The Expedition

by Chris Babu

  “Catrice. You had a good run. She picked you over me. I know, I know, I gave it my best shot. Sadly, she’s smart, you’re smart, and I’m an idiot. There was no way I was winning that battle. Bravo. But, I mean, Eugene? I think your ship has sailed. Sorry, not sorry for the pun, by the way. It’s the love. It moves quickly man, like wildflowers.”

  Drayden held his hands in the air. “Like wildflowers? Wildflowers? What the hell does…do you mean wildfire?”

  “Yeah, like wildfire.”

  “I haven’t lost Catrice. I don’t think.”

  “That boy’s game is slicker than snot on a bald guy’s head,” Charlie said quietly. “All innocent and charming. I wish I was that smooth. Instead I get kicked in the shins.”

  “You think it’s an act?” Drayden asked, scanning the boat to make sure Eugene wasn’t around.

  “I’m not sure. I don’t think so. The guy is just awesome.”

  The guy was awesome. If he’d indeed lost Catrice, then she must prefer Eugene to him. What was it about the kid exactly? Assuming he and Eugene were equally intelligent, that only left Eugene’s better looks and superior strength. You could scratch looks from that list. While Drayden wasn’t particularly handsome, she was into him before Eugene entered the picture. That meant appearance wasn’t that important to her, leaving Eugene’s strength, with which he could protect her.

  He needed to show Catrice that he was strong, tough, and manly like Eugene. It was probably his jealousy, but given the other Guardians’ actions thus far, he wasn’t sure they should blindly trust the young corporal.

  “Charlie, I’m not sure about him. I agree the guy is cool, nice, charming. Still, he’s too perfect. Who’s like that? Nobody. Have you ever met anyone like him before? Something bugs me about him, and it’s not just that he’s stealing my girlfriend.”

  Charlie pointed at him. “Stole.”

  “Thank you. All I’m saying is, I think the four of us should stick together, not totally embrace him in our group yet. Let’s be a little cautious. Plus, the kid has two first names. Eugene Austin. You can never trust someone with two first names.”

  Charlie scratched his head. “I have two first names. Charlie Arnold.”

  “Exactly. And you tried to kill me once.” Drayden smirked. “Listen, we have no idea what the Guardians are up to—if they’re even on the same mission we believe we’re on. They’re sure not acting like it.”

  Charlie held out his fist for a bump. “We’re sticking together. I got your back; don’t worry.”

  Drayden bumped his fist. “Thanks, Charlie. Now if I could only figure out how to take over control of the boat from Captain Pinprick, I’d feel better. I have to show him I’m not weak. Any sign of weakness, a guy like that eats you for breakfast.”

  “Listen, bro,” Charlie said, “you’re a lot smarter than me, so I shouldn’t be giving you advice, but there’s already a lot of muscle on this boat. Know what there’s not a lot of? Brains. Maybe leave the tough stuff to guys like me and Captain Chick-Flick…Captain Bone-to-Pick…Captain Limp—”

  “Charlie, I got it.”

  “You do you,” Charlie said. “That’s all I’m sayin.’”

  It was more than being strong for the mission’s sake; Drayden was fretting about the Catrice situation. Thinking he should refocus on navigation, he surveyed the coast, searching for landmarks.

  A sizable peninsula jutted out ahead of their path. On their current trajectory, they would pass within a few hundred yards of it.

  He rose to fetch his maps from the boat’s stern when something caught his eye, and he drew in a quick breath.

  “Oh my God, Charlie. Do you see that?”

  CHAPTER 14

  A young boy, around five years old, was frolicking on a beach, wearing only shorts.

  “Look!” Drayden pointed. “There’s a kid there! A person!” He dashed to the rear of the boat.

  Eugene was holding court between Catrice and Sidney, recounting some story. Both girls were engrossed.

  “Catrice! Look!” Drayden frantically jumped up and down.

  Sidney leapt to her feet. “Holy shkat. There are people out here! Alive.”

  Catrice waved at the little boy. “Drayden, shouldn’t we stop?”

