by DeLeon, Jon
"I better get back to patrols, and you better get this ship back in formation. I'll see you in a few hours," Ricahrd said.
"Sounds good."
La Vida Dulce: Outbreak Day +81
"The kids are finally napping," Kira said as she came up from the bottom deck. She let herself fall limply onto the couch, plopping down, exhausted.
"Thank God," Joe said, half-zoned out as he moved the wheel, steering the boat over a large wave.
"These rough seas didn't help much," Kira said.
"I know, I'm sorry. I could hear them complaining about the waves. At least the storm died out now. If that mess of a system kept going, I don't think any of us would be getting much sleep."
"Yeah. It wasn't just the waves though. The noise of the thunder scared them too."
"Oh, I remember being scared of thunder as a kid."
"It's not that, Joe."
"What do you mean?" Joe asked.
"Joe, every thunder clap made them think that we were under attack again."
"Oh."
"I'm scared about them, Joe. I mean, all of this is bad enough for us, but they're just kids. How do they stay innocent and okay through this? They know that monsters are real, and they're stuck on a boat with two random strangers who aren't parents, let alone their parents. How can they turn out okay?" Kira sat for a moment in silence. "Do you ever dream about the future, Joe?"
"Of course," Joe answered.
"I've been having trouble lately," Kira said. "It's just, after all that has happened, I don't know what to dream about that I can even see as a possibility anymore."
"Hmm."
"What's your dream?" Kira asked.
"Well," Joe said, "when I dream about the future, I think about finding some beach somewhere that is zombie-free, some island that didn't get the Enerjax shipment, and just living there free of having to be on edge all the time."
"Am I in your dream?" Kira asked.
Joe turned the captain's chair to look directly at Kira. "Of course, you and the kids. We may not be their parents, but you've loved them and taken care of them. You kept them fed, and happy and safe, while I was gone. They are here today and able to still smile because of you. We may never truly be Mom and Dad, but I think Aaron and his wife would be happy to know the kind of love we have for them and the life we have built for them. No matter what, we are family now, and if the other part of my dream comes true, they'll have an Uncle Kurt, living with us on that island."
Kira smiled, holding back a tear. "Sounds nice." She sniffled. "I think I'm going to steal your dream."
Joe smiled back at her. "That's allowed."
Joe turned at the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. "Good morning," Jolie said as she stepped onto the main deck.
Joe looked out the window at the last few rays of sun setting on the horizon. "I think you mean good night."
Kira laughed. "Well I guess it's bedtime for you now, huh, Joe?"
"My turn to be the pirate captain. Vacate that seat," Jolie said.
"You're oddly excited about sitting here for hours looking at nothing."
"I have my reasons."
Joe raised an eyebrow, suspicious.
"Good night, Joe," Jolie said, smirking.
"Come on, Joe, I'm coming to bed with you," Kira said, standing and grabbing Joe's arm, pulling him downstairs.
"Sweet dreams, you two," Jolie said, winking at them.
"Good night," Kira said, smirking back.
Joe and Kira climbed into bed. "What was that all about?" Joe asked.
"Shhh," Kira whispered, putting her finger to Joe's lips. Joe could see the desire in her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. His lips met hers as his hands reached to remove anything that separated them. They melted into each other and the sheets, expressing physically their love for each other.
Joe and Kira lay cuddling each other, recovering from their exertion. Jolie's muffled voice echoed through the thin walls of the yacht. "Who is she talking to?" Joe asked Kira and the air in general.
"Ricahrd," Kira said.
"Yeah?" Joe said, intrigued.
"I guess they have really hit it off," Kira said.
"Well there was chemistry when he first brought Megan over," Joe remarked.
"Yeah, well he always calls during her piloting shifts now. They talk over a private radio channel."
"Hmm."
"Yeah, they have had some strangely amazing connections."
"Are you listening in on their conversations?" Joe asked.
"First of all, girls always share whatever they talk to guys about. The apocalypse didn't change that. Second, these walls are pretty thin," Kira said.
"That's fair. So what kind of strange connections do they have?"
