"Thank you so much for bringing him back to us. My name is Jackie, and this is my husband James. You have no idea how worried we were."
"Oh, I think I have an idea," Becky said.
Jackie smiled. "There's a paramedic here ... somewhere. He helped us out of the car and got us fixed up. He's been tending to the others that were hurt. I'll have him check out Adam."
"Where are the rest of the firemen?" William asked. "We have friend a few blocks back who needs help. It's pretty serious. We're not sure if he's going ..." William stopped to collect himself.
Becky continued, "He's hurt, and he's trapped. Up in a building. A partially finished building. We're going to need help getting to him. A fireman and paramedics would be ideal."
"There's just one fireman still here," James said. "They were on their way to an emergency call before hitting us. It was so strange. All the vehicles just lost control at the same time. Most of us had stopped, but the firetruck couldn't. It was going too fast."
"The lights were flashing and everything," Adam interjected. "It was really cool." Jackie smiled at him.
"Yeah, it was cool, sweetie. At first."
"The other firemen headed off on foot with supplies to the original emergency. They left the one guy here to take care of the rest of us. I'm not sure if he'll be able to help your friend or not."
Chapter 23 ~ Alarmed
"We got lost," Holly lied to the two men.
"You got lost?" the taller of the two men said skeptically. "How do you get lost on a cruise ship with signs all over the place? Especially the ones that say Crew Only." He pointed to the sign on the door he had just come through.
"We were just walking, and not paying attention to the signs. In case you hadn't noticed, things are pretty messed up. Before we knew it, we were down here, and then the ship started lurching about."
As if on cue, the floor under them shifted again, and they all slid to the other side of the hall. The two men anticipated the shift and regained their balance before Holly and Garrett did. They were obviously used to the movements of a ship in heavy weather.
Garrett spoke up. "You guys don't look like crew."
The shorter man spoke coarsely. "Not all crew members wear uniforms."
"We don't have to explain ourselves to you," the taller man said. "You need to vacate this area now."
"We will. Don't worry," Holly said. "Just as soon as we can manage to maneuver our way out of the hallway and up the stairs." She turned to look at Garrett. "The stairs should be even more fun. Hope this doesn't get any worse."
The two men looked suspiciously at Holly and Garrett as they worked their way down the hall towards them. Garrett had a bad feeling that they weren't accepting their story at face value. He hoped that maybe it was just their normal disposition, but something didn't feel right to him. The tall man had one hand on the railing, and his other hand was out of view behind his back. The shorter man seemed most at ease with the rolling ship, and didn't hold onto the railing at all. As they were squeezing by the men in the narrow hallway, the ship lurched hard again. Holly bumped into the shorter man, who caught her with both hands and managed to stop them both from falling. Garrett, however, crashed hard into the taller man, knocking them both into the wall, and Garrett onto the floor. The tall man grabbed the railing with both hands. In doing so, he exposed the hand that had been hidden behind his back and a pistol went flying across the floor, landing at Garrett's feet.
The pistol was in easy reach of Garrett, but he hesitated for just a moment. He flashed back momentarily to the scene in the hallway, where he'd seen the woman shot. Things seemed to be moving in slow motion. The rolling of the ship, the banging into the hallway walls, and then he heard Holly saying something. She was standing close by the shorter man. He had a hold of her arm. Garrett couldn't be sure if he was keeping her from falling, or keeping her from moving freely down the hall. Then, he noticed the taller man moving quickly towards the pistol at his feet. Garrett instantly grabbed the pistol, and stood up before the taller man could reach him.
"Let her go," Garrett ordered the short man, who reluctantly released Holly. The tall man stopped in his tracks as Garrett pointed the muzzle of the pistol in his direction.
"I thought weapons weren't allowed on board," Holly said.
"Something tells me that these two aren't exactly playing by the rules," Garrett replied.
The tall man took a step forward. "You need to return that weapon to me."
"That's close enough," Garrett replied. "Now tell me, why the hell would I return a weapon to a guy that looks as suspicious as you in a place where he's not even supposed to be carrying a weapon?"
"We're US sea marshals. Undercover. We're allowed to be carrying weapons in order to protect the passengers of this ship."
"So then," Holly said. "You must have some badge or ID or something?"
"The captain and crew know who we are," the short man answered. "We don't carry ID. It's against corporate policy of the cruise line."
"Yeah right," Garrett said. "We're in international waters here. Even if you are who you say you are, US laws don't pertain to international waters. We're under maritime law now. You have no jurisdiction."
"Do you really want to test that theory?" the tall man asked.
"Do you really want me to test that theory?" Garrett replied. "You're not who you say you are. I know that much."
"Garrett," Holly said cautiously. "Careful. We don't know--"
"I know what you did," Garrett said. "I saw you shoot that woman. Sea marshals wouldn't shoot an unarmed passenger and then flee the scene. That much I know. What exactly are you two up to?"
Just then an alarm sounded through the speakers. Seven short rings followed by one long ring. The emergency call to proceed to the muster stations. Muster stations are locations on the ship where all passengers and crew are to proceed in the event of an emergency.
