Dead Calm (20 page)

“So we're stuck with a drunken whore and a lipstick
lesbian,” Tick-Tock said with a slight smile.

Steve laughed and said, “Again, crudely put but true.
Right now, with the world the way it is though, I'm not throwing
anyone to the wolves unless they're a direct threat to me or the
group.”

“Which means?” Tick-Tock asked.

“It means that I'll be the first to exile or shoot
anyone who puts our lives in jeopardy. No hesitation. If I find out
Sheila's setting us up, then at the very least she's getting her
ass booted back onto the upper decks, if I don't shoot her.”

“What about the Faithful?” Tick-Tock asked.

_I"

“I consider them a threat but not a direct threat,” Steve replied.
“I know I can't save them, especially since Ricky's probably
convinced them that I'm the anti-Christ come to drag their souls
screaming to hell, and I can't even begin to sort out who to help
and who to kill, but I still need to do something. If any of them
become a threat, then they're dead, but the least I can do is let
them know the truth about Ricky and the ship sinking. From there
they'll have to try and save themselves.”

“It's more than I'd do,” Tick-Tock said.

Steve shrugged, knowing this was one of the few
points he and Tick-Tock differed on. He had no doubt that his
friend would put his life on the line for anyone in the group,
except maybe Mary, but as for those who weren't with them or were
apathetic toward improving their situation, they were on their own.
Steve knew he wouldn't risk the lives of any of the others in the
group to save the Faithful, but he would at least try to help those
who couldn't help themselves. Those who could, but didn't, were on
their own.

Mary and Sheila rejoined them with Mary giving
Tick-Tock a dirty look when he gave her new flame his most winning
smile and offered to get her some coffee.

Steve let Sheila finish eating before asking her to
repeat what she'd told them at dinner. He'd already relayed to
Tick-Tock everything the redhead had said but wanted the woman to
tell her story again for a number of reasons, the most important
being to see if he could catch her in any lies. Although it did
appear Ricky wanted her dead, he still didn't trust her. The whole
thing with the Z’s coming out of nowhere could have easily been
staged.

When Sheila was done, Steve had to admit that she
seemed to be telling the truth. Her story was clearer than the
night before, which Steve chalked up to a lessened blood alcohol
content, and hadn't differed greatly on any points, so he decided
that for now the redhead could stay.

When he mentioned that Ricky had paid them a visit
that morning, Sheila grew white in the face and visibly trembled,
further leading him to believe her story. Her reaction wasn't
something she could fake. When he explained about the Reverend
giving them the Nautical Almanac, Sheila leaned forward in her
chair and said, “Don't trust him, he's after something. He wants…”
But her words died out as she lost her train of thought.

Shaking her head at the alcohol fog that remained
from the night before, and the one that she'd already started
working on that morning, she couldn't come up with the thought she
was trying to voice. Although she knew Ricky needed a way to
Cozumel, she couldn't make the connection between that and the
people from the sailboat. Steve and Tick-Tock didn't make the
connection to Ricky wanting the sailboat either, since Sheila
hadn't thought it important enough to tell them about Cozumel.
Besides, they all saw that the solution for the people stuck on the
ship was simple. Tow a lifeboat full of gas and supplies behind
them so they could reach land. That would give the survivors of the
Dead Calm the range to make it.

Seeing Sheila's hesitation, Mary asked, “He wants
what, Honey?”

Looking up morosely, she replied, “I'm not sure, I
just don't trust him.”

“Neither do we,” Steve said. He wanted to say that
the fake preacher's days were numbered but didn't want to tell
Sheila about the fate Heather planned for the Reverend Ricky Rose.
Instead, he said to Mary, “Since we're waiting on the sextant and
for Brain to get the gas pump working, we're going to be here for
another day at least. You can finish finding the rest of the items
on the list I gave you tomorrow. You've done a good job, so take
the rest of the afternoon and do whatever you want. Just stay on
this deck.”

Ignoring the praise from Steve, Mary was concerned
about Sheila who seemed to be struggling with something.

