They glanced across the still water, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. Harold locked the door of the barge and they all stepped across the gap on to the other boat. Marla held the door open as the couple walked in. “There you are,” she said aloud as a shadow moved along the tree line. “I knew you were there.” She ducked inside. “Tommy, there’s someone out there.”
“Where?”
Holding the door open, Marla waited until he moved to stand beside her. “There!” she said, pointing. “See, by the tree line? One shadow moved there.”
Tommy squinted and stared, unable to see it. They stood there in silence for a few minutes in vain, because the figure did not materialise. And then it stepped out of the trees and stopped still as if it was watching them. It was a man carrying a rifle of some kind. Tommy pushed Marla back inside and closed the door.
“What is it?” asked Harold, noticing the expressions on their faces. “What did you see?”
“Someone out there,” Marla replied.
“Who?” asked Ellen, walking in with Ruth and Barney.
“A man.”
“Ah, one of the dead then,” Ellen concluded.
“No, he was holding a rifle and it was a gunshot we heard.”
“So, we’re okay then if it’s just a guy,” said Billy. “We should see if he needs help.”
“I dunno,” said Marla. “I dunno why, but I don’t…”
A shot fired outside and everyone fell silent.
“Move away from the windows and over there, between the shower and the wall,” Tommy ordered, waving everyone in that direction.
Ellen nodded and led the children away, followed by Harold and Peggy. Then she took a blanket from the bedroom and placed it on the bathroom floor before telling the kids to sit on it quietly. She was grateful for the dog as Ruth was more interested in him than anything else. The Labrador sat next to her quietly as if he knew something was up.
Ellen wandered back into the bedroom, opened the wardrobe and rummaged through Tommy’s weapons bag. Pulling out his spare handgun, she turned it over in her hands. It was a Glock, similar to the one Marla had given her. The other gun was a SIG Sauer. Having never used one, she put it back. Standing up, Ellen sucked in her breath and went back out to join her sister. “What’s your plan?” she asked her.
Marla noticed the gun in her hand straight away, but she didn’t mention it, assuming Tommy had given it to her. Shrugging, she asked, “Tommy? Do we wait and see? I’m not sure. Ellen saw someone watching us yesterday when you guys were playing cards. I have a strange feeling.”
“Me too.”
Another shot rang out, followed by shouting.
“What did he say?” asked Billy.
“Couldn’t make it out,” Tommy answered as he glanced out the window. “There’s a few people out there now. I reckon about six and they’re all armed.”
“Come out. I want to talk to you!” a man shouted outside.
Marla glanced towards the door.
“Should we move the boat?” Ellen suggested.
Marla shook her head. “That means someone has to go out there to steer us.”
“I can do it,” Billy offered.
“I don’t trust this,” Marla insisted. “They have guns.”
Everyone glanced at one another, unsure of what to do, and then another shot rang out. “We just want to talk to you!” the man yelled out again.
“They’re going to bring every freak in the neighbourhood down here,” Tommy sighed.
“We’re okay, we’re on water,” Marla assured him.
Harold reappeared. “I’m here if you need help. Sod hiding in the bathroom.”
Marla couldn’t help but giggle and she nodded.
“What do you think they are up to?” asked Harold. “To me it seems they’re checking us out. They must want something.”
Tommy glanced out again. “But what?”
“We should just steer the boat away,” said Billy.
“What do you think, Harold?” Tommy asked, to the older man’s surprise.
“Well, we’re safe. They’d have to swim across.”
“And we’re here, so they wouldn’t risk that,” Ellen reasoned.
“Unless they swim to the other boat,” added Harold. “But what do they want from us?”
The sinking sound of something hitting water smashed into the conversation and everyone turned to stare at the door, half-expecting something to walk through.
“Now we’ve no choice,” said Billy, glancing out the window. “One of them is swimming towards Harold’s boat.”
“Hell,” moaned Tommy as Billy strode towards the door. “I’m coming with you,” he called after him as he checked his shotgun.