Both men looked around anxiously, specifically at the doors leading to the crew-only quarters.
"These hallways are about to be swarmed with crew members heading for their muster stations," the tall man said. "You don't want to be standing there with a gun in your hands when they come running through here. Give it to me now, and I'll let you go."
"Just like that?" Garrett smiled. "You'll let me go? I'm not sure where you have any say in that. Besides, if you were telling the truth before, won't all the crew recognize you as who you say you are, and come to your defense? I have a feeling they won't acknowledge you at all. I have a feeling they're going to rush right past us, and head to the muster stations."
"Garrett," Holly said. "If this storm is really bad, we should go." She could see crew members through the door windows heading their way. "The muster stations are at the lifeboats. We should go and find out what's going on."
"I want to know--" Garrett started as he followed Holly's eyes and saw the other crew members coming as well. "I want to know what happened to that woman you shot. She disappeared right after you fled the scene. I want to know why you shot her, and what happened to her."
"It doesn't matter right now," the tall man insisted. The short man started fidgeting, clearly wanting to leave the hallway.
Then, all the doors leading to the crew-only sections opened at once and a steady stream of crew members rushed down the hall. Garrett motioned the men to the end corner of the hall, away from the stream of rushing bodies. Before they could comply, the short man got in behind one of the rushing crew members, and using them as a shield from Garrett's weapon, disappeared with the crowd into the stairwell. The tall man tried to follow him, but Garrett was quicker. He pushed him into the corner and leveled the weapon at him.
A few of the rushing crew noticed the gun. One started to approach, but Garrett warned him off. "This is none of your business! Follow captain's orders and proper alarm protocol. Keep moving." The crew member hesitated momentarily. Garrett raised his voice. "Unless you want this gun pointing in your direction, you'll move on." Th
e tone in Garrett's voice, the increased rocking of the ship, and the repeating alarm convinced the crew member to move on.
"Damn you!" the tall man yelled angrily. "He's going to take my lifeboat. You have no idea what you're doing."
"Tell me about the woman," Garrett insisted again. "Tell me about the woman and I'll let you go."
"Alright, fine. She recognized me. She knew I was fired from my last command for dereliction of duty. They accused me of drinking when I was supposed to be in charge of the bridge. I was a first officer on another boat. It was only two drinks, and I was fine. It was a ridiculous trumped up charge. They were out to get me. I spent my whole life working on the water, and they took it away. Captain Strickland and the others. They ruined me. I just wanted justice. He had it in for me from the beginning, and I just wanted to make him see what it felt like."
"And the girl?" Holly said. "You really had to shoot her?"
"That was a mistake. I didn't mean to. I was just trying to scare her off. She was fine. It was only in the leg, and they took her to the doctor right away."
Holly spoke up now. "What did you mean when you said 'my lifeboat'?"
"I didn't. I just said lifeboat."
"No, you didn't," Holly insisted. Garrett looked at her, confused. "You said 'my' ... quite distinctively. Like your friend was stealing from you or something. Why would one of the lifeboats be just yours? They're all the same."
"Look." The tall man looked around. Most of the crew members were already gone. There were only a few stragglers. "You have to promise to take me with you. Alright?"
"Yeah, sure. Fine," Garrett answered.
"The lifeboats are equipped with engines, but only a limited amount of fuel. Not enough to get you to shore. Just enough to keep you out of danger until a rescue ship comes."
Holly looked to Garrett. "We don't know if anyone is coming for us. That EMP would have disabled everyone."
"Exactly," the tall man said. "No one's coming. They're all too busy with their own problems right now. We're on our own. Those lifeboats don't have enough fuel to get you to shore, not in this storm. My friend and I stocked one of the lifeboats with extra fuel. It may not have enough, but it'll have more than the others. I can show you which one. Just take me with you."
"How do you know the engines will even work?" Garrett asked.
"We tested it. They're just basic engines. No fancy electronics like on the main ship. Whatever happened to mess up the electronics didn't affect the lifeboat motors. They'll start."
"Tell us which one," Holly said. "They're all numbered. Which one is it?"
"If I tell you, then how do I know you'll even take me? You won't need me."
"How do we know that you won't just bolt when we get up in the crowd of people?"
The tall man thought for a second, and realized he didn't have a lot of choice. "Twenty-seven. It's boat twenty-seven. Can we go now?"
"We can," Garrett said, "but it's going to take you a little longer." Garrett lowered the pistol, and shot the tall man in the leg.
The man screamed in pain, grabbing his leg. "What the hell?"
"You shot that woman and left her; it only seems fair. If you don't like it, then feel free to report me to the captain. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see an old friend." Garrett looked at the man's wound. It was barely bleeding. "Looks like I barely nicked you. Just a flesh wound. You should be able to make it to the lifeboat. We'll wait a few minutes for you."
Garrett and Holly headed to the stairwell as they left the man holding his leg in the corner.
"You don't really think we're actually taking the lifeboats, do you?" Holly asked. "Really abandoning ship?"
"Probably just a precautionary measure by the captain. How bad could this storm really be?"
