I thought about what this meant for our little community. Even though we had the floating gardens set up, they weren’t really a permanent solution to our need for fresh fruit and vegetables. They would eventually rot and sink to the bottom of the harbour. And as David so often pointed out, our own boats wouldn’t last forever either. At some point, the engines would break and we wouldn’t be able to find replacement parts, the fuel would run out, the sails would split for the final time, the decks would crack, the hulls perish and because of the drifters, if the infected were still around when this happened, we’d never be able to find somewhere safe on land, not in the Abacos.
In other words, if we were still here when our boats finally gave out, we’d be doomed.
I pondered this for the rest of the morning and well into the afternoon. As I did so, I felt a realisation growing slowly inside of me that what I’d come to view as home could only ever be temporary; it couldn’t last forever. I was still thinking about it when Jon reminded me I’d promised him we’d take the rib out for a test run. Maybe this was why I didn’t realise straight away that something wasn’t quite right.
We left the Hope Town anchorage at six, Jon, Andrew and me. There were a couple of hours before sunset and that was more than enough time to give the rib a thorough workout. We wouldn’t be going far or for long so we didn’t take the rifle. I couldn’t foresee a need for it, but I grabbed one of the hand-held radios and clipped it to my belt just in case. After an hour, I was satisfied the engine was working fine so I told Andrew to turn the boat back towards Hope Town.
We were just east of Lubbers, a small island off the southern end of Elbow Cay, when I noticed Andrew kept having to increase the throttle to stay up on the plane. A few minutes later, the rib lurched unexpectedly and the hull started ploughing through the water rather than skimming across it. As it did so, a wave of water washed along the deckboards and across our feet.
‘Where the hell did that come from?’ Jon sounded confused. The rib was still moving slowly, but it was rapidly filling with water. I didn’t worry too much as the inflatable pontoons would stop us from sinking, but it was still a concern.
Andrew angled the rib towards Elbow Cay.
‘We’ll be okay. Just keep away from the shore.’ Andrew didn’t seem to hear to me so I tried again. ‘Andrew, keep away from the shore. Andrew, are you listening to me? Andrew?’
Finally he looked round. ‘If this thing goes down, I don’t want to end up in the water, not out here.’
‘Don’t worry. The pontoons will keep us afloat, just keep away from the shore.’ Jon was trying to reassure him when the deck suddenly disappeared from under us. Somehow the rigid hull had come away from the pontoons and, with no buoyancy of its own, it sank like a stone taking the engine with it. As I dropped into the water, I felt the radio slip from my belt. I lunged after it but it was too late and it sank from sight. I turned to the others. Jon was holding onto both Andrew and the pontoons. As I grabbed on, I felt them softening beneath my hands as the air leaked out. My first thought was that they’d ruptured when the hull separated, but I’d never heard of a rib undergoing quite such a catastrophic failure before. I didn’t have time to dwell on what had gone wrong. The priority was to work out what we were going to do. It was less than an hour till sunset and we no longer had a radio to call for help. By the time anyone realised something was wrong it would be starting to get dark and it would be too late to send out a search party. Andrew was beginning to panic and I had to admit I wasn’t far behind him.
‘We’re going to have to go ashore.’ Jon was the first to express the thought that was gradually dawning on all of us.
‘No, we’ll never make it.’ I was dead set against the idea.
‘Look.’ Jon nodded towards the shore. ‘We’re right across from the lighthouse. The peninsula’s only three or four hundred yards wide at this point. We rarely see any infected on this side of the anchorage. They’re mostly over on the other side, in Hope Town itself. If we move fast, we could make it across before sundown. I’m sure someone will spot us if we go out onto one of the docks and they can pick us up. And if not, we could always swim out to one of the boats in the anchorage.’
‘Apart from the swimming bit, I’m with Jon on this one. I’d rather take my chances on the land than spend the night floating in the water. At least on land you can see them coming and try to get away. A shark will just come up from below and the first thing you’ll know about it is when your legs disappear and you’re bleeding to death.’
