our energy we all came together around the dinner table. We started to discuss our options for survival.
"So, what do we do now?" Maria asked.
It was a daunting question. We had barely survived the initial attack and we were still stuck in the middle of the city. We were surrounded by the military and if what we heard on the walkie talkie was accurate, there was an entire horde of hostiles or zombies or whatever coming this way.
"We need to head west to the less populated areas." Kenji said.
"But to get out west we’ll need to get through the outer suburbs," Kim said. "I would not recommend going out there. Not after everything I saw last week. It would be complete anarchy by now."
"What if we head to the mountains, get above the snow line?" I asked. "You heard the Doctor. The infected people freeze. It’s the only way to contain them."
"There’s not a lot of snow this time of year," Maria informed me.
"Yeah and besides the mountains are way south of here. And we’ll still have to go through a lot of suburban territory to get there," Kim reminded.
"But we’re in the middle of the city." I said "No matter what direction we go, we’re going to pass through a lot of suburbs. There’s no avoiding it."
"Unless we head east," Jack offered
"East is the ocean," Kim replied.
"Exactly. We could head east in this boat. It looks sturdy. Definitely big enough for ocean travel."
Kenji shook his head. "The navy would see us on their radar a mile away."
"OK, well what if we took something smaller," Jack said. "Not to take out on the open sea but just to get out past Sydney heads and then we could stick close to the shore and travel up the coast or something."
Kenji thought this one over like it could be an option. "It could work but there are still a couple of aircraft carriers situated out there. One is anchored in the actual harbor and the other one is probably off the coast somewhere. There are probably a couple of destroyers as well."
"And even If we get by them and then make it out to the open sea, if the weather turns bad we’d be done for in a small boat." Kim said.
Jack’s idea was getting shot down. But I think it still had some merit. "What if, instead of heading east out to sea we head inland," I suggested. "We take one of the smaller boats and head west as far as we can go. That way we can bypass the suburbs and get out to the less populated areas."
"The only problem is if someone spots us we’d be trapped. It’s a perfect situation for an ambush. We’d be sitting ducks, target practice," Kenji pointed out.
"So maybe we don’t take a boat," Maria said. "We could swim with the tide. It’s the middle of summer so hypothermia won’t be an issue. We wait till it gets dark and we swim out west. We pack enough food with us and we just go for it. Surely, they won’t be expecting that."
It sounded crazy but maybe Maria was right. Maybe it was crazy enough that no one would expect it. And even though I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the prospect of more swimming it was probably our best chance to get out of the city alive.
Chapter 23
I was chewing on a stale protein bar and feeling cautiously optimistic about our plan. I was staring out at the water and slowly coming to terms with the fact that I would have to dive right back in and basically swim a marathon.
Maria was staring at the water as well. "Do you think they’ll be looking for us?"
"Who?"
"The bad guys. The guys with the guns."
"I don’t know. But remember what the Colonel said back in the morgue? It sounded like the military were evacuating, like they were on the back foot. He mentioned something about a containment failure. I think whatever their dealing with, the virus or whatever, is taking up all their resources at the moment. What do you think, Kenji?"
I was eager to get his thoughts on the matter since he would have the best idea of how the military would act and what their next move would be. But Kenji was still struggling.
"I don’t know what to think anymore," he said flatly. "But we need to get out of the city. The military’s only concern right now is to contain the virus. And you saw the lengths they’ll go to do that. I personally think they’ve completely lost control. I’m starting to think it’s too late."
I wanted to ask him too late for what? Did he mean the virus was going to take over and kill everyone or did he mean the military was going to start using nuclear weapons? Either way, it was bad news for us. I decided to put those thoughts out of my head. I’d go crazy if I kept thinking about it.
I was just about to start on my third energy bar when we heard a rumbling noise. At first I wasn't sure what it was. It wasn’t a jet. The noise was lower, deeper, causing the boat to vibrate. And it was getting closer.
"It’s an Apache." Kenji said.
We suddenly realized that all the blinds and curtains were wide open in the cabin. We ran and dived underneath the windows.
"Oh God, do you think they saw us?" Jack asked.
Kenji shook his head. "They would’ve fired if they saw us."
We still couldn’t see the chopper but we could definitely hear it. It must have been hovering directly over us.
Maria had pressed herself flat into the carpet and Kim was next to her. Maria was squeezing Kim’s hand.
"So what now?" I asked.
"Just don’t move," Kenji whispered.
I think that was the last thing any of us would do at that point. I couldn’t move even if I wanted to. I was frozen with fear. The chopper continued to hover over the catamaran, waiting and watching. Had it seen us? Or was it just searching the area?
