Chapter 7
The next two days were uneventful. They played cards to pass the time or stayed on deck in the sun relaxing. Emily, Tim and David took turns making meals in the small galley. It was no surprise to find out that none of the others could cook. She found herself organizing and inventorying the supplies again and again. She couldn’t stop thinking about what was to come once they docked. Knowing that they couldn’t just go get food in a store made her nervous and she knew that all the stores would be picked clean by the time they got back to land. David and Tim pored over the maps that he had gotten at the gas station plotting the best routes through Washington State to the Canadian border. Mason didn’t seem to be all that interested in the maps and Emily thought he was trusting David with it. Mark did nothing. He hardly talked to anyone, but Emily could see him watching everything. It gave her the creeps every time she felt his eyes on her. She used to just think Mark was a mean bully but lately she felt something more menacing coming from him. She tried to stay away from him and she noticed Lisa did as well.
Lisa had reverted back to her sarcastic attitude and the common ground between the two girls seemed to be lost. She spent most of her time on deck working on her tan, wearing a bikini she had found in Tim’s closet. When she had emerged on deck in the small white suit two days ago, all the guys had stared, making Lisa toss her hair and pose like a model.
“I hope you don’t mind, Tim, I found this in the back of your closet and since I didn’t bring my own I borrowed it,” she said with a flirty smile.
“Um, yeah…ok, sure. I mean, no problem. It was probably left by one of my exes.” He shook his head in amusement.
David looked at Emily and just shrugged before turning back to the wide expanse of ocean ahead of them. Mason was openly staring at her and Mark had a creepy leer on his face. Emily shook her head in disgust at the boys and went and sat with David.
She hadn’t really talked to him since they had set sail. She shoulder bumped him and he gave her a smile.
With a sad sigh, she asked him, “What do you think is happening at home?”
He turned his gaze back out to the ocean and frowned. “I don’t know but I’m sure all of our families are okay. They would be looking out for each other and banding together to get things done. They’re in a really good location. There are lots of farms and the forest for hunting and all the lakes for fishing. They’re far enough from the cities that they shouldn’t get too many people walking in. I just wish I was there to help. More than anything though, I’m mad.”
Emily waited patiently for him to explain. Without taking his eyes off the view ahead he continued. “I’m stuck hundreds of miles from home; mom and Emma are alone and where the hell is my dad? Who knows where! He should be home taking care of them right now. Sometimes I hate him,” he finished in a small sad voice.
There was nothing Emily could say to make him feel better about his dad so she just took his hand and gave it a squeeze. She had never met David’s father and from what she had heard over the years, David barely knew him either. His father was a soldier and was away for most of David’s younger years. He had been in Bosnia and Sarajevo where he had seen some horrifying things. When he had finally come home for good, he had tried to be a family man and a good father to David and his sister Emma but it was a struggle. David had told of screaming nightmares and violent mood swings that scared his mom. After he had been home for a year, she couldn’t take it anymore and asked him to either get help or leave. David’s dad had chosen to leave his family.
“I don’t know why it even bothers me,” David stated. “He was never really there for us ever. Mom’s so strong and she’s always done everything herself but it just isn’t fair! He should be there!” he said in frustration.
“I’m sorry, David. I wish things were different for you guys,” Emily said with compassion.
“Yeah, me too.” David turned and looked at her. “What about you? How are you holding up?”
“Truth? I’m scared. I mean, this is beautiful, and it’s great that we aren’t walking, but I can’t stop thinking about what comes next. I’m really worried and the others don’t seem to even care. It’s like they are on some great holiday. I tried to talk to Mason about home and he just brushed it off like it’s no big deal! Lisa’s great one minute and then the next she’s back to being a diva. Mark…he scares me a little bit,” she confided.
David nodded. “I know what you mean. I tried to go over the maps with Mason and he wasn’t even interested. It’s like he plans on sailing all the way home. I don’t know what to tell you about Lisa. It’s almost like she doesn’t know who she is. Sometimes she’s funny and easy to talk to and then it’s like she puts on this shallow girl act. I mainly just try and stay out of her way. I don’t get Mark at all. He doesn’t even talk to me except to make nasty comments but he’s always watching us. It’s almost like he’s got some secret agenda and he’s just waiting for the right time. I think you should stay away from him.” He was quiet for a while and then tentatively asked, “What about you and Mason, are you guys still together?”
Emily looked down at her hands. “I just…I guess, I mean…I’m so confused! All the reasons that I liked him seem to have disappeared. He’s not who I thought he was. I don’t really believe that he loves me but I don’t know what to do! This is a pretty small boat to have to deal with the fallout of a breakup. I guess I’ll just keep things the same for now and hope for the best.” She laughed ruefully. “We have so much to worry about like what’s going on at home and how we’ll get there once we land, that breaking up with my boyfriend seems pretty petty in comparison.”
David smiled, “Yeah, I guess normal teenage stuff’s going to have to take a backseat for a while. I don’t think we should talk about it right now but I think we should consider splitting up when we do hit land. I’m just not sure we can count on those guys and we can’t afford to make stupid mistakes. Think about it, okay?”
