Deadland's Harves(76)

Griz’s smile faded when he saw us. “What happened?”

“The herds are here,” Jase said as he jumped down.

“Shit.”

Everyone tumbled out of the Humvee and toward the pontoon in a chaotic mess.

“Where are we going?” Maggie asked.

“Get us out of here,” Clutch ordered Griz.

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Griz jumped behind the wheel and started up the boat’s engine, and we scrambled for seats on the pontoon. Little Alana clung to her father. Jase had managed to grab one of the duffels filled with canned food on his way out of the back of the truck. Maggie limped on last, nearly tripping over one of the deer carcasses as she found a seat.

I helped shove the pontoon away from the boat ramp, and Griz throttled the engine full forward to get us into the river. But we weren’t safe yet. We still had to get to the Aurora without attracting the attention of any zeds. It only took one zed to home in on us, and others would notice. Griz ran the engine full out to close the short distance to the barge.

“Is that where you’re going?” Hugh asked.

“Yes,” I said, and then turned to Jase, who was busy searching the surrounding area. “Any sign of them yet?”

“Not yet,” he said without looking at me.

“Hopefully we were able to get in enough distance between us and them that they won’t find us,” I said as we pulled up to the dock.

Fortunately, the small dock for the Aurora was on the south side of the towboat to better hide us from predators. “We should be safe now, as long as they don’t smell or hear anything,” Griz said.

“Not if they see anyone on the deck,” Clutch countered and squeezed Jase’s shoulder. “Hustle up and warn Tyler.”

“You got it.” Jase leapt off the boat and climbed up the rope ladder.

Wes waved from the deck above and lowered the platform.

Tyler’s voice came over the loudspeaker. “Code Red. Code Red.”

He didn’t say anything else, and he didn’t need to. Everyone had been prepped for this moment since we’d arrived at the Aurora.

Maggie, Don, and Alana were sent up on the platform since none of them were in any condition to climb the ladder. We slid the deer onto the platform with them, not wanting to let the meat go to waste. I scrambled up the ladder as quickly as possible, with Clutch coming up right behind me.

Griz was already moving the newcomers toward the barge.

Jase waited for us. “Everyone’s headed below decks. I think we’re set.”

We crossed the deck as quickly as Clutch could walk and entered the galley. The room was packed, but no one said a word. Not even prayers were voiced aloud. People huddled together, many holding hands. I squeezed my way through to look out a window.

Time dragged by more slowly than my Corporate Finance class my junior year at college. I focused at not making eye contact with anyone except Clutch or Jase. We played cards, but even that grew dull. I eventually settled on daydreaming about flying the Cub over fields free of monsters.

As the sun set, dark shapes filled in the landscape, making the land look like an eerie ocean of ripples. By morning we’d know if they’d zeroed in on the Aurora. Until then, all we could do was wait.

And so we waited.



*



We were able to move above deck freely after the sun had set, though silence was critical. With over fifty people crammed on board the Aurora, whispers and the sounds of shuffling feet were the only breaks in silence. We’d all prepared for this moment, we’d practiced it over and over. But the five newcomers were foreign to us and our plans, adding a huge element of risk to our plans. Maggie and Don avoided us, glaring at me whenever our paths crossed. I wanted to glare right back. Instead, I tried to take the higher road and simply ignore their unthankful asses. Hali, still pissed at her father for offering her up, had isolated herself in a corner of barge One.

Even though Clutch thought it too risky, Tyler allowed Vicki to cook the deer for dinner since the wind was out of the north and the bay door was closed over the barge. Everyone ate in silence. The tension was higher than it had ever been.

Through the hull, the sound of the moaning herd made nails on a chalkboard almost melodic. As I lay in my bunk and stared at the springs and mattress of Jase’s bunk above, I prayed that they would have moved on before morning. I tried to sleep but settled for staring at the ceiling.

I headed up to the galley sometime before dawn. I didn’t bother checking my watch. Upstairs, Jase was kneeling on a bench, his hands clasped and his head down. Clutch sat at a table nearby, cleaning his rifle. I took a seat next to him and watched Jase. I hadn’t seen him pray since we’d buried his dog, and it worried me to see his fa?ade gone.