For a split second, his eyes met Angel’s and they again shared an unspoken thought.
“Hang on,” he called to her as he started to swim to help her.
The water surrounding Cheryl bubbled up red as Ike drew within an arm’s reach. A thick pool of blood surrounded her and her face went calm and blank.
“Let her go!” Ike called to Angel. “Get away!”
Angel didn’t understand the command and looked at Ike with confusion. As Cheryl turned and sank her teeth into Angel’s arm the understanding came.
Angel looked at Ike and, in the final seconds before she turned, they shared one final moment.
“If ever…” she said just before her face went blank.
Ike stopped and treaded water. He looked into the eyes that had been the first ones to capture his heart in years…and he watched them die.
“Ike,” David yelled. “Let’s go, you can’t do anything else.”
One of John Murphy’s arrows whizzed past him and struck Angel’s left eye, dead center. Her body went limp and floated on the surface. Another arrow struck Cheryl above the temple and she too floated lifelessly next to Angel.
Ike turned and swam to the boat where Darlene and David hauled him aboard.
Crista
She kicked open the door to the next apartment, leading with her broken chair leg. It was empty. Yet another unrented space. "Didn't anyone live here?"
Tiki laughed. "Not on this side. Everyone wanted to be in the middle, above Mezzaluna and Farley's, or on the other side, over the Humidor or Burrito 101 next door." Tiki stopped.
"What's the matter?"
"I could really go for a burrito right now."
"Seriously?"
He shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "When is the last time you had a good burrito, or even a tasty taco? Just saying… I could go for some Mexican food right now."
"So far we've found two bottles of hot water and stale potato chips," Crista said.
"Then we keep kicking in doors."
"I guess so." Crista glanced down from the hallway and the outer window and saw the zombies below, thick and pushing against the building. "Where do they think they are going?"
"They're mindless. They'll keep moving against the walls until something distracts them. And there are probably a thousand just in sight. They keep pouring through the breaches and I'm sure the courtyard is so packed you couldn't move." Tiki kicked in the next door. "I still think we're wasting our time shopping so close to home. We should be starting over Europa and in that area."
Crista shook her head. "What else do we have to do? Once they figure out how easy it is to climb the stairs we're screwed. Until then, we need to hit every apartment we can. I'd hate to miss a cache of things we need. It only takes us a few minutes to do a search, too. And the empty apartments are easy enough to ignore."
They searched three more apartments but they weren't occupied and looked like they'd been abandoned months ago, with nothing left worth anything. The two stood on the balcony of an apartment and looked at the mass of undead crowding in the courtyard of European Village below.
"We're wasting time," Tiki said. "We should be over there." He pointed to the other side and the Humidor. "I know damn well Ky had a secret stash of food for him and his wife. There were other survivors I never saw before, during or after the attack. I bet they're still hiding in their bathrooms with plenty of food. We need to find them."
Crista looked at all the bodies packed together, all trying to move. The smell was disgusting and she could only imagine how bad it was on the ground floor. She didn't want to know. Maybe Tiki was right. She was moving with the assumption they had all the time in the world, but did they? Could the zombies level European Village by sheer numbers? They were packed into the storefronts below as well and destroying walls. Could they pull it down around them? "I think we need to hit the more populated spots. You're right. I have a bad feeling about this."
Tiki grinned. "See? Now you're coming around."
"But it's not going to be the Humidor. Even if we were stupid enough to go to ground level, there are too many zombies inside right now. I say we stay on the upper levels and start above Mezzaluna's Pizza and work our way down. It's the only way to be sure we don't miss anything."
"I agree." Tiki leaned over the rail and looked down. "The only bad thing is the second level might already be filled with zombies. I can't really tell from here, but it looks like it."
"Let's go check the stairwell. It was blocked off, but that was before they crashed through the fences." Crista led the way down the hall and they were soon peering over the rail and seeing what they were dreading: the zombies had breached the blocked off stairs and were already crowding them. "Shit," she said. "Now what?" Luckily, the middle stairs they were coming up were also blocked on each subsequent floor since they never used them. Tiki had seen to it weeks ago, trying to fortify his little area of the world up here. But, if they could get through the first level of barricade, they could get through the rest. "We need to see how far up they've gotten."
"Did you leave our door unlocked?"
Crista was confused. "Yes, why?"
"We might need to make a hasty retreat back and hide in the bathroom."
"I hope it doesn't get to that. We'd be trapping ourselves and it would only be a matter of time before we were found," Crista said. She pushed away the thought of being ripped apart with Tiki. She wanted to live.
"Then we need to hurry up and not be seen. If we can find something, we can retreat back. If we can't, we need to get across the catwalk to the other side. Which will get us seen, and who knows what will happen," Tiki said. "We also need a long-term solution. We can't survive for long without food and water, and, eventually, they'll find us."
"Then we need to stop standing around talking about it and get this done."
"I like you. Such spunk," Tiki said. "Follow me, madam, if you want to live."
"You are so cheesy," Crista said.