Shaking her head, the redhead finally looked up at
Mary and said, “I could use a drink, and since you have the rest of
the day off why don't we do some shopping.”

Thinking about all the high-tension alcohol in the
shops and clubs, Steve almost ordered them to stay away from the
booze but instead cautioned, “Take it easy on the liquor. If you
get fucked up and something happens, we might not be able to help
you.”

With smiles and promises to be good, the two women
got up to go. After they left, Steve said to Tick-Tock, “Do me a
favor and please don't try to bang Sheila. I've got enough drama
going on right now in my life and I don't need any more.”

Tick-Tock laughed, “Don't worry. I'm just doing it to
yank Mary's chain. I've got no interest in Sheila at all.”

Relieved that he didn't have to deal with some kind
of bizarre four-way emotional love triangle between Tick-Tock,
Mary, Susan and Sheila on top of everything else, Steve said, “Last
night I was talking to Tim and he showed me some of the crew
passageways that run through the ship. He told me that most of the
time he doesn't have to use them. He moves around by using the
stairs and walkways because no one notices him. All they see is a
kid wandering around. He also told me that the best time to go onto
the upper decks is just after sundown. Ricky and his Faithful are
partying on the top deck, so there's no one around.”

“And you're telling me this because-?” Tick-Tock
asked with an expectant smile.

“How'd you like to do a little recon tonight?” Steve
asked.

“How do we get past the spotters on deck five?”
Tick-Tock questioned.

“Elevator shaft,” Steve answered. “Tim told me how he
was getting chased by a couple Z’s one time, so he climbed through
the hatch on the top of the elevator car. There's a ladder that
runs up and down each shaft.”

“Sounds interesting,” Tick-Tock said. “Just you and
me?”

“Heather and Susan will stay here which makes it a
boy's night out. We'll take Brain along. He wants to try and get a
look at the switching room or something,” Steve said. “He's having
trouble getting power to the pump that controls the fuel supply. He
needs to switch over to another generator or another line. He says
he'll know what to do when he sees the electrical room.”

“What deck does he think this is on?” Tick-Tock
asked.

“He's pretty sure it's on deck six, and I need to get
onto seven to check out the lifeboat situation. After that, we can
go wherever you want, but we need to stay together.”

“Lifeboats?” Tick-Tock questioned.

Sheila says most of them are disabled, but that's
just what she heard from Ricky. She never saw them herself. I want
to take a look,” Steve answered.

“To make sure Ricky's Faithful can get away
safe?”

Steve nodded.

“Screw the Faithful and the horse they rode in on,
but I'm up for a little tour of the ship. I've got something I want
to do anyway. What time do we go?” Tick-Took asked.

“Seven o'clock, by then it'll be dark.”

***

Located near the stern and high above the Calm of the
Seas, the Crow’s Nest Lounge looked out over the length of the
ship. Off limits to the Faithful and the regular Ushers, it was the
private domain of Reverend Ricky and his Head Ushers. Enjoying the
panoramic view enhanced by being hundreds of feet in the air, Don
Parsons stood behind the bar mixing drinks for Ricky and himself.
The remaining three Head Ushers sat with their leader watching the
sun sink down to meet the horizon. Every afternoon before joining
the Faithful at their gathering for the rapture, Ricky and the Head
Ushers met to go over what was happening on the ship and to
brainstorm ideas on how to get to Cozumel. With the arrival of
Steve's group, the main topic of discussion was how to get the
sailboat without getting themselves killed in the process.

Finished with his bartending duties, Parsons brought
Ricky a Black Russian, waiting for him to take a sip and nod his
approval before settling into one of the overstuffed chairs pulled
together in a half circle.

Ricky said, “I've managed to acquire an informant on
deck four. Word is that three of the newcomers are planning to take
a little tour of the ship tonight after it gets dark.”

This announcement was met by excitement from the men
gathered around.

“What are they looking for?” Parsons asked.

“We're not sure exactly, but it appears they're
having trouble powering the gas pump down in the watercraft area.
My person told me that they're also going to check out the
lifeboats.”

“Why the lifeboats?” Parsons asked.