Emily nodded, just one more thing to worry about.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
They had been on the boat for seven days and Emily was in the main bedroom reading one of Tim’s paperback books. It was a very boring mystery but she was desperate for something to take her mind off of her worries as well as find a little bit of privacy. It was hard to be alone with six people onboard and they had all tried to get away from each other at some point. Tim seemed the least bothered and he was very good natured. He always seemed to find humor and was never testy with them. He was such a great guy and Emily was grateful to him for all he had done for them. She just wished that there was something she could do to keep busy. Emily had just reread the same page three times when she heard yelling coming from on deck. She threw the book aside and rushed out of the room and up the stairs to the deck to see what the commotion was all about.
David was looking out in the distance with the binoculars and Tim was busy dropping the sails to slow the boat down while Mason manned the wheel. She tried to see what David was looking at but the glare off the water made it too difficult. Lisa had lifted herself up onto her elbows from her tanning position but at Emily’s shrug she laid back down, indifferent towards the situation. Tim brushed past her back to the wheel and within minutes, Emily felt the vibrations of the motor as it came to life. She made her way to David and tried to see what had captured his attention again. She thought she could make out something bobbing on the waves in the distance but couldn’t make out what it was.
“What is it, David? What’s out there?” she asked him.
Without taking his eyes off the object, he explained. “It’s a lifeboat. I can’t see anyone in it but they could be lying down in the bottom of it. We’re going to try and get closer.”
Emily felt a surge of apprehension. On one hand, it would be great if they could help other survivors but on the other hand, they only had so many supplies. She felt guilty at the thought but pushed it aside when she thought of being stuck in a lifeboat for days wit
h no food or water and being at the mercy of the sea.
It seemed to take forever for the lifeboat to come into range. When it finally was close enough to see down into it, they could make out three men lying on the bottom that weren’t moving. Tim had Mason take the wheel and he came towards Emily and David. He stopped and unclipped a long handled paddle that was in brackets under the cabins windows. As the lifeboat floated closer he reached out and tried to snag it in closer but missed. David helped Tim by wrapping his arms around his waist so he could safely reach out further. It worked but the paddle hit one of the men, pushing him over so he faced up. With a cry of horror, Tim and David stumbled back against the cabin leaving Emily with a perfect view down into the lifeboat. She was completely unprepared for what she saw.
The corpse of the man stared back at her. His face was a dark red and his skin had dried out and pulled away from his teeth making him look like he was smiling maniacally. His eyes were gone and the sockets had sunken deep leaving him with two dark holes. Emily was frozen in place staring at the poor man’s face and she heard herself whimper.
“Man, that’s sick!” came from behind her and the cruel amusement in the tone broke the spell and made her turn away from the ravaged face. She swallowed down the vomit that threatened to rise and looked to Tim and David. Mark was making disgusting comments about the state of the bodies when the wind blew a gust that was full of decomposing scent. The smell overcame Emily and she had to rush further down the rail to be sick over the side. Tim got control of himself and pushed Mark back out of the way.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he screamed.
Tim was still holding the long handled paddle and he quickly used it to shove the lifeboat away from the Lawless. Once it was far enough away that he couldn’t reach it anymore, he dropped the paddle onto the deck and rushed over to the wheel, shoving Mason out of the way. He brought the engine up and motored them away from the lifeboat. He kept taking big gulps of air and Emily had never seen him so pale.
Mason came up to her and threw his arm around her shoulder. “Was it really nasty?” he asked.
Emily shoved his arm away and snapped at him, “Yes, it was nasty because those men were dead!” She turned and looked at Mark with his smirk and Lisa still tanning like nothing had happened. “Can’t you people get it through your shallow selfish little minds? This is real. It’s not a movie or a video game or a freakin’ vacation! Those men are dead and we could be next! You all think this is a big joke! Well, I’m scared and you should be too because being popular isn’t going to keep you alive,” she yelled at them before she had to rush to the rail to empty her stomach once again into the sea. She didn’t think she would ever be able to get that poor man’s face out of her head.
Mason came up behind her and rubbed her back. “Emily, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make light of them. Everything’s going to be okay. Don’t be scar…” instead of finishing the word, he gasped.
Emily scrubbed the tears from her face and looked up at him to see what had surprised him. Mason was shading his eyes looking out past her in the ocean. She turned around to see what he was looking at and what came from her throat was an agonized moan. Her eyes scanned the way ahead and she had to stop counting at twelve when the tears blurred her vision. She pushed past Mason and stumbled back down the stairs. Emily couldn’t bear to stay on deck as they sailed through the cemetery of lifeboats ahead.
Chapter 8
Emily was sitting at the dinette with her head cushioned on her folded arms when she heard someone come down the stairs half an hour later. She had heard the engine shut down and guessed that Tim had switched back to sail. The bang of a glass being slammed onto the counter made her wearily raise her head. Tim had a bottle of some sort of alcohol and he splashed two inches into the glass. Capping the bottle he turned and leaned against the counter. His eyes were haunted and a million miles away. He finally tossed back the drink in one gulp and his eyes focused on Emily. With a frown at her, he turned back to the cupboard and got another glass and brought it to the table. He sat across from her and filled both glasses with another two inches and slid one across to her.
