by Sam Sisavath
Gaby switched off the trolling motor, then hurried back behind the steering wheel and switched on the outboard motor. It coughed, then caught, and the sound of it powering up was like an explosion against the silent lake.
“Why the trolling motor?” Keo asked her, shouting over the roar.
“In case there were soldiers still around!” Gaby shouted back.
“And now?”
“We’ve been circling for almost thirty minutes. If they’re still around, we would have run into them by now!”
Just in case, Keo thought, and slipped the MP5SD in front of him and looked off the side as the boat started moving.
Gaby pushed on the throttle and the stern dipped slightly as the vessel picked up speed until they were racing across open water, the spotlight at the front lighting their path.
*
The Trident was exactly where it was supposed to be, drifting half a kilometer from the opening into the channel that connected Beaufont Lake with the Gulf of Mexico. He saw silhouetted figures moving on the main and upper decks as soon as they were within sight of it and wondered if one of them was manning the M240 right now, ready to blast away like they had back at the island.
The luxury yacht looked like a ghost ship afloat on the lake with all of its lights still switched off, and only the moonlight to hint at its presence. That is, until the people onboard saw the much smaller boat approaching with its spotlight shining in the darkness. The Trident’s industrial strength lights quickly blasted on at full intensity, nearly blinding Keo in the process.
All three of them (and Danny) had lost their radios in the rush to escape Song Island, so they didn’t have anything to contact the yacht with to let them know they were coming in. Fortunately, no one onboard had a happy trigger finger, and Keo was still in one piece when a figure on the main deck waved them in. Gaby, one hand shielding her eyes from the bright lights, guided the boat alongside the yacht and toward the back.
Two figures were waiting for them at the large swimming area as Gaby maneuvered over. There were already other crafts onboard, including the lightweight aluminum boats they had used to abandon the island. The two shadows turned out to be Maddie and Nate, and as they stepped into the large pool of floodlights, both were beaming back at them. The boy only had eyes for Gaby, who looked equally happy to see him alive.
True love in the apocalypse lives.
There might be hope for us yet, Gillian.
Gaby moved as close to the yacht as she dared before turning off the engine. They climbed out one by one, then Keo and Nate took Danny from Lara and carried him between them while Gaby stayed behind to help Maddie tie the twenty-footer up.
The ex-Ranger looked more dead than alive, and Nate knew it too when they grabbed the unconscious man. Keo didn’t realize he and Nate were rushing through the deck until he glanced back and saw Lara struggling to keep up with them, half-limping and half-running.
He looked over at Nate. The kid “got it” without Keo having to say a word, and they slowed down just enough for Lara to catch up.
“You okay?” he asked her.
She nodded, which was a big lie. He could see her trying to hide the pain. It was all over her face, even if she didn’t think it showed.
“You?” she asked.
“Better, now that I’m dry. Mostly dry, anyway.”
“Good,” she said, and looked away.
Keo didn’t say anything, but he pegged the chances that he’d be carrying both her and Danny over to Zoe in the next few minutes at fifty-fifty.
Nate’s radio squawked, and they heard Blaine’s voice. “Are they onboard?”
Nate unclipped the radio from his waist and handed it to Lara. “It’s for you.”
Lara took it and said into the radio, “We’re onboard, Blaine.”
“Thank God you guys are fine,” Blaine said. “We were seriously debating about going back there. I had the boat turned around and ready.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.” She wiped at a bead of sweat and grimaced. “Is everyone onboard?”
“Almost everyone. Sarah’s here.”
“What about Stan and Roy? Danny and I sent them ahead with Sarah while we held the attackers back at the hotel.”
“They didn’t make it, Lara. Sarah said they were ambushed on the other side of the hotel, and Roy and Stan stayed behind to make sure she could reach the exit point.”
There was silence behind him. He thought about shooting one of those cursory, “You okay?” questions back at her, but didn’t. It would have been a stupid thing to do because she wasn’t okay. How could she be, when she had just found out two people she had sent ahead didn’t make it to their destination? Even seasoned commanders took the loss of their soldiers hard, and Lara wasn’t anywhere close to being a soldier.
He was surprised, though, that her voice was calm when she finally said, “Let’s go, Blaine.”
“Are you sure?” Blaine asked.
“Yes. Follow the plan.”
“What about Will? What about the island?”
There was a brief moment of silence before she said, “Follow the plan, Blaine.”
Blaine didn’t answer, but it didn’t take long for the Trident’s engine to power back on. Then the boat began turning, back toward the channel.
*
They left Danny inside the makeshift infirmary, which was really just one of the guest cabins, with the doctor, Zoe. The rest of the islanders, who had been on the Trident ever since the yacht moved from the beach to its hiding place, were confined to other rooms to keep them out of the way as Keo and the others got ready for the channel.
They had to brave it, regardless of who was waiting out there, because on the other side was the Gulf of Mexico, an ocean big enough that even the yacht could get lost in it. To get there, though, they would first have to traverse a 300-meter wide section of water, which would put them easily within shooting distance of well-armed men on both sides. Given the size of the yacht, once they started through there was no turning back.