Grudgingly, I had to admit it was the only real option we had. We had little chance of surviving the night in the water and we’d at least have a chance if we could get across the peninsula to the harbour. With the pontoons deflating around us, we kicked for the shore, getting there just as the last of the air seeped out.
‘Are you two sure about this?’ I glanced at Jon and Andrew, and they both nodded. ‘Okay, let’s do it.’
We pulled ourselves onto the rocks and surveyed our surroundings. The bush started almost immediately and we could see a little more than forty feet in any direction. Keeping low, we crept forward, alert to any sign of movement around us.
Suddenly there was a rustle in the undergrowth up ahead.
‘What’s that?’ Andrew whispered.
‘Just a mockingbird,’ I whispered back as a small brown bird darted into view.
‘Fucking birds!’ Andrew spat out.
If it hadn’t been for the situation we were in, I’d have laughed. Instead, we just kept creeping slowly towards the opposite shore.
Thirty minutes later and we were on the edge of the clearing around the lighthouse houses. As at Hole-in-the-Wall, there were two octagonal buildings for the keepers, a handful of outbuildings and the lighthouse itself. This was the first time we’d have to leave the low scrubby bush that covered most of the peninsula. We would have the advantage that we would finally be able to see a good distance around us and could move faster, but it also meant we could be seen more easily.
I scanned the open area around the buildings and saw the desiccated remains of someone, presumably one of the lighthouse keepers, lying on the ground just outside one of the houses. The body was partially skeletonised where infected had picked and chewed at it. What flesh remained had dried taut across the bones, leaving a grotesque mummified corpse. Beyond, I could see the boats in the anchorage, our own and Jack’s included, and I could even make out people moving around on some of the decks. After five minutes, we’d seen no sign of movement between us and the water, and I took a deep breath.
‘Okay let’s get this over with. If we make for the dock in front of the lighthouse, we should be able to get someone’s attention.’
I looked at the others. They didn’t say anything but they knew it was time.
‘On the count of three, just run for it, but try not to make any noise.’
‘And there was me going to skip down to the dock while whistling “Dixie” as loud as I could.’ Jon’s tone was jocular and despite the seriousness of our situation, both Andrew and I stifled a giggle. Jon smiled back at us.
‘One, two … three.’
We sprinted across the open ground towards the dock, pausing when we reached the base of the lighthouse. The door was open and we didn’t know if there were any infected inside. Even if there were, we had no choice but to carry on. While it must only have taken seconds for us to cross the twenty yards between there and the dock, it seemed like hours. After so long on the water it felt so wrong to be this far from the sea, but we made it to the dock without incident. Looking back, I saw the door of the lighthouse sway in the wind but nothing emerged. As quietly as we could, we tried to attract someone’s attention, but no one seemed to notice and we had no choice but to make enough noise to be heard.
‘Hey!’ Jon’s shout echoed around the harbour and I saw a number of people look up, including Mike. He disappeared inside and reappeared almost immediately with Jimmy, Jeff and CJ. They graspe
d the seriousness of the situation instantly and were in the runabout within moments. As they approached I saw their attention being drawn to our right. I turned and saw a small group of infected moving purposefully along the shoreline.
I nodded towards them. ‘We’ve got company.’
Jon peered into the water below the dock. ‘Looks like we’re going to have to swim for it.’
‘I’m not going in there.’ Andrew sounded panicked, ‘There’s sharks, even in here; big ones. Especially this time of night. It’s feeding time.’ He looked over his shoulder, ‘I can hide out in the lighthouse until the infected are dealt with. It’s not like there’s a lot of them. I’ll be safe in there till you can come back and get me.’
Before I could say anything, Andrew turned and ran back down the dock. My eyes flicked from Jon to the infected. They’d sensed Andrew’s sudden movement and were starting to move faster.