Marla hurried behind him, despite his attempts to wave her away. In the end he turned to face her. “Go to the other exit,” he said. “We need to cover both ends of this boat.”
She nodded and ran in the other direction with Ellen following. They brushed the curtain across and crept towards the windows in the dim light. “What do you need me to do?” Ellen asked.
Marla smiled. “You’re okay. Just keep an eye on the kids. Keep them safe. You don’t need to use that,” she added, nodding towards the gun in Ellen’s hand. “I don’t expect you to.”
Ellen shrugged. “I know.” She hid the gun under the nearest bed and wandered out to check the bathroom.
Marla examined the lock on the exit door to make sure it was secure and then perched herself where she could see out of two of the windows, covering the front of the boat and the riverbank where the gunmen were. She felt a lump in her throat as she pondered what they could want: our guns, an argument or… us? Thinking of her sister, she shivered and sent the thought packing.
Billy pushed open the door and ducked out into the night air with Tommy close behind him, aiming his shotgun towards the bank. He could make out a group of men standing on the shore.
“You don’t want to do that,” someone yelled out. “We just want to talk. I haven’t seen people on the river for days. Where have you come from?”
Tommy did not reply, but kept his eyes fixed on the speaker as Billy started the engine. As it sprung to life with a chugging sound there was a snapping sound in the air and a bullet hit the water a small distance away. “I said you don’t want to be doing that.”
Billy froze and glanced at Tommy. “Gang,” he muttered under his breath.”
Tommy nodded without altering his gaze. “I don’t get it. The world really has gone to shit.”
Billy started the engine again and another warning shot rang out. At the same time the lights went on inside Harold’s narrow boat. “Fuck,” mumbled Billy, “what do we do?”
“Go,” whispered Tommy, ducking as a gun fired. “He’s either a bad shot or he’s missing on purpose.”
“And you wanna find out?” asked Billy.
Before he had a chance to do anything, the door flew open on Harold’s boat and a man with long, dark hair stepped out, drenched to the skin and gripping a rifle. “You want to stop what you’re doing,” he growled. “Hand over your guns and I saw there are women on this boat.”
At that moment there was a bang from inside and Bob came crashing through the door, barking two to the dozen. “Down!” shouted Tommy, raising his hand. The Labrador jumped, crouched down and continued to bark, his eyes fixed on the intruder.
“If you don’t shut that dog up, I’m going to shut it up for good!” the stranger threatened.
“You touch my dog and I’ll blow your head off!” Tommy shouted back, moving his leg in front of Bob and backing him into the boat. “Get in, boy!” he yelled, keeping his shotgun aimed at the dark man.
“What’s going on?”
The man in the boat glanced around Tommy to see Marla’s figure come into view. He gave a low whistle, looked towards the man with the rifle on the river bank and shouted out, “You were right, Mick, there’s women on this one.”
Marla pushed Bob insid
e the boat and raised her gun hand. “We don’t want any trouble here. If you keep firing you’re going to wake the dead, literally.”
“The dead?” laughed the man as there was another splash in the water in the dim light. Someone else was swimming across. “You should be more afraid of the living.”
“There’s three of us and one of you,” said Marla.
“Look to the shore, honey, how many men do you see? And they haven’t had much entertainment lately, if you get my drift.”
Marla bit her lip. Noticing Tommy glance her way, she took a step backward. Ellen. She couldn’t stop thinking about Ellen. Checking behind her quickly, she failed to see her inside.
Billy still had his back to the stranger and he looked at Tommy steadily, waiting for his cue, but none came. Tommy was focused too hard on the men on the shore. Marla had her gun set on the mouthy stranger. The man called Mick on the riverbank fired again into the water about an inch from the boat. “That’s a warning shot,” he shouted. “There are more of us. Do yourself a favour and put down your guns.”
With his back blocking the stranger’s view of what he was doing, Billy slowly pushed the lever to go forward. The wood of the boat began to vibrate and he pushed on the throttle to gather speed.