"Well it started with basic stuff, like the same favorite color or music genre, or dislike for Indian foodstuff, but soon they found out they had the same bucket-list vacation destinations and, oh, the same birthday."
Joe smiled. "Same birthday? That's fun! If it was the normal world, they could go get free coffee and movie tickets together."
Kira laughed. "I never thought about that. That would be fun. You could probably go the whole day getting free double-date treats."
"Hey, when is your birthday?" Joe asked, realizing he didn't know.
"Well . . ." Kira coyly said. "It was actually a few months ago."
"What!" Joe said, surprised.
"Yeah."
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.
"Well it's not like it was a great time for celebrations," Kira said.
"Well it's the perfect time for them now! We have to have a party!" Joe exclaimed.
"No, it's really not—" Kira started.
Joe didn't let her finish. "No we are going to have one!
"No."
"Yes."
"Joe."
Joe just lay smiling, planning in his head.
"Joe!"
La Vida Dulce: Outbreak Day +83
White wisps of smoke and small embers flew into the air as Kira blew extra hard to extinguish all of her birthday candles in one breath. Joe, Jolie and Ricahrd all clapped and cheered. The kids, Jack, Christine, Elizabeth and Megan, all blew noisemakers made from folded craft paper, which Jolie had helped them make. Ricahrd and Megan had been kind enough to convince the cook aboard one of the tankers to make a cupcake from an instant cake packet he had been hoarding for a special occasion of his own. They cut the small cupcake into a bunch of tiny bites so everyone could have a taste. By normal standards, this would have been a severely undercatered event, but in this situation, it was a sweet feast.
Joe pulled Kira close and hugged her. "Happy Birthday."
"Thanks," she said, turning and kissing him.
"I've got another surprise for you," Joe said.
"What's that?" Kira asked.
"Well, you know the Zune I had in my pack?"
"Yeah, the one that we could never find a cord for?"
"That's the one . . ." Joe bit his lip, drawing out the suspense.
"You didn't," Kira said, eyes getting bigger.
"Ricahrd had one," Joe said, pulling out the Zune and cord.
Kira took it and turned it on. It flashed alive in a second, with a 100 percent battery charge. "A cupcake and a charging cord, how are we going to make it up to him?" Kira asked.
"I think Jolie will do that," Joe said, looking at Jolie currently holding Ricahrd's hand.
"Joe!" Kira playfully hit him.
"Hey." He playfully acted like the hit hurt. "So what do you say? How about a dance?"
"Definitely! Now let’s just hope you have good taste in music," Kira said, smiling.
Joe laughed. "Well this is a couple of years old now. I had it with me in Afghanistan."
Kira smiled. "How about you just push play and see what your last song was?"
"Deal." Joe plugged the Zune into the sound system's AUX port and pressed play.
Kira started laughing.
"Ha ha ha! Is that Nicki Minaj?"
"Hey," Joe responded, "don't knock it. Nicki Minaj helped all of us stay connected with home during deployment. And besides, ‘Va Va Voom’ is a catchy-as-hell dance song." Joe started dancing to the beat.
Kira laughed and smiled a large grin. She started dancing with Joe, moving to the beat as best she could. Kira turned around and started to back into Joe. Before she could playfully grind Joe, Jack jumped in between them.
"I wanna dance too!" he yelled, excitedly.
Kira turned, half-embarrassed, half-overwhelmed by Jack's cuteness. "Well of course, Jack! You have to dance with us!" She reached down and picked Jack up, swinging him around. He let out a happy laugh as she spun him. "Come on, everyone!" Kira waved to the rest of the boat, who were just watching. All of the kids came rushing over, followed closely by Jolie and Ricahrd. It was a full-blown dance party.
"Whew," Joe said as he closed the door to the back deck behind him. "I forgot how much I sweat when dancing." He wiped what could best be described as dew from his forehead. "How is everything?" Joe asked Ricahrd.
"It's all good," Ricahrd replied. The security detail was just checking in. It's procedure. Sorry, I didn't think having music in the background while my guys are out on patrol was a great move."
Joe waved it off. "Please, I understand. Besides, the dance party didn't stop." Joe pointed back inside La Vida Dulce at Jolie and Kira dancing with the kids.