At the end of the hallway, they stopped and listened down the stairwell for tell-tale noises. The zombies didn't growl and make stupid noises like in the movies, but they weren't exactly quiet, either. They didn't try to sneak up on you. They simply moved, banging into each other and the walls.
"I think we're clear," Tiki said. They started moving step by step as they descended. He stopped and leaned against Crista. "If things get hairy, get back to the apartment and lock the door."
"Now you're trying to be my knight in shining armor and protect me?"
"No. I'm just being realistic. If we get surrounded or attacked, I will distract them so you can live."
"How about we both live?"
Tiki smiled. "That will work as well."
The next landing was unobstructed and clear. Crista looked over the side and couldn't see anything moving. The stairwell was hot, the sun streaming in and blinding her as she turned her head. It was actually another gorgeous day. She remembered video games and movies as a kid, with dark, eerie rooms, water dripping from the ceiling and blood patterns on the wall. The overhead light flickering on and off, swinging back and forth and casting deep shadows in the corners. The moans of the monsters and the spooky music playing. Crista thought it was more disturbing in the direct sunlight, standing in a clean landing.
"Should we check out this floor or keep going lower?" Tiki asked.
Something crashed on the floor below them. Crista peeked over the rail and now she could see shadows moving. They were just below them. She didn't hesitate, opening the door to this floor and waiting for Tiki to follow.
"We need to be quiet kicking in doors, though," Tiki whispered. "Let's see if any are open first."
They began moving down the hall, trying doors. All of them were locked. The middle stairwell was blocked off here with plywood and a stack of furniture but they could hear shuffling below. The zombies had gotten up a couple levels.
"The only way to do this is to make the least amount of noise possible but
kick in some doors," Tiki said. "I think we start just over Mezzaluna's. What do you think?"
"It really doesn't matter." Crista had a sense of dread like they were running out of time. "Let's start with this one," she said and pointed at the door in front of them.
Tiki stood next to it and braced his shoulder. "I'm going to use a football block I learned in high school."
Crista chuckled. "Is that supposed to impress me?"
"Of course. Why else would I say it?"
"If you can get the door open, I'll be impressed."
Tiki slammed against the door but it didn't open.
"Sonofabitch," he moaned. "These doors suck. Kicking them in is so much easier."
"But louder."
"But easier," Tiki added. "Step back. I'm going to try this again."
Crista took two dramatic steps back and waved her hands. "Have at it."
"Cover your eyes, because the wood is going to shatter and fly in random directions. I can't swear you'll be safe from debris."
"Just hit the door and not open it again already," Crista said and smiled. She glanced down the hall and for a second her mind didn't comprehend what she was seeing. "Kick it open."
"No, it will make too much noise."
"Then we need to run," Crista said. "We need to do something and now."
The door to the stairwell they'd come down from was propped open, and at least half a dozen zombies were shuffling slowly down the hall in their direction.
Ike
Ike ignored the towel Jill offered and walked to the bow. He stood at the rail and fought the impulse to look back at Angel’s body. Shibumi lurched and began moving forward and Ike tried, unsuccessfully, to tell himself he had to move forward as well.
He barely noticed David at his side.
“Sometimes knowing what might have been is all we get,” David said.
Ike looked over at him, but before he could reply David nodded and walked back to the cockpit.
Ike looked ahead as Shibumi cut through the ripples, easily moving forward. Toward what – Ike didn’t know, but he knew forward was his only option as well. In almost no time at all, Angel had become a part of him. She filled a void in him that had been empty for as long as he could remember…and just as quickly, she was gone.
The only way he was going to put her behind him was to focus his entire being on the situation at hand. He took a deep breath and followed David to the cockpit.
“What do you think we should do?” he asked
David lifted the bush hat from his head and wiped the sweat from his brow with a bandana.
“Well,” he said. “We’re taking on water. My bilge pump has too many hours on it to put a whole lot of faith in it and we’ve got that new addition to the rigging.” He pointed at the zombie still impaled on the mast. “I’d like to pull over and do some house cleaning before we try to venture much further.”
Ike nodded.
“Yeah, I agree. Here’s the problem…we’re boxed in. Wreckage to the south and zombies jumping off the bridge north, and not a dry dock in sight…and we can’t call triple-A.”
“It’s looking like our only option is to tie up at the dock we picked you up at.”
Ike took a deep breath and nodded.
“Yeah, you’re probably right. I just hope the send-off committee who was there when we met has moved on.”
“Agreed,” David said.
Ike turned to the group huddled on the benches behind him. The effects of their narrow escape still showed on the faces of the newcomers.
“My name’s Ike,” he said. “And here’s what’s happening. We’ve got some minor damage that needs to be addressed before we go too far, so we’re going to dock up here a bit and see what we can do. Once we get things patched up, we’ll continue on north and hope for the best.”
“What kind of damage, mon?” the new black guy said.
Ike thought about Angel and how this guy had yanked her into the water because he was in a panic. He fought the urge to tell him to sit down and shut up.