“What ya doing, mate? Stop the fucking boat!” shouted the man, screwing up his face as he aimed his rifle firmly on Billy.
“You can’t take both of us with one shot and even if you could, do you really wanna shoot a woman, seeing as you say your men are so desperate for one?” demanded Marla, her anger rising in disgust. She nodded to Billy to move inside. Carefully, he made sure the tiller was in the right position for the boat to go straight – for a while at least – and then he rushed past Marla and into relative safety. Inside, he ran for his rifle. Ellen walked forward mouthing ‘what’s happening’, but he waved for her to get back. She ran into the bedroom.
Tommy kept his gun fixed on the men on the bank as the narrow boat began to glide through the water, creating a gap between them and the second boat. The dark-haired man looked fit to explode, but the other gunmen remained motionless. As the distance increased, Marla crouched down, keeping her aim as the breeze blew in her eyes. “Inside,” said Tommy after a while.
“No,” she insisted, “I’m staying right here.”
He smirked and nodded. “This is some fucked up situation.”
“You’re telling me?” said Billy. “What do we do now?”
“Well, those guys are starting the boat cos it’s moving. I can see three guys on there looking at us,” Tommy remarked. “And on the shore I’ve seen a dozen at least. We’re screwed if they catch up with us.
“Can this go any faster?” asked Marla.
Billy shook his head. “We usually go at 4mph – just faster than walking speed, which is about three – but some of these things can reach 7mph. I need to check the tiller. It keeps us straight. If I don’t, we’re going to start veering one way or the other.”
“So then one of us has to stay and cover you while you’re here,” said Marla.
“Well, I can kind of cover myself – I just need to adjust it if we move off a straight course. I don’t want Harold doing it. I can manage,” Billy replied. “Do you think they’ll shoot the boat?” he asked.
Tommy sighed.
“No,” Marla answered, “they want me and Ellen, so they won’t sink us. They’re having too much fun. That is unless they can’t see any other way.”
“They’ve got cars,” said Tommy, gesturing. “Look, they’re driving along – must be some road or path there. Hell, so they can get ahead of us and try to block us off somewhere.”
“But, how?” asked Marla. “We’re in the middle of water. We’re safe. All they can do is shoot at us from a distance and that boat behind can only go as fast as us.”
“Where’s the next lock?” asked Billy.
Tommy shrugged. “How should I know?”
Billy bit his lip. “Watch this, will you? It needs to stay like this,” he said, pointing to the tiller. “I’m going to ask Harold.” Taking his rifle, he disappeared inside the narrow boat.
“I can’t believe this,” grumbled Marla, catching Tommy’s eye. “I thought the dead-lookers were the worst of our problems. Turns out it’s just men.”
“Isn’t it always?” Tommy answered. “This was meant to be the quiet part of the trip. And the kids… damn it. Those kids have been through enough.”
Billy reappeared with Harold. “The next lock is not far,” the older man revealed. “In fact we’ll hit it in about half an hour.”
Tommy glanced at the sky. “You’re joking?! Is this night gonna get any worse?”
“I’ll get the map,” Billy offered, disappearing inside again.
“How are the kids?” Marla asked.
“Fine,” Harold answered. “Peggy is telling them stories; brave kids. Talking of which, if you have a spare gun of any kind, I know how to use one. I can help. I might be pushing seventy, but I’m not ready for the knacker’s yard yet.”
Tommy nodded. “Good man. I have a spare. SIG Sauer okay?”
“Sweet,” said Harold with a grin. “Feels like I’m back in the TA.”
Tommy got up and wandered into the boat to collect it. When he had gone, Harold nudged Marla. “So how are you bearing up, little lady?”
She laughed slightly. “Fine as can be expected. I was hoping for a break from all this crap, here on the river, until we reached Pewsey.”
“I don’t understand what these men want,” said Harold. “Power, I guess; just causing trouble for the sake of it. The world doesn’t change, no matter how long you’re in it.”