It was tempting to try and sneak a peek so I could at least see what the hell it was doing but then it started to move closer, moving around the boat. The windows shook with the vibrations caused by the rotor blades. I put my hands over my ears and shut my eyes. If it was going to do anything, if it had seen us, if it was going to kill us, it would be now.
I held my breath and counted to ten.
"Get ready to run," Kenji said with a surprisingly calm and steady voice.
"What? Are you serious?"
"If it opens fire with the machine, get to the other side of the boat and dive into the water, use the other boats in the harbor as cover. Move quickly but stay as low as possible."
Kenji’s training was kicking in.
"What if they open fire with missiles or rockets or something?" Jack asked.
"Then we’re dead. Simple as that."
I was still holding my breath as I prepared myself to run. I was visualizing in my head, how I was going to do it. I’d crouch-run to the other side, bullets would be tearing into the cabin all around us but they wouldn’t hit us. Then I’d execute a perfect swan dive off the side of the boat and swim underneath the rest of the super yachts in the harbor, using them as cover. What could possibly go wrong?
"On the count of three we go," Kenji announced.
"Wait! I thought you said only if they start shooting?"
"Change of plans. I don’t want to be here when they start blazing away."
I saw his point.
Kenji started his count. Jack started swearing.
"One."
The chopper circled again but sounded like it was moving further away.
"Two."
I wanted to ask Kenji if we go right on ‘three’ or if we go after ‘three’. But Kenji stopped counting. The chopper had moved even further away.
"What’s happening?" Jack asked. "Are we going or what?"
"Hold on." Kenji said.
The sound of the helicopter blades began to fade. The windows stopped vibrating.
"It’s leaving."
I was so relieved I started to laugh, we all started to laugh. It was a weird reaction but I guess we were just happy we were still alive.
As soon as it was clear, Kenji was up and closing as many blinds as he could. Unfortunately there weren’t very many. We were still exposed.
"It’s not safe here in the open like this," Kim said.
A feeling of paranoia began to sink in. It felt like we were being watched.
"Why would they search these boats?" Jack asked as he moved around the cabin, looking out each window. "Why would they search this one so thoroughly?"
"Maybe they saw us?" Maria said.
"Wouldn’t surprise me. They’ve probably got snipers all through the city," Kenji said, putting us even more on edge. "On the roof of one of these buildings. Perfect spot. That’s where I’d be."
"OK, that’s it. Where getting out of here," Kim announced. "Pack up as much food as possible."
I was about to protest because I needed more time to recover and I thought we should at least wait until night time before we made our escape.
But I didn’t get the chance.
Jack and Kenji saw it first. It was a jet flying at break neck speed. Its razor sharp nose was pointed right at us.
Chapter 24
For a nanosecond we were all frozen, paralyzed with fear.
Kenji grabbed me by the shoulders and started pushing me out the door. "Everyone out! Get into the water. Dive as low as you can go!"
In these moments where decisions had to be made in an instant, Kenji seemed to be the only one capable of acting. The rest of us were hopeless. But for him it was like the life or death situation simplified matters for him. Stay on the boat and die for certain or dive into the water and at least have a chance of surviving.
The Jet screamed towards us. At one point it looked like it was going to crash into all the super yachts and the cruisers docked in the harbor but then it banked sharply to the right and pulled up into a steep climb. As it began its ascent to the heavens we could clearly see two missiles launched from each wing. They accelerated towards us at frightening speed.
We scrambled across the deck and jumped overboard, diving head first into the water. I swam and swam as deep as I could, until I thought my head and my eyeballs would burst from the pressure. Above I could hear the all too familiar sound of explosions and destruction. When I heard that noise and when I felt the power of the warheads, I swam harder. Finally, I couldn’t hold my breath, my lungs were screaming at me again for oxygen. I had to come up for air.
I broke the surface of the water gasping and choking. I was splashing around with heavy arms. One of the guys yelled out, I think it was Kenji, telling us to swim for the foot bridge. I didn’t even know where that was. I couldn’t really see anything because my vision was blurred from the salt water and from lack of oxygen. I was seeing stars and black spots and bright spots.
Someone grabbed me. It was Jack. Again. He dragged me in the right direction. We swam underneath the footbridge which gave us pretty good coverage from above, from circling choppers, or prying snipers. It wouldn't do anything if they decided to fire a couple more missiles at us, but at least they couldn’t see us.
Once more it was Kenji who was able to think clearly amongst the chaos. "I think our best option is to get to high ground. And in the city, high ground means getting inside a building to one of the upper floors."
"But isn’t that dangerous?" Kim asked as she wiped her hair out of her face. "Isn’t that like in horror movies how the dumb girl getting chased by the crazy killer with the giant knife always runs up the stairs."
"It’s a risk we have to take. We have to get out of the water. We have to hide somewhere. High ground is easier to defend."