  If there was a boy, he had parents. It was possible a whole community of people lived here. Drayden’s mind swirled pondering all the implications—survivors, immunity to Aeru, gathering an army.

  Mom.

  He rushed into the cockpit. “Captain Lindrick! There’s a young boy on shore. Over there!”

  Sergeant Greaney and Lieutenant Duarte exited the cockpit to check it out. Captain Lindrick squinted, ducking to see out the side window. Then he resumed driving without a word.

  “Captain, what are you doing? We have to go investigate that!”

  Captain Lindrick ignored him.

  Drayden mulled taking hold of the throttle and pulling it back. What would Lindrick do?

  They passed the beach, leaving behind the boy who was now waving. Sidney, Catrice, and Eugene waved back.

  “Hello!” Eugene called out.

  Drayden balled his hands into fists. “Captain Lindrick, I’m ordering you to turn the boat around so we can go talk to that boy. People are alive out here. We need to find out what they know. This could be critical for New America.”

  Lindrick stared straight ahead. “That’s not part of our mission, Private.”

  Drayden’s face flushed hot. “Like hell it isn’t. We could get to Boston and find the city deserted. They might not let us in. This may be the only live person we see on the whole journey. Captain! I gave you a direct order.”

  Sergeant Greaney and Lieutenant Duarte pushed by him to reenter the cockpit, both remaining silent.

  Drayden could appeal to Sergeant Greaney, who was at least cordial the first time they’d met. “Sergeant, I believe we need to go back and talk to that boy. It’s the first proof we have that people are alive outside the walls of New America. If there’s a young boy, he has parents. There may be a community of people. They might hold the key to surviving out in the wild.”

  Sergeant Greaney’s eyes flicked to Captain Lindrick.

  His voice raised, Lindrick spoke without turning around. “Private, clearly you don’t know much about the military chain of command. I’m the senior officer here, and I’ve decided we continue on our mission. When you have a mission, you must exercise discipline to stick to it. And you complete it, at all costs.”

  By now the other privates and Eugene had gathered outside the cockpit door.

  “Captain!” Drayden shouted. “Am I in charge of this mission or not? Turn the boat around, now! This is the first proof of life outside New America in twenty-five years. We need to find out how those people are alive.”

  Lieutenant Duarte leaned into Sergeant Greaney. “I don’t believe he’s too in charge of this mission, what do you think?”

  Sergeant Greaney looked at the floor and tried to bite back a laugh, but failed.

  “Captain, you need to pull the boat over,” Sidney said.

  Eugene stood tall. “Captain Lindrick, sir! The corporal requests that we pull the boat over to investigate the issue before continuing on our mission, sir!”

  Drayden had to hand it to Eugene and Sidney for having his back this time.

  “Stand down, Corporal,” Lieutenant Duarte snarled. He scowled at Drayden. “You too, Private.” He pulled his knife again, polishing it.

  Drayden stepped toward him. “I’m not a private. What, I’m supposed to be scared because you have a knife? I have a knife too.”

  “Yeah?” Duarte flipped his in the air and caught it, waving it at Drayden. “You wanna take yours out and see who’s sharper

  with it?”

  Sergeant Greaney pushed Lieutenant Duarte’s knife down. “We’re too fa
r past the beach to go back now anyway. Why don’t you kids go relax? We have hours left to go.”

  Drayden shoved his way through Eugene and the other privates. He stormed to the rear of the boat, defeated, again.

  Drayden fumed at the table in the back. Two hours had passed since his latest failure to wrest control of the mission and investigate the sighting.

  No other people had appeared on shore since. That kid may have held the key to surviving in the outside world. Assuming he was part of a larger community, Drayden couldn’t believe they’d survived Aeru. The significance of their existence couldn’t be overstated.

  A walled-in city of people in Boston might not offer information as valuable to survival as a group living in the wilderness. If anything, Boston would be a facsimile of New America, with people living safely within the confines of a protected world. In the wild, people lived amongst the very bacteria that had scourged the whole planet. Those people might have built up a natural resistance to Aeru. Or perhaps the few people with a congenital immunity to Aeru were procreating, rebuilding an entire population impervious to infection.

