Deadland's Harves(45)

We all scrambled to grab ahold of the towboat’s hull to steady the pontoon. Jase hopped up and lassoed the towboat’s railing. Tack, Nate, and Griz climbed off the pontoon and onto the beach. While Tack helped Jase secure the pontoon to a fallen tree, I jumped off and watched the woods. Wes joined me a few seconds later while Tyler stayed on board at the wheel.

“This island looks pretty empty,” Wes said. “There’s nothing here but trees and a shipwreck.”

Of course, at that moment I saw movement in the trees. “Way to jinx us.” I slung my rifle over my shoulder and pulled out my machete. I walked toward the tree, careful to make sure nothing else waited in the shadows. The zed that emerged was ugly—horrendously ugly—bloated with river water and weathered. Its balding head was the only thing that hinted at its gender when it’d been infected. It came toward me, arms outreached, as though it wanted to embrace me. It moved slowly and stiffly. I swung and took the top of its head off. It collapsed, and I immediately looked for more.

When no more zeds emerged, I headed back to the small beach to put space between the trees and me. By then, Jase had the pontoon securely tied to the towboat, and Tyler was checking his rifle. A pile of grain had poured out of one of the barges that had crashed onto the island. “I wonder if all the barges are full of grain,” I thought aloud.

Tyler glanced up, and his brow lifted. “We can only hope.”

“Yeah, hope that it’s not rotten already. My uncle had a farm, and I helped him clean out a bin once. Man, rotten corn is nasty,” Griz said as he walked around the towboat, with Tack at his side. He was searching the Aurora, though I wasn’t sure what he was looking for. Nate stood, watching the water.

Tyler looked around. “I know it sucks, but we’re down to an hour of sunlight left. Once we’re aboard, we’ll need to secure the towboat for tonight. In the morning, we’ll clear out the barges so we can unload the supplies and get set up for Fox’s arrival.”

We’d left before sunrise this morning, while it was still dark, because we knew well the roads in the Fox River valley. We needed all the sunlight we could get for the long, slow drive over here. We’d known it would take several hours, but none of us had figured it would burn through nearly all of our sunlight hours coming here.

Griz went back to the pontoon and rummaged through a crate. He pulled out an armful of nylon cables and rappelling hardware. Tack helped while we watched him throw a hook over the first railing. He tugged on it and then turned to us. “See you on top.” He climbed the short distance in under five seconds flat.

“I’ll go next,” Jase said, rubbing his hands together.

“Be careful,” Tyler said. “No unnecessary injuries.”

“I got it.” He slung his rifle over his shoulder and grabbed the rope and made his way up to the deck.

I swallowed and glanced at Wes who looked like he was thinking the same thing. “Friggin’ spider man,” I muttered.

Tyler motioned to us. “Who’s next?”

“I guess I’ll go,” I said, and I heard Wes let out a sigh. I dragged my feet over to the rope and snapped my sheath shut. I grabbed the rope.

Tyler pressed a warm hand against my back. “Use your legs and walk up. You’ll find your rhythm soon enough.”

If I hadn’t had over twenty pounds of gear on me, it would’ve been easier. I definitely never found the “rhythm” Tyler had spoken of. Even though I was diligent with my workouts, I never had much upper body strength. Every vertical foot was a clumsy struggle, especially as I approached the railing and there was less slack in the rope. Two pair of hands reached down. I grabbed ahold of Jase and then Griz, and let them pull me the rest of the way. Below me, Wes was just getting started, and he was faring only slightly better than I had.

“Geez, Cash. I thought you were going to take a nap on the way up,” Jase joked.

I flipped him the bird.

Griz helped me to my feet. “Don’t listen to the kid. You did good, girl. It takes a while to get the hang of rope climbing.”

I knew he was just being nice, but it still made me feel better. I unsheathed my machete. “Help the others. I’ll stand watch.”

A couple minutes later, we all stood on the deck of the Aurora II. It had three windowed levels above the deck, the second level half the size of the first, and a small high-sitting bridge on top. Anyone could see there were no zeds on the deck.

“The bridge will give us a three-sixty view of the area. It should be the most secure place to hole up for the night,” Tyler said as he set down a huge duffle bag with a thud.