Keo climbed up to the roof of the bridge with the M240. The damn thing was already heavy, but he had to struggle with the ammo belt the entire way, too. When he finally reached the highest point on the yacht, he crawled forward and laid down near the edge, over old dried blood and bullet holes he had put there himself. He tried looking through the holes and into the bridge below, but since Blaine had turned off the lights to make himself and Capitan Gage into harder targets, he only saw small halos of lights generated by the console illuminating nothing in particular.
He turned his attention back to the channel and situated himself behind the machine gun, getting as comfortable as possible, which was harder than he had expected with the wind whipping at him. Unfortunately he wasn’t nearly as dry from his long swim as he had thought earlier, and the combination made for a cold night out. He perched the MG on its tripod and peered through the iron sights. It would have been nice to have a night-vision scope. Then again, it would have been nice if he could fly and shoot laser beams out of his eyes, too.
He was unclipping the radio and about to set it on the roof next to him when it squawked and he heard Lara’s voice. “Keo, you set?”
“I’m set,” Keo said into the radio. “You?”
“Yeah.”
“No, I mean, can you do this?”
“Yes,” she said, with just a hint of exasperation. Apparently he wasn’t the only one who had asked that question. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. You’re the one up there in the open.”
“Thanks for reminding me. I had forgotten that I’m a goddamn idiot.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, with just a tiny hint of amusement in her voice. Then, “Blaine, maintain our current speed and keep the lights moving in case they try to put some kind of obstruction in the water.”
“Did you see any of that last time, Keo?” Blaine asked.
“I didn’t get that far,” Keo said.
“How many snipers?” Lara
asked.
“Just the one.”
“But he had backup.”
“Yeah.”
“What are the chances they actually left someone behind?” Gaby asked.
“They’re not exactly tactical geniuses,” Nate said. “I think there’s a good chance they would have thrown everything they had at the island.”
“Let’s hope so,” Lara said. “Until then, everyone stay alert. No one blinks until we make it into the Gulf.”
Gaby and Nate were defending through windows on the port side, while Benny and Maddie had starboard. Lara was moving around the boat. Or limping around, anyway. Keo had caught her taking a couple of pills from a bottle after they finally delivered Danny to Zoe. He didn’t have to ask what she was taking. Lara might have been a (surprisingly) tough customer, but the way she was moving around, he kept expecting her to fall down at any moment.
She never did, though, which doubled his respect for her, and it was already high to begin with after last night.
“Entering the channel now,” Blaine announced.
Keo stiffened and pushed himself even flatter against the roof.
He hated coming back to a place where he had been shot before; it was the whole pushing your luck aspect of it that didn’t sit right with him. He wondered if Blaine and Gage could hear him moving around up here. Hopefully not. He didn’t want them to think he was fidgety, even though he was. The best-case scenario was that the height, combined with the spotlights blasting away around him instead of on him, would be just enough to make him invisible. He was heartened by the fact that when the Trident had first approached Song Island, there was a sniper up here and no one had spotted him.
He sucked in a deep breath and settled behind the M240 and did his best to ignore the wind that seemed to have picked up, causing the night to get even colder. It reminded him that he should have changed out of his wet clothes when he had the chance. Or at least put on dry boxers.
A boat the size of the Trident had a maximum speed of just fifteen knots, and fourteen when it wanted to cruise. Of course, it wasn’t going nearly that fast at the moment. Lara was right when she said to watch out for obstructions in the water. It wouldn’t have taken much to throw a barge or large fishing boat or two into their path. The soldiers would have been fully aware of the yacht’s existence and how it had entered Beaufont Lake previously. That was probably what had prompted them to put a sniper at the channel in the first place.
Swell. If it wasn’t for bad luck…
Unlike the last time he was here, the colored buoys that warned of the shallower ends of the channel reflected back the yacht’s bright lights, allowing them to easily navigate the dangerous terrain. He wondered if the soldiers knew about that or if it never occurred to them to sink the markers. Either way, he was glad to see them, because a boat the size of the Trident needed all the space (and depth) it could get.
He scanned the pitch-black buildings and swaying fields of grass to his left and right, wishing he had taken Nate’s spot down there instead. He’d be standing next to a pretty girl right now and not freezing his ass off up here. Even if there was a shooter lying in wait, he wasn’t going to see a damn thing until they started firing (hopefully not at him). Once that happened, and only then, could he unleash the machine gun’s 900 rounds a minute capability, which, admittedly, would do wonders to overcome his long-distance shooting handicap.
“How long is this thing?” Gaby asked through the radio.
“Gage says it’s just over eight kilometers,” Blaine said.
“How many is that in miles?” Carly asked.
“Five,” Lara said.
“And where are we now?” Gaby asked.
“He says just over a kilometer in,” Blaine said.
Keo reached for the radio. “Heads up. This is where they took their potshots at me.”