‘I’m not leaving him here on his own.’ Jon glanced at me briefly and then ran after Andrew. I felt I had no choice but to follow. By the time I caught up with them, the infected were close enough that we could no longer make it back to the dock even if we wanted to. In the distance, more were coming into view.
We made it to the lighthouse a few seconds ahead of the first of the infected and I slammed the door shut behind Jon moments before they reached it. There was nothing we could use to bar the door and although we had our full weight pressed against it, I could feel it move as the infected pushed and pounded on the other side. It would only be a matter of time before they forced their way in.
Jon looked up the spiral staircase, ‘Maybe there’s somewhere safer at the top.’
‘There is.’ Andrew was looking up the stairs too.
I was sceptical. ‘We’ll never make it up before they get us.’
‘I’m faster than you.’ Jon braced himself as the infected increased their assault on the outside of the door, ‘You go first and I’ll be right behind you by the time you reach the top.’
I was reluctant to leave him there. ‘You’ll follow us up, no heroics? Promise?’
‘Yes. Promise.’
Andrew started up the stone staircase and I followed suit. Shortly after, I heard Jon coming up after us. A few seconds later there was a crash as the infected broke through and surged into the base of the lighthouse. While confused at first, it didn’t take them long to realise where we had gone. I raced up the stairs as fast as I could, hearing Andrew ahead of me and Jon behind. Further below, but gaining fast, were the sounds of the infected. Suddenly, the stairs stopped and I found myself in a small, circular room. To one side was a steep wooden staircase leading up to a pair of doors set into the ceiling. Andrew had the left-hand door raised and was beckoning to me. ‘Quick, up here.’
I climbed up and was surprised to find myself in a room surrounded with thick glass windows, then I realised I was inside the light itself. As I waited for Jon to emerge into the room below, I looked at the doors that would soon be the only thing separating us from the infected. They were made from thick wooden planks, and opened like saloon doors. The right-hand door was bolted, explaining why Andrew had only opened the left one.
Suddenly, Jon appeared and leapt onto the staircase, the fastest of the infected was only a few feet behind. He made it up just in time for Andrew to drop the open door onto the pursuing infected. It struck with a sickening crack and, as Jon and I piled on, adding our weight to Andrew’s, I heard the infected fall to the floor. For a moment I wondered if that was it, then I felt others starting to push up from below. With the weight of the three of us on the door, the infected couldn’t quite force it open but they were persistent. They knew we were there and they wanted us.
‘Now what?’ I looked at Jon and Andrew.
‘We won’t be able to keep them out forever.’ Jon was breathing heavily. He glanced at the right-hand door, ‘We need to bolt this one too.’
‘But it doesn’t have any bolts,’ Andrew’s voice was wavering. ‘Only a lock and there’s no key.’
‘What if we jammed something through the handles? Something like that.’ I pointed to a large wrench lying a few feet away.
Jon eyed it up. ‘That’d work ... If we can get to it.’
I reached out with my foot, trying to keep as much of my weight on the door as possible but it was just out of reach. ‘One of us is going to have to get off and grab it.’
‘Will we still have enough weight to stop them getting in?’ Jon sounded close to panic.
‘We’ll just have to hope so.’ I considered our options. ‘Andrew, you’re probably the lightest. You should go. Just be quick.’
Almost as soon as Andrew leapt off the door, I felt it start to lift. Suddenly, a finger appeared in the gap between the two doors, then another one. I looked down through the gap and saw a sea of infected fighting to get up from below, their faces contorted with anger and their arms reaching up towards us. Those at the top of the steps were only inches from me and I could almost feel their breath on my face as they roared with rage.
The door lifted further and a grasping hand appeared. I swivelled round and kicked out, hearing bones snap as I made contact. Another hand appeared and I did the same again. Then I felt Andrew land back on the door. ‘Got it.’
While his weight stopped the door being lifted any further, because of the pressure from the infected it was no longer enough to force it back into place. The gap was so wide that the handles no longer lined up and Andrew couldn’t slide the wrench into place. Then the door started to lift again.
