Jason stood, extending his hand. "We have a deal. I have three boats large enough to hold us all with the remaining supplies. I took it upon myself to take your goods and load them for you." Jason's eyes returned to the information in front of him, Ally clearly dismissed.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ally relayed the information to Kevin and the others. She knew they wouldn't be happy about their traveling companions. When she explained the delicate nature of control Jason had, and the dangers beneath, they agreed it was the best course of action.
Two hours later, the man Ally recognized as the one who'd tried to save his friend from the shark attack earlier came to take them to their "boat." She grimaced; it was more of a cargo barge, held together by rust and wishes. When she stepped on board, part of the floor crumbled beneath her foot.
"Be careful, people," she said.
Daniel sat at the bow, his face more bruised, if that was possible. Three men held guns on him. She shook her head as she approached.
"Guys, where do you think he's going to go? You think he's going to run back to the deathtrap that's taking on water with no supplies, or you think he's going to jump into the ocean? Come on, relax. He's helping, remember?"
The men lowered their weapons, but they didn't move.
"Look, I will take personal responsibility for this guy, okay? We need to work together if we want to pull this off, and we only get one chance. Let's not blow it before we leave."
The men went to the rear of the boat and prepped for launch. A few of them grumbled, but none of them challenged her. She exhaled and sat next to Daniel.
"You look like shit," she said.
"Don't gloat. I hate gloaters." He rubbed a dark spot on his cheek.
"I don't do gloating. I do, however, like to say 'I told ya so.'"
He laughed then stopped wincing in pain. "Fine, your plan's worked…so far."
Ally did a discreet search and no one was paying them special attention, focusing instead on the task of getting supplies loaded.
"It will work, but you have to trust me."
"Hey, I let myself get taken prisoner, identified as Firm, and had the crap kicked out of me so they would think they broke me and got the location we were heading. That's a whole bunch of trust."
She slapped him on the back. "It is, and thanks."
"Whatever, about Glen and the others…"
Ally felt guilt weigh down on her once more. "I tried to warn him…I didn't have the time, and…"
"He made his decision. End of discussion."
She stood and joined Kevin and Sean off to the side with Amy and Eric. Kevin pulled her toward him, but she didn't let him envelop her in his arms. The guards might try and use their relationship against her.
"So, how long is this trip going to take?" he asked.
Ally thought for a moment, dropping his hand. "We have to travel around thirty-five hundred miles. If we do a hundred knots, and take the weather into consideration, and the debris fields, and the possibility of rogue boats…I'd say a safe bet is five days."
Kevin pursed his lips. "So we can call this a cruise, then. You can't say I don't take you places."
He leaned in to kiss her, but she turned. "We should get something to eat before we get out there. You never know who's going to find out at an inopportune time they're seasick."
* * *
Two hours later, one hundred fifty people from the floating city willing to risk their lives on what many deemed a suicide mission were scattered among the three boats. Ally listened to the creaking of the structure as they shoved off and estimated those who stayed behind had another six months before their home turned into a pile of rust flakes. Unless the sharks and whales did enough damage to the underside first.
She pushed and shoved her way through the dense crowd. The cargo ship they were on had a pointed bow with a reinforced nose to cut through the muck, but they caught on the occasional bit of junk. People waited with long metal poles to push things out of the way or dislodge them.
"What the hell is going on? How did this happen?" she said to the rumpled man in front of her.
"I don't know. We've been watching real close. One minute all was clear the next it...it came out of nowhere."
Ally grabbed the pole from the man nearest her. "Stop poking at it, you idiot." The other man pulled his tool free with a guilty look. "Do you have any idea what that is? It's a goddamn sea mine. The Firms used them as a security measure."
The gruff man's face lost all its color and he tumbled down from the ledge. One of the others caught his elbow. Ally noticed a ten foot gap opened behind her at the mention of the explosive device.
There was a scraping noise, and she looked down at a handheld radio. She picked it up and Jason's voice came through.
"What's the holdup?"
"We have an issue. I suggest you and the other ship continue forward."
"Dammit, why are you on here, Ally? You taking over? I do not accept that, we had a deal."
"Calm your ass. We are about five feet away from a mine. There's no sense in all of us going down, but we also don't know if there are any more, so tell your guys on point to keep their eyes open, especially at night."
"Shit," he said.
Ally clicked off the radio and thought about what to do. Kevin took his place beside her with a bag over his shoulder. She didn't think anything in there would be of use, but at he'd been smart enough to use it as an excuse to approach her.
"Plan?"
"Not yet."
Daniel cleared his throat. "Right, so all these tough guys here, and they're leaving it to a girl to solve the problem?"
She glared at him to hide a grin. "I cannot understand why you don't have any friends."
"I have plenty. They just don't talk to me anymore."
Ally made a noise of agreement then jumped onto the ledge to get a closer look at what they were dealing with. She slipped on the glasses and zoomed in to look for a nameplate or manufacturer.