“It’s minor stuff, nothing to worry about,” Ike told him.
“No, I be worryin’,” the guy said.
Ike looked at him and inhaled deeply.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Juan.”
“Listen, Juan. Three people are dead back there because you panicked like a little girl, so unless you want to backstroke home, just shut your damn pie-hole.”
Juan looked like he wanted to object, but a tall heavy-set blonde with a cheerleader’s face stood up and stepped between the two of them.
“I’m Shelly,” she said. “I guess you could say I’m the leader of this group. We’ve been dodging zombies for about three days now. We haven’t had much to eat or drink and we’ve had too many close calls, so forgive us if we’re a little jittery. We appreciate you saving us, we really do, but if this boat has damage we have the right to know what it is.”
Ike nodded at her.
“It’s nothing serious,” Ike told her. “We encountered some submerged debris a little south of here and we’re taking on some water. Ordinarily the bilge pump would take care of it, but David says his pump is getting tired. Then there’s that...” He pointed to the top of the mast.
The group looked up and gasped when they saw the corpse.
Shelly nodded and returned to her seat.
“Juan,” she said, “let’s just trust them.”
Juan nodded, still not showing as much confidence as Ike would have liked.
* * * * *
As Jill guided Shibumi to the dock, Ike and David manned the fenders and secured the lines.
“How much time do you think you’ll need?” Ike asked David.
“I’ve got a patch kit,” David said. “Shouldn’t take more than 15 or 20 minutes to stop the leak. Can you take care of our passenger?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
David went below and Ike moved to the mast. He secured a line to the end of the jib, released the jib and swung it out to the starboard side. He handed one end of the rope to Juan.
“When I give you the word…pull that rope as hard and fast as you can.”
Juan nodded and Ike climbed the mast with the other end of the rope. At the top he secured the rope tightly around the zombie’s waist, then pushed and shoved the corpse until it was nearly free of the mast. He wrestled it free and allowed it to rest on top of the mast.
“You ready?” he called to Juan.
“Aye, mon.”
“Remember, when I tell you, pull hard and fast, but not until I tell you.”
“Aye,” Juan said, spitting on his hands.
Ike repositioned himself, lifting the corpse by the waist and turning to the starboard. He took a deep breath, lifted the zombie over his head and heaved it with all his strength toward the water. The body arched upward and outward away from Ike. When gravity began pulling it downward, Ike shouted down to Juan.
“Now! Pull it!”
Juan yanked on the rope and pulled hand-over-hand for all he was worth. The line ran out to the end of the jib where Ike had fed it through a pulley before taking it up the mast. Juan pulled as fast as he could. The group watched the body plummet toward them. With less than fifteen feet before it would have landed on the wheel, the rope went taut. Juan kept pulling and the body was jerked toward the water. It splashed down about six feet off the starboard side. The group watched the water settle and the zombie float away from them. Juan tossed the line into the water.
Suddenly, the corpse of the zombie jerked as if it had been hit from below. A fresh set of waves moved outward form it and several undead hands reached up and dragged it below the surface.
“Christ,” Darlene said. “They’ll even eat their own.”
Ike watched from above. Before he began his descent, he happened to glance at the blood-smeared mast. The shroud at the top of the mast was damaged. He knew David wouldn’t be able to raise sail until it was repaired.
&nb
sp; He climbed down and joined the others, but kept the news of the damage to himself.
David came up from below and his eyes met Ike’s. Ike could tell that David, too, had something less-than-favorable to report. With a quick jerk of his chin, Ike signaled for a conference at the bow.
“What’s up?” he asked.
David ran his hand through his beard and sighed.
“It looks like there’s a little more damage than I thought.”
“How much more?”
“About five holes more.”
“Shit,” Ike said.
“They’re not big, but there’re five of them and I only had enough patch material for two. Now we’ve got three holes that’ll be leaking non-stop.”
“And I’ve got more good news,” Ike said.
“Do tell.”
“You’ve got a broken shroud. Until we replace it, we can’t raise sail.”
“And we don’t have enough fuel to get anywhere,” David added.
“Any thoughts?” Ike asked.
After a few minutes of thought, David spoke.
“How about this? About a mile up the road is a marina. There’re plenty of abandoned boats. I’m sure we can scrounge a shroud from one of them and most of them probably have patch kits aboard.”
“I suppose it’s our best chance.”
* * * * *
They rejoined the group at the cockpit.
“Listen up,” Ike said. “We’ve got some damage to the mast and there’s a little more damage below than we originally figured. We figure there’s probably enough parts to gets us going at the marina up the road.”
A murmur went through the group as they took the information in.
“Who is going to go to the marina to get these parts?” Shelly asked.
“David and I will go,” Ike said.
“What?” Daniel asked. “And leave us here? There are zombies all over the place, even in the water.”
“Are you saying you think we should all go?”
“Hell, yeah, we should all go. And why should we waste time scavenging for parts…why don’t we just take another boat?”
Dying Days Ultimate Box Set 1 Page 41