Chapter 24 ~ Doubts
The paramedic at the scene of the accident couldn't help Becky and William. He still had another car of patients to tend to, and was under captain's orders to remain at the scene until his crew returned. He suggested that Becky and William head on foot to the fire station, which wasn't that far away.
"Do you think he's still alive?" Becky asked William, while trying to catch her breath.
It felt like a longer trek to the fire station than she had thought it would be. As much as she was worried about Wayne, she couldn't help but worry about what her parents were doing at the moment. She couldn't imagine that they were experiencing the kind of problems that were hitting New York. How far could an EMP reach? It didn't seem fair that just as her life seemed to be finally going right for a change, things would all of a sudden start going so badly.
"I'm trying not to think about it," William said. "We just have to focus on what's in front of us right now, and that means getting to the fire station. After that, we can worry about everything else."
"I wish I could. My mind keeps racing from one thing to the next."
"You have to be positive. The firemen will know what to do. It's what they do every day. It's like getting out of bed in the morning. They just do it."
"I keep thinking about all the other people that must be having problems right now, and that the paramedics won't have time to get to Wayne."
"I keep thinking about when I was little, and back in elementary school. Third grade, I think. We took a class field trip to the fire station. It wasn't really that big of a trip. The fire station was only a few blocks from the school, but walking there seemed like the adventure of a lifetime."
"Well, you would only have been like eight or something. How fast can those little legs move?"
"Exactly. I also remember feeling really scared about it. Like we wouldn't be able to find our way back to the school, because it was so far away. My teacher, Mrs. Laguee, told me not to worry. She said she'd made the trip lots of times, and even though there were lots of ferocious animals along the way, as long as I stuck close to her, I'd be sure to make it back in one piece."
"Ferocious animals? Like what? Lions and tigers? Where exactly did you grow up?"
"All over the place. I told you my parents got around a lot. Up till fourth grade, I was in New Jersey. So, about the only ferocious animals we had were raccoons and gray squirrels. Then could be pretty nasty if you got them cornered ... or so I've been told. I think Mrs. Laguee told that story to all the kids so they'd stick close to her and not get lost."
* * *
William looked around the next corner. "I think we might be lost." He turned to look at Becky when she didn't respond to him, and she wasn't there. At first he panicked, but quickly found her when he retraced his steps. It was hard to find her at first, as she had sat herself down on the sidewalk, back against an old tattoo parlor. Her head was slumped between her knees, and her hair had fallen to cover her entire face.
William rushed to her, putting his hands on her shoulders. She never saw him approach, but instead of being startled, she didn't move.
"Becky," he said, just loud enough to be heard over the dying street noise. "Becky, what's wrong. Are you OK?"
"He's probably dead," she whispered.
"Don't say that."
"All alone, up there in that mess. That death trap of a building that's got no place being there. I had no place being there. It should have been someone else up there. Someone who knew what to do. Someone who knew first aid, or how to help him. It shouldn't have been me. I'm barely more than a kid. Just some little kid, playing at being a grownup. My mother was right. I never should have left North Carolina. What was I thinking?"
William sat down beside her. "It's been a shitty day. That's for sure, but we'll get through it. We just have to stick together, and keep moving." Becky let out a big sigh without even looking up. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm scared too. Scared as hell. But that's what keeps me moving ... being scared."
"Why?" Becky looked up at him. She wasn't crying, but was fighting hard not to. "Why would fear keep you moving? Wouldn't you just rather go somewhere safe? Like home?"
"Yes, of course. Eventu
ally I will go home, but right now I can't, so I have to go somewhere else. Somewhere else that isn't here. Sitting here right now in front of this tattoo parlor is scary. I don't know where I am. These people walking by all look scared, and they're staring at us. New Yorkers never stare at anyone, and they're looking at us."
Becky smiled a little. "They've never seen a girl from North Carolina before, that's why they're staring."
"Yeah, maybe." He looked up at the tattoo parlor window behind him. "Did you actually look at what you sat in front of? This place has some pretty scary shit in the window. No wonder you're afraid. I've never seen a troll tattoo with appendages coming out of there." Becky started to turn her head to look, but he put his arm around her so she couldn't. "No, no, no. You don't want to be looking back there. If you think you're scared now, turning around will only make it worse." She elbowed him in the ribs.
"Hey!" Becky yelled at some guy in a business suit who was walking by. He tried to ignore her, but she jumped up and blocked his path.
"I don't have any change," he said. "Go panhandle someone else." He tried to go around her, but she moved in front of him again.
"Where's the fire station?"
"What?"
"The fire station. You know, where they keep the firetrucks," she said sarcastically.
"It's one street over. Right behind this tattoo place." He moved again to get around her, and was relieved she didn't bother to stop him.
Becky looked in the direction the man had indicated as William stood up. "That's not a troll, you idiot. It's a mermaid. That's her tail. Have you never seen a mermaid before?"
"Told you, my parents were never big on TV growing up." He brushed the sidewalk dirt off his pants. "Although, looks like someone's got their nerve back."
EMP Survivors (Book 1): Destination Lost Page 12