"No," Ricahrd laughed, "it definitely didn't." They shared a few moments of silence, watching the dance party. Then a tear threatened to come to Ricahrd’s eye, seeing Jolie twirling his sister. Megan was smiling from cheek to cheek. "Did you ever think you'd see people so happy again?"
Joe was staring at Kira, laughing and smiling. She looked at him, shooting him a happy glance. Her eyes smiled even more brightly than her lips. "It's . . . overwhelming. It's . . . it gives you hope, doesn't it?"
"Yeah. It almost . . ." Ricahrd let his sentence trail off.
"What?" Joe asked, still not looking away from Kira and the kids.
"It almost doesn't seem real. I mean, I've been dreaming of a moment like this for so long. To actually be in it, it's hard to comprehend," Ricahrd said.
"Yeah." Joe stopped and looked over at Ricahrd. "It almost makes you grateful for all the shitty stuff that happened to get us here. Almost thankful for zombies."
Ricahrd looked at his feet. When he turned to look Joe in the eyes, his eyes were full of happy tears.
Joe just nodded back, getting emotional himself.
Ricahrd cleared his throat. "Well, I think I'm going to join them."
Joe nodded. "I'll meet you in there." As Ricahrd headed inside, Joe looked up at the moon. He hadn't spent much time praying recently, but in that moment, he felt led to speak with God. "Thank you."
"Joe, thank you so much for tonight. This was amazing," Kira said. She and Joe were lying and cuddling in bed after cleaning up from Kira's birthday party. Kira's head was on Joe's chest, listening to his heartbeat.
"You're welcome," Joe replied, a huge smile on his face. "I love you."
"I love you too," Kira said, pulling herself off his chest and up to his face. They shared a long kiss. "Joe?"
"Yeah?" Joe said.
"What's our plan?" Kira asked, looking for some sort of idea of what the future held. "I know you told me that you told Ricahrd you'd go along with his ‘meet the resistance’ idea, and that you're meeting the king of Newlantis, but what then? What happens after that?"
"Well, then we go find Kurt," Joe said.
"How do we do that?" Kira asked.
"Well . . ." Joe half stuttered over the next sentence. "Not we go find Kurt. We, as in Ricahrd and I, go in search of him."
Kira rolled off Joe, getting quiet instantly. The tension was palpable.
"Kira. Kira, talk to me," Joe said.
She just shook her head.
"Come on, talk to me," Joe pleaded.
"No, I can't right now," she replied.
"Why not? I need you to talk to me."
"Because I'm going to cry, and I don't want to cry anymore."
"I'm sorry, but the way we're getting to where Kurt is, it can't take us all. And I can't leave the kids without you here. Please talk to me."
"Look, I'm not mad. But you're leaving us behind again. Last time, you almost didn't come back. So I'm not going to be happy not being with you, okay?" Kira said, tears coming to her eyes.
"Okay." Joe nodded.
After a minute of silence, Kira asked, "How are you getting to Kurt?"
Joe answered, "Well when we were in New Miami, I made a deal."
New Miami Mayor's Office: Outbreak Day +69
"I need you to carry the shipment of the drug with you to Europe," Collin, the mayor of New Miami, told Joe.
"Me? Why don't you send one of your men on the trip?"
"Two reasons. One, I can't spare the men here. A gang is constantly fight us and really is on the brink of overthrowing our small semblance of a government here. I need all the men I have. Two, if I sent one of my men, he would be ambushed before he reached the docks. They are well known by the people."
Joe thought about it.
Collin continued. "Look, Joe, I trust you. I know the kind of man you are. Stephen told me a lot about all the times you helped him. You coming here has solved a major problem I have had. I need you to do this."
"I'll need you to help arrange one other thing," Joe said.
"What's that?"
Joe leaned in, whispering into Collin's ear. They were alone, but he wanted to ensure no one else heard this request.
"I need you to get me a helicopter, fuel and safe passage to Russia and back. I need to save my brother. He's alive, and I know I can save him."
Collin smiled. "I'll do my best."
"Okay then."
La Vida Dulce: Outbreak Day +91
"Joe!"