Kenji made a good point and even though I kind of agreed with Kim we were fast running out of options.
We waited for the jet to make another pass but it never came. We slowly swam towards the closest jetty making sure we kept directly below the walkway. We arrived at the jetty and waited another five minutes before deciding that now was good as ever.
As soon as we were out of the water we sprinted as fast as we could. I didn’t dare look over my shoulder. It felt like the Apaches and the jets with their missiles were right behind us. It felt like they were hovering over our shoulders, just waiting to unleash their hellish weapons, just making us run a bit further until our lungs burned and out and our legs gave out, just to make us feel a bit more pain until they put us out of our misery.
It didn’t take long for our sprint to turn into a slow jog. I felt so weak. I was dehydrated, dizzy and disorientated. I didn't really know where I was running to. I’d only ever been to this part of the city once or twice before. I was really just following Kim and Jack and Maria. Kenji and I had no idea where to go. We were blindly following them.
I was again struggling to keep up but not by much. I was a lot faster on land than I was in the water. But all the swimming and the diving and the cheating of death had completely worn me out. All my limbs were heavy. My arms and legs felt like lead, almost too heavy to move. Even my eyelids felt heavy. I couldn’t believe it, my eyelids, no more than an ultra thin layer of skin, felt heavy. I made a promise to myself then and there to get fitter and faster and stronger, to work out more, join a gym, and go running on the beach more. If I ever got a chance.
But as bad as I was doing and as much as I was struggling, Kenji was actually lagging behind me. Maybe he was lagging behind on purpose, to bring up the rear, to make sure we were safe from any pursuers. But he appeared to be doing even worse than I was. Maybe it was because he was wearing big, army boots that were now soaking wet.
We had been running uphill when suddenly the road dipped. I picked up speed and nearly tripped over myself. We started running downhill, passed limousines and shiny sports cars and massive luxury cars.
Kim yelled something over her shoulder but I couldn’t hear her over my own ragged breathing.
"It’s the casino!" she yelled again. "It’s right there."
"Do you think it will be safe?" Maria asked.
Kenji suddenly sprinted passed me. I guess he was doing better than I thought. He told us to stop. "Press yourselves flat against the wall, crouch down."
We did as he said.
Kenji was breathing hard. He could barely talk properly. "Where.... Where's the casino?"
Kim pointed down the road about two hundred meters away. "It’s right there. It should be deserted. I heard on the dispatch the other night that it was shut down due to a brawl. Apparently there was an attempted robbery by some looters."
"There’ll probably be more food and water inside," Jack said.
"God I need food. Real food, not just stupid protein bars," Maria said.
Kenji took a few more deep breaths. "What do you think, Kim?"
"It’s as good as any other place. Plus it should have views of the harbor and the city," she answered.
"All right, let’s do it. I don’t want to spend a minute longer out here in the open. Unless anyone has a better idea?"
We all shook our heads.
Kenji stood and waved us forward. "Stay behind me."
Chapter 25
We approached the Casino slowly. We were out of breath and soaking wet but we were optimistic. If this place was deserted, and if we could get inside, it could be the perfect hiding spot.
Out the front in the drop off area were rows of abandoned cars. There were Ferraris and stretch limos. All of them shiny, some of them unlocked. We came to a stop in the entryway, near the valet parking area and crouched behind a bright pink Rolls Royce.
Kenji held his index finger up to his lips urging us to be quiet. "Kim and I will check the doors to see if they're open. You guys stay here."
Kim gave him a look like she was saying, really? You want me to go with you?
"Be careful," Maria whispered.
The entrance to the casino appeared to be locked. The automatic doors were shut and unless they were somehow still working, I couldn't see how we'd be able to get inside without breaking the glass. On the other side of the doors were a large set of stairs that spiraled up and around a water feature
"The stairs probably lead up to the gaming floor," Kenji said. "Let’s go."
Kim nodded her head in agreement.
As Kim and Kenji made their way to the automatic doors of the entrance, my leg began to cramp up. I leant against the Rolls Royce for support.
"Be careful," Jack said. "Don’t want to set off the alarm."
I took my hands off the car immediately and reminded myself to be more careful. I hadn’t even considered the car might have an alarm system. A noise as loud as a car alarm would’ve attracted all kinds of attention. Not that there seemed to be many people around.
"Hey, where do you think everyone is?" I asked.
Maria shook her head. "Maybe everyone in the city was evacuated in time?"
"Yeah or maybe they’re all dead," Jack said.
"Please don’t say things like that."
As I stretched my leg out carefully, making sure I didn’t cramp up again, I heard something that sounded like a truck approaching from back down the street.
"Now what?" Maria said.
Jack moved over to one of the limos parked near the road to see if he could get a better look.