  Drayden also needed to pursue his secret goal. He reminded himself of Kim’s instructions to determine if anything out in the real world could assist with their overthrow attempt. A desperate village of people might work. Understanding how to survive outside New America would be transformational. Still, it was a vague, broad goal. He hadn’t a clue how to drum up an army.

  The other privates wandered around the boat, distressed by their failed confrontation with the Guardians. Two hands behind Drayden massaged his shoulders.

  Before checking, he thought it was more likely to be Eugene than Catrice. But the thin, delicate hands were a giveaway. He hated himself for it as he scanned the boat for Eugene.

  He wasn’t around, unsurprisingly. He was inside the cockpit, speaking with the other Guardians.

  Catrice had not yet shown a single sign of affection to Drayden in front of Eugene. Was he being paranoid and way oversensitive? Probably. He needed to push his negativity away. That kind of thinking would make everyone hate him, including Catrice. He reached up and touched her hand. “Thanks.”

  She sat beside him. “What are we going to do?”

  “I don’t know. I’m pissed. At those flunk Guardians, at Holst, and at that snake von Brooks. I’m not going to stop trying to seize control of this mission. It’s one thing to be going straight in daylight, but it’s already late afternoon. Pretty soon it’ll be dark, and we’re not leaving it to these guys to sail us to Boston after that. They don’t even have their map out. All they’re doing is hugging the coast.”

  The wind swirled, blasting ocean-cooled air into their already windblown faces. Fortunately, they were still in Long Island Sound, protected from the open Atlantic Ocean where the swells would be much worse. The boat rocked from side to side, and intermittently jumped and dipped, as if they were sailing off a cliff.

  Eugene exited the cockpit, walked over, and sat next to Drayden.

  “Thanks for having my back.” Drayden patted him on the arm.

  “We should’ve stopped,” Eugene said quietly. “That was major, seeing a person out there. I’m sorry about this. Like I said, Captain Lindrick is stubborn; he’s used to being in charge. His dedication to a mission is also paramount. One thing is, if we had stopped, we’d be exposing ourselves to Aeru. Those people might be immune, but we might not.”

  “We got the vaccine,” Drayden snapped.

  Eugene pulled his head back. “You want to test it out?”

  “It doesn’t change the fact that the decision should be ours, not his.” Drayden gritted his teeth. “That was the deal.”

  Eugene squeezed his shoulder. “I know. It’s not right. Let me try and talk to the captain. He respects me; he chose me for this mission. He’ll start to respect you too. Don’t worry.” Eugene’s expression softened. “I remember the first time I met the captain. I was thirteen, well into training. Every time I made eye contact with him, he demanded twenty-five pushups. It was a long day.” He rubbed his chest. “I must have done two hundred pushups. Let me give it a shot, okay? It’s probably better than banging your head against the wall.”

  Drayden wasn’t sure how much he could trust Eugene. God only knew what he was saying to the other Guardians in private. But he didn’t have much of a choice. “Sure. Thanks, Eugene.”

  Eugene punched him on the shoulder and walked into the cockpit.

  Thunder cracked in the distance. The first drops of rain fell.

  The boat violently rocked, shook, and plunged, the hull groaning under the stress of the titanic swells. Rain battered the windows of the cockpit, and waves crashed over the bow. Now that night had fallen, it was impossible to see anything, even with the headlights. The Guardians had finally relented and let Drayden handle navigation.

  Captain Lindrick drove, following his instructions. Sidney and Catrice huddled in the cockpit with them. Given the storm, Sergeant Greaney and Lieutenant Duarte had relinquished the safety of the cockpit to them. Nobody else fit. The two senior Guardians stood out back with Charlie and Eugene, the four of them holding on for dear life.

  Drayden had stuffed his maps into his pack and was using the Guardians’ map instead. His last visual had been Block Island, over two hours ago. Before that he’d noted Fishers Island, which lay right at the border between Connecticut and Rhode Island. It also marked the end of Long Island, their protection from the sea’s fury. Now they sailed in open ocean, and with the storm, the waves were enormous.