Joe tossed over in bed, one eye fighting to stay shut. Huh?
"Joe!" Kira yelled again from upstairs.
"Yeah?" Joe said to the wall, sleepily. "I'm up." He sat up and rubbed the tiredness from his face, or at least tried.
"Joe!" Kira yelled again, filled with excitement.
"Coming!" he yelled back as he stood from the bed. He was already wearing his clothes, having passed out hard from the long shift as captain the night before. He trudged upstairs, lifting heavy feet and legs up the short set of steps. As he came upstairs, he shielded his eyes against the light. "You know I've only been asleep two hours, right?" His tone was gruff. "What's going on?"
"You gotta see this!" Jolie excitedly said from the captain's seat.
"See what?"
"Joe!" Kira yelled again from the fly deck outside.
Jolie laughed. "Go up, check it out."
Joe climbed the stairs in the back to the fly deck. The early-afternoon sun shone brightly, warming the air outside. It felt good on Joe's skin.
"Mr. Joe!" Jack yelled as Joe's head became visible at the top of the stairwell. Christine and Elizabeth cheered in unison to him. "Look! Look! Look!"
"Joe, check it out!" Kira said. At first, Joe didn't see what she was pointing at. She was standing at the rail, silhouetted by the sun, a shining beauty. "Joe, look," she insisted.
Joe's eyes followed her outstretched arm. At the end of her pointing finger was a sheer white rock face that stretched hundreds of feet into the air. "Holy shhhh . . ." Joe stopped himself, remembering the kids were there, "shh-rock?"
"It da rock gibbalta!" Jack said happily.
"The what?" Joe asked, smiling widely.
"Yes, Jack, that's right. It is the Rock of Gibraltar," Kira said, patting Jack on the shoulder.
"Oh cool, Jack!" Joe said. "Well I tell you what, it's great to see land again, that's for sure." Kira nodded in agreement. "Wait, that means . . ." Joe said, realization dawning on him.
"Welcome to the Mediterranean, Captain Feller." Kira smirked.
"We're gettin
g close. We aren't that far away from Newlantis. This actually might happen."
"It will happen, Joe. You will find Kurt."
"Thanks." Joe kissed Kira, thanking her for her support.
"Newwantis." Jack tried to say the new word he had just heard.
"That's right, buddy," Joe said, ruffling Jack's hair. Joe looked at the rock, his hand still on the young boy. "I don't think it will be as incredible to see as this though."
Newlantis: Outbreak Day +94
"I was wrong," Joe said to himself. The view in front of him was something so amazing and different, his mind couldn't comprehend it easily. He struggled to grasp and process the information his eyes were taking in. He had been staring at Newlantis for the better part of an hour and still didn't fully know what he was looking at. The floating island made of ships was way more massive than Joe could have even imagined. This was not a small cluster of ships tied together. This was a legitimate floating landmass.
"Big, right?" Ricahrd said.
"I guess I should have expected it to be big, with the Mediterranean being such a huge shipping lane and everything, but this is . . . crazy," Joe responded. "I mean, we have been sailing past this wall of containers stacked five high for a while now."
"Yeah, this is the main wall around the elite housing district," Ricahrd said. "Right after this long stretch of wall, we will pass the military dock. They wanted to pick you up from the convoy, but I insisted on bringing you myself. I told them it was on orders from the mayor, and that I needed your help securing our escort. Obviously I couldn't tell them the other part of our plan." Joe looked at the ships sailing around them. They were the yachts from the convoy, all following the security ship, leading them to the entrance to Newlantis, in hopes of docking and staying with the massive floating city. Ricahrd continued his narrated tour. "Newlantis has three main docks, the military dock, the oil-depositing moorings that you saw our tankers heading to, and the public-access dock. The public-access dock leads to the grand market and the new government buildings. It's the only way to the interior of Newlantis unless you're an oil tanker or part of the military. The city, or really more like an island, is built as three broken concentric circles. Essentially if you looked down on it from above, it would look like one center circle with docking areas surrounded by pieces of rings connected to it and each other by barges turned into bridges. Are you understanding this?"