The metal spikes were twenty-four inches long with sensors on the end. The black metal stuck out among the green seaweed and brown goop. With no way to tell how old it was, she felt avoiding it was the best course of action. To do that, they needed to reverse and then go a different way, but with all the garbage floating around, their movement could cause something to slam into it. And then...blooey.
She yelled from the handrail. "Okay, someone run to the guy steering this thing. Tell him to do a reverse in five minutes and then change course to avoid this damn thing." Ally waited until she heard the sound of feet stomping away. "Daniel—and whoever else wants to try—we need to pull this garbage back with us."
Using the boathooks on the poles, they caught as much of the debris as possible and yanked with all their might when the boat moved backward. They cleared the mine, and the boat turned toward the starboard and moved ahead.
Ally stepped down and others replaced her. She walked with Kevin to the back area where she'd set up a small area for her group.
"Never a dull moment with you."
"Hopefully, if all goes well, we'll have lots of dull moments," she said.
Kevin rubbed his nose. "You really believe that?"
Lie or tell the truth, Ally had to decide. "I do." She rationalized with herself that it was a small lie compared to others she'd told.
"Good, that makes me happy," he said.
That night Ally stared at the sky, not much to look at except a light spot that followed them for a bit then dipped below the horizon. A rumble followed by screaming woke everyone on the main deck.
Daniel pulled himself on top of the wheelhouse. Ally followed. The middle ship stuck out of the water, split in two at the center. People tumbled end over end as they lost their grip on the railings. The wind shifted and swept away their screams, which Ally was grateful for.
"We need to get over there, see what we can do," Daniel said.
He jumped off the roof and slid inside the cabin. Ally heard the
raised voices, felt the boat jerk a few times then speed up, but never took her eyes off the horror in front of them.
"Hey, on the bow, keep your eyes open for more mines." Ally yelled.
The men returned to their work, but Ally knew people were hoping for survivors. A radio buzzed to life on someone's belt below her.
"Barge Two was hit by something. I repeat, Barge Two was hit by something," Jason's voice crackled.
"What the hell hit it?" The man below her asked.
"Hell if I know, something big," Ally said.
"How do you know it didn't get blown up?"
"There's nothing on fire, you idiot," Jason said.
Ally smirked at Jason's tone. She saw a few survivors pulled onto the first boat, and when they were within two hundred feet she could hear the calls for help. No amount of wind would take them away. Screams turned into shrieks and then bloodcurdling wails as people were sucked under.
She tapped the roof she was sitting on, and then stomped on it until Daniel came out.
"What? We're trying to get in close so–"
"Stop, right now. Stop and make a wide circle around this area."
"What? There's survivors."
"Unless you want to die, do as I say. What the hell do you think happened out there? Something took them out from below and now they're food for the sharks and whatever else. If we're lucky they'll be too busy gorging themselves to notice us…so change the goddamned course."
Daniel stared at her, his eyes hard. The men on board yelled in triumph as they spotted a survivor and pulled him over with a pole. The top portion hit the deck with a thud, sludge and blood mixing together. Body parts bobbed up and down, sometimes disappearing.
"Toss it off now. Those damn things can smell blood from miles away," Ally warned them.
Daniel ran into the cabin and two people who still had a few wits left about them threw the remains into the ocean. As the boat veered, the radio clicked to life once more. Ally, tired of not being in control to some degree, reached down and grabbed it from the man before he could answer.
"This is Ally, we know what happened. We're taking a roundabout route to avoid whatever it is that took out Barge Two."
"I figured, we picked up a few survivors but we've lost at least sixty people and a good amount of supplies," Jason responded in a civil voice, surprising her.
She expected him to be upset or annoyed she answered, but maybe he remembered she'd worked on a submarine for ten years and might have something more to offer than strategy.
"We'll be fine with what we have."
Jason didn't respond, but what was there to say? Ally felt the mood change around her. People huddled in the center, avoiding the lower deck, and stared at her with a mixture of disgust and appreciation.
Being the bad guy wasn't anything new to her. In fact, for this part of her plan to work it was necessary. When she caught sight of Sean, her resolve almost crumbled. For the first time since she'd found him, he looked scared of her, and that was a situation she needed to rectify for several reasons, the most important being it broke what was left of her heart.
Strapping the radio to her belt she approached him with a smile. He backed away but she shook her head. "Come here, I need to talk to you."
Amy huddled behind him and Ally looked around for Kevin. He walked out of the shadows behind her. She shook off a creepy feeling and focused on Sean.
"Can you take Amy back to our spot? I'll be there in a minute."
Kevin ushered the girl away without comment or even looking at Ally. She chalked his odd behavior up to recent events and, hey, at any moment their boat might capsize or shatter in two. She shook off the images from a few moments before and reached for Sean's hand.
He clasped hers and stared up at her. He's taller, she thought. Moving them to an unoccupied area, she leaned against a wall.
"Hey, kiddo, we haven't talked in a bit. How are you doing?"
His eyes looked anywhere but at her. She grabbed his chin and gently turned his face toward her. "It's okay, really. You can tell me anything."