  None of them knew the first thing about boats, and everyone was terrified theirs would capsize at any moment. Was the boat equipped to handle surf this rough?

  They needed to execute a slight left turn into Buzzard’s Bay, using navigation tools only because they were sailing blind. Drayden had done the calculations by hand after they’d passed Block Island.

  Cuttyhunk Island, thirty-six miles past Block Island, marked the entrance to Buzzard’s Bay. Their speed had dropped to thirteen knots—fifteen miles per hour—due to the conditions. Heading east-northeast, they needed to bear left of Cuttyhunk Island exactly two hours and twenty-four minutes after Block Island. Hopefully they would see the island before they crashed into it. Unfortunately, between the rain and darkness, they couldn’t see anything.

  Since they’d passed Block Island just over two hours ago, they would reach the relative safety of the bay in roughly twenty minutes. If they survived that long.

  A massive swell rocked the boat’s right side, crashing over the deck with a boom. The boat listed dramatically left.

  Drayden’s heart felt like it stopped. He braced himself against the cockpit walls. They could capsize at any moment. The water was too powerful.

  Catrice screamed as they crashed back down.

  “Holy shkat,” Drayden said, trembling. “Sid, Catrice, we need our packs. Get Charlie and Eugene to grab them.”

  By now everyone was wearing their life vests, including the Guardians.

  Sidney hollered outside the cockpit to Charlie.

  He staggered around the deck, bracing himself against anything he could find. A wave knocked him over, flooding the deck, which now resembled a swimming pool. Eugene hauled him back to his feet and flung open the bin holding the packs. After Charlie strapped his on, they held onto each other and stumbled to the cockpit lugging the others. They dropped the privates’ packs on the floor inside the cockpit. Both boys were soaked, pale, and shivering.

  Drayden had never seen Charlie so scared.

  “Everyone put your packs on over the life vests!” Drayden screamed. “And secure your weapons!” He shoved his hat inside

  his pack.

  Sidney and Catrice locked their rifles onto the backs of the packs and strapped them on tight. None of the Guardians wore theirs, though they carried their rifles.

  D
rayden squinted to see ahead, but with no wiper on the windshield it was impossible. Someone needed to go outside and look. Being a weak swimmer, he was too afraid to do it. If he fell overboard, he was dead. He stuck his head out the cockpit door. “Eugene! Can you see anything in front of the boat? Any land?”

  “What?”

  “Can you see anything in front of the boat?” Drayden shrieked.

  “No! I can’t see anything!”

  Drayden checked his watch. Fifteen minutes until they reached Cuttyhunk Island.

  Another towering wave crashed over the whole boat, even the cockpit. Both decks flooded, thrusting icy water inside the cockpit and down below into the bathroom area, which was under a foot of water now.

  Catrice and Sidney held onto each other, shaking.

  “Captain Lindrick, we have to pull ashore,” Drayden said. “Now. We wait till this storm passes and continue after.”

  “No, Private, we can make it.”

  Drayden jutted his jaw. “Captain, that’s an order!”

  “How much time is left before Buzzard’s Bay?”

  “Fourteen minutes.”

  “We can last; we’re almost there. Once we’re in the bay all this will go away. Don’t be a coward, son!”

  “Captain, turn left now! Take this boat ashore! It’s not worth it!”

  Lindrick turned his head back. “Stand down, private! Stand dow—”

  An ear-splintering crash rocked the boat.

  Either lightning struck or they hit a rock, but Drayden was underwater, in the frigid black sea. The coldness was shocking to the core, blanketing him in pain. His body stiffened instantly, as if zapped by a bolt of electricity. His mind jumped to the pool challenge in the Initiation. This time there was no easing himself in, no well-placed air pockets, and no opportunity to take a deep breath before submerging. This was real, and he had to get above water immediately. His chest ached already. He needed air.

  The life vest was buoyant but the pack was heavy, and they were battling for supremacy.

  The urge to breathe grew overwhelming. He needed to reach the surface. Without any light, he couldn’t even tell which way was up. The disorientation was nauseating.