“Something like that,” Marla answered. “Sure you want to get so involved?” she asked when Tommy re-emerged and offered his handgun.
“Well, I’m here, aren’t I? That means I already am,” Harold replied.
“Here’s the map,” said Billy, reappearing. “I’ve checked the next lock and it’s where you say, Harold.”
“I know these rivers like the back of my arse,” said the old man.
Tommy laughed and shook his head.
“I thought you were going to say hand,” Marla answered.
Harold grinned. “Everyone always does. Now has anyone had to deal with a lock before?”
“I have,” said Billy. “Used to go boating with my old man, so it’s second nature. He also got me into trains.”
“Great, so we’re the team then. Come inside and let’s talk it through, so there’s no time wasted at the lock.”
Billy nodded and followed him in.
“This is going to be crap,” Marla told Tommy. “Look; that boat is keeping the same distance behind us, and we can’t even see where those cars went. They’re just going to be waiting for us. We can’t stop, go back or anything.”
“Unless we take out that boat…”
“There are three men on it and I’m guessing they’re all armed, just like the first one.”
Tommy frowned. “Or we could stop and get out. They won’t be expecting that.”
“We’d still have to take them down or they’d just shoot at us, or some of us,” she added, wincing. “And if we do stop it’s in the middle of nowhere in the dark. We’d be screwed.”
Tommy rested his head against the boat. “So we have to keep going then, like we always do.” He turned his head to stare at her. “I’m not going to let anything happen to anyone.”
She smiled slightly. “I know. Do you want a drink of water? I’m going to get one and check on everyone. We have about twenty-five minutes to prepare, I guess, so I’m going to gather my ammo and check everything, and see how good that front door lock is. As for the kids, we need to lock them in the bathroom, so they’re safe.”
Tommy nodded. “Do what you have to do. I’m staying here to keep watch. And water would be good, thanks.”
She hesitated and touched his shoulder. “Thanks, Tommy.”
“No worries,” he replied, t
urning slightly as she ducked inside the boat. Blowing out air, he glanced around the river and the dark water that seemed to part as they sailed through. Why was it that nothing was going right anymore? Trying not to imagine what version of hell might befall them in the next half hour, he focused on the boat trailing them. There was no one standing outside on the deck. They were all inside with the lights extinguished, which meant he was probably being watched right now. Tommy shifted on his stool uneasily and forced himself to envision the various scenarios that might lie ahead, and how he would handle each individual one.
“What is really happening?” Ellen asked Marla as she poured two glasses of water.
“I don’t want you to worry.”
“But I am, and Billy isn’t telling me anything.”
Marla stopped what she was doing and hugged her sister. “I’m sorry, but there are some men on a boat following us and some others have driven ahead. They were the ones shooting at us, and I fear one of them was who you saw watching us yesterday. Harold tells me there’s a lock up ahead. We’re going to reach it in about twenty minutes. We’re guessing those men have driven ahead to wait for us and the boat behind has got three guys on it with guns.”
Ellen shook her head. “I don’t understand. Why?”
“Because we have guns and because we happen to be female,” Marla blurted out.
Ellen put her hands to her mouth and sat down. “Okay, no wonder he didn’t want to say. I thought it was those things out there.”
“I’m sorry, Ellen, I thought we’d be safe on the water. And after everything you’ve just gone through…”
“Marla, it isn’t your fault. You’re not responsible for everything that goes wrong.”
“I just want to keep you safe,” she answered, sitting down with the glass of water. “Wait while I give this to Tommy.” Marla opened the door and passed him the glass. He nodded and she came back inside.
“Ellen, when we hit that lock, all hell is going to break loose. I’m expecting it. It won’t be like defending ourselves against the dead. These are living people and they’re going to…”
“I know, Marla, I’m not a kid, and I’ve had to look at things differently lately.”
“Can you help us, Ellen? We might need you to.”
I Dream of Zombies Page 27