“To see if they're really disabled. The one named
Steve has a plan to tell the Faithful that the ship is sinking,
just before he and his people leave. He wants to tell them that, if
they take a lifeboat and tow another boat full of gas behind them,
they can reach land.”

“We can't let the Faithful find out we've been
snowing them about the lifeboats,” Brother Seth interjected.

Still mad at Seth, and sure that the man was lying
about what had really happened at the Masthead, Ricky exploded, “No
shit, but that's not the point. The point is, we can't reach
Cozumel without that sailboat. That's what we need to focus on. I'm
just relaying what my snitch told me about what the people on deck
four are up to. I really couldn't give two shits what happens to
the rest of the people on this ship. And another thing, if you
hadn't let Sheila-.”

Not wanting the meeting to turn into another one of
Ricky's rants, Parsons leaned forward and interrupted by saying
loudly, “Despite all that, our plan seems to be working. They seem
to feel comfortable enough to explore the ship.”

Ricky continued to glare at Seth but nodded at
Parsons’ reasoning and seemed to calm down. After giving Seth a
last warning look, he said, “But we've still got to find some more
things they need, so we can keep them here long enough to feel
comfortable going out in groups of one and two. There'll be three
of them tonight with guns. Three people armed with automatic
weapons are too many for us to take on.” Giving Brother Seth a hard
look he continued, “Especially now that we're down one man.”

“They still need the sextant, so that should buy us a
day or two,” Parsons said. “We can crack the lens before we give it
to them and hold back the spare to buy us another couple days while
we tell them we're looking for it.”

Brother William spoke up, “It's kind of hard to
entice them with anything since they have damn near everything they
need on deck four. Food, water and all those stores just sitting
there waiting to be picked over. That's one of the decks we haven't
raided for food and booze yet, so it's pretty stocked.” Turning to
Ricky he asked, “Did your informant give you any idea about
anything else they need?”

“Nothing yet,” Ricky replied. “But you have to
remember, our snitch just started telling us what's happening down
there. We need more time, but time is what we don't have.” Looking
at the last Head Usher, Brother Cal, Ricky said to him, “Tell Don
what you told me earlier.”

“We're running out of water,” Cal announced to
astonished looks from everybody except Ricky. “As you remember, our
last desalination unit died a few weeks ago and I couldn't fix it.
Even at less than one twentieth of passenger capacity, we still go
through a hell of a lot of water. There's bottled water to drink,
but when the Faithful find out that the tanks are empty and they
can't shit, shower, or shave, we'll start to lose control over
them. One of the main reasons most of them have followed us this
long is because we've kept everything running.”

“How long until were completely out?” Parsons
asked.

“Three days at the most,” Cal answered.

“Son of a bitch,” Parsons exclaimed sharply. “Why
didn't you tell us this earlier, Cal?”

Reverend Ricky cut in, “He told me when he first
discovered the problem a few days ago. I saw there was nothing we
could do about it, so I didn't see any need to pass the information
along.”

Parsons wondered what else Ricky was keeping to
himself - like who his informant was - but dismissed the thought.
Their priority right now was still the same, regardless of the
situation with the water. They needed to get off this ship and get
to safety. Thinking of the island they were trying to reach, he
asked Seth, “Anything on the radio from Cozumel?”

“Nothing,” he answered. “I'm picking up a signal out
of Brownsville from a ham radio operator and some distant military
chatter that's probably from one of the military bases near Corpus
Christi but that's it. There could be a number of reasons we can't
hear Cozumel though. Sunspots, distance or maybe their generator
went out.”

“If we hadn't gotten caught in the Gulf Stream, we'd
be a hell of a lot closer to Cozumel than we are now,” Brother

William pointed out. “At the rate we're going, we may
have to try for Texas and take our chances going down the coast by
land.”

“And cross through five or six cities full of the
dead?” Ricky said. “No thanks. Everyone we’ve talked to on the
radio since this shit started says that the stinkers are running
around everywhere and eating up the living. People barricaded
themselves inside because those things were roaming around every
city and town across the country. We wouldn't make it two miles on
land. Our only chance is to reach Cozumel by water.”