When Emily just stared at the glass, Tim told her, “Shoot it back in one go, kid. Trust me, it will help a little. Besides, it’s a little bit of home for you. It’s Crown Royal whiskey, Canadian.”
Emily had only drunk once in her life and the bottle of peach schnapps she and Alex had experimented with had left them both sick as dogs. She didn’t know what type of alcohol this brown stuff was but when the dead man’s face came back to her she didn’t care. Throwing the drink back quickly, she wheezed out a breath at the burn of it going down. She leaned back as she felt the warmth of the drink spread through her. Tim was sipping his drink and his expression was dark.
“That was brutal,” he said. “It’s one thing to know what’s happening but to see it up close like that…” There weren’t words to describe how hard it was to see so he fell silent. After a few minutes, he sighed and looked at Emily. “You got some color back in your face. That’s better. We’re going to have to toughen up, kid. Things are not easy out here. I put it out of my mind for a while but we just got a huge reminder of what we will be facing in another eight days or so.” He downed the rest of the drink and contemplated the bottle before shaking his head and putting it back in the cupboard. He settled back at the table and scrubbed his face with his hands. “Can I ask you something?” When Emily nodded, he continued. “What are you and David doing with those three? You guys just don’t seem to fit in with them.”
Emily had to clear her throat twice before she could talk. It felt like the alcohol had burned the lining from her throat. “You’re right; we don’t fit in with them. It’s my fault we are with them. I’ve been dating Mason for the last few months. I think David came with us just to make sure I was okay. I can honestly say at this point that I was a fool. My best friend and the others in our group went overland. I told you about Alex, Quinn and Josh already. David and I have been friends with them since we were little. I really don’t know why I started dating Mason. We really have nothing in common, not even our friends. He was just different from the rest of us and I thought I saw something more than the shallow popular quarterback that he portrays. I’m pretty sure I was wrong. So now David and I are stuck on a boat with them,” she said miserably.
Tim was nodding his head, “In college, I dated this girl. She was all dark and moody and wore black all the time. We had absolutely nothing in common. I still don’t know why I was with her except she was so different from my regular group of friends. Now that I’m older I can look back and see the truth. Popular, jock…diva? They’re all just masks. It’s just something people use to cover the fact that they are just as scared and lost as the rest of us. In this situation, it won’t be long before you’ll start seeing those masks disappear and then you’ll see the true person underneath. What I do know is that you and David - you guys don’t wear masks. You’ll be okay.” He patted her hand and with a smile climbed back up to take the wheel.
Emily stayed put and felt the pleasant buzz from the drink. She thought about what Tim had said and wondered if it was true. When she started to date Mason and they were alone or on the phone, he seemed so different than when he was with his friends. She wasn’t sure if his good side was his mask or if the real Mason was the selfish jock she had first thought him to be. Lisa was a mystery as well. The funny, smart girl that had peeked through on the trip so far seemed to come and go. Every time she started to like the girl, Lisa would revert to the snobby, shallow diva she had always shown before. Mark…well, she didn’t even want to know him at all. Emily sighed in frustration. The only thing she really knew was that David was her true friend and she could count on him no matter what.
As if her thoughts had summoned him, David stopped down the stairs and threw himself down onto the bench beside her. His face was blank but his eyes were haunted and far away. She took his hand gently and just held it
. After a while, he turned to look at her.
“That’s not going to happen to us, Em, not like that. It’s time to get busy. We have to start thinking ahead, worst case scenarios. If we had to leave this boat in a hurry, we would be in a world of hurt so we are going to make sure that doesn’t happen. Remember those backpacks I got back at the Costco? We are going to fill them up with water and food and anything else that we might need. There’s an unopened box of big Ziploc bags in the closet and a box of garbage bags too. We will make sure everything is sealed up watertight and then I’ll put all the backpacks into the garbage bags and tie them to the lifeboat container. If we have to leave the boat, they will go with us. What do you think?”
“I think we should get started. Thanks, David. I’m scared and uncertain and doing something proactive makes me feel more in control of what might happen.” She took a deep breath and confessed, “I’m so sorry we didn’t go with Alex and Quinn. I know you only came to help me so…I’m sorry but I’m also really thankful that you did.”
The intense look in his eyes made her look down at their joined hands. “I’m going to get us home, Emily. That’s a promise.”
She nodded her head, “Let’s get to work.”
They got up from the table and removed the bench seat cushions. Underneath the cushions was a hinged lid that opened to reveal storage areas. David pulled out the five backpacks that he had stuffed into it. Emily saw more bottled water and other supplies and was once again relieved that they had managed to get so much from Costco. The only problem was when they landed, they wouldn’t be able to haul very much. They laid out the packs in five areas and started to make separate piles of supplies that each one would hold. David grabbed the garbage bags and the box of large Ziploc bags and handed them to Emily.
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