John Ringo - Under a Graveyard Sky

“What are you doing?” Stacey asked.

“I want to take off my respirator,” Steve said. “And I don’t want to do it alongside that boat. Not until it’s cleaned out.”

“Thank you for this,” the girl said.

“I still haven’t asked your name, miss,” Steve said.

“Tina Black,” the girl said. She was a tiny thing with black hair and blue eyes.

“Let’s get you inside…” Stacey said, wrapping her arm around the emaciated girl.

“Despite her condition, we need to decontaminate, first,” Steve said.

“Steve,” Stacey said, dangerously.

“We’ve got some water in the tank,” Steve said, relenting. “Use the fresh-water shower.”

“A shower?” Tina said. “Is that what you meant? I thought it was… I don’t know what I thought.”

“We need to get you cleaned up is what it means,” Sophia said. “I’m Sophia Smith, the second mate. That’s my mom, Stacey. The guy who can’t seem to use normal words is my Da, Steve. And the hulking moron with a shoot-first attitude is Faith.”

“Bite me, Soph,” Faith said through her respirator.

“Don’t mind her,” Sophia said, wrapping her arm around Tina’s shoulders. “She’s adopted…”

* * *

“When Dad went I was down in my cabin,” Tina said, sipping tomato soup. She’d had a shower and her hair was combed. All three of the women were larger than her so the sweats she’d borrowed from Sophia made her look even tinier. “I heard mom…screaming. Captain Charlie blocked the door and put some food and water in my cabin. Then he made all the locks and told me to lock myself in the cabin. He’d… He’d told Dad that was what we should do in the first place. All of us in different cabins with a way to make it hard to get in or out. Then he…he went.”

“How long ago?” Stacey asked.

She’d geared up and gone over to check out the Fairline after Sophia had taken charge of the survivor. After a bit, and some toting of materials from the Hunter, she’d managed to get the engines running. The boat still had nearly two thirds of its fuel and the water tanks were full up. The reason that Tina had run out of water was the batteries supplying the pumps had finally gone dead.

“I don’t know,” Tina said. “There was a big storm…”

“We got hit by that too,” Sophia said. “That was about a month ago.”

“Then… About a month and a half,” Tina said. “I ran out of food after the storm some time. And… As long as the water lasted I’d drink a bottle of water, then fill it. Then the water shut off and I couldn’t flush or anything and…” She curled up into a ball.

“I can’t promise that nothing bad is ever going to happen again,” Steve said. “And I can’t bring your parents back. But I promise I’ll do my best. Okay?”

“Okay,” Tina said. She leaned into Sophia and tucked in her head.

“Hey,” Faith said, standing up. “Somebody should probably be on deck making sure we keep the boat in sight. I volunteer for watch.”

“Go for it,” Steve said. “I’ll be up in a bit.”

“Don’t mind her,” Sophia said. “She’s good at fighting zombies. Not so big on the whole helping others thing.”

“I guess you need people who are good at fighting zombies,” Tina said. “Can I ask… What did you do with my mom and dad?”

“We gave them a decent burial at sea, Tina,” Tom said. “The best we could under the circumstances.”

“Thank you,” Tina said.

“There’s something we need to talk about,” Steve said.

“Now?” Stacey asked.

“If not now, when?” Steve said. “It’s about your parents’ boat. This one is about done. The law of the sea, such as it is right now, is that if a boat is unoccupied it’s salvage. But you were on your boat. So it’s yours by right. Not to mention it’s got your name on it…”

“But you need to use it?” Tina said. “If you can take me back to Virginia…”

“Virginia’s not there, Tina,” Sophia said. “I mean, the land’s there but it’s all zombies.”

“All?” Tina said. “I mean… All?”

“We’ve been inshore a few times,” Steve said. “Everywhere we’ve been there are zombies on land. No lights at night. No sign of civilization.”

“Everything?” Tina said, looking at Sophia for confirmation. “New York?”

“We sailed out of New York harbor when they blew the bridges,” Sophia said. “We actually attended the last concert in New York.”

“And there hangs a tale,” Steve said. “But the point is, we need your boat.”

“You can have it,” Tina said. “I never want to see it again!”

“And that won’t work, either, honey,” Stacey said. “After we get it cleaned up, we’re all going to have to go back onboard.”

“Oh,” Tina said. “I’m not sure… I really don’t want to go back.”

“Cross that bridge when we come to it,” Steve said. “But we have your permission to use it?”

“Yes,” Tina said. “I mean, I’ll give it to you. Just for getting me out of there.”

“Probably ought to get that in writing,” Steve said. “But I’m not really worried about it.”

“Is Washington still…?” Tina asked.

“Let me see if I can put this in perspective,” Sophia said, getting up. She turned on the shortwave receiver and consulted a chart. “Hear that static? That’s the primary U.S. Federal Emergency Channel, the one that FEMA used to broadcast on. This…” she said, changing the channel. “That’s the BBC… This is ABC… CNN… Fox Radio…”

“Oh, my God,” Tina said, her eyes wide. She started crying again.

“You survived, Tina,” Steve said, taking her chin and making her look at him. “You survived. And as a parent I can tell you that it was more important to your parents that you survive than that they survive. You are important to them. So your job, from here on out, is to not only survive but do the best you can at it. Understand?”

“Yes, sir,” Tina said.

“As I said,” Steve said, standing up. “It’s not going to be easy. But we are not only going to survive. We are going to win .”

* * *

“That’s the first time I’ve heard you use the word ‘win,’” Stacey said. She’d brought him a cup of coffee. That was one thing they’d taken off the yacht first off. They’d been out for two weeks. “Penny for your thoughts.”

“I’m not sure I have any,” Steve said, looking at the other boat. “But so far all we’ve been doing is running and hiding. That was the right thing to do. Now… I’m not so sure. My basic plan was to find an abandoned island somewhere and set up shop. Maybe there’s a house somewhere with a harbor or something. Seeing Tina… Honey,” he said, taking the coffee and setting it down. He turned to her and shrugged.

“There are people out there, just like Tina. Hiding in compartments. Starving. Dying of dehydration. On life rafts. We’ve been avoiding them for fear of someone going zombie. But by now, most of them will have gone through the cycles. If they haven’t, we’ve still got some of Tom’s vaccine. We can save people.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Stacey said. “I mean, Steven, there’s only four of us. We’re not exactly the Coast Guard. Just tying up to Tina’s boat was tough.”

“Compared to, say, going to a concert in New York in a zombie apocalypse at night?” Steve asked.

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?” Stacey said with a breathless laugh.

“Zombies don’t think,” Steve said. “But whoever created that virus does. And I bet they had a plan to survive. I bet they’re out there. And that person thinks humanity is beaten. There’s no indication that anyone is doing anything. Everything is gone . There’s no government, no Army, no Navy, no Coast Guard, no Homeland Security. No Homeland for that matter. It’s all gone. The bastard won . Well, I’m not going to be beaten. I’m not going to have my children and grandchildren grow up hiding from the zombies. I’m not going to let that happen. I will not bow to the zombies!”