He imagined everyone below him sliding just a bit further away from the windows they were supposed to be manning. Where was Lara now? Probably still moving around, trying to pick out a target with her M4. Too bad they had lost the night-vision carbines back on the island. They could really have used those at the moment. Of course, they could have used a lot of—
Damn.
They were like cockroaches, sprinting through the tall fields of overgrown grass on both sides of him. More were darting in and out of the warehouses, and he swore there were a dozen or so climbing up one of the cranes. Thin silhouetted figures stood along the rooftops of buildings and watched them pass. The ones on land, racing along the sides of the channel, kept vanishing and materializing out of the moonlight.
There had to be thousands of them out there, just beyond the water’s edge to both sides of him. He shivered, reminding himself that if Gaby hadn’t found him in the water, he would have had to climb out of the lake and into…that.
“Jesus,” Gaby said through the radio, her voice barely audible. “You guys see what I’m seeing?”
“Yes,” Lara said. “Blaine, make sure Gage stays in the middle of the channel. Don’t veer too close to the edges.”
Keo remembered how the ghouls had dive-bombed into Beaufont Lake after him, knowing full well they were going to die but unable to stop themselves. He waited for these to do the same thing, and thank God the channel was over 300 meters wide and the Trident remained in the very center, as directed.
“Steady,” Lara was saying through the radio. “Stay on course. Steady…”
“Can they jump?” Nate asked.
“Yes,” Gaby said, and he thought her voice might have quivered a bit there.
“Stay on course,” Lara said again. “Stay on course…”
Keo tested the trigger on the M240 and waited for the creatures to start flinging themselves through the air. The ones back on Song Island had risked it—either because they had forgotten they couldn’t survive the water, or they had simply given in to their primal instincts.
“Dead, not stupid,” Blaine said through the radio.
“What?” Nate said.
“Something Will used to say,” Gaby said. “He always reminded us that the creatures were dead, but they weren’t stupid. It was his mantra, and something we should all keep in mind if we want to stay alive.”
Dead, not stupid. I like it.
It might have been the mention of Will’s name, because the radio went silent after that.
It turned out they didn’t have to worry about the ghouls or soldiers. There was no ambush, no obstructions in the water, and nothing at all to keep them from cruising straight into the Gulf of Mexico.
Keo sat up and looked back at the channel and the surrounding land mass, at the peaks of warehouses and towering cranes that had been abandoned a year ago. He could still see them racing back and forth, their thin forms flickering against the moonlight as if they weren’t actually real and might have just been a figment of his imagination.
He wished he were that imaginative.
He picked up the machine gun and climbed down from the roof.
Lara was leaning on the railing at the back of the upper deck, looking at the channel as the coastline of Louisiana was absorbed into the darkness. She looked at peace, even though he knew there was a lot going through that mind of hers at the moment. Not least of which was the ex-Ranger they had left behind who had never made it home.
He recalled their conversation when the other ex-Ranger and Gaby had arrived back on the island. He had asked about Will, and if she actually believed he was still alive out there.
“If you knew Will, you wouldn’t need to ask,” she had answered.
“So we’re going on faith, then?” was his smartass response.
“You honestly think your girlfriend actually made it to Santa Marie Island?” she had countered. “That she’s wearing a bikini and waiting on the beach every morning, waiting for you to finally show up?”
That last part had been a real kick in the balls, because she was right. He was—and had been for some time now—just operating on fait
h, like a sucker.
Keo put the M240 down on the floor and leaned against the railing next to her. He didn’t say anything, and she didn’t, either. They looked back at the dwindling coastline, almost completely swallowed up by the blackness now. Entering the Gulf of Mexico was like voyaging into the Bermuda Triangle, because at that moment they couldn’t see much of anything beyond the halos of the Trident’s lights.
Finally, he said, “You left a message for him back on the island?”
“I did,” she nodded. “It’s in a place only he’d think to look. When he finds it, he’ll know it’s from me.”
“So it’s only a matter of time before he follows you to the Bengals.”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to the Bengals?”
“I don’t know yet. I’ll make a decision after we reach the refueling depot. After that…”
“What?” he said.
“Can you stay awhile, Keo? I know it’s asking a lot, after everything you’ve already done. But I have to ask anyway. Not for me, for the others. Can you stay a little longer?”
He knew it was coming, and he was fully prepared to tell her no. But standing there next to her, hearing the desperation in her voice and knowing this was the last thing she wanted to ask him, he couldn’t pull the trigger.
Christ, you’ve gotten soft.
Like a big ol marshmallow…
“How long?” he asked.
“As long as you can.”
He sighed. “Hell, why not. I’ve already invested a lot of time keeping you guys alive, wouldn’t want all my efforts to go to waste now.” He nodded. “I can stick around until the Ranger’s back on his feet.”
“That might take a while.”
“Then I guess it’ll take a while.”
“What about Gillian?”
“She’ll understand. Probably.”
“Thank you, Keo.”
“Sure.”
He looked out at the Gulf of Mexico churning against the Trident’s propellers. It would be a few more hours yet until sunrise, though for the first time in a long time, he didn’t feel the internal conflict of watching darkness staring back at him.