"I miss my friends, and I wish Ben was here, and I don't like these new people, and I hate boats, and Amy says you killed Glen, but I told her you wouldn't do that." He took a deep breath and let it out, Ally could see the stress leaving his body after getting it off his chest.
"I am so sorry. I have totally slacked at this talking thing. I'm...I'm not good at it. I know what it's like to miss friends, but remembering them is important. I like boats, and I think once we get to where we're going, you might change your mind. As for Amy, she's hurting because of what happened to Glen. She's needs to be angry at someone, and right now it's me. Better than being sad."
Sean wiped away a few tears. "I know you have to be tough to do things, but maybe sometimes you can just be Ally, like now?"
"That's exactly what I was thinking. You read my mind. I do have to warn you, I might seem to be tougher than usual, and maybe even say and do things you don't like. When that happens, remember this conversation, because everything I do is to keep you safe, okay?"
He nodded and she gave him a quick hug. Together, they returned to the stern. The wreckage of Barge Two spread out behind them. She sat with her back to the edge and Sean curled up beside her. Kevin spread a coat on top of them and perched across. Ally caught a whiff of something but couldn't place it. She tried to catch his eye but he closed them and went to sleep. Or at least he pretended to.
Sean was asleep in minutes. She envied his innocence and trust in her. She hadn't had a good night's sleep in months, almost a year, she realized with a start. After an hour, she risked moving when Daniel returned. From the look on his face, she knew he was upset about something.
Not looking forward to the next day, she stayed put and ran her hands through Sean's hair as the clouds above floated by.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Four days into the trip, they arrived at The Graveyard, a small chain of islands north of where Hawaii used to be. After a volcano erupted, taking out over half the state, the space was evacuated and used by the military during the war as a muster point. Dozens of ships were sunk or damaged to the point where repairs were impossible.
Over the years, it became tradition for captains going by this place to pay their respects to those who'd fought and lost their lives. Ally lost count of how many times she'd seen the place, but the effect never lessened. While they floated by, it was easy to tell the difference between the nautical mechanics and mercenaries. With the others, she gave a salute then watched in silence as they continued on. She thought there were more boats this time, a lot more. A slick of the oil substitute they'd used for years coated the surface of the water creating a rainbow of color.
The radio at her side buzzed. "Ally, I know you've been here before. Any of these things have people living on them?"
She keyed her mic. "No, but something's different. I think–"
"There's more? Yeah, when you come around in another four hundred feet you'll see what I see."
Ten minutes later, dozens of emaciated things dropped off the side. Their impact with the thick crust on top of the water making slurping noises. They walked off the edge, teeth clacking, arms reaching for the food they craved.
"Holy shit, are those zombies?" Kevin asked.
"Yeah, and it gets worse." She pointed to the line of ships and submarines as far as the eye could see. "Looks like a lot of people thought this would be a good place to come."
Kevin made a noise then cleared his throat. "Well, they can't swim…right?"
She shrugged. "I have no idea. Never seen one doing the backstroke. Better post extra men to be safe."
This new development didn't sit well with Ally. The chances of finding Midway intact were now shattered. The only thing that might salvage the plan was if they were able to take out the undead population and secure the island.
Splashing caught her attention. She and a few others went to the side to see what it was.
A zombie missing both legs and an arm had pulled itself across the foul-smelling skin covering the ocean surface. Ally had no way to know if the lost appendages were old or new injuries, but she decided to err on the side of caution. Using one of the metal prods, she crushed its head and pushed it far away.
She walked to the main cabin and told the guy behind the wheel to hurry things up. Outside the ships gave her a cold feeling. They loomed tall and dangerous. Old warships with bloody mouths and sharp teeth painted on the front. The precise alignment and order wasn't coincidence. This set up was a human design with purpose, and she had no intention of finding out what that purpose was.
Jumping on top of the cabin, she called out to those at the sides. "All of you need to grab weapons of some kind. You see anything coming our way or trying to get on board, kill it."
A few of them grumbled something about going back, but they all did as they were told. She found Daniel walking side by side with her, weapon at the ready.
"Thanks," she said.
"No problem. You know what was, though? It was damn hard to get a gun. They don't want us armed."
Ally quirked a grin. "I'm sure Jason had something to do with that."
"Yep, but I have to say I feel a lot better with one of these."
Ally knew the feeling. For four days she'd been armed with nothing but a pocket knife. She checked the Micro Galil and chambered a round, feeling more in control. Ally kept an eye to the west as they made progress, annoyed when they came even with Barge One. Jason stood at the bow with another man and waved her over. She keyed her radio twice to get his attention, but he didn't respond. She slipped on the glasses and realized the person next to Jason wasn't one of their group. He was covered in filth, soaked to the waist, and had a knife jammed in Jason's side.
She bought a few moments by signaling she couldn't understand him. He gestured to some things and held up two fingers. Did it mean two minutes? Not wasting time, she called out to Kevin and Daniel. In the center of the group, including many of Jason's guys, she reported what she saw.
Z-Boat (Book 3): Z-End Page 17