‘What’re we going to do?’ There was a look of fear in Andrew’s eyes.
‘I know.’ Jon rolled over onto his knees and keeping his weight on the left-hand door, he grabbed the handle of the right-hand one. He pulled as hard as he could and the left-hand door started to move downwards. Then a new hand shot through the gap, followed by another, and another, stopping the door closing any further. While I kicked at the grasping hands, Andrew swung the wrench, but almost as soon as we cleared one another appeared. Jon started kicking out as well, and we began to win. After what seemed like an age, the handles finally lined up again and Andrew jammed the wrench home. I could hear the infected pushing and scratching at the door, trying to get it open, but the wrench was holding. We were safe … for the time being at least.
I sat back and looked at the others. They appeared to be as sweaty and scared as I was. I thought about what had just happened and how close the infected had been to getting in.
Andrew was the first to speak. ‘How the hell do we get out of here?’
I’d been concentrating so hard on our need to keep the infected out that it hadn’t occurred to me to worry about how we might escape.
‘I don’t know.’ I got up and wandered round the circular room. ‘But I think the first thing we need to do is to find a way to let the others know we’re still alive.’
‘What about using the light?’ Andrew nodded towards the centre of the room. ‘The lighthouse has never been modernised. It’s still got its original clockwork mechanism. As long as there’s fuel left in the storage tanks, we should be able to get it going.’
I walked over to the light and inspected it. It was just as it had been left when the outbreak overran the Abacos, ready to be lit come nightfall. For the keepers, nightfall had never come again. If we lit it, the others would know where we were and would know we were safe.
‘Okay, let’s see if we can get it lit then, but we’ll need to be quick.’ I looked at my watch, ‘The sun will have set in a few minutes and then it’ll be pitch-black in here.’
Andrew and I searched around in the growing gloom and eventually found a box of matches tucked away on a ledge just beside the hatch. I uncovered the kerosene-soaked wick and drew back the covers that shielded it from the midday sun. With my hands shaking, it took several attempts to get a match lit but the wick burst into flames as soon as they touched. Inside the light itself it didn’t seem very bright, but I knew the lenses that su
rrounded it would magnify and concentrate the light onto a beam visible from fifteen miles away.
As the light rotated, casting its glow on each of us in turn, I saw Andrew slumped against one of the windows, while Jon sat with his head in his hands. Both were undoubtedly thinking much the same as me. How had we ended up trapped in here? I stood up and looked through the glass. I watched as the light’s beam swept across the sea and I hoped those out in the anchorage would realise what it meant. Beyond the boats that were just visible in the inkiness of the harbour, the beam moved across abandoned buildings that were already starting to decay. Everywhere infected were emerging, from buildings, from the bushes, moving inexorably forward, drawn towards the brightest light they’d ever seen. I couldn’t help thinking this wasn’t such a good idea after all. I could see that the longer the light was on, the more it would draw them towards us and the more of them that were in the vicinity, the more difficult it would be for us to get out when morning came.
After five minutes, I saw a light flashing on one of the boats in the harbour. Someone had seen our signal and understood what it meant. There were already a great number of infected crowding the shores and I didn’t want to attract any more, but just as I was about to put the light out, it briefly fell on Jon. His legs were pulled up to his chest and his shoulders were heaving up and down. It took me a second to realise he was crying. This surprised me. Yes, we were stuck for the night, but we were still alive and we’d managed to escape from a worse situation in Little Harbour. While I didn’t quite know how we’d do it, I was sure we’d get out of this one too.
I went over and sat next to him.
‘Hey, don’t worry. They’ve seen the light, they know we’re up here, that we’re still alive. Jack will come up with some way of getting us out of here.’
Jon lifted up his head. His face was soaked with tears and sweat, and there was a terrified look in his eyes. I tried to reassure him again. ‘Come on. Things looked a lot worse in the container and we got out of that, didn’t we?’
For Those In Peril (Book 1): For Those In Peril On